Schism Tracker saves its configuration in a plain-text, INI-style file named config. Under normal circumstances it should theoretically not be necessary to deal with this file directly. However, there are some options that are not configurable from within Schism Tracker for one reason or another. In these cases, any plain text editor should suffice.
The location of this file is dependent on the OS:
- Windows
%APPDATA%\Schism Tracker- Mac OS X
~/Library/Application Support/Schism Tracker- AmigaOS 4
PROGDIR:- Linux/Unix
$HOME/.schism/- Wii
- Same directory as
boot.elf(e.g.sd:/apps/schismtracker)
Aside from config, you may also add a fonts subdirectory for custom font files. By default, font.cfg is automatically loaded on startup, and other *.itf files are listed by the built-in font editor (Shift-F12). See the links page for some resources on getting fonts for Schism Tracker.
Potentially useful "hidden" config options
To enable any of these, find the [section] in the config file, look for the key=, and change the value. If the key doesn't exist, simply add it.
Lazy redraw
[General]
lazy_redraw=1
Slow down the framerate when the program isn't focused. This used to be kind of useful when the GUI rendering sucked, and maybe it still is if you're stuck with a painfully slow video card and software rendering, and you also want to have a huge window that isn't active.
Backups
[General]
make_backups=1
numbered_backups=1
When overwriting a filename.it, copy the existing file to filename.it~. With numbered_backups, write to filename.it.1~, filename.it.2~, etc.
Key repeat
[General]
key_repeat_delay=125
key_repeat_rate=25
Alter the key repeat. "Delay" is how long before keys begin to repeat, "rate" is how long between repeated keystrokes. (Both are in milliseconds.) Above are Storlek's settings, which are very fast but convenient for speed tracking.
The default repeat delay and rate come from your operating system, so you only need to set this if you like having a different rate for Schism Tracker than you do for the rest of your system.
Alternate font
[General]
font=notch.itf
Load some other font besides font.cfg at startup. This option doesn't really have much of a point, because the file listed is limited to those within the fonts directory, and it's just easier to open the font editor, browse fonts, and save to font.cfg.
DJ mode
[General]
stop_on_load=0
If zero, loading a song when another one is playing will start playing the new song after it is loaded.
File browser
[Directories]
module_pattern=*.it\073 *.xm\073 *.s3m\073 *.mtm\073 *.669\073 *.mod
Changes what files are presented in the load/save module lists. Use * for all files. For annoying compatibility reasons, semicolons are rewritten as \x3b or \073 when saving.
This was formerly named filename_pattern; Schism Tracker ignores the old value and comments it out when saving to work around bugs in older versions.
sort_with=strcasecmp
Alter the sort order. Possible values are strcmp (case-sensitive), strcasecmp (case-insensitive), and strverscmp (case-sensitive, but handles numbers smartly e.g. 5.it will be listed above 10.it).
Keyjazz
[Pattern Editor]
keyjazz_noteoff=1
keyjazz_repeat=0
If keyjazz_noteoff is 1, letting go of a key in the pattern editor will cause a note-off. If using this, you might also want to consider setting keyjazz_repeat to 0 in order to avoid inserting multiple notes when holding down keys.
Pattern editor behavior tweaks
[Pattern Editor]
mask_copy_search_mode=1
invert_home_end=1
When mask_copy_search_mode is set to 1, pressing Enter on a row with no instrument number will search backward in the channel for an instrument and switch to that one.
invert_home_end changes the order of the Home and End keys to make the cursor move to the first or last row within the channel before moving to the first or last channel. FT2 users might want to enable this.
(These features were recently added and are not available yet for prebuilt versions)
Key modifiers
[General]
meta_is_ctrl=1
altgr_is_alt=1
These alter how modifier keys are interpreted. Mac OS X users in particular might appreciate meta_is_ctrl, which allows using the Command/Apple key as the Ctrl modifier within Schism Tracker. altgr_is_alt works similarly.
Audio output
[Audio]
buffer_size=256
driver=dsp:/dev/dsp1
These settings define the audio buffer size, and which audio device Schism Tracker uses. (The other settings in the [Audio] section are configurable from Shift-F1.) buffer_size should be a power of two and defines the number of samples in the mixing buffer. Smaller values result in less audio latency but could cause buffer underruns and skipping.
driver is parsed identically to the --audio-driver switch on the command line. If you're using Alsa on Linux and want to use you can set driver=alsa:dmix to get Schism Tracker to play with other programs. (However, Alsa completely ignores the latency with dmix so it might cause massive delays between pressing a note and hearing it, which is why Schism Tracker requests a "real" device by default.)
[Diskwriter]
rate=96000
bits=16
channels=2
This defines the sample format used by the disk writer – for exporting to .wav/.aiff and internal pattern-to-sample rendering.
Hook functions
Schism Tracker can run custom scripts on startup, exit, and upon completion of the disk writer. These are stored in the configuration directory, and are named startup-hook, exit-hook, and diskwriter-hook respectively. (On Windows, append .bat to the filenames.) Hooks are useful for making various adjustments to the system – adjusting the system volume, remapping the keyboard, etc. The disk writer hook can be used to do additional post-processing, converting, etc. (Note: on the Wii, hooks are not processed since there is no underlying OS or command interpreter to run them.)
Example
For users with non-US keyboards, some keys may not work properly. This can be worked around by switching temporarily to a US keyboard layout on startup, and resetting the keyboard on exit. To define hooks to accomplish this:
cat >~/.schism/startup-hook <<EOF
#!/bin/sh
setxkbmap us
EOF
cat >~/.schism/exit-hook <<EOF
#!/bin/sh
setxkbmap fi
EOF
chmod +x ~/.schism/*-hook
This is for a Finnish keyboard; replace the fi with the appropriate ISO 3166 country code or other keyboard mapping. See /etc/X11/xkb/symbols for a list of available keyboard layouts.