Introducing SNES Tracker

I mean you all already know about SNES Tracker, I talk about it on here sometimes, dreamed about it here last year, and yeah.. But this is a post that I'm trying to propagate around the SNES music community so that people realize "0H this is a thing.. O he needs help"



I don't really care if anybody reads this. I live with a non-technical family and they couldn't care less what I'm working on. Sadly, I'm not making any money ATM, but my heart is set on completing this project.

I'm the sole developer and ambition behind SNES Tracker.
http://snestracker.club

This software is being developed on Mac OSX, but is written with cross platform development libraries so that it can eventually be ported across Windows, OS X, Linux.

SNES Tracker is a 2-part piece of software:
SNES Tracker: for creating music
SNES Tracker Debugger [STD]: for transcribing SPC, reverse engineering, debugging, and ripping.

The only thing I've worked on so far is STD, and is nearing completion [overstatement]. It's really cool, as you can do a lot of neat things with it, like view and edit all memory, including DSP registers, in real time -- mute/solo any voice -- change tempo -- rip samples or instruments -- see a memory snapshot developed in real-time -- and actually play with the instruments and change their ADSR properties real-time. You can do this with any SPC/RSN file.

I haven't yet produced any public release yet hehe, but the source code is on GitHub! It's open source!!

It sounds better than any other SPC player!! Why's that? Because I personally worked with Blargg, the creator of the Audio emulator that is in many Super Nintendo emulators, to create a smooth DSP feature, removing all crackles that are present in SNES music!! This is an optional feature and can be disabled to sound exactly like the Super Nintendo!! But, it enhances the listening experience of SPC, especially with headphones. Only an audiophile or producer would notice, but this is music production software after all!!! I use STD now just to listen to Snes SPC music : ) If you are curious, there is detailed post, sans communication with Blargg which took place over email -- at NesDev


You can Interface with a MIDI Keyboard ^_^

Imagine being able to real-time record playing a chord, twisting a knob on your MIDI keyboard that directly affects the amount of Noise on the SNES track!! Quantization!! Now that stuff is really beyond the small goals I have to accomplish first, but that's the dream!!

Cutting edge -- if you're reading this, you're [un]lucky enough to discover this software in "early baby fetus" stage. Yes!! meaning that it's very early in development!! I started December 2014. But if you submit your ideas or other contributions to the SNES Tracker Forums, I might read it and incorporate it into the first release!


But, like I said, I have no job, I'm not making any money at this... it's been a big dream of mine since I was 18 (I'm 25 now) -- and my childhood dream was to understand how SNES worked... So basically, I'm completing this project, with or without my sanity.

However, I will be Kickstarting this project *_* .. Please let me know if you would be willing to donate. I'm trying to get the word out that I'm working on this and build confidence that I can reach a goal of $10,000. If you are any way interested in supporting me, make yourself known to me! Thank you! I keep news at http://snestracker.club and I will undoubtedly be posting the kickstarter link there when it exists!

Oh gosh, kickstarter rewards?! HM, any ideas?

I'm probably going to make this the About page on the official website haha
Don't surprise yourself at the fact that I will be taking this news to every SNES-related place I can find!! And please take it upon yourself to share the burden of spreading the word!!! It's no burden at all ^_^

If I can ever get this game I'm working on to a point I'm not ashamed of it, I'm absolutely going to be composing my own music. Right now the thought of messing around in SPC/RSN terrifies me because I have basically no knowledge of anything to do with SNES sound hardware. Your project could potentially turn that prospective nightmare into something enjoyable. For that I thank you, and I will try to help support this if I can.

Regarding the volume-smoothing that was recently implemented: Did you confirm that the "crackling" does actually occur on the console? I'm curious.

EDIT: It just occurs to me that you're also the one who wrote the tutorial that got me started in the first place. I actually have a lot to thank you for.

Based bazz is based.


I will donate something



Are you me?

Are you me also?

I would donate money if it weren't for my mother... "Oh, you use your money for whatever you want!" (shows her something) "You're wasting your money!"

Bazz, that's very cool!

