8-Bit Tracker (Version 1.0.1) 8-Bit Tracker is a powerful Unity Asset for creating digital sound effects and music in a similar style to the many retro computers and consoles that were available in the 1980s and 1990s. At its lowest level, 8-Bit Tracker generates sounds from simple waveforms with varying frequency (pitch) and amplitude (volume). At its highest level, it has support for blended waveforms, volume variation via ADSR envelopes (attack, decay, sustain and release), pitch changing, ornaments, noise generation, chorus and echo, and supports repeatable patterns of notes that can be arranged into any number of tracks to create an entire composition.
The 8-Bit Tracker Track Editor Window
Any sound or music created in 8-Bit Tracker is stored as a series of parameters in the component added to a scene. The audio itself can be generated at runtime to allow for complex pieces of music that take up far less size in the build than the corresponding raw audio data would. To put this into context, the example scene that comes with the asset contains two pieces of music and four sound effects. Exporting all of these as wave files would take up a total of 6.5Mb, whereas in the scene they take up only 92Kb. That’s over 70 times smaller!
However, the option to export an 8-Bit Tracker composition to a wave file of any quality is also provided in case you want to import it as a normal audio asset into your project. Or of course you can use an exported wave file outside of Unity in whichever way you like. Example Scene The assets comes with an example scene that shows off some of the capabilities of 8-Bit Tracker. It contains two examples of music tracks that can be generated via the asset, and four examples of sound effects. Simply run the scene and click the buttons to hear the sounds.
A screenshot of the example scene that comes with the 8-Bit Tracker
How 8-Bit Tracker Works Sounds in 8-Bit Tracker are made using Instruments. The basis of an instrument is a waveform, such as a sine wave. Different waveforms make different sounds – for example a sine wave makes a smooth sound whereas a sawtooth wave makes a harsh, rasping sound. It’s worth experimenting with instrument waveforms to get the instrument sound you desire. Instruments also support blending of waveforms, volume and pitch variations, ornaments and chorus and echo effects. These are all described in detail in this document.
A sine wave
An instrument’s note can be played at any pitch, and an arrangement of notes at varying pitches is called a Pattern. Patterns are typically short sequences of notes that can be repeated to form a song. Patterns are then arranged in Tracks which support individual volume and transpose controls. Any number of tracks can be added, and the final 8-Bit Tracker audio is generated from merging all tracks together.
So that’s the theory. Let’s get started! Adding an 8-Bit Tracker Component To use 8-Bit Tracker, simply add an 8-Bit Tracker component to a game object. The default component will look like this:
An 8-Bit Tracker component with default settings
The component is split into sections for building the various parts of 8-Bit Tracker audio. These sections are described individually in detail below.
Note that throughout the inspector view of the component and inside the individual editor windows for instruments, patterns and tracks (more on these later), you will find buttons with question marks on them. This is contextual help – click these buttons to open up a window containing an explanation of the section they relate to.
A help button
Audio Source When a scene containing an 8-Bit Tracker component is run, the component automatically generates an audio clip of the song that has been created if and only if the game object has an Audio Source component on it too. If this is the case, the generated audio clip will automatically be added to the Audio Source. If this is not the case, nothing will happen when the scene is run, so a warning is displayed to remind you to add an Audio Source:
A warning indicating an 8-Bit Tracker component must have an audio source to generate wave data at run-time
Alternatively it is possible to export a wave file of the audio data in the Unity Editor before the scene runs to avoid having to generate wave data at run-time. In this case you can ignore the warning because you wouldn’t add an Audio Source otherwise you would have two copies of the audio. If you do export to wave, it is advisable to keep the original 8-Bit Tracker component somewhere, such as on an inactive game object, in case you ever need to change the audio and re- export it. See Exporting a Wave File further down for more details.
General Settings The general settings shown in the inspector at the top of an 8-Bit Tracker component are as follows:
• Name – This is where you can give your 8-Bit Tracker component a name so you can identify it. The name is also the default filename if a wave file is ever exported. • Tempo – This is the overall speed of the generated music in beats per minute, so higher values make the audio play faster. Tempo defaults to 120 beats per minute and can be set to between 10 and 1,000 beats per minute. • Frequency – This represents the quality of the generated audio. Higher frequencies produce better quality audio but take up more memory (and disk space if a wave file is exported) and take longer to generate. The frequency literally refers to the number of audio samples per second of sound. A number of default frequencies have been provided in the drop down – usually the default 44,100kHz which is the same quality as a CD is sufficient but you can select a different frequency or enter your own by clicking the Custom checkbox.
