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******************************************************************** SoundFX-Blast User's Guide ******************************************************************** User's Guide for SoundFX-Blast sound editor by Silicon Shack W.S. and L.J. Foletta 6/17/91 for use with the Sound Blaster card by Creative Labs, Inc. ******************* NOTE ********************* You can get an illustrated, enhanced bound version of this User's Guide by registering this shareware. See the ORDER-SB.DOC for information. ******* NOTICE TO SHAREWARE DISKETTE BUYERS ******** Any fees you paid to a shareware vendor for this set of programs was to compensate the vendor for the expense of duplicating the programs. You are not purchasing the programs or registering them by payment of those fees. ****************************************************** ******************************************* * Copyright 1991 Silicon Shack, Ltd., * * San Jose, CA All Rights Reserved * ******************************************* SoundFX-Blast Page 1 SoundFX-Blast Sound Editor Files Although the SoundFX-Blast program will run without a Sound Blaster installed in your computer, you need that card (or a 100% compatible) to hear sounds that you create or to record. Silicon Shack manufactures a number of IBM-PC sound products. See the file CATALOG.TXT included with this set of SoundFX-Blast files. For the latest product information contact Silicon Shack at (408) 446-4521 for a free product catalog with specs and prices. The files below are included in SoundFX-Blast Version 1.03 Disk #1: SFXBLAST.EXE The main SoundFX-Blast sound editor program. SFXBLAST.COM This program loads the drivers and SFXBLAST.EXE program. SFXBLAST.HLP The on-line help file for SoundFX-Blast. INSTALL.TXT Information on installation of the program. SETUP.BAT Used to change video drivers. MANUAL1.DOC This file - a User's Guide for SoundFX-Blast. ORDER-SB.DOC Registration/License/Ordering Information. CATALOG.TXT Information on Sound Products. VGARUN.COM These are drivers used by SoundFX-Blast. EGARUN.COM CGARUN.COM MCGRUN.COM HGARUN.COM ATT6300.COM ADHDR-SB.EXE Program to add a VOC header to any file. CONVS-US.EXE Program to convert signed data to unsigned data. YOU-GUYS.VOC Digitized sound sample. Optional files Disk #2: SoundByte - Digitized sound samples. BLOCKS2.VOC CLOCK2.VOC DIESEL1.VOC DOOR2.VOC GONG2SB.VOC JAWHARP2.VOC TOOT1.VOC TOOT4.VOC TRAIN2.VOC ****************************************************************** Key Features of SoundFX-Blast Editor * Fast, Easy-To-Use Graphical User Interface * Complete Set of Basic Editing Functions * Advanced Editor Features - Like Mix and Oversampling * Special Effects Functions - Like Echo, Filter, and Reverse * Infinite Zoom and Vertical Display Scale Control * Built-In Sound Generators - with Wide Frequency Range * Floating Point Math for Low Distortion * Adjustable Pitch Control * Mouse or Keyboard Control * Sound Level Meter SoundFX-Blast Page 2 Guide Summary About This Guide This guide has information about SoundFX-Blast, one of a series of Silicon Shack sound editors. Depending on your application and use of SoundFX-Blast you may need to read one or more of these chapters. The information in this guide is written for persons beginning with little technical experience and understanding of sound, electronics, or software. For advanced use of the SoundFX-Blast, Programmer's Guides for popular languages are available. These guides cover SoundFX-Blast utilities and Sound Blaster interface details for integrating sounds into custom software applications. Everyone should read Chapter 1 of this guide, which covers the installation of the SoundFX-Blast. The other chapters are optional reading, because you may find that you can operate SoundFX-Blast by referring only to the on-line menu help screens. Chapter 1 - Installation of the SoundFX-Blast This chapter covers the installation of SoundFX-Blaster software for use with Sound Blaster, sound digitizing/playback card. This chapter is written for beginning level computer users. Chapter 2 - Introduction to Digital Sound This chapter gives information about sound, sound terminology, and digital sound starting at a nontechnical level. Chapter 3 - Using SoundFX-Blast This chapter introduces SoundFX-Blast features and describes how to use them. This chapter covers general uses for business or entertaining applications at low technical level. Chapter 4 - Using Sound Blaster This chapter details the use of the Sound Blaster in other software or applications. Readers should have covered Chapter 3 or have working experience in sound and music. Chapter 5 - Troubleshooting This chapter helps you determine the cause and cure for common problems in the installation and use of SoundFX-Blast. **** NOTE: **** This version of SoundFX-Blast uses conventional memory for editing. The maximum editing space will be up to about 350 KB with DOS 5.0. This gives about 27 s to 82 s recording time. The protected mode version of SoundFX has an upper limit of 16 MB editing space and records and plays directly