BeRoTracker

Supported files can be loaded directly from ZIP archives, including nested archives. To save a compressed module, use .zip or a compressed module extension such as .xmz.

Tracker modules

These formats already use patterns and order lists, which are imported into BeRoTracker's pattern editor.

Per-voice sequences

These formats store independent event sequences for each voice. The importer runs the sequences and writes the resulting notes into editable patterns.

OPL register captures

Captures contain timed writes to the OPL registers. The importer reconstructs notes, instruments, volume changes, pitch bends and rhythm-mode drums from those writes, then converts them to patterns. Timing changes are recorded in the pattern rows.

A song can also be written back out as a RAW capture. The export plays it through a mixer of its own and records every write that reaches the OPL3 chip, timed by the chip's own sample clock rather than by the mixer's blocks. The call rate is selectable from 50 to 2000 per second, with 1000 as the default, which is fine enough for the steps of a register macro as well as for ticks.

Music with a dedicated playback driver

These formats store instruments and events interpreted by a playback driver. The importers reproduce the driver's behaviour and convert its OPL output into patterns. The resulting tracks follow chip voices, so their layout can differ from the source file's channels.

The LucasArts, Lucasfilm and Sierra formats share an importer. All 388 test files loaded, with all 246,674 note pitches matching the reference, and all 388 were byte-identical on a round trip. Standard MIDI and CMF have separate importers.

XAD formats

XAD wraps music data in a shared header that identifies the player and stores the title, author and speed. All six player formats are supported.

AdLib formats are import-only. Effects are mapped to BeRoTracker commands or instrument settings where possible. Unsupported commands are omitted, including HSC's two individual operator-level effects and some Boomtracker commands.

Playback can differ from the original. BeRoTracker uses period-based pitches, tick timing and Scream Tracker / Impulse Tracker effects for both samples and FM voices. Source tick rates are converted to tempo values with 16 bits of fractional precision, but slides and vibrato use BeRoTracker's own units. AdLib Tracker 2 has the most complete support: register macros, carrier-level volume and its original note table are preserved. Older formats use exact note pitches rather than that table's roughly 14.5-cent downward offset. Round-trip figures compare an imported song against the same song saved as BRT and loaded again, so a byte-identical result means the import survives being edited and stored. The test results above apply to the tested files; compatibility varies by format and song.

For formats without patterns, the importer chooses a row length that preserves note events while keeping the song within the 240-pattern limit. The tested id Software IMF files used four playback ticks per row without losing notes. If a voice is triggered twice within a single source tick, only the second trigger is kept.

BeRoTracker is free to download. If you find it useful, you can support its development at donate.rosseaux.com.

$ unzip BeRoTracker.zip
$ cd BeRoTracker
$ ./BeRoTracker

# Optional: install the icon and menu entry
$ ./install-desktop.sh

Extract the ZIP, then run
the Windows executable:

BeRoTracker\BeRoTracker.exe

$ unzip BeRoTracker.zip
$ xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine BeRoTracker
$ open BeRoTracker/BeRoTracker.app

# Before dragging the bundle elsewhere
$ cd BeRoTracker
$ ./BeRoTrackerMacOSPrepareDragDropInstallation

The macOS build is signed but not notarised, so Gatekeeper stops the first start. Either take the quarantine mark off the extracted folder as shown above, or right-click the bundle, choose Open and answer the question once. Out of the archive BeRoTracker.app shares the palettes and EQ presets with the other two builds, which lie beside it; BeRoTrackerMacOSPrepareDragDropInstallation puts a set of both inside the bundle so it can be moved anywhere, /Applications included, and takes nothing out of the folder. BeRoTrackerMacOS starts the same program from a terminal.