Tracker music is a genre of electronic music created using a special tracker program. It occupies an intermediate position between digital sound (WAV) and a musical sequence for digital musical instruments (MIDI).
Essentially, a tracker or, as it is also called, a module file is an encoded text containing a score of a melody from sounds that are provided by the program and can be played by a sound card. Over the years, a large number of formats have appeared, such as MOD, XM, IT, S3M. Due to the frequent use of tracker music in game development of past years, it was also called VGM music (video game music).
1 Details about tracker music
The MOD format was the first file format for tracked music. The original version of this format, with a simple set of sample patterns, was introduced in 1987 for the Amiga. Later versions of the MOD format that came out for PCs increased the number of channels, added panning commands, and extended the Amiga's frequency limit, allowing it to support more octaves of notes. It's still the most widely used tracker format to this day.
The use of tracker music has become extremely popular in the vastness of the demoscene - a special subculture of computer scientists. Although the technical component of the compositions is more often valued in the community itself than the aesthetic component. To write a sophisticated melody with a limited set of tools is the main challenge for demoscene enthusiasts.
Unfortunately, an ordinary user will not be able to appreciate these musical masterpieces without installing a tracker or a special player. This problem can be solved with the help of an audio converter that converts such music into more familiar formats like MP3 or AAC.
2 Turn tracker music to MP3 online
I always try to provide a free conversion option, preferably as an online service. I found the MOD to MP3 conversion section on the Convertio website that you are already familiar with without difficulty, but I was confused by the description of MOD as a camcorder format. My fears were confirmed on the first try - the service returned an error.
Just in case, I tried a few more services from Google results, but the result was the same. Here, for example, is the result of the FreeConvert service.
Unfortunately, this time there will be no online alternative. Perhaps I will be able to find a suitable service later, when I write about other tracker music formats. In that case, I will update this article.
3 Convert MOD to MP3 on desktop
Since there was no alternative solution, we move on to the already proven audio converter. If you prefer more control over the conversion process or you need to convert a large number of audio files, using desktop software is definitely the best option. As you can see in the screenshot, the same test file was successfully loaded and I was able to view its properties. So feel free to download and install it from the link below.
Step 1: Open the tracker music converter software on your computer. Import the tracker file into the software. This can be done by clicking the "Add File" button or by dragging and dropping the file onto the program window.
Step 2: Once the tracker file has been loaded into the software, you may need to make some changes to the basic program settings before exporting it as an MP3. For example, you may want to select an output folder or limit CPU usage during conversion.
Step 3: When you are ready, select MP3 from the codec list and go to the codec settings. Here you will be able to select the bit rate and the CBR/VBR/ABR compression mode. By default, the sample rate for MOD files is set to 44100Hz.
Step 4: Click the "Convert" button and wait for the software to finish transcoding your MOD tracker file to MP3 format. This may take some time depending on the length and complexity of the music. Once the conversion is complete, you should have an MP3 version of your tracker music ready to use.
4 Summary
Converting tracker music to MP3 can bring back pleasant memories of your favorite tunes from years gone by. But as you may have noticed, there is some confusion between the two file formats with the same extension. As a result, something that should be simple becomes a bit of a guessing game to find the right tool for the job.
Fortunately, the MOD tracker format is quite simple, so with compatible software, the sound will not differ on different computers. However, the sound quality after converting from MOD to MP3 will depend on the encoding settings, so I advise you not to choose a bit rate that is too low.