MODs by Maruku

MODs by Maruku and Ozone

This web page is dedicated to the MODs created by Maruku Buranu, a.k.a. Marc Brown, and Ozone, a.k.a. me, Matthew Stroup. It also includes MODs that we collaberated on, some of the MaruMODs I reworked, and some of my MODs as well. When possible, I have included snippets of the "sampletexts" that Maruku would hide in his MODs. He was the first one that I knew of that did this. A sampletext is a text file that is loaded as one of the instruments in a MOD, that can be saved and viewed externally. I have also included any comments I have from Maruku himself.

I must comment that most of Maruku's MODs were created in ProTracker, and are technically very complex. Some MOD players just don't do them justice. Of course, playing them on an Amiga is the best way to hear them, although there are some halfway-decent MOD players on the PC these days, as long as you have a good sound card and a fast enough CPU. An 8MHz Amiga 1000 with 512k RAM (circa 1985) is sufficient for most of the MODs. ;^)

The MODs that I have that were not available on Aminet are here on this site. If they were available on Aminet, I made a link to it there. The files on Aminet are packed with LHA, and are the original uploads. The files on my site are ZIP files, renamed from tracker standard (mod.name) to PC standard (name.mod). I kept long file names although I removed spaces, dashes, and whatnot. Enjoy!