Instruments Instruments are the basic building blocks of 8-Bit Tracker sounds. They work the same way a real-world instruments such as a piano or a guitar – they represent the way a sound is formed, and allow notes of any pitch to be played using them. Instruments can be given names and are listed in the inspector. There is an instrument editor window that is used to configure them.
An example of some 8-Bit Tracker Instruments
Each instrument has a name to allow you to identify it when it is associated with a pattern. You can configure the name directly in the inspector, and the following buttons are also available to control the instrument: • Moves the instrument up the instruments list.
• Moves the instrument down the instruments list.
Opens up the instrument editor window where you can configure what the • instrument sounds like. More details below. Duplicates the instrument and adds it to the end of the instruments list. This is • useful if you want to create a new instrument that sounds similar to an existing
one. Deletes the instrument. This is only possible if the instrument is not associated • with any patterns.
The Instrument Editor Window Clicking on the edit icon next to an instrument opens the instrument editor window, where instruments are configured. This window is split into sections, which are each covered below:
Instrument Details
Instrument details
The instrument details section just contains the name of the instrument so you can identify and modify it. This is the same name that is shown in the inspector on the 8-Bit Tracker component.
Waveform
Waveform details
In the waveform details section, you can configure the following settings:
• Number of Waveforms – A basic instrument can generate its sound from a single waveform, such as the square wave. However this limits you to using the pre-set waveforms that are defined in 8-Bit Tracker. It is possible to blend two waves together, which is achieved by selecting Two here. See Blending Waveforms, below, for more details on how this works. • Waveform Shape – This is where you decide on what your instrument should sound like. Currently the following waveforms are available: o Sawtooth o Sine o Square o Triangle o Sine Cubed o Triangle Cubed o Semi-circle Each one makes a unique sound. Experiment with them to get a sound you like. • Noise Level – Noise is random distortion of a wave and sounds like static background noise such that an old TV might make. Many old 8-bit computers used this effect to simulate drumbeats. A short, sharp sample of an instrument with 100% noise sounds a bit like a snare drum. If you are creating percussion sounds, you’ll want to use this setting, but most instruments that are designed to play notes at different pitches will have noise set to 0%. Noise can be useful for sound effects too – the explosion sound effect in the example scene uses it.
To the right of these settings is a graphical representation of the wave you have selected, including the effect of any added noise.
Blending Waveforms It is possible to blend two waveforms together to create a third, unique waveform for your instrument. Setting the number of waveforms to Two changes the waveform section to look like this:
Waveform details when blending two waveforms
• Waveform Shapes – To create a blended waveform, you must select two source waveforms to blend together. • Offsets – Either waveform can be offset up to one complete cycle. Although this wouldn’t have an effect on a single waveform (hence it isn’t visible for single waveforms), it can be used to affect the blended waveform. • Blend Amount – This is a bias between the first and second waveforms. It defaults to 50%, meaning each waveform influences the blended waveform equally.
The waveform graph shows the first and second waveforms and the resulting blended waveform underneath. In the example above a square wave and a sine wave have been blended to produce the interesting shape shown in the graph, which will have its own unique sound.
Instrument Volume The next section allows you to control how the volume of an instrument changes over time as it is played. Volume is controlled using the popular Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release method, known as an ADSR envelope. Put simply, this controls the volume of an instrument when a note is first played, when that note is held down, and when that note is released. All this can be controlled using the following settings:
Instrument volume control using an Attack Decay Sustain Release Envelope
• Use Volume – This checkbox controls whether any variation in volume should apply to this instrument. Unchecking it hides the entire section and plays all notes at a constant volume. • Attack Time – The amount of time the instrument takes to go from silence to 100% volume when it is first played. Think of this as the initial hit of a piano key, which is loud when it is first pressed before its volume reduces. • Decay Time – After the attack is complete and the volume has reached 100%, the decay time is the amount of time the instrument takes to settle down to its base volume. • Sustain Level – The instrument’s base volume as a percentage. This is what volume level arrives at after the attack and decay. The sustain level remains as the instrument volume for however long the note is held down. • Release Time – The amount of time after the note has been released until it completely fades out. Think about when a piano key is released – the sound does not stop abruptly but fades until it can no longer be heard. • Release Drop-off – This controls how sudden the decrease in volume is after a note is released. A linear release will go from the sustain level down to silence at a constant rate. You can also select curved drop-offs of varying degrees to make the sound fade more quickly immediately after the release. • Waveform – Throughout the duration of the note, it is possible to further alter the volume using a looped waveform. The type of waveform can be selected along with an amplitude (how much the volume should vary) and a wavelength (how long the variation should take). A short wavelength and large amplitude can give what is known as a tremolo effect, which is kind of a shuddering sound as the volume quickly alternates between quiet and loud.
