Ultimate Soundtracker
Encyclopedia
Ultimate Soundtracker, or Soundtracker for short, is a music tracker program for the Commodore Amiga. It is the creation of Karsten Obarski, a German software developer and composer at a game development company; sources differ as to the name of the company, recorded it as reLINE, whereas reported it as EAS.
Soundtracker started as a tool for game sound development for the Amiga. It was loosely based on the techniques developed by Rob Hubbard
for the Commodore 64
. The program allowed for four-channel hardware mixing on all Amiga computers, but unlike subsequent versions, limited the number of samples/instruments in a song to 16. It allocated the four channels in strict fashion: melody
(lead
), accompaniment
, bass
, and percussion. It could export the tracks as a sequence of assembly
instructions.
Soundtracker was released as a commercial product in mid 1987. It did not enjoy success as a general music development software, with reviews calling it "illogical", "difficult" and "temperamental"; it was eclipsed in that market by programs such as Aegis' Sonix and Electronic Arts
' Deluxe Music Construction Set
. It became however a standard for games sound on the Amiga. The source code was released to the public domain, where it was hacked, debugged, and spread across the burgeoning Amiga underground. A disk of instrument samples (ST-01) was distributed together with the program. In 1989, the program were improved upon by two Swedish programmers, Pex “Mahoney” Tufvesson and Anders “Kaktus” Berkeman, who released a version known as NoiseTracker
, which allowed for thirty-two instruments and was more flexible in terms of channel usage. Later versions of the program used the MOD file format
, which stored both instrument samples and the tracks in the same file. These versions turned out to incompatible with the Amiga OS 2.0, causing crashes. ProTracker
was another successor, released in 1991, which solved the stability problems and made several changes to the user interface.
Soundtracker started as a tool for game sound development for the Amiga. It was loosely based on the techniques developed by Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
. The program allowed for four-channel hardware mixing on all Amiga computers, but unlike subsequent versions, limited the number of samples/instruments in a song to 16. It allocated the four channels in strict fashion: melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
(lead
Lead instrument
Lead instrument is the name given to someone who is the most advanced player of their instrument in their ensemble. This is also referred to as the first chair, principal, first position, or first ....
), accompaniment
Accompaniment
In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...
, bass
Bass (instrument)
Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
, and percussion. It could export the tracks as a sequence of assembly
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
instructions.
Soundtracker was released as a commercial product in mid 1987. It did not enjoy success as a general music development software, with reviews calling it "illogical", "difficult" and "temperamental"; it was eclipsed in that market by programs such as Aegis' Sonix and Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
' Deluxe Music Construction Set
Deluxe Music Construction Set
Deluxe Music Construction Set is a 1986 music composition, notation and playback program for the Amiga and Apple Macintosh home computers.-Summary:...
. It became however a standard for games sound on the Amiga. The source code was released to the public domain, where it was hacked, debugged, and spread across the burgeoning Amiga underground. A disk of instrument samples (ST-01) was distributed together with the program. In 1989, the program were improved upon by two Swedish programmers, Pex “Mahoney” Tufvesson and Anders “Kaktus” Berkeman, who released a version known as NoiseTracker
NoiseTracker
NoiseTracker was a freeware tracker created 1989 for the Amiga platform. It was based on the Ultimate Soundtracker and developed by Pex "Mahoney" Tufvesson and Anders “Kaktus” Berkeman. It was used by Amiga game musicians to create music with four channels of sampled stereo sound, e.g. for Shadow...
, which allowed for thirty-two instruments and was more flexible in terms of channel usage. Later versions of the program used the MOD file format
MOD (file format)
MOD is a computer file format used primarily to represent music, and was the first module file format. MOD files use the “.MOD” file extension, except on the Amiga where the original trackers instead use a “mod.” prefix scheme, e.g. “mod.echoing”...
, which stored both instrument samples and the tracks in the same file. These versions turned out to incompatible with the Amiga OS 2.0, causing crashes. ProTracker
Protracker
ProTracker is a popular freeware tracker created by Lars Hamre, Anders Hamre, Sven Vahsen and Rune Johnsrud for the Amiga platform. It is amongst the programs that first allowed for widespread creation of music without studio equipment...
was another successor, released in 1991, which solved the stability problems and made several changes to the user interface.
Further reading
- Anders Carlsson (2008), Chip Music: Low Tech Data Music Sharing in Karen Collins (ed.), From Pac-Man to pop music: interactive audio in games and new media, AshgateAshgate PublishingAshgate Publishing is an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom. It was established in 1967 and specializes in the social sciences, arts, humanities, and professional practice...
, ISBN 0754662004 - Interview with Obarski at the Amiga Music Preservation website