Maruku's MODs

Song Name	MOD Type	Comments
Above-Ground	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: U4ia had asked me to do a mod...like this: Take one of his, erase the music data, and enter in my own, using the original samples. Well, I looked around for awhile, but finally gave up and used what had been my favorite of his ever since I heard it: Live For Tomorrow. Excellent piece! I butchured it. I mixed some samples here, re-looped some there, and finally had what I thought I could use. The mod (when I finally found time to do it) turned out okay. I was frustrated with it for the first 15 patterns or so, 'cause it sounded like crap. At least the upbeat part evens it out a bit. Can't write for very long; as it is, I only have about 5 hours of sleep coming to me :(... Later!
Abrupt	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: The 1-sample project as per specifications given in Eurochart #17. Hmm...this mod gave me the chance to use some of my favorite "tricks". It is kinda short, but hey, it's not even 90k large ;) Obviously, the sample was put together 100% by myself, timed for a tempo of 109. (I'm sure you can see why) Hmm... this mod gave me a headache, that's for sure. I also had to worry about finals ...more excuses, but no room :^P
Dimness-Verse	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: The first mod I actually liked a lot (by now I think it needs some work, of course!). This one was structured along the 2 principles in common with most mods I'd heard up until then: 1) Repeat patterns often, and 2) Keep one speed throughout... So that's what it does. I know it's still not a terribly efficient mod, but at least the samples are, sort of... It took me 3h 52min to compose, after I finished making the samples I wanted (and looping them!) fin: 5-26-91 9:13 PM
DownThere	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: This was the first module I actually saved to disk. I started working on it using NoiseTracker2.0a, and finished on ProTracker1.1a. Keep in mind that this module represents my 'style' of music writing (except that it was horribly scarred by the "beginner's mark"...). Also know that I had maybe ten or eleven samples to choose from at the time, and had to mix a few to get the effects I wanted (like the chorus's). What do I mean by style? Well, an easy way of recognizing someone's work is by recognizing the samples he uses... Most of my songs use the same old instruments over and over, which gets tedious, I know. I also realize that the guitar sample has that data garbage at the front of it...Bear with me, please; when I cut it out, I noticed that the guitar lacked the kick it used to have, so I just left it in... This garbage is there in almost every one of my modules which uses the guitar, sorry... This song starts off slow and repetitive, but gets pretty good at the halfway point, which is why I like it.
Final-Thoughts	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Pure mod-rock, intended for use in a Megawatts demo, though I've confirmed that it will not be used. Final optimized version... a short mod for a short part of a short demo :^d. Intended for use in the spaceship scene only... usage outside of the spaceship scene can result in someone puking when they discover just how lousy this mod really is :).
Foreground	ProTracker	I don't have any of Maruku's comments, but this is one of his first MODs.
Infra-Beat	ProTracker	I should comment, for history's sake, that this one was written for my sister... Maruku's Comments: Like Dimness-Verse, I thought at the time that this was my best mod. Has 'moods', but it's not as jumpy as NeoIntro or Not-As-Such (and boy were they!). It's short though, after listening to Dimness-Verse... Heheh, sorry Markus... it "abruptly ends", which I know you hate. Plus there aren't too many instruments... But if you listen closely, you'll notice that the snare doesnt get cut off by the other percussions... fin: 10:42 PM 7-4-91
Inversement	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Jason Peacock asked me to do a module that was in parts, like Klisje Paa Klisje. I knew that I'd never be able to do anything like Klisje, but I could at least try... I ran around looking for samples (and in the process rounded up about 50 mods), and started parts of the parts... Then one day my parents inform me that I'll be grounded from the Amiga the following day, so I do a rush job which, ironically, takes me twice as long as it should have. I started at about 11 PM that night, and finished by 7 in the morning. So the 'composing mood' was basically forced, which I think made for a lesser module... Still, I like it. A lot of people didn't like it because it was in parts, and that's not the type of mod they like. I still don't know for sure what Jason thinks, heheh! Unfortunately, the samples are large and numerous, so the module is nearly 250K, which is way more than twice the size of my largest mod up until then... Hope you like it! Well, I'd also like to explain the 4 parts of my module: 1) The Slow-Intro... a different type of beginning...note the extensive use of the $9nn effect command. 2) Kick-In... this is where it finally starts a rhythmetic sequence. 3) Happy-Bells... well, a corny name for a silly part of the song, right? 4) Lengthy-Finale... I like this part, 'cause it's most like some of my other stuff (but better, I promise! :) )... And for a bonus, the song actually ENDS! After listening to it once, you'll be glad, heheh! Later!
NeoIntro	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: This was one of the few mods I started with ProTracker, which means I finished it about as fast as I could. It is also quite unorganized, but before I made this archive I did an 'efficiency check' and improved upon every module... This song has several different 'moods', starting with some generic 'listening material', going into a 'pseudo-rhythmetic', and ending with some odd patterns. Overall, garden-variety, heheh!
Nif-T	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Here's my attempt at a small module... I wanted it small but not terrible also, so it's still quite big. I tried some new efficiency tricks I made up, so don't be surprised if it jumps around quite a bit... Started: Sept 30, 1991 Finished: Oct 3, 1991
Not-As-Such	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Began it with NoiseTracker, finished with ProTracker... This song is probably the worst of the six [released at the time], but that's only my opinion; several people think it's my best! Odd... Well, I used the newfound 'ElectroGuitar' as well as samples from Awesome (I didn't rip the modules from Awesome until a few weeks later, when I actually looked for 'em...)... Big deal, eh? It also has 'moods', and I can't describe them.
Orcombat1	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Half orchestrated, half rockish mod that was intended for use in the new Megawatts demo... Pretty short mod... Loops. This is it... the mod I spent more time on than I'd like to admit (even though most of it was wasted when the disk was trashed). Sure it's short... here's why: The outline was such that the first part would last about one minute and sound like an orchestra with a rock guitar. Sorry, ramchip... I didn't think the g&r sample was a good way to start, but it did at least tell me what u wanted :). The 2nd part would (my guess) sound evil, since it was supposed to be rockish combat music. It was also supposed to last 1-2 minutes before a clean loop. I did good, ne? ;^d
PercDemoII	ProTracker	I couldn't find any comments on this one. It's a short percussion rift. I don't have the first one.
SC2MaruCombat1	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: I made this mod with Star Control 2 specifically in mind. I am hoping I'll be able to send it in before it's too late. This was basically a one-day project, but a corrupt Sony disk caused me to rewrite the whole mod. Moral of the story: Sony's products are complete garbage and you're better off not buying their stuff. (Well, so maybe I'm a bit POed about it :)
Skull Quest I	ProTracker	I couldn't find any comments on this one. Sorry! It is a mellow MOD, inspired by one of mine, "Hill of the Skull".
