Chip 1997 March/CHIP Mart 1997.iso/SesProg/TRACKER.ARJ/TRACKER.DOC

Text File | 1994-03-06 | 22KB | 479 lines

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         ▀█▀                 Version 0.9d                  ▀█▀
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                    TakeTracker 0.9d Betaversion
                       16 Channel tracker for
                         Gravis UltraSound
               and for SoundBlaster & 120% compatible

                   The entire tracker was done by
                   Twaddler and Dr. Zon of X-Pose
                             1993, 1994

             The code consist of about 9,700 lines of
                  Pascal, Basic and Assembly code.



Contents of this document:                                     Page:
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Bragging, info and credits.....................................Above
Files..............................................................1
General info on TakeTracker........................................1
About XPose........................................................1
Testing............................................................1
Configuring TakeTracker............................................1
Player effects.....................................................1
Keys...............................................................1
Buttons............................................................1
Using effects in TT................................................1
File formats.......................................................1
Loading and saving files in TT.....................................1
Use of memory in TT................................................1
The sample editor..................................................1
The disk op........................................................1
The MOD EDIT Screen................................................1
The setup..........................................................1
Scopes.............................................................1
The command line player............................................1
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────


Files
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
These files goes with the TT archive:
  TRACKER.EXE  |  The main executable file
  TRACKER.DOC  |  This documentation
  CONFIG.EXE   |  Setup program (creates CONFIG.CFG)
  669MOD.EXE   |  669 Converter to MOD format (will be implemented in TT soon)
mmGFX1.DAT    \
doGFX2.DAT     | All are graphic files,
seGFX3.DAT     | and all are 32000 bytes
meGFX4.DAT     | in filesize...
seGFX5.DAT    /
dbGFX6.DAT     | Dialog box
  README.TXT   | Last info, general info, greets and more
  TT.REV       | Previous revisions of TakeTracker


General info on TakeTracker
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Welcome  to  TakeTracker.   You  now  have  the  latest  version  of
TakeTracker.  TakeTracker is  a  multichannel  song-editing  complex
with  very  advanced  functions.   This  tracker can handle up to 16
channels of music.  For long time there has been a standard that was
limited to 4  channels.   Taketracker  takes  a  step beyond into 16
channels.  There are also a lot of other trackers, which might be  a
lot  better  than  TakeTracker,  but  I  think TakeTracker is a good
alternative.

You can create almost  ANY  piece  of  music  with a tracker of this
style, from Beethoven classics to todays (?) techno  pieces.  On the
great  Amiga  a lot of known (and unknown) pieces has been converted
into  modules.  But trackers  are also  good for composing  your own
music.

If anyone know the Amiga and the  ProTracker - I must say I've tried
to create TakeTracker as equal as  possible.   I've  just  got  some
troubles  with the screen resolution on the PC.  Therefore might the
PC version look a bit "weird" the first time.  But you will get used
to it.  Actually, now  I  think  the  PT  on  the  AMIGA looks a bit
"weird".  The most used  keypresses in  PT (which I  use) have  been
implemented in TT, too; plus a few more

TakeTracker has been made mainly  for  private use, actually I never
planned to release it after  all.   But  Twaddler  convinced  me  to
release  it.   And I don't regret.  This tracker is now very dislike
what it looked like in the  beginning.  Actually, I never planned to
make a such nice program. I just wanted to make a tracker I could use
myself, because there were no other usable trackers around.

A feature added in the newer betas, is the 255 ability. The necessarry
parts of the MOD file format has been rewritten to fit up to 255 sample


About XPose
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  XPose is a demo-group situated in Norway.  For the moment we are 5
members, and we are waiting for a few more to join:
  Dr. Zon  - Code, music
  Twaddler - Code
  Iris     - GFX
  Extacy   - Music, GFX
  Axe      - Music
  Bergiant - Internet coordinator


Testing
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  TakeTracker has been created and tested with the following hardware:
Computers ........................... TCI 486DX2/66
                                      DI 486DX/33
                                      PC Brand 486DX2/66
Grafix cards ........................ Cirrus GD-5426
                                      NCR
                                      S3
Soundcards .......................... Gravis UltraSound
                                      SoundBlaster 16 ASP
                                      SoundBlaster 1.0
TakeTracker has also been tried out on a laptop, a 386SX with no
soundcard installed (with GUS selected). We noticed TT had a
tolerable speed.


