Classic tracker patterns
1 to 16 tracks (add them one at a time with + / −), 64 patterns of up to 256 rows, note · instrument · effect in every cell, hex or decimal.
FOUR TRACKER
A free sample tracker in the style of ProTracker and FastTracker 2, with 1 to 16 tracks, that you play live: every key on your MIDI keyboard is a pattern.
NEW IN v0.5.4
DOWNLOADv0.5.4 · Windows · free
TRANSPOSE TRACK
Move every note in a track up or down, a note or an octave at a time, without touching the instruments or effects. On the BLOCK page, or straight from the keyboard on the track the cursor is in.
SHIFT+1 NOTE UP
SHIFT+2 NOTE DOWN
CTRL+1 OCTAVE UP
CTRL+2 OCTAVE DOWN
Also new: the VST effects are saved in the module, so every song keeps its own effects, and loading another song or NEW MODULE no longer leaves the old ones behind.
SEE IT JAM
A live jam: patterns switched from an Arturia BeatStep and the computer keyboard, filters on the BeatStep knobs, and the sound recorded straight from Four Tracker with REC (F3).
Plays from YouTube. Watch it on YouTube
PLAY IT YOURSELF
Get the song from the video, with all its patterns, sounds and effects, and jam on it. Open it in Four Tracker with LOAD MODULE, or drag the file onto the window.
The effects are Dynamics Processor, FX Processor and Graphic EQ from the free Effects Bundle, and they load with the song in Four Tracker v0.5.4. Without the bundle, the song plays dry.
PLAY IT LIVE
C-2 starts and stops. Every key from C#2 upwards picks a pattern, up to 64 of them. Change pattern while it plays and the music carries on in time, no restart. Try it on the keys below.
STOPPED · PATTERN 00
SPEED 6 · BPM 125
Start / stop (C-2)
Playing
Queued, takes over on the next row
NEXT ROW (LEGATO)
Switches on the next row and keeps the position. Sounds that ring, keep ringing. The default.
NEXT BEAT (LEGATO)
Waits for the next beat (every 4th row), so switches always land in time.
END OF PATTERN
The current pattern plays to its end, then the new one starts from row 00.
RESTART AT ROW 0
Cuts straight to the new pattern from the top. A hard cut as an effect.
WHAT'S INSIDE
Everything a ProTracker or FastTracker user expects, built for a MIDI keyboard and a DAW.
FastTracker 2 effects
Arpeggio, portamento, vibrato, retrigger, note delay, pattern loop and the rest, with the familiar numbers.
Your samples, old and new
WAV, AIFF, FLAC, Ogg and MP3, plus Amiga IFF 8SVX and raw 8-bit samples straight off ProTracker and OctaMED disks. The built-in browser plays each sample as you arrow through the folder. Or make any slot a synth: SYNTH 1 (one waveform, ADSR, resonant filter, distortion, accent) or SYNTH 2 (two oscillators with PW / PWM on every wave, a filter envelope, a tempo-synced LFO, chorus, delay and reverb, and 26 trance, italo disco and 80s patches). Every knob can be MIDI-learned. A free sample pack with 88 drum, bass and synth sounds comes with the installer.
Sample editor
Start, end and loop points, ping-pong and reverse, cut, paste, fades, normalize and OctaMED-style MIX of two samples. Ctrl+A / C / X / V. 16 instrument slots.
Fast editing
Cut, copy and paste whole tracks or whole patterns, undo, SPACING 0-32 rows for the cursor, octaves C-0 to B-7. CHORD mode spreads the notes you hold over the next tracks, live and in EDIT mode, for samples, synths and MIDI instruments. MUTE and SOLO on every track.
Standalone or in your DAW
Run it on its own with ASIO, three VST3 effects per track and three on the master, and chain one track into another track's effects. Or load it as a VST3 instrument. MIDI instruments play your hardware or software synths from the pattern.
SCREENS
Six pages, one window. Everything sits on the same grey panel you see here.
DOWNLOAD
Free. One installer for the app, the VST3 plugin, the user manual and the sample pack.
FOUR TRACKER v0.5.4 BETA
- System
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
- Includes
- Standalone app (ASIO, Windows Audio / WASAPI, DirectSound) with VST3 effects, VST3 plugin 64-bit and 32-bit, user manual (PDF), Four Tracker Sample Pack (88 WAV sounds, free to use in your music)
- Hosts
- Any DAW that loads VST3 instruments
- Price
- Free
Windows may say "Windows protected your PC" because the installer isn't signed. Click More info, then Run anyway.
USER MANUAL
Getting started, the live keyboard, every page, the full effect list and keyboard shortcuts, in 19 pages.
First start: the app opens with a demo song and puts it in Documents\Four Tracker\Demo together with the demo samples. The sample pack goes to Documents\Four Tracker\Samples.
FREE EFFECTS
Five VST3 effects for Four Tracker and any DAW, in the same look. They come together in one installer, the Effects Bundle, which asks which VST3 folder to use.
