NOT EVEN ALPHA. Testing is not finished. CHOO CHOO.
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-=[ HANDHELD CONSOLE MULTI-ENGINE TRACKER ]=-
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O==O O==O O==O O==O
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CAHORS MONTAUBAN
>>> 8 TRACKS / 96 kHz / CHIPNOMAD-BASED >>>
.oO[ AY / BRAIDS / PLAITS / PCM SAMPLES / SCWF/ WTBL / 303 ]Oo.
ChooChooTracker is a music tracker for handheld consoles.
Write a beat on the train, sequence, jam with joysticks, automate a synth line, send it through reverb, then keep going until you miss your stop.
This is a fork of ChipNomad, with A LOT of extra synth engines, high quality PCM samples / SCWF / Serum wavetables playback, global reverb/delay, and many other small changes. It keeps ChipNomad's supafast LSDJ-inspired tracker workflow but departs from the chiptune vision of Megus to offer a metric ton of modern sound design options. The name comes from the first proof of concept, written on a train between Cahors and Montauban.
The main target is the Anbernic RG353V through PortMaster. A native Windows build is available for development and desktop testing. You can also test it in your browser on https://choochootracker.vercel.app/ (use the keyboard or gamepad on a computer, use the on-screen gamepad on a mobile device).
It should work on any Portmaster capable system, and should also compile on Android and other platforms though I haven't tested that yet.
- Eight fixed monophonic tracks (with independent instruments)
- AY Classic, AY Plus, and crunchy AY Sample playback (from Chipnomad)
- All 47 Braids engines, 24 stock Plaits engines, and 24 additional Plaits-Alt engines
- Clean mono or stereo PCM8/PCM16 sample playback (one-shot samples, like your Digitakt)
- Dual single cycle waveform oscillator: with mix & detune
- Dual wavetable oscillator: bring your own Serum wavetables !
- Acid engine (open303 based) that can take Braids as VCO
- Multimode LP/HP/BP 12/24dB filters for all new synth/sample engines
- Several filter flavours inspired
- Per-track volume, mute, solo, tiltEQ, Reverb send, and Delay send
- Mutable Instruments Clouds meme lush reverb
- Tick-synchronized filtered ping-pong delay
- Three tracker FX columns per row
- Added tracker FX inspired by Elektron and Nerdseq: Probability, modulo conditions, and per-track invididual playback speed
- Synth engines parameters can be set by TrackFX, kinda like P-locks.
- 4x mod sources per track: ADSR, AHD, LFO and sticks. Modulations can target modulations.
- 3 LFO types: normal, slow tempo sync'd (can be very slow) and fast LFO for audio rate modulations
- Joystick modulation , that can be live recorded as trackFX
- Tracker tables, grooves, chains, and songs
Instruments in LSDJ/Chipnomad work like "Machines" in the Elektron world.
Each instrument has its sound engine and can be mixed/matched at will: you can have an AY bass on one track, a Braids drum model on another, a Plaits chord engine or a Plaits-Alt texture on the next, and some repitched heehaa samples beside them.
There is no project-wide chip selection and no forced group of three AY channels. And of course you can use several instruments in a track so you can do "single track challenges".
The main screens follow the MSCPIT layout:
Rvrb Proj Groov Modulations
Mixer - Song - Chain - Phrase - Instrument - Table
Dlay Sett Pool Wvtbl
So its kind of like LSDJ, but with a Mixer on the left.
Download the PortMaster package and PDF manual from the GitHub Releases page.
The current package targets ARM64 PortMaster devices and has been developed primarily for ArkOS on RG353V. Install choochootracker.zip through PortMaster, or extract it into the console's ports directory.
This is an early test build. Save often and don't get too attached to your projects.
- User manual
- User manual PDF
- Development overview and roadmap
- Development notes
- Feasibility study
- Fork maintenance guide
- Everything: working or it seems.
- there may still be some crashes and bugs
- Visual identity will be finalized once bugs become so rare you collect them.
The first proof of concept was written during a train ride between Cahors and Montauban. The name stuck. Choo choo. Don't miss your stop.
ChooChooTracker is a fork of ChipNomad. Its Braids, Plaits, Clouds, and stmlib code comes from Mutable Instruments' open-source releases. See the included license files for exact attribution.
The project is released under the MIT License.
Mad respects to the people I stole code from:
- Megus, the insanely smart creator of Chipnomad.
- Pichenettes, the genius behind Mutable Instruments
- Lylepmills for the additional Plaits engines
Mad respects to the people I stole ideas from:
- Thomas, the absolute beast behind Nedseq
- The people at Elektron who boldly put user workflow and speed first, and also whoever invented P-locks and trig conditions.
- Whoever invented the menu navigation style of vintage RPGs
- All musicians who I saw playing live sets on gameboys and other constrained hardware rigs.