I'm looking for the currently best tracker software to produce Chiptunes, what do you recommend?

 

I use Renoise (OSX /WIN / Linux) and MadTracker (WIN)

Renoise is an excellent application and can load the amiga MOD files too and also allows you to export the instruments used in the MOD.

 

There's a little modernized rewrite of FastTracker2 here: https://16-bits.org/ft2.php
For C64 SID MG Tracker or Goattracker2: https://samar.group/index.php?page=tools

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jan 2, 2024

Furnace Tracker - tons of emulated systems because it's based on MAME but VGM format is not good for anything except playback. But in terms of chips emulations and usability it's one of the best out there

OpenMPT for a more classic approach. Has basic FM emulation iirc and samples. Exports to a few classic tracker formats.

 

That's interesting. I take my BambooTracker advice back and would rather go for that one.

 

Thanks guys, it has been many years since I composed tracker mods.. Probably way before some of you were even born LOL.. Back in the day I used Karsten Obarski's original SoundTracker on the Amiga, then the FastTracker II, Oktalyzer and so on.. I composed so many mods, and some of them were really good, but never released.. - Again thanks for all your suggestions guys.. I will definately check them out..

 

Meet the new tracker king, ultimate Tracker of all, with almost every chip emulation you can imagine (60 chips) built in you can even combine them in one module song and its open sourse for pc, mac, linux platforms.

https://tildearrow.org/furnace/
https://github.com/tildearrow/furnace

 

This looks and sounds fab, never heard of it before.

Appreciate you posting this.

 

developers promise export to systems ROM format in the future, but of course you'll need to use only relevant chip with appropriate number of channels in your song

 

I like Milky Tracker because it has GUI that's inspired by the legendary Fast Tracker 2. It also runs on pretty much anything. There is also Schizm Tracker if you prefer an Impulse Tracker style GUI and workflow.

 

Yeah, I read it too. Very looking forward to this but even with what's available now, imo it's one of the (if not the) best trackers out there.

 

For mod/xm: the new Windows remake (reverse engineered 100%) of FT2 is great. Other PC-trackers does not playback chip-related commands (like chip-arp's) correctly.
For SID chip: Goattracker is the best I would say.

If you enjoyed the keygen music used for R2R's latest Splice keygen, it was made as a 4-channel mod in FT2. Actually it was saved as .xm for playback-compability reasons (to be accurately played back with common mod/xm player libraries), but it is using the Protracker .mod rules with no cheating.

 

Renoise gang

 

Thread dated a bit but maybe interested parties might stumble upon...

Klystrack is pretty good I like the way it's set up-

https://kometbomb.github.io/klystrack/

Tutorials-

http://n00bstar.blogspot.com/p/klystrack-tutorials.html

I have the various videos mounted in this thread-

https://warmplace.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7175

 

Same here, I didn't like the original SoundTracker, it was such a PITA, moved to Oktalyzer and OctaMED quite soon. OctaMED was cool, I even managed to get MIDI going over Amigas parallel port. That was quite a journey.
Thumbs up for Renoise from my side. Yes it's commercial, but it's worth every penny. It is IMHO the most polished and most 'usable, clean uped' tracker. And the most flexible one. Plus it's been out for decades now, so it might not be a dead end when you buy a license. As far as I remember there was an older version up on the sister site. You could give that a go.
//edit// yes, furnace, I forgot about that one. That one seems to be a beast. It's a mystery how one guy was able to implement all those chip emulations (sure, they existed on github, but still).
I just don't feel at home on furnace. For me it's a bit too close to the guis we had in the late eighties and time moved on, even on trackers.

 

Did they ever get a functioning piano roll in renoise? Or just that 'glued on' thing? Because I am compiling a list of dual tracker-piano rollers... I found where back in 2003 they threatened to put one in...



But since it never happened TakTik Must've won out because he hated piano rolls... thus, wait for it... So must YOU!

Renoise pretty solid though I made one tune in it like 10 years ago I had 4 GB RAM & it was taking my machine down god-awful resource usage with hi-end XRNI... i Like Skale Tracker, much better on resource & sounds just as good as renoise workflow is fast & the track editor is cool to work with no need for pattern commands just draw away... Yeah, plugins kinda suck for instruments much better for FX but there's workarounds... There's no tempo sync for VSTi either but I can still run tempo plugs using phrazor as an instrument then loading tempo plug in Phrazor then matching BPMs in Phrazor & Skale... Seems to work...

Here's a segment doing just that with Acrobatics EGO Pad into Phrazor on one track for backing (No way EGO Pad would load in Skale without Phrazor) the other track is just a custom AKAI made up with 3 different track envelopes just drawn in... PortaToNote, Vibrato & Arpeggio-

https://alonetone.com/TalkOrBell/tracks/skale-akai-phrazor-egopad

Only tune I done in renoise-

https://alonetone.com/TalkOrBell/tracks/soylent-greed

Couldn't finish it because machine toasted, that was all I could save/salvage...

i do miss the great plug scanning in renoise but still prefer the 1.9-2.5 range, plenty good enough for making anything...

Sorry, getting off-topic... YEAH, heard very good things about that furnace & there's another I can't quite remember now...

 

you can do chiptunes in any classic sample-based tracker, they rely on such simple waveforms you can even draw them yourself in some - and if not, just take them as instruments out of modules and go ahead. so, FastTracker2, MilkyTracker, OpenMPT, anything will do equally well.

the best in terms of sound are those dedicated to a single platform. FamiTracker for NES, GoatTracker for C64, VortexTracker for Spectrum and so on. sometimes the learning curve is steep (FamiTracker shines here as the exact opposite) and you work within certain limits only. you can even try native trackers such as LittleSoundDJ for Gameboy if you're adventurous - these usually sound even better.

the middle ground are the dedicated chiptune/fakebit trackers like DefleMask, Klystrack etc. however, Furnace eats them all for breakfast. admittedly, it does not feel as comfortable as MilkyTracker or FamiTracker, but invest some time and you'll see it is the best overall. wouldn't win any single category - the UI can become impenetrable, hardcore devotees will complain, export options are scarce etc. i myself barely programmed some SID-instruments having 20+ years of experience in that field but in the end everything started to sing - in all languages.

this was a long reply, while it could take one word: Furnace!

ps. i highly recommend checking out Battle of the Bits website. TONS of excellent information about chiptune composing in their Lyceum + continuously organized competitions to hone your skills + inclusive and helpful community.

 

Last edited: May 27, 2025