How to Learn Chiptune Trackers TUTORIAL
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- Welcome to How to Chiptune Episode 1: How to Learn Trackers!
It is my hope that this video will make learning and using trackers an easier process for everyone. The video focuses on Furnace Tracker but many of the same principles apply to other trackers you may encounter! Enjoy!
Time Stamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:17 What is a Tracker?
2:59 The Tracker Interface
3:47 The pattern window
4:37 The note column
5:34 The instrument column
6:01 The Volume Column
6:23 Triggering Effects
7:31 The Hexadecimal System
8:06 The Instrument Editor Window
10:10 Speed and Tempo
13:51 The Orders Window
14:27 Play Edit Controls
15:17 The Transcription Method: HOW TO LEARN TRACKERS (IMPORTANT)
17:35 Ending
Special thanks to:
@pedipanol pedipanol.bandcamp.com/
@SeanBialo cosmicgem.bandcamp.com/
@damifortune bandcamp.com/damifortune
@DEFENSEMECHANISM defensemechanism.bandcamp.com/
@fm_am4n / fm_am4n
Trackers: The Sound of 16bit by @XboxAhoy
• Trackers: The Sound of...
Links:
Download Furnace Tracker: github.com/tildearrow/furnace
Furnace Tracker Demo Modules: github.com/tildearrow/furnace...
Button Masher demo modules:
drive.google.com/drive/folder...
Subscribe to my Patreon: / _buttonmasher
Support me on Band Camp: buttonmasher1.bandcamp.com/
Follow me on instagram / _buttonmasher
Join my discord: / discord
Listen to me on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/3p0Ot...
Watch me on twitch: / buttonmasher91 
Кино
finally, a DAW tutorial that makes sense, uses freeware, and doesn't require me to own any physical instruments. You're a saint. Thank you.
🫡
yep and you can do so much more with trackers than just chiptune, if you look at something like sunvox
you're such a legend for making this
Thank you king
For someone who has been DYING to use a tracker for over 2 years now, this video is a godsend. Great work!
Thank you!
Note tracking aside, FM 4-op is really a headache
i've been away from trackers for more than ten years (used milkytracker + renoise) and i wanted to jump back in. even knowing about all these basics this video got me so hyped to start playing with this stuff again, and Furnace specifically. thanks!!!
So glad to hear it!!!!!
I’ve wanted to learn how to do this for a long time, but even as a Computer Science student, this looked way to complex for me (granted I have like next to no musical education at all).
But this video might seriously change that! You did an IMMACULATE job of communicating these ideas in an easy to follow way. I wish more software tutorials were like this! Well done.
I greatly appreciate this. Theres more on the way
a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to make chiptune
magnificent video right here man !!
This video is an excellent crash course on the basics of using trackers. Looking forward to the next episode!
thank you!
I was sold at the title, but then you show Furnace just as I was starting to puzzle it out to see if I can use it the other day? THANK YOU~ X3
❤❤❤❤
gotta love a man willing to share the precious secrets of his art!
incredible! this is the exact amount of in depth my brain needs without it getting to lengthy. please make more of these!
More on the way! Stay tuned for “how to make snes music in 2023!”
Button Masher coming in clutch as usual. Thanks! Now I won't get confused by furnace.
Glad to help!
I've always admired the fact that chiptuners help each other on their sound discoveries; it's nice to see different approaches on music and Furnace itself. thanks for taking the time to present all of this to us!
Couldn't agree more!
also, @pedipanol é do Brasil e eu já amo!
Ahoy's video on Trackers is so, so good. Great to see this has gotten a mention - stoked to keep up with this series!
❤❤❤
Awesome tutorial covering Furnace and with a hand of talented people from the community! Looking forward to follow through the series!
Welcome aboard!
Dude you're so awesome for making these how-to videos. As a guy in my mid 40s, I've always wanted to get into making this type of music but high cost and lack of time and knowing where to start always held me back. Now that the tech is more readily available and affordable I'm going to dip my toes in the water!
Glad I could help!
@@_buttonmasher I look forward to watching future videos in the series! 👍
Nice one! I am quite familiar with Trackermechanism but Furnace is new to me. Looks interesting. Thank you
This is very comprehensive! Always glad to have see tracker tutorials out there :D
I learned famitracker from your tutorials. Super grateful for them. Just trying to do my part for the community!
