Impulse Tracker is a multi-track digital sound tracker (music sequencer

Music sequencer

The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...

). It was one of the last tracker programs for the DOS

DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...

 platform. It was authored by Jeffrey "Pulse" Lim, and example music was provided by Jeffrey Lim and Chris Jarvis. The last version, v2.14 Patch #5, was released April 8, 1999.

History

The software was distributed as freeware

Freeware

Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...

, though for a fee the author supplies extra features, such as support for WAV

WAV

Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...

 output and IPX

IPX

Internetwork Packet Exchange is the OSI-model Network layer protocol in the IPX/SPX protocol stack.The IPX/SPXM protocol stack is supported by Novell's NetWare network operating system. Because of Netware's popularity through the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, IPX became a popular internetworking...

 networks. After the stereo WAV writer plugin was publicly pirated, the original author announced that he would discontinue development after version 2.14. Impulse Tracker was coded in Assembly language

Assembly language

An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...

.

Impulse Tracker's interface was influenced by that of Scream Tracker 3

Scream Tracker

Scream Tracker is a tracker . It was created by Psi of Finland's Future Crew It was coded in C and assembly language. The first popular version of Scream Tracker, version 2.2, was published in 1990...

.

Usage

Like in most module

Module file

Module files are a family of music file formats originating from the MOD file format on Amiga systems used in late 1980s...

 editors, music is arranged on a grid of channels. Each supports note on and note off instructions similar to MIDI. Impulse Tracker modules use the .IT file extension.

New Note Actions (NNAs) is a feature that handles commands received on the same channel as another instrument which is still playing. NNAs allow the user to customize the subsequent action:

• Cut: The new instrument replaces the current instrument.
• Continue: The old instrument continues to play using its ADSR curve.
• Off: The old instrument begins the release section of its ADSR curve.
• Fade: The old instrument fades out to 0 volume at a designated rate overriding the ADSR curve.

Impulse Tracker supports hardware MIDI channels on the Gravis Ultrasound

Gravis Ultrasound

Gravis UltraSound or GUS is a sound card for the IBM PC compatible system platform, made by Canada-based Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd...

, InterWave and Sound Blaster 32

Sound Blaster AWE32

Sound Blaster AWE32 is an ISA sound card from Creative Technology. It is an expansion board for PCs. The Sound Blaster AWE32, introduced in March 1994, was a near full-length ISA sound card, measuring 14 inches in length, due to the number of features included.-MIDI capability:The Sound Blaster...

 card families (provided enough RAM is available).

Compatible software

Other music-playing software that supports the IT file format include Media Player Classic

Media Player Classic

Media Player Classic is a compact media player for 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows. The application mimics the look and feel of the old, lightweight Windows Media Player 6.4 but integrates most options and features found in modern media players...

, Winamp

Winamp

Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...

(Win32), VLC

VLC media player

VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...

, Cowon jetAudio

JetAudio

jetAudio is a multimedia player software that offers a playback option and multimedia file editor and burning capabilities. There are two different versions: Basic and Plus VX. The Plus VX version has additional bonus packs and unlocked video/audio conversion...

, XMMS

XMMS

The X Multimedia System is a free audio player for Unix-like systems.-History:XMMS was originally written as X11Amp by Peter and Mikael Alm in November 1997. The player was made to resemble Winamp, which was first released in May that year. As such, XMMS has supported Winamp 2 "classic" skins...

 (X11 Linux/Unix), TiMidity

TiMidity

TiMidity++, originally and still frequently informally called TiMidity, is a software synthesizer that can play MIDI files without a hardware synthesizer...

, MikMod, ModPlug Tracker

ModPlug Tracker

OpenMPT is an open source audio module tracker for Windows. It was named by Computer Music as one of the top five free music trackers. It originally started out under the name ModPlug Tracker, and was developed by Olivier Lapicque in September 1997....

, Renoise

Renoise

Renoise is a contemporary digital audio workstation based upon the heritage and development of tracker software. Its primary use is the composition of music using sound samples, soft synths, and effects plug-ins. It is also able to interface with MIDI and OSC equipment...

(Win32, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X), and Schism Tracker (Win32, Linux, Wii and Mac OS X) which is an Impulse Tracker reimplementation.

IT file format

The .IT file format is the format native to Impulse Tracker. It is similar to older formats such as .MOD, but features new additions such as new note actions which allow the user to customize subsequent actions on receiving commands from the same channel as the one playing.

Some player software supports the .ITZ format, which is a renamed ZIP

ZIP (file format)

Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...

 file that contains a .IT file.

Users

Erez Aizen of Infected Mushroom

Infected Mushroom

Infected Mushroom is an Israeli psychedelic trance DJ act and electronic group originally formed in late 1997 as a duo by producers Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani in Haifa...

 composed his first trance music on Impulse Tracker. Ian Stocker used IT with other software in his collaboration for the music in the Nintendo DS version of The Sims 2

The Sims 2

The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims, which debuted on February 4, 2000. It was first released on September 14, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. A port to Apple Mac OS X...

.

The video games Pocket Tanks

Pocket Tanks

Pocket Tanks is a 1-2 player computer game for Windows and Mac OS X, and more recently, the iPhone, created by Blitwise Productions, developer of Super DX-Ball and Neon Wars...

and Grid Wars

Grid Wars

Grid Wars is a computer game inspired by Bizarre Creations' Geometry Wars developed by Marco Incitti. The first version of the game was released as freeware on December 21, 2005 on Marco Incitti's Blitz Creations website....

use the IT format for some of their songs. Various games by Epic Games

Epic Games

Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...

 such as the first Unreal and Unreal Tournament

Unreal Tournament

Unreal Tournament is a futuristic first-person shooter video game co-developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. It was published in 1999 by GT Interactive. Retrospectively, the game has also been referred to as UT99 or UT Classic to differentiate it from its numbered sequels...

 as well as Deus Ex

Deus Ex

Deus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...

 used the IT format in an "UMX" container format.

Trance producer Sean Tyas

Sean Tyas

Sean Tyas is an American DJ and electronic music producer. The genre of his productions and DJ sets can be broadly categorized as trance.Sean's music receives regular airtime on radio shows such as Armin van Buuren's "A State of Trance," Above & Beyond's "Trance Around the World," and his own show,...

began his music production career using Impulse Tracker.

Sound examples

• Pale Dreams - included with an early release of Impulse Tracker (.IT module)
• IndusTree's Homesick (ogg)
• Gerador Zero - Zero (mp3) (.IT module)
• Sunset Jazz - Frank Schanzenbächer (Impulse Tracker Original) (Real Audio Version)
• Quasian - Magenta Magnet (it)
• Secretly Wishing - Demo song included with Schism Tracker (MP3 version) (.IT module)