To the right of the these settings is a graph which gives a visual representation of how the volume level would be affected if a one-second long note was played. The attack portion of the note is shown in red, the decay portion in green, the sustain portion in blue and the release portion in yellow.
Instrument Pitch In a similar way to the instrument volume, it is possible to vary the pitch of an instrument as a note is being played. This can be achieved as follows:
Instrument pitch control
• Use Pitch – Use this checkbox to control whether any pitch variation of the instrument should take place. If it is unchecked, the entire pitch section is hidden and all instrument notes are played at their respective pitch levels without any variation. • Attack Pitch/Time – As with the volume, these settings control the time it takes from the instant a note is played for the pitch to settle to the level of the note. You can also specify where the pitch should start from – in the example above it starts from 2 semitones above the note being played. A short attack time is usually used (e.g. 0.05 or 0.1 seconds) for instruments used to make music to ensure the note quickly arrives at its desired pitch so everything sounds in tune. • Release Pitch/Time – Similarly when the note is released, the amount of time and the pitch relative to the note being played can be specified to make the note change pitch after it has finished playing. • Waveform – The overall pitch can be varied using a wave in the same way the volume can. This can produce what is known as a vibrato effect. Think about a violinist moving their finger rapidly up and down a string while they are moving the bow across it.
Again, to the right a graph is shown for the duration of a one-second long note, indicating how the pitch will vary in semitones according to the pitch settings selected. Attack is highlighted in red, sustain in blue and release in yellow.
Ornaments Ornaments are a technique used in a lot of 8-bit music to give the illusion of greater depth to the sound. Ornaments rapidly change the pitch of a note, usually between the note itself and the same note an octave higher or lower so it sounds like the instrument is playing two separate pitches simultaneously. 8-bit sound chips were limited by the number of channels they could output sound on (typically three or four), so this was a handy way of getting a bit more out of the hardware.
8-Bit Tracker can have any number of tracks so although it’s not strictly necessary to use ornaments for this reason, we’ve left them in for nostalgic reasons. Ornaments can be set up on an instrument in the following way:
Instrument ornaments • Use Ornaments – Check this to show the ornaments section to allow it to be configured. • Offset Time – The amount of time each ornament offset takes to play, so the speed of an ornament. • Offsets – The number of semitones to offset. In the example above, the note will be played at its original pitch for 0.1 seconds, at 12 semitones higher for 0.1 seconds and at 24 semitones higher for 0.1 seconds. You can have any number of offsets and there are buttons to add or delete them. Try whole octaves (-24, -12, 0, 12, 24 semitones) for best results.
As with the other instrument sections, a graph is shown indicating the ornament offsets over time to give a visual representation of them. In this case a bar chart shows the offsets over the total duration of the ornament loop.
Effects In addition to the main set up of an instrument as described above, extra effects can be applied to broaden the range of sounds possible in 8-bit tracker. The effects section contains two effects that can be applied to an instrument.
Chorus Effect
The chorus effect
Chorus plays three notes simultaneously – one at the note pitch, one at a slightly higher pitch and one at a slightly lower pitch. It can simulate an orchestra where more than one of the same type of instrument is playing the same tune, but not at the same perfect pitch. Try small semitone offsets to achieve this effect.
Echo Effect
The echo effect
Echo simply repeats a sound after a delay at ever-decreasing volumes until it fades out. You can specify the number of times to echo and the time delay between each pair of echoes. The volume will be automatically calculated such that the sound fades out as it echoes. Using the example above, the note will be played at full volume, then 0.1 seconds later it will be played at 90% volume, then 0.1 seconds later it will be played at 80% volume and so on until the final echo is played at 10% volume. Instrument Preview
An instrument’s note can be previewed at a certain pitch and length
As you are setting the parameters of your instrument, you can preview it so see what a particular note will sound like. This is useful for tweaking the parameters until it sounds the way you want before you put it into a pattern or song. To preview, set the note, the octave and the length of the note in seconds, then hit the play button. The stop button next to it stops the preview.
