Basic Pattern Editor Concepts

Orderlist

orderlist_big.jpg

The orderlist is used to set the order in which the patterns are played (the order can also be affected with various mod commands). The number in the box indicates which pattern will be played at that position. If there is a line below the number, it indicates that playback is going to jump to that order after ending the pattern that is currently playing. (In builds after RC2: A line above the number should tell the order which is being played at the moment.)

orderlist_fig2.jpg

The orderlistview in the above picture indicates that:

  • The currently playing pattern is 4 (position 0)
  • The next pattern will be pattern 1 (position 2)
  • The pattern which is shown in pattern view is 2.


TODO

Pattern Effect List

Effect Commands

TODO: Someone should exaplain how the "effect variations" in the volume column work...

IT (Impulse Tracker) Effects

XM (FastTracker II) Effects

S3M (ScreamTracker III) Effects

MOD (ProTracker) Effects

Arpeggio (MOD/XM: 0xy, S3M/IT: Jxy)

Cycles between note, note+x halftones, note+y halftones. Ex: S3M/IT: C-4 01 .. J37 (MOD/XM: C-4 01 .. J37) This will play C-4, C-4+3 semitones and C-4+7 semitones (C-4, D#4 and G-4) Note: if both x and y are zero, this command is ignored in MOD/XM. In S3M/IT modules, J00 uses the previous value.

Portamento Up (MOD/XM: 1xy, S3M/IT: Fxy)

This will slide up the pitch of the current note being played by the given speed. In S3M/IT mode, FFx is a fine portamento up by x, and FEx is a extra-fine portamento up.

Portamento Down (MOD/XM: 2xy, S3M/IT: Exy)

This will slide down the pitch of the current note being played by the given speed. In S3M/IT mode, EFx is a fine portamento down by x, and EEx is a extra-fine portamento up.

Tone-Portamento (MOD/XM: 3xy, S3M/IT: Gxy)

This command is used together with a note, and will bend the current pitch at the given speed towards the specified note. Example: 
C-4 01 .. ...
F-4 .. .. G05 (bend the note up towards F-4)
... .. .. G00 (continue to slide up, until F-4 is reached)
If the glissando command has been used before, the pitch will be rounded to the nearest halftone.

Vibrato (MOD/XM: 4xy, S3M/IT: Hxy)

Vibrato with speed x and depth y. This command will oscillate the frequency of the current note with a sine wave. (You can change the vibrato waveform to a triangle wave, a square wave, or a random table by using the E4x (MOD/XM) or S3x (S3M/IT) command)

Tone-Portamento + Volume Slide (MOD/XM: 5xy, S3M/IT: Lxy)

See also: Tone-Portamento, Volume Slide. This command is equivalent to Tone-Portamento and Volume Slide. (MOD/XM: 300 + Axy, S3M/IT: G00 + Dxy)

Vibrato + Volume Slide (MOD/XM: 6xy, S3M/IT: Kxy)

See also: Vibrato, Volume Slide. This command is equivalent to Vibrato and Volume Slide. (MOD/XM: 400 + Axy, S3M/IT: H00 + Dxy or U00 + Dxy)

Tremolo (MOD/XM: 7xy, S3M/IT: Rxy)

Similar to the vibrato, but changes the volume instead of the pitch.

Set Panning (MOD/XM: 8xx, S3M/IT: Xxy)

This commands sets the pan position of the current channel. In XM/IT, the value ranges from 00 (left) to FF (right). In MOD/S3M, the value ranges from 00 (left) to 80 (right). If the value is A4 (In MOD/S3M), the command sets the channel panning as Surround.

Set Sample Offset (MOD/XM: 9xx, S3M/IT: Oxx)

This command, when used together with a note, will start playing the sample at the position xx*256 (instead of position 0). If xx is 00 (900 or O00), the previous value will be used.

Volume Slide (MOD/XM: Axy, S3M/IT: Dxy)

This command will slide up or down the current volume:
  • A0x will decrease the current volume by x on every tick.
  • Ax0 will increase the current volume by x on every tick.
Total slide amount is x * (current_speed-1)

Special note for S3M/IT:

  • AFx will do a fine volume down by x.
  • AxF will do a fine volume up by x.
For fine volume slides, the total slide amount is x (The current speed doesn't matter).

