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Pascal/Delphi Source File | 1997-05-11 | 57KB | 1,186 lines

Scream Tracker 3.0 Beta ---- USER'S MANUAL ---- (C) 1994 Kalle Kaivola Edge / Unexpected Contents: 1. Introduction 1.1 What is Scream Tracker 3.0? 1.2 Hardware Requirements 1.3 Distributing ST 3.0 2. Brief Guide to Scream Tracker 2.1 Samples 2.2 Patterns 2.3 Orders 2.4 Effects 2.5 Setting up Scream Tracker 3. Scream Tracker Interface 3.1 F1 - Order list and Global Variables 3.1.1 Order list 3.1.2 Channels 3.1.3 Global Variables 3.2 F2 - Edit Pattern 3.2.1 The Edit Display 3.2.2 Entering Notes 3.2.3 Pattern Edit Commands 3.2.4 Area Commands 3.3 F3 - Instrument List 3.4 F4 - Instrument Library 3.5 F5 - Info Screen 3.6 Global Commands 4. Miscellaneous 4.1 Adlib FM-songs 4.2 Closing Words by Sami Tammilehto Chapter 1. Introduction A word to all the people in the demoscene. After a long, long wait, PSI's famous Scream Tracker 3 Beta is out for everyone to use. As the name implies, this is the Beta version of Scream Tracker 3. Although there never will be a ST3, I will use the term Scream Tracker 3 when referring to this beta throughout this text, however. The reason ST3 will never be finished is that PSI doesn't have time for such projects. In my opinion, though, this beta should be more than enough for any demo musician. You should also note that most probably no new versions of this tracker will be released. If you find a bug, then figure out a way to avoid it. This tracker has been tested in use, but bugs still exist. If you can't find any, consider yourself lucky :) If you do, however, find a serious bug, or have something extremely important to inform the author about, you should do it via my e-mail account, edge@pcuf.fi. I will not have time to answer the mail, but every message will be read and the most important ones relayed to the author. Do NOT use the Future Crew e-mail addresses for ANY questions regarding Scream Tracker! Gore and Jake have their hands full as it is and discussing a music program is the last thing they need. This document is not a complete beginner's guide to the Scream Tracker program, nor is it a text on making better music. It does not tell you how to program an .S3M player (the technical specs for that are in TECH.DOC) and it most certainly contains no code. It is made for those who have have worked with similar programs before and know some music theory. If you are not such a person, I suggest you don't try to blow your brains by trying to memorize this text and the things discussed herein. You would be better off printing the document, starting the program and reading the docs when something you don't understand comes up. And also, don't blame me if this document contains errors, I have only used this tracker for some weeks, ever since PSI asked me to document it. So if something seems quite strange, it might be some error on my part. Particularly the end was made in quite a hurry, but the text has been proofread several times. For those of you who have had a lot of experience with trackers before and think that the tracker's quickhelp is enough for you, have a look at the Miscellaneous chapter. It contains a few useful hints about using the program you might not find otherwise. 1.1 What is Scream Tracker 3.0? ST is a program for composing "modules", songs containing digital and FM instruments (samples) and note data (patterns). Most of you should be familiar with these terms, so they will not be described in depth here. This documentation is a starting guide for a person who has had previous experience with trackers. Scream Tracker is able to handle a maximum of 16 digital channels and 9 FM channels. Supported fileformats are normal .MOD's, Fasttracker 6 and 8-channel .MOD's, Oktalyzer .OKT's, Scream Tracker 2.* .STMs, (Multitracker .MTMs), and naturally Scream Tracker 3.0 .S3Ms. ST3 only saves in .S3M and .MOD format, though. 1.2 Hardware Requirements In order to run Scream Tracker 3.0, you need at least a 386SX, a VGA display and a soundcard. The supported soundcards are Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Gravis Ultrasound and all cards that are 100% compatible with any of the above. The FM-options only work on SB and SB-Pro compatible cards, since GUS doesn't have an FM chip. There is no mouse support, since it wouldn't really be convenient in this style of tracker. You should also have some EMS, since Scream Tracker loads the sampledata into EMS (even with a GUS). The patterndata is stored in conventional (below 640k) memory. If you're running low on memory, the FreeMem display in the main screen will turn red. It would be a very good idea to save your work, since ST tends to turn unstable in low memory situations. When I have worked with Scream Tracker without EMS, loading a big module has often resulted in a crash warning and the computer hanging. 1.3 Distributing ST 3.0 The Scream Tracker is distributed as freeware, and this means that you can give it to your friends and distribute it in any way as long as no money is involved. The basic idea is that you have the right to use the program but not sell it. As an exception to selling, a right is given to pd/shareware companies to include this program in their collections as long as no special pricing policy is used with the Scream Tracker. There is no warranty. Since you paid nothing for this software it's only fair that you use it at your own risk. The author can not guarantee that the software always works as expected. Any damages you caused (to yourself or to others) by using the program are entirely your own responsibility. Luckily the software seems quite stable if you really don't try to do something weird :-) 2. Brief Guide to Scream Tracker This chapter describes shortly the terms that are necessary to know when using Scream Tracker 3. The effect list is also included. 