EFFECTS BUNDLE v1.0.0
All five effects in one installer. Tick the ones you want, in 64-bit and/or 32-bit. Afterwards, rescan your plugins (in Four Tracker: FX, SCAN).
- Breakbeat Processor: 8 step breakbeat slicer in time with the song
- FX Processor: filter, PW gate, chorus, LFO, delay, reverb
- FX Processor 2: phaser, flanger, ring modulator
- Dynamics Processor: transient shaper, compressor and saturation, with AUTO
- Graphic EQ: 10 bands, +12 / -12 dB, the sound follows the curve
BREAKBEAT PROCESSOR v1.0.0
Put it on a break, a beat or a bassline. Each of the 8 steps can retrigger the track from one of its four quarters (1/4 - 4/4) and let it play on, like putting a sample in again on that row, or play it backwards, stop it or bit-crush it. It follows the tempo and position of Four Tracker or your DAW, and in hosts that send no tempo it runs on its own TEMPO from the moment the sound starts. READ AHEAD lets it read the whole part of the track before it is heard, in DAWs with delay compensation.
- Format
- VST3, Windows 64-bit and 32-bit
- Hosts
- Four Tracker (FX version) and any DAW that loads VST3 effects
- Price
- Free, in the Effects Bundle
FX PROCESSOR v1.0.0
Six effects in one: a resonant FILTER (low-, band- or high-pass), a PW trance gate in time with the song, a stereo CHORUS, a tempo-synced DELAY with tone and ping-pong, and a REVERB. The LFO (sine, triangle, saw, square or sample & hold, 1/16 to 4 bars or free) moves the filter cutoff and the PW width. 13 presets, from TRANCE GATE and WOBBLE to DUB DELAY and SPACE CHORUS.
- Format
- VST3, Windows 64-bit and 32-bit
- Hosts
- Four Tracker (FX version) and any DAW that loads VST3 effects
- Price
- Free, in the Effects Bundle
FX PROCESSOR 2 v1.0.0
Three more effects in one: a PHASER with 4 to 12 stages and feedback, a FLANGER from jet whoosh to hollow metal (plus or minus feedback), and a RING MODULATOR from tremolo and robot voices to bells. Each has its own LFO, free or in time with the song (1/16 to 4 bars). 14 presets.
- Format
- VST3, Windows 64-bit and 32-bit
- Hosts
- Four Tracker (FX version) and any DAW that loads VST3 effects
- Price
- Free, in the Effects Bundle
DYNAMICS PROCESSOR v1.0.0
A TRANSIENT shaper (more or less punch, longer or shorter tails), a COMPRESSOR with curve and meters, and a 2 x oversampled SATURATION (tape, tube or clip) that keeps the level. Pick the instrument on the track (kick, snare, hihats, percussion, bass, synth/arp, pads or voice), play it and click AUTO: it listens for 4 seconds and fixes the beat by setting all three. Then turn any knob you like. 15 presets.
- Format
- VST3, Windows 64-bit and 32-bit
- Hosts
- Four Tracker (FX version) and any DAW that loads VST3 effects
- Price
- Free, in the Effects Bundle
GRAPHIC EQ v1.0.0
A 10 band graphic EQ (60 Hz to 16 kHz, +12 / -12 dB). Drag the round knobs, or drag sideways to draw a curve over several bands; the white line follows. What you see is what you hear: neighbouring bands don't add up, so the sound at every band is exactly what its knob says. 14 presets, from BASS BOOST and SMILE to TELEPHONE and LO-FI.
- Format
- VST3, Windows 64-bit and 32-bit
- Hosts
- Four Tracker (FX version) and any DAW that loads VST3 effects
- Price
- Free, in the Effects Bundle
STATUS: BETA
Four Tracker v0.5.4 is beta software. It works and it is tested, but it is new and only a few people have used it so far. Expect bugs, save your modules often, and use it at your own risk.
ROAD TO 1.0
- ALPHAFeatures still changing, things may break.
- BETA ◂ NOWFeatures in place, being tried by users. Bugs expected.
- RELEASE CAND.No new features, only bug fixes.
- 1.0 GOLDStable and reliable for everyday use and live sets.
HOW IT WAS MADE
Four Tracker is a one-person project, written with the help of an AI coding assistant (Claude). That is said openly here, because you should know what you are running.
Every version passes an automated test program before release. It plays patterns through MIDI, checks the live pattern switching, effects, the synth, sample formats, saving and loading, and the editor keys. Automated tests catch a lot, but they are not the same as many musicians using it for months. That is what the beta is for.
FOUND A BUG?
Please report it, with the version number, what you did, and what happened. If you can, attach the module (.ftm).
Four Tracker is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. Don't rely on a beta for a gig without a backup.
LIKE IT? BUY ME A COFFEE
Four Tracker is free and made in spare time. A donation helps keep the updates coming.