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From: jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Tobias Reckhard)
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sounds.mods,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: alt.binaries.sounds.mods FAQ v1.3 part 1/2
Followup-To: poster
Date: 10 Jan 1995 13:07:11 GMT
Organization: TU Darmstadt
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Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and their
	 answers) about mods, i.e. digital sound modules. Read this before
         posting to alt.binaries.sounds.mods
Keywords: mod faq binary
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.binaries.sounds.mods:11274 alt.answers:6735 news.answers:32771

Archive-name: sound-file-format/mod-faq/part1
Posting-Frequency: every 14 days
Last-modified: 1995/01/09
Version: 1.3

======================================================= MOD-FAQ part 1 of 2 ==
     FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) LIST FOR ALT.BINARIES.SOUNDS.MODS
                official release v1.3 dated 09.01.95 (DDMMYY)

 READ THIS BEFORE POSTING A QUESTION TO A.B.S.MODS, IT MIGHT BE ANSWERED HERE

THIS IS THE FIRST OF TWO PARTS OF THIS FAQ,  WHICH HAS BEEN SPLIT BECAUSE IT'S
               LENGTH MIGHT OTHERWISE OFFEND SOME NEWSREADERS.

Maintained by jester (Tobias Reckhard),  jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de

Copyright notice:
    This FAQ is copyright (c) 1995 by jester (Tobias Reckhard), all rights
    reserved. Sections not written by myself are copyright (c) by the
    respective authors. This FAQ may be posted to any Usenet newsgroup,
    on-line service or BBS as long as it is posted in its entirety, includes
    this copyright statement and is the most recent version (reasonable effort
    to obtain this is required). This FAQ may not be distributed for financial
    gain. It may not be included in commercial collections or compilations
    without express permission from the maintainer.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this document is believed to be
    correct, but the originators will not be held responsible for any negative
    effects of its contents. Anything positive is, of course, our doing ;)

    (Main sections are separated by a line of 78 equal signs (as below),
     subsections by 78 minusses, sub-subsections by 39 times "- " (corny ;) )
==============================================================================

[0] Table of Contents

 [1] General
 [1.1] Motivation/Purpose of the FAQ
 [1.1.1] Submitting to the FAQ
 [1.2] Modules
 [1.3] Terminology used in this FAQ
 [1.4] Commonly Used Abbreviations

 [2] Types of Modules

 [3] Playing Mods
 [3.1] Amiga
 [3.2] Atari ST
 [3.3] Mac
 [3.4] MS-DOS
 [3.5] OS/2
 [3.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXT)
 [3.7] Windows

 [4] Creating Mods
 [4.1] Trackers
 [4.1.1] Amiga
 [4.1.2] Atari ST
 [4.1.3] Mac
 [4.1.4] MS-DOS
 [4.1.5] OS/2
 [4.1.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXT)
 [4.1.7] Windows
 [4.2] Converters
 [4.2.1] from MIDI
 [4.2.2] Mod Format Converters

END OF PART 1, START OF PART 2

 [5] Samples
 [5.1] Acquisition
 [5.1.1] Sampling
 [5.1.2] 'Ripping'
 [5.1.3] Conversion From Other Formats
 [5.2] Sample Editors
 [5.2.1] Amiga
 [5.2.2] Atari
 [5.2.3] Mac
 [5.2.4] MS-DOS
 [5.2.5] OS/2
 [5.2.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXT)
 [5.2.7] Windows
 [5.3] FTP Sites with Samples

 [6] Obtaining MODs
 [6.1] FTP Servers
 [6.2] BBSs
 [6.3] Newgroup(s)
 [6.3.1] Accessing alt.binaries.sounds.mods per Email
 [6.4] WWW
 [6.5] CD-ROMs

 [7] Distributing Mods
 [7.0.1] Compression
 [7.1] Usenet Posting
 [7.2] FTP Uploads
 [7.3] BBS Uploads

 Appendix A: Contributors/Credits/Greetings
 Appendix B: Common Properties of Module File Formats
 Appendix C: Mods and MIDI
 Appendix D: Musicians
 Appendix E: All-Time Faves
 Appendix F: the MOD Charts
 Appendix G: Availability of Compressors/Archivers
 Appendix H: Table of Note Frequencies
 Appendix I: Overview of Effects Used in Digital Music Modules
 Appendix J: Answers to as yet Unanswered FAQs
==============================================================================

[1] General

This is the official version 1.3 of the FAQ for the UseNet Newsgroup
alt.binaries.sounds.mods. Should the date on this document be over a month
old, you might want to check for a current version.


Availability:

- It is posted to alt.binaries.sounds.mods, alt.answers and news.answers every
  two weeks, on Mondays. When this is not possible, the next possible day will
  be used.

- You can also obtain the most recent plain text version of the FAQ by
  Internet finger, dumping the answer to a file, as in:
  finger jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de > modfaq.013
  If your system fails to find my host, try specifying a terminal number in my
  address, such as jester@rbhp21.rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de instead (Or
  any rbhpXX, except our servers with designations rbhp56, rbhp57, rbhp88 and
  rbhp89).
  You can also use a finger-by-mail server. Send the following message:
    Subject: FINGER jester@rbhp21.rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de
    To: infobot@infomania.com
    Message Body: *none*
  and you will receive the latest plain text version of the FAQ in your
  mailbox.

  Note that you will receive the complete FAQ (i.e. both parts), even if the
  header states otherwise.

- Zigg (Matt Behrens) maintains a WWW HTML version of the FAQ at
  http://grfn.org/~zaphod/absm-faq/index.html

- It is archived at rtfm.mit.edu as
  /pub/usenet/news.answers/sound-file-format/mod-faq/part1 and
  /pub/usenet/news.answers/sound-file-format/mod-faq/part2

- It is available by ftp from opus.mac.cc.cmu.edu (log in as Music, password
  Music, leave Dir entry blank; courtesy of Matthew Centurion).


Changes from previous version (v1.2):
- added MS-DOS XM player PMP (3.4)
- added "how do I calculate mod playback speeds" to appendix J
- added subsections 5.2.1 to 5.2.7 on sample editors. Only MS-DOS and Windows
  are present so far (see 1.1.1 for submissions)
- rewrote GoldWave 2.1 and Cool Edit 1.34 descriptions (5.2.7)
- rewrote Advanced Digiplayer 3.0 description (5.2.4)
- reordered FAQ ftp resource list (1)

ToDo's (contributions on the following topics are either present or in
        preparation, but didn't make it into this release):
- Apple II GS information (will be linked to Mac)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1.1] Motivation/Purpose of the FAQ

The newsgroup alt.binaries.sounds.mods (hereafter referred to as a.b.s.mods)
is being flooded by a lot of questions lately, most of them cropping up over
and over again. These, commonly referred to as Frequently Asked Questions
(hence the term FAQ, but you knew that already), are pretty bugging after a
while, so this is an attempt at answering them.

What is the purpose of this FAQ? Well, it is centered around a.b.s.mods, of
course, and deals with the problems that are usually encountered there. It is
supposed to help new readers of the group find programs and modules, decode
the posts, make contributions of their own and give pointers on where to find
further information. This FAQ does NOT attempt to teach you how to make music.
As of now, I am also not planning to devote sections of this FAQ to the
explanation of certain editors/trackers/players. Should a question concerning
a specific program come up very frequently, it would of course qualify as an
FAQ, but I do not consider it my job to teach you how to use ScreamTracker,
for example. That's the .DOC's job.

Keep in mind, please, that I manage this FAQ in my private time, which isn't
much anyway. I only know my own hardware platform (MS-DOS/Windows/GUS/SB), so
I am dependent on your feedback and contributions. If you have something you
feel belongs here or any other form of constructive criticism, don't hesitate
to email me with it (see 1.1.1). I check my mail folder almost every day,
except on weekends, when I don't have Internet access at all.

You can reach me at: jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de
(Note: I am NOT Jester/Sanity).

If you've contributed to the FAQ, your name and address (optional) will be
listed in the contributors section. You will also be entitled to a list of
your favourite mods and composers (might be dropped in the future if it
becomes too large).

Thank you.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[1.1.1] Submitting to the FAQ

As I already stated, the information included in this FAQ is believed to be
correct. If you happen to find errors, inaccuracies or out-of-date information
though, don't hesitate to inform me of it. The same applies to suggestions
you may have concerning additions or omissions.

When submitting to the FAQ, be sure to include all information that is
necessary. The easiest way for me is if you take the present FAQ as a
guideline. Pre-written and ready-to-use submissions are a lot less prone to
errors I could make in editing and summarising your information, helping both
of us.

Be sure to state which version of the FAQ and which section you are referring
to. I archive all versions since beta v0.7. Chances are that if you are
submitting to an old version of the FAQ, the information may already be there.
So if you think you have something to say, try to obtain the most recent
version before going to the trouble of writing a submission.

Expect me to ask you to give me more information than is in your submission.
So please supply me with a valid email address if my simply replying is not
reliable. If an email of mine containing further questions bounces, I will not
attempt to find you. I might try some other address specified in your email's
header, but don't count on it.

Suggestions implying complete rewrites of sections will be considered, but
you'll need some damn good reasons.

Thanks.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1.2] Modules (What are mods?)

Modules are digital music files, made up of a set of samples (the instruments)
and sequencing information, telling a mod player when to play which sample on
which track at what pitch, optionally performing an effect like vibrato, for
example. Thus mods are different from pure sample files such as WAV or AU,
which contain no sequencing information, and MIDI files, which do not include
any custom samples/instruments. Mods are extremely popular in the demo world
and offer a way of making music of an acceptable level of quality rather
cheaply. With the advent of high-quality sound hardware, new generations of
mods may even rise to a sound quality nearing that of professional equipment.

Mods' sequencing information is based on patterns and tracks. A pattern is a
group of tracks with a certain length, usually 64 rows (see 1.3). The tracks
are independent of each other, meaning that a four track mod can play four
voices or notes simultaneously. The patterns can be sequenced in a playlist,
so that repeating the same sequence of patterns doesn't require rewriting of
them.

This makes mods a hybrid between pure sample data files such as WAV, VOC or
IFF/8SVX and pure sequencing information files like MIDI. One of the most
frequently asked questions is "how do I convert a WAV to MOD?". This can be
done, but is rather senseless.  The other way around might be interesting for
people with enormous hard drives, so they could listen to what used to be a
mod at higher quality than before at the cost of several megabytes of drive
space (10 MB/min. at 16 bits, 44.1kHz, stereo), or for those who want to show
off a mod to others who don't have a mod player (or worse, can only play 8kHz
AU files.. ;) ). SoundApp for the Mac is the only known program that does
this (see section y.y).

Numerous mods have been released in the past year that were basically huge
samples off a CD (is there a connection to CD-ROM drives gaining increasing
popularity?), the only parts actually sequenced were the chorus bits. Most of
these mods were some form of top ten hit. These are, in effect, WAV to MOD
conversions. I don't mind them floating around, but it is a widely
acknowledged opinion that these kinds of mods defeat their own prupose. I
therefore don't recommend their making (but this is my opinion). Note that
this is NOT the same as using sampled drum loops or riffs in mods. While I
don't like these myself either, these do require a lot more sequencing than
huge 64KB chunks of a complete song.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1.3] Terminology used in this FAQ

- Throughout this FAQ, modules will be referred to as 'mods'. This term will
  be used for all types of modules, be they M.K., 8CHN, ULT, S3M, XM or
  anything else.
  IMPORTANT: Note that the term MOD (i.e. capitalized) refers to the group of
  mods that have this filename extension.

- A 'track' is a module voice. The number of tracks denotes the number of
  notes/instruments/voices that can play simultaneously.

- A 'pattern' is the largest sub-unit modules are composed of. Patterns are
  arranged in an order or sequencing list, so a pattern can be played several
  times within the same module. Patterns have a fixed length in most formats,
  but can also be of variable length in others. The standard M.K. pattern is 4
  tracks by 64 rows, for example.

- A 'row' is the smallest unit of time measurement in which notes can be
  placed on tracks. A M.K. pattern has 64 rows. OKT and FAR, for example, can
  have patterns of differing length in the same mod.

- A 'slot' is an element of a row, dedicated to hold a specific piece of
  information. These are notes, volume and effects, for example.

- A 'column' is an element of a track, such as the note column, the volume
  column and the effect column. A 'column' is a group of 'slots' of one type
  in a common track.

- A 'sample' is a digitized sound included in the mod, which serves as an
  instrument. As mods don't use a fixed instrument set (as General MIDI does),
  anything can be used as an instrument, including noises or human voices.

- A 'channel' is a source of emitted sound. Channel and track are often used
  interchangeably in the mod community. I'd prefer to define a channel as one
  of a few sound sources, as in stereo or quadro channels, but this would only
  prove confusing here.

- A 'player' is a program that decodes mods and ouputs these on a sound
  device.

- A 'tracker' is a program that enables creation of mods. Trackers usually
  feature a 'player'.

- A section saying 'NHY' isn't there yet (NHY = Not Here Yet). I don't have
  any information on the topic. If you do, get back to me immediately! (see
  1.1.1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1.4] Commonly Used Abbreviations (see section 2 for mod type abbrevs)

BPM - Beats per minute. When used in mods, this usually refers to how many
      groups of four rows are played per minute at default tempo (i.e. ticks
      per row) settings. This default tempo is 6 in MOD and S3M. Setting the
      tempo to 3 means that as many groups of eight rows are played per
      minute as set by the BPM set command.
CxSpd - Sampling rate at which a sample is reproduced by a tracker/player when
      it encounters the note C in octave x.
DAC - Digital to Analogue Converter. Digital sound output medium used with the
      parallel port of a computer.
DMA - Direct Memory Access (method of transferring data quickly across the
      computer's bus, DMA channel is a sound card parameter)
FM  - Frequency Modulation sound synthesis (used by Adlib and SB in FM mode)
FT1 - Mr.H/Triton's FastTracker 1.xx, MS-DOS MOD tracker
FT2 - Triton's FastTracker II
GUS - Gravis Ultrasound (sound card)
Hz  - Hertz, metric unit. 1 Hz = 1/sec. Used to express frequencies.
IRQ - Interrupt (not only, but also a sound card parameter)
PAS - Pro Audio Spectrum (sound card)
PT  - ProTracker (Amiga tracker)
SB  - SoundBlaster (sound card)
ST3 - PSI/Future Crew's Scream Tracker 3.2
==============================================================================

[2] Types of Mods

This is a brief summary of mod types. For further information, see the
documentation of file formats and/or the associated trackers' documentation.
This is probably the best place to mention that the most common filetype
today on the Amiga is still MOD, while S3M and MTM have taken over on PC's. XM
is expected to gain popularity pretty quick.

