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Text File | 1989-03-06 | 19.4 KB | 544 lines

31m----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr.G presents Yet another version of Soundtracker ( What is it people see in this program ? ) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This latest version of Soundtracker is based on the original V1.21 by Karsten Obarski. It contains an enhanced,extended playroutine and some extra stuff,like: - Larger samples possible (64K) - Pattern length adjustable - Automatic portamento and volume slide. - A real (really real) USA keymap - A German keymap - Choose files from directory - Loads IFF-samples - Auto-load (sample settings automatically set) - No more funny shift key handling and disk-activated auto-repeat - No more keyboard crashes - Each voice can be switched on and off - Overall volume controll - Edit while playing pattern or song - Filter on/off function (manually or during play) - Selectable speed with 56 speeds (also during play) - All cuts to buffer - Slightly faster printroutine - No more bloody #!?*!# presets - Free memory indication. - It looks better than the original -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Sample length: The maximum sample length is now 64k bytes. ( This does NOT mean that you can load 15 samples of 64k, since this would need 960k of chip memory.) If you specify a sample length of zero or if you specify a sample length larger than the actual sample length, and then load a sample,the sample length will be set automatically. If you set repeat and replen to zero they will be automatically set if the sample is saved in IFF-format. IF YOU SET LENGTH,VOLUME,REPEAT OR REPLEN TO ANY OTHER VALUE THAN ZERO THEY WILL NOT BE CHANGED! - Pattern length: The pattern length can be set to any value between (and including) 32 and 64. - The keymap: Version V2.0 ( and all of its follow-ups ) did NOT support a standard USA keymap, (no matter what the Jungle Command says) but some half USA/half German keymap. ( In fact,the only change made was the change of Y and Z and moving the lower two rows of the piano-keyboard one key to the right,because a German keyboard has one extra key between the z/y key and the left shift key, which the original Soundtracker used. But these aren't the only differences between a German and a 'normal' keyboard ) Therefore this latest version of Soundtracker now supports a REAL USA keymap. (although not all characters can be typed). It also contains a german keymap,because I happen to own a German Amiga (It was cheaper). In the original version the shift keys were handled in a funny way: if you wanted to type a shifted character, you had to press shift again for every character. This may be quite handy if you only have one arm with only one finger on your hand,but I changed it anyway. If there are any handicapped persons who want to use the old shift key handling, I'll supply them with a special version of Soundtracker pro. - Directory: If you click 'LOAD SONG','SAVE SONG' or 'LOAD SAMPLE' without having typed a filename first,the directory will be displayed,so that you can select a file by just clicking on it. To quickly clear a filename that is already set, click the filename and then press the right mouse button. (This button functions as the return key) NOTE: The disks that contain the songs and the samples don't have to be called ST-00 and ST-01 anymore. Instead,the song is loaded from the SONGS-directory of the disk that is in the internal drive. Samples will be loaded from the internal drive or DF1 ,depending on the version you use. After the song is loaded you will be asked to insert your sample disk in the internal drive,and then the samples will be loaded. If not all samples were on the disk you inserted you will be asked to insert another disk. This continues until all samples have been loaded. (or until you click cancel) HINT: If you are working on a song and only have one drive put all the samples you need on one disk,and create a SONGS-dir on that same disk. In this way you won't have to switch disks. This Soundtracker version will write a file-list on the disk if you leave the write-protect off,so that long directories will be loaded fast. If you add songs or samples to a disk that already contained a file-list ( called "stfastdir" ) they will not automatically appear in the directory. To add the new files to the list you can do two things: 1 - Simply remove the list when you've added new files. 2 - Select LOAD SONG or LOAD SAMPLE without a disk in the drive. Now a requester telling you that there is no disk in the drive will appear. Click cancel once. Another requester will appear. Put the disk in the drive and wait a while. If you do this Soundtracker will write a new list that includes the new files. Files that end with ".info" and directories will not appear in the file-list - IFF-samples: You can now load normal IFF-samples. ( for instance all samples saved with Audiomaster ) If you do this,the sample settings will be set for you. - Auto-load: The auto-load feature for IFF-files also works for none IFF-files. However,only the sample length will be set, repeat and replen will remain unchanged. If you specify a volume of zero the volume will be set to maximum. HINT: IFF-files are a little longer than just the sound- data. If you want to save disk-space and memory, you should use the IFF-to-RAW conversion program on all samples that don't have to be repeated. WARNING: Although it's easy to save all samples with repeat in IFF format,you have to be careful if you want to use a sample with and without repeat. The IFF-format asumes that repeat+replen=samplelength If this is not the case you have to save two different versions of the sample: One with repeat and one without. Ofcourse you can also save just the longest of the two and set the samplesettings yourself. - Repeat and replen: If you modify repeat and/or replen they