2.1 Samples Module music consists of instruments, called samples. They are raw 8-bit, digital data fed back at varying frequencies and volumes through your soundcard to form music. For soundcards that support FM-synthesis, there are synthesized instruments, but those are described in more detail in section 4.1. Samples vary from in length from 1 to 65536 bytes. However, Scream Tracker can only handle samples up to 64000 bytes, so some sampledata might be lost if you load a module with huge samples. ST will automatically cut samples that are too big when loaded. Some samples also have loops, which make the sample repeat a certain part of the sample. There are two values to a loop, the loop begin and the loop end. The begin value is where the sample should be started again once it reaches the loop end value. Every sample also has a default volume and pitch. The default volume is the volume that is used when no other volume is given in the pattern. The default pitch is the frequency the sample should be played at C-4. The samples are accessed by going into the instrument list by pressing F3. 2.2 Patterns Modules also have note data, called patterns. Patterns are where the music actually comes from. Every pattern consists of a varying number of 32 columns and 64 horizontal rows. Each position then has five values for the note - pitch, instrument number, volume, effect and infobyte. Here is an example note: C#4 04 25 H81 This would mean a C sharp in the fourth octave with the fourth instrument at volume 25, vibrating with a speed of 8 and frequency of 1. You will find a list of the effects in section 2.4 if you aren't familiar with them. You can also omit some parts of the note like this: C#4 04 .. ... ... 04 .. ... ... 05 .. ... This would play a C sharp first two times with instrument 4 and then once with instrument 5. C-5 04 25 ... D#5 .. .. ... E-5 .. .. ... G-5 .. .. ... This plays C, D sharp, E, and G all with instrument 4 and volume 25. However, if there had been an instrument number in one of the notes other than the C-5, it would have been played with the default volume. C-5 04 .. H81 ... .. .. H00 ... .. .. H00 ... .. .. H00 This would continue to vibrate the C-5 note at 81. The other commands that use the previous infobyte value in the effect in case of a 00 are D, E, F, G, I, J, K, L, and Q. 2.3 Orders The order the individual patterns are played in is stored in the order list. While the maximum number of patterns is 100, you can have a longer song by repeating patterns. Basically the order list is just 255 pattern numbers that instruct how the song is to be played. 2.4 Effects An effect is applied to a note to change how it or the whole pattern is played. If you are using a tracker for the first time, I suggest you just skip this chapter and come back when you have learned the basics. But for those with previous experience, Scream Tracker 3 supports nearly all Protracker effects and a few effects of its own. If you want to see how these commands can be used in a song, check the example song 64MANIA.S3M, it contains most of these effects. It is no masterpiece of melody, it is made just to acquaint a beginner with the different effects and how they can change the sound of a song completely. Here is a list of all the effects and what they do (a shortened list can be found in the ST3 internal quickhelp system by pressing F10 in the pattern editor): Axx Set speed to xx (the default is 06) This command is used for setting the song's speed. The speed varies from 1 (fastest) to FF (slowest). With most standard trackers, however, the slowest possible speed is 1F, since speed and tempo are in the same command. Bxx Jump to order xx (hexadecimal) This command jumps to the order number specified in the infobyte (remember to give the order number is hexadecimal format). The row this command is on is still played, but the next row played will be the first row of the pattern at order xx. Cxx Break pattern to row xx (decimal) This command breaks the pattern after playing the row it's on. It will skip to the next pattern in order and automatically jump to row xx. (Decimal) D0y Volume slide down by y This will slide the volume down with the value of y. The amount of the slide will be (speed-1) * y. Thus a command of D04 at speed 8 will drop the volume by 28. Dx0 Volume slide up by x This will slide the volume up with the value of x. The amount of the slide is the same as with the volume slide down command, speed times x. The volume can't be higher than 64, though. DFy Fine volume down by y Fine volume differs from volume slide in that it doesn't slide the volume smoothly, but instead changes the volume in the beginning of the row. It has lost some usefulness in ST3, because there is a separate volume column, but it still has its uses. Fine volume is also independent of the speed, it always changes the volume by the infobyte y. If y is 0, the command will be treated as a volume slide up with a value of f (15). If a DFF command is specified, the volume will be slid up. DxF Fine volume