to disk or diskette. SoundFX-Blast Page 3 ******************************************************************* Installing SoundFX-Blast Chapter 1 ******************************************************************* Installing SoundFX-Blast Sound Editor - Before You Start Please read this section thoroughly before you begin the actual installation of the SoundFX-Blast software. We know you are eager to get going and create and edit sounds on your IBM PC, so we will be brief. SoundFX-Blast Requirements What You Need to Get Started: 1. An IBM-PC/XT/AT or compatible computer equipped with at least one 5 1/2" 360 Kbyte floppy disk drive and 512 Kbytes of memory. More memory is desirable, since you can record or play longer files. Also a math coprocessor (8087, 80287, or 80387) is desirable when using some of the sound modify and create functions (which have time consuming math operations), 2. A graphic display card such as one of the following: IBM Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA), IBM Monochrome Graphics adapter (MCG), IBM VGA, Hercules Graphics Hercules Graphics Adapter (HGA), or 100% compatibles, 3. PC/MS-DOS 2.10 or later disk operating system, 4. Sound Blaster (tm) Card - IBM-PC plug-in sound board (made by Creative Labs), headphones, speakers or a stereo home sound system with external or audio line connections, and 5. Microphones and cables. SoundFX-Blast Page 4 Installing the SoundFX-Blast Software SoundFX-Blast Program Files What are the SoundFX-Blast Program Files? The SoundFX-Blast Program files are those necessary to operate the SoundFX-Blast sound editor. The following programs and files must remain on your hard drive or program diskette after installation: SFXBLAST.COM This program load the drivers and SFXBLAST.EXE program. SFXBLAST.EXE This is the main SoundFX-Blast program. <display>.COM The display driver for the active display. One of the drivers below. What are the SoundFX-Blast System Files? The SoundFX-Blast system files are those programs and device drivers necessary to install SoundFX-Blast. Most of these programs and files may be removed from your hard drive after you completed testing of the installation: * VGARUN.COM * EGARUN.COM * CGARUN.COM * MCGRUN.COM * HGARUN.COM * ATT6300.COM These are drivers used by SoundFX-Blast to operate your graphics display. Only one of them is used when you run SoundFX-Blast. The unused drivers can be removed if you know your display type. * INSTALL.TXT This is installation information. You can read it to guide the installation of the system or you can just do a direct COPY *.* from each diskette to the directory and drive of your choice. It takes less than 1 MBytes of hard drive space for all files. You can remove some of these files, as indicated, after you have checked out the installation. * SETUP.BAT This is used to change video drivers if you change your display after installing the SoundFX-Blast software. It just copies the proper driver into SYNRUN.COM. SYNRUN.COM This is the driver used by SoundFX-Blast to operate your mouse and graphics display. Do not remove this file from your hard drive. SoundFX-Blast Page 5 What are the SoundFX-Blast Utilities Files? The SoundFX-Blast Utilities files are those programs for optional use with the SoundFX-Blast editor. SFXBLAST.HLP This is an optional on-line help text file used by SoundFX-Blast. * ADHDR-SB.EXE This is a program to add a header to any unsupported sound file (or even non-sound file) so that the file can be loaded into the sound editor. (Most non-sound files will sound like noise when played.) If the file sounds like a real sound but is distorted, try converting from unsigned to signed data. * CONVS-US.EXE This is a program to convert (signed 8 bit PCM sound) data files to unsigned 8 bit PCM format or vice versa. Use before adding header. SoundByte - Digitized Sound Samples * <filename>.VOC These are examples of sound files created or modified by the SoundFX-Blast editor. They are in type 1 Sound Blaster file format. Making Copies of the Program Diskettes SoundFX-Blast Diskettes Backup Copies The SoundFX-Blast software is not copy-protected, so you can make backup or archive copies. We recommended that you make a backup copy of all SoundFX-Blast files before continuing with the installation process. Put a write protect tab on the original SoundFX-Blast diskettes. If you know how to backup files, continue to the next step. If you are not sure, see your DOS manual for the operating system commands to copy a diskette using the "diskcopy" command. Of course, you should store the backup diskettes in a suitable place. SoundFX-Blast Software Installation Process: You will be prompted for the type of system and peripherals that you are using. To install SoundFX-Blast on your computer follow the steps below: For a Floppy Based System: 1. Format a floppy diskette and copy onto it COMMAND.COM from your MS-DOS system diskette. SoundFX-Blast will operate properly only if COMMAND.COM is in the system path. 2. Copy the SoundFX-Blast files to the diskette: COPY SFXBLAST.