MacFormat 1994 September/macformat-004.iso/Shareware City/Sound/Player PRO 415⁄BBS/Small Documentation/PlayerPro FAQ

Text File | 1994-06-09 | 17.7 KB | 400 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

THE PLAYER PRO DEMO INFORMATION FILE (FAQ)
by Jamal Hannah <[e-mail]>, 6/9/94, version 1.2
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CONTENTS:

* What is the Player PRO Demo?
* What is the latest version of Player PRO?
* What are the features of Player PRO?
* What Hardware do I need to run the Player PRO?
* Where can I get the Player PRO?
* What Software do I need to run the Player PRO?
* What are MOD files?
* What file format is native to Player PRO?
* What do I need to do to make my own MOD files?
* Where can I find MOD files?
* How do I go About Writing MOD-Playing Code?
* How do I Register the Player PRO so I can Edit MOD files?
* What do I do if I cant get the Player PRO to work?
* What other programs for the Macintosh play or Edit MOD files?
* Seeking further technical information.
* Electronic Mailing-List Address


WHAT IS THE PLAYER PRO DEMO?

"The Player PRO" is a shareware music/soundtrack file player and
editor for the Apple Macintosh.  The version available on public FTP
sites and BBS systems is a _DEMONSTRATION_ version and does not have editing,
and some other capabilities activated, and is commonly known as the "BBS"
archive.


WHAT IS THE LATEST VERSION OF THE PLAYER PRO?

As of June 9, 1994, the latest version of the Player PRO is version
4.15(6)  (Released: 6/6/94)

In some erlier versions of The Player PRO, it's hard to tell exactly what
version it is, because in some places it will say one version number, and
in other places it will say another.  The best way is probabaly to check the
version in the "Get Info" window, in the Finder.  (Though even this may
not be reliable... just look at all the different version numbers and try
to find the latest one.)


WHAT ARE THE FEATURES OF THE PLAYER PRO?

A registered version of the Player PRO can currently import and play music
module files of the following types:

Amiga SoundTracker 4 voice, 15 instrument
Amiga NoiseTracker 4 voice, 31 instrument (M.K. signature)
Amiga ProTracker 4 voice, 31 instrument, 64 pattern (M.K. sig.)
Amiga ProTracker 4 voice, 31 instrument, 128 pattern (M!K! sig)
Amiga Star Tracker (StarTrekker) 4 voice (FLT4 sig)
Amiga Star Tracker (StarTrekker) 8 voice (FLT8 sig) [Not tested]
Amiga Oktalyzer 4-8 voice [beta]
IBM FastTracker (ver 1.0) 6 & 8 voice (6CHN, 8CHN sig)
Macintosh MADF 1-16 voice, 8 bit instruments (Player PRO ver 4.1x? - 4.154)
Macintosh MADG 1-32 voice, 16 bit instruments (Player PRO ver 4.155 - ?)

The Player PRO does not yet properly import the following music formats:
MIDI, IBM 669 ("Composd" editor), IBM ScreamTracker 3.0 (S3M),
Amiga MED/OctaMED, and IBM Multi-Tracker Module (MTM), but these
are being worked on!

Note: The "FastTracker 1.0" 8-channel module type is actualy identical
to IBM GraveMod (.WOW files with "M.K." sig), and at least two 8-track
Atari STe formats ("FA08" and Octalyser's "CD81").. one simply needs to
change the 4-byte signature at position 1080 in the file to "8CHN" in
order to import them with Player PRO.


WHAT HARDWARE DO I NEED TO RUN THE PLAYER PRO?

The Player PRO will run on any Apple Macintosh with an Apple Sound Chip
(ASC) in it, or possibly a non-ASC Macintosh with System 7.1 and
Sound Manager 3.0 extension. (System 7.2 and above have Sound Manager 3.0
built-in) This includes the Mac SE/030 and the Mac LC, though they probably
do not have performance which is as good as machines like the Macintosh
Quadra family, or the AV series.

The Player PRO also works on the Power PC series, and has a "FAT" binary
code block in the data-fork for this purpose. The data fork contents can be
deleted by those who do not have a Power PC and wish to save some disk space.


WHERE CAN I GET THE PLAYER PRO?

