Trackers
For many, the classic late-’80s/early-’90s computer music setup would be one based around an Atari ST, but a thick wallet was needed for extra outboard gear like a MIDI keyboard, a synthesiser and possibly even an Akai sampler for good measure. However, at the very same time, an underground computer music movement was already brewing, and its only requirement to create kickass tunes was a humble Amiga – no external gear necessary.
Composing music that played back purely on a home computer was once the domain of video game musicians who also happened to be skilled programmers, but all this changed thanks to a German musician/coder named Karsten Obarski with his release of the first commercially available tracker. The Ultimate Soundtracker – or simply Soundtracker, as it was known – revolved around four vertical tracks with music programmed as rows of alphanumeric characters. It lacked appeal for traditional musicians when compared to software with notes shown on much more traditional staves such as Aegis Sonix or EA’s Deluxe Music Construction Set, but it quickly became the tool of choice for both game and demoscene musicians. Soundtracker and its many unauthorised spin-offs (eg, ProTracker, NoiseTracker, etc) dominated the Amiga landscape.
Since then, trackers have graced almost every platform, from 8-bit machines and handheld consoles such as the Nintendo DS right through to the advanced powerhouses we see on modern desktops and mobile devices today. Some are platform-specific, and some serve a specialised purpose. Renoise is often recommended for its sheer DAW-rivalling power and plugin support, although many also go for Psycle, Buzz and OpenMPT. For something a little more esoteric and hip, you might plump for SunVox or a chip tracker like HivelyTracker or Musetracker. Those interested in the demoscene tend to flock to MilkyTracker or Protrekkr.
Composition, tracker-style
So how can it be possible to get sophisticated music out of a program that’s based around coded patterns of monophonic tracks? Overcoming the limitations of basic trackers requires creativity and innovation, and pushing the boundaries leads to distinctive results that you’re unlikely to achieve by pursuing more conventional routes.
Early trackers like ProTracker on the Amiga could only play four samples simultaneously, so methods were devised to give the illusion that more sounds were playing together than was possible on the software and hardware of the time. For instance, if you knew you wanted a C major chord, rather than playing C, E and G notes across three channels, you could mix those three notes into a single sample – resampling, in other words – playing your new ‘major chord’ sample on one channel instead.
You would need other samples for non-major chords, but what was lost in sample space was gained in valuable channel space. Another trick to create the illusion of polyphony is to use the built-in arpeggiator to play notes in rapid succession. In a traditional tracker, there are ‘hidden’ subdivisions between each row/line called ‘ticks’ (confusingly, in some trackers the rows themselves are called ticks), and tracker commands like arpeggiation, note slide, etc, are calculated on each of these ticks.
By placing a simple numerical command next to a note, the tracker will arpeggiate between the root note and the two other intervals specified, in semitones, above the root. For example, an A with the numbers 3 and 7 next to it plays an A minor, the 3 and 7 corresponding to C and E.
Space was also saved by squeezing the bass and drum parts into one monophonic track. Kick and snare usually take priority, with the remaining free rows divvied up between the bass and hi-hats, giving a distinctive result. Delay/echo effects are mimicked by repeating a part a few rows later with a lowered volume, either on one channel for really short sounds or two channels for longer notes.
The Pattern Editor
This is the guts of your song. The far-left numbered column [A] indicates time from the top down – rows usually correspond to 16th-notes, with every beat highlighted. The wider columns (just one of which is shown on the left) are your tracks, and in most trackers, these are monophonic, allowing only one note to be programmed per row per track.
Notes [B] are either recorded using MIDI or the QWERTY keyboard, or manually entered using the latter, a little like filling in a spreadsheet. Noteoff commands [C] are used to signify the end of a currently sounding note. Next to the note is a number telling us which instrument [D] this note should sound. Many trackers use hexadecimal – aka hex – notation to represent numbers, which can be confusing for the uninitiated. There’s a decent intro at https://bit. ly/fmhexintro. Thankfully, most trackers also let you use regular decimal numbering. The advantage of hex is that 256 discrete values can be expressed in just two digits, so more information can be packed into the display.
The remaining columns are for panning [E]
(not available in all trackers) and tracker commands/’effects’ [F], which are not to be confused with the sort of mixing effects (delay, chorus, EQ, etc) you’d find in a conventional DAW.
Info
Global information about your project. It varies depending on the tracker you’re using – Renoise is shown here – but typical features include VU meters, CPU meter and time displays.
Transport control
3
Here you can play songs, individual patterns and enter record mode. Also shown here are the standard BPM and lines per beat (or ‘tick’) speed settings.
Scopes
4
Most trackers have a visual, oscilloscopestyle display of some form. In Renoise, this large area also houses the built-in file manager for loading and saving songs, instruments, samples and more.
Tabs
5
Trackers often have tabs or buttons to access other windows such as a sample editor, mixer or DSP settings.
Instrument slots
6
These let you choose the instrument you are auditioning or recording. Slots can represent a single sample, a bank of samples or, in some cases, a plugin instrument. Instruments are triggered by note information across multiple tracks, if you wish, without the need to set up MIDI sends as in some regular DAWs.
Instrument specifics
7
Here instruments are tweaked/manipulated, including transposition, finetuning, envelope shaping for panning, volume and more.
Pattern sequencer
8
Songs are arranged by assigning patterns to position numbers or by using a timeline. Renoise also allows you to label positions and to select parts for looping and live cueing.
Pattern properties
9
Here lie all your pattern editing specifics, from visual aids like autotrack collapse, next-patternpreview to manual entry steps and quick command entry. Some features here are unique to Renoise.
Pattern matrix
10
Exclusive to Renoise, this is a birdseye view of your song arrangement, enabling you to see track data over multiple patterns/‘positions’. It also enables powerful slot aliasing and muting.