In this list, Name refers to the identifier string found in modules of this
type or a term, which unambiguously identifies the module format type. The
Default Extension is the filename extension typically given to the mod type.
Note that, even though they are often used, extensions do not clearly define
formats. The No. of Tracks is pretty obviously the number of tracks mods
stored in this format can have. The No. of Samples states how many instrument
(sample) slots are available in the format. The Sample Properties denote the
no. of bits (i.e. the resolution) the format can store and wether the CxSpd is
fixed or variable. The Associated Tracker entry is only meant as an example.


Name    Default    No. of   No. of    Sample           Associated
        Extension  Tracks   Samples   Properties       Tracker

M.K.    MOD          4       31       8 bits/fixed     ProTracker

xCHN    MOD         6/8      31       8 bits/fixed     FastTracker 1

FLTx    MOD         4/8      31       8 bits/fixed     StarTrekker

NST     MOD          4       15       8 bits/fixed     Noise Tracker

669     669          8       64       8 bits/fixed     Composer 669

UNIS    669          8       64       8 bits/fixed     UNIS669

MTM     MTM         1-32     31       8 bits/fixed     MultiModuleEdit 1.01b
                            (63)***   (16 bits)***

STM     STM          4       31       8 bits/var       ScreamTracker 2.xx

S3M     S3M         16+9**   99       8 bits/var       ScreamTracker 3.2
                    (32)*   (255)*    (16 bits)*

ULT     ULT         1-32     64       8/16 bits/var    UltraTracker 1.6

XM      XM          2-32    128       8/16 bits/var    FastTracker II

FAR     FAR          16      64       8/16 bits/fixed  Farandole Composer 1.00

WOW     WOW          8       31       8 bits/fixed     Grave Composer

OKT     OKT         4-8     255       7/8 bits/fixed   Oktalyzer

DMF     DMF          32      ??       ??               X-Tracker 0.3

MED     MED         4-8****  32       8 bits/fixed     MED/OctaMED****

*    - The S3M format is capable of storing these, but there isn't a tracker
       there yet to implement them.
**   - S3M can store 9 FM-based channels (Adlib).
***  - MTM supports these, but the current version of MMEdit doesn't allow for
       them.
**** - There are several versions of MED (MMD0, MMD1, MMD2 and MED). MMD0 is
       4-track-only, while MMD1, MMD2 and MED can also do 8 tracks. The MED
       subformat is a so-called song format, i.e. it doesn't store the
       intrument sample data.
==============================================================================

[3] Playing Mods

This section only features a maximum of 6 players per system. An extended list
is available separately (not in this release, but to come).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.1] Amiga

This section supplied by Steven Innell <spi@dcs.qmw.ac.uk>, Christian Stieber
<stieber@informatik.tu-muenchen.de> and Heikki Kantola
<hkantola@cc.helsinki.fi>.

All of the following players can be found on aminet in mus/play/ (see 6.1).
All of the following players are proper applications, i.e. they use windows
and don't hack the hardware (except for the sound hardware). All of the
following players use external players to allow for an unlimited number of
formats (provided that somebody writes a player). All of the following players
support Pro/Noise/SoundTracker, ScreamTracker, FastTracker. I believe that
most of the players support MultiTracker and TakeTracker as well (DeliTracker
does).

- DeliTracker 2.07
  OS friendly player, currently plays more than 80 different mod formats,
  including S3M, 6CHN, 8CHN, TakeTracker and MTM. Has an external player
  concept. Requires AmigaOS 2.0+. Shareware $20 or DM 20.
  FTP: mus/play/DeliTracker_207.lha

- EaglePlayer 1.53
  Similar features as DeliTracker. Plays 100 mod formats. Supports PC formats
  such as MTM, xCHN, S3M, etc., but all the players you wish usually have to
  be loaded once the main executable has been started. The PC player is called
  ps3m_Eagle. EaglePlayer has an external player approach similar to
  DeliTracker, but their players are not interchangeable (Note: Heikki Kantola
  says that EaglePlayer players are compatible with DeliTracker 1.x).
  Crippled shareware $20 or DM 20.
  FTP: mus/play/EaglePlayer1.53.lha

- D.A.S.ModulePlayer 3.4
  Plays M.K., NST, 6CHN, 8CHN, MTM, S3M, Quadracomposer, MED, FutureComposer,
  SoundMon 2.0, FRED, MusicAssembler and David Whittaker mods. New formats may
  be added via external player libraries. Requires MUI for its GUI. Requires
  AmigaOS 2.0+. Crippled shareware 25 AUD, 70 FIM, $15.
  FTP: mus/play/DMODP34.lha

- PS3M 3.04
  Plays S3M, MTM, xCHN and TakeTracker. Most Amiga S3M-players probably
  originated from this player. It now has a GUI.
  FTP: mus/play/ps3m304.lha.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.2] Atari

Thanks to Dan <cs93dlh@dcs.ex.ac.uk> for this information.

Note: To the best of Dan's knowledge, the programs mentioned here can be
    downloaded via ftp from atari.archive.umich.edu/pub/atari/ and its
    mirrors. A lot of them are also available from micros.hensa.ac.uk, but
    gopher of WWW access to this site is mich preferred to ftp as they have a
    weird directory structure.

Atari ST: This machine is very bad at playing MODs 'cause its sound basically
    isn't up to it. However, a player does exist. It is called Paula and is
    now at version 2.4. In order to run on the base ST you also need a driver
    called Petra, which is distributed with Paula. This will handle 4 track PT
    MOD format.

Atari STE/TT/Mega STE: These Ataris have massively improved sound abilities,
    roughly equivalent to the Amiga. You can use Paula (mentioned above) to
    playback 4-track PT MODs at a very respectable quality. Other 4 track
    players are DeskTracker and StarTracker.

Atari Falcon030: This latest of Atari's computers has a sound system as
    standard which blows away all but the most expensive of PC soundcards. It
    has 8-voice 16-bit stereo sound at 50kHz. This means it is very good at
    mod playback. It also has a Motorola 56001 DSP chip installed as standard
    - this chip can mix voices very fast, making 32 track mod playback
    possible at unbelievable quality.
    There are literally hundreds of 4-track MOD players out there, ranging
    from Paula through BSW, CPU_MOD and many more. There are fewer 8-track
    players and only one 32-track player. The best players for sound quality
    are:

    CPU_MOD - Handles 4-track PT MODs only, but gives the best sound quality
        I've heard. Will run in the background but is expensive on CPU time.

    BOBTracker - Handles 4, 6 or 8-track mods in a variety of mod formats (not
        S3M or MTM though). Sound playback uses the DSP for mixing and quality
        is good and very little CPU time is used. The DSP is also used to
        improve the sound quality of the samples in realtime and boost the
        bass and/or treble if desired

    MegaPlayer - Handles up to 32 tracks, virtually and mod format ever,
        including S3M and MTM. DSP is used for mixing, so little CPU time is
        used. Distributed with MegaTracker (see 4.1.2)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.3] Mac

For a description of Player Pro and Sound Tracker, the obviously most popular
Mac programs, see section 4.1.3

Rich "Akira" Pizor <pizor@lclark.edu> notes:

* The Macintosh-tracker. This freeware program plays MODs compatible with the
  Mar Epsie's Tracker, Player-Pro and the Sound-Tracker. It also features
  icons courtesy of Skaven and the Future Crew.

* Alpha-Tracker. This system extension is a tiny, faceless application that
  automatically plays randomly selected MODs in the background while you work.
  Slightly old, supports most 4-track formats.

* MusicBox XCMD. This XCMD for HyperCard adds a very functional MOD player to
  a HyperCard stack, allowing the more adventurous Mac owner to quickly and
  easily design their own MOD player. Supports most 4-track formats.

Lyman Green <lymang@uswsay.glaxo.com> adds on 21 Dec 1994:

* SoundApp 1.3.1 by Norman Franke will play or convert sound files dropped
  onto it. Currently, it supports: SoundCap, SoundEdit, AIFF, AIFF-C, System 7
  sound, Sun Audio AU, NeXT SND, Windows WAV, Creative VOC, Amiga MOD
  (including Oktalyzer, MED/OctaMED and some other variations with up to 32
  tracks), Amiga IFF/8SVX, Sound Designer II, DVI ADPCM, Studio Session
  Instruments and any 'snd' resource file. SoundApp can convert all of these
  formats to System 7 sound, sound suitcase, AIFF, WAV and NeXT formats.
  SoundApp can also convert QuickTime soundtracks and audio CD tracks to AIFF,
  System 7 sound or suitcase formats. Mod playback is PowerPC-accelerated on
  Power Macs.
  Notice on mod format compatibility: SoundApp only supports those mods which
  Sound Trecker 2.2 supports. These include varieties of MOD derivates with up
  to 32 tracks (M.K., M!K!, FLT4/8, 5CHN-9CHN, 10CH-32CH), Oktalyzer,
  MED/OctaMED (modern MMD0/1/2 format). SoundApp does not support MTM or S3M
  formats. Native code will be used for mod playback if run on a Power Mac.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.4] MS-DOS

- Inertia Player 1.2
  IPlay plays MOD/STM/S3M/669/FAR/MTM/UNIS/ULT/WOW on GUS/PAS16/Windows Sound
  System/SB16(ASP)/SB Pro/SB/Covox(DAC8) on LPT1/Stereo-on-1 on LPT1/Adlib/ PC
  Speaker/General MIDI. Most (but by no means all) effects are played more
  accurately than by DMP. Looks pretty spiffy and features 256x oversampling.
  Has a built-in file selector, but no playlists. Supports S3M panning only
  for the unofficial Xxx command, S8x (official panning) is ignored. Freeware.
  By Stefan Danes and Ramon van Gorkom of Inertia.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/iplay120.arj

- Dual Module Player 3.01
  DMP plays MOD/STM/SM/669/FAR/MTM on a wide variety of hardware. It is good
  for an approximation of a lot of mods, but doesn't guarantee correct
  playback of anything. Does not support UNIS/ULT/OKT/WOW. Has software
  filters and quality mode, supports both flavours of MOD and S3M stereo
  panning. Also supports archives. Does not feature integrated file selector
  or playlists. Cardware. By Otto Chrons. Otto is supposed to issue a final
  release of DMP without bugfixes and then bring DMP, which is obviously only
  a side effect of Otto's DSMI, to an end.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/dmp301.zip
  Note: A protected mode version is also available, under the filename
        dmp32295.zip

- CapaMOD 2.09
  CMOD plays MOD and S3M files. Gravis Ultrasound ONLY! Claims to be the most
  ProTracker-compliant MS-DOS player. S3M support has been added in version 2
  and is very good by now (S8x and Xxx panning, mono/stereo detection). This
  player is rubberware (you're supposed to send the dude a condom). :) By
  Heikki Ylinen (flap/Capacala)
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/cmod209.zip

- MDP 1.1
  Future Crew's Music Disk Player. Plays MOD, STM and S3M on SoundBlaster,
  SoundBlaster Pro and GUS. Configurable for Music Disks. Is available in
  Future Crew's Music Disks. Plays S3M pretty much like ST3.01 itself (I
  haven't noticed differences), MOD compatibility is somewhat questionable.
  MDP does not support the new commands and features introduced by Scream
  Tracker 3.2. By PSI/Future Crew. Freeware.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/disks/chmind.zip

- Renaissance Music Player 1.2.
  Plays 4, 6, 8 and 16 track MODs, S3Ms and MTMs (both up to 16 tracks) on
  GUS, SB, SB Pro, SB 16, PAS, PAS16, AudioTrix Pro. Designed for ProTracker
  compatibility (except effects E0 and EF). S3Ms and MTMs may not be played
  100% accurate (but panning works fine). EMS/XMS support. 16 bit DMAs might
  not work with PAS16 and SB16. Doesn't feature playlists, file selector or
  archive support. Freeware. By Daredevil and Starscream of Renaissance.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/rmp120.zip

- Triton's PMP (no version number)
  Don't confuse this one with the DSMI-originated PMP, the old protected-mode
  companion to DMP. This one plays XMs, MODs and S3Ms (on GUS for sure, has
  anybody tried other cards?), but S3M support is poor at best. Packaged with
  FT2.03, it features no documentation at all. :(  At least, I haven't been
  able to find any. This player has NO frills at all, it doesn't show or tell
  you anything apart from the size of your memory.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/ft203.zip
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.5] OS/2

From David E. Wach <dave@gladstone.uoregon.edu> on 10 Nov 1994:

Well, this is what I found: ftp  hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/2_1/mmedia/dmply101.zip
This is the latest version (1.01) of "Digital Music Player" (or DMPlayer.exe)
It currently supports only .mod's, but also plays .avi, .mid, and .wav.
You must have MMPMOS/2 (included with os/2) installed.  It doesn't play 
as well as dos-hosted players,... Should run pretty well on 486dx33 or better
with improved sound quality.  Supports mono and stereo (no surround), 8 and 16
bit modes, and includes bass, treble, balance and volume controlls.
(Shareware can't save playlists)
Supports all MMPMOS/2 supported cards (ie. anything that would be running
under os/2 anyway (which is most everything)).

There is also /os2/2_1/mmedia/tracker.zip which is another .mod-only 
player, but it is rather buggy.  However it includes the source code, so 
it might be of interest to hackers.

One last thing at hobbes.nmsu.edu in /os2/2_1/mmedia is pmixos2.zip which 
is a Pro-Audio Spectrum 16 mixer for os/2.  Don't know how good it is, i 
have a SB16!  