@@_buttonmasherAbsolutely agree! Aside from *just* Famitracker, the more people that get hooked into trackers and chiptune the better. Honestly, I want to give this Furnace tracker a try 👀 I think I commented a few times on Twitter when you were talking about making this. It came together great!
Awesome man! I've wanted to learn for so long and I haven't found anything as step by step and direction simple as this.
Glad you liked it!
I never knew i needed a tracker in my life, but here i am. Great video, thx!
You're doing god's work. Looking forward to seeing this whole series realized!
Lets GO!!!!!
I desperately needed this, thanks
Happy to help
This is a nice jumpstart! I've used C64 trackers/composers and mod/s3m trackers back in the 90s. Looking to get back in some sort of tracker and furnace seems really cool.
Thanks for this tutorial ;-)
Alright alright, after a tutorial as good as this one, I have no excuses anymore. Time to get it started :D Thanks for the video!
You got this!
I’m currently working on a c64 cover of The Model by Kraftwerk and this helped a ton! Thanks ^^
🙏
Nice oldshool ❤😊❤😊
Thanks, now I don't have to awkwardly explain my chiptune workflow to my friends every time!
Yup!!!
I've only ever dabbled casually in making chiptune-y music in FL Studio with soundfonts, and I wanted to finally dive into a tracker instead. This vid made it a lot less daunting. Thanks for the great overview!
Thanks for watching! Cant wait to see what you make!
Your instrumental prowess is on another level. And now I've been introduced to your technical understanding 🙌 Great stuff, getting all of us out here happy and informed🎵
God tier instructional - wait, this is your FIRST tutorial? Okay, subscribed, no hesitation. This is great stuff!
Greatly appreciated! There is more instructional content on the way
@@_buttonmashercan’t wait!
Realizing how to transcribe is such an important tool for any skill range . Learn from masters. Fundamental tutorial! A must for anyone getting into chiptune / Furnace Tracker.
can't wait for more episodes of this series, i love this! :D
im so glad there's a tutorial for this...and furnace specifically! i want to make music too, so this is real helpful!
Thanks for taking the time to make this! Excited to learn and practice:)
Hope you enjoy it!
That's extremely valuable information, and your tracks are bonkers !!!! Thanks so much for that
Subscribed for this series. Thank you!
Welcome aboard!
hell yeah! been excited for this since it was announced. great video, looking forward to learning more!
More to come!
epic demonstration, thanks a lot man.
Wow I just heard about furnace, it really has a lot of great features.
Very excellent and well executed for explaining how trackers work!
Thanks!
Amazing tutorial !!
I can't wait to see what incredible talent will come from this
This is wonderful, I always wanted to make something like this and so happy it now exists!
You are the MAN! thank you for this🤘
This is the best can’t wait to try the tracker😮
Can't wait for this
This is a brilliant tutorial series for those who want to step into the realm of trackers!
Can't wait for the next episode!
The next episode is gonna be on snes music!
This is an incredible video! Great insights and guidance here. Looking forward to more videos, and can't wait to make more music with you!
Same bro!!! So stoked for our next track! And thank you for watching!
Great video! was looking at trying out furnace and this has completely sold it! looksvery user friendly with the Tempo settings, and effects list being displayable!
Thanks a lot ! Great video
This is great!!! I’ve been waiting for a series like this for years! Thanks for putting these together👾
More to come!
Great video, I really love the way you’ve broken down concepts and shared your method of learning to compose chiptune! Transcribing pieces is definitely a great way to learn the ins and outs of tracker software! It’s wonderful you were able to work with so many talented people to put this video together. The Chiptune community rocks!
Thank you for this! I am indeed very grateful to my very talented peers who were and are eager to help me with these projects.
i'm looking forward to the rest of this series! :D
as for chiptune related topics, i've always absolutely LOVED learning more and more about the history of certain sound chips, and the composers who've used them. while this topic may not exactly fit in a "tutorial" series, it's a topic that i personally find very interesting, and love hearing people document.
it's always nice to have a proper chiptune tutorial series that's easy to follow and go back to, it's something i struggled finding and following along with when i first started making music in famitracker haha. keep up the good work man!
