a little help on Protracker - Page 2

JumpingJackson · 14 April 2018, 12:45

Didn't really want to start a new thread, but have a question...

In 2.3d, is it possible to change the sample slot number using a keyboard shortcut?

Its a bit of a pain laying down drum beats in a single channel using the mouse to switch samples between BD and Snare for example.

daxb · 14 April 2018, 13:06

If you press the Help key you get the PT help. Go to KEYBOARD section and then "On Numeric pad:". 0 for sample 0. 1st row for sample 1 to 4. 2nd row for sample 5 to 8. 3nd row....

JumpingJackson · 15 April 2018, 00:16

Thanks! good to know.

However WinUAE numpad seems to be mapped strangely, and therefore can't select samples 1,2 and a few others. I guess the keys on my PC numpad doesn't match that of an Amiga 1200.

Amiga1992 · 16 April 2018, 16:18

You can use ctrl+shift+arrows to cycle through samples.
Or maybe it was Ctrl+Alt.

Give it a try!

JumpingJackson · 17 April 2018, 01:04

Neither of those seem to work

17 April 2018, 11:23

On the 600 with PT 3.61 I use CTRL + Left/Right Arrows

I have a question too about the line add.
I can't find anywhere how to advance in multiple steps at every note entry

Amiga1992 · 17 April 2018, 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeonBible

Neither of those seem to work

It was just Ctrl+ arrows, you had to try a little harder, I wasn't that far off (it's been a while since I last touched PT).

Quote:

Originally Posted by bresk13

I can't find anywhere how to advance in multiple steps at every note entry

Ctrl+1 = 1 step (default)
Ctrl+2 = 2 step
...
etc til 9
Ctrl+0 = 0 steps (cursor won't move after inputting note)

17 April 2018, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

It was just Ctrl+ arrows, you had to try a little harder, I wasn't that far off (it's been a while since I last touched PT).

Ctrl+1 = 1 step (default)
Ctrl+2 = 2 step
...
etc til 9
Ctrl+0 = 0 steps (cursor won't move after inputting note)

nice! Thanks

JumpingJackson · 20 April 2018, 19:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

It was just Ctrl+ arrows, you had to try a little harder, I wasn't that far off (it's been a while since I last touched PT).

That doesn't work either. Just to make sure, this should apply to v2.3d?

It could very well be the emulator key mappings are off again. I did try both WinUAE and FS-UAE (on Mac). I wonder if Ctrl is just not mapped on either emulators all together.

Amiga1992 · 20 April 2018, 23:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeonBible

That doesn't work either. Just to make sure, this should apply to v2.3d?

Yes boss, any 1.x/2.x branch Protracker uses these commands. It could be you have something mapped wrong.

For the record, I tried it on WinUAE when I posted that. So it works.

JumpingJackson · 08 April 2021, 21:22

Is it possible to change the number of steps the cursor jumps after entering a note?

It would be great to set it to 0 so entering a command and its value doesn’t require you to arrow up and right.

daxb · 08 April 2021, 22:12

I don't know if 0 is possible but yes you can change the steps. There is also a hotkey for that. Check the manual.

no9 · 08 April 2021, 22:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeonBible

Is it possible to change the number of steps the cursor jumps after entering a note?

It would be great to set it to 0 so entering a command and its value doesn’t require you to arrow up and right.

Yes. press left CTRL with number keys.

JumpingJackson · 09 April 2021, 12:56

Ah yes that’s it. And it does allow 0. Thanks both.

It is in the help file but not mentioned on the guides on various websites!

Nishicorn · 11 April 2021, 20:12

I also started liking OctaMED (though it was version V5.0, if I recall) over Protracker.

This was mainly because after moving to AGA Amigas, Protrackers weren't as stable or usable as they were on the Amiga 500. They didn't play things right, had odd quirks, etc. and weren't really system-friendly.

There were newer versions of them, but I just couldn't get into them for some reason. OctaMED was just SO usable and everything just works.

