Risa Tracker for the NES

Risa is a music tracker for the Nintendo NES, shaped around familiar song, chain, phrase, instrument, table, and groove editing established by the well-known trackers Little Sound Dj and Dirtywave M8.

Risa allows you to utilize the capabilities of the 2A03 APU and in addition to that, the two pulse channels provided by the MMC5 mapper.

If you encounter problems, please send mail to [email protected].

Media

Screenshots

Song arrangement screen showing chains across PU1, PU2, TR, NO, and DM channels
Song arrangement
Phrase editor showing notes, instruments, and FX columns
Phrase editing
Instrument editor screen
Instrument settings

Demo songs

Tunes rendered straight from the tracker.

  1. Hevander
  2. Let Go
  3. 4XTREME
  4. blumarbl
  5. e.coli soul

Downloads

Latest builds v2.5.0

The easiest and most reliable way for using the ROM image is Mesen NES emulator, which is used for development also. For using the software with actual NES hardware, the Everdrive N8 Pro flashcart by Krikzz is recommended.

For trying out the tracker quickly, there is also a browsed-based emulator available with links below.

Use PAL for most European NES timing targets; use NTSC for North American or Japanese NES timing targets.

Before using another emulator for real projects, make sure it preserves the full 64 KB MMC5 save file. Some emulators and cores are known to mishandle MMC5 save RAM, which can truncate or corrupt saves and lose song data.

What changed in v2.5.0

  • FEATURE: add feedback to AUX pulse delay
  • IMPROVE: echo buffer now can remember 3 notes (previously 2)
  • IMPROVE: implement Qxx for tables
  • IMPROVE: double-tap A on a phrase Axx value to select the next empty table
  • FIX: restore same instrument sweep setting after Kxx
  • FIX: restore instrument fine pitch after Fxx when repeating the same pulse instrument

Browse release archive

User guide

Read the Risa-specific notes

Risa follows the handheld tracker workflow established by LSDJ. This guide focuses on what is different in Risa.

Open the user guide

ROM patcher

Edit kits, themes, fonts, and songs in the browser.

Manage sample kits, themes and fonts with a web based ROM patcher.

Open the ROM patcher