Thank you!
this is so cool! now i can start making chiptunes in my own style like i always wanted to!!!!
Sir this is a wendys.
Loved this :)
This is amazing, thank you!
You're very welcome!
YESSS!! Thank you!!!
You bet!
This is a wonderful tutorial 😊
Thank you very much!! This video is really helpful
Your graphics are just as good as your music! It all comes together so well. Been a fan for a long time.
thank you!
Fantastic introduction and tutorial. I am am inspired, thank you!
You're very welcome!
As someone who has wanted to learn trackers in general, especially in a chiptunes context, this has been super helpful just to understand the methodology way better. I’m looking forward to future episodes for sure and hoping that even though they’ll be Furnace specific in term of UI and such that they’ll stay general enough to use with any tracker. Great series and thank you for doing this.
Thanks so much! I will also be covering daws in some segments! The upcoming episode on making snes music in particular will be daw heavy
@@_buttonmasher interesting. Now I’m really looking forward to the next video. I have a feeling what VST (if any) may pop up, but still curious how you’ll go about it. Should be good learning either way.
Neat video! I really like it!
Thanks chuck. Love your work btw.
Killer stuff dude!
Thanks bro
Let's goooooooo. Content cold right here
thanks!
Don't forget the Commodore64 😁 Thanks for this great video!
Of course!!!!!
this is an incredible tutorial, i dont think ive ever watched a tutorial video this neat, helpful, and comprehensible all at the same time.
as a non-native english speaker, your timing and pronunciation are a godsend! theyre both perfect so that theyre not too slow or so fast that it becomes unintelligible for someone like me. despite the lack of captions (note that the auto-generated captions, though available, are never reliable on videos about topics this niche), i dont think people with hearing difficulties or non-native speakers will have issues understanding you. i understood every word perfectly and im not even wearing heaphones at the moment!
this video is helpful, succint, accessible, and even motivating to a degree. you sold me on furnace tracker completely, and the transcription method sounds wonderful for quick learning. im not even half-kidding when i say people who make tutorial videos should learn from this one attentively. its THAT good. thank you so much 👍
Thanks!
Thank you very much for this. I’ve been wanting to get into tracking for a while now but have been intimidated by it. This video was a very well-made introduction to it and may be the push I needed.
You got this!!!!!!
Subbed. This is legendary my God respect 🙏
very accessible tutorial, also those chiptunes are fire, subbed
Thanks!
This is a great introduction! I've been learning music for a few years and have been looking to branch into arranging and trackers soon. I'd be super interested in a future video with any tips or guidance on making chiptune arrangements of non-chiptune songs.
Looking forward to the rest of the series!
That is a GREAT idea
This video is awesome 🎉❤
Hold up….. you mean to tell me vgm is makin a come back???? Well sign me up brother.
Oh hey it’s you! I follow you on TikTok. Absolutely amazing video, I guess I’ll just have to follow you again
This is such a rad series man! Just the thought of being able to sit down and create with the sounds of something like Chrono Trigger…I think I’ll probably cry 😂 looking forward to it!
Ill cover that in my next video
dude, amazing work! I know this must have taken quite a bit to put together. thanks for sharing.
Thank YOU!
This was great
8:39 Small correction, the DPCM channel uses a NES instrument OR a generic sample instrument, with the latter used for PCM playback.
Thanks for this!
Thanks for sharing. Another cool app to add to the list to check out. I've always wanted to mess with chiptunes.
Awesome tutorial, thanks so much! I'd like to learn more about your approach to harmony/arrangement in the context of chiptune music, as it always sounds so lush and vibrant.
Coming soon!
@@_buttonmasher
I always prefer using plugins like chipsynth, but if I ever want to get into trackers, this will be a big help! Thanks for being awesome!
No problem!
Nice!
Thank you! Cheers!
great video dude!!
thanks bro. my life would be complete if i ever got you to make music with furnace!!!!
I may just have to download it and try it out sometime haha@@_buttonmasher
Great video! Saw you last month in Boston and you all were awesome. Very inspiring! Reccomendation for a good midi keyboard for begginers might be a good topic to cover in a video. Otherwise just keep it up man, love it!
Great suggestion!