Of course later on, I found other things, like AHX, DigiBooster (for multiple channels, this was as good as FastTracker II on the PC - at least for me back in the day - and it could even do 14-bit samples! If I remember correctly, it could load 16-bit samples and I could use them as 14-bit? Not sure how that worked anymore, but it improved sound quality and added channels - what more could an Amigist composer want back in the day?)...

I could never get into the later versions, like the 'Sound Studio' - it's probably excellent, but it changed so much from the familiar and comfortable V5 that I just couldn't handle it. Also, I had already moved mostly to DigiBooster anyway. You can even customize its 'skin'!

Then I got a PC, and used FastTracker II a lot, but ALL those songs were lost to the ravages of time - it's still painful to me.. there were a couple of songs I really liked.

Nowadays, there's a PLETHORA (no, I don't know what the word means, don't beat me up) of all kinds of wonderful trackers to use, and most have more interesting features than what the faithful Paula can offer, so I have kind of moved away from Amiga when it comes to music and sound effects. I dabble sometimes a bit, I did bass sounds on MusicLine Editor for a song, but it's just not the same as using real SID or OPL2/OPL3 chips (or even Pokey, which provides the most impactful and snappy/sharp noise waves I have ever heard, SID can't even dream of that... and there's the really quirky sound of VIC-20 that emulators don't respect enough, thank goodness for real machines!)..

The kind of trackers I use and would recommend, include:

- Renoise (supports everything from MIDI (for real synths) to VST-instruments to samples, perfect even for just sample editing sometimes, so easy, intuitive and Amiga-like to use - forget the later versions that try to be 'sequencers' - the early versions are honest trackers)

- GoatTracker (especially there stereo version for 6 channels)
- Odin Tracker (for composing on real C64, which is so much fun, I recommend it!)
- Adlib Tracker II (what else are you gonna use on real OPL3?)
- Deflemask (for creating songs you can play on real systems for authenticity)'
- Raster Music Tracker (Pokey is a hard thing to work with, but it's fun sometimes, this
allows you to play back the songs on real Atari as it saves in XEX)
- maxYMizer (brilliant tracker to compose for Atari ST's marvellous YM2149F synth)

There's also Hivelytracker and Famitracker - both usable and great in their own ways, but compared to what I have above there, these have fallen out of use, as I just love the authentic SID and OPL sound so much, and I hope to have a real Atari ST also some day for creating those quirky sounds nothing else can touch.

If you really want to stick to Amiga, there are also things like Future Composer and such for nice synth sounds, and of course the AHX I already mentioned - and then there's MusicLine Editor and all that you might want to consider - although two of them aren't really trackers per se.

Then there's of course the Digibooster Pro, that's like a system-friendly, multi-channel protracker that supports more things, and in a better way.

if you really want to stick to Protracker, maybe best to use Amiga 500 for it.. or the newer versions.

Octave changing, by the way, should be pretty intuitive with all these trackers, with Protracker it was function keys, if I remember correctly. F1 and F2 still change octave in many trackers.

As a sidenote; philosophically, I've noticed Adlib Tracker II is like "the Protracker I always wanted", because it has so many channels, and yet I can make it sound almost similar to my songs back in the day - there are no samples, but with so many variables and buttons to tinker with, it's easy to create all kinds of fun sounds, especially being able to toy with so many channels, so you can use 3 channels for a sound and change each channel individually for really quirky leads and drums and whatnot, really fun!

It's like composing Amiga modules, except you get the added fun of creating all instrus for yourself., and making all chords exactly to whatever specifications you want. Even the 'fast chord volume changes' can be done (though through experimentation, I realized you kinda have to use multiple instruments if you want to make it sound as good and as snappy and fast, doing just volumechange on one instru isn't going to sound the same for some reason, but that's 'live synth' for ya)..

It's like having Protracker but with 'unlimited' channels (at least for MY intents and purposes) and where you get a nice synth that gives you all the instrus you ever need, and you get to make them yourself (and after awhile, you have a great, huge library of all kinds of instrus and sound from all your experimentations, so yours songs will always sound fresh, unique, personalized the same way SID songs sound personalized, and good - and you won't have the 'always the same samples' problem, you can always edit the instrus after loading them to fit your song better..)