I don't have musical ability, nor a MIDI keyboard, nor plans to do SNES programming that hits the SPC, so I'm not the target audience, but keep going on your project!

Last month I really wanted to play around with OPLL FM chips and couldn't find an old keyboard for sale, so I programmed up something for the FM-enabled (Japanese) Sega Master System in no time at all. It's nice to have sudden obsessions and then act on them.

I'm answering this question in the original thread

dawww , and thanks Espozo and kp64 Shoutz to my fore-fathers marcthemer, Neviksti, Yoshi, Qwerty, eKid/Mukunda, and others who made learning SNES bearable.

Khaz, you inspired me to write a "Use Case" scenario for SNES Tracker -- but I got sick and tired of working on it so here it is unfinished. It's too much...

Use-Case
"Khaz wants to make music for his Super Nintendo video game but he has NO knowledge of SNES sound hardware.. He thinkz SNES Tracker might be a solution... He goes into the future and downloads a release of SNES Tracker...

When he opens SNES Tracker, he is greeted by a fancy oldschool Intro animation and signature sound. Khaz liked that :3
SNES Tracker has a mind of its own tehe, and notices that it's Khaz's first time using the software, and offers a tutorial to get started, [the tutorial will be available any time].
Khaz decides to be impatient and foregoes the intro... He thinks he can figure things out for himself, which should be more fun he thinks.... but he was wrong...

So Khaz went back to the tutorial.... hahaha

Khaz was asked if he knew the basics of tracking... He answered "No"...
Khaz was asked if he knew about samples? Khaz said "no".....

A window opened with an embedded video from Youtube, and beneath it an offline textual description.
This video showcases bazz and a whiteboard, explaining these fundamental differences and how they apply to SNES Tracker...
Summary:
. the difference between real audio, and sampled audio.....
. that he can only have 8 audio channels in the mix, including sound effects..
. and that SNES uses primarily audio samples, to make music...

Now that Khaz gets the gist of the audio method to SNES, he is asked if he wants to learn more, "Do you want to learn the basics by making a simple song together?" he answers "YES"

The tracker speaks, or text, not sure yet...
"The first thing you need are samples!! SNES Tracker comes equipped with preset sample packs, everything from drums to bass to guitar to synth leads etc. You can use these, but you can also add your own!! By adding your own, you become unique, but to keep things simple, we will use a couple presets only right now.

Khaz is walked thru how to load a couple preset samples using the Instrument Panel.. His focus is drawn towards the instrument panel which now shows the samples present..

Khaz is taught how to preview how his samples sound at different pitches with his PC keyboard....

Then the focus is taken to the Pattern editor, and we are walked thru how THAT ALL WORKS [to put it simply hehe]

A sample pattern is made which teaches about the columns in the track section.

Then, focus is taken to the Pattern Sequencer, which allows to arrange the sequence of many patterns. Then, a 2 or 3 pattern

Once the samples are loaded, Khaz is brought to the "memory usage" window, which shows how much of SPC memory is occupied. It explains how the SPC memory is taken up by various things, like the samples, the song pattern data, and even when echo is used... It educates Khaz that he should check this window often, but he is also told that the software will automatically warn him when he endangers overflowing the memory...

[ I might be getting ahead of myself here, but this will be useful to learn when Khaz tries to load his first custom sample: It stresses the importance of keeping the sample size down to a minimum due to the fact that the entire song must fit in < 64KB of memory. Khaz is taught about BRR compression and the compression ratio it offers.. 3.56:1 which allows him to have a rough estimation of whether his WAV sample ]

and describes how to use them to create a song..
Khaz watched the tutorial teach him about ADSR envelopes.
After a few minutes, Khaz starts grasping how music is made in SNES Tracker. He can be happy to know that he also knows the fundamentals of almost any tracking software, but also that tracking is a deep universe, that will take time to master all the neat effects the tool offers.




thru how to use the interfaces.. Tracking isn't easy, Khaz thought, but he was into it, so he perservered, and learned all the cool tricks to making SNES Tracker do really cool things!!


Thanks ccovell