GEMini Atari/GEMini_Atari_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1993.iso/files/demo/dosound/intro.lst

File List | 1992-03-26 | 9.0 KB | 159 lines

Program Operations:

Overview:

  This section of the manual provides some basic information to help
you get started.  It is not intended to cover all the operational
aspects of the program.  Detailed information regarding the features
of the program are discussed in the Menu Bar and Tool Bar sections of
this manual.

  Operating the DoSound program is relatively straight forward.
Dialog with the program is accomplished by selecting various menu bar
entries and by selecting buttons within the tool bar.  These dialog
boxes are of the standard GEM variety.  A fixed size window is used to
display the work area.  The only part of this window that may be
adjusted is the vertical slide bar, which causes the measures to scroll
(the up an down arrow keys may also be used to scroll the work area -
if the SHIFT key is held down while the arrow keys are pressed, the work
area will page up or down accordingly).

  It is not necessary to fully understand how the sound chip works
in order to use this program.  The DoSound program takes care of all
the nitty gritty work to prepare the necessary information required by
the Sound Chip to replay the music you have entered.  You simply arrange
the notes of your song in a time frame of measures, select the way they
should be played (volumes, waves envelopes etc.) and tell the DoSound
program to compile the information.  A basic knowledge of the Sound
Chip's features is helpful to understand what your options are.

First Steps:

  The first step to creating a song is to choose the mode that you are
interested in using, either the Chip mode or the MIDI mode.  The switch
for this option is the last menu entry in the Options menu title.  At
start up you are in the Chip mode.  The next step is to decide if you
are going to create a song from scratch or if you are going to input
notes from sheet music.  If you are writing a song of your own creation,
the simulated piano is probably the best way to go.  If you are going to
enter notes from sheet music, you will probably want to switch to the
staff display.  The switches for these displays are the first two menu
entries in the Display menu title.  In either case, you should select a
time signature and tempo for your song (although this does not have to
be done at this time).  The default values at start up are 4/4 time and
a tempo of 96.  The last piece of groundwork is to establish your
preferences provided in the Options Preferences menu entry.

Quick Start (Chip Mode):

  If you are interested in achieving some quick results with the program,
click on the button in the middle of the tool bar that displays a piece of
a piano (this is the step mode action button).  Now select one of the note
values such as the quarter note or eighth note (from the row of buttons in
the top left of the tool bar).  Now move the mouse over the simulated piano
and begin clicking the left mouse key while it is over various notes.  The
notes you select will be drawn in the work area beginning at their starting
time and spanning their duration.  This gives you a graphical view of the
notes in your song over time.  If you hold down the shift key while doing
this you can build a chord of up to three notes.  After you have entered
several measures of music, select the Compile & Play entry from the Options
menu title.  After a short compiling time, your song will begin to play
(don't forget to turn up the volume!).

  When the follow playback option is enabled, you will not be able to
perform any tasks while the song is being replayed.  If the key click
has not been turned off with the Options Preferences menu entry, any key
stroke will cause the current song to stop playing, otherwise the escape
key will always stop the current song.  If you are unhappy with your song
and you want to start all over, simply select the File New menu entry.
You may want to experiment with both the simulated piano and the staff
display for selecting notes while in the step mode.

  Another method of entering notes is by selecting the pencil button in
the tool bar (this is the write mode).  While in this mode, notes are
written to the sound tables by clicking the mouse in the work area.
Clicking on the piano or staff will not work in this mode.  With this
mode, you can place notes of the length specified by the note length
buttons precisely where you want them.

Saving Your Work:

  When you are happy with your song, select the File Save As menu entry.
This operation will save two files, one which can be loaded later and
worked on (with the extension .SNG), and another which is a binary file
of the actual sound chip messages (with the extension .INL) that can be
played back from your own programs or with the JUKEBOX.PRG file provided.
Once a file has been saved (assigned a file name), the File Save menu
entry will automatically save the song without prompting you with the
file select box.

Editing:

  The majority of the other menu entries and tool bar buttons have to do
with editing your songs and for the MIDI mode.  These are discussed fully
in the Menu Bar and Tool Bar sections of this manual.  Some of these are
relatively simple to understand, while others require a brief explanation.
Feel free to experiment with any of the menu entries and tool bar buttons.

  Most of the editing functions revolve around a selection of measures.
The third action button in the tool bar with two curved arrows is the edit
button.  When this button is selected, you may select a range of measures
for editing or edit specific notes.  To get a quick understanding of this,
select the edit mode button and then click on a measure number (to the far
left of the work area).  That measure will now become inverted in color
indicating your selection.  At this point, many of the Edit menu entries
will now become selectable, allowing you to cut, copy, clear, transpose,
etc. the notes in that measure (see the Tool Bar section on action buttons
and the Menu Bar section on the Edit menu title).

  It is not necessary to select a range of measures while in the edit mode
in order to select the register buttons in the tool bar.  These buttons
present dialog boxes where you can change such information as; wave
envelopes and wave periods, volumes, noise periods and channel enabling.
At the top of each of these boxes are some editable text fields where you
can specify the first and last measures that should be changed.  If you do
make a measure selection while in the edit mode, the range of measures
selected will be proposed as the default values in these fields.  The
actual meaning of all the parameters in these dialog boxes are discussed
fully in the Tool Bar section of this manual.

MIDI Mode:

  Writing songs for the Sound Chip with the MIDI mode is similar to writing
songs in the Chip mode.  All of the methods provided with the Chip mode
also work in the MIDI mode.  Additionally, there are three more ways to
create Sound Chip songs.

  The first is to import a Standard MIDI file (SMF) into the DoSound
program via the File Import menu entry.  Most commercial sequencers provide
an option to save sequenced songs in the SMF format.  DoSound is capable of
importing type 0 and type 1 standard MIDI files.  DoSound Exports MIDI
files in format 0.  The next method of creating songs is with the real
time recorder.  When a recording is started, DoSound waits for the first
MIDI message to be received, and then begins to store the MIDI messages it
is interested in.  Since the MIDI mode was provided as a means to create
songs for the Sound Chip, DoSound only records note on and note off
messages.  The third method of entering data in the MIDI mode is with the
step action mode button.  When in this mode, notes can be selected from
the simulated piano or staff, and from the MIDI instrument.  If the MIDI
instrument is played while in the step mode, notes are written to the
sound tables exactly as they would be if you selected them from the
simulated piano.  The only difference is the method in which a chord of
notes is entered.  Once a MIDI note is played, the DoSound program will
add any more notes that are played as a chord until DoSound receives a
note off message.  Once a note off message is received, the step marker
will advance.

  There are additional editing features provided specifically for MIDI
data.  These options are discussed fully in the Menu Bar section of this
manual.  It is also possible to transfer a Chip mode song to the MIDI
tables and use these editing features on that data.  Afterwards, the data
can be transferred back to the Chip mode.

  When your MIDI session is complete, the sequence can be exported to a
disk file with the File Export menu entry, and transferred to the Chip
mode with the MIDI Transfer menu entry.  The procedures for transferring
a MIDI recording to the Chip mode are discussed in the Menu Bar section of
this manual.