Configuring TakeTracker
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  You  configure  soundcards   and   hardware  setup  externally  of
Taketracker  using a smaller utility called SETUP.EXE.   This  is  a
simply  button  driven mouse system program that will let you choose
which soundcard you have, and  which adresses, DMAs, IRQs and mixing
rates you want it to go in.  The mixing rate should be set after you
computers CPU;
  11000/15000   - 386
  18000 or more - 486 or higher
Since DMA, IRQ and mixing rate is not needed for the GUS, those will
be leaved open when GUS is selected.  To save new changes, press the
DONE button, or kick button 'D' on keyboard. Abort with 'A'.


Composing music in TakeTracker
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  The  minimum  reqirement  for  composing  music,  is   to   handle
HEXADECIMAL  NUMBERS  fairly  good...   Single hexadecimals  goes
from 0-F, corresponding to the respective numbers 0-15.
Hexadecimal numbers are usually written  0x1E, 1Eh $1E, or sometimes
just 1E...  1E is corresponding to decimal 30...
The maximum volume a sample can be played at, is 64 decimal, this is
40h.  So when you are telling a sample to play  at  maximum  volume,
you either insert effect C40, or puts the current samplevolume to 40
(where 40 is the hexadecimal number of 64)
After then, you should know where the different notes are placed  on
the  keyboard.  Look in the "Keys" chapter of this document for more
info on  which  keys  responds  to  which  notes.   Remember that F1
decreases octave, and F2 increases octave.
You will also need samples to use in your  module.   For  the  first
time  composing  a  module,  loading a module and clear the patterns
(CLEAR SONG in MOD EDIT) could  be  smart.  Then you press space and
the tracker's yours.


Player effects (not updated properly)
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Standard effects supported by TakeTracker
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  0xy - Arpeggio
  1xx - Pitch/slide/portamento up
  2xx - Pitch/slide/portamento down
  3xy - Pitch/slide/portamento to note
  4xy - Vibrato

  6xy - Volume slide + vibrato
  7xy - Tremolo
  8xx - NOT USED
  9xx - Set sample offset
  Axy - Volume slide
  Bxx - Song break
  Cxx - Set volume
  Dxx - Pattern break (very limited!)
  Exy - Special effect. See below
  Fxx - Set tempo/speed

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Special Exy effects supported by TakeTracker:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  E1y - Fine portamento slide UP
  E1y - Fine portamento slide DOWN
  E6y - Pattern loop (use E60 to set point, E6x for multiple times)
  E8y - NOT USED
  E9y - Retrig sample per y vblank
  EAy - Fine volume slide UP
  EBy - Fine volume slide DOWN
  ECy - Stop playing sample after y vblanks
  EDy - Delay note y vblanks


Keys
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Most  of  these  keypresses  are taken directly from ProTracker, but
some keypresses from various trackers (SBStudio, FastTracker...) are
also implemented. Why keypresses are taken from other trackers, and
not defined as NEW keypresses, is to have a certain compability so
new users should feel more "welcome".
Anyway, here  is  a  listing,  and  in  the  beginning  it  might be
preferred to print this section on paper.
  F1                   - Decrease octave
  F2                   - Increase octave
  F3                   - Next bar (volume bar, spectrum analyzer...)
  F7                   - Decrease one note at current position
  F8                   - Increase one note at current position
  F11                  - Keyboard window
  F12                  - Update GUS mem
  Text-input: F1-F10   - Various patterns (like ╔═══╗, ├───┤ ...)
  Enter                - Play all notes and effects in current row
  Space                - Toggle edit mode (and turn off sound)
  Tab                  - Next channel
  Arrow up/down        - One row up/down (rows, files...)
  Arrow left/right     - Next  edit  position  (note,  samplenumber,
                         effect...)
  Numeric * (gray)     - Shift channels right
  Numeric / (gray)     - Shift channels left
  Page Down            - Go 15 rows down
  Page Up              - Go 15 rows up
  Home                 - Go to top of sheet
  End                  - Go to last row of sheet
  Shift+1-0            - Store effect at cursor position
  Shift+Enter          - Push current track 1 row down
  Shift+BackSpace      - Pull current track 1 row up
  Shift+F4             - Copy track to buffer
  Shift+F5             - Paste track from buffer
  Shift+Right          - Increase song position
  Shift+Left           - Decrease song position
  Shift+Tab            - Decrease channel position
  Alt+1-0              - Paste effect
  Alt+F4               - Copy effects to buffer
  Alt+F5               - Paste effects from buffer
  Alt-S                - Sampler
  Alt-D                - Disk op.
  Right Alt            - Play pattern
  Ctrl-E               - Insert space at every 2nd row
* Ctrl-M               - Increase channel when editing (for MIDI)
  Ctrl-O               - Swap note with note on next channel (stereo effect)
* Ctrl+F4              - Copy pattern to buffer
* Ctrl+F5              - Paste pattern from buffer
  Ctrl+Left/right      - Next/previous sample
  Ctrl+1-0             - Set editjump (editskip)
  Right Ctrl           - Play song
  Both Ctrls(R&L)      - Play song from current position
*: Not implemented yet, but will be implemented later

BETA VERSION KEYPRESSES:
  F4 - Slow spectrum analyzer (requires at least a Pentium(TM) to run smooth)
  F5 - Waveform (yet SB only - random dots on GUS)
  F9 - Spectrum analyzers
I have still not decided where to put these keypresses.

