Scream Tracker

Scream Tracker

Scream Tracker 3.21 screenshot
Original author(s) Sami Tammilehto
Developer(s) Future Crew (FC)
Stable release
3.21 / 1994 (1994)
Development status Historic
Written in C and assembly
Operating system DOS
Type Tracker
License Proprietary

Scream Tracker is a tracker (an integrated multi-track step sequencer and sampler as a software application). It was created by Psi (Sami Tammilehto), who later formed Finnish Future Crew (FC).[1][2] It was coded in C and assembly language.

The first version (1.0) had monophonic 4-bit output via PC Speaker and 8-bit via DAC on an LPT and SB 1.x. The first popular version of Scream Tracker, version 2.2, was published in 1990.[3] Versions prior to 3.0 created STM (Scream Tracker Module) files, later ones used S3M (ScreamTracker 3 Module). The last version of Scream Tracker was 3.21 released in 1994. It was the precursor of the PC tracking scene and its interface inspired newer trackers like Impulse Tracker.[4][5]

Scream Tracker 3.0 and later supports up to 99 8-bit samples, 32 channels, 100 patterns and 256 order positions. It can also handle up to 9 FM-synthesis channels on sound cards using the popular OPL2/3/4 chipsets, and unusually, can play digital and FM instruments at the same time. There are channels referred to as R1..8, L1..8 and A1..9 to be assigned to those 32 ones, which gives an effective amount of only 25 channels. Panning is free (16 positions by S8x command) only on the GUS, on which in turn isn't possible to use the A channels, unless an AdLib card is mounted too.

Future Crew released the ST3 after some delays in 1994, placing it in a war with FastTracker 2 (not Composer 669, Fasttracker, Multitracker or Farandole Composer), which supported 32 PCM channels, but was a whole new realm of keyboard shortcuts and more buggy in its playback. The rough discussion continued with the IT, which's sticking with textmode interface allowed to have CPU-heavy filtering and 256 virtual channels. Newer and more different DAWs have taken place since then. No application other than ST3 supports the S3M format in its full extent without any emulation due to the AdLib not being directly accessible in modern operating systems driver abstractions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Walker, Martin (July 2004). "PC Music Freeware Roundup". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 2010-05-29. When PCs first came of age for music making in the mid '90s, ScreamTracker was one of the first music software packages to appear with sample support,...
  2. ↑ Leonard, Andrew (1999-04-29). "Mod love". Salon.com. Salon Media Group. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  3. ↑ ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/sound/st22.zip
  4. ↑ Lim, Jeffrey. "Features of Impulse Tracker". Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  5. ↑ Matsuoka, Claudio (2007-11-04). "Tracker History Graphing Project". helllabs.org. Retrieved 2011-01-29. Tracker History Graph
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