Hope this helps, and glad to be of service.  Keep up the posts to 
alt.binaries.music.mods!!!!  ;->    [I just had to leave this in ;) - jester]

By the way, i was a little mis-leading.  I CAN run Mod4Win in a WinOS/2
session.  DMPlayer is the only NATIVE OS/2 mod player i know of.  The only
thing i have to do to Mod4Win to make it run with os/2 is to reduce its
number of buffers.  And I usually run it in a full-screen WinOS/2 session
(which makes some win apps. a little more stable).                       -dave

John Roland writes on 12 Nov 94 that DMPlayer 1.01 (and an early-stage beta)
is also available by ftp from ftp-os2.cdrom.com/pub/os2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.6] UNIX (and Sun, NeXt, Linux)

Thanks to Aaron J. Luz <ajl8039@ultb.isc.rit.edu> and Andrew Robinson
<robinson@cnj.digex.net> for this information.

The players mentioned here are ftp'able from sunsite.unc.edu (and probably its
mirrors) in /pub/Linux/apps/sound/players. A Sound-HOWTO is in it's alpha
stages at tsx-11.mit.edu, which mentions mod-players.

- GMOD 1.3g
  GMOD is a music module player for Linux and the GUS. Supports 4/6/8 track
  MOD, 669, MTM, ULT and S3M. Requires a GUS and GUS sequencer drivers 2.4 or
  greater. By Andrew J. Robinson <robinson@cnj.digex.net>. Freely
  distributable.
  Filename at the site mentioned above: gmod-1.3g.tgz

- S3MOD 1.05
  This is a trackered music player. It is capable of playing S3M files in
  addition to 4, 6 and 8 track MOD files. Requires either a /dev/dsp
  compatible device or a GUS (/dev/sequencer) and the VoxWare sound drivers by
  Hannu Savolainen. By Daniel L. Marks <dlm40629@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>. Freely
  distributable and usable source code, copyright retained.
  Filename at the site mentioned above: s3mod-v1.05.tar.gz

- Tracker 4.3
  This is a fully-fledged protracker/soundtracker module player that is mostly
  portable. It now runs successfully on the Amiga, Silicon Graphics, Sparc,
  Linux...
  Filename at the site mentioned above: tracker-4.3-linux.tar.gz

Other mod-related files in the directory mentioned above include mod-0.6.tgz,
which plays music stored in various module formats, and pgmod-1.00a.tgz, a
mod player for GUS with new GUS low-level driver.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[3.7] Windows

- MOD4WIN 2.11
  Plays MOD/STM/S3M/669/FAR/MTM/UNIS/OKT/WOW on a Windows asynchronous wave
  driver (no PC speaker). Up to 16 bits, 48kHz. Features surround sound, IDO,
  panning, integrated file selection, playlists, file management and archiver
  support. Most effects are more reliable than DMP or IPlay. By Kay Bruns, Uwe
  Zaenker and Jens Puchert. Shareware $30, runs for 30 days.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/m4w211sx.zip

- WinMOD Pro (current version 0.04)
  This information supplied by Frenchy (Tim Fries) <ad082@detroit.freenet.org,
  frenchy@dynahill.com>:
  Plays MOD/NST/STM files in Windows 3.1 or greater through a sound card's
  asynchronous sound driver (most cards except PC Speaker and AdLib Drivers).
  Plays up to 44,000kHz in Stereo. Features playlists, drag and drop and
  archive support. Doesn't run too well in the background, especially at
  anything over 8,000kHz, mono. Postware (send a postcard to the author).
  Written by James Holderness (holderne@beastie.cs.und.ac.za).
  FTP: ftp.cica.indiana.edu/pub/win3/sound/wmp004b.zip

- WinMOD
  Very simple player capable of playing MOD (which subtypes is unknown to me)
  files on 386SX and better computers running Windows 3.1 and equipped with a
  sound card capable of playing digital samples and an according driver. This
  is a very small, rather basic and absolutely no-frills player. Programmed by
  Norbert Unterberg.
  FTP: ftp.cica.indiana.edu/pub/win3/sound/winmod10.zip
==============================================================================

[4] Creating Mods

I consider it pretty normal for most people to tire of simply listening to the
tunes others have made after a while and to decide to use (perhaps waste) some
time in composing some of their own. This is where you need a tracker.

You might also want to convert this fabulous MIDI arrangement you downloaded
from someplace to a mod so you could muck around with it a bit, or simply to
be able to listen to it with digital instruments (if you're stuck with
SB/Adlib FM MIDI). You then need a converter and probably a tracker for
post-processing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[4.1] Trackers
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[4.1.1] Amiga

This section supplied by Steven Innell <spi@dcs.qmw.ac.uk> on Thu, 24 Nov 94

- Protracker V3.15

Probably the most used tracker until recently (with people using versions of
Octamed in preference). This tracker is the most up-to-date mod creator for
the amiga, based on the original Soundtracker interface (although highly
upgraded). This version was re-written by Cryptoburners, and has plenty of
editing options including simple sample manipulation (sampling, reverb,
reverse, cut/paste etc.), but, as of yet, does not have a midi option, nor
does it support any form of synthetic sound generation. It does however have
an option for using 14-bit samples, although these are few and far between.

It is a daunting program to use at first, especially if you have never had the
experience of using any tracker on the amiga (e.g. Soundtracker/Noisetracker/
Protracker V1-2.3), since this version uses the sample effect commands found
in those older version...and unlike the older versions, this does not have
on-line help listing the effects, and what they do.

Protracker is Freeware, with no form of registration/shareware fees to be
paid. A new version (3.20) was supposed to be out, but as of yet I have been
unable to find it. It can be found on Aminet under mus/edit/pt315.lha.

Protracker is a 4-channel editor, and always will be only that. Protracker
will run on all versions of WB.


- OctaMed (V5)

This tracker started way back as a clone of Soundtracker 2.5, and was called
MEDV1.13. It grew and changed till V3 became the basis of octamed (an
8-channel tracker). Med all versions up to OctaMed V1 are freeware..V2-5 are
Shareware, and can be purchased from Ray Burt-Frost at:

RBF Software
169 Dale Valley Road
HollyBrook
Southampton
SO1 6QX
England

(0703) 785680  - Voice/Answerphone
(0703) 703446  - Fax

Email: rbfsoft@cix.compulink.co.uk

(c) Teijo Kinnuen & RBF Software

This program (V5) is now fully protracker compatible, in that it now imports
protracker modules, and will play them at the correct speed. It also has the
option for using some of protrackers shortcut keyboard commands. This version
of Octamed also now has a vastly improved front end. It opens its own window
on the Workbench, and uses proper intuition gadgets/menus. It is very easy to
work around, and comes with on-line amigaguide help. (There is also the manual
on disk - as a guide if you wish to look up something). Octamed allows for the
creation of synthetic sounds via its own special editor, which may take a
while to get used to. It also has good sampling capabilities and editing of
samples. This program also allows for the use of midi equipment, providing
16-channels of midi on to of the 4/8 amiga channels. However, be
warned...using 8 channels slows the machine, and reduces sample quality..it is
not advised. There is a High Quality mode which tries to increase the quality
of samples when played in 8 ch mode, but it requires a 68020 or higher to be
in your machine (030 really at least).

Octamed also has the ability to vary the length of patterns up to a maximum of
999 rows/pattern. This allows for better structuring of the way you create
your tune, so whereas before you may have had to shove a patternbreak in a few
rows before the end of the pattern, now you can just increase the length of
the pattern et voila!.

Octamed has a variety of ways of saving the tunes you create in it. It can
save as its format (MMD2), Octamed2-4 (MMD1) or Protracker. You can also use
compression, the two modes being offered are LH (requires Lh.library) or
Powerpacker (requires Powerpacker.library v35 at least). You can save
with/without instruments, although you'll probably end up saving as a tracker
mod, as this is more widely playable on other formats....be warned
however...protracker doesnt support some of the commands available in Octamed
(8 ch mode - midi - extended/shortened patterns - synthetic sounds) so if they
are used, they will not appear in the tracker version, and so the mod will not
sound/behave as you may have expected.

It has to be said, octamed is a very powerful program, and is laid out in a
nice fashion. However, it may not appeal to everyone, and so they may consider
using protracker. I am one of these people..I just cannot get on with Octamed
at all ;- )..but there you go!...

A freely distributable version of Octamed can be found on Aminet under:

Octa5.lha     mus/edit   618K   - demo of V5
OctaMed.lzh  mus/edit  384K   - demo of octamed V3 (I think)

If you are really luck, you may still be able to get V3 and/or 4 of octamed
from a back issue of CU Amiga, or get V5 from a back issue of Amiga
Format...otherwise its gonna cost about 30 UKP.


- Noise/Soundtrackers - see above on protracker, as these are all alike except
v2.6 of soundtracker..which used a different approach to making the mods.


- StarTrekker (Vers unknown sorry ;-)

This is a mod editor in the same vain as Octamed. It has a layout the same as
the old sound/noisetrackers, but also has the ability to use 8
channels...hoever 8 channel mode sounds really bad, and you are better off
using octamed, or protracker.

Availability of the above: almost nill....some PD houses may still stock them


- FTM (Face The Music)

This is an 8 channel mod editor. The mods it produces are usually of very good
quality (even on a straight A500), although the program itself is very fiddly
to use. I cannot say much about this program as I havent really used it much
at all. There is a demo of it on Aminet though, under:

FTM_Demo.lha  biz/demo   381K

It is a shareware demo...and I cant remember the Reg. fee...sorry =8*)


- Future Composer V1.3/4

This is a wholly synthetic mod editor (saying that..it does allow the use of
samples). It does not import/export tracker mods though. This program is very
old (1989 ish) and is very fiddly to use..even with the manual printed out and
In front of me. The tunes this "tracker" generates sound a lot like the 8-bit
machines tunes (eg C64 music).  Some of the tunes are however very nice
sounding, its just a shame the program is so damn hard to use ;-)

Availability: almost nill...some PD houses may have them...but apart from that
I cant say where they can be obtained... They are freeware though.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[4.1.2] Atari ST

Thanks to Dan <cs93dlh@dcs.ex.ac.uk> for this information.

Note: To the best of Dan's knowledge, the programs mentioned here can be
    downloaded via ftp from atari.archive.umich.edu/pub/atari/ and its
    mirrors. A lot of them are also available from micros.hensa.ac.uk, but
    gopher of WWW access to this site is mich preferred to ftp as they have a
    weird directory structure.

Atari ST: There is a port of ProTracker from the Amiga. This will allow you to
    create 4-track MODs.

Atari STE/TT/Mega STE: To create mods on these machines, you basically have a
    choice of two programs - ProtrackerSTE or Octalyser

    ProtrackerSTE is an upgraded port of ProTracker from the Amiga. It handles
    only 4 tracks, but has the full PT command set and gives good quality
    playback. (Note there are also a bundle of PT clones for these machines,
    such as Esion)

    Octalyser is an 8-track tracker. You need a fast STE or a TT to playback
    all 8 tracks though. Octalyser will let you create or play back 4, 6 or 8
    track mods. It will load many different mod formats, but not S3M or MTM.
    Sound quality is quite good.

Atari Falcon030: For creating mods on this machine, there are basically three
    main choices:

    Octalyser (mentioned above) has drivers for the enhanced sound system,
    thus giving good quality playback, but only 4, 6 and 8 track mod formats,
    not S3M or MTM.

    MegaTracker - 32 track tracker. All tracker commands and practically all
        mod formats are supported including S3M and MTM. Unbelievable speed
        and quality are produced by the DSP mixing. Unfortunately, the
        instructions have not yet been translated from french, but it is only
        a matter of time.

    Digital Tracker - 32 track tracker. Supports almost all tracker commands
        and formats, although it hangs on some S3Ms. this is commercial
        software and only a demo is available, which has certain restrictions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[4.1.3] Mac

Barry Nathan <barryn@netcom.com> writes on Thu, 17 Nov 1994:

Player Pro: $20 shareware. Can access the sound chip directly, so it takes
less processor time than SoundTrecker. It'll still work when new Macs with
new sound chips come out, because it can also use the regular Sound
Manager 3.0 if necessary, like when the PowerMacs came out and Player Pro
didn't support their sound chip. Only edits its own format, MADF, but it
can import and export MOD, S3M, MIDI, and some other formats I can't
remember right now. Used to have a few bugs, but the latest (4.2) only has
bugs with the S3M import module, and then only on PowerMacs. Upgrades are
free, except for the upgrade from the disk to the (not yet released)
CD-ROM version (which will have extra instruments and songs), which will
cost $20 for an upgrade and $40 for a full purchase. Unlike Sound-Trecker,
it is fully PowerMac-native, which means it FLIES by on a PowerMac.

Rich "Akira" Pizor adds: Player Pro disables all but the most basic features
until the shareware fee is paid, much to the chagrin of many Mac MOD
enthusiasts.

Sound-Trecker: $40 shareware. Partially, but not fully, PMac native, but 
it can do simulated surround sound for headphones or (I think...) Dolby 
Surround decoders. However, with the Surround option, the fact that it's 
not fully native really shows, as you hear clicks when you try to do 
other stuff. However, the slowdown isn't that severe on normal Macs. The 
two other advantages are that it can play (Okta)MEDs, which Player Pro 
can't handle, and some MODs play better with it than Player Pro. Keep in 
mind that with the extra features and bug fixes with Player Pro 4.2, most 
MODs play -much- better with Player Pro, though, and PP is cheaper.

Rich "Akira" Pizor adds: Sound-Tracker is a shell program which plays formats
based on plug-ins, providing for maximum flexibility, since plug-ins can
easily be written whenever a new format is introduced. Currently, most of the
standard 4- and 8-track MOD formats are supported. Also available is a plug-in
that makes it PowerPC native. It is also known for having one of the better
interfaces of Mac MOD players. The resoucres for creating/editing MODs are
present, yet the appropriate menu items are geryed out. I've not met anyone
who could explain this anomaly to me. The two theories I've heard are that you
get editing capabilities if you register the program (German ReadMe not too
well understood) or that the resources are simply sitting there while the
author learns how to integrate the corresponding features into a later release
of the program.

Both are available from sumex-aim.stanford.edu, in /info-mac/snd/util (I 
think). However, sumex itself is hardly accessible, and one of its 
mirrors (like <URL:ftp://ftp.hawaii.com://mirrors/info-mac/snd/util> will 
be better.