Patterns Patterns are collections of notes played by a particular instrument that form a short, repeatable piece of music that can be reused throughout a song. This might be a short piece of melody, a drum beat or a bass line. Patterns are set up on the 8-Bit Tracker component in the inspector as follows:
Patterns on the 8-Bit Tracker component
Each pattern has a colour and a name, both of which are set for identification purposes. In the track editor window, which is described further down, there isn’t space to put the pattern name on every pattern added to a track, so the colour is used instead. It is good practice to keep colours consistent for different types of patterns – so for example if you have three or four different melody patterns, make them different shades of red. You can click on the coloured dot next to the pattern name to change its colour.
The following buttons are also available to control patterns:
• Moves the pattern up the patterns list.
• Moves the pattern down the patterns list.
Opens up the pattern editor window where you can configure what instrument • the pattern uses and what notes it plays. More details below. Duplicates the pattern and adds it to the end of the patterns list. This is useful if • you want to create a new pattern that sounds similar to an existing one, such as
a melody variation. Deletes the pattern. This is only possible if the pattern has not been added to a • track.
The Pattern Editor Window Clicking on the edit icon next to a pattern opens the pattern editor window, which is split into sections.
Pattern Details At the top of the pattern editor window are the pattern details. This section contains the name and colour of the pattern as was set up on the component in the inspector. These fields can be changed here if needed.
The pattern details
Below this is the instrument that the pattern uses. Each pattern can only play notes from one instrument, but instruments can be used on multiple patterns. You’ll need to add an instrument and select it here before you can play a pattern. Then comes the number of beats in the pattern. This is the length of the pattern and is restricted by the notes already added to the pattern (i.e. you can’t make the pattern shorter if it cuts some notes you’ve already placed off the end) and the arrangement of instances of the pattern in the tracks editor window to ensure patterns don’t overlap. The minimum and maximum number of beats for the pattern is displayed in an information box next to the beats field.
Pattern Note Lengths The next section lets you select a note length and a grid snap level to assist with placing notes in the pattern.
Note lengths and snap to grid settings
The note length determines how long the note will play for and ranges from a breve (eight beats) through a crotchet (selected in the image above, one beat) to a demisemiquaver (one eighth of a beat). You can change the snap to grid setting to control the number of divisions within the notes grid in which you can place notes. In the image above, the semiquaver is selected (one quarter of a beat) so notes can be placed on the beat, on the quarter beat, on the half beat or on the three quarters beat. When a snap setting is selected, the grid described in the next section will change to reflect it.
Pattern Notes The main grid on the pattern editor window is where you place the notes you want to be played as part of the pattern:
Notes that make up a pattern
Each red square (the colour will match the chosen pattern colour) represents a note, and the pattern plays from left to right with the beat numbers across the top and the notes themselves down the left. Clicking on an empty cell will place a note at that position, as long as it wouldn’t overlap another note at the same pitch and wouldn’t go off the end of the pattern. Clicking on already-placed notes toggles their selected state – selected notes have a white border around them. Right-clicking on a note deletes it. The percentage on the note represents its volume, and always defaults to 50% for a new note, but can be changed (see Note Properties, below).
You can click on a note down the left to hear a preview of it using the pattern’s instrument, or you can click on a beat number across the top to hear that pattern from that beat.
Pattern Zoom and Selection
Pattern zoom and selection
Underneath the notes grid you can control the horizontal and vertical zoom level of the grid. Horizontal zooming is useful for temporarily zooming in if you have an area with a lot of shorter, and hence smaller notes. It is useful to vertically zoom out if the notes in your pattern cover a wide pitch range to ensure you can see most of them at once. Next to these sliders, two buttons allow you to select or deselect all pattern notes.
Pattern Note Properties If you have at least one note in the pattern selected, the properties section is shown, and allows you to manipulate the selection as follows:
Properties of selected pattern notes
The note and beat fields show read-only information about a selection: the pitch of the note if a single note is selected or the number of selected notes if more than one note is selected, and the range of beats they cover. Then comes a volume slider which allows you to change the volume the note is played at. New notes default to 50% volume to allow them to be changed up or down. Underneath this are options to manipulate the selection, although bear in mind the options that move notes will only do so if the move would not result in noted overlapping.
