file extension MOD

File extension MOD description:

MOD is a class of file format used to represent music on a computer. MOD files store several patterns or pages of music data in a form similar to that of a spreadsheet. These patterns contain note numbers, instrument numbers, and controller messages. The number of notes that can be played simultaneously depends on how many tracks there are per pattern. Originally, all modules had 4 tracks per pattern, to directly correspond with the Amiga sound chips' four channels.

MOD files also give a list of the order in which to play the patterns. However, the biggest advantage of MOD family over standard MIDI files is that MOD includes its own audio samples and should sound almost exactly the same from one player to another.

MOD files are often referred to as tracker modules, and composing modules is known as tracking, simply because the first ever module creating program was Soundtracker, created by Karsten Obarski in 1987. Soundtracker was cloned many times, with programs such as Noisetracker, and Protracker being direct descendants from the original Soundtracker code, and others such as MED/OctaMED and Oktalyzer being written from scratch. Such programs are called trackers in general.