up by x Same as fine volume down, but raises the volume instead of lowering it. Volumes going over 64 are changed into 64. Exx Slide down by xx This command will slide the pitch of the note down as specified by xx. The range is 00..DF, since values above that are cosidered fine slides. EFx Fine slide down by x Fine slide, like fine volume, is unlike normal slide in that it slides to the desired pitch in the beginning of the row, not smoothly. It is also independent of the speed, it always slides the same amount, as dictated by x. EEx Extra fine slide down by x Acts list a fine slide, but is four times more accurate. Fxx Slide up by xx This command will slide the pitch of the note up as specified by xx. The range is 00..DF, since values above that are cosidered fine slides. FFx Fine slide up by x Fine slide, like fine volume, is unlike normal slide in that it slides to the desired pitch in the beginning of the row, not smoothly. It is also independent of the speed, it always slides the same amount, as dictated by x. FEx Extra fine slide up by x Acts list a fine slide, but is four times more accurate. Gxx Tone portamento with speed xx This command will start changing the current pitch to match the note given with this command. Subsequent G-commands will continue sliding the pitch until the note is reached at which time the portamento will be stopped. Hxy Vibrato with speed x and depth y Vibrato vibrates the note by changing the pitch with speed x and depth y. Ixy Tremor with ontime x and offtime y Tremor turns the note on for x frames and off for y frames. It is not a ProTracker command, so all tremor commands will be discarded when the song is saved as a .MOD file. Jxy Arpeggio with halfnote additions of x and y Arpeggio changes the playing frequency between the note, the note + x halfnotes and the note + y halfnotes 50 times per second. It is best to use it with clear or tight-looped (chip) instruments. Old users of the Commodore 64 remember this effect which was used to make chords. A C minor chord, for example, would be made with J37, which would play C, D# and G. Kxy Dual command: H00 and Dxy This is the old vibrato + volumeslide from the Protracker command set. If the volumeslide part is 0, the command acts like the old Amiga retrig. It continues the vibrato begun before the command and adds a volumeslide. You cannot, however, use fine volume sliding. An example of usage: C-5 04 28 H82 Start the vibrato ... .. .. K02 Continue vibrato while lowering volume ... .. .. H83 Deepen the vibrato ... .. .. K01 Slide the volume down with the new vibrato depth value At speed 6, the volume would end up being 13. Lxy Dual command: G00 and Dxy This is the old toneport + volumeslide from the Protracker command set. You must first use a G command and then put the L command. It will continue the toneport and slide the volume like a normal volumeslide with value xy. You cannot, however, use fine volume sliding. Oxy Set sample offset This command starts playing the sample at offset 256 times xy. A command of O10 would start playing the sample at position 256 * 16 = 4096. If the sample offset is used in a looped sample and the offset given exceeds the loop end value, the loop is taken into consideration and the offset will be calculated as if the sample had looped. In the example song pattern 3, the sample offset command is used to create a hihat-type sound by playing only the end part of the snare sample. Qxy Retrig (+volumeslide) note The retrig command triggers the sample many times in one row. The y value tells how many frames there are between the retrigs. There are as many frames in one as the speed is. At speed 6 a retrig of Q03 would trigger the note two times. The x value tells if there should be a volumeslide between the retrigs. The amount the volume will change is shown in the following table: 0: 0 (No volumeslide) 1: -1 2: -2 3: -4 4: -8 5: -16 6: 2/3 times the original volume 7: 1/2 times the original volume 8: ? 9: +1 A: +2 B: +4 C: +8 D: +16 E: 3/2 times the original volume F: 2 times the original volume Example of use: (speed 8) C-5 04 64 Q72 -Four retrigs, their volumes being 64, 32, 16 and 8 (speed 6) C-5 04 12 QC2 -Three retrigs with volumes 12, 20 and 28 Rxy Tremolo with speed x and depth y Tremolo acts like vibrato, but changing the volume of the note instead of the pitch. If the volume is at 64, all volumes going over 64 will be clipped at 64, so you should use lower volumes. S0x Set filter An Amiga hardware function, not implemented in Scream Tracker. S1x Set glissando control Makes toneportamentos slide a halfnote at a time. Not implemented in Scream Tracker. S2x Set finetune (=C4Spd) The set finetune command is used only to retain Protracker compatibility. Because Scream Tracker has a more accurate way of setting the desired instrument frequency, using this command is pretty pointless. However, if you want to dabble around with it, these are the C4Spd values the command uses: 0 - 7895 Hz 1 - 7941 Hz 2 - 7985 Hz 3 - 8046 Hz 4 - 8107 Hz 5 - 8169 Hz 6 - 8232 Hz 7 - 8280 Hz 8 - 8363 Hz (No finetune) 9 - 8413 Hz A - 8463 Hz B - 8529 Hz C - 8581 Hz D - 8651 Hz E - 8723 Hz F - 8757 Hz S3x Set vibrato waveform to x Sets the waveform of the vibrato command. The different options are 0 - the normal sine waveform, 1 - ramp down, 2 - square waveform, and 3 - random. S4x Set tremolo waveform to x Acts like the set vibrato waveform command, but affecting the waveform used for the