SmallTech	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Created for the excellent group: >> E p s i l o n << for their Anti-NES intro. Hmm... whoops, I got a little over 25k... heheh, well, after crunching it should be small enough. :) I was planning to enter a mod of my own in the Party II music competition, but I ended up spending most of my free time finetuning all these microscopic samples so I could use them with the NoiseTracker player. Oh well... it was to be a complex techno mod, which I'm sure most people would vote against :).
SteveSpam	ProTracker	This has got to be the most original MOD ever! I LOVE it! Maruku's Comments: I'm writing this because I need to explain why this module sounds and IS so terribly odd... This mod was done strictly as an 'inside joke' to a friend of mine, Steve. Yet another friend of mine, Mike, is responsible for EVERY sampled sound... That is, he created every sound by either vocalization or some other means, and any normal human is capable of doing the same... Originally, we were merely trying to put together a 'remix' of a little song we'd heard from one of our favorite Monty Python skits (the one with the spam and the Vikings, heheh!), but unfortunately it got haywire, as you can see... Since Steve was to be the first, if not the only one, to hear the completed module, we decided to put in a few quotes that all three of us were familiar with... For instance, the sample that goes "Steve is good for the blood" originally went "Sleep is good for the blood", which is a quote from a Bugs Bunny cartoon we like (the one with Dracula and the book on "Magic Words and Phrases"). Since "sleep" sounds like "Steve", we thought it'd be funny, and it was to us... The sample called "KazooHum" was produced by a strange vocal trick Mike can do, and I haven't figured it out yet. We thought it was neat that the sample looked like a triangle wave. The toughest samples to emulate were, believe it or not, the snaredrums and the hihats. Go ahead and try it yourself, heheh! Probably the hardest part in doing this module was the 'coding' of the music data. It's not easy to time a song correctly when you've got an S-sound at the front of most of your talking samples... Notice that ProTracker (version 1.1B, anyway) doesn't pay any attention to the $E effects commands in the Quadrascope. Oh, it may be a relief to know that the sounds F1, F2, and F3 were artificial, not real. :) The only reason this mod is actually on a BBS is because Steve is going to upload it to one no matter what, so I decided to include this explanatory (and apologetic) letter for the benefit of sanity... Hope you don't hate ME; it wasn't my idea (to upload it), heheh! Well, later! -Maruku PS: Try to find the module called Inversement if you want relief from this nonesense :). Remember: All sounds were created by Michael O'Keefe, so he deserves most of the credit.
Techmaru	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Well, hi :). It's been a LONG while since I last got something interesting out. This one is a "techno" mod, sorta. Towards the last half of the tune I got bored and started doing my usual crap. But all-in-all, it is IMHO a fairly decent mod. I hesitate to call it "music," since most techno stuff really isn't :). Some words about the samples: Most of them I had mixed up myself. A few I got from a sample disk I made a long time ago, when I was allowed access to a sampler. So three or four of the sounds are from some tapes (not mine; I borrowed 'em :). A lot of the other interesting ones are from other "techno" type mods... I REALLY had to do some shuffling to fit most (not all) of the sounds in that I wanted... if you take a look at the samples you'll see what I mean. Translation: Let's get more than 31 samples possible, eh? :) Despite that, I managed to have room for both this sampletext and a "blank" space (required mostly to help eliminate the waveform "click" you sometimes get when you change samples). Some words about the music itself: Best played somewhat louder than normal... and I personally prefer it in MONO, even though I have SOME stereo effects in there in places (which I haven't even tested yet! :). Watch out about the bass; there's one extremely clipped bass note at about 1/4 into the mod that will do its best to destroy your speakers :). (No, I wasn't the one who clipped it). Oh yeah, I hope you like the mod :). (duuuuhhhhhh.....) Some words about myself: I am moving in about 3 days (or less!)... That's why I suddenly felt compelled to finish up a mod (finally). Once I move, the question of whether or not I'll have Internet access anymore remains unanswered... In short: If you're gonna E-mail me about this mod (for whatever reason), don't wait! I won't be able to answer anything after a couple more days. Some words about, uh... never mind.
Testink	ProTracker	Maruku's Comments: Mike is responsible for the title of this song, the sample idea, and the main sequence in the end-part. Write him a BBS note encouraging him to finish up his mods, okay? heheh! This song sounds best thru stereo speakers! Why isn't THIS archive a MARUMOD? It's because I didn't do 100% of it by myself... Michael O'Keefe put together a catchy little tune, but never found the time to finish (or progress) it... He had erased the music data from the mod Space Debris and coded his own with the leftover samples... Well, I decided to give that procedure a go, and (almost) liked the result... then I asked him if I could add to the mod he was working on (Testink is what he called it... keen name, what?). He let me... In about 1 hour I put together something I really liked. At the same time I began getting good ideas for the one I had been working on. What were my plans at this point? Releasing the two as separate mods was an obvious first choice, but it would be unfair to downloaders and a really simplistic-looking action (using the very same samples for one mod after another)... So I tried to stick them together. When I was all done, the mod was about 300K big (the 2nd largest I've ever done, SteveSpam being the first), and nearly 8 minutes long... longer than any of my others by far. I don't have a personal rating for it as of yet; I like to wait until I'm tired of listening to something before I actually give it a rating. Info on this mod: It's nothing but listening material. It has some up-beat parts, but it isn't consistent (sp? I'm tired!), and there are a few 'cosmic-sounding' slow parts, which I'm sure most of you will hate, but then, who's paying for this...? My personal favorite part is where the congo-drum kicks in (around pattern 17 or so...)... Just a reminder: Don't expect much from this mod...in fact, expect the WORST! You'll feel better about the result, and if nothing else you won't be disappointed. It's getting late (which means I can see sunlight, almost), so I'll close this text I suppose. BTW: It'll be a long time before I top this mod, but I'm sure if I can dish out another repetitive, up-beat mod, y'all will be satisfied :)... Later! -Maruku That's right, it's time to update even this text. Today is December the 3rd, 1991, and I just officially got an account on the net. Also, I think I can safely give my mod a rating: 8.5 It's pretty good in my opinion, but when I look back I see I could have changed a few things. One thing I like to concentrate on is efficiency. The mods I make tend to jump around a lot, but that's ok. For Testink I also concentrated on 'neatness'. A quick hello to U4IA, though I can't be sure he'll check this mod out. Just in case, at any rate... If you haven't already, then check out SteveSpam. It's silly, but it's not really enough music to count... Confused? Good! You'll be more so when you hear it! Oh, for those out there who actually bother to get BOTH mods... First of all, THANKS! (Why, I'm not sure, as I get no direct benefits :), but second: You'll probably notice that the beginning of Testink is VERY similar to the whistling part in SteveSpam... This is no accident, just so you were wondering. I did it because I thought it'd be neat for "loyal listeners" to recognize pieces of my other stuff... I'll probably do something similar in the future. That's about it, so later! -Maruku
TrueHalfSome	ProTracker	I couldn't find any comments for this one either, but it's good!