MacModPro 3.0.1 by Ian Mouton is a fully-featured MOD editor and all of its
options are enabled from the start so you can jump right in and get to work on
your masterpiece. The interface is fairly easy to work with, but the poor
documentation and absence of instrument files makes it at best difficult for
beginners. MacModPro can read just about any file you can currently play on a
Mac (except S3M), but only supports 4-track MODs. The documentation claims
that MacModPro saves in a format that isn't readable by other players and that
it will save in formats compatible with other players only if you register.
This doesn't seem to be entirely true though (Akira and I tested one file and
my system played it fine).
FTP:??
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[4.1.4] MS-DOS

MS-DOS users have quite a few trackers available to them nowadays, with
capabilities superior to first-generation mods. Beta releases and unpopular
trackers are not mentioned, the ones listed should suffice to get you started.
That'd include:

- Scream Tracker 3.2 - programmed by PSI of Future Crew. Supports GUS, SB, SB
    Pro. Edits up to 32 digital tracks (but plays only up to 16), 99
    instruments (S3M format supports 255), features a superset of the
    ProTracker command set (but some effects are handled a little different),
    8 bit samples with adjustable C4Spd (S3M format allows for 16 bit ADPCM
    packed stereo samples), 9 Adlib FM channels (only playable on SB or SB
    Pro) and 8 octaves. Features separate volume column (and track panning
    available in most players). Extensive block commands and editing
    capabilities make this one of the best trackers around nowadays. Version
    3.2 is extensively bugfixed over the previous release. Writes in S3M and
    MOD formats (but S3M to MOD conversion is NOT recommended!). Reads S3M,
    STM (perfect), M.K., 6CHN, 8CHN, Oktalyzer MOD, 5 to 10 track MOD (pretty
    good MOD loader) and a proprietary import format. Has an own sample
    format, which it shares with Advanced Digiplayer, but ST3 can also read
    raw 8-bit samples (signed and unsigned). MOD samples (signed 8-bit) can be
    imported by loading a MOD that uses them into ST3 (all information is
    retained). Freeware.
 FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/scrmt32.zip

- FastTracker II - programmed by Mr H and Vogue of Triton. Supports GUS, SB
    and SB Pro. Edits up to 32 tracks, 128 instruments, multi-sampled
    intruments (up to 16 samples per instrument), volume and panning envelopes
    for instruments, instrument panning, 4 GB maximum sample size,
    bidirectional looping, variable pattern length, built-in sample editor and
    sampler, 256 patterns, separate volume/panning/vibrato column, claims full
    MIDI support. Imports MOD, STM, S3M type mods (S3M import is buggy, and
    imported MODs and S3Ms lose panning info), imports GUS patches, raw
    samples (signed and unsigned) and IFF samples. Samples can be 8 or 16
    bits. Sample tuning by finetune and relative note value. Shareware $20.
 FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/ft203.zip
    Note: Due to numerous problems with FT2, Triton has seemingly decided to
          write an FAQ for it. Check comp.sys.ibm.pc.demos for up to date
          information. The filename is supposed to be similar to FT2FAQ10.ZIP.

- MultiTracker Module Editor 1.01b - programmed by Daniel Goldstein aka
    Starscream of Renaissance. Supports GUS, SB and SB Pro. Edits up to 32
    tracks, 31 instruments, features the PT command set (which is not
    completely compatible), 8 bit samples (MTM format can store 16 bits).
    Features track panning. Imports raw samples and GUS patches (only
    registered). Loads MOD, 669, MTM and FAR mods, more formats planned. Right
    now, loading anything but MTM is not recommended (FAR and 669 sound bad).
    Shareware $24.95
 FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/mtm101b.zip

- Farandole Composer 1.00 - programmed by Daniel Potter of Digital Infinity.
    Supports GUS only. Edits 16 tracks, 64 instruments, an own command set
    (does not claim to be PT-compliant), 8 and 16 bit sample support, sample
    size up to 1 Meg, imports MOD, 669, GUD PAT and ST3/Digiplayer samples.
    Features separate volume column and track panning. Loads MOD, 669, ULT
    (buggy) mods. Uses SVGA to display all tracks on screen simultaneously in
    132x50 mode. Has a built-in sample editor. Shareware $15. The FAR format
    is not very well supported (outside this tracker).
 FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/far100.arj

- UltraTracker v1.6 - programmed by MAS of Prophecy. Supports GUS. Edits up to
    32 tracks, 8 and 16 bit instruments, variable C2Spd with finetune,
    bidirectional looping, instrument panning, 255 patterns, subset of the PT
    commands, two effect slots per note. Built-in sample editor. Imports S3M,
    MOD, 669, FAR and MTM mods. Imports IFF, PAT, WAV, FSM, SND and raw sample
    types. Mouse driven. Shareware $20. The ULT format is not very well
    supported (outside this tracker).
 FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/ultra160.zip

- FastTracker 1 - programmed by Mr H of Triton. Supports SB, SB Pro,
    Soundplayer, DAC, Internal Speaker. Edits 4, 6 or 8 tracks, 31
    instruments, 8-bit samples of 64KB maximum size, ProTracker command set,
    track panning supported by external players, 100 patterns. Relatively
    simple, easy to use tracker, which is good for starters, but it suffers
    from its output formats' deficiencies. Partly mouse driven. Freeware.
 FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/ftracker.zip

- ModEdit (current version reported to be v3.01) - programmed by Norman Lin.
    Supports SB, DAC and the internal speaker using Mark J. Cox's playing
    routine. Edits only M.K. format. Mouse-driven menu interface. This
    editor's main quality is its sort-of-musical notation. Whereas almost all
    other trackers display the tracks vertically and notes are only
    discernible by their key character, ModEdit displays the current pattern
    horizontally and the notes on a vertical spread. This editor is old but
    could suit some people to get started on. It has a very good
    documentation, which can unfortunately be a bit misleading at times,
    however. Shareware $??
 FTP:??
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[4.1.5] OS/2

NHY
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[4.1.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXt)

NHY
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[4.1.7] Windows

Most mod trackers in the IBM PC world are coded by demo coders. Most of these
dudes detest Microsoft Windows. There isn't a tracker available for it yet,
sorry.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[4.2] Converters

Conversion between mod formats and especially conversion from/to non-mod music
file formats is pretty sure to lose some information of the original piece.
In most of the cases, there is no way around this. You can't, for example,
convert a 16-track S3M using Qxy and excessive volume commands to a 4-track
M.K.. The M.K. just can't hold the information. It is possible, on the other
hand, to convert a M.K. to S3M very accurately. There are a few minor
incompatibilities, but these would hardly be noticeable by many.
Conversions to and from MIDI are also very difficult to get done right with
today's mod formats. MIDI files, while seemingly similar, have a very
different command set from mods. Only one of the differences is that the MIDI
output device 'knows' how to process its sounds when it receives commands from
the MIDI file/player, for example how fast to decay a piano waveform. This
information is not stored in the MIDI file itself, but a mod would have it
included. A converter has no means of asking the MIDI device how it would
handle a certain situation (this is not completely correct, at least when
using a GUS, the patches could be parsed), so it has to assume certain things.
I suppose, however, that better converters could do the trick if they were
programmed for certain situations (I think a converter that creates mod
instruments by itself from a GUS' patches, for example, could accurately
convert from MIDI to an advanced mod format such as S3M, XM or ULT).
But did you want to know any of this?
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[4.2.1] from MIDI

- PTMID 0.3  - converts General MIDI files to MOD (i.e. M.K., 6CHN and 8CHN)
  and MTM files. To do this, it relies on a configuration file which specifies
  the samples to be used, the number of tracks to generate and the
  resolution to use. A careful setup is therefore absolutely necessary if
  anything good is going to emerge. The resulting mods will generally still
  require some re-editing in a mod editor. MS-DOS, command-line driven. Seems
  like it's freeware. By Andrew Scott (ascott@tartarus.uwa.edu.au)
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/convert/ptmid.zip
       x2ftp.oulu.fi:/pub/msdos/programming/convert/ptmid3.zip
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[4.2.2] Module Format Converters

Amiga (this subsection supplied by Heikki Kantola <hkantola@cc.helsinki.fi>):

There's several "exotic" mod formats for Amiga which are usually just
differently packed ProTracker variants and therefore pretty easy to convert to
normal PT format. There are at least the following mod converters on Aminet
(see section 6.1; unless a path is given, the files mentioned below reside in
mus/misc/):

- Perverter-V1.41.lha - Converts exotic mods to MOD

- Pro-Wizard.lha - Convert many music formats to PT

- xmodule26b.lha - Music module converter v2.6b

And then also a bit weirder ones:

- mus/edit/smus2mod.lha - Convert SMUS music files to MOD files

- mus/midi/Mod2Midi10.lha - Convert MODs to General MIDI type 1 files


MS-DOS:

- M2AMF - supplied with DMP (see MS-DOS players), this generates an AMF file
  from all file formats understood by DMP. AMF files are generally smaller
  than the corresponding MOD files. However, DMP is the ONLY player for these
  files and conversion of AMF to other formats isn't possible yet, so it's a
  one-way street. And we all know that DMP, versatile as it may be, doesn't
  play anything (except AMF) right. By Otto Chrons.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/dmp301.zip

- ScreamTracker 3.2 contains the option to save mods as M.K., 6CHN, 8CHN, S3M.
  MOD output is, however, slightly inaccurate, since S3M commands are not
  fully ProTracker-compliant. Another deficiency arises from the variable
  C4Spd available in S3M. ST3 tries to finetune the samples, but doesn't
  perform any resampling or note adjustments. This means that an instrument
  with a C4Spd of above 8795Hz or below 7902Hz (or integer multiples of these)
  will sound off tune if the note isn't adjusted in the resulting MOD. By
  PSI/FC.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/scrmt32.zip

- 669 to MOD v1.0 - converts 669 to 8CHN mods - (c)1993 by Kenneth Galbraith
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/6692mod.zip

- MOD to 669 - converts PT mods to 669 - (c)1993 by DTown Inc.
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/mod2669.zip

- MTM to MOD v1.1 - converts MTM to MOD - (c) Daniel Goldstein (StarScream)
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/mtmmod11.zip
       (also packaged with MultiModule Editor 1.01b)

- STX2STM v1.0 - converts STX (STMIK 0.2) back to STM - (c)1994 by Lutz Roeder
  FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/stx2stm.zip

- TOAMIGA - converts STM to PT MOD. Comes with the old MOD-Player MP219b by
            Mark J. Cox
  FTP:??
============================================================= end of part 1 ==

-- 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 jester   (Tobias Reckhard)            jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de

                 FAQ maintainer for alt.binaries.sounds.mods

   Obtaining the FAQ: - finger jester@rbhp21.rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de
                      - WWW http://grfn.org/~zaphod/absm-faq/index.html
                      - send email to jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de

  you speak to me in riddles and you speak to me in rhymes - Sarah McLachlan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!jussieu.fr!univ-lyon1.fr!swidir.switch.ch!scsing.switch.ch!news.dfn.de!zeus.rbi.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de!terra.wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de!news.th-darmstadt.de!rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de!jester
From: jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Tobias Reckhard)
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sounds.mods,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: alt.binaries.sounds.mods FAQ v1.3 part 2/2
Followup-To: poster
Date: 10 Jan 1995 13:09:31 GMT
Organization: TU Darmstadt
Lines: 1361
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <3eu0ub$1l98@rs18.hrz.th-darmstadt.de>
Reply-To: jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de
NNTP-Posting-Host: rbhp68.rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and their
         answers) about mods, i.e. digital sound modules. Read this before
         posting to alt.binaries.sounds.mods
Keywords: mod faq binary
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.binaries.sounds.mods:11275 alt.answers:6736 news.answers:32772

Archive-name: sound-file-format/mod-faq/part2
Posting-Frequency: every 14 days
Last-modified: 1995/01/09
Version: 1.3

======================================================= MOD-FAQ part 2 of 2 ==
     FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) LIST FOR ALT.BINARIES.SOUNDS.MODS
                official release v1.3 dated 09.01.95 (DDMMYY)

 READ THIS BEFORE POSTING A QUESTION TO A.B.S.MODS, IT MIGHT BE ANSWERED HERE

THIS IS THE SECOND OF TWO PARTS OF THIS FAQ, WHICH HAS BEEN SPLIT BECAUSE IT'S
               LENGTH MIGHT OTHERWISE OFFEND SOME NEWSREADERS.

Maintained by jester (Tobias Reckhard),  jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de

Copyright notice: This FAQ is copyright (c) 1995 by jester (Tobias Reckhard),
    all rights reserved.
    This FAQ may be posted to any Usenet newsgroup, on-line service or BBS as
    long as it is posted in its entirety and includes this copyright
    statement.
    This FAQ may not be distributed for financial gain.
    This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections or compilations
    without express permission from the maintainer.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this document is believed to be
    correct, but the originators will not be held responsible for any negative
    effects of its contents. Anything positive is, of course, our doing ;)

    (Main sections are separated by a line of 78 equal signs (as below),
     subsections by 78 minusses, sub-subsections by 39 times "- " (corny ;) )
==============================================================================

[5] Samples

Samples are of crucial importance in mods. Good samples make the difference
between a quite-good and a great mod. And since custom samples are one of
mods' greatest advantages, a lot of attention should be paid to a wise choice
in samples.

It is important to know the main two qualities a sample has, the resolution,
i.e. number of bits, and its sampling rate. The number of bits in a sample
denote its ability to distinguish between levels of amplitude, a higher number
of bits can grasp a sound more accurately than a low one. The sampling rate is
directly related to the highest frequency that can be reproduced by the
sample. A sample with a sampling rate of 40kHz, for example (kHz means 1000Hz,
1Hz is one oscillation per second), can reproduce sounds of up to 20kHz. This
means that low sampling rates can be used to reproduce low sounds, but
reproduction of high frequencies (cymbals, but also pianos) require higher
sampling rates. The theory behind this is known as the Nyquist theorem.

Another aspect of mods is the maximum size a sample is allowed to have. This
varies in the file formats from 64 Kilobytes to virtually unlimited size. Note
that some trackers impose harsher limits on sample length than the formats
they output. The solution offered to the sample size problem is sample
looping. Well placed loop points make quite a difference in sustained
instruments, so spend enough time here.