The PC's keyboard compared to a musication keyboard (I think):
    C#  D#      F#  G#  A#      C#  D#      F#  G#  A#
┌──┬─┬─┬─┬──┬──┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬──┬──┬─┬─┬─┬──┬──┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬──┐
│  │ │ │ │  │  │ │ │ │ │ │  │  │ │ │ │  │  │ │ │ │ │ │  │
│  │ │ │ │  │  │ │ │ │ │ │  │  │ │ │ │  │  │ │ │ │ │ │  │
│  │S│ │D│  │  │G│ │H│ │J│  │  │2│ │3│  │  │5│ │6│ │7│  │
│  └┬┘ └┬┘  │  └┬┘ └┬┘ └┬┘  │  └┬┘ └┬┘  │  └┬┘ └┬┘ └┬┘  │
│ Z │ X │ C │ V │ B │ N │ M │ Q │ W │ E │ R │ T │ Y │ U │
└───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘
  C   D   E   F   G   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   A   B


Buttons
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
MAIN MENU:
  I (pos)    - Inserts an empty pattern in the song order
  D (pos)    - Deletes the current pattern number on song order
  MOD ED.    - Enter  the  MODule  EDit  menu,  where  you can alter
               songname m.m.
  SAMPLER    - Enter the sample editor
  STOP       - Stops playing.
  PLAY | P   - Pressing PLAY, will play the entire song from current
               position,  while  pressing  the  P  to  play  current
               pattern only. If you are in edit mode, you will start
               recording...
  DISK.OP    - Enter DISK. OPerations menu
 [samplename]- Pressing on the sample-name, allows you to edit it.

SAMPLE EDITOR:
  MIX        - Mix two samples together.
  REPEAT     - Let you click on sample to set REPEAT POSITON
  REPLEN     - Let you click on sample to set REPEAT LENGTH
  UPSAMPLE   - Halve size of sample
* CUT        - Cut selected area to buffer
  COPY       - Copy selected area to buffer (still very simple)
  PASTE      - Will erase old sample and insert copied buffer


Using effects in TT
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
People who are "used to" effects should have NO PROBLEM AT ALL using
the effects. But for any new  users of this kind of trackers, I will
explain the use of effects quickly.
---

Effects consists of three hexadecimal numbers -  the  leading  digit
determines  WHAT  effect to use.  Example: If the leading digit is C
and the following digits are  1  and  4  (ie C14) the volume on that
channel will be set to 14 hex when playing.  C20 will set the volume
to 20 hex.  The maximum volume is 40 hex  (64  decimal).   When  not
entering a volume, the current volume on that sample will be played.
The  volume  slide  works  another way.  It slides the volume in the
same amount as the speed goes.  The volume slide works two different
ways; either volume slide UP or volume slide DOWN.
If you are going to slide the  volume  DOWN  - set the effect to A -
and the the second digit is set to 0 and  the  third  digit  to  the
volume  slide  amount  (ex: A02 will slide the volume 2*speed DOWN).
The opposite, volume slide  UP  uses  the  first  of the two digits.
(ex: A20 will slide the volume 2*speed UP).  When volume has reached
either minimum (0) or maximum (040h) volume, it will stop sliding.

I hope this will give a little understanding  how  the  effects  are
used. You see, I'm not so good explaining things. You can look in
the effects 'chapter' in the documentation for an overview of
effects that are currently supported.


Copying and pasting
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  There are many things to copy and paste  around  in  a  notesheet.
You can copy/paste effects only, notes only, or both.  You can  also
only  copy  ONE  single  effect.   All  this  is controlled from the
keyboard.  And  the  keypresses  may  be  hard  to  remember  in the
beginning.
First, copying a single track into a buffer,  is  done  by  pressing
Shift+F4.   And  when this is properly stored in the buffer, you can
paste it. Shift+F5.
NOTICE: Pasting a track will OVERWRITE all info  already  placed  on
track. THERE IS NO WAY TO UNDO.
  Copying whole patterns,  effects  only,  are  NOT implemented yet.
There is also a 10-buffer possibility to copy and paste  one  single
effect  only.   This  is done by pressing Shift and a number ranging
from 0 to 9. The number  indicates  which of the ten buffers to copy
to.  To pasting these effects, press Alt+0-9.