will be kept within certain boundaries, so that repeat+replen does not exceed the sample length. - Filter: The filter can be switched on and off with the FILTER- gadget in the VARIOUS sub-menu. It can also be switched during the song with the E-command (See playroutine-description) THIS DOESN'T WORK ON ALL AMIGAS !! - Speed: Like the filter ,the playing speed can also be changed manually or during play. (See playroutine-description) - Edit: You can edit a song while it's playing. Click PATTERN or PLAY to play a pattern or the song and then click edit. - Voice on/off: Each voice can be individually switched on and off. Just click in the pattern on the voice you want to switch on or off. The notes will appear darker when the voice is off. - Overall volume: You can select a relative volume for all voices. All volumes are multiplied by this volume and then divided by $40 (#64). You can also change the relative volume with the proportional gadget. - Memory: In the VARIOUS-submenu you can see how many memory is left for samples. If you load so much samples that the free memory is less than 5 Kbytes,you might get troubles reading the disk. Therefore the amount of memory will flash on and off when it gets under 70 kbytes,so be careful with big samples when it's flashing. To start playing a song or a pattern at the current cursor position click PATTERN or PLAY with both mouse buttons. keyfunctions: ------------- - Cut: Put the cursor on the track that you want to delete and then press shift-F3. The track will be copied to a copy-buffer and deleted from the pattern. - Copy: To copy a track without deleting it from the pattern,place the cursor on the track and press shift-F4 - Paste: To insert the track in the buffer at another place, put the cursor where you want the track and press shift-F5 Use Amiga-F3/F4/F5 to cut,copy or paste the whole pattern F4 or 3 in the numeric field (page down): go down one pattern. F5 or 9 in the numeric field (page up): go up one pattern. 7 in the numeric field (home): go to pattern zero. 8 and 2 in the numeric field scroll the track under the cursor up or down ESC stops song or pattern from playing. Cursor-keys move cursor. F6 - Set cursor to first line of pattern. F7 - Set cursor to 1/4th of the pattern. F8 - Set cursor halfway in the pattern. F9 - Set cursor to 3/4th of the pattern. F10 - Set cursor to last line of pattern. DEL - Delete note under cursor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------- ABOUT THE PLAYROUTINE ------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Patterns. --------- Any piece of music written with SoundTracker is build up of patterns. SoundTracker holds a table with information about the sequence in which these parts must be played. With 'Position' you determine your position in the table. With 'Pattern' you define what pattern to play at that position. 'Length' defines the total size of the table. The Keys. --------- The keys on your Amiga have been grouped to represent the layout of a two-octave piano-keyboard. You can shift the keyboard one octave down or up with the aid of the F1 and F2 keys, thus incrementing the range of the keyboard to three octaves. Instruments. ------------ You can use up to fifteen different instruments in one music-piece. Before you can use a sample as an instrument, some values must be defined. You can do this by either using autoload , or by setting these values your- self. Length : This is simply the length of the used sample in bytes. The maximum sample length is now set at $FFFE,which is almost 64k bytes. Volume : This is the default volume of that instrument. Replen+ repeat : When replen is set to 2, each instrument will be played once. When replen is set to any other value, the instrument will be repeated until an other note is played. This is usefull when playing waveforms. Whenever repeat is set to a non-zero value, SoundTracker will repeat a part of that particular sample. In this case repeat defines the offset and replen the length of the part that must be repeated. In other words: If you specify repeat and replen,the sample will be played once from start to end , and then the part specified by repeat and replen will be repeated over and over and over and..." Notes. ------ C # 1 3 C 2 3 / / | \| / / | Arpeggio, portamento etc. info. / / Command / Inst# Note to be played. Note : This is simply the note that must be played by that particular ---- instrument. Inst# : This is the number of the instrument that must be used to play ----- the note. When the instrument number is zero, the last selected instrument will be used. Command : This number tells SoundTracker what special functions must be ------- performed while playing the note. These functions are as follows : 0 - Normal play or arpeggio 1 - Simple portamento up 2 - Simple portamento down 3 - Slow automatic portamento up 4 - Slow automatic portamento down 5 - Fast automatic portamento up 6 - Fast automatic portamento down 7 - Set the overall volume 8 - Slide the overall volume (automatic) 9 - Finetune period up A - Finetune period down B - Slide sample volume (automatic) C - Set sample volume D - Slide sample volume E - Set filter. F - Set speed Info : This byte contains the additional information for the commands. ---- Arpeggio : Arpeggio is used for simulating accords. It does this by rapidly changing the notes while playing an instrument. Arpeggios are selected whenever the info byte has a non-zero value and no other commands are selected. When arpeggios are used, SoundTracker looks six times ( maximum,this depends on the speed ) during the play of one note at the information contained in the info byte. Each nibble (4 bits) in this byte defines how many notes SoundTracker must add to the the note currently playing. In each of the six passes SoundTracker does the following with the information contained in the info byte : 1 - Play the current note 2 - Add the first nibble to the