Sample formats seem to be a very confusing subject in the mod community.
Especially SAM and SMP don't seem to be at all well understood. Keep in mind
that filename extensions can be arbitrarily chosen and changed in most
operating systems, so they lose any identifier quality. Thus I consider sample
formats those files which can be identified by some sort of header. SAM and
SMP, when meaning MOD (i.e. M.K., xCHN, FLTx, NST, etc.) samples, do not have
any header. They are simply data assembled in a file. A tracker using them
decodes them to 8-bit raw signed sample data. But it assumes a playback rate
to be used. Normally, finetune and loop values can not be stored in MOD
samples (Fasttracker 1 circumvents this problem by abusing the file's date and
time stamp). The only safe method to exchange MOD samples is to use these in
MOD files and exchange these (if there are other safe ways on the Amiga or
another platform, please correct me). See section 5.1.3 on how to convert to
"SAM format".

Additional information can be found (and is strongly recommended) in:

The Audio File Formats FAQ by Guido van Rossum <guido@cwi.nl>, posted to
alt.binaries.sounds.{misc,d} and comp.dsp once a fortnight, and available in
distributed hypertext form as http://voorn.cwi.nl/audio-formats/a00.html.

PATREF24.ZIP - Windows Help file describing how to convert a variety of
samples to GUS-usable patches. Most of the information supplied is very handy
in any type of instrument sample conversion. 2PAT is also supplied, a Windows
sample conversion utility (great!). This file is available at the GUS sites,
see section 6.1.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[5.1] Acquisition
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[5.1.1] Sampling

To be done, any volunteers? I haven't done it and could probably provide some
hints, but maybe someone who's actually sampled would like to fill this out.
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[5.1.2] 'Ripping'

Using samples made by other people and acquired by saving out of their mods is
generally known as ripping. I won't debate on the ethical aspects of this
subject and I suggest nobody does. It has been discussed before.

Just about any tracker enables you to save the samples in a mod. So all you've
got to do is load the song you want a sample from into a compatible tracker
and save it. There are other programs that enable you to rip samples from mods
too, one of them being DMPC, Dual Module Player Companion by Brad Meier of
Psychic Software, a mod player shell for MS-DOS. While most trackers save
samples in their own proprietary format or as raw MOD-compatible samples, DMPC
saves to WAV/VOC/RAW.
FTP: ftp.tem.nctu.edu.tw/Msdos/sound/dmpc250.zip

If you don't have a tracker or a ripper, you can still obtain the samples in
mods by loading the file into a sample editor capable of loading raw sample
data. You will have to set the number of bits and style (signed or unsigned)
according to the format you're loading (MOD is signed 8 bit, S3M is unsigned 8
bit, for example). You will be presented with some static, which is the header
and pattern data, followed by the samples in the mod. Any decent sample editor
should enable you to cut out the individual samples. The next step would be to
get the sampling rate right, otherwise the samples will sound off key when
used. MOD samples generally use a sampling rate of 8363Hz for a C in the
second octave, so try this for starters (or an integer multiple). The more
advanced formats with variable CxSpds pose more of a problem, you're basically
left with your ears and perhaps a musical instrument to get them right. Note
that a lot of MOD samples are not tuned to C. Quite often, an A is played
instead when a C should be. See appendix I for a table of note frequencies to
help you calculate the appropriate sampling rate for transposing wrongly tuned
instruments.
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[5.1.3] Conversion From Other Formats

Sample conversion is covered in detail in the Patch Reference and the Audio
File Format FAQ (see section 5 on their obtainability).

The most general sample file converter is probably SOX, SOund eXchange
utility. It is available on most FTP servers as C source code and will run on
almost any platform. An MS-DOS compiled version exists under the name
SOX7DOS.ZIP. Note that version 10 is also available, but seems to contain some
bugs. See the audio file format FAQ for details.

Another MS-DOS utility is CONVERT, it features a wide range of input and
output formats. An interesting quality for this FAQ is its ability to extract
samples from mods of various formats. Conversion of samples to mod formats is
a bit lacking, though, but this is due to the rather large differences in the
formats concerned (GUS patches don't convert at all well, for example).
FTP:hornet.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/convert13.zip

Generally, most trackers read at least some form of raw sample data. If they
output to some form of MOD format, they most probably read 8-bit signed data,
while some PC trackers (most notably ST3) prefer unsigned samples. The more
modern trackers which read 16-bit samples will most probably read some
standard headered sample format, which makes conversion (with SOX, for
example) pretty easy, so I won't elaborate on it. See your sample editor's or
converter's documentation.

To convert a sample from one filetype so that you can use it in a tracker for
which only raw 8-bit data is suitable, you need:
- an input file (yeah, why else would you be reading this, but you do need it)
- a sample converter or editor that can write raw 8-bit data.
- if this program can't read your input file you need another program to
  convert it to an interchangeable format type, such as WAV, IFF/S8VX or VOC,
  which are readable by most converters and editors.

Go about it this way:
If necessary, convert the input file to the interchange format, leaving its
attributes untouched, if possible (which are the number of bits, channels and
sampling rate).
Now check to see if the sample will be suitable for the tracker. The main
things to look for are sample size in converted state and the sampling rate.
A lot of formats still impose limits on the sample size they are willing to
deal with. Let's assume you have a limit of 64 KB, i.e. 65536 bytes. And that
the tracker (or rather the format) uses 8-bit sample data. Assuming further
that you have an input file that is a 16-bit stereo sample, you must divide
that sample's size by four to estimate its size when converted so that it
suits your tracker ('s format). Four because you divide by two when converting
16 to 8 bits, and by two again because your tracker can only use mono samples
(sorry for having forgotten about this before). If the resulting approximate
filesize (which is approximate because you haven't accounted for the file
header in the calculation) is larger than your limit, write down your result
and look at the sampling rate of the input file and the note that it plays at
that sampling rate.
It could well be that your tracker ('s format) uses a fixed sampling rate to
reproduce a C in a certain octave and calculates the sampling rates to use for
other notes with reference to this "master C playback sampling rate" (also
known as CxSpd). So, if you have a sample with a different sampling rate than
this CxSpd, the sample will sound off tune. Remember that the C is THE
reference point in the tracker. This is getting too complicated, so I'll give
an example.
Say I want to convert this great Kurzweil 2000 patch for use in a M.K.
tracker, in my case FastTracker 1 (as it imposes even harsher limits than PT).
I know that FT1 only uses up to 64KB of a sample and that it uses raw 8-bit
signed mono data. I also know that M.K.'s root C is the C-2 and that the
playback sampling rate used for that note is 8287Hz for PAL Amiga systems (and
I'm in Europe and NTSC Amigas are far too rare for me to care about). That's
all I need to know about the target.

I know that my source KRZ file is a multi-sample with five 16-bit signed mono
samples in it. I use 2PAT or another program to tell me the KRZ file's
information, which gives me the number of individual samples in the file,
their note range, playback sampling rate and the note this rate represents.

I then use 2PAT to extract the individual samples to WAV files (actually I
already did that and looked up the information in the description file that
was generated simultaneously). I like the third of the five samples and want
to convert this one. The description reveals that it is 16-bit, mono and plays
an A at a sampling rate of 32kHz. I want to tune my sample to C, so I look up
appendix I in the MOD-FAQ and find that an A is associated to 440Hz and a C to
261.7Hz. From this I gather that I have to play the sample at ( 32000 * 261.7
/ 440 = 19033 )Hz so it sounds like a C. So that's the first thing I do, I
change the sample's playback rate to 19033Hz (NOTE: only changing the SPEED of
the sample, no resampling involved).

In my specific case, the sample I'm converting is not well suited to be played
at more than one octave (this is the case with a lot of real-instrument
samples). So I allow myself to use only the top M.K. octave (from C-3 to B-3)
and resample from 19033Hz to 16574Hz (2 * 8287Hz), which represents a C-3 in
M.K.. I do this while still in the 16 bit domain because of the larger
precision (aliasing faults are less severe and interpolation is more exact).

Then I convert the sample from 16-bit to 8-bit. If the input sample was pretty
quiet, I'd probably maximize its volume first, thereby taking advantage of the
16 bits of resolution and reducing rounding errors.

If my sample is now still larger than 64KB, I have four choices. I can
resample the sample to 8287Hz (no aliasing errors induced, as this is
downsampling by an integer) and halve the sample's size at the cost of losing
high frequencies. I can also resample to a different note somewhere in between
the C-2 and C-3, at the cost of having to transpose the instrument in the M.K.
later (i.e. pitch shifting, as the note shown by the tracker isn't correct).
My third choice is to crop the sample and find a good loop. My final choice is
to apply a volume envelope to the sample and have it fade out fast enough to
fit into the limit. Which method I choose depends on the sound I am
converting. Quite often a combination of several processes will yield the best
results.

When I've finished the sample editing process, I either save it in an
interchange format (if the editor doesn't support output in raw signed 8-bit
mono data) which my converter understands, or I write the sample data to disk
in raw signed 8-bit mono style. In the first case, I ask my converter to
perform the just described conversion. Assuming I have written a WAV file and
want to convert it to FT1-usable, I'd use SOX in the following manner:
sox -V infile.WAV -ts8 outfile.SMP     <- issued on the command line
I could then load outfile.SMP into FastTracker 1.

Hope this helps.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[5.2] Sample Editors
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[5.2.1] Amiga

NHY
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[5.2.2] Atari

NHY
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[5.2.3] Mac

NHY; see section 3.3 for information on SoundApp
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[5.2.4] MS-DOS

- Advanced Digiplayer 3.0 by PSI/Future Crew
  * SB & MS-DOS only sample editor
  * reads mono raw 8-bit and ST3-compatible samples and writes ST3 samples
  * features filters (hi- and low-pass), resmpling, volume commands (maximize,
    set, slide and smooth ends), DC shift, reverse, reverb, echo, cross fade,
    robotize, flange, chord making
  * two waveform editing windows
  * unofficial freeware
FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/programs/samplers/dp30.zip
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[5.2.5] OS/2

NHY
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[5.2.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXT)

NHY
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[5.2.7] Windows

- GoldWave 2.1 by Chris Craig <chris3@garfield.cs.mun.ca>
  * up to 5 waveforms editable in one session
  * undo function for all operations (can be turned off to save time)
  * support for AU (8/16 bits, U-Law), Amiga 8SVX/IFF, Matlab .MAT, raw or
    NeXT .SND, Microsoft RIFF .WAV, Creative Labs .VOC (no support for ADPCM
    compression)
  * functions include echo, transpose (using notes), filter, volume (fade
    in/out, shape, pan), mechanize, resample, interpolate, DC shift, invert,
    reverse
  * powerful expression evaluator to create new waveforms using mathematical
    expressions (this makes GoldWave very diverse, as it is thus possible to
    create own functions, given enough knowledge)
  * fully operational shareware $25
FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/samplers/gldwav21.zip

- Cool Edit v1.34 by David Johnston <davej67@aol.com>
  * fully resizable editing window
  * undo function for all transformations
  * multiple instances of Cool Edit can be loaded, copied to and pasted from
    in any mixture of wave formats
  * waves of any size can be edited, the limit being the amount of available
    hard drive space
  * support for PCM, Microsoft ADPCM and IMA/DVI ADPCM WAV, SoundBlaster VOC,
    raw PCM, SMP, ASCII Text, AU, Apple AIFF and more
  * all functions are highly configurable
  * functions include flange, echo (including 3D), speed manipulation,
    stretch, equalize, filter, compress/expand/limit dynamic range, normalize,
    DC shift, volume (fade in/out, pan), noise reduction, tone and noise
    generation
  * customizable toolbar (with a little work)
  * batch mode
  * scripts are usable, that will remember everything you did in a particular
    session
  * saveable presets for most functions
  * shareware $25 (suggested); unregistered versions force user-selectable
    function groups disabled
FTP: info.nic.surfnet.nl/mirror-archive/software/cica-win3/sounds/cool134.zip
     (This looks like a mirror of ftp.cica.indiana.edu, which I couldn't
      verify as it was too busy)
Note: I've spotted Cool Edit v1.34a at
      FTP:archive.epas.utoronto.ca/pub/pc/ultrasound/submit/cool134a.zip, but
      couldn't fetch it (time reasons). The file seemed to small for a
      complete version. It might be a patch. (Info appreciated)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[5.3] FTP Sites with Samples

Kurzweil 2000: ftp.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/kurzweil/sounds
EMAX: sweaty.palm.cri.nz/emax/emax1
SDS (Sample Dump Standard): alf.uib.no (129.177.30.3) /pub/midi/sds/samples
                            sweaty.palm.cri.nz/sds/samples
EPS-16+: ftp.reed.edu/eps/samples (these are also available on the WWW at URL:
                                  http://www.acs.oakland.edu/oak/eps/eps.html)
TX16W: ftp-ls7.informatik.uni-dortmund.de/tx16w/samples
AIFF: ftp.reed.edu/eps/samples/aiff
Roland Disk Images: lotus.waterloo.ca/pub/sgroups/samples
Yamaha SY-85 and 99: louie.udel.edu/pub/midi/patches/SY99
Microsoft WAV: ftp.funet.fi/pub/sounds/wav
==============================================================================

[6] Obtaining Mods
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[6.1] FTP Servers

General: The FTP servers mentioned hereafter allow for anonymous FTP. Log into
the server by specifying 'ftp <server address>', tell it 'ftp' when it asks
you for a login and supply it with your email address as a password.
Alternatively, use 'anonymous' as login and your email address as password.
Please remember that ftp is a privilege, not a right. Restrict your calls to
(the site's) non-business hours whenever possible.