I even created an instru that sounds like a piano, another that sounds like violin (a very short sound, though), one that sounds like Shamisen (or I'd like to think so..), some interesting snares that OPL2 can't usually do, almost good-sounding tomtoms, almost timpani-sounding drum, and so on. Xylophone is easy to create, and all kinds of .. ALL kinds of quirky basses are just so fun to create.. you'll end up with tons of them.

I am not saying I recommend using Adlib Tracker II with real OPL3, as this is an Amiga forum, but I would really like to say it (:

In any case, in this modern time, you have PLENTY of options, plenty of trackers on Amiga side, too, so whatever suits your fancy, you can do.. just please explore all kinds of options until you find the one that suits you, and don't be limited to just one tracker or platform. As much as I love the Amiga, I think there are so many other systems, options, platforms and trackers that it would be a bit unfair to limit yourself just because of loyalty or something.

I even did a test where I sampled instrus from SID and OPL3 chips and then made some module tests on the Amiga (I uploaded those somewhere on this site, they're just short test modules, though, but feel free to download, edit, or use them in any way you like) :

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=106558

I hope this helps.

Angus · 04 May 2021, 17:20

I used to use Protracker to provide bass and drums to support my guitar playing. Kind of a Billy-no-mates band solution. It was great, even if my playing wasn't. :-)

A few years back I was looking at DAWs for the PC to essentially do the same thing. The one that I got on with was (Cakewalk) Sonar X1. I just found the Skylight interface to be about a million times more intuitive than the competition, and over the years I spent quite a lot of money upgrading - eventually to Sonar X3 Producer. Which is awesome even if my musical ability still isn't.

My point is that, it got bought by Gibson (yeah, them) and run into the ground, and now it is a free download as Cakewalk by Bandlab - if anyone is interested it's here:

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

saimon69 · 04 May 2021, 18:21

About the numpad to change samples, was working fine with my Amiga 500 BUT in my A1200 did not act properly, in example no more 10-1f using shift and it seems to remember only first row was selecting samples (have no a1200 to double check here so am going by memory) - is that a very old bug?

daxb · 04 May 2021, 20:34

Wasn't it the enter key to get the second half of samples?! And it didn't work good always.

saimon69 · 04 May 2021, 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by daxb

Wasn't it the enter key to get the second half of samples?! And it didn't work good always.

For sure it did not work for me ever since i got my 1200 - might be a problem of italian keyboard setting?

Jope · 05 May 2021, 12:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by saimon69

About the numpad to change samples, was working fine with my Amiga 500 BUT in my A1200 did not act properly, in example no more 10-1f using shift and it seems to remember only first row was selecting samples (have no a1200 to double check here so am going by memory) - is that a very old bug?

That was fixed in Protracker 2.3D way back when.