The Player PRO version 4.15x is available from FTP site
sumex.stanford.edu, in directory path: /info-mac/snd/util
or these info-mac mirror sites:
wuarchive.wustl.edu in path: /systems/mac/info-mac/snd/util
ftp.hawaii.edu in path: /mirrors/info-mac/snd/util

As well as:  mac.archive.umich.edu, path: /mac/sound/soundutil

The file name (often) is: player-pro-415x-demo.hqx  (stored in Stuffit
Lite/Stuffit Delux format, and encoded with BinHex 4.0)


WHAT SOFTWARE DO I NEED TO RUN THE PLAYER PRO?

All versions of the Player PRO need System Software that takes
advantage of the Apple Sound Chip.  This includes system version
6.0.5 to 6.0.8, but is better implemented in System 7.0 and 7.1.
however, none of these contain the specific information for using
the Player PRO's current capabilities optimally.. you need
"Sound Manager 3.0" _and_ "System 7.1" specificly for this.
The Sound Manager 3.0 extension (as well as an enhanced Sound Control
Panel, version 8.0.1) is available via FTP at ftp.apple.com, in the file:
system-update-2-0-1-image.hqx, in directory path:
/dts/mac/sys.soft/7.system.updates.  The file must be
downloaded in ASCII mode, unless you have an automatic BinHex converter.
You must then un-BinHex the file, and then use the utilities called
"MountImage" (a Control Panel) or "DiskCopy" (an application), both from
Apple, in order to access the *.image file  (the file will have to be
decompressed first.)

If you don't have System 7.1 with Sound Manager 3.0, the sound quality
will depend completely on the performence of the Apple Sound Chip and
specialized routines that Player PRO uses for it, rather than standard
routines from Apple Computer.

Once you install the Sound Manager Extension, reboot your machine, and
launch Player PRO.  Go to the "Preferences" menu selection and set it
to use the "mono" Sound Manager 3.0 routines if you don't have your
Mac connected to a stereo.  This will significantly reduce problems
with the software, though it may run slower than it would with the
specialized, hardware-accessing sound routines.  Also, make sure you
turn on the "32-bit addressing" mode, in the "Memory" control panel
before running the latest version of Player PRO.

A Wish List:

All of the above is of course a lot of trouble.  It would be nice if
Antoine would add to the "Preferences" the option to use some
"Sound Manager 2.0" playing code, for use on non-32-bit-clean Macs running
system software erlier than 7.1.  (The shareware program "MacTracker 1.2"
has source code like this)  It would be even nicer if Antoine would
also include "Sound Driver/Sound Manager 1.0" routines, for the very old,
pre-ASC Macintoshes to be able to use The Player PRO!  (in Black and White,
with a small screen, of course.)

If you have a wish list of your own, feel free to contact Antoine Rosset
in email or with a fax, and suggest it to him.

A Note About Bugs:

Player PRO currently crashes if you attempt to "Import S3M" (IBM
ScreamTracker 3.0 MODs), so don't bother with it. (this will only
work in version 4.155 for now)  IBM FastTracker 8-voice
MODs load and play fine, however.  (Though you may run out of memory)
An actual 8-voice Amiga "StarTrekker" MOD file has not been tested yet,
but 4-voice StarTrekker (also called "Star Tracker" v 1.2) play fine.

Player PRO will force mod files from other Mac programs which
_already_ have an icon to have a Player PRO icon when it plays them.
You may or may not want this to happen. (too bad it isn't optional..)

Sometimes the icon for the Player PRO 4.15x application will look like
the icon from "The Player II", even on a color screen.  But it
also may look like a colorful Compact Disk... I have no idea why it is
sometimes one or the other.

Files do not always repeat correctly if they have a "pattern jump"
command at the very end.. also, there are problems with modules
that do not set the speed in the beginning: if they repeat, and the
speed has been altered, they will replay at this new faster or slower
playing speed!

The editor actualy displays octave ranges C2-B6, though MOD files
use octave ranges of C1-C3 (extended versions use C0-C4).  This does not
seem to effect pitch playback quality, however.  The General-MIDI and XTracker
formats support up to 9 full octaves!


WHAT ARE MOD FILES?

"MOD" files, also called "music modules", or "soundtrack" files, were
originally created on the Amiga computer by a man named Karsten Obarski,
in a program called "SoundTracker".  They were intended to be compact
ways of storing music inside games and demos, especially background music.
The files consist of "patterns" of musical notes inside "partitions"
(pattern lists) which can be played in different order, and more than once.
(Note: the term "pattern" sometimes refers to a single set of 4 notes &
commands in a 4-voice module, or sometimes to an _entire_ pattern list
(partition) of 64 patterns.)

