▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ░▒▓█ rapid1337.com █▓▒░ ╓──────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ A Field Guide to Tracker Formats ║ ╟──────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ MOD, XM, SID, Future Composer, Hippel ║ ║ — what they are and how they differ. ║ ╟──────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ ·· blog/tracker-formats.html ·· ║ ╙──────────────────────────────────────────╜ ============================================================================ Title ..: A Field Guide to Tracker Formats Author .: Vexille Date ...: 2026-02-12 Section : Blog ============================================================================ # A Field Guide to Tracker Formats People say "chiptune" like it means one thing. It does not. Here is the lay of the land, roughly chronological. ## The Amiga lineage - **MOD** (ProTracker) — 4 channels, samples baked in. The format. If you only learn one, learn this. Patterns of notes, a sample bank, done. - **Future Composer** (1.0–1.4) — synth-driven rather than sample-heavy; tiny files because the instruments are generated, not stored. - **Jochen Hippel** (regular + COSO) — Hippel's own engine; COSO is the compressed variant. Distinctive, dense, unmistakable. - **David Whittaker**, **SoundMon**, **Delta Music**, **Digital Mugician** — a whole zoo of composer-specific engines, each with its own quirks. ## The other machines - **SID** (C64) — not samples at all but a *register dump* driving the MOS 6581 chip. Three voices, analogue filters, pure magic. Playback means emulating the chip. - **XM** (FastTracker II, PC) — the Amiga model with more channels, more effects, and instrument envelopes. ## Why it matters here This framework plays all of the above. Point `introTrack` (or any `