• Transpose Up – Moves all selected notes up one semitone. • Transpose Down – Moves all selected notes down one semitone. • Move Backwards – Moves all selected notes back one beat. • Move Forwards – Moves all selected notes forward one beat. • Delete – Deletes all selected notes.
Preview Pattern The final section in the pattern editor window allows you to preview the pattern. Clicking the play button will play all the notes in the pattern using the selected instrument. When you preview a pattern, a vertical line will move across the notes grid to indicate which part of the pattern is playing.
Preview pattern
Tracks In the same way that patterns are collections of notes played by an instrument, a track is a collection of patterns. This is where the power of 8-Bit Tracker becomes apparent – you can create numerous tracks that each play numerous patterns, and can generate audio by playing everything together. Tracks can also have additional volume effect for fading parts of song, or indeed the entire song, in or out.
The tracks section on the 8-Bit Tracker component in the inspector looks like this:
Tracks in the inspector of an 8-Bit Tracker component
Like instruments and patterns, tracks have a name that you can use to identify them. You can add and delete tracks from the inspector but unlike instruments and patterns, you edit all the tracks at the same time in the Track Editor which is described below. You can perform these actions on tracks in the inspector:
• Moves the track up the tracks list.
• Moves the track down the tracks list.
Deletes the track, along with all patterns and volume effects that have been • added to it.
The Track Editor Window Clicking on the Open Track Editor button opens the track editor where all tracks can be edited at the same time. This is the case because track patterns need to be manipulated together so they can be placed in time with each other. A typical track in the track editor window looks like this:
A track in the track editor window
The name of the track (Melody in this case) is shown on the left, then to the right of this is a mute button which can be used to mute the track if it is previewed in this window. Muting a track only has an effect when it is played in the track editor window – it does not affect the audio generated by the component itself at export or at run-time. The next field is a master volume for the track – set this to mix down the tracks together so each part of the song is at the correct volume.
Next come Patterns and Volume Effects. Any patterns that have been created as described above can be added to a track by clicking on a beat on the pattern row. The pattern will be added if there is space and placing it wouldn’t overlap another pattern. Patterns are shown in their respective colours so they can be identified. Volume effects go on the next row and are described below.
To determine which pattern or volume effect will be added when a track cell is clicked on, there are two drop downs at the top of the Track Editor window:
Patterns/volume effects to add to a track
Volume Effects Volume effects control volume transitions on a track without having to control the volume of the individual notes within a pattern. If you need a pattern to fade out for example, you can add the pattern and add a fade out volume effect underneath it. The following Volume Effects are supported:
• Fade In – The volume of the track will transition from silent to the track volume over the duration of this transition. • Fade Out – The volume of the track will transition from the track volume to silent over the duration of this transition. • Silence – Any part of the track with a silence volume effect will not be played. This is useful for abruptly cutting notes instead of having them naturally fade out if for example their instrument fades out after release.
Master Volume Effects There is one special volume effects row at the top of the track editor window named Master Volume Effects. Volume effects can be added to this row just like they can on an individual track, but these effects apply to all tracks at once. This is useful if you want an entire song to fade out as it finishes, for example.
Pattern/Volume Effect Selection Patterns and volume effects can be selected or deselected by clicking on them. You can select multiples of each but you cannot select both at once, so selecting a pattern will automatically deselect all volume effects and vice versa. Adding a pattern or volume effect will automatically select it, and right-clicking on it will delete it. There are also three buttons at the bottom of the tracks view to allow you to select all patterns, select all volume effects or deselect everything:
Selection options in the track editor window
When a selection is made, the properties section underneath the tracks view allows the selection to be modified. What is displayed here depends on whether patterns or volume effects are selected. When patterns are selected, the following is displayed:
Properties for selected patterns in the track editor window
• Transpose – Allows selected patterns to be transposed by a number of semitones to make their pitch higher or lower. This allows you to reuse patterns and play at a different pitch without having to create a new pattern with the individual notes transposed. • Move Backwards – Moves the selected patterns back one beat as long as doing so would not cause them to move off the beginning of the song or to overlap with other patterns. • Move Forwards – Moves the selected patterns forward one beat as long as doing so would not cause them to overlap other patterns. Patterns moved off the end of a song will automatically extend the song. • Delete – Deletes all selected patterns from their respective tracks.
