TrackMeister by Top Right Bottom Left [web]
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|_ _| __ __ _ ___| | _| \/ | ___(_)___| |_ ___ _ __ TM
| || '__/ _" |/ __| |/ / |\/| |/ _ \ / __| __/ _ \ '__|
| || | | (_| | (__| <| | | | __/ \__ \ || __/ |
|_||_| \__,_|\___|_|\_\_| |_|\___|_|___/\__\___|_|
[https://github.com/kajott/TrackMeister/]
This application is a player for tracker music files (module files).
With its fullscreen interface and limited interaction options, it's
specifically targeted towards presenting tracked music in a compo.
Features
========
- based on libopenmpt, a very well-regarded library for module file playback
- plays all common formats: MOD, XM, IT, S3M, and a dozen others
- fullscreen interface based on OpenGL
- metadata display (title, artist, technical info, module comment, instrument
and sample names) with smooth scrolling
- pattern display for visualization, including channel names (if present in the
module file)
- optional custom logo in the background of the pattern display
- fake VU meters (based on note velocity and channel, not the actual audio
samples, just as in most trackers)
- smooth fade out (triggered manually, automatically after looping, or after a
configurable time)
- loudness normalization, with a built-in EBU R128 (a.k.a. ReplayGain 2.0)
loudness analyzer
- cross-platform (tested on Windows and Linux)
- single executable; no extra DLLs/.so's needed
- open source (MIT license)
Usage
=====
Just drag a module file onto the executable, or into the window once the player
has already been started. If a directory is opened this way, the first playable
file therein is loaded. Note that this is *not* recursive; TrackMeister won't
play entire directory hierarchies. If no file is specified upfront, but there
are playable files in the current directory when TrackMeister starts, the
(lexicographically) first file is loaded.
The screen is split into three parts: The pattern display, the info bar at the
top (containing basic information about the module format as well as filename,
title and artist), and the metadata bar at the right (with the free-text module
message, instrument and sample names). If the content doesn't fit in the
metadata bar, it slowly scrolls down during playback, so it reaches the bottom
end at the end of the track or after four minutes, whatever comes first.
If a module's filename starts with exactly two decimal digits, followed by a
space, dash ("-") or underscore ("_"), the digits will be removed from the
filename display and shown as a "track number" in a much larger font in the
info bar instead. This can be used to curate playlists by simply prefixing
each filename with "01_", "02_" and so on.
The following other controls are available:
Q or Alt+F4 . . . . quit the application
Esc . . . . . . . . cancel current operation:
- stops loudness scan if one is running,
- pauses audio if it's playing,
- quits the application after pressing *twice* otherwise
Space . . . . . . . pause / continue playback
Tab . . . . . . . . show / hide the info and metadata bars
Enter . . . . . . . show / hide the fake VU meters
N . . . . . . . . . show / hide the channel name display
Cursor Left/Right . seek backward / forward one order
Page Up . . . . . . load previous module in the directory
Page Down . . . . . load next module in the directory
Ctrl+Home . . . . . load first module in the directory
Ctrl+End . . . . . .load last module in the directory
Mouse Wheel . . . . manually scroll through the metadata bar
(stops autoscrolling)
A . . . . . . . . . stop / resume autoscrolling
F . . . . . . . . . slowly fade out the song
V . . . . . . . . . show the TrackMeister and libopenmpt version numbers
F5 . . . . . . . . reload the current module
and the application's configuration
F11 . . . . . . . . toggle fullscreen mode
Ctrl+L . . . . . . start (or cancel) EBU R128 loudness scan
for the currently loaded module
Ctrl+Shift+L . . . start EBU R128 loudness scan
for the currently loaded module and all following modules
in the current directory
Ctrl+Shift+S . . . save "tm_default.ini" (see below)
For directory navigation, "previous" and "next" refer to case-insensitive
lexicographical ordering.
