Editing Module file (section)

== Popular formats ==
Each module file format builds on concepts introduced in its predecessors.
; The MOD format (.MOD)
: The [[MOD (file format)|MOD format]] was the first file format for tracked music. A very basic version of this format (with only very few pattern commands and short samples supported) was introduced by Karsten Obarski’s [[Ultimate Soundtracker]] in 1987 for the [[Amiga]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Olga Guriunova|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|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316220748/https://books.google.com/books?id=svTOmgMUGW0C&printsec=frontcover&hl=es&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0|archive-date=2017-03-16}}</ref> It was designed to use 4 channels and fifteen samples.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Peter Moormann|title=Music and Game: Perspectives on a Popular Alliance|date=11 August 2012|publisher=Springer VS|isbn=978-3-531-18913-0|pages=223|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JYfROhvXMPAC|access-date=2014-09-13|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226165822/https://books.google.com/books?id=JYfROhvXMPAC&printsec=frontcover&hl=es&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0|archive-date=2018-02-26}}</ref><ref name="game sound">{{cite book|author1=Karen Collins|title=Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design|date=August 2008|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|isbn=978-0-262-03378-7|pages=216|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnw0Zb4St-wC|access-date=6 December 2014}}</ref> Ultimate SoundTracker was soon superseded by [[NoiseTracker]] and [[Protracker]], which allowed for more tracker commands (effects) and instruments.<ref name="game sound"/><ref name="ashgate">{{cite book|author1=Karen Collins|title=From Pac-Man to Pop Music: Interactive Audio in Games and New Media|date=12 May 2008|publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]|isbn=978-0-754-66200-6|pages=250|edition=Kindle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vc-hAgAAQBAJ|access-date=6 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029154117/https://books.google.com/books?id=vc-hAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=es&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0|archive-date=29 October 2015}}</ref> Later, variants of the MOD format that appeared on the Personal Computer extended the number of channels, added [[Panning (audio)|panning]] commands (the Amiga’s four hardware channels had a pre-defined stereo setup) and expanded the Amiga’s frequency limit, allowing for more octaves of notes to be supported.<ref name="openmpt">{{cite web|url=https://wiki.openmpt.org/Manual:_Module_formats|title=OpenMPT Documentation|access-date=26 December 2015|author=OpenMPT|author-link=OpenMPT|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227063122/https://wiki.openmpt.org/Manual:_Module_formats|archive-date=27 December 2015}}</ref>
: Arguably one of the most widespread tracker formats (also due to its use in many computer games and demos), it is also one of the simplest to use, but also only provides few pattern commands to use.
; The Oktalyzer format (.OKT)
: This was an early effort to bring eight-channel sound to the Amiga. Later replayers have improved on the sound quality attainable from these modules by more demanding mixing technologies.
; The MultiTracker format (.MTM)
: Produced by American Demoscene group Renaissance, MultiTracker brought up to 32-channel sound to the PC tracker community.  Songs that took full advantage of the 32 simultaneous channels were extremely taxing to typical computers of the era.
; The MED/OctaMED format (.MED)
: This format is very similar to sound/pro/noisetracker, but the way the data is stored is different. [[OctaMED|MED]] was not a direct clone of SoundTracker, and had different features and file formats. [[OctaMED]] was an eight-channel version of MED, which eventually evolved into OctaMED Soundstudio (which offers 128-channel sound, optional synth sounds, MIDI support and many other high-end features).<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/may97/octamedstudio.html|title=RBF Software Octamed Soundstudio. The release of this tracker is welcome news for Amiga users, but it's also a glimpse of things to come on the PC platform. Amiga expert PAUL OVERAA puts the package through its paces|magazine=[[Sound on Sound]]|date=May 1997|access-date=6 December 2014|author=SOS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208070637/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/may97/octamedstudio.html|archive-date=8 December 2014}}</ref>
; The AHX format (.AHX)
: This format is a synth-tracker. There are no samples in the module file, rather descriptions of how to synthesize the required sound. This results in very small audio files (AHX modules are typically 1k–4k in size), and a very characteristic sound. AHX is designed for music with [[chiptune]] sound. The AHX tracker requires [[Kickstart (Amiga)|Kickstart]] 2.0 and 2 Mb RAM memory.
; The ScreamTracker 3 format (.S3M)
: The [[Scream Tracker 3]] [[S3M (file format)|S3M format]] added sample tuning (defining the exact frequency of the [[C (musical note)|middle C]] for samples), increased the number of playback channels, made use of an extra column specifically for volume control (which was extended by other trackers to handle panning commands as well), and compressed pattern data for smaller file sizes.<ref name="openmpt"/> It is also one of the few widespread formats that support both sample playback and realtime synthesis (through the [[Yamaha YM3812|OPL2]] chip) at the same time.<ref name="st3-manual">{{cite web | url=https://files.scene.org/view/resources/music/trackers/scrmt321.zip | title=ScreamTracker 3 manual (ST3.DOC) | date=1994 | access-date=February 17, 2020 | author=Kalle Kaivola | quote= "Scream Tracker 3 supports the FM chip on SB cards. You can use a GUS for normal samples and SB for the FM-sound simultaneously."}}</ref>
[[File:Elwood - Dead Lock (Open Cubic Player).webm|thumb|300px|Open Cubic on [[DOSBox]], playing a FastTracker 2 module called ''Dead Lock'', composed by tracker musician Elwood in 1995]]
; The FastTracker 2 format (.XM)
: With the [[XM (file format)|XM format]], [[FastTracker 2]] introduced the concept of "instruments", which applied volume and panning envelopes to samples. It also added the ability to map several samples to the same instrument for multi-sampled instruments or drum sets. XM uses instrument-based panning – instrument numbers in patterns always reset the channel’s panning to the current sample's initial panning. It uses MOD effect command letters, plus a few of its own for more sound control. The composer can define initial tempos and speeds; provide envelopes to samples by assigning them to instruments; set sample looping and apply automatic sample vibrato oscillation.<ref name="openmpt"/>
; The Impulse Tracker format (.IT)
: [[Impulse Tracker]] introduced the [[IT (file format)|IT format]], which, in comparison to the XM format, allows instruments to also specify the transposition of assigned samples depending on the note being played, applying resonant filters to samples, and defining “New Note Actions” (NNAs) for instruments to release playing notes on a pattern channel while a new note is already playing, which helps to keep the number of pattern channels to while still being able to have a high polyphony. Like S3M files (and contrary to XM files), panning is channel-based, meaning that channels have an initial pan position which can be overridden by panning commands or instruments’ and samples’ default panning settings.<ref name="openmpt"/>