Position Jump (MOD/XM/S3M/IT: Bxy)

This command will cause the player to jump to the pattern position xy (hex). Ie: B00 will restart the song from the start. If used together with a pattern break, you can also specify the starting row (by default, it will play from the start of the pattern). Note that most players (Including Modplug Player) disable backward jumps in the song if looping mode isn't enabled, so that it is not possible to loop a song forever (pretty annoying in a playlist).

Set Volume (MOD/XM: Cxx, S3M/IT: undefined)

This command will set the current volume to xx (hex). Note that the maximum value is 40 (hex). It is better to use the volume column for volume effects, except in MOD songs, since the volume column isn't saved in the file. (Modplug Tracker will replace volume column effects by Cxx commands when saving as a MOD file - Careful if both effect columns are used!).

Pattern Break (MOD/XM: Dxx, S3M/IT:Cxx)

This command will stop playing the current pattern and will jump to the next one in the order list (pattern sequence). You can also select the row where to start the next pattern. Note that the specified row xx is in Hex (Ie D20 will jump to the 32nd row of the next pattern).

Extended MOD Commands (MOD/XM: Exy, S3M/IT:undefined)

Most of these can be mapped to on of the Sxy: Extended S3M Commands:

See also: Pro Tracker Effect Commands. Original Amiga chipset - Audio features.

Set Speed/Tempo (MOD/XM: Fxx, S3M/IT:undefined)

This command can either set the speed (xx smaller than 20) or the tempo (xx greater than 20) of the song. Avoid using 20 as a parameter, since it can cause problem in some players. In MOD, F20 will set the SPEED of the song, but in XM, F20 will set the TEMPO (bpm) of the song. This value is in Hex.

Set Speed (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Axx)

This command will set the speed of the current song (Hex). Avoid using values bigger than 20, for better MOD/XM compatibility.

Set Tempo (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Txx)

This command will change the tempo of the song (Hex). The minimum value is T20, and the maximum possible value is TFF. The default tempo is 125 (T7D), which is equivalent to one tick every 20ms (50Hz)

Note: T0x will decrease the current tempo by x. T1x will increase the current tempo by x.

Tremor (MOD: undefined, XM: Txy, S3M/IT:Ixy)

This effect will turn on and off the current channel every frame: T[ontime][offtime].
x=ontime, y=offtime: the volume will stay unchanged for x frames, and then muted for y frames.
Note: The exact duration of the ontime/offtime is different for MOD, XM and S3M/IT.

Set Channel Volume (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Mxy)

This effect sets the master volume of the current channel. It will affect the volume of all notes being played on this channel.
Final Volume = master_volume * channel_volume * instrument_global_volume * sample_global_volume * envelope_volume * current_volume

Channel Volume Slide (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Nxy)

This effects slides up or down the volume of the current channel. It works the same way than the volume slide effect.

Panning Slide (MOD: undefined, XM/S3M/IT:Pxy)

This effects works exactly like a volume slide, but will slide the panning of the current channel.

Retrig Note(MOD:undefined, XM:Rxy, S3M/IT:Qxy)

This command will retrig the same note before playing the next. Where to retrig depends on the speed of the song. If you retrig with 1 in speed 6 that note will be trigged 6 times in one note row. Example: 
... .. .. F06  (Set speed to 6)
C-3 42 .. Q03  (Retrig at tick 3 out of 6)
Retrig on hi-hats!

Extended S3M commands (MOD/XM:undefined, S3M/IT:Sxy)

