Trackers: The Sound of 16-Bit

Really, really loved this one.

computing.sound

Thanks so much for this

adfaklsdjf

Is he okay? It's been almost a year...

Echoing the other comments, hope everything's okay Stuart and looking forward to the next video.

Nick Hare

I'm sure he's fine. Making good content takes time

badasahog

Hey Stuart, we miss you! I hope you aren’t ill or something. Cheers mate! 👋🙂

Hope all is well, Stuart! We miss you!

nitetime

Probably because those additional details would have exploded the video to a very long documentary 😄 Let me answer some of your questions: - How is a tracker different from modern music composition software, exactly? Modern composition software generally uses samples and/or MIDI-powered synthesizers and other equipment. Trackers allowed for extreme efficiency, which was necessary since the computers were very limited when it came to both speed and storage space. - How is sixteen-bit music different from 8-bit music? 8-bit computers (and game consoles) generally had tone generators, sometimes with filters etc, and required a high degree of proficiency in assembly code to make music. You had to be both a coder and a musician to make something. (There are some exceptions, which he does touch on) - What exactly about the CD made trackers obsolete? You could record anything like we do in the modern world, and just put it on the CD, then the computer/console could just stream it off the disc. It made the extreme efficiency of trackers somewhat unnecessary. - How and why is all this related to keygen programs? That was indeed the most confusing framing here. My guess would be that he’s targeting the explanation to people that pirated software in the early Windows days, where keygens were common. But I suspect that still exists. - How does tracker music sound different from modern music? It’s often somewhat repetitive because of the pattern-based approach. It led directly to what’s these days called “EDM”, but had way more restrictions on both sound quality and number of instruments you could use. - Why is it called the 'demo' scene? “Demo” is short for “demonstration” — it is a demonstration of the skills of the coders, the graphic artists and the musicians. It’s a friendly game of one-upmanship with no profit motive (well, you could get prize money at some of the demo party events). Hope this helps! And, this was an incredibly well-made video on the subject — as a person that was part of the tracker and demo scene in the 90s, I can tell you that he got all the small details right!

Alex Limi

Hello there! just want to say that I second some of the criticisms made here. Just like you I still don't fully know what a tracker really is, I think I may have missed something. I say though that the video was well executed and flowed very well considering the amount of things in it and the complexity of the subject. The difference between an Amiga and a PC however I think was explained in a previous video: in essence an Amiga is itself a PC, except there are parts of the hardware that are custom made and thus many programs and software exploits are specific to the Amiga line of computers. Basically the Amiga is different from a PC in the same way that an Apple computer is different from a PC. Also sound cards were (and still are) physical add-ons that contained hardware necessary to process audio without resorting to software processing, thus doing it more efficiently and with better results. The Amiga was special when it released because it was the only commercially available computer with capable (then) next-gen audio processing hardware installed by default. The Apple Macintosh and IBM 5170 for example shipped with next to no audio processors at all and you couldn't make music. I hope this helps a bit! PS: I'm sorry if the text is all crumpled together like this but the return key on my keyboard is being stubborn today (can't blame her, she's 31 years old).

Thanks for this video Stuart! I watched all of it and I enjoyed the feel/nostalgia of it. In the interests of helping you gauge audience reaction and improve for the future, I thought I'd give you feedback about some aspects that didn't really work for me about it. I don't pirate much software and I've never used a keygen program. I was also not...alive during most of the period you're talking about. I don't really know much about computer music of this era; I have never heard of a tracker; I wasn't aware of the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit music. In short I am basically a complete newcomer to this topic. On the other hand, this is true of many, maybe most of your videos (I know almost nothing about guns, I was born two years after Doom came out, I have never played an arcade game) - yet I still thoroughly enjoy your content! (I'm a patron after all) Overall, I feel like you could have done a better job introducing this topic to someone who's really unfamiliar with it. After watching the entire video I still feel like I only vaguely understand what a tracker *is*. How is a tracker different from modern music composition software, exactly? How is sixteen-bit music different from 8-bit music? What exactly about the CD made trackers obsolete? How and why is all this related to keygen programs? How does tracker music sound different from modern music? Why is it called the 'demo' scene? I also found a lot of the references hard to follow - if you explained them I didn't really get them. What's an Amiga and why is it different from a PC? What's a sound card and why did computers have them? What do you mean when you say PC speakers only made simple audio notifications? I appreciate I may just not be the target audience for this video, and that's fine! But I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I could understand it better, and I think I might have better felt your emotional attachment to the subject. Hope the above is helpful, big fan of your videos :)

John Woolley

This, like all your videos, was so well done. The subject is also particularly personal to me. I got a big start with my music composition by messing around on trackers when I was younger. The first one I used was Impulse Tracker, but I eventually moved on to Modplug. Even now, with a high-end audio interface, a professional DAW, a variety of synthesizers, drums machines, guitars, etc. and more cables than I know what to do with; I keep MPT on my hard drive. Sometimes it's nice to just go back to my roots and play around. Trackers will always have a special place for me.

what can I say... this is the highlight of the month for me.

