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== History == {{demoscene}} === 1987: Origins on the Amiga === The term tracker derives from [[Ultimate Soundtracker]] (the first tracker software<ref>{{cite book|author1=Olga Goriunova|title=Art Platforms and Cultural Production on the Internet|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-89310-7|pages=162|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=svTOmgMUGW0C|access-date=2014-09-13}}</ref>) written by Karsten Obarski and released in 1987 by EAS Computer Technik for the [[Amiga]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://helllabs.org/tracker-history/ |publisher=helllabs.org |first=Claudio |last=Matsuoka |date=2007-11-04 |access-date=2011-01-29 |title=Tracker History Graphing Project |archive-date=2011-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726144718/http://helllabs.org/tracker-history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ultimate Soundtracker was a commercial product, but soon [[shareware]] [[Clone (computing)|clones]] such as [[NoiseTracker]] (1989<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techworld.idg.se/2.2524/1.586076/noisetracker-fyller-25-ar|title=Noisetracker fyller 25 Γ₯r|website=TechWorld|access-date=29 March 2023}}</ref>) appeared as well. The general concept of step-sequencing samples numerically, as used in trackers, is also found in the [[Fairlight CMI]] sampling workstation of the early 1980s. Some early tracker-like programs appeared for the [[MSX]] ([[Yamaha CX5M]]) and [[Commodore 64]], before 1987, such as [[Chris Huelsbeck]]'s SoundMonitor, but these did not feature sample playback, instead playing notes on the computer's internal synthesizer. Later, programs like Rock Monitor also supported additional sample playback, usually with short drum samples loaded in RAM memory. The first trackers supported four pitch and volume modulated channels of 8-bit [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] [[sampling (signal processing)|samples]], a limitation derived from the Amiga's [[Original Chip Set#Paula|Paula]] audio chipset and the commonplace [[8SVX]] format used to store sampled sound. However, since the notes were samples, the limitation was less important than those of synthesizing music chips.<ref name="Examples of synthesizing music chips">[[Commodore International|Commodore]]'s [[MOS Technology SID|SID]] or General Instruments' venerable [[AY-3-8912]] and Yamaha's compatible YM2149.</ref> === 1990s: MS-DOS versions === {{original research|section|date=April 2022}} During the 1990s, tracker musicians gravitated to the PC as software production in general switched from the Amiga platform to the PC. Although the IBM and compatibles initially lacked the hardware sound processing capabilities of the Amiga, with the advent of the [[Sound Blaster]] line from [[Creative Technology Limited|Creative]], PC audio slowly began to approach [[Compact disc|CD]] Quality ([[44,100 Hz|44.1 kHz/16 bit/Stereo]]) with the release of the [[SoundBlaster 16]]. Another sound card popular on the PC tracker scene was the [[Gravis Ultrasound]], which continued the hardware mixing tradition, with 32 internal channels and onboard memory for sample storage. For a time, it offered unparalleled sound quality and became the choice of discerning tracker musicians. Understanding that the support of tracker music would benefit sales, Gravis gave away some 6000 GUS cards to participants. Coupled with excellent developer documentation, this gesture quickly prompted the GUS to become an integral component of many tracking programs and software. Inevitably, the balance was largely redressed with the introduction of the [[Sound Blaster AWE32]] and its successors, which also featured on-board RAM and [[Table-lookup synthesis|wavetable]] (or [[Sample-based synthesis|sample]] table) mixing. The responsibility for [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|audio mixing]] passed from hardware to software (the main [[CPU]]) which gradually enabled the use of more channels. From the typical 4 MOD channels of the Amiga, the limit had moved to 7 with TFMX players and 8, first with Oktalyzer and later with the vastly more popular [[OctaMED]] (Amiga, 1989), then 32 with [[ScreamTracker|ScreamTracker 3]] (PC, 1994) and 16 with [[FastTracker 2]] (PC, 1994) and on to 64 with [[Impulse Tracker]] (PC, 1995) and [[OctaMED|MED SoundStudio]] (updated version of OctaMED). An Amiga tracker called Symphonie Pro even supported 256 channels. As such, hardware mixing