[[Image:protracker.gif|thumb|226px|Screenshot of Protracker]]
'''Protracker''' was a music program for the Amstrad CPC written by [[Crown]], which was based on digital instruments (samples) instead of [[PSG]] (chip) sound. Out of wave tables it mixed three channels into one 4 or 8 bit channel, which has been output via the CPCs' internal PSG or the [[Digiblaster]] (printer port) DAC-extension.
Out of wave tables it mixed three channels into one 4 or 8 bit channel, which has been output via the CPCs' internal PSG or the [[Digiblaster]] (printer port) DAC-extension. Protracker was a competitor of [[Digitracker]] and had a better playback quality, as it used a different technology for rendering the samples. The disadvantage of this technology was, that there were only about 50KB free for samples instead of about 62KB (Digitracker).
== Background Story ==
The official reason why Protracker has been developed, was, that [[Crown]] had a fight with [[Prodatron]] at this time (Prodatron left [[BENG!]] etc.). As Prodatron had already developed [[Digitracker]] for [[SymbiosiS]] and wanted to distribute this program via [[Kangaroo]]s company [[New Age Software]], Crown decided to write a competitive product for free, so that Kangaroo and Prodatron won't be able to earn any money. He released Protracker and was successfull: Prodatron decided to change the status of Digitracker from commercial to shareware. == Screenshot == <gallery caption="Protracker"> Image:protracker.gif|Screenshot of Protracker </gallery>
[[Category:Applications]][[Category:Music and sound]]