Conversion Guide

This article will explain how to use the Maxmod Utility to convert audio files into the format supported by Maxmod.

Notes about composing music

When you play music with Maxmod, it may not sound the same way as when you were composing it. Maxmod doesn't do any interpolation on the output, but interpolation is usually enabled in module trackers used for composing music. If you want an output closer to what the GBA would actually sound like, you need to disable interpolation and filtering.

For example, in OpenMPT you need to go to View > Setup. Select the Mixer tab and change the interpolation mode to "no interpolation", as well as set volume ramping to 0:

Correct mixer settings for OpenMPT

Introduction to mmutil

Run mmutil without any arguments to bring it up.

************************
* Maxmod Utility 1.10.1 *
************************
 
Usage:
  mmutil [options] input files ...
 
 Input may be MOD, S3M, XM, IT, and/or WAV
 
.------------.----------------------------------------------------.
| Option     | Description                                        |
|------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| -o<output> | Set output file.                                   |
| -h<header> | Set header output file.                            |
| -m         | Output MAS file rather than soundbank.             |
| -d         | Use for NDS projects.                              |
| -b         | Create test ROM. (use -d for .nds, otherwise .gba) |
| -i         | Ignore sample flags.                               |
| -v         | Enable verbose output.                             |
| -p         | Set initial panning separation for MOD/S3M.        |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------'
 
.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Examples:                                                       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Create DS soundbank file (soundbank.bin) from input1.xm         |
| and input2.it Also output header file (soundbank.h)             |
|                                                                 |
| mmutil -d input1.xm input2.it -osoundbank.bin -hsoundbank.h     |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Create test GBA ROM from two inputs                             |
|                                                                 |
| mmutil -b input1.mod input2.s3m -oTEST.gba                      |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Create test NDS ROM from three inputs                           |
|                                                                 |
| mmutil -d -b input1.xm input2.s3m testsound.wav                 |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------'
 www.maxmod.org

Let's pretend we have 4 music files named song1.mod, song2.s3m, song3.xm, and song4.it. Let's also throw in a couple sound effects too: sound1.wav and sound2.wav. Produce a soundbank file like this:

mmutil -osoundbank.bin -hsoundbank.h -d song1.mod song2.s3m song3.xm song4.it sound1.wav sound2.wav

You should now have soundbank.bin which is the actual soundbank file, and soundbank.h which contains the C/C++ definitions for your project. Notice that the -d option was specified. This makes the output suitable for a DS project, but not for GBA. Remove the -d flag for GBA projects.

Header Output

The utility generates a C/C++ header file with all the definitions for the soundbank file. Module definitions will be prefixed with MOD_. Sample definitions will be prefixed with SFX_. The module definition name will be constructed using the filename of the module. Sample definitions will be constructed with either the filename, sample name, or DOS filename. For WAV files, the sample definition will use the filename (sample1.wav will become SFX_SAMPLE1). For MOD/XM, the definition will use the sample name. For S3M/IT modules, the sample definitions will be constructed using the DOS filename. The beginning of the sample name (or DOS filename) must begin with '#' to produce a definition. Any errornous characters will be converted to underscores.

The example shown above should produce a header file similar to this:

#define MOD_SONG1   0
#define MOD_SONG2   1
#define MOD_SONG3   2
#define MOD_SONG4   3
#define SFX_SOUND1  0
#define SFX_SOUND2  1
#define MSL_NSONGS  4
#define MSL_NSAMPS  46  // 44 module samples + 2 WAVs
#define MSL_BANKSIZE 50 // Sum of modules + samples

ROM Output

To make a test ROM with a certain module, use the -b option. This will produce a GBA image that features the song listed.

mmutil -b test.xm test2.xm -oMyTestROM.gba

To make a DS image, specify the -d option too.

mutil -b -d test3.it test6.it sound1.wav sound2.wav -oMyAwesomeTestROM.nds

You should now have either have a GBA or NDS file depending on the -d flag.