Manual: Frequently Asked Questions

Audio and MIDI

OpenMPT does not output any sound

Check your sound device setup. A common problem are ASIO drivers that only work in exclusive mode, such as ASIO4All. If you use ASIO4All and have another application running that makes use of that sound device (such as a web browser, instant messenger, media player, ...), ASIO4All will not emit any sound. In that case, switch to another sound driver in OpenMPT’s settings.

Vice versa, it is also possible that another program occupies the sound device in exclusive mode, for example using an exclusive WASAPI driver. In that case, this program restricts other applications from accessing the sound device.

While OpenMPT is active, all other programs are muted

This is for the same reason as above. If your ASIO driver only works in exclusive mode, other programs cannot output any sound while OpenMPT accesses the soundcard.

Can I use OpenMPT to interact with external MIDI gear?

To be able to record MIDI Input and send MIDI data to external gear, you first have to set up MIDI in OpenMPT.

MIDI Input does not work

MIDI Record icon

• Have you clicked on ther MIDI Record icon?
• Verify that no other application is accessing the MIDI port.
• Verify that other applications do actually receive incoming MIDI data. More often than not, MIDI devices are not set up properly to send MIDI data to a computer. A light-weight application that can be used for checking is SendSX.

OpenMPT produces clicks at a buffer length that previously worked just fine

In OpenMPT 1.22 and newer, the sound card options require you to enter the wanted latency, while previously you entered the buffer length of a single buffer. While the two values (latency and buffer length) are identical for ASIO drivers, there is a difference with Wave Out and DirectSound drivers: Previously, three buffers of the specified buffer length were used to render audio, meaning that the actual latency was three times the buffer length — hence, if you previously used a buffer length of 40ms, this equals a latency of 120ms now. The update interval was previously fixed to an eighth of the buffer length and is now freely configurable. It should be as low as possible, but too low values can result in buffer underruns, because the CPU can't keep up with the required short-term render speed.

So, to summarize: No, OpenMPT did not become slower. It just exposes different (more logical) values to the user now, and using the same old values for those new settings will most likely not work. The old values are automatically converted to their new equivalents, though, so there should not be any problems.

Can you add ReWire support to OpenMPT?

No. The ReWire technology is only licensed to companies. OpenMPT is not created by a company, but by a few individuals spread across the world.

Pattern Editor

How can I change the length of a pattern?

In the Pattern Editor, either click the yellow question mark icon or the pattern number in the upper-left corner of the pattern (labelled #0 or similar) to open the Pattern Properties window. Note that this feature is not available for MOD and S3M files, you will have to use pattern break commands in those formats to shorten patterns.

How can I change the playback speed of a pattern?

You can use Tempo and Speed change commands to change the playback tempo of a pattern. The actual interpretation of those commands depends on the Tempo Mode that is used.

The input cursor automatically moves after I have entered a note

You have probably accidentally enabled row spacing in the pattern editor. Setting row spacing to 0 will keep the cursor from advancing to the next pattern row.

What do those +++ patterns do?

Actually, they do not do anything. They are just separators which you can use to keep your sequence tidy. You can for example add them after every few patterns to visually highlight a group of patterns. If such a pattern is encountered while playing, OpenMPT simply skips over it.

The pattern display is laggy during playback

If you have "Follow Song" enabled, but the pattern display scrolls only in coarse steps, you have probably set the update interval too high. Try setting this value as low as possible. However, if it is too low, audio output might distort with Wave Out drivers, in which case you have to lower the latency as well. Generally you want both your latency and update interval to be as small as possible, but the lowest possible values always depend on the available drivers and CPU power.

I want a score of my module music

OpenMPT does not natively support a staff view. However, you can export your work to MIDI and then use for example LilyPond to produce sheet music.

Sample Editor

How can I load just the left or right channel of a WAV file?

You can split up a WAV file into its individual channels by opening it as a module rather than a sample. Every channel is then loaded into a separate sample slot.

You may also use the context menu in the sample editor to keep just one of the channel of a stereo sample, or to split the two channels into two separate samples.

I can't load any MP3 samples

OpenMPT supports loading MP1 / MP2 / MP3 samples using mpg123, but due to the patent status of the MPEG technology, this library is not shipped with OpenMPT. You can download mpg123 from http://www.mpg123.de/download/win32/?C=M;O=D — just pick the latest package ending in “-x86.zip” and extract the libmpg123-0.dll from that package into the same location as your OpenMPT installation.

Plugins

How can I route the output of a plugin to another plugin?

It is possible to route the audio and MIDI output of a plugin to another plugin. To enable plugin chaining, choose a plugin from the Output To list in the plugin’s mix settings.

My plugin (jBridge, Synful Orchestra, ...) crackles and clicks

Some plugins do not like if the plugin host sends varying amounts of audio data to be processed by them. While sequencers usually always send the same amount of data to plugins to process, this is not the case with most trackers, including OpenMPT, Psycle and Renoise (if its static plugin buffer is disabled). If you encounter such a plugin, please notify the plugin authors of the problem so that they can make the plugin compatible with hosts like OpenMPT. Note that the problem in jBridge should have been fixed, so if you still experience it, try upgrading to the latest version.

Can I load 64-Bit VST plugins into OpenMPT?

Yes, this is possible if you have jBridge installed. However, in order to use jBridge, you will have to run OpenMPT with administrator privileges. You can then simply add 64-Bit VST plugins like 32-Bit VST plugins to OpenMPT’s list of known plugins.

Module Formats

My module sounds different when played in other trackers

Please read the hints on compatible playback.

When converting to MOD, all samples sound strange

The frequency of the middle-C is fixed to about 8 KHz in the MOD format, thus if you were using samples with a higher or lower middle-C frequency, they will sound detuned when converting to the MOD format.

My files do not open in MikMod / FMOD / name your player here

Some less compliant module libraries will fail to load perfectly valid XM / IT files. You can try re-saving those files with Fasttracker 2 or Impulse Tracker if necessary, or just avoid using those libraries. Note that the libmikmod 3.2 has fixed a bug which would prevent it from loading XM files made with OpenMPT.

Miscellaneous

Why is previously usable Feature X unavailable in the latest version of OpenMPT?

Over the years, various people have added features to the IT and XM format without considering that other trackers or players would not support them. Having new features is of course a nice thing, but they should not be hacked into existing file formats. That is why they are gradually removed from the IT and XM formats to be exclusively available in the MPTM format. Of course, these features are still available when importing an old IT or XM file made with previous versions of OpenMPT, but you cannot use them in newly created files.

Examples of previously supported features are Tempo Mode, Envelope Release Node, Pitch / Tempo lock, etc.. If you want to access those features, use the MPTM format. You can convert existing songs to this format using the Song Properties dialog.

Can I sell the music I have created with OpenMPT?

Yes, you are absolutely free to do whatever you want with the music you create with OpenMPT.

Is OpenMPT portable?

Yes, it can be configured to be fully portable.