To use the loudness normalization feature, perform a loudness scan on the
desired module(s); this will write a small ".tm" file next to the module file
that contains the measured EBU R128 loudness for the currently set up
rendering parameters (i.e. filter, stereo separation etc.). The next time that
module is loaded, TrackMeister picks up this loudness value and automatically
computes a suitable gain to normalize the volume levels to a target of
-18 LUFS. (The target can be adjusted with the "target loudness" configuration
setting.)
Configuration
=============
TrackMeister can be configured using configuration files with an INI-like
syntax.
The following aspects can be configured:
- display colors and font sizes (but *not* the font itself;
that's "baked into" the program)
- windowed/fullscreen mode and window size (*)
- audio sample rate and buffer size (*)
- audio interpolation filter
- amount of stereo separation
All items can be changed at runtime when loading a new module or pressing the
F5 key, *except* those marked with an asterisk (*); these are only evaluated
once on startup.
The following locations are searched for configuration files:
- "tm.ini" in the program's directory (i.e. directly next to "tm.exe")
- "tm.ini" in the currently opened module file's directory
- a file with the same name as the currently opened module file, but with an
extra suffix of ".tm"; for example, for "foo.mod", the configuration file
will be "foo.mod.tm"
Configuration files are processed in this exact order, line by line. Options
specified later override options specified earlier.
The configuration files can contain multiple sections, delimited by lines
containing the section name in square brackets, "[like so]". The following
sections are evaluated, and all other sections are ignored:
- the unnamed section at the beginning of the file
- the "[TrackMeister]" or "[TM]" sections
- sections that match the current module's file name, e.g. "[foo*.mod]";
the following rules apply for those:
- only the filename is matched, no directory names
- matching is case-insensitive
- exactly one "*" may be used as a wildcard (no "?"s, no multiple "*"s)
All other lines contain key-value pairs of the form "key = value" or
"key: value". Spaces, dashes ("-") and underscores ("_") in key names are
ignored. All parts of a line following a semicolon (";") are ignored. It's
allowed to put comments at the end of key/value lines.
To get a list of all possible settings, along with documentation and the
default values for each setting, run TrackMeister normally and press
Ctrl+Shift+S, or run "tm --save-default-config" from a command line. This will
generate a file "tm_default.ini" in the current directory (usually the program
directory) that also be used as a template for an individual configuration.
All sizes (font sizes, margins etc.) are specified in 1/1000s of the display
width, so they are more or less resolution-independent.
Boolean values can use any of the "1"/"0", "false"/"true", "yes"/"no" or
"enabled"/"disabled" nomenclatures.
Colors are specified in HTML/CSS-style hexadecimal RGB notation, but with
optional alpha, i.e. in the form "#rrggbb", "#rrggbbaa", "#rgb" or "#rgba".
Here's an example for a useful INI file as a compo organizer would set it up
for hosting a competition:
[TM]
; generic options, specified in classic INI syntax
; we want a decent filter and full stereo for most module formats
filter=auto
stereoSeparation=100
; when hosting an actual competition, we want to start playback manually
autoplay=disabled
; and we want fullscreen too!
fullscreen=yes
; if the track has a loop, we want to fade out automatically at this point
fade out after loop = true
[*.mod]
; this section is only active for MOD format file, which tend to be
; written on or for the Amiga, hence we want a suitable filter
; emulation and way less stereo separation;
; also, we're specifying this in CSS-like syntax, because we can:
filter: auto;
stereo-separation: 100;
[03*]
; the entry with the track number 3 in the filename has a loop;
; we want to play the loop, but fade out directly after it;
; the fade has been configured above already, now set up the loop:
loop: true
Note that in practice, the track-specific options would rather be written into
the "tm.ini" file in the directory where the entries reside, or the even into
the ".tm" file next to the module file itself, and maybe not into the "global"
config file that's located next to "tm.exe".
Options can also be specified on the command line, in the syntax "+key=value"
or "+key:value". No extra spaces are allowed around the value. Command-line
options take precedence over all configuration files.
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