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PSound.DOC
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1987-07-03
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PSOUND.DOC
A Mini-Doc for PSOUND.ARC
I. Introduction
This file is a small documentation file for the Perfect Sound sound editor
contained therein. This file does not replace the full manual, which can
be had (along with an update of the program itself and further information)
from SunRize Inc. Ordering information can begotten from the program
itself...Just go to the rightmost menu and select "About...".
The program was made to interface with the Perfect Sound audio digitizer,
copyright 1986 from SunRize Inc. The digitizer itself, along with a full
Manual and an upgrade to the program, can also be ordered directly for
a$79.00 charge (See above for ordering information). Enough..on to the how
to use. This software also works with the FutureSound audio digitizer.
II. Features of the program.
The Perfect Sound editor can work with both IFF and non-IFF sampled sounds,
and can play (and create) IFF-format instrument files. For full details on
the IFF (Interchange File Format) format, see the IFF_SND_FORMAT file on
this BBS. This text file will only deal with IFF where necessary.
To load a sound, go to the File menu and select "Load". A requester will
pop up and will default to df0: for sound files. If your sound files are
in another drive or directory, then click in the box marked "Drawer" and
enter the new directory at any time. Otherwise, click on the file you want
to load, then click on the gadget marked "Load".
The editor (depending on memory limitations) may have up to 15 sounds
loaded at any one time. You will see the names of available sounds (which
is the same as the filename) will be shown on screen at all times.
Clicking on the name of a sound is the same as clicking on the gadget
marked "Play Sample" in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
a. Gadgets and tools onscreen
There are 5 base gadgets onscreen at any one time. They are marked:
1. Pos'n
2. Start
3. End
4. Play Range
5. Play Sample
The use of these are as follows:
1. Pos'n: This one, which means position, is used to define where in the
sound any inserting will be done. Otherwise, this gadget has no effect.
2. Start: This gadget defines the start of an edit range, an edit range
being that part of a sound where most editing takes place. If you have
ever used a word processor, this is much like "block Start" on a WP. The
"PlayRange" gadget will begin playing the sound starting from this point in
it. There is a numeric indicator of the position of this slider gadget in
the bottom of the screen. The arrows to the right of this gadget will
raise/lower the value of this gadget by 1 for fine-tuning purposes. Is
also used to define the repeating part of an instrument when an instrument
is being defined. This has no other effects.
3. End: This gadget defines the end of the range, and is similar to the
"Block End" on a regular word processor. The arrows at the end of this
gadget are for fine-tuning, as they are for the Start gadget. No other
effects.
4. Play Range: This will play the range defined for the current sound.
5. Play Sample: Plays the entire sound, regardless of the Start and
Endmarkers.
b. Menu Items
All menu items are active, save for the "Digitize" menu. Do NOT use this
menu unless you have the digitizer, or you will lock the system with noway
to get out of it, as the program looks for a signal that never comes.
Other menu items are: Edit, Special, File (explained above.) The useful
menus are explained below, save for "File", which is self-explanatory.
1. Edit
The Edit menu's functions (most of them) will operate on
thecurrently-selected range. These functions are:
a. Delete a range: Simple enough, delete the currently-defined range.
b. Delete sample: Delete entire sample from memory
c. Insert marked range: This will copy part of one sample into another or
even into the same sample. First, select the range to be copied from.
Then, select the sound to copy the range into. Set the pos'n gadget to the
place in the sound you want the other sound to be inserted into. Then,
select this menu item. Click on the sound you want to insert FROM. The
marked range from that sound will then be copied to the current sound,
starting at the place marked by the pos'n gadget.
d. Copy Range to new Slot: Copies the currently-marked range into a new
slot, making it a sound in it's own right. There are 15 slots maximum, and
you will be prompted for a name for the new sound.
e. Append Slot to Slot: This will append two slots together (a "slot" is
equivalent to a sound in this instance). You will be prompted for the slot
to append, then for the slot to append to.
f. Alter Playback Speed: Just what it says. It's used to alter the
playback period for a sound, or to set it in the case of a non-IFF sound or
ifyou're digitizing a new sound. Move the slider gadget until the desired
valueis shown in the numeric readout, then click the "OK!" gadget.
2. Special
The Special menu includes some of the "goodies" and frills of the program,
such as the frequency changers, the grapher and other things. Functions
are:
a. Flip current sample: Reverses current sample, making a mirror-image
sound that is backwards from the original sound.
b. Graph current range: Graphs the range shown by the START and END
markers. The graph is scaled between 0 and 255, with 128 as the median
value. The program does internal conversion for this, so you don't have to
worry. This is mostly of use if you're interested in such things, or if
you're setting the digitizer to work with a particular sound source. The
graph loses accuracy in proportion with the size of the range graphed:
i.e. the larger the range, the less accurate the graph.
c. Create Instrument: Creating instruments is somewhat complex (not the
program' s fault, the IFF FORMAT is complex for instruments). To create
aninstrument will be dealt with in Section III below... This is just the
menu choice you make to do it with.
d. Freq=Freq/2: This will divide the frequency of the current sample by
two without changing the playback period. This is done by doubling the
sample size and interpolating. It's main use is to create octaves for
instruments <see below> and to have fun with.
e. Freq=Freq*2: Is the converse of the above, this will double the
frequency of the current sample by removing every other sample value. Is
mostly used in creating octaves, and for having fun.
III. IFF Instruments
This editor makes use of the IFF 8-bit SFVX format for sounds and
instruments. This means that this program can be used with any IFF-based
program that uses sounds or instruments... a growing number. Instruments
can be created with this program as well as sampled sounds: the way to do
this follows.
1. Iff Instrument
Format
A knowledge of this is necessary to understand how to create instruments.
An IFF instrument is made up of octaves, each octave consisting of a
single-shot sound (a sound played once at the beginning of the note) and an
optional repeated sound (A sound that will be repeated for frequency drone
during the length of play of the instrument). An IFF instrument must have
at least one octave (it can have more). The octaves must be in order of
decreasing frequency (the highest octave must be first), and each
successive octave must be double the length of the preceding. The
repeating parts of allthe octaves must have the same number of cycles. If
this is all confusing, see the IFF_SND_FORMAT file for full documentation
as put out by Electronic Arts.
2. Creating an Instrument
To create a instrument using the Perfect Sound Editor, do the following:
a. Make sure that all slots are clear save for the octaves (sounds)that
will go into the instrument.
b. Use the START marker on each sound to mark the repeating portion of each
octave (move it all the way to the right if there is to be no
repeating part, all the way to the left if it ALL repeats).
c. Select "Create Instrument" under the Special menu. The sounds will be
arranged by the program in order of decreasing frequency, and you will be
warned if there's any variation from IFF specs (for example, if one of the
sounds is not a multiple of 2 of the preceding, you'll get a warning,
'cause that usually means an odd octave). You cannot double-click on an
instrument to play it, instead use the function keys to play each octave of
an instrument. I hope this file helps you in your appreciation of the
Perfect Sound editor!