The largest repository of mods is probably the Aminet. There are numerous FTP
servers all over the world mirroring it. A list follows:

>These are the members of Aminet and have the files from here.  All mirrors
>have the new files but most delete old files, however ftp.wustl.edu and
>ftp.cdrom.se keep all files.  Whenever possible, use the mirror that is the
>closest to your place.  Most mirrors get updated three times a day.
>
>USA (MO)     ftp.wustl.edu         128.252.135.4   pub/aminet/mods
>USA (CA)     ftp.cdrom.com         192.153.46.2    pub/aminet/mods
>USA (TX)     ftp.etsu.edu          192.43.199.20   pub/aminet/mods
>Scandinavia  ftp.luth.se           130.240.18.2    pub/aminet/mods
>Switzerland  ftp.eunet.ch          146.228.10.16   pub/aminet/mods
>Switzerland  litamiga.epfl.ch      128.178.151.32  pub/aminet/ (*)
>Germany      ftp.uni-paderborn.de  131.234.2.32    pub/aminet/mods
>Germany      ftp.uni-erlangen.de   131.188.3.2     pub/aminet/mods
>Germany      ftp.uni-bielefeld.de  129.70.4.55     pub/aminet/mods
>Germany      ftp.uni-oldenburg.de  134.106.40.9    pub/aminet/mods
>Germany      ftp.uni-kl.de         131.246.9.95    pub/aminet/mods
>Germany      ftp.uni-stuttgart.de  129.96.8.13     pub/aminet/mods
>Germany      ftp.uni-siegen.de     141.99.128.1    pub/aminet/mods
>Germany      ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de   130.149.17.7    pub/aminet/mods
>UK           ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk      146.169.2.1     pub/aminet/mods
>   (*) closed 6:30am to 4pm weekdays

Another good site for new mod releases is ftp.eng.ufl (Hornet/Wasp, IP
128.227.116.7), the main Internet site for PC demos and related material. Mods
can be found in the /pub/msdos/demos/music/songs directory, sorted by format
type. Note that due to diskspace limitations, mods usually don't stay on this
site for longer than a month. Hornet is mirrored by ftp.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4)
USA, ftp.luth.se (130.240.18.2) Sweden, ftp.sun.ac.za (146.232.212.21)
S.Africa, ftp.uni-erlangen.de (131.188.2.43) Germany, ftp.uni-paderborn.de
(131.234.10.42) Germany and ftp.cdrom.com (192.216.191.11) USA. Hornet also
publishes DemoNews on a weekly basis, it includes demo-related news and a list
of uploads and deletions. To subscribe, send email to
listserver@oliver.sun.ac.za with "subscribe demuan-list YOUR_NAME" (w/o
quotes) in the body of the message, substituting YOUR_NAME with, guess, yeah,
your name. You will then receive DemoNews weekly, it is sent out each Sunday
morning.

The GUS FTP sites also have a number of mods in their directories. Mods can be
found in the subdirectories 'sound/*'. The sites are:

Main N.American Site:  archive.orst.edu             pub/packages/gravis
                       wuarchive.wustl.edu          systems/ibmpc/ultrasound
Main Asian Site:       nctuccca.edu.tw              PC/ultrasound
European Callers ONLY: theoris.rz.uni-konstanz.de   pub/sound/gus
Submissions:           archive.epas.utoronto.ca     pub/pc/ultrasound/submit
Newly Validated Files: archive.epas.utoronto.ca     pub/pc/ultrasound
Mirrors:               garbo.uwasa.fi               mirror/ultrasound
Mailserver for Archive Access: Email to <mail-server@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de>

Following is a list of ftp servers taken from the MOD Charts list (these have
not been validated):

archie.au                       /micros/amiga/incoming/mods
ftp.germany.eu.net              /pub/comp/amiga/mods
ftp.informatik.uni-rostock.de   /pub/amiga/mods
ftp.uni-kl.de (131.246.9.95)    /pub/amiga/wuarchive/mods
                                /incoming/amiga/mods
ftp.uni-muenster.de             /pub/sounds/
ftp.uni-oldenburg.de            /pub/amiga/incoming/mods
ftp.brad.ac.uk                  /misc/mods/  and /incoming/mods/
ftp.funet.fi (128.214.6.100)    /pub/amiga/audio/modules
geocub.greco-prog.fr            /pub/incoming/amiga/mods
ftp.luth.se (130.240.16.3)      /pub/OS/amiga/mods
lysator.liu.se                  /pub/amiga/mods
ftp.uwp.edu (cs.uwp.edu)        /pub/music/sounds/mods
                                /pub/music/lists/btl/mods
                                /pub/incoming/sounds/mods
                                /pub/incoming/msdos/modplayer/mods
ftp.cso.uiuc.edu (128.174.5.59) /pub/amiga
ftp.mcs.kent.edu                /pub/SB-Adlib/ntmods
wuarchive.wustl.edu             /systems/amiga/incoming/mods
    (128.252.135.4)             /systems/amiga/audio/music
                                /mirrors4/amiga.physik.unizh.ch/amiga/mods

The site freedom.wit.com has around 150 KLF releases in /klf/songs - Jensi

On hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/32bit/multimedia/mod is a sizable archive of modules
(of various formats) available for ftp - Dave Wach

opus.mac.cc.cmu.edu maintained by Matthew E Centurion contains some mods from
a.b.s.mods and ftp sites. Use Music as Login and PWord, leave the Dir field
blank.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[6.2] BBSs

See Appendix F, the MOD Charts, for a list of BBSs with mods.

You can also check the comments in archives you get, they usually contain some
BBS adverts.

The Venom BBS has almost 5000 SoundTracker/PT/NoiseTracker MODs in its
archives: (603) 624-9451   16.8k DS
          (603) 644-8263   14.4k v32/v42
Contact: BBS - (603)-624-9451
         FidoNet - 1:132/155.0
         Clink - 911:6400/6.0
         Internet - k_bienve@granite.pste.tec.nh.us
                    k_bienvenue@astro.manc.tec.nh.us
                    galf@mv.mv.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[6.3] Newsgroups

Naturally, alt.binaries.sounds.mods is THE Usenet newsgroup for mods. Binary
posts to this group are usually split into several parts and uuencoded. If
that doesn't make sense to you, that doesn't matter. Just read on. Here's how
to extract the mods from the text garbage.

How you do it exactly is up to you and the newsreader you're using. I will
cover NN, RN and TIN here, as well as telling you how to cope with dumb
uudecoders. Thanks to Stan Greene (Merlin) <sorcerer@netcom.com> for supplying
the information initially.

NN: Let's assume you have a list of five articles on screen, identified by
    consecutive letters a through e, of which the last four are the file
    example.mod. First, tag (i.e. mark) the parts by pressing the appropriate
    letters (b through e). Then type the following: ':decode'. Choose any
    directory you wish when prompted for the Decode Directory, this is where
    the decoded file will go. At the next prompt (Decode test2/ Article
    (* +):, for example), enter '*' to specify the previously selected
    articles. NN will then decode the files for you.

RN/TRN: Assuming that the file is in multiple parts, go to the first part and
    press 'e'. Continue going through all of the parts, pressing 'e' for each.
    As you do each part, you should see 'Continuing filename.ext:
    (Continued)'. When you get to the last part and press 'e', you're done. It
    knows that the file is complete.

TIN: We will assume the same setting as in the NN example. The first thing you
    do is move the scrollbar to the first part of the file you want, this'd be
    the 2nd article in the list. Now press 't' to tag the file, the plus sign
    in front of the article should turn into a '1' and the scrollbar should
    move to the next line. Tag all the parts of the file in the same manner,
    watching out so you keep the order correct. When you're done, press 's',
    which gives you the following prompt: 'Save a)rticle, t)hread, h)ot,
    p)attern, T)agged articles, q)uit: T'. The default should be a captial T,
    which is what youy want anyway, so just hit return. TIN will prompt you
    for a filename, you can use anything, basically, keeping it simple should
    prove helpful (to you). Done that, TIN asks you for post-processing
    options. Most of the time, you will want to uudecode the binaries, so
    press 'u'. Done.

BY HAND: OK, there are two possibilities here. Either you have a smart
    uudecoder (such as UU, UNPOST or UUMASTER for MS-DOS, or WinCode for
    Windows), or you're stuck with a basic dumb type.
    - SMART: This is pretty simple. Just save your articles to a common file
      and feed it to your smart decoder. Using UU, this'd look like this,
      after having saved some articled to a file called mods.uue:
      'uu /i /s mods.uue'. UU will do the rest. Note that it is good to have
      several smart decoders at hand in case one of them refuses to decode a
      file. You can then always try the others.
    - DUMB: This is tedious. Save the articles, preferrably and for your own
      sanity's sake, to separate files, using some form of numbering scheme so
      you'll know which part is which later on. Then call your favourite text
      editor (as in ASCII) and trim out anything from the files that isn't a
      valid UU line. This includes everything up to, but not including, the
      line saying 'begin 640 blabla.mod', which should be in the first part,
      and everything after the line saying 'end', which should be in the last
      part. You also need to trim out any checksum info, mail/posting headers
      and signatures (these should be at the end of the files). When you've
      done all that, concatenate (i.e. join) the files, but keep them in the
      correct order! Feed the resulting file to your dumb decoder.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[6.3.1] Accessing alt.binaries.sounds.mods per Email

This section supplied by Zigg (Matt Behrens) <zigg@arbornet.com>:

The threat of losing my primary account this month due to the fact I'm not
registering for classes next semester has prompted me to look into other ways
of staying active on alt.binaries.sounds.mods.  I found some info which I
shamelessly have paraphrased here from "Accessing the Internet by E-Mail FAQ"
by "Doctor Bob" Rankin.  What follows is a way that anyone can access
a.b.s.mods through any service that provides e-mail to the Internet.


Reading:

Once you have the FAQ (and have read it thoroughly, which you should do before
accessing any Usenet newsgroup), you can go to the next step, getting the
articles.  The most convenient method is to go through the WWW-by-mail server
at CERN (the home site of the WWW).  Send the following message to
agora@www0.cern.ch:

        Subject: *none*
        To: agora@www0.cern.ch
        Message Body: send news:alt.binaries.sounds.mods

You will recieve back the recent list of postings that have reached CERN, like
in the following example:

>From agora@www0.cern.ch
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 1994 20:54:38 +0100
From: Agora <agora@www0.cern.ch>
To: behrensm@river.it.gvsu.edu
Subject: Document requested (URL: news:alt.binaries.sounds.mods)

To get help, just send a mail with the body WWW
Please mail to agora-bug@mail.w3.org if you have a problem
 
             Newsgroup alt.binaries.sounds.mods,  Articles 11042-11061
   (Earlier articles[1]...) Articles in alt.binaries.sounds.mods
   
 "3ddemo2.zip, part 4/4" - Olof Englund VOS[2]
 "behind.zip, part 1/1" - Olof Englund VOS[3]
 "blackmor.zip, part 1/3" - Olof Englund VOS[4]
                .
                .
 "Re: ST3.2???? (was Re: .XM format)" - Infinity/Cia[19]
 "Re: .XM format" - Infinity/Cia[20]
 "Please help... (Non-FAQ question) :)" - Zigg[21]
   ___________________________________
   Post to alt.binaries.sounds.mods[22]

*** References from this document ***
[orig] news:alt.binaries.sounds.mods
[1] news:alt.binaries.sounds.mods/11022-11041
[2] news:3c680f$ft4@josie.abo.fi
[3] news:3c681l$ft6@josie.abo.fi
[4] news:3c683k$ftt@josie.abo.fi
                .
                .
[19] news:3c81ht$qif@netaxs.com
[20] news:3c81n8$qif@netaxs.com
[21] news:3c839a$kef@news.it.gvsu.edu
[22] newspost:alt.binaries.sounds.mods

Say you want to now read, say, article 19 on the list.  Look at the section 
entitled "References from this document."  Send a message as such:

        Subject: *none*
        To: agora@www0.cern.ch

        Message Body:
        send news:3c81ht$qif@netaxs.com

The server will mail you back that posting.

Note: you can also request that the server mail you all postings of a.b.s.mods 
by sending a message with the body "deep news:alt.banaries.sounds.mods".  This 
is not recommended as it is a tremendous waste of bandwidth, considering 
you'll probably throw away half of the binaries that you get.

Another note: posting to a.b.s.mods through this server (As per link #22) is 
probably either very complicated or impossible. I'm not even willing to try ;)


Posting:

Of course, you can still post.  First of all, be sure that whatever you are 
posting is not a question already covered in the FAQ.  Then, compose your 
post.  Send your post along to one of the following news posting servers:

        alt.binaries.sounds.mods.usenet@decwrl.dec.com  (USA)
        alt.binaries.sounds.mods@news.demon.co.uk       (UK)

Note: as of this writing, I have not yet had time to test the UK server.

Please be very patient waiting for your post to get to info.cern.ch for 
reading, Usenet often takes a much longer time to propagate than email.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[6.4] WWW

Zigg (Matt Behrens) <zigg@arbornet.org> told me on 5 Dec 1994:
Here's a little-known fact concerning the Web (one that I've picked up on and
sprinkled liberally throughout the links to Aminet): Aminet is available in a
few spots via HTTP.  The home site, being ftp.wustl.edu, of course, is
accessible at http://ftp.wustl.edu/~aminet/index.html.  All aminet files are
accessible through wuarchive's http system (eliminating the need to wait "for
usage to go down") at http://ftp.wustl.edu/systems/amiga/aminet/*.  Slightly
faster access can be obtained from ftp.cdrom.com, which has a slightly
different system. Aminet's home page here is at
http://ftp.cdrom.com/aminet/index.html. Files are available at
http://ftp.cdrom.com/aminet/files/* (a complete mirror of ftp.wustl.edu's
collection.)

Zigg has also set up the Virtual Music Page. If you have authored some mods,
email him according to the guidelines in "Submission Guidelines" on the VMP or
in http://grfn.org/~zaphod/vm/submit.html.

