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- S C E N E W O R L D M U S I C
-
- From People of Liberty
- Text by Dave Moorman
-
-
- NOTE: Scene World Music will LOAD and
- play the first number from any drive,
- but the menu of songs will work only
- on Drive 8. Also, the program does not
- return to LOADSTAR.
-
-
- Let's face it: Here in the USA,
- our SID music is lame by Euro
- standards. Not bad music, for the
- transcription works of Dave Marquis,
- Corky Cochran, and others have brought
- rich, classical and classic music to
- the C-64.
-
- But our most used music player is
- SIDPlayer. There is nothing wrong
- with SIDPlayer, either. But music
- programs used by the Demo Dudes take
- the SID a step or two beyond just
- "play".
-
- Like drums. Cymbals. Ripply
- arppegios. Rock music.
-
- Having written a lame music
- processor, I wondered [how] the Euro
- music could have such remarkable
- sounds. I really wanted to incorporate
- the technology in PRESTO. But I
- couldn't figure out the trick.
-
- At the 2002 Chicago Expo, I was
- finally let into the secret. A folder,
- stamped with "Eyes Only", "Need to
- Know", and "Shoot Yourself After
- Reading" was placed before me by Robin
- Harbron. Actually, there was no
- folder. Sean Pappalardo (a.k.a.
- Pegasus/RPG) was working with one of
- the DemoTune programs, making the
- sound of a tom-tom.
-
- And here is the trick. Demo music
- is based on a 60 cycle per second IRQ
- (or to be more exact, a raster IRQ,
- which in Europe is 50 Hz). So is
- SIDPlayer, but what the Euro Dudez do
- is create compound sounds. Each 60th
- of a second, the output of the voice
- is changed: For example (if I recall
- correctly), the tom-tom began with a
- high frequency sawtooth tap, then slid
- down the scale in musical 5ths with a
- pulse waveform. "t!uuuuuuuuuu".
-
- Change the frequencies, waveforms,
- duration and you can create most any
- sound. The power behind the trick is
- to divide the sound into 60th of a
- second slices.
-
- And actually, this is not that
- different from the rich ripply
- arppegios that grace Euro songs.
-
- WE need to learn how to use the
- DemoTune sequencers. We really need an
- IRQ driver and understanding of how
- the files play. I did a little
- research and found that these files
- execute at $1000. To see the Basic
- I used to test things out, LOAD and
- LIST "PLAYTEST".
-
- Then I wrote a little IRQ driver:
- "PLAYER832.ML". I situated the code at
- location 832, since that is very often
- completely out of the way. The only
- downside is that everything below 1024
- is cleared with a warm reset. So, you
- will also find "PLAYERC000.ML". Use
- ML-MOVER and these two assemblies to
- put the code wherever you want it.
-
- To see the whole set-up, LOAD and
- LIST "PLAY.BAS" from this side.
-
- Now we have a whole slew of brand
- new songs for your enjoyment from
- Scene World. These are the "musics"
- that have graced the first five issues
- of this "Talking Disk" magazine.
-
- By the way, we will carry each
- issue of Scene World as it comes out.
- Next month, we will take a step back
- to SWO3, which has historic interviews
- with Fender Tucker and Yours Truly.
- Then SWO6 should be available.
-
- And we are not just ripping off
- Scene World. This is a unique look at
- what is going on around the world. If
- you are not on the Internet (and many
- of you are just as happy that way),
- Scene World will expand your horizons.
- And in reciprocation, I have edited a
- one-D64 special LOADSTAR for Scene
- World to distribute in their neck of
- the woods.
-
- We are all in this together! And I
- find new excitement in reaching around
- the world to friends who have so much
- in common with us.
-
- Thank you, People of Liberty.
-
- DMM
-
-
-