Quartet Player

Tricky Tracker

Quartet Player is a free program by Dan Panke for playing ".4Q" files (I know how that sounds - stop laughing!) which are MOD-like, 4-channel digital music files. Quartet was originally released by Microdeal in 1989, with an improved version around 1991 that added stereo playback for the Atari STe using its DMA audio hardware. Now, I am more of a chiptune kind of person, but I have loved the smooth sounds this program produces. I have always seen it as our version of a Tracker - which, let’s be honest, it absolutely is!

Quartet was used by musicians to create some fantastic tunes for loads of games and demos, and I’ll try to link some below. With so many tracks, it’s great having a program like Quartet Player to play them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to support DMA hardware, so while playback might sound good, it’s only in mono.

If you want to hear them in stereo, you must use the official Quartet program. That is most disappointing but not a big deal these days, thanks to websites like Atarimania, but I still find it odd that a (STe) standalone player was never released. You’d think one would have appeared at some point - but apparently not.

To make things even trickier, .4Q files are compiled, bundling both the song and its voices together. That means they need to be deconstructed before Quartet can recognise them. Weird, right? But don’t worry - it’s an easy fix, thanks to a handy little program called Separate, also by Dan Panke.

Personally, I love having a quick and easy program like Quartet Player and I'm surprised there aren't others out there. However, if I come across a tune I really like, I’ll run it through Separate so I can hear it in stereo. So much better! (I do wonder if someone out there will ever make a standalone stereo player)

Anyhow, give Quartet Player a playtest and enjoy some wonderful tunes...

• Quartet Player 3 https://demozoo.org/productions/132345/
• Microdeal Quartet v1.5 https://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-st-quartet_38583.html
• Demozoo has loads of music https://demozoo.org/productions/tagged/4q/
• I've bundled together a slightly newer version of Quartet Player and also the Separate utility https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5qv3y4i4vtk2t8n90r9z1/Quartet.zip?rlkey=jmq622h6qj7t6nvpa7n70spir&dl=1
• There are more players listed here for other types of music https://ataricrypt.blogspot.com/MusicPlayers

Of course, much of the scene used Quartet; here are some I love with screenshots...

• Quartet Compilation - Tunes 1 by The Bootlegger https://demozoo.org/productions/126415/ (stereo)
• PD Menu 50 by The Golden Dawn https://demozoo.org/productions/70188/ (stereo)
• Quartet Demo Creator V1.0 by Andy Dunn https://demozoo.org/productions/153344/
• Ripped Quartet Music Volume 1 by Mug UK https://demozoo.org/productions/72468/
• Ripped Quartet Music Volume 2 by Mug UK https://demozoo.org/productions/72469/
• The Quartet Sound Demo by MOB https://demozoo.org/productions/110447/ (YouTube)
• Chainsaw Massacre aka Go Ahead Make My Bed by The Lost Boys https://demozoo.org/productions/155945/ (YouTube)

Quartet v1.5 (hit that F5 key ASAP!!)

Dan's Quartet Player. A superb program but F5 does nothing, sigh...

The Bootlegger released a fantastic compilation which supports stereo playback!!

Not their best effort but it features stereo playback of a great tune by David Moss (Spaz!)

Quartet Demo is simple but could prove nice with your own image. Sadly, not in stereo.

Ignore the previous text it displays; this is a great disk of tunes - in my opinion!

I never realised the audio was made using Quartet! Brilliant demo this!!