tremolo command. S8x Amiga command E8x This command has no function in Scream Tracker 3.0, but some PC players use it for panning. If saved as a .MOD, this effect is saved as a normal E8x command with the right infobyte. SAx Stereo control This is an old command no longer implemented in Scream Tracker. The only .S3M file released that would support it is the soundtrack from Panic by Future Crew. SBx Pattern loop. Pattern loop is used for looping inside the pattern. First, you must use an SB0 command to set the loop point where the loop is to begin. Then you must use SBx to return to the loop point x times. In the example song in pattern 5, you can see how this command can be used to save pattern space. Also, you should not try looping back to a loop point in another pattern! SCx Notecut in x frames The note played will be cut in x number of frames. At speed 8, for example, an SC4 command would cut the note at exactly halfway through the row. SDx Notedelay for x frames This delays the playing of the note until x frames into the row. Until the new note comes out, the previous one is played. SEx Patterndelay for x notes This repeats the current row x times without triggering the notes again but applying the effects. SFx Funkrepeat with speed x Not implemented in Scream Tracker 3. Txx Tempo = xx (hex) Changes the tempo (BPM's) to xx. The valid values are 20 to FF. The default is 7D hex, which is 125 decimal. Vxx Set global volume Changes the global volume at which the whole song is played. Accepted values are 0 to 40. The Protracker effects left out, thus, are Glissando control, Set filter and Funkrepeat. Most songs play fine without them, though. 2.5 Setting up Scream Tracker The first thing you most likely want to do is set up ST. Pressing Shift + F9 will activate the setup screen. The first thing on the left is the screen color selection. You can define 13 of the 16 colors on the palette by changing the values there. The numbers are the red, green and blue values of each color. They range between 0 and 63. You can use the + and - keys to adjust the brightness of the color. D will restore the default palette. The two directories are the default directories for your samples and songs. The trailing backslash is not necessary. The chords are the those you use when editing the patterns in the chord mode. They can also be changed, but a set of common chords is included in the default setup. The chord system will be described in section 3.2, Editing Patterns. The soundcard configuration is handled by autodetection. If ST fails to detect your soundcard correctly, you can enter the settings from the commandline. Valid switches are: -s1 Sound Blaster soundcard -s2 Gravis Ultrasound soundcard -s5 Sound Blaster soundcard -m### Set mixing speed to ### (Does not affect Gravis) -a### Soundcard address -i### Soundcard interrupt (only required for SB) -c### Soundcard DMA channel (only required for SB) -b012 Force 512/1024/2048 byte buffer for SB -? List of all switches 3. Scream Tracker 3 Interface As you may notice when starting the program (I assume you started the program before reading the documentation as most of us do), the external appearance of ST has changed since version 2. Many of the old commands are still under the same keys, though, so those familiar with the old Scream Tracker (or Composer 669 and Multitracker for that matter) will find it easy to get used to the new interface. Those who have been using only Protracker or its clones have more to learn, though. The different screens and their commands are described in this chapter. 3.1 F1 - Order List and Variables 3.1.1 Order list This is where the order list is edited. On the left, there is a list of the orders and the patterns that go with them. They can be edited with the number keys. Pressing G changes the current pattern to the one under the cursor jumps to edit pattern mode. 3.1.2 Channels The 32 possible channels are defined here. There are 8 digital channels on the left and 8 on the right (16 mono on SB). They are, respectively, L1 through L8 and R1 through R8. A (--) means the channel is not played. There are also 9 Ad-lib channels ranging from A1 to A9. They are mono and can only be used on soundcards with an FM chip (Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro). 3.1.3 Global Variables From here you can set the following variables: Tempo - Global tempo, the tempo at which the song is played if no other tempo is specified. Defaults to 7D. Speed - Global speed, the speed at which the song is played if no other speed is specified. Defaults to 6. Can be changed with the brackets keys from the edit pattern screen. Global Volume - The global volume of the song, affecting all channels. The range is 0 through 40. Master Volume - This will affect the oversampling rate on SB cards, on a GUS card this value is ignored. If a song sounds bad on an SB, lowering the master volume might help. Volume 0 opt. - This option is also for Sound Blaster cards. It will turn off notes that are left on 0 volume for a longer time in order to save processing power. It is mainly used in demos and such. On a GUS the processing time saved is minimal. Force Amiga lim - Forces the old Amiga limits on the song. The main restriction is that you can only use octaves 3-5 (former Amiga octaves 1-3). You can still enter notes above and below these barriers but they will be played as C-3 or B-5. Enable Stereo - Enables stereo playback of the song on stereo cards. Otherwise the song will be played mono regardless of the channel allocations. 