Ozone's Stuff

Song Name	Format	Comments
Downthere MIDI	MIDI	This is my General MIDI version of Maruku's brilliant Downthere. The MIDI version is not so brilliant.
Foreground 3	ProTracker	This is my version of Maruku's Foreground. I replaced some of the arpeggiated chords with chord samples where appropriate. My girlfriend at the time hated arpeggiated chords. She said they sounded "drippy". :^)
Foreground MIDI	MIDI	This is my General MIDI version of Maruku's Foreground. I apologize in advance.
Hill of the Skull	ProTracker	This one is a shameless ripoff of one of Joe Satriani's cool tunes. My version is rather weak, but it inspired Maruku to write Skull Quest I, so it can't be all bad.
Ozone Soup 3.3m	ProTracker	This is a MOD that I originally wrote, but Maruku added some cool stuff to it, thus the "m" at the end. This song is where I got my nickname. It is based on the music to Double Dragon II. It also happens to be one of my first MODs.
Short Confusion 2	ProTracker	This one is also a bit of a classic. I wrote the main tune, and Maruku added a bridge in the middle. Cool! Very mellow MOD.
Skull Quest Remix	ProTracker	This is my version of Maruku's Skull Quest I. I replaced the arpeggiated chords to chord samples, like in Foreground above, for the same "drippy" reason.
Skull Quest I MIDI	MIDI	This is my General MIDI version of Maruku's Skull Quest I. What can I say? The MOD is better.
Visions of Christal 3	XM 8ch	Here is a song based on a 4-channel ProTracker MOD that I found somewhere. It was done in OctaMED Sound Studio and converted to FastTracker II XM format. I originally reworked the 4-channel MOD to use my Korg X3R MIDI box with some internal Amiga sounds. Then I got my General MIDI compatible Yamaha MU80, so I reworked the MIDI parts. That was version 2. Now I have an 060/50 in my Amiga, so I no longer need MIDI equipment to add extra voices, so I redid the song again to use all internal sounds. It's about 9:20 long. It uses 5-8 channels, depending on the part. This is my latest song.
X-Plode Again	ProTracker	Here is a funky remix of my MODs X-Plode, Weird Jam, and Short Confusion.