current note. 3 - Add the second nibble to the current note. 4 - Play the current note. 5 - Add the first nibble to the current note. 6 - Add the second nibble to the current note. If you change the number of passes per note (the speed) to a value of 2-5 arpeggio can't be played correctly Portamento : Portamento is used for 'sliding' of the instrument. Soundtracker Pro uses three basically different portamento's - The first (commands 1 and 2) is the same as the one in Soundtracker V2.0 and the versions that are based on V2.0: Five times during each note (normal speed) the value of the info byte will be added to or subtracted from the period. - The second (commands 3 and 4) will add or subtract this value once for each note,this enables very smooth portamento. - The third (commands 5 and 6) will add or subtract this value six times for each note. In addition commands 3,4,5 and 6 will be repeated automatically each next line in the pattern until you play another note,set the portamento value to zero, or use another portamento command. Examples: simple portamento: D#2 3208 Play note and add 8 to period 5 times --- 0208 add 8 to period 5 times --- 0208 add 8 to period 5 times --- 0210 add 10 to period 5 times --- 0000 hold the current period Slow automatic portamento: D#2 3404 Play note with 4 added to period --- 0000 add 4 to period --- 0E00 Switch filter off and add 4 to period --- 0400 hold current period Fast automatic portamento: D#2 3404 Play note and add 4 to period 6 times --- 0000 add 4 to period 6 times --- 0F50 Set speed to 5 and add 4 to period 5X --- 0400 hold current period / / / (Speed changes number of passed per note) Volume: Command #7 lets you set the relative overall volume. If you set the relative volume to $40 the samples will be played at their current volume (just like with any other soundtracker). If you set the relative volume to, for instance, $20 all samples will be played at half ($20/$40) volume. Command #8 lets you slide the relative volume. This is useful for fading in and out. The information in the info byte will be treated just like it is for sliding the sample volume (see below). Command #8 will be repeated automatically for each next line. When command 12 ($C) is selected, the volume is set to the value contained in the info byte. The volume will remain at this level until a next sample is played. At this time, the volume is reset to the default volume level of that sample. Example : C#1 1C22 - Set volume to $22 and use instrument # 1 to play the C#1 note. D-2 0000 - Use instrument # 1 to play the D-2 note. (Volume level remains at $22) B-1 1000 - Use instrument # 1 to play the B-1 note and set volume to default value for that instrument. It is also possible to "slide" the volume up or down while playing. In this case the first nibble of the info byte defines the amount at which the volume must be decremented, and the second nibble the amount at which it must be incremented. Example : D#3 2D20 - Slide volume down, amount = 2 --- 0D20 - Slide again --- 0D20 - Slide again --- 0000 - no more sliding To slide the volume automatically use command 11 ($b) The example above would then look like this: D#3 2B20 - Start sliding --- 0000 - Keep sliding --- 0000 - Keep sliding --- 0B00 - stop sliding The volume will be changed only once per note (and not 5 times per note like in Soundtracker V2.0) so you can now slide the volume really smooth. FINETUNING: Commands 9 and 10 ($A) let you finetune the period. The value in the info byte will be added to or subtracted from the current period. (So in fact these are commands 3 and 4 non-automatic) This is useful when you have a sample containing a complete rhythm- loop,and you want to make the sample repeat exactly at the same point as the pattern. FILTER: With the E-command you can switch the filter on and off example: D-2 1E00 plays note and turns the filter off D-2 1E01 plays note and turns the filter on SPEED: With command F you can change the speed. Example: C-2 1F50 Play note C-2 using sample #1, and set the speed to 5. --- 0F51 Set the speed to 5 1/4 --- 0F52 Set the speed to 5 1/2 --- 0F53 Set the speed to 5 3/4 NOTE: Normally the playroutine takes 6 passes for one note. When changing the speed the high nibble of the info byte determines the number of passes,therefore the standard speed is 60 The low info-nibble determines the extra delay after each line in the pattern,enabling you to set the speed with intervals of 1/4. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The playroutine on the SoundTracker disk is for using your music in demos, intros, games etc. It was written using the Seka-assembler and the source of the routine can directly be incorporated in your own sourcecode. The source contains a full explanation of how to use it. _______________________________________________________________ | | | All persons,places and events mentioned in this textfile | | are purely fictional. | | Any resemblance to existing persons or events is coincidental.| | | | Dr.G will not be liable for any damage directly | | or indirectly caused by the use of Soundtracker pro, | | IFF-to-RAW or any other program or file on this disk | | and all subsequent full or partial copies of this disk. | | | | Soundtracker pro contains parts of the original | | Ultimate Soundtracker by Karsten Obarski, | | therefore you need permission of the copyright-holder | | if you wish to copy Soundtracker pro. | | | | COPYING SOUNDTRACKER PRO WITHOUT THIS PERMISSION | | IS A VIOLATION OF APPLICABLE LAWS !! | | ( Now don't tell me you didn't know that) | | | | The IFF-to-RAW conversion program may be copied and | | distributed freely,but it may not be sold | | | | Messing around with Soundtracker pro or IFF-to-RAW | | is a violation of rule #1 in Dr.G's book of rules, | | and will probably result in some busted testikels. | | ( namely yours ) | |_______________________________________________________________|