3.2 F2 - Edit Pattern The pattern edit screen is where you'll spend most of your composing time. Many commands are familiar from other trackers, but the keys might be different from what you are used to. The basic commands are still mostly under the same keys as in Scream Tracker 2. This chapter describes the keys in depth, but a quickhelp of the keys can be obtained from the tracker by pressing F10. 3.2.1 The Edit Display This is what the pattern edit screen looks like: ▐▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▌ ▐ Pattern Editor (F2) ▌ ▐ 01: L1 02: R1 03: L2 04: R2 05: L3 ▌ ▐ 00▌C-5 04 12 H81▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 01▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 02▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 03▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 04▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 05▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 06▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 07▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 08▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 09▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 10▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 11▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 12▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 13▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 14▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 15▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 16▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 17▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 18▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 19▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 20▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 21▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 22▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 23▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 24▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 25▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 26▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 27▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 28▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 29▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 30▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ 31▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ▌ ▐ <-- The edit mask ▌ ▐▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▌ In a closeup, we can see what fields each channel is made out of: 01: L1 00▌C#5 04 12 H81▌ 01▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ 02▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ 03▌∙∙∙ ∙∙ ∙∙ .00▌ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─ Infobyte (00-FF, hexadecimal) │ │ │ │ │ └─── Effect command (A-Z) │ │ │ │ └────── Volume (0-64, decimal) │ │ │ └───────── Instrument (00-99, decimal) │ │ └─────────── Octave (0-7, decimal) │ └───────────── Note └──────────────── Row 3.2.2 Entering Notes For entering notes into the tracker, the keyboard is turned into a piano in the following way: Actual note: C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G# A# C# D# │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ ││ ││ │ │ │ ││ │ │ │ │S││D│ │ │G││H││J│ │ │2││3│ │ │5││6││7│ │ │9││0│ │ │ └┬┘└┬┘ │ └┬┘└┬┘└┬┘ │ └┬┘└┬┘ │ └┬┘└┬┘└┬┘ │ └┬┘└┬┘ │ │ Z│ X│ C│ V│ B│ N│ M│ Q│ W│ E│ R│ T│ Y│ U│ I│ O│ P│ └──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┘ Actual note: C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E The period (.) key is used for clearing a note. Pressing one of the above keys enters the desired note, but the following things must be taken into consideration: 1. Baseoctave In the top right part of the screen, you will see the current baseoctave. It can be changed with the * and / keys, most easily accessed from the keypad. The number is the octave of the lower keyboard. 2. Edit Mask The edit mask is shown in the bottom row of the screen just below the channel you are editing. It shows what entering a note will change on the current row. The small triangles indicate what is changed. The default is the note and the instrument. By pressing the comma (,) on the either the volume or effect row you can turn the respective column on so that a new note will include the last value used in these columns with the new note. Also, entering a period (.) will only delete the values in the columns indicated by the edit mask. 3. Skip Value The skip value is how many rows the cursor will advance after entering the note. The default is one, but it can be changed with ALT-1 through ALT-8 which will change the skip value to the respective number. 4. Chord Mode The chord mode enables you to enter chords by placing the notes of a chord on separate channels. It is activated by pressing one of the chord keys, which are ALT+Z through ALT+M (the lowest keyboard row). It is deactivated with the colon mark (:). When you press one of the chord keys, the appropriate chord name pops up in the chord field in the top right part of the screen. You should also see more cursors appearing (if you're using the default chordset). Typing a new note will now place a note in all the columns with a cursor. The pitch of the note will depend on what kind chord is being used. If you have a chord like this: Sus4 C F G Pressing E-5 will naturally place an E-5 in the first column, an A-5 in the next and a B-5 in the one after that. Since teaching music theory is not the main purpose of this document, I will not go into more detail, but those who know music basics should know how this works. You can edit the different chords in the Setup screen (Shift-F9). 