When one or more volume effects are selected, the properties section looks like this:
Properties for selected volume effects in the track editor window
• Type – Read-only field showing the type of volume effect selected (shows Multiple Types if more than one type is selected). • Length – The length of the volume effect in beats. All volume effects default to one beat long when they are created, and this is where you can change this. The information box below shows the maximum length of the volume effect to ensure it doesn’t overlap any other volume effects or go off the end of the song. • Move Backwards – Moves the selected volume effects back one beat as long as doing so would not cause them to move off the beginning of the song or to overlap with other volume effects. • Move Forwards – Moves the selected volume effects forward one beat as long as doing so would not cause them to move off the end of the song or overlap other volume effects. • Delete – Deletes all selected volume effects from their respective tracks.
Tracks Editor Window Preview
Preview buttons in the tracks editor window
The entire song can be previewed using the play button at the bottom of the tracks editor window. Doing so will cause a white line to move across the tracks so you can follow the song as it is being played. This preview differs from the preview buttons on the 8-Bit Tracker component in the inspector in that it takes into account muted tracks.
Exporting a Wave File Back in the inspector, there is an option to export an 8-Bit Tracker song to a wave file in the assets folder by clicking this button:
8-Bit Tracker songs can be exported to wave files
You have two options when it comes to generating audio data from 8-Bit Tracker. One is to generate the wave data directly onto an Audio Source at run-time – the other is to export to a wave file in the editor, then import that wave file into your project as you would any other wave file. There are advantages and disadvantages to using both methods. Generating audio data at run-time takes up much less space in a build (so the size of your project files will be smaller) but generating the audio data takes processing time when the scene runs. Similarly, exporting to wave results in a bigger build of your project (wave files tend to be large), but takes less time to import when the scene runs.
If you do choose to export, clicking the export button will prompt you for a location in your Unity project’s assets folder, and will generate a wave file at a frequency that matches that set on the 8-Bit Tracker component. Remember not to include an audio source on the game object containing your 8-Bit Tracker component if you have exported a wave file, otherwise you will have two copies of the 8-Bit Tracker audio.
Previewing a Song The preview section on the component allows you to preview the entire 8-Bit Tracker song you have created in the editor before you choose to assign it to an audio source at run-time or to export it. Click on the play button to hear the song at design-time. You can’t preview a song this way when the scene is running.
Previewing an 8-Bit Tracker song in the inspector
Info The final section on the 8-Bit Tracker component shows some information about the sound that has been generated:
8-Bit Tracker component info
• Length – the length of the resulting sound in minutes and seconds. • Export Size – the amount of space a wave file would take up if it were exported at the selected frequency. Version Details At the very bottom of the 8-Bit Tracker component in the inspector is a version number displayed in blue. Click this to view the version history, including changes that were introduced in each version. This is useful if there is an update to 8-Bit Tracker and you want to know what has changed.
Click this to view 8-Bit Tracker version changes
Optimisation Tips If you choose to generate audio data for an 8-Bit Tracker component at run-time you should bear in mind that the time taken to generate the audio will depend on the complexity and length of the audio, and can sometimes have a noticeable impact on the time it takes to load your scene. Audio data takes up a lot of memory so requires a lot of processing. If you think the generation of the audio is taking too long you can always export it as a wave file instead. Alternatively, these tips to reduce the time it takes 8-Bit Tracker to generate audio may help you:
• Use instrument chorus with caution – Chorus instantly triples the amount of time it takes for the waveform of an instrument note to be generated because it has to generate it at three slightly different frequencies. • Sine waves are slow – Calculating sine waves (or cubed sine waves) is a slow process compared to square, triangle and sawtooth waves. Square waves are the fastest because all they need to do is to alternate between two values. If you don’t want to use a sine wave as an instrument waveform, the triangle wave makes a similar sound, so you might want to try that instead. • Blending waveforms is slow – Blending two waveforms will also double the amount of time it takes for instrument notes to be generated. If you’re not exporting, it is suggested to use this feature for your main instruments only. • Repeating stuff is good – 8-Bit Tracker has advanced caching techniques during audio generation to ensure that if a note at a given length played by a given instrument at a given pitch is encountered more than once, the waveform will not be generated for a second time. So repeating notes and patterns will have a negligible effect on the time it takes to generate audio data. • Use the lowest frequency you can get away with – Although halving the frequency will halve the quality of the audio, it will also roughly halve the time it takes to generate it, and it will roughly halve the amount of memory it takes up too. This is especially useful for sound effects as oppose to music, where you can often get away with a lower frequency.