Dan Nicholson <moddan@ritz.mordor.com> writes on 7 Nov 1994:
..however, check these sites (you'll also find more demo-related sites) by
checking these:
http://freedom.wit.com/~klf/klfhome.html
http://www.io.org/~andrewm/me.html

And Jason M. Spangler <jasons@cis.ysu.edu> tells us on 31 Oct 1994:
Just thought I'd tell everyone I updated, re-organized, and moved my
module FTP site page... it's now at: http://www.ysu.edu/~jasons/mod/index.html

Kaushik Ramakrishnan <larsen@mermaid.micro.umn.edu> says:
Site for introductory info about mods:
    http://www.phantom.com/archives/mods.html
Tracker binary (for Sun2s):
    http://www.phantom.com/archives/tracker.sparc
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[6.5] CD-ROMs

Aminet CD 4
* Contains 330 MB of software that has appeared since Aminet CD 3 (15-Jun-
  94), 230 MB of mods, 100 MB of top downloads consisting of 1700 mods, 1600
  utilities, 250 games, 100 demos and 80 animations.
* Availability: shipping (whatever that means - jester)
* Avilable in two versions, Aminet Gold and Aminet Share. The higher priced
  version includes a donation o the otherwise unpaid makers of the CD, the
  lower one doesn't (donations are still accepted).
* Compatible with all Amigas including CDTV/A570. Not compatible with CD32
  plus Communicator. Compatible with CD32 plus SX1. Compatible with all Amiga
  OS versions for the access software. Compatible with all operating systems,
  except some MS-DOS CD-ROM file systems that can't handle mixed case
  filenames.
* Ordering (credit cards ok):
  Germany: Stefan Ossowski                   USA: Fred Fish
           Tel: +49-201-788778                    Tel:  +1-602-917-0917
           Fax: +49-201-798447                    Fax:  +1-602-917-0917
           Email:stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de        Email:fnf@amigalib.com

           Aminet Gold:  DM 29.80                 Aminet Gold:  $19.95
           Aminet Share: DM 19.80                 Aminet Share: $11.95
                          (Prices exclude shipping)
* More information is available in the text file docs/misc/CD-Orders.txt on
  Aminet. A complete index of Aminet CD 4 is found in
  disk/cdrom/Aminet-CD-4.lha


10,000 Sounds & Songs
* Volume 0 of the Digital Data Archives
* this CD contains 850 selected MODs
* also countless other Multimedia files (.wav, .mid, .avi, .fli, .voc, .sam,
  and much more)
* price: $15
* For more information or to order contact: Walt Perko
                                            P.O.Box 640608
                                            San Francisco, CA. 94164-0608
                                            phone: (415) 771-1788
                                            email: wperko@netcom.com


Mystical MOD Madness
* Volume 1 of the Digital Data Archives
* Contains about 3000 MODs, S3Ms and 669s
* price: $25
* Contact information (Walt Perko) see "10,000 Sounds & Songs"


Sound Site CD-ROM
* large collection of music files taken from the Saffron archives
* including over 1350 MOD files
* nearly 500 MIDI files, and also 669, STM and other files
* price $19.95 + $5 s/h
* For more info or to order contact: Island CD Creations
                                     1960 Kapiolani Blvd. Suite 113-592
                                     Honolulu, HI 96826
                                     email: duane@shell.portal.com (Duane
                                                                    Takamine)

Town of Tunes CD
* a compilation of the best 820 MOD music and melody files
* it takes about 70 hours to hear them all
* carefully picked from approx. 4000 files worldwide in a two-year period
* includes 21 of the newest and hottest tunes from "THE PARTY" in Denmark
  Winter 1994
* also some of the newest S3M music/melody files, 100 MB of the latest
  spectacular VGA graphic demos, and more
* price: $35 + $6 s/h
* For more information or to order contact: Wichman Consult
                                            Hovmalvej 78-6
                                            2300 Copenhagen S., Denmark
                                            phone: +45-3151-3187
                                            Fax: +45-3122-2744
                                            email: ecjowh@hp3.cbs.dk


The Ultimate MOD Collection
* contains more than 1700 MODs
* a bunch of players & utilities (editors, etc.) for all sorts of computers
* some 669, STM, MED, and other file formats
* price $29
* for more information contact: The Marketplace
                                phone: (800) 289-1766 or (314) 521-4862


EuroScene 1  -  CDTV/CD32/UNIX  (unix music only)
* contains 600 MB of amiga demos and music. This CD is literally loaded with
  music by author, demo crews etc...there is tonnes of it all packed with Lha.
  The demos are from all periods in time, though mainly the last few years -
  1991 onwards.. there are even a few AGA demos on there.
* availablity: Almathera Systems..17-Bit Software.. a few other places ;-)
* Almathera Can be reached at: Southerton House
                               Boundary Business Court
                               92-94 Church Road
                               Mitcham
                               CR4 3TD
                               England
==============================================================================

[7] Distributing Mods

When you're sick of listening to other people's creations, have mastered a
tracker and finally come up with something you consider brilliant or at least
good enough for other people to enjoy, you want to spread it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[7.0.1] Compression

Thanks to Rich La Bonte <flatrich@aol.com> for suggestions concerning this
section.

It is always a good idea to compress a module before you distribute it.
Especially when using telecommunications systems (i.e. telephone lines or
networks), data compression can reduce a lot of transmission time and
bandwidth. The two main archivers used in compressing mods are LHA/LHarc and
PKZIP. LHA is used mainly on Amigas, but compatible archivers/dearchivers
exist on just about any platform. The same goes for the MS-DOS originated
PKZIP. Other archivers may perform better compression, but aren't a good
choice if you want your file to be decodable by as many people as possible.

Note though that even though LHA/LHarc's archiving is generally compatible
across platforms, users should be aware of the limitations of other systems.
While flipped orders of filename and extension is rather easy to fix and is
not a problem (by which I want to express that I discourage discussions about
efficiencies and deficiencies of the various platforms), there are several
incompatibilities which hinder distribution.

LHA/LHarc for Amiga can store attributes that prevent MS-DOS LHA from
dearchiving the files contained. A filename beginning with a period has the
same effect, as MS-DOS uses the period to symbolize the current directory
only. Mac files include a header containing a resource and a data fork. The
resource fork is absolutely Mac-specific and is incompatible with any other
system (AFAIK).

Please prove netiquette - compress your mods with LHA, PKZIP or compatible
compressors and use a method which will enable your recipients to dearchive
them.

See appendix H for a list of sites for these programs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[7.1] Usenet Posting (to a.b.s.mods)

This being the FAQ for the group, it is natural that postings to it should
find a place here. Usenet poses some difficulties concerning the transmission
of binary data, as mods are. Only 7-bit ASCII is transmitted, while binaries
are 8-bit files. This means that mods need to be encoded before they can be
posted to Usenet. There are several encoding methods, the most common being
uuencoding. Others include MIME, XX and a few others, but these are not
recommended (you want as many people as possible to hear your creations, don't
you?). Don't even attempt to post a binary to usenet without having encoded it
to ASCII.

Use of encoding methods other than uuencoding is strongly discouraged.
Uuencoding is the de-facto Usenet standard and tools exist to deal with it on
virtually all platforms, while other standards, while perhaps being better in
some respects, are bound to cause problems for a lot of users.

Another problem is that some news servers don't read more than a certain
amount of lines in usenet postings. This is why most posts are split into
'small' chunks. A maximum of 1000 lines seems sensible (this is roughly
64 KBytes).

It is considered good netiquette and STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to supply a part
zero of howevermany including a description of the posted file. I hereby
declare the following as the FAQ-standard part zero for a.b.s.mods:

- example cut here - - - - - - - - - - -
FILE NAME: example.mod
SONG NAME: The exemplary Song
ARCHIVE: PkZip 2.04g
MOD TYPE: 8CHN
COMPOSER: Nobody
METHOD: Original
MUSICAL STYLE: ambient deep techno house
POSTER: Nobody too <nobody@nothing.not>
UPLOADED TO: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/incoming/example.zip
COMMENTS: This is just an example
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -cut here-

Explanation of the above:
- FILE NAME: This is pretty clear. I suggest the original mod's extension be
  stated, as the archiver is stated further down.
- SONG NAME: The name given to the song in the mod's songname field. Or the
  full name of the song if that field didn't suffice (example: "I'm gonna be
  infectious" by Romeo Knight)
- ARCHIVE: The name of the archiver used. Only LHA/Lharc and PkZip and
  compatible programs are encouraged. It is important to specify the version
  number here.
- MOD TYPE: The exact mod type. MOD is not exact! See section 2 for a list of
  exact mod type definitions.
- COMPOSER: The person who made the mod, if known.
- METHOD: The method with which the mod was made. There are four categories
  here, Original, Conversion, Transcribed and Sampled.
  + An Original is any original composition, music that originated in a mod
    type. Pieces originated in one mod type and then transferred to another
    also qualify for this term.
  + A Conversion is a composition that has been converted from another type of
    music format (e.g. MIDI, ROL, CMF) to a mod type format. Slight re-edits
    of the mod file are still to be considered Conversions.
  + A Transcribed mod is a transcription of music that originated in a
    non-computer form, such as sheet music or as music on CDs and/or
    cassettes.
  + Sampled mods are pieces of music strung together in a mod format by
    sampling parts of a song (usually from CD or cassette) and playing them at
    a constant speed.
- MUSICAL STYLE: A rough approximation of the style the song is in. No attempt
  should be made to try to fill this entry out exactly, as it just isn't
  absolutely possible. However, an estimation of the style should be supplied,
  as this is possible in most cases.
- POSTER: This is you. Your name and/or handle and/or email address should go
  here.
- UPLOADED TO: Where else the mod is available, per ftp for example.
- COMMENTS: Write anything you feel should be said about your posting and/or
  its contents here.

Use subject lines that include the filename of your posting and the part
number, the latter either in brackets (recommended) or in the form "part x of
y".

If you feel like it, put a very short description in the subject line.
However, if you follow this guideline, a subject line saying simply
"EXAMPLE.abc (x/y)" should suffice.

The above example would have the following subjects, assuming that the
uuencoded data took four parts:
Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (0/4)
Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (1/4)
Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (2/4)
Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (3/4)
Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (4/4)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[7.2] FTP Uploads

Most of the ftp servers you can download mods from will accept uploads too.
These usually go in an /incoming directory somewhere. Be sure to upload a text
file with a short description (similar to part zero in section 7.1) along with
the mod. Also remember to specify 'bin' for binary transfer, or your mod might
be transmitted as a 7-bit file, thereby completely corrupting it. Making an
announcement in a.b.s.mods about your upload will most probably be welcome.
See section 6.1 for a list of ftp servers with mods.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[7.3] BBS Uploads

I don't know anything about this (except some BBS names). But if you managed
to download something from a BBS, you probably know how to upload something
too.
==============================================================================

Appendix A: Contributors and Credits

This FAQ is maintained and mainly written by myself, jester (Tobias Reckhard).

Thanks go to (in no particular order):
Harald Zappe                 Todd Walsh                    Barry Nathan
Matt Behrens (Zigg)          Dan Nicholson                 Rich "Akira" Pizor
Jens Puchert (Jensi)         Jason M. Spangler             Aaron J. Luz
Dave Wach                    Matthew E. Centurion (Mashoe) Dan
John Roland                  Christian Stieber             Steven Innell
Tim Fries (Frenchy)          Rich La Bonte                 Heikki Kantola
Lyman Green

I'd like to greet (seems strange not to do it in the mod scene):
Those mentioned above, Snowman, RuffKut, Fencer, Purple, Alpha, T., Frank
(hey, got your account again? miss you!), Pallbearer, Ben Jos Walbeehm, Steve
(where are you?). And anyone I forgot.
==============================================================================

Appendix B: Common Properties of Module File Formats

They're all chunks of bytes. Heh heh. ;) OK, seriously now.

All mod files contain a header identifying the file and its format. It also
mentions song name and number of patterns in the song. The header is usually
followed by the pattern and sequencing information. Finally, the file also
contains the sample data. This usually takes up most of the space in a mod.
With today's file formats advancing more and more, those are just about all
the common properties worth mentioning, IMHO. For further information on
particular mod types, refer to the format description. This is usually found
in the same archive as the tracker it is connected to. You can also check
ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/text for some docs. Following format
specs are available there:

MOD - modform.zip     FTK - musfmt10.zip    SSS - musfmt10.zip
PSM - psm-form.zip    MED - musfmt10.zip    STAR- musfmt10.zip
S3M - s3mformat.zip   MOD - musfmt10.zip    TT  - musfmt10.zip
ULT - ultform.zip     MTM - musfmt10.zip    ULT - musfmt10.zip
669 - musfmt10.zip    OKT - musfmt10.zip    WOW - musfmt10.zip
DMF - musfmt10.zip    P16 - musfmt10.zip
FAR - musfmt10.zip    S3M - musfmt10.zip
==============================================================================

Appendix C: Mods and MIDI

Here is a good posting made by Jens Puchert on the subject, slightly edited by
myself to retain the FAQ's terminology. Supplied to me by Harald Zappe.

In article <CtsoDr.G86@dorsai.org> oneshot@dorsai.org (jason_wong) writes:

>Pls, No flames.  What format is better?  Which sounds better and is more 
>popular?  I'm not choosing one over another but I do like whole songs in 
>MIDI then the usual re-mixes as mods.  But you don't have to shell out
>$$$ for a wave-table sound card to play mods.

This discussion seems to be older than "What was there first, the chicken
or the egg?"  Anyway, we can't answer either of those important 
philosophical questions to the full satisfaction of everybody.  You should 
realize that mod and MIDI are inherently different things that cannot be
compared easily with each other (a famous phrase about two fist-sized
fruits comes to mind).  The major difference is that digital music 
modules (also popularly known as mods) contain sampled instruments while
MIDI files don't contain any instruments at all and rather rely on your
sound hardware to synthesize them (by various means of course).  So that
yields another big difference.  Modules are hardware independent, they
(should) sound the same on just about every piece of hardware (excluding
cases in which the player screws up and doesn't do what it's supposed to,
cases where playback is attempted on totally inappropriate devices such
as the PC squeaker, and cases where playback is attempted on devices that
don't provide sufficient quality such as a mono Sound Blaster).  On the
other hand, MIDI devices are free to generate instruments to their 
liking, some of those will sound better (Roland Sound Canvas) and others
will sound unbearable (AdLib comes to mind).  Both devices however are
perfectly fine MIDI compliant.  Also, those MIDI instruments are
standardized into a set called General MIDI.  With most MIDI devices 
you'll be limited to use the 128 pre-defined instruments from this GM
set.  A plus for MIDI is the availability of very professional,
sophisticated composition tools that are not available in this variety
and quality to create modules.  As far as remixes, cover versions, and
original creations concerns, all of them can be done and found in either
the MIDI or the module format, so there's no inherent connection between
format and musical style and origin.

So to sum this up, if sophisticated composing software and professional
quality is important to you go for MIDI, if device independance and
therefore easy exchangability, custom instruments and voices, and lower
cost are important to you then you should go for modules.

Hope this helps...

Jensi
==============================================================================

Appendix D: Musicians

Note: This list reflects the opinions of the contributors and is guaranteed
    not to be objective. If you've contributed or want to contribute to the
    FAQ, feel free to send a note along with your all-time faves. They'll be
    included, as long as they take no more than two lines. This thing is way
    too big as it is. (Note: If you supply me with more than two lines, I'll
    strip any group names first, then start removing names, putting them into
    the notables section if that's what they are)

jester's favourite composers: Purple Motion, Nuke, RuffKut, Skaven, Romeo
    Knight, Lizardking, Zane, Weasel, Maelcum.