5. Default note playing Pressing SHIFT+Q through SHIFT+P (the upper keyboard row) will enter the respective (1-10) instrument with the current note. The current note is the one that was last played or one picked up by pressing ENTER on an already existing note. This command is useful for creating drumlines and such. 6. Polychannel Mode By pressing ALT+N, you can invoke the polychannel mode. A small M will appear below the channel you are currently on and the channel is marked as a polychannel. You can toggle each channel as polychannel with ALT+N. In this mode, when you enter a note on polychannel, the cursor will skip to the next available polychannel, taking the skip value into consideration. 3.2.3 Pattern Edit Commands Since this document is only a clarification of the helps found in the tracker itself, the pattern edit commands are going to be listed in the same order as found in the tracker. Most of these commands are best experimented in the tracker, but if you can't figure them out, look here. And again, don't try memorizing them all in one try, there are quickhelps available through the tracker behind the F10 key. , Toggles the edit mask, described in section 3.2.2. < > Changes the current instrument. Another way of changing the instrument is going into the instrument list with F3 and using the up and down arrow keys. / * Changes the baseoctave. Described in section 3.2.2 + - Changes pattern. For quicker movement in the patterns, SHIFT + and SHIFT - jump four patterns instead of one. You should use the keypad. { } Changes global speed. You can change the default playing speed with these. It can also be changed from F1 along with the default tempo. Provides a quick way to change the speed without messing up the pattern. . Empties current field taking the edit mask into consideration. 1 Adlib noteoff command. This is used for deactivating an Adlib voice. It is described better in section 4.1, Adlib FM-Songs. The command can also be used to stop a regular note. 4 Plays current note under cursor. The cursor must be over the note column. Originally a debugging tool, but it can be used to play melodies step by step to point out mistakes etc. 8 Plays current row under cursor. The cursor must be on top of the note column. ALT-1-8 Changes the skip value, described in section 3.2.2 ALT-N Toggle polychannel mode for channel. Described in section 3.2.2 CT-Home Moves the cursor up one row regardless of the skip setting. CT-End Moves the cursor down one row regardless of the skip setting. Home The first time pressed, the cursor moves to the note part of the current channel. The second time it moves to the first row in the pattern. On the third press the cursor moves to the first channel. End The first time pressed, the cursor moves to the infobyte part of the current channel. The second time it moves to the last row in the pattern. On the third press the cursor moves to the last defined channel. BKSPC Goes back to last note, useful in polychannel mode. INS Inserts a row in the current channel. In chord mode, a blank row is inserted in every channel with a cursor. SHIFT+INS inserts a blank row in every channel. DEL Deletes the row under the cursor from the current channel. In chord mode, a row is deleted from every channel with a cursor. SHIFT+INS deletes a row from every channel. ENTER Reads the default note, instrument, volume, effect and infobyte from the current row. CT-BKSPC Undo. Restores the pattern in the undo buffer. Only the area commands automatically save the pattern in the undo buffer. CT-ENTER Stores the pattern to the undo buffer. If you want to mess around with the pattern and the restore it, press CT-ENTER and after testing, press CT-BKSPC to restore the original pattern. Do not use area commands while testing, though, since they overwrite the undo buffer. ALT-T Toggles current channel to be a stationary channel in the left part of the edit screen. You can toggle a maximum of four channels to stay in the left window. Comes in handy when making songs with many channels so you can have certain channels be visible at all times. ALT-R Resets left window. This removes the stationary channels from the left window and returns to the normal one-window mode. S-QWER.. Default note playing, discussed in section 3.2.2 S-ZXCV.. Sets chord mode, discussed in section 3.2.2 3.2.4 Area commands These commands are all associated with selecting and editing area of notes. When a new area is selected, the previous one is forgotten. ALT-D Quickselects an area. When pressed the first time, it forms an area starting from the cursor and ending 16 rows down the channel. The next time pressed, the size of the area expands to 32 rows and on the third press to 64. ALT-B Marks the beginning of an area. ALT-E Marks the end of an area. ALT-L Selects the whole channel as an area. When pressed a second time, the whole pattern is selected as the area. ALT-U Unmarks area. When pressed twice, the clipboard is emptied. The only advantage of that is its freeing up memory. ALT-C Copies area to clipboard (=memory). Stores the selected area in memory for later pasting or mixing. ALT-P