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From the web: MilkyTracker is a multi-platform music application for creating .MOD and .XM module files. It attempts to recreate the module replay and user experience of the popular DOS program Fasttracker II, with special playback modes available for improved Amiga ProTracker 2/3 compatibility.
Ubuntu 18.04 brought Ubuntu users into version 1.2 of this application. Ubuntu 16.04 users are stuck on version 0.9.
If you have never heard of MilkyTracker, I can understand it. MilkyTracker is a music player of sorts, but also a music creator. It uses patterns and mathematical functions to produce music. Though one can import .wav files into MilkyTracker, you can also draw your own samples. Yes, you read correctly, draw your own. If you are not musically inclined and have no formal training, the effort to use this amazing piece of open source software may seem high. Stick with it and it may bring you great joy. I am not saying it will make you the next Ben Daglish, I am saying it can be fun!
If you don't know who Ben is, listen to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSjJop6lOY - and know this amazing tune fits in a couple of kilobytes!
The most notable thing about MilkyTracker is that the tracks you make will be very small (have I mentioned the tiny size before?) compared to modern music production software. It is mostly used in the demo scene and “cracktro's” because of this. Music produced in MilkyTracker is often referred to as “chiptunes”.
This is the main screen that will greet you when you open MilkyTracker, (fig1). It does nothing when you push ‘play song’. That is because there are no music or samples loaded. To make music, you need samples. Here is a quick resource for samples: https://modarchive.org/forums/index.php?topic=3179.0
The KIA Archive contains hundreds of tiny samples for you to get your chiptune groove on.
Unlike other samples you will find on the internet, .xi files are not a recording of a sound, rather the wave pattern that an instrument makes.
If you just want to listen to music, that is fine too. Go to the mod archive - https://modarchive.org/ - and download a tune to listen to in MilkyTracker. You can change the file on the go, speeding it up, turning off tracks, and more. Some modern players like VLC will play a MOD file, but will not allow you to tinker with it.
Module files store digital samples and several “patterns” or “pages” of music data in a form similar to that of a spreadsheet. These patterns contain note numbers, instrument numbers, and controller messages. The number of notes that can be played simultaneously depends on how many “tracks” there are per pattern. One can have more than one instrument per track also. MOD are by no means the alpha and omega of the file format. There are IT, XM, S3M and many more, so feel free to explore the depths of this resource.
Remember I said you could draw your own sounds? Simply click on Smp. Ed. (Sample Editor) and a window opens at the bottom of the application. Right-click inside the space and create new. Leave the defaults (you can make the sample smaller if size is an issue) 100, and click OK.
In the very bottom part, change the note to bi-directional so that the sound does not just make a pop, then click on draw. Now draw a sample and hold down a key on your keyboard, for instance “d”. You will hear your waveform. You can change your waveform in real time whilst holding down a key.
You can load a MOD File and open the sample editor to look at the samples used. You move between samples in the top right. “Ins.” means instrument and most of the time they are housed here and on sample 0 in the next pane.
TIP: even though you can use a mouse with MilkyTracker, your keyboard will be your biggest ally. Learn the keyboard shortcuts. Your fingers will be on the keyboard anyway, to play music.
If you would like an in-depth how-to, drop us an email at: questions@fullcirclemagazine.org