Steven Innell's fave musos: Jester/Sanity, Mantronix&Tip, U4IA, Sidewinder,
    Jogeir Liljedahl, Strobe, (me heh ;-)), Nuke&4-mat, Chris Huelsbeck

other notables: Ng Pei Sin, Moby, Captain, pkk, Firelight, tR/\Sh. The world
    leading PC mod group today is KLF, consisting of (musician-wise) Maelcum,
    iNSPEKDAH DECk, I.Q., the Hacker, Phoenix, Balrog, Basehead, Maral,
    Krystall, Lurch, Necros, Khyron, Nemesis, Mental Floss and Piromaniak.
==============================================================================

Appendix E: All-Time Faves

Note: This list reflects the opinions of the contributors and is guaranteed
    not to be objective. If you've contributed or want to contribute to the
    FAQ, feel free to send a note along with your all-time faves. They'll be
    included, as long as they take no more than five lines. This thing is way
    too big as it is.

jester: Boesendorfer P.S.S./Romeo Knight, World of Plastic/PM, Shhh.../pkk,
    Serenity/jester, Mercury Rain/Skaven, Space Trax/Maelcum, Underwater
    Breathing/PM, Trans Atlantic/Lizardking, Waiting for Rain/RuffKut,
    Gold Return/Nuke, Space Debris/Captain, Joyride/tip, Daisy Chain 2/uncle
    tom

Jensi: Estranged/Khyron, Defloration/emax, Crystalline Tears/Nemesis, Here It
    Is For You/Maelcum, Poetry In Motion/Basehead, Tribal Quest/Inspekdah
    Deck, Amazonas/Skaven, Adrenalin/tR/\Sh, Backwards/Firelight, When The
    Heavens Fall/Purple Motion, Knulla Kuk !!!/moby, Face Another Day/Jogeir
    Liljedahl, Now What 3/Dr. Awesome
==============================================================================

Appendix F: the MOD Charts

The MOD Charts are a Top 100 list of mods, maintained by Oliver
(oliver@math.uni-muenster.de, a.k.a. HITMAN on IRC, #modcharts). Multitrack
formats have recently been allowed into the charts. For further details,
connect to your nearest supporting site (see list below) and download the
informational files.

MODCHARTS SITE LIST                                    November 1994

AUSTRALIA:
archie.au                       /micros/amiga/aminet/mods/chart

GERMANY:
ftp.uni-muenster.de             /pub/sounds/modcharts, /MODPLAYER (pc)
ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de             /pub/aminet/mods/chart
ftp.informatik.uni-rostock.de   /pub/amiga/mods/charts
ftp.th-darmstadt.de             /pub/aminet/mods/chart
ftp.uni-erlangen.de             /pub/aminet/mods/chart
ftp.uni-kl.de                   /pub/aminet/mods/chart
ftp.uni-paderborn.de            /pub/aminet/mods/chart

SWEDEN:
ftp.luth.se                     /pub/aminet/mods/chart

SWITZERLAND:
ftp.eunet.ch                    /pub/aminet/mods/chart
litamiga.epfl.ch                /pub/aminet/mods/chart

GREAT BRITAIN:
src.doc.ic.ac.uk                /computing/systems/amiga/mods/chart

U.S.A.:
ftp.etsu.edu                    /pub/aminet/mods/chart
ftp.wustl.edu                   /pub/aminet/mods/chart
wasp.eng.ufl.edu                /pub/msdos/demos/music/MOD_CHARTS
wuarchive.wustl.edu             /pub/aminet/mods/chart


BBS'es:

Art-Line        (Wuppertal, D)          /---Art-Line---/musik/charts
                (@wupper.de)            Top10 + newcomer dl-free
                ++49-(0)202-595055      2400-19200/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis
                ++49-(0)202-596003      2400-19200/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis
                ++49-(0)202-2456013     64000      ISDN  X.75 V.110

BeetleJuice     (Duelmen, D)            /modules/modcharts
                ++49-(0)2594-89861      2400-14400/V42.bis

MicroBe         (Weert, Netherlands)    /soundblaster/modcharts
                ++31-4950-46180	        1200-28800

Music Power     (Bischheim, France)     /modcharts, all chartfiles dl-free
                +33 - 88.83.63.59       2400-14400/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis

Portal          (Winnindoo, Australien) /modules
                                        all chartfiles download-free
                +61-(0)51-992869        1200-28800 MNP5/MNP10/V42.bis

Proton Palace   (Ottawa, Ontario)       /?
                613-829-0909            14400-19200

SAC             (Bratislava, Slovakia)  /Modchart
                42-7-2048232            19200/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis

Stardate        (Telgte, D)             /Box-Ebene/Binaer/Musik/Mod-Charts
                ++49-(0)2504-5107       1200-14400/V42.bis

The Abyss       (Stuttgart, D)          /Gallery/Modcharts
                ++49-(0)711-617291      9600-19200/ZyXEL   MNP5/V42.bis
                ++49-(0)711-6159399     2400-14400/V32.bis MNP5/V42.bis

Tup-Off-Box     (Goeppingen, D)         all newcomer-mods download-free
                ++49-(0)7161-57382
                ++49-(0)7161-57869
                ++49-(0)7161-57960      2400 bps

Visitor         (Muenster, D)           /modcharts, all chartfiles dl-free
                (@westfalen.de)
                ++49-(0)251-295014      9600-16800/V32.bis/V42.bis
                                        38400-64000/V.110/X.75
                ++49-(0)251-922227      1200-2400/V24.bis
                ++49-(0)251-922229      9600-28800/U.S.R./V34.bis
                                        9600-14400/V32.bis/V42.bis


FIDOs:

Linie13         2:241/595               flags: zyx,xa,cm
                (@demon.escape.de)      online: 24h except zmh

Portal          3:632/345               Request: ModList

SAC             2:422/80

Star Fortress   2:2494/340              Flags: ZYX, XA, MO
                                        online: 00:00-09:00 CET
                                        Request: FILES, MODCHART
==============================================================================

Appendix G: Availability of Compressors/Archivers

from the comp.compression FAQ

lha for MS-DOS is available by anonymous ftp from:
    oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/archiver/lha213.exe   (exe)
    oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/archiver/lha211sr.zip (sources)
    garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/lha255b.exe

lharc for Unix (can only extract from version 1.xx .lzh files):
    wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/misc/unix/lharc102a.tar-z
    garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/lha101u.tar.Z

lha for Unix (docs in Japanese):
    wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/misc/unix/lha101u.tar-z
    garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/lha-1.00.tar.Z

lha for Mac:
    mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/utilities/compressionapps/maclha2.0.cpt.hqx

lha for Amiga:
    ftp.funet.fi/pub/amiga/utilities/archivers/LhA_e138.run

pkzip 2.04g for MS-DOS:
    oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/zip/pkz204g.exe
    garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pkz204g.exe

zip 2.0.1 and unzip 5.12 for Unix, MS-DOS, VMS, OS/2, Amiga,...(compatible
    with pkzip 2.04g):
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/zip201.zip          (source)
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/unzip512.tar.Z      (source)
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MSDOS/zip20x.zip    (MSDOS exe)
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MSDOS/unz512x*.exe  (MSDOS exe)
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/VMS/zip20x-vms.zip  (Vax/VMS exe)
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/VMS/unz512x-vax.exe (Vax/VMS exe)
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/OS2/*               (OS/2 exe 16&32 bit)
      See also AMIGA, ATARI, MAC, NT, SCO_UNIX, LINUX, Ultrix-MIPS, WINDOWS
      and SOLARIS2 subdirectories.
    garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/zip201.zip     (source)
    garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzip512.tar.Z (source)
    garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/zip20x.zip       (MSDOS exe)
    garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/unz512x3.exe     (MSDOS exe)

  for Macintosh:
    mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/util/compression/unzip2.01.cpt.hqx
    mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/util/compression/zipit1.2.cpt.hqx
    ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MAC/unz512.hqx
==============================================================================

Appendix H: Table of Note Frequencies

Use this to calculate sampling rates for mistuned instruments. For example, if
you have an instrument at 8363Hz that plays an A-2 but you want it to play a
C-2, the appropriate sampling rate is 8363 * 261.7 / 440 Hz = 4974 Hz
All values are given in Hz.

(supplied by Chris Craig, author of GoldWave)

C  - 261.7    E  - 329.6    G# - 415.3
C# - 277.2    F  - 349.2    A  - 440.0
D  - 293.7    F# - 370.0    A# - 466.2
D# - 311.1    G  - 392.0    B  - 493.9

Bear in mind that doubling the sampling rate raises a sound by one octave,
halving the rate lowers the note by one octave.
==============================================================================

Appendix I: Overview of Effects Used in Digital Music Modules

This section supplied by Jens Puchert.

The following covers all ProTracker and ScreamTracker 3 effects.  The 
effect commands are given for ProTracker first, and then for Scream
Tracker.  Fast-, Take-, and MultiTracker also use the ProTracker
command set.  The parameters are given as "x", "xx", or "xy".  "x"
means there's a single parater for this effect.  "xx" means there's
a single parameter composed of two digits.  "xy" means there are
two independent parameters for this effect.


                                PT effect      S3M effect

1. Effects that change the pitch of the currently playing note

* Arpeggio                      0xy             Jxy
* Portamento Up/Down            1xx/2xx         Fxx/Exx
* Fine Portamento Up/Down       E1x/E2x         FFx/EFx
* Extra Fine Portamento Up/Down    -            FEx/EEx
* Portamento To Note            3xx             Gxx
* Vibrato                       4xy             Hxy

2. Effects that change the volume or pan position of one or more channels

* Set Volume                    Cxx             <vol. column>
* Volume Slide                  Axy             Dxy
* Fine Volume Up/Down           EAx/EBx         DxF/DFx
* Set Global Volume             -               Vxy
* Set Panning (finesteps)       8xx             Xxx
* Set Panning                   E8x             S8x
* Stereo Control                -               SAx
* Tremolo                       7xy             Rxy
* Tremor                        -               Ixy

3. Effects to influence flow control and speed

* Set Speed                     Fxx (x < 20h)   Axx
* Set Tempo                     Fxx (x > 1Fh)   Txx
* Pattern Break                 Dxx             Cxx
* Pattern Jump                  Bxx             Bxx
* Pattern Loop                  E6x             SBx
* Pattern Delay                 EEx             SEx

4. Miscellaneous effects to influence playback of a single note

* Set Finetune                  E5x             S2x
* Sample Offset                 9xx             Oxx
* Regrigger Note                E9x             Q0x
* Cut Note                      ECx             SCx
* Note Delay                    EDx             SDx
* Invert Loop                   EFx             SFx

5. Miscellaneous effects to set global variables

* Set Filter                    E0x             S0x
* Glissando Control             E3x             S1x
* Vibrato Waveform              E4x             S3x
* Tremolo Waveform              E7x             S4x

6. Combinations of other effects

* Portamento + Volume Slide     5xy             Lxy
* Vibrato + Volume Slide        6xy             Kxy
* Retrigger + Volume Slide      -               Qxy
==============================================================================

Appendix J: Answers to as yet Unanswered FAQs

This section is still under construction and will probably always stay that
way. FAQs that don't quite fit into any other section will be assembled here.
Because of this, this appendix will appear very unsorted and messy.
Suggestions for additions, corrections or deletions are welcome.

1) How is MOD played back correctly

   One would think that MOD is a standard format. Unfortunately, it isn't
   anymore. While the only real reference for this format remains the Amiga's
   ProTracker, even in the early stages of MOD, incompatibilities came around
   through the different timing methods in PAL and NTSC Amigas.
   The advent of all sorts of trackers writing in MOD formats, by which I mean
   all formats complying to PT's way of storing header, pattern info (not
   restricted to 4-track though), sequencing list and sample data, have
   brought about more complications since a lot of their players prove to be
   PT-incompatible.
   The problem is that the composer of a MOD relies on his song's sound using
   his tracker (even though some tailor theirs for certain players), so,
   assuming tracker XX is not PT-compliant in its player, a song made in
   tracker XX will not sound the way its composer wanted it to when played in
   ProTracker, which is accepted as THE standard for MODs.
   As it is, ProTracker remains the only reference for MOD playing. A decent
   documentation on the exact specifics of MOD is not available yet, to my
   knowledge. All (I dare to say this) PC players, and probably those on all
   systems save the Amiga which benefits from MOD being designed around its
   hardware, play MODs wrong in some way or the other. The main two points to
   look for are accuracy and sound quality. Absolute accuracy isn't there yet,
   but there exist vast differences.
   BTW, even the format specs on MOD vary in a lot of cases. Don't believe any
   specification but the ProTracker one to be correct.

2) How do I calculate mod playback speeds

   This applies to MOD and S3M (and probably to most other module types).

   There are two playback speed settings in mods, one being the ticks-per-row
   (hereafter referred to as TPR) and the other the BPM (beats per minute)
   setting.

   The BPM statement denotes the amount of time that is to be spent on one
   tick. At default BPM speed of 125 decimal (7D hex), one tick equals to 0.02
   seconds. Thus, tick-time = (0.02 * 125 / BPM) seconds = (2.5 / BPM)
   seconds.

   The TPR speed groups a specified number of ticks into a row. Specifying a
   TPR speed of four groups four ticks into a row, for example.

   So, if you set a BPM speed of 150 and a TPR speed of 4, one tick will last
   for 1/60th of a second and four such ticks will be one row. Thus a row will
   last for 4/60ths of a second and a 64-row pattern will take 64/15 (=4.2667)
   seconds to play.

   MOD speeds are set using the Fxx command, where xx is a hexadecimal. Where
   xx ranges from 01 to 1F (in hex), TPR speed is set. F20 to FFF denotes BPM
   speed. A speed setting of zero should be ignored. The corresponding S3M
   commands are Axx (TPR speed) and Txx (BPM speed).

============================================================= end of part 2 ==


-- 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 jester   (Tobias Reckhard)            jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de

                 FAQ maintainer for alt.binaries.sounds.mods

   Obtaining the FAQ: - finger jester@rbhp21.rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de
                      - WWW http://grfn.org/~zaphod/absm-faq/index.html
                      - send email to jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de

  you speak to me in riddles and you speak to me in rhymes - Sarah McLachlan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