Pastes the area in the clipboard starting from the cursor. The exception to this is pasting an entire channel, which is always pasted on top of the old one, not from the cursor. If there are notes that go under the bottom of the screen, they are lost, so be careful where you paste. ALT-M Mixes clipboard with the already existing notes. What it does is that it acts like a paste, but it doesn't touch existing notes. It is useful for making echoes, a fast way to do it is by first setting the skip level to 2 and writing the melody. Then copy the melody to an adjacent channel, lower its volume with ALT-J, insert it one row, and mix it with the original melody. ALT-H Overwrites the clipboard without changing the volumes and effects already present in the pattern. ALT-Y Swaps areas. Swaps the selected area with a same sized area starting from the cursor. Comes in handy if you want to convert your .S3M into a .MOD and want to change the pattern data to better suit the Amiga Left-Right-Right-Left panning method. ALT-Z When pressed twice, erases the selected area. ALT-X When pressed twice, deletes the effects and infobytes from the selected area. ALT-Q Raises the pitch of all the notes in the selected area by a halfnote. If no area is selected, the note under the cursor is changed. ALT-A Lowers the pitch of all the notes in the selected area by a halfnote. If no area is selected, the note under the cursor is changed. ALT-V Changes all volumes in the selected area to the default volume. ALT-W Changes all volumes in the notes in the selected area to the default volume. Leaves rows with only volumes alone. ALT-S Changes all samples in the selected area to the default sample. ALT-I Multiplies all the volume in the area by 3/2. Useful for creating echoes. ALT-J Multiplies all the volume in the area by 2/3. Useful for creating echoes. ALT-F Doubles area length. Inserts a blank row between all the existing rows in the area. If you have marked a too big area, notes will be lost if they go below the last row. ALT-G Halves area length. Halves an area by removing every other row in the selected area and a same sized area following it. ALT-K Slides volume in area. By filling the volume column in the first and last row of the marked area and pressing ALT-K, you can make a smooth volume slide from the beginning volume to the end volume. Especially useful for fade-ins and fade-outs. 3.3 F3 - Instrument List The instrument list is where you select and edit the samples used in the song. This is what a sample might look like: ▌03▌turtle.jamaica.d50organ ▌SMP▌44▌08363▌TM▌T▌ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └── Test sample (plays note) │ │ │ │ │ └───── Test sample with multiple │ │ │ │ │ channels │ │ │ │ └─────────── C4Spd, the frequency the │ │ │ │ sample is played at C-4 │ │ │ └────────────── Default volume, the volume │ │ │ used when none is given │ │ └────────────────── Sample type (Normal or FM) │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────── Name of sample └────────────────────────────────────────────────── Number of sample You can use the test sample and test sample with multiple channels fields for playing the sample with the keyboard. Pressing F8 will stop playing the sample. The subwindow on the right tells information about the current sample. This is an example window for the above sample: Instrument 03: sample - Sampletype ▐▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▌ Filename:▐ORGAN2 ▌ - Sample filename Loop:▐on ▌ - Loop toggle Loop start:▐004700 ▌ - Starting point of loop Loop end:▐017250 ▌ - Ending point of loop Length:▐018542 ▌ - Length of sample UsedLength:▐000000 ▌ - How far the sample was played ▐▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▌ in the song, works only on SB Segment:F007 Guspos:0346 The available keys in the instrument list are: TAB Switches between the main list and the subwindow. ALT-D Deletes instrument from memory. ALT-O Saves current instrument to disk. It will save to the current directory. The directory can be changed from F4, and I suggest using multiple directories, or you are going to get very confused. A header is saved with the sample also so that the loop, C4Spd and other data can easily be restored. ALT-M Maximizes the volume of the sample like Digiplayer. It will warn if the change will affect the quality of the sample. Does not work with FM-sounds. ALT-X Exchanges two samples in the instrument list. It doesn't change the patterns. ALT-S Swaps two samples, both in the instrument list and the patterns. ALT-V Displays the sample as a text file. Included for those who want to send their hellos etc. in the module by loading a text file as a sample. ENTER Loads an instrument from the sample library. Pressing enter on the desired sample replaces the current one with it. The following commands only work when the cursor is on top of the C4Spd field: + - Multiplies or divides the C4Spd by two. Useful if you want to hear a sound an octave higher / lower without having to touch the patterns. * Resets the C4Spd value to 8363. / Asks the note which you want to be played at C-4 and changes the C4Spd accordingly. Nice if you use samples that are digitized from varying pitches. 