  • S1x: Glissando Control
    Active (S11) or desactive (S10) the glissando.
    When glissando is active, tone-portamento effects will slide by semitones.
  • S2x: Set finetune
    This effect is only provided for MOD compatibility.
  • S3x: Set vibrato waveform
    S30,S34: Sine
    S31,S35: Triangle
    S32,S36: Square
    S33,S37: Random
    For S34,S35,S36,S37, the vibrato position will not be reset to zero when a new note is being played.
  • S4x: Set tremolo waveform
    Same thing as S3x, but selects the tremolo waveform.
  • S5x: Set panbrello waveform
    Same thing then S3x, but selects the panbrello waveform.
  • S6x: Pattern delay for x frames
    This will delay the playback of the current row by x ticks (beats).
  • S7x: Envelope and New Note Action (NNA) control
    S70: Cut all background notes: this will cut all the notes that have been triggered by NNA effects
    S71: Release all background notes: this is similar to S70, but with Key Off instead of Cut
    S72: Fade all background notes: similar to S70, but will fade the notes, using the fadeout value of the instrument
    S73: Set NNA to Note Cut
    S74: Set NNA to Continue
    S75: Set NNA to Note Off
    S76: Set NNA to Note Fade
    S77: Disable volume envelope
    S78: Enable volume envelope
    S79: Disable panning envelope
    S7A: Enable panning envelope
    S7B: Disable pitch/filter envelope
    S7C: Enable pitch/Filter envelope
  • S8x: Set Panning
    This will set the panning from S80 (left) to S8F (right)
  • S9x: Extended Channel Effects
    S90: Disable surround for the current channel S91: Enable surround for the current channel. Note that a panning effect will automatically disable the surround, unless the 4-way (Quad) surround mode has been activated with the S9B effect.
    S98: Disable reverb for this channel
    S99: Force reverb for this channel
    S9A: Select mono surround mode (center channel). This is the default
    S9B: Select quad surround mode: this allows you to pan in the rear channels, especially useful for 4-speakers playback. Note that S9A and S9B do not activate the surround for the current channel, it is a global setting that will affect the behavior of the surround for all channels. You can enable or disable the surround for individual channels by using the S90 and S91 effects. In quad surround mode, the channel surround will stay active until explicitely disabled by a S90 effect
    S9C: Select global filter mode (IT compatibility). This is the default, when resonant filters are enabled with a Zxx effect, they will stay active until explicitely disabled by setting the cutoff frequency to the maximum (Z7F), and the resonance to the minimum (Z80).
    S9D: Select local filter mode (MPT beta compatibility): when this mode is selected, the resonant filter will only affect the current note. It will be deactivated when a new note is being played.
    S9E: Play forward. You may use this to temporarily force the direction of a bidirectional loop to go forward.
    S9F: Play backward. The current instrument will be played backwards, or it will temporarily set the direction of a loop to go backward.
  • SAx: Set High Offset
    This will set the high part of the offset (only works for sample bigger than 64K. The value x*64K will be added to the next offset effect.
  • SBx: Pattern Loop
    SB0 will set the loop start row
    SBx will repeat x times the loop, by jumping to the loopstart row
  • SCx: Note cut after x frames
    The current note will be cut (volume set to zero) after x ticks
  • SDx: Note delay
    The specified note will be delayed by x frames (ticks) before starting
  • SEx: Pattern Delay
    This will delay the playback of the current pattern by x rows.
  • SFx: Select active macro
    This will select the active macro SFx, so the next Zxx effect will use the new macro.

Fine Vibrato (MOD/XM:undefined, S3M/IT:Uxy)

This effect is identicatal to the vibrato, but has a 4x smaller amplitude (more precise).

Set Global Volume (MOD:undefined, XM:Gxx, S3M/IT:Vxx)

This effect sets the global master volume. It will affect the volume of all notes being played in all channels.

Global Volume Slide (MOD:undefined, XM:Hxy, S3M/IT:Wxy)

This effects slides up or down the global master volume. It works the same way than the volume slide effect.

Panbrello (MOD:undefined, XM/S3M/IT:Yxy)

Similar to the vibrato, but affects the panning instead of pitch.

Macros (MOD:undefined, XM/S3M/IT:Zxy)

TODO: Explain macros.

Key Off (MOD/S3M/IT:undefined, XM:Kxx)

For IT, use the special "key off note".

Set Envelope Position (MOD/S3M/IT:undefined, XM:Lxx)

This will set the envelope position to tick xx.

Extended XM Effects (MOD/S3M/IT:undefined, XM:Xxy)

  • X1x: Extra fine portamento up: This command works as fine portamento up/down, but the speed will be divided by four.
  • X2x: Extra fine portamento down: This command works as fine portamento up/down, but the speed will be divided by four.
  • X9x: See S9x Extended Channel Effects.

Version 1.15 last modified by Barry van Oudtshoorn on 07/03/2007 at 19:33

Comments 1

Ronan D | 07.03.2007 at 07:33 PM
Impossible to make PDF for this file ! Is there any problem with its structure ?

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