I always wondered how there was so much control in old video game soundtracks
Most them werent written with trackers though. Many were programmed in assembly
Insanely beautiful sample tracks, I hope this doesn't cause a "How to draw an owl" effect for beginners :)
I hope so too!
Thank you so much for this video! I’ve loved video game music for as long as I can remember and now watching your video has inspired me to try and take on making something. I love the explanation of hexadecimal number (As a programmer, you explained it perfectly). My question for you, for someone who doesn’t have any musical background and starting fresh by following your tutorial, would that be troublesome or is it recommended for someone to have a background in music?
Thanks so much again for launching this tutorial series!
I’d love a tutorial on making instruments!
i’ve been wanting to use a tracker for years (specifically famitracker), but haven’t been able to (and still can’t) due to computer problems, lol. but i kid not, for the first time ever yesterday, i watched a few tutorials on it just to get an idea of how it works. even if i cant use it atm. so i thought i thought it was funny when i saw this in my sub feed. looking forward to it!
thanks so much!
thank *you!*
thanks so much for helping me. Now I can make some music.
another cool thing to learn could be something akin to Furnace shortcuts and general tracking "best practices" if any.
Good idea!
A more in-depth Furnace tutorial would be great, given the overall lack of 3rd party resources, but I'd also personally appreciate general tracking tips or just bite-sized videos on how to achieve specific sounds from videogames (or even meatspace instruments!).
Coming soon. But i cant stress enough how much the transcription method will help you. Everything ive learned about tracking came from transcribing modules. Its the greatest tip anyone will ever give you.
DAMNN hace tiempo que intenté aprender sobre esto y solo hay un video de ello en español, me leí el manual entero del famitracker y ojalá haber encontrado este video cuando comencé.
Mr. Masher, this was such a joy to watch. My big question here that you touched on earlier in the video is this: if I’m not intending to export my work to be played on the console, is there a reason I couldn’t somehow just use the samples as a VST in my DAW of choice?
I suspect the answer is that using the tracking software forces me to create in the confines of what is technically possible on that specific chipset. Is that the case?
There are many consoles that a vst will not be able to replicate. But more importantly, there are certain automation techniques that are possible in a tracker that are NOT possible in a daw.
I have 2 examples i want you to listen to. My cover of “Ryus Theme” and my cover of “Those who Fight” from final fantasy 7. The former was made in a daw and the latter was made in a tracker. I think the difference that it makes FOR THE SOUND will be immediately obvious.
Awesome. Now I just need to know how to make sound effects.
@@mRahman92 for which soundchip?
Thank you SO much for this tutorial, I really needed a comprehensive guide for this, ESPECIALLY the initial learning phase at the end!
But I really do have to ask... are the example songs at 12:04 made specifically for the video? I can't find pedipanol's arrangement of Idol anywhere.
Hey thanks so much! Pedipanol and Damifortune were both kind enough to share their work with me for the purposes of this video but i dont think they had any plans to share those modules outside of this project.
Super great ! Thanks ^^ I wonder if using trackers is a good way to switch from playing or composing "analog" music to synth music, when you want to make some tunes on computer. I was always afraid of classic synths like Nord etc. whereas trackers seems more understandable, as you don't necessarily have to make your own presets or effects
I cant speak to the utility of trackers for ALL music but for most styles of chiptune its definitely the best choice
I did not know the DPCM channel could pitch shift. Very impressive even if the games were a bit small to fit samples often.
It actually cant. Furnace allows you to do it but to really use a bass sample in the channel you would need to make samples of every note that you want
@@_buttonmasher oh ok thanks for confirming that for me. :)
didn't know you had a yt
So hype
thank you!
I am a complete beginner to chiptune, I got confused which tracker should I use to learn, there are so many of them, like famitracker, milkytracker, etc. This video really help me with that, I'm going to learn with furnace now! Thank you so much!
I already know how to use trackers but this was entertaining anyways tbh.
Great video! How do you "plan" your music before tracking it? Do you play your melodies and chords together on a standard piano or something, then program it in to Furnace? Or do you just wing it in Furnace from scratch?
I actually almost never plan it and just write from scratch
@@_buttonmasher That's awesome. I'm trying to get better at figuring out chord progressions in trackers but it just hasn't clicked yet and i have to sorta dink around on the keys first before putting it down. Thanks for your reply! Cant wait for pt 2!