* A: and copy the video driver used by your active display (see SETUP.BAT) to the diskette. SoundFX-Blast Page 6 3. At the prompt A> type: SFXBLAST and press Enter again to start the program. For a Hard Drive Based System: 1. Insert the SoundFX-Blast files diskette into a diskette drive (A: for example) and change to the directory where you want to load then and type: COPY A:*.* and press Enter. 2. To run the program type SFXBLAST. Manual Video Display Setup - SETUP.BAT SETUP.BAT assists you to select the proper video driver and copys it into a file named SYNRUN.COM. If your system hangs up when you execute SFXBLAST, it is probably because the incorrect video driver has been copied into the SYNRUN.COM file. If you change the graphics video adapter in your system after setting up SoundFX-Blast, be sure to rerun SETUP.BAT before running SoundFX-Blast. If SYNRUN.COM is not present SoundFX-Blast will try automatically to select the right video driver. If you have a floppy drive system and change your graphics video adapter, you must reload the proper video driver to the diskette. ******************************************************************* Sound Blaster Card - Installation of the SoundFX-Blast Hardware See the documents that came with the Sound Blaster package for proper installation of the board. After you have verified the proper operation of Sound Blaster card make a note of which port jumper you selected (220 hex is the factory jumper setting). The SoundFX-Blast is now installed and ready to run. If you just want to have fun without going into the theory of digital audio, go to Chapter 3 - Using SoundFX-Blast. If you want a technical description of digital audio and the hardware, go on to Chapter 2 - Introduction to Digital Sound. SoundFX-Blast Page 7 ******************************************************************* Silicon Shack, Ltd. User License Agreement ******************************************************************* The SoundFX-Blast programs and data files are not copy protected for your ease of use - but they are copyrighted. USER LICENSE AGREEMENT Silicon Shack, Ltd., provides these SoundFX-Blast programs and data files (SOFTWARE) and licenses their use. This Software is protected by both United States Copyright Law and International Treaty provisions. This SOFTWARE is licensed for use by you as follows: SOFTWARE is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user- supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using the SOFTWARE and continue to use SOFTWARE after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment of $35 to Silicon Shack, Ltd. The $35 registration fee will license one copy for use by the registered user. The registered user only is entitled to technical support during the warranty period. All copies made must include the original copyright notice. You may not change, modify, or improve the program without prior written consent of Silicon Shack, Ltd. You may transfer the program and data files to another party if the other party agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this Agreement and then your license is automatically terminated. This license is terminated if you fail to comply with any term or condition of this Agreement. You agree upon termination to destroy the program and data files together with all copies. This License is governed by the laws of the State of California. LIMITED WARRANTY Silicon Shack, Ltd., warrants the physical diskettes and documentation supplied to registered users to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase. In the event of notification of defects of materials or workmanship within the warranty period, Silicon Shack, Ltd., will at its option, repair or replace the defective diskette or documentation, or refund the purchase price of the product at no charge. The entire remedy for breach of this warranty shall be limited to the replacement of any SoundFX-Blast diskette or document which does not meet the Limited Warranty and is returned to Silicon Shack, Ltd., and shall not encompass any other damages, including but not limited to loss of profit, incidental, special, consequential, or other similar claims. This warranty does not apply if the product has been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse, or misapplication, or has been modified without written permission of Silicon Shack, Ltd. SoundFX-Blast Page 8 ******************************************************************* SILICON SHACK, LTD., SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE WITH RESPECT TO DEFECTS IN THE SOUNDFX-BLAST DISKETTES AND DOCUMENTATION, AND THE PROGRAM LICENSE GRANTED HEREIN IN PARTICULAR, AND WITHOUT LIMITING USE OF THE PROGRAM LICENSE WITH RESPECT TO ANY PARTICULAR APPLICATION. IN NO EVENT SHALL SILICON SHACK, LTD., BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR SAVINGS OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES. ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* SuperSound, SoundFX, SoundFX-Jr, SoundFX-Blast, SoundFX-Vox, SoundCard, SoundBytes, SoundJr, and TurboSound are trademarks of Silicon Shack, Ltd. All other product names are trademarks of their manