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Tracked Music

Guided Tool Path · ~25 MIN · FREE · LOCAL ONLY

Patterns, channels, samples and order lists: how scene music has been written since the Amiga, and why trackers still win for size.

Plan a tracker pattern across four channels and an order list.

  • patterns and rows
  • channels
  • samples and instruments
  • order lists
  • module formats

Lessons

  1. Rows, not a timeline

    A tracker shows time going down the screen in rows. Each channel is a column, and each row can hold a note, an instrument and an effect.

  2. Four channels is a whole song

    Classic modules had four channels: usually bass, drums, chords and lead. The limit is a feature — it forces arrangement decisions.

  3. The order list is the arrangement

    Patterns are reused and sequenced by an order list. Writing the order list is where a set of loops becomes a track.

Pattern sketch and order list

Write pattern rows across all four channels, then describe the order list that turns them into a track.

    See what changed

    The preview is generated from your choices above.

    Pattern sketch · no module file and no audio is produced

    Generated pattern sketch: 0 of 32 rows used across 0 of 4 channels, order list 0 slots.

    WHAT CHANGED · Time runs downwards: 0 of 32 rows carry something, across 0 of 4 channels. Empty channels are silence, not spare space — a four-channel module usually keeps bass, drums, chords and lead busy in turn. No order list yet: without one you have patterns, not a track.

    0/3 REQUIREMENTS MET

    • Six or more rows
    • All four channels used
    • Order list written

    COMPLETION RULE · At least six rows written, every one of the four channels used, and an order list described.

    Your plan

    Everything above stays on this device. Take a copy with you.

    Tracked Music — SceneStart

Order list: —

Completion: 0/3 — At least six rows written, every one of the four channels used, and an order list described.

SceneStart is not affiliated with any demoparty and cannot certify compliance. The party's published rules always take precedence.

    Where to do the real work

    • OpenMPT ↗Free, Windows, the most used modern tracker in the scene.
    • MilkyTracker ↗Free, cross-platform, faithful to the classic XM workflow.
    • Furnace ↗Free chiptune tracker covering many classic sound chips.

    SCOPE · This is not a tracker and does not produce a module file. It teaches the model so a real tracker stops looking like a spreadsheet.

    FREE FOREVER · A future paid tier could export a starter module template. The planner stays free.