The musical notes are played as sampled sounds which are stored at the end
of the MOD file.  The sounds are played back at different pitches to give
the effect of a real musical instrument or synthesizer.
(Note: The term "sample" sometimes refers to a single byte inside
an 8-bit digitized sound, and sometimes to the _entire_ digitized
sound (intrument or "patch".)

Simmilar "memory dump" formats were written by Amiga programmers like
Armin Sander (Oktalyzer), and Teijo Kinnunen (MED), though later they were
changed both to something more extensible. (see below)

The origional SoundTracker format was later extended by "Mahoney and Kaktus"
of Switzerland in an Amiga program called "NoiseTracker", and later even
further extended in "ProTracker" by Lars "ZAP" Hamre (PT 1.1),
Peter "CRAYON" Hanning (PT 2.3A), and eventualy various members of
an Amiga coding group called "CryptoBurners".  Version 3.10 or 3.15
is the current version of ProTracker for the Amiga.

Since the origional version of the MOD format spec, there have been many
new types of MOD file, some simply adding more patterns so the MODs could
hold more "voices", while others added more effects.  These types include
Star Tracker, Oktalyzer, and OctaMED on the Amiga, and GraveMod (WOW modules),
FastTracker 1.0, ScreamTracker 2 & 3.0, Farandole, MultiTracker,
XTracker (DMF modules), TakeTracker (almost identical to FastTracker 1.0),
and UltraTracker on the IBM.

Newer, more advanced and flexible module formats are always being written,
and future version of the IBM "ScreamTracker" and "FastTracker" programs
will have completely new, extended formats.


WHAT FILE FORMAT IS NATIVE TO PLAYER PRO?

The module format that The Player PRO currently uses is called "MAD",
and is commonly referred to as "MADF", though a newer, extended version
with the internal signature "MADG" is now being used.


WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO MAKE MY OWN MOD FILES?

In order to edit your own MOD music files on the Macintosh, you need to
register the Player PRO Demo so that the editing capabilities can be
activated.  Also, you need specific information about the internal
structure of MOD files, as well as the different musical effects "commands"
which you can use within the MOD.  This information is available on
FTP site sumex.stanford.edu, in the files "mod-info.txt" and
"mod-form.txt", both of which reside in directory path
/info-mac/sound/util, or on the mirror site wuarchive.wustl.edu
in /systems/mac/info-mac/sound/util.  You _must_ have these files,
or something else with similar information, because most MOD editors
(Sound Trackers) are not like traditional music composition software,
and they do not rely on placing notes on a musical staff.  (which would
be far more intuitive.)  Rather, the user must edit the patterns directly.
The Player PRO npw offers a limited form of "Classical Partition" editing,
which is a step in the right direction.

Some helpful information for editing MOD music would be in the
"LESSON_1.TXT" file by Per Almered of Sweden, which origionaly
came with an Atari STe 8-track module-editor called "Octalyser".
This is available with it's accompanying module on info-mac ftp sites.
(info-mac/info/sft/mod-editing-lesson.hqx).

Also, the electronic magazine called "SIGNALS" has some very valuable
information about editing mods, by an IBM programmer called "Necros",
at email address: <[e-mail]> (this address
seems to be out of date)... "Necros" and other IBM music programmers
and composers can sometimes be found on Internet Relay Chat (IRC),
in channel "#coders".

It might also be a good idea to have the Mac shareware utility "HexEdit"
(System 7 only), which is great for editing the data inside a Macintosh
file data fork.


WHERE CAN I FIND MOD FILES?

If you simply want to play MOD files, a good place to look is the aminet
FTP site.  You will need the Macintosh utility "MacLHA" in order to
decompress archive files with names that end in ".lzh" and ".lha".
Aminet's FTP address is: wuarchive.wustl.edu  path:
/systems/amiga/aminet/mods


HOW DO I GO ABOUT WRITING MOD-PLAYING CODE?

You can get source code for playing MOD files several different ways.
Antoine Rosset's MADF module playing libraries are available in info-mac
as a developer package.  Frank Seide's Sound-Trecker MOD-playing routines
are available at the same location.  Tom Lawrence & Marc Espie's Macintosh
Tracker source code is also available.  Other source-code tends to be in
Amiga 68000 Assembly, or IBM C & Pascal (or assembly) source.  The other
thing you will need, of course, is the format specification for
the type of module files you wish to play.  (This is available in
a Macintosh "UnZIP 2.0.1" archive file called "MUSFMTxx.ZIP",
or on info-mac FTP sites as: info-mac/info/music-file-formats-xx.hqx)

A good module for testing a MOD player is "shadfant.mod" ("Shaded Fantasy"),
by "mub" of "lsd".. Most mod players can't play it correctly, but it _is_
a ProTracker module, written in 1991.  [info from "Sungod" on IRC]


HOW DO I REGISTER THE PLAYER PRO?