3.4 F4 - Instrument Library The instrument library is where you store your samples. The default instrument directory is <ST3 path>\I\. If you plan on making music and storing samples on your hard disk, it would be advisable to create several subdirectories under the main one. Here is an example: C:\ST3\I\ C:\ST3\I\LEAD C:\ST3\I\BASS C:\ST3\I\DRUMS C:\ST3\I\CHORDS C:\ST3\I\EFFECTS C:\ST3\I\SPEECH You can use a more complex one depending on how many samples you are going to be saving to the hard disk. Entering the instrument library happens from the instrument list. You can either press F4 or Enter in the instrument list. If you pressed enter, you can load a sample by pressing enter again on top of the sample you want to load. You can change the directory by either pressing enter on the directory you want to change to or by pressing ALT-G and typing the name of the drive and directory you want to change to. 3.5 F5 - Info Screen Here you can watch the song being played. If there is no other output (a sample playing, etc) when you press F5, the command acts like the global command shift-F5, play song. The available keys for the info screen are: ALT-S Toggle stereo. Works like the stereo toggle discussed in section 3.1.3 CTRL-T Toggle trackmode. Changes between the 5, 8, and 18-channel track viewers. A global command. LEFT/ Scrolls the channels shown in the bottom infoscreen to the RIGHT left and right. UP/DOWN Changes the number of channels shown in the upper equalizers. PGUP/DN Selects the bottominfo mode. Note that the ChannelScope and SOutputScope only work on SB cards because there is no actual mixing on the GUS card. + - Change the order being played. 3.6 Global Commands In addition to the specific commands, there is a multitude of global commands that work everywhere in the tracker. They are: ESC Brings up the main menu. F1 Changes to the order list and global variables menu. F2 Changes to the edit pattern mode. F3 Changes to the instrument list mode. F5 Changes to the info screen mode and starts playing the song if no other sound output is active. SH+F5 Plays song. F6 Plays current pattern. SH+F6 Starts playing the song from the current order. F7 Starts playing from mark. If no mark is set, starts playing from current cursor position. SH+F7 Sets / Clears mark. Sets a mark in the current position. If a mark already exits, it is cleared and F7 will function as play from cursor. F8 Stops playing song or voice. SH+F8 Re-loads instruments to GUS from memory. F9 Status screen. Displays information about the song. SH+F9 Changes to the setup screen. Discussed in section 2.5. F10 Pops up quickhelp. CTRL-R Loads new module. The colors in the load module menu can be chosen from the commandline with the following parameters: -f0 All colors white -f1 .S3Ms green, .STMs brown, .MODs white, others yellow -f2 .S3Ms green, others white. -f3 .S3Ms and .STMs green, others white (default) CTRL-N Clears current song. CTRL-W Saves and prompts for a filename. CTRL-R Quicksaves with the old filename. CTRL-D Shells to DOS. If you experience troubles with this command, try using the commandline switch -l. CTRL-Q Exits to DOS. 4. Miscellaneous This section is for those don't want to go through the trouble of reading the documentation. There are a couple of things that aren't in the quickhelps, though. On a GUS card, if your samples sound corrupted or just plain strange, it might be that they are loaded the wrong way into the GUS. Pressing shift+F8 should help. Also, you might be wondering where all those ########.ST3 files are coming from. They are just temporary files created by Scream Tracker to make loading samples faster. If you encounter them outside your instrument directories, feel free to delete them, they contain no important data. 4.1 Adlib FM-songs Scream Tracker 3 supports the FM chip on SB cards. You can use a GUS for normal samples and SB for the FM-sound simultaneously. You can enter FM-sounds by going to the sample type column in the instrument list and pressing A. You can then edit the FM parameters by pressing space on the Parameters in the subwindow. I will not describe the parameters in any detail, since there are lots of good books and text files on the subject. There is an example Adlib .S3M by Skaven included, from which you can rip the FM sounds (they can be saved as normal samples) to find out how they work. Also, when making Adlib songs, remember that pressing 4.2 Closing Words by Sami Tammilehto This program really was supposed to be out years ago, but too many other projects with more priority slowed its progress to practically nothing. For a long time the program was usable, but very far from bug free. Later on most bugs were found while the program was used for making music for Future Crew demos. The main reason I decided to finally release the Scream Tracker is that I convinced myself that it'll never be finished (in the way I originally dreamed). And since so many people have been asking for it and no other tracker with similar editing capabilites has appeared, a freeware release seemed as the easiest way of helping everybody (Hopefully I no longer have to answer questions like: When will ST3 be released? :-) I'd like to thank Jonne Valtonen (PM/FC) and Peter Hajba (Skaven/FC) for extensive beta testing and Kalle Kaivola (Edge/Unexpected) for this excellent documentation and for helping me squeeze out the final (?) bugs. I really hope that you find this program useful. It certainly isn't the best or fastest player around, but the editing capabilities should make it a very useful utility for creating the modules. Ok, now it's time to forget this document and create the best tune anyone has ever heard anywhere! Good luck.