11 April 2021, 20:12	#35
Nishicorn Registered User Join Date: Feb 2019 Location: Existence Posts: 102	I also started liking OctaMED (though it was version V5.0, if I recall) over Protracker. This was mainly because after moving to AGA Amigas, Protrackers weren't as stable or usable as they were on the Amiga 500. They didn't play things right, had odd quirks, etc. and weren't really system-friendly. There were newer versions of them, but I just couldn't get into them for some reason. OctaMED was just SO usable and everything just works. Of course later on, I found other things, like AHX, DigiBooster (for multiple channels, this was as good as FastTracker II on the PC - at least for me back in the day - and it could even do 14-bit samples! If I remember correctly, it could load 16-bit samples and I could use them as 14-bit? Not sure how that worked anymore, but it improved sound quality and added channels - what more could an Amigist composer want back in the day?)... I could never get into the later versions, like the 'Sound Studio' - it's probably excellent, but it changed so much from the familiar and comfortable V5 that I just couldn't handle it. Also, I had already moved mostly to DigiBooster anyway. You can even customize its 'skin'! Then I got a PC, and used FastTracker II a lot, but ALL those songs were lost to the ravages of time - it's still painful to me.. there were a couple of songs I really liked. Nowadays, there's a PLETHORA (no, I don't know what the word means, don't beat me up) of all kinds of wonderful trackers to use, and most have more interesting features than what the faithful Paula can offer, so I have kind of moved away from Amiga when it comes to music and sound effects. I dabble sometimes a bit, I did bass sounds on MusicLine Editor for a song, but it's just not the same as using real SID or OPL2/OPL3 chips (or even Pokey, which provides the most impactful and snappy/sharp noise waves I have ever heard, SID can't even dream of that... and there's the really quirky sound of VIC-20 that emulators don't respect enough, thank goodness for real machines!).. The kind of trackers I use and would recommend, include: - Renoise (supports everything from MIDI (for real synths) to VST-instruments to samples, perfect even for just sample editing sometimes, so easy, intuitive and Amiga-like to use - forget the later versions that try to be 'sequencers' - the early versions are honest trackers) - GoatTracker (especially there stereo version for 6 channels) - Odin Tracker (for composing on real C64, which is so much fun, I recommend it!) - Adlib Tracker II (what else are you gonna use on real OPL3?) - Deflemask (for creating songs you can play on real systems for authenticity)' - Raster Music Tracker (Pokey is a hard thing to work with, but it's fun sometimes, this allows you to play back the songs on real Atari as it saves in XEX) - maxYMizer (brilliant tracker to compose for Atari ST's marvellous YM2149F synth) There's also Hivelytracker and Famitracker - both usable and great in their own ways, but compared to what I have above there, these have fallen out of use, as I just love the authentic SID and OPL sound so much, and I hope to have a real Atari ST also some day for creating those quirky sounds nothing else can touch. If you really want to stick to Amiga, there are also things like Future Composer and such for nice synth sounds, and of course the AHX I already mentioned - and then there's MusicLine Editor and all that you might want to consider - although two of them aren't really trackers per se. Then there's of course the Digibooster Pro, that's like a system-friendly, multi-channel protracker that supports more things, and in a better way. if you really want to stick to Protracker, maybe best to use Amiga 500 for it.. or the newer versions. Octave changing, by the way, should be pretty intuitive with all these trackers, with Protracker it was function keys, if I remember correctly. F1 and F2 still change octave in many trackers. As a sidenote; philosophically, I've noticed Adlib Tracker II is like "the Protracker I always wanted", because it has so many channels, and yet I can make it sound almost similar to my songs back in the day - there are no samples, but with so many variables and buttons to tinker with, it's easy to create all kinds of fun sounds, especially being able to toy with so many channels, so you can use 3 channels for a sound and change each channel individually for really quirky leads and drums and whatnot, really fun! It's like composing Amiga modules, except you get the added fun of creating all instrus for yourself., and making all chords exactly to whatever specifications you want. Even the 'fast chord volume changes' can be done (though through experimentation, I realized you kinda have to use multiple instruments if you want to make it sound as good and as snappy and fast, doing just volumechange on one instru isn't going to sound the same for some reason, but that's 'live synth' for ya).. It's like having Protracker but with 'unlimited' channels (at least for MY intents and purposes) and where you get a nice synth that gives you all the instrus you ever need, and you get to make them yourself (and after awhile, you have a great, huge library of all kinds of instrus and sound from all your experimentations, so yours songs will always sound fresh, unique, personalized the same way SID songs sound personalized, and good - and you won't have the 'always the same samples' problem, you can always edit the instrus after loading them to fit your song better..) I even created an instru that sounds like a piano, another that sounds like violin (a very short sound, though), one that sounds like Shamisen (or I'd like to think so..), some interesting snares that OPL2 can't usually do, almost good-sounding tomtoms, almost timpani-sounding drum, and so on. Xylophone is easy to create, and all kinds of .. ALL kinds of quirky basses are just so fun to create.. you'll end up with tons of them. I am not saying I recommend using Adlib Tracker II with real OPL3, as this is an Amiga forum, but I would really like to say it (: In any case, in this modern time, you have PLENTY of options, plenty of trackers on Amiga side, too, so whatever suits your fancy, you can do.. just please explore all kinds of options until you find the one that suits you, and don't be limited to just one tracker or platform. As much as I love the Amiga, I think there are so many other systems, options, platforms and trackers that it would be a bit unfair to limit yourself just because of loyalty or something. I even did a test where I sampled instrus from SID and OPL3 chips and then made some module tests on the Amiga (I uploaded those somewhere on this site, they're just short test modules, though, but feel free to download, edit, or use them in any way you like) : http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=106558 I hope this helps. Last edited by Nishicorn; 11 April 2021 at 20:21.

