Editing MOD (file format) (section)

== History ==

The first version of the format was created by [[Karsten Obarski]] for use in the [[Ultimate Soundtracker]], [[tracker (music software)|tracker]] software released for the [[Amiga]] computer in 1987.<ref name=Driscoll2009>{{cite journal|url=http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/96/94 |author1=Driscoll, Kevin  |author2=Diaz, Joshua  |name-list-style=amp |title=Endless loop: A brief history of chiptunes|doi=10.3983/twc.2009.0096 |quote=''Most importantly, Soundtracker provided an environment in which nonprogrammers could access the sophisticated music tools in their home computers without needing to learn a programming language.''|year=2009|journal=Transformative Works and Cultures |number=2 |access-date=2011-02-13|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>[http://www.soundtracker.org/ www.soundtracker.org] same named later clone of Obarski's soundtracker</ref> The format has since been supported by hundreds of [[List of Amiga music format players|playback programs]] and dozens of [[List of audio trackers|other trackers]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Sweet
 | first = Michael
 | title = Writing Interactive Music for Video Games
 | publisher = Addison-Wesley
 | year = 2014
 | isbn = 978-0-321-96158-7
 | pages = 272–273}}</ref>

The original version of the MOD format featured four channels of simultaneous audio playback, corresponding to the capabilities of the [[original Amiga chipset#Paula|original Amiga chipset]], and up to 15 instruments.

Later variations of the format have extended this to up to 32 channels and 31 instruments.

The format was designed to be directly playable on the Amiga without additional processing: for example, samples are stored in 8-bit [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] format ready to be played on the Amiga [[Digital-to-analog converter|DACs]], and pattern data is not packed.  Playback required very little [[CPU]] time on an Amiga, and many games used MOD files for their [[video game music|background music]].

A common misconception is that the [[magic number (programming)|magic number]] "M.K." in the 0x438 offset of MOD files are the initials of Mahoney and Kaktus, two prominent Amiga demomakers at the time, who played an important part in the popularity of the format. They in fact stand for the initials of [[Michael Kleps]] a.k.a. Unknown / DOC, another developer of the format.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://io.debian.net/~tar/debian/xmp/xmp-2.7.1/docs/formats/Ultimate_Soundtracker-format.txt |title=Ultimate Soundtracker module format description |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921225940/http://io.debian.net/~tar/debian/xmp/xmp-2.7.1/docs/formats/Ultimate_Soundtracker-format.txt |archive-date=2010-09-21 |access-date=2014-07-02}}, by Michael Schwendt, 1997; distributed in the source of the [http://packages.debian.org/stable/xmp xmp] module player; published at io.debian.net</ref>

{{demoscene}}

After the Amiga's production ceased, the MOD format has had continued popularity in the [[Demoscene]] and as background music for [[independent video games]] and [[Chiptune]]s. It is not uncommon to hear MOD music in [[keygen]]s either.