Fileformats
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
The MOD format goes like this:
  SONGName     20bytes
  SampleINFO   31samples*30 byte = 930 bytes
    SampleName     22bytes
    Volume          1byte
    Finetune        1byte
    SampleLength    1word (div 2-signed)
    SampleRepeat    1word (div 2-signed)
    SampleReplen    1word (div 2-signed)
  Songlength    1byte
  Songorder   128bytes
  noiserestart  1byte
  ID
osv...osv...osv...osv...osv...osv...osv...osv...
  (skriv senere!)

The samples uses a special "**" file format which is very equal
the internal MOD sample format.
TakeTracker also has the ability to load samples saved from
FastTracker, where loop/length is stored in time/date fields.


Loading and saving in TT
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Loading and saving has been done very simple in TT.  You enter the
DISK.OP menu by pressing the DISK.OP button,  and  then  you  simply
press the mouse cursor at what file to load.
If you would like to save a work, click on the either the MODULENAME
or  the SAMPLENAME textfield, depending on work to save, and type in
the filename to save.   Afterwards  you  press  the SAVE MOD or SAVE
SAMPLE button (also depending on what work to save).


The sample editor
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  If you load a sample with very much noise, TT can take this to be
a sample of the wrong kind. Use XOR to convert it.
 (I'll write more when I can come up with something)


Setup
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  The setup screen is provided to make a more personal look on your
environment. You can change the palette, set balance (panning), and
more minor things.
Main settings:
     BALANCE
        There are 16 possible positions for each of the bars marked 0 to F.
        Set on top (0) is right, while on the bottom is the left.
     NORMAL/STEREO/WIDE/MID
        There are four preset panning positions. Keep in mind that I prefer
        you use the STEREO preset (RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL). The NORMAL preset is
        like the Protracker(Amiga)/Fast-tracker (RLLRRLLRRLLRRLLR).
        WIDE is a more smooth, where the pannings overleap. MID is
        self-explanatory.
        All these does ofcourse not work with SoundBlasters.
     PALETTE
        You select color by pressing mouse button on one of the colors bars,
        and then press mouse on one of the three RGB bars with values ranging
        from 0 to 63 where 0 means no effect of color, while 63 is maximum
        effect. You can 'drag' the indicator with right mouse button.
     P-I
     P-II
     P-III
        These are predefined color definitions that has been designed by me.
     DEF
        Re-reads the configuration file -> set new palette only.

ON/OFF TOGGLES:
     255 SAMPLES
        This was a feature I hadn't time to finish till this release.
        So we'll have to wait until next (or perhaps more) for this
        one to work properly, since I had to change the whole MOD
        format to make it work.
     UPLOAD
        This is another item for GUS only.
        When doing anything with a sample in the sample-editor, TT will
        automatically re-order the memory of the GUS to activate the
        new changes we have done. This will take a little while, and can
        seem really annoying after a while, therefore you can disable this,
        and press F12 instead every time you want to update GUS memory.
     BLANK ZERO
        Usually the samplenumber is displayed as "02". Enabling this only
        displays " 2". Looks often better. 13 is ofcourse "13" either this
        is set or not.
     SHOW DIRS
        Confirm to show dirs in disk op.
     ECHO (NOT IMPLEMENTED!)
        This is a facility for GUS only when playing a module that has less
        than 16 channels.
        When playing a module, you will get a more echoing effect. At
        least you will feel it. This is because the player plays each note
        twice, and with a very short delay, and with the volume ramped down.
      QHELP
        If YES, then TT replaces the samplename with help/info on the effect
        the cursor is at (if any).
      DATELOOP
        For those who has changed from FastTracker, this is a very nice
        switch. With this enabled you can load repeat/replen from saved in
        FastTracker. Keep this off if you never has used FastTracker, since
        some "real" time/date can be confused with repeat/replen.


Scopes
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Just press F3 a couple  of  times  while  playing a module and see
what happens.  F4, F5 and F9 activates VGA  scopes.   Press  Esc  to
abort these.  (Is there really more to say?)


The command line player
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  If have finally managed to code these, if you want these, please
look out for separate archives. (TTPLAY.ZIP / TTPLAY2.ZIP)


And then...
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
I used 4 channel modules  by Henning Hafstad (Axe/Xpose) and
the  up-to-16-channel modules  by  Gudmund  Reinertsen (StumAce/...)
for testing TakeTracker.
I  used  Dual  Module  Player (DMP) to  test  my  save-routines  and
converters...


Copyrights
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  All trademarks are copyrighted to their respective owners.



                                                   Dr. Zon  6. Mar  1994