Jarhmander wrote:
Something I really like in PPMCK (that tool that nobody uses anymore apparently) is the @q command, which allows you to cut a note early by a desired amount of frames. For example, @q1 would cut all notes played by the current track one frame early. This is exactly like the solution with an envelope starting with 0, without the delay.
It's sad that FamiTracker has no quantization control, but that's how trackers are designed.
FamiTracker has the
S0x effect, which cuts a note x frames after the start of a row. For example, if the current "speed" is 7 frames per row (
F05),
S05 will cut it two frames early. The
G0x effect, on the other hand,
starts a note x frames late. Impulse Tracker and OpenMPT have the same effects but name them
SCx (early cut) and
SDx (delay). Or you can make a volume envelope that cuts after a particular number of frames, such as
9 6 5 5 5 0.
Pently has a few similar features.
- Pently 1 has "detached", an instrument setting that cuts all notes played on that instrument one half row early. It can be heard in the cover of "Leck mich im Arsch" in the Thwaite OST, as well as in several sample tracks included with the source distribution.
- Pently 3 (Thwaite and Zap Ruder) introduced attack envelopes in imitation of FamiTracker volume, duty, and arpeggio envelopes. If an instrument's sustain volume is 0, it will stop when the attack envelope completes. Setting volume 9 6 5 5 5 0 on an instrument makes all its notes 5 frames long.
- Pently 4 (RHDE) introduced grace notes, a generalization of S0x and G0x. A row's duration can be set in frames instead of fractions of a whole note using the 1g through 9g durations. The following row plays for the remainder of the original row. To play a note that cuts early, use f#4g r8, which plays an F# for 4 frames before cutting it and lasts a total of an eighth note. To start a note late, use w4g f#8, which waits four frames and then plays an F#, taking a total of an eighth note. It's called a grace note because acciaccatura happens if you make both events notes instead of waits or rests.