VOGONS

Search

Common searches

Building a retro DAW computer; software recommendations for General Midi / tracker music?

Topic actions

First post, by Shponglefan

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I'm looking to build a computer specific for retro music making both for tracker music and General MIDI.

For trackers I'm planning Scream Tracker and Impulse Tracker. I'm curious if there are other recommended trackers from that era worth exploring. Maybe FastTracker or others?

I'd also like to use this machine with General MIDI modules and GM composing. I've never composed with GM before and am curious as to what software sequencers were typically in use back then.

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

Reply 2 of 7, by Cuttoon

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

My CMS-401-II card came with Cakewalk 5.0.

100_0621.JPG
Filename
100_0621.JPG
File size
379.97 KiB
Views
473 views
File license
Public domain

And, much to my surprise, the 3.5 floppy could still be read.
At least I could copy all files to the hard disk.
Image maker quit with an error message but that's probably insignificant.

I assume I'm not supposed to just attach the zip here but send me a PN if interested.

There also were 300 pages of manual, but those are somewhat less convenient to E-mail 😜

cakewalk_dos_5_manual.JPG
Filename
cakewalk_dos_5_manual.JPG
File size
212.29 KiB
Views
460 views
File license
Public domain
100_0623.JPG
Filename
100_0623.JPG
File size
265.99 KiB
Views
460 views
File license
Public domain

I like jumpers.

Reply 3 of 7, by SuperDeadite

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

For XG/GM/GM2 I like Yamaha SOL. If you are using older OS, XG Works will get you started. If you are more into Roland, Cakewalk is probably the way to go.

As a beginner myself I find Yamaha to be far easier to learn as everything is well laid out and you can learn by playing around with everything.

As for Roland, I've been trying to get a handle on using Control Messages for 88Pro's insertion effects. I've read the 250page manual several times, and sometimes I can get them to work and sometimes not...🤣.

Modules: CM-64, CM-500, SC-55MkII, SC-88 Pro, SY22, TG100, MU2000EX, PLG100-SG, PLG150-DR, PLG150-AN, SG01k, NS5R, GZ-50M, SN-U110-07, SN-U110-10, Pocket Studio 5, DreamBlaster S2, X2, McFly, E-Wave, QWave, CrystalBlaster C2, Yucatan FX, BeepBlaster

Reply 4 of 7, by Pierre32

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Voyetra Sequencer.

I love this guy's "speed programming" videos using Voyetra. It's a modern studio, but he still uses Voyetra for its fast workflow.

https://youtu.be/hirugsHKXcA

Reply 5 of 7, by Shponglefan

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Looks like a few of these are available via winworldpc, so I'll give them a try!

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

Reply 6 of 7, by Shponglefan

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
Pierre32 wrote on 2022-04-10, 00:30:

Voyetra Sequencer.

I love this guy's "speed programming" videos using Voyetra. It's a modern studio, but he still uses Voyetra for its fast workflow.

https://youtu.be/hirugsHKXcA

I wonder what sort of setup he has to run older software in conjunction with what looks like an otherwise relatively modern setup?

Unfortunately, doesn't seem to have a setup/studio tour video on his channel...

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

Go to top of page Go to top of page
Back to Software
Close window
Close window