AON File

What are AON files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an AON file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your AON files.

What is an AON file?

An .AON file is an Art Of Noise Module file.

Art Of Noise Module files store music composed with the ArtOfNoise tracker software made for the Commodore Amiga. These tracker modules contain patterns, samples, instruments and song-sequence data, combining digital sound samples and note/control instructions so songs can be played back by the player built into the tracker. They support synthetic, wavetable, and FM-based sounds, drum sequencing, many instrument slots, and a set of extended commands and effects beyond classic Amiga trackers.

The files are written by ArtOfNoise, developed by Bastian Spiegel (alias "Twice/Lego"). They originated in a 4-channel mode and later support 8 channels. Songs normally include all required sample data and instruments within the module, plus pattern data defining which instrument plays what note when, plus effect commands. Modules often hold metadata text such as song title, author, date, and version. They are edited and played using the ArtOfNoise tracker on Amiga systems; the files are loaded into compatible tracker software or conversion tools for playback outside that environment. NostalgicPlayer and other module replayers support this format.

The format retains a pattern structure similar to the classic MOD format (4 bytes per channel, fixed pattern size like 1024 bytes), while adding more effect commands, instrument slots (up to 61), wavetable- and FM-synthesis, volume envelopes, separated instrument and waveform data so several instruments can share the same waveform, and a drum sequencer. The format supports restart positions, larger song sequences (up to 256 entries), higher mixing rates (up to 64 kHz), and both a 4-voice and 8-voice version.

In the file header, the first three bytes are the ASCII signature "AON". Following that is a string "ArtOfNoise by Bastian Spiegel(twice/lego)" identifying the tracker author. The header also contains the number of channels (4 or 8), followed by fields labelled NAME, AUTH, DATE, and a Version byte.

How to open AON files

Important: Different programs may use files with the AON file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your AON file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 18, 2026

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