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Step 6. Using ModPlug Tracker

ModPlug Tracker is a fairly easy-to-use sequencing package which is great for getting started with writing songs for your 3510 if you're not already familiar with a sequencing package. It has a few glitches and irritations but most of them can be worked around. ModPlug Tracker is the package I have used to create all the 3510 ringtones available on this site.

Link: Download MODPlug Tracker from ModPlug Central. Also make sure you download the ModPlug Tracker Quickstart Kit, available from the same site.

Before you continue with this step of the tutorial you will need to have downloaded and installed ModPlug Tracker and followed through the instructions in the Quickstart Kit. I'll assume that by the time you continue you will have a basic grasp of how to use the tracker, and will have the GM.DLS MIDI instrument bank installed and available for use.

The best way to work towards creating MIDI files is to create a new IT module in ModPlug Tracker. This type of file has a very broad range of features that can be used in composing your song (though not all of them are currently supported by ModPlug Tracker's MIDI export function -- see below).

You should now be able to start composing songs ready for your Nokia 3510. Make sure you only use the instruments and drum sounds detailed in the previous step of this tutorial, otherwise you'll find things don't sound too good once you get the song onto your 3510.

When you are ready to test your song, select the Export as Midi option from the File menu. You will have to tell ModPlug Tracker which actual MIDI instrument each of your instruments corresponds to, which can be quite time consuming, but some hints for dealing with this are shown below. Once you have exported your MIDI song, play it on your computer to make sure it sounds OK. If everything sounds how you want then transfer it over to your phone and try it there!

Hints and tips about using ModPlug Tracker for creating MIDI files

Problems exporting percussion sounds

The current version of ModPlug Tracker (1.16.0203) has a bug in the Export as Midi function relating to the mapping of percussion sounds. You need to select the drum before the one you want in the export mapping list. So if you are trying to use the Snare sound (which is on note D-3) you will need to select the previous drum in the list when exporting (C#3). Hopefully this will be fixed in the next release.

Name your instruments to help with the MIDI export

Mapping the tracker instruments to MIDI instruments can be extremely tedious, and currently you have to repeat it every time. You can make this a bit easier by including the MIDI instrument number in each of your instrument names. When creating an instrument based on, for example, a guitar, call the instrument "027-Guitar". When you export it will be much easier to know which MIDI instruments you need to select.

Do the same with the notes for your percussion sounds too, but don't forget to take the previous tip into account when adding the note to the instrument name.

Use just the first four tracker channels

If you stick to just using the first four channels in the tracker screen then you should find that you don't need to worry about how many notes or instruments are playing at the same time.

Add a pause pattern at the start of the song

As detailed in the previous step, you need to leave a small pause at the beginning of your song so that the 3510's MIDI engine has time to initialise itself. To do this, insert a blank pattern at the start of the song and set it to be just 4 notes long. To change the pattern length, click the "#0" button to the left of the header for Channel 1. You will then be able to set the required number of rows for that pattern.

Using effects

ModPlug Tracker supports a number of "effects" to do things such as changing the volume of a note, the tempo of the song, etc. Unfortunately, very few of these actually work when exporting the song via MIDI.

To set an effect, double-click on one of the notes in your song. The effect will be applied to that note.

The ones I have found that do work are as follows:

Effect A: Set Speed. This can be used to set the speed of your song. 01 is extremely fast, 06 is the default and higher numbers are slower. The Set Tempo (effect T) command does not work on exported MIDI files so this is all you get.
Volume v: Set Note Volume. This can be used to set the volume of a note as it is played. It does not work for setting the volume after the note has been played.

Unfortunately those appear to be the only effects which are exported into the MIDI file in the current version, hopefully more will be added in the future. If anyone spots any that I've missed then please let me know.

That concludes my article on transferring MIDI files to your Nokia 3510. Hopefully you've found it useful and will have hours of fun making and listening to your own creations. If you set up your own free WAP site then don't forget to let me know about it, I'd love to know what people manage to create. I would also appreciate any comments or suggestions on this article. You can send them to me at the usual address.

Have fun!

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