CherryTracker

A retro Amiga-style music module player — spectrum analyzer, neon VU meters and a scrolling pattern view.

Plays MOD XM S3M IT & more · self-contained · no install

Source & build instructions on GitHub. The Windows build is a single self-contained executable — no DLLs, no installer. New here? Grab some sample modules to play right away.

CherryTracker playing a module: spectrum analyzer, per-channel VU meters and a scrolling pattern view

What's inside

A faithful tracker UI, drawn entirely with Red's vector Draw dialect — crisp at any size.

📊

Spectrum analyzer

A real frequency display — 48 log-spaced Goertzel bands (55 Hz–12 kHz) over the Hann-windowed output, colour-by-height bars with slow-falling peak caps.

🎙️

Per-channel VU meters

Smooth green→yellow→orange→red gradient bars with fast-attack / slow-decay ballistics and palette-style side bezels.

🎵

Scrolling pattern view

Row gutter, blue PT-style note / instrument / effect columns, a centred highlighted row, and up to 64 channels.

▶️

Full transport

Play / pause / stop / loop, position spinners, a seek slider and a master volume — every control live.

🎬

Sample-accurate sync

A snapshot FIFO keyed on bytes-played surfaces exactly the frame you can hear — the meters and pattern never lead the sound.

ℹ️

Song info

Name, file & size, tracker type, channels, patterns, instruments, samples, tempo, speed and elapsed / remaining / total time.

🍒

Written in Red

One compiled Red program — Red/View for the UI, embedded Red/System for the FFI to libxmp and SDL3.

Every format libxmp plays

ProTracker and beyond — drop a module in or pass it on the command line.

MODXMS3MIT STMMTM669FAR OKTAMF& more

No modules on hand? Browse the bundled mods/ folder for a few classic tracks to spin.

Decode · play · draw

libxmp decodes the module, SDL3 plays the PCM, and the whole retro UI is the Red Draw dialect — a zero-allocation render loop so the GC stays idle at 60 fps.

; build the release (static, self-contained)
redc.exe -r -s -t Windows -o CherryTracker.exe player.red

; or just run it
CherryTracker.exe path\to\song.mod

Credits

Standing on the shoulders of great open-source work.

UI inspired by FlodPro (Christian Corti's Flod core, ProTracker interface by Photon Storm) · test modules courtesy of The Mod Archive.