did not last. As processors got faster and acquired special multimedia processing abilities (e.g. [[MMX (instruction set)|MMX]]) and companies began to push [[Hardware Abstraction Layer]]s, like [[DirectX]], the AWE and GUS range became obsolete. DirectX, [[Windows Driver Model|WDM]] and, now more commonly, [[Audio Stream Input/Output|ASIO]], deliver high-quality sampled audio irrespective of hardware brand. There was also a split off from the sample based trackers taking advantage of the [[Yamaha YM3812|OPL2]] and [[Yamaha YMF262|OPL3]] chips of the Sound Blaster series. All Sound Tracker was able to combine both the FM synthesis of the OPL chips and the sample based synthesis of the EMU-8000 chips in the Sound Blaster AWE series of cards as well as MIDI output to any additional hardware of choice. [[Jeskola Buzz]] is a modular music studio developed from 1997 to 2000 for Microsoft Windows using a tracker as its sequencer where the sounds were produced by virtual machines (Buzzmachines) such as signal generators, synthesizer emulators, drum computers, samplers, effects and control machines, that where connected in a modular setup. Each machine would have its own tracker, drum machines would use a tracker-like drum pattern editor and effect and control machines could be automated tracker-like via tables of parameters. === 2000s: Multiple platforms === [[File:Schism Tracker - Beyond The Network.png|thumb|Schism Tracker, a [[clone (computing)|clone]] of [[Impulse Tracker]], running on [[Windows 11]] with a [[text mode]] [[GUI]] playing the module "Beyond the Network" from the video game ''[[Bejeweled 2]]'' by Finnish composer [[Peter Hajba|Skaven]].]] Tracker music could be found in [[computer game]]s of the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as the [[Unreal (video game series)|''Unreal'' series]], ''[[Deus Ex (video game)|Deus Ex]]'', ''[[Crusader: No Remorse]]'', ''[[Jazz Jackrabbit]]'' and ''[[Uplink (video game)|Uplink]]''. Some of the early Amiga trackers such as [[Protracker]] (1990) and OctaMED have received various updates, mostly for porting to other platforms. Protracker having resumed development in 2004, with plans for releasing version 5 to Windows and [[AmigaOS]], but only version 4.0 beta 2 for AmigaOS has been released. [[File:Renoise 2.6.png|thumb|290px|[[Renoise]], a popular tracker in the 2000s and 2010s.]] During 2007, [[Renoise]] (PC, 2002) and [[OpenMPT]] (PC, 1997) were presented in ''[[Computer Music (magazine)|Computer Music Magazine]]'' as professional and inexpensive alternative to other music production software.<ref name=cmm>{{cite journal |journal=Computer Music Magazine |date=June 2007 |title=Top Trackers |issue=113 |publisher=Future Publishing Ltd |url=http://www.musicradar.com/computermusic/computer-music-june-issue-cmu113-on-sale-now-246001 |access-date=11 January 2017 |quote=Tracker! The amazing free music software giving the big boys a run for their money.}}</ref> Modern trackers include, but are not limited to, Deflemask,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://deflemask.com/|title=DefleMask β The best Chiptune tracker|access-date=29 March 2023}}</ref> FamiTracker,<ref>{{Cite web |title=FamiTracker |url=http://famitracker.com/ |accessdate=29 March 2023 |website=famitracker.com |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322161325/http://www.famitracker.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> VGM Music Maker,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://megacatstudios.com/blogs/retro-development/creating-music-and-sound-for-the-sega-genesis-mega-drive-a-primer-for-using-the-vgm-music-maker | title=Creating Music and Sound for the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive: A Primer for Using the VGM Music Maker | date=30 March 2021 }}</ref> Furnace <ref>{{cite web | url=https://github.com/tildearrow/furnace | title=Furnace (Chiptune tracker) | website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref> (which currently is the only tracker allowing multiple [[sound chips]] from multiple systems to be played simultaneously (for example, [[Commodore 64]] and [[PC-98]] together.)), and [[SunVox]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=WarmPlace.ru. SunVox Modular Music Studio |url=https://www.warmplace.ru/soft/sunvox/ |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=www.warmplace.ru}}</ref> (Music Tracker with modular synth engine and a free form, dynamic length pattern timeline system)
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