Converts S3M tracker files to midi
This is a C# library and application which can read ScreamTracker (.s3m) files and generate MIDI (.mid) files.
Back in the 2000's, I was really into mod songs, especially those by Jake Kaufman (virt). I wrote some songs, but mostly listened to his, and wanted to understand more of how the songs worked harmonically. As I could read and understand music notation better than tracker notation, I started working on a program to convert between the two. At the same time, I wanted a side project to work on my programming skills outside of the office.
Afer building, call S3mToMidi and pass the path to a .s3m file. The application will then generate a midi file in the working directory, and you can then listen to it in Windows Media Player, or open it in a notation program like Dorico, Finale, or Sibelius to view the score and follow along. I've found that Dorico does the best job turning these midi files into readable music notation.
Because the "drum" tracks in the module are currently mapped to the default piano midi sound, they can be very distracting. Use the --exclude-channel <channel number> command line argument to exclude a channel from the output file.
Some songs have intros that use tempo and speed for special effects and cannot be easily understood with notation. Use the --start-order <order number> command line switch to specify which pattern in the song's pattern order to start from. You can get this information by opening the song in a tracker and going to the Orders page. Note that the order is not the same as the pattern number. In particular this is needed for v-bogey because the time signature of the intro cannot be handled correctly by any notation programs I've found.
Use the --pattern <patter number> command line parameter to export a single pattern. This is mostly useful when debugging changes to this program.
Use the --minimum-volume <volume level 0-64> command line parameter to filter out quiet notes. Any note with a volume lower than <volume level> will be treated as volume 0. Use this to simplify the output file and also to remove most note echos. Note that this may introduce gaps in the output midi file.
S3mToMidi --file mysong.s3m
# export pattern 20 from v-blast
S3mToMidi --file v-blast.s3m --pattern 20
# start v-bogey after the Top Gun intro and exclude the drum channels
S3mToMidi --file v-bogey.s3m --minimum-volume 32 --start-order 4 --exclude-channel 4 --exclude-channel 5
Since the program was originally written to aid in education, it does not support all effects, and really only works with chiptunes written by virt. I welcome contributions to support more songs or improve the existing support.
- The triangle channel can overpower the rest of the channels at playback. The triangle wave is typically played at full volume, which is normally fine in a chiptune. But because all instruments are mapped to Piano, the triangle wave's part, which is typically the bass line, can sound way too loud relative to the other parts.