Riccardo Conturbia

I look forward to every video you put up, you make some of the best content on the internet. Until next time...

SneakingUpOnMe

Even with the sometimes long spans between videos I'm extremely happy with your work. I still have a bad habit of re-watching the videos on Doom and Secret of Monkey Island. The Monkey Island was a pleasant surprise since I never played it but kept hearing about it and still thought that video was amazing. Keep it up, you're doing some of the finest work on the internet.

Joseph C Henricks

Not gonna lie, I was considering suspending my payments last week. Not anymore lol!

You're welcome, It was a pleasure to listen again to all those great soundtracks

WegPast

So happy to see this. I missed your videos sir!

thanks for sharing, that is awesome!

I'll record one soon, now that this project is done.

Ahoy

Another stellar production Mr Brown, you never just cover something, you make it a real production, presenting it superbly and with so much forethought. Got the goose bumps when Point of Departure kicked in, halcyon days my friend.

Rob Baker

Are we ever going to see vlogs again? If not, could you at least maybe update your Patreon page?

Jazz Jackrabbit

Amazing video, as always. I've gone all the way from Noisetracker to Renoise and Polyend Tracker today, and this game me lots of chills.

Petteri Liimatainen

Awesome work ! I really liked it... It punched me decade earlier, waking up old memories... I wish you've listed the song in the description to just click 'n search them but you didn't x) So here are they for the other lazy butt like me : - Kenet & Rez - Unreal Super Hero 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9STiQ8cCIo0) - Walkman - Let's Hear My Baby (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuGCfztSoJc) - Bill Williams - Alley Cat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZDG4dlU5uY (+gameplay footage)) - Macintosh Startup Chime (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLEupC2OWUU (many of them)) - Stuntcopter GamePlay Audio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPAKfqRYWoI&t=34s) - David Whittaker - Speedball (Atari ST) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb6U-MOiRlA) - POW - Wonderful Life (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2faqY7nKpzI) - Fred / La Marque Jaune - The Sign Of The Death - Deluxe Music Construction Set - Bach Fugue in G Minor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7pu1BwanyM) - Chris Huelsbeck - Shades (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7_RAJQ02eA) - Kartsen Obarski - Amegas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-koQLue6RE) - Kartsen Obarski - Crystal Hammer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94GuhyPFjCA) - Comrade J - Fairlight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DGNiThUu78) - Mahoney - Ghost (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tYqA4m9AV4) - Horace Wimp - Running Water (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5WHzXn1LYE) - Kartsen Obarski - Telephone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3e3G0Vd-0) - Diz - Unit5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW5oTVfnLi4) - Uncle Tom - Occ San Geen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjhQPGuSitw) - Banana - Echoing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CRYkFAlgvo) - Luxor - Cousin's Song - Chip - Ghost of Parallax - Mahoney - Sleepwalk (I think it this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns6vVle9PZM) - Dr. Awesome - Moongazer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXlD_0Bbp0) - Jesper Kyd - Global Trash 3 v2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K6A4jM3FsE) - Jogeir Liljedahl - Overture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g4Cc2NPisY) - Jester - Stardust Memories (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLMhBE99byM) - Lizardking - LK's Doskpop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmjOE0rks04) - Mel O Dee - Scales of Joy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K--me6m4j6A) - 4mat - L.F.F. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlUFYMRNkPw) - 4mat - Anarchy Menu 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5vHnZzylv0) - Zap - Killing Denise (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UophNxBlqzg) - Brien Johnston - Hired Guns Main Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEGAwobDAiM) - U4ia - Take a Trip From Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjVpFdTSifk) - Captain - Space Debris (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thnXzUFJnfQ) - Zak McKraken (PC SPeaker Theme) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaIj51k6b_g) - George Stone - CANYON.MD ((long intro) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5aQlffq00U) - Purple Motion - Future Brain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmhtc5S4atU) - Necros - Point of Depature (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZHzAPzR3x0) - Purple Motion - Unreal ][ ((full demo) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw17c70uJes) - Elwood - Dead Lock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkKoMveT_jo) - Chris Jarvis/Analogue - Blue Flame (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF6wtRV-hd4) - Robyn Miller - Myst Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVdfgFr2-EU) - Robert A. Allen - Epic Pinball (Title) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8_hOB6oPE) - Alexander Brandon - Flight Castle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAB78sZARB4) - Michael van den Bos - Foregone Destruction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCRibm4kOaE) - Fluidvolt - The Gusts of Aeolus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeLxT-xJ8jU) - X-Ceed/Scope - Voyager (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yohn6yhLMJk) - Hoffman - Eon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1ck7eXVXCY) Happy searching + listening y'all ! ps: updated with link... but sorry, not clickable on patreon's comments :(

WegPast

Wonderful work!

Sina Farhat

That was a nice trip down memory lane! Being the youngest kid who wasn't allowed to play (when my cousins were playing Amiga), sitting on the side and watching was my introduction to computer music haha. Great stuff, sir!

Dannythepooh

It's a great day when I get an Ahoy video

Abraham Limpo

Another great episode!