Mod Terms
| We presume that there are those among you who have never encountered mods, so here are a few specific definitions of terms which may be alien to you. We will assume that you are not actually from another star system so we will skip common stuff like music or digital. If you run into other terms not defined here - or if you just want to know everything there is to know about MODs - you can find all the answers in the Mod FAQ, (originally authored by jester), which you can find at: http://www.modplug.com/modfaq/. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mod is a generic term for digital music files that play on just about any operating system - as long as you have a mod player. Mods are composed on mod trackers, which are available as shareware and freeware all over cyberspace. Many mods are created by obscure, talented musicians. Some are composed by folks with a knack for sound editing. There are mods of all varieties, from all musical genres: orchestrated "classical" and acoustic music, pop, jazz, metal, hard core thrash, funk and rap. Something for everybody! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Don't get confused, now! We aren't talking about MIDI here! Mods are a totally different animal: digital sound samples of real and synthetic instruments, edited to produce real music, (as any mod author will tell you) not that elevator-dentist's-waiting-room stuff!. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| mod - mod (plural mods; sometimes capitalized, as MOD(s)) is slang for module. "Modules are digital music files, made up of a set of samples (the instruments) and sequencing information, telling a mod player when to play which sample on which track at what pitch, optionally performing an effect like vibrato, for example. Thus mods are different from pure sample files such as WAV or AU, which contain no sequencing information, and MIDI files, which do not include any custom samples/ instruments. Mods are extremely popular in the demo world and offer a way of making music of an acceptable level of quality rather cheaply. With the advent of high-quality sound hardware, new generations of mods may even rise to a sound quality nearing that of professional equipment." There are loads of different file formats for modules. Most can be identified by their distinctive file extensions. The wondrously overly complex tables below list the most common formats and minimal related data: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| mod player - "A 'player' is a program that decodes mods and ouputs these on a sound device." The two most popular players for PC (at the moment) are MODPlug Player (Win 95-98-NT) and Cubic Player (MS-DOS). Mod trackers (see below) also serve as players, and, however impractical, many composers recommend use of their preferred original tracker for playback. Please consult the MOD FAQ for more information on what players are available for other operating systems. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| mod tracker - A tracker is a mod editor/player. There are loads of these, but the most popular PC trackers are: Fast Tracker - programmed by Mr H and Vogue of Triton; Impulse Tracker - programmed by Jeffrey Lim, and Scream Tracker - programmed by PSI of Future Crew. The most sophisticated tracker for Windows is MODPlug Tracker by Olivier Lapicque. Consult the Mod FAQ for more information on other trackers for Intel-compatible PCs and other computers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| demo - The term 'demo' can mean a [multimedia] presentation which includes mods. A 'demo group' is a bunch of artistically inclined computer people that get together and create a demo. Future Crew is/was a demo group. Archaic - 'demo' is sometimes a synonym for 'mod'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| sample - "A 'sample' is a digitized sound included in the mod, which serves as an instrument. As mods don't use a fixed instrument set (as General MIDI does), anything can be used as an instrument, including noises or human voices." Mod authors create their own samples, download them from various ftp sites, or simply "rip" samples from other mods. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| track - "A 'track' is a module voice. The number of tracks denotes the number of notes/ instruments/ voices that can play simultaneously." The terms "track" and "channel" are generally regarded as interchangable. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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lamer - 'Lamer' is a rude term used by some mod authors to segregate themselves from newer, inexperienced mod authors and the vast, unwashed masses of mod fans who probably are the only reason they exist in the first place. Chances are that if you see this term in use, you are reading something by somebody who is a hell of a lot lamer than you are. "There's no point to elitism, racism, or any other ism in cyberspace. All flames burn out eventually. Think about it!" - FLAtRich |
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