''S3M'' (Scream Tracker 3 Module) is a module file format, the successor to the STM format used by the original

Scream Tracker ''Scream Tracker'' is a tracker (an integrated multi-track step sequencer and sampler as a software application). It was created by Psi (Sami Tammilehto), one of the founders of the Finnish demogroup Future Crew. It was written in C and assem ...

. Both formats are based on the original

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

format used on the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

computer. The S3M format has many differences compared to its predecessors. * The format is a hybrid of digital playback and synthesized instruments. The official format specification document covers space for 16 digital channels and 14 synthesized ones with two unused slots out of a total of 32. * Separate volume channel in pattern data. * Supports more instruments than MOD or STM (99 instead of 31). * Default panning of channels can be specified by the composer. * Extra-fine pitch slides are added * Instruments are not limited to a fixed sample rate for a given note. The format stores the instrument's sample rate at middle C. The period table used by S3M is smaller than the one used by the MOD format (only 12 entries, compared to between 36 and 60 for the MOD variations) and uses larger values in order to be able to compute the extra-fine pitch slides. The playback routines, however, use relatively straightforward formulas to get the final period values used in playback. The key formula for this takes into account the instrument's stored sample rate at middle C. One feature of the S3M format which is seldom used, is the format's support for FM instruments. These were designed to be played back on sound cards that included an

OPL2 The OPL (FM Operator Type-L) series is a family of sound chips developed by Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha. It consists of low-cost sound chips providing frequency modulation synthesis, FM synthesis for use in computing, music and video game applicati ...

or compatible

FM synthesis Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. The (instantaneous) frequency of an oscillator is altered in accordance wi ...

chip. More recently, with the necessary CPU power available, it is possible to perform the same synthesis in software. Two examples of such software are the Adplug plugin for the

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

audio player

Winamp Winamp is a media player (software), media player for Microsoft Windows originally developed by Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev by their company Nullsoft, which they later sold to AOL in 1999 for $80 million. It was then acquired by Rad ...

and the

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

audio module tracker

OpenMPT OpenMPT is an open-source audio module tracker for Windows (with an intended Wine-functionality for UNIX and Linux x86-systems). It was previously called ModPlug Tracker, and was first released by Olivier Lapicque in September 1997. ''Comp ...

as of version 1.28.01.00.

Media player support

S3M files released on the

demoscene The demoscene () is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off computer programmi ...

's music scene in the 1990s were commonly played on PCs using dedicated mod/s3m players (such as DMP) or using the tracker software (like Scream Tracker). Some more-common/contemporary music players can play these files, although fidelity to original sound and results can vary according to the individual file. Software includes: *

foobar2000 foobar2000 (often abbreviated as fb2k or f2k) is a freeware audio player for Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, and formerly Windows Phone, developed by Peter Pawłowski. It has a modular design, which provides user flexibility in c ...

VLC media player VLC media player (previously the VideoLAN Client) is a free and open-source software, free and open-source, software portability, portable, cross-platform media player software and streaming media Server (computing), server developed by the Vide ...

XMPlay XMPlay is a freeware audio player for Windows. Initially released in 1998, it is often used as a reference player for tracker audio files. Overview Developed by ''Un4seen Developments'' in 1998, it originally only supported the XM file form ...

AIMP AIMP is a freeware audio player for Windows and Android, originally developed by Russian developer Artem Izmaylov (). It supports a variety of audio codecs, and includes tools to convert audio files and edit their metadata. It also has the c ...

JetAudio JetAudio is a shareware media player (application software), media player computer software, application for Microsoft Windows (operating system), Windows and Android (operating system), Android released in 1997 which offers playback options for ...

References

{{reflist Audio compression Module file formats Digital audio

Media player support

See also

References