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14 April 2018, 12:45	#21
JumpingJackson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: UK Posts: 123	Didn't really want to start a new thread, but have a question... In 2.3d, is it possible to change the sample slot number using a keyboard shortcut? Its a bit of a pain laying down drum beats in a single channel using the mouse to switch samples between BD and Snare for example.

14 April 2018, 13:06	#22
daxb Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 3,303	If you press the Help key you get the PT help. Go to KEYBOARD section and then "On Numeric pad:". 0 for sample 0. 1st row for sample 1 to 4. 2nd row for sample 5 to 8. 3nd row....

15 April 2018, 00:16	#23
JumpingJackson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: UK Posts: 123	Thanks! good to know. However WinUAE numpad seems to be mapped strangely, and therefore can't select samples 1,2 and a few others. I guess the keys on my PC numpad doesn't match that of an Amiga 1200.

16 April 2018, 16:18	#24
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	You can use ctrl+shift+arrows to cycle through samples. Or maybe it was Ctrl+Alt. Give it a try!

17 April 2018, 01:04	#25
JumpingJackson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: UK Posts: 123	Neither of those seem to work

17 April 2018, 11:23	#26
bresk13 Posts: n/a	On the 600 with PT 3.61 I use CTRL + Left/Right Arrows I have a question too about the line add. I can't find anywhere how to advance in multiple steps at every note entry

08 April 2021, 21:22	#31
JumpingJackson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: UK Posts: 123	Is it possible to change the number of steps the cursor jumps after entering a note? It would be great to set it to 0 so entering a command and its value doesn’t require you to arrow up and right.

08 April 2021, 22:12	#32
daxb Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 3,303	I don't know if 0 is possible but yes you can change the steps. There is also a hotkey for that. Check the manual.

09 April 2021, 12:56	#34
JumpingJackson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: UK Posts: 123	Ah yes that’s it. And it does allow 0. Thanks both. It is in the help file but not mentioned on the guides on various websites!

04 May 2021, 17:20	#36
Angus Amiga Games Database Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: South West England Posts: 1,240	I used to use Protracker to provide bass and drums to support my guitar playing. Kind of a Billy-no-mates band solution. It was great, even if my playing wasn't. :-) A few years back I was looking at DAWs for the PC to essentially do the same thing. The one that I got on with was (Cakewalk) Sonar X1. I just found the Skylight interface to be about a million times more intuitive than the competition, and over the years I spent quite a lot of money upgrading - eventually to Sonar X3 Producer. Which is awesome even if my musical ability still isn't. My point is that, it got bought by Gibson (yeah, them) and run into the ground, and now it is a free download as Cakewalk by Bandlab - if anyone is interested it's here: https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

04 May 2021, 18:21	#37
saimon69 J.M.D - Bedroom Musician Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: los angeles,ca Posts: 3,516	About the numpad to change samples, was working fine with my Amiga 500 BUT in my A1200 did not act properly, in example no more 10-1f using shift and it seems to remember only first row was selecting samples (have no a1200 to double check here so am going by memory) - is that a very old bug?

04 May 2021, 20:34	#38
daxb Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 3,303	Wasn't it the enter key to get the second half of samples?! And it didn't work good always.

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