The Player PRO's shareware fee is $20 US money.  The author would
like cash sent to him, or money transferred to his postal account
(number = 12-34943-1), or a transfer to his bank (Societe de
Banque Suisse, SBS) account (number = D1-107.121)

If you must send a check, add $15  (total: $35)

The author's address is:

Antoine Rosset
16 BD Tranchees
1206 GENEVA
SWITZERLAND

Internet email: [e-mail] or [e-mail]
Compuserve email: 100277,164
Fax: [phone]
BBS: First Class, 2400-14400baud, (41 22) 320 11 95, User ID: ROSSET Antoine

If you send email to Antoine Rosset, expect 1-2 weeks for him to reply.
The same goes for fax orders.  If you send him regular mail, it's
likely to be 2-3 weeks or so before you receive a diskette.


WHAT DO I DO IF I CANT GET THE PLAYER PRO TO WORK?

If the program crashes, be sure to note the machine you are using, the
system software version, how much memory you have (RAM), what sort of
extensions and control panels you are running that are not from Apple,
and what exactly it was that you did just before the crash, and what sort
of error it gave you.  Send this information to Mr. Rosset, and he will
work to correct the problem and get a bug-fixed version to you.


WHAT OTHER PROGRAMS FOR THE MACINTOSH PLAY AND EDIT MOD FILES?

Currently, the Player PRO is the only Macintosh program that edits Amiga
MOD files.  There is a commercial program for the Macintosh called
"Super Studio Session" which edits and plays files somewhat similar to
MODs, and it works on non-ASC Macintoshes too! (Like the Mac Classic)

There is a non-shareware product for producing General-Midi musical
soundtracks for games, etc., called "Halestorm", by Steve Hales, of
Halestorm, Inc. <[e-mail]>.  This product was used for the
music in games such as: SimCity 2000, Lemmings for the Mac, and
Disney After Dark.

QuickTime 2.0 will be able to support Midi-style "music tracks".

Some other shareware programs that play MOD files on the Mac:
-------------------------------------------------------------
SoundApp 1.1, by Norman Franke <[e-mail]>
The Sound-Trecker 2.0.1, by Frank Seide <[e-mail]>
MacTracker 1.2, by Thomas R. Lawrence <[e-mail]>
-------------------------------------------------------------

HyperCard shareware MOD Players:
--------------------------------
MusicBox XCMD 2.1, by Alex Metcalf <[e-mail]>
PlayMOD 1.1, by K. Harris <[e-mail]>
-------------------------------------------------------------

If someone would write a Macintosh MOD player for the Mac Plus, that would
be great.  There are ways to squeeze up to 8 "voices" out of the original
Mac, but it takes some fancy waveform mixing while the file is playing.  It
would also use older Sound Manager or Sound Driver routines.

Note: Macintosh mod-players tend to support instrument samples larger
than 64K (mabye up to 128K), but mod-players on other systems often
do not.  If you want your exported MOD file to be playable on as many
systems as possible, make sure your instruments are not too big!
(the smaller the better.  A "ChipTune" is a module with instruments that
are generaly under 1024 bytes in length!


SEEKING FURTHER TECHNICAL INFORMATION

In addition to the people listed above, following people seem to know a lot
about music related programming on the Macintosh:

Joe Zobkiw <[e-mail]>
Bill Williams <[e-mail]>
Jim Reekes <[e-mail]>

Another person with lots of info about module-formats is Harald Zappe
<[e-mail]>, an IBM programmer, and Peter Kunath
<[e-mail]>, an Amiga programmer.

Please write to me ([e-mail]> if you know a lot about Macintosh
music and sound programming and can help other programmers.


ELECTRONIC MAILING-LIST

If you need more info, join the Player PRO Electronic Mailing List,
by sending email with your name and preferred email address to:

[e-mail]

(This is not the actual address of the list, but rather a seperate
address for sending personal email-address add/drop requests...
please don't use the actual list address for personal messages
to the list moderator!  The list is not automated.)

Antoine is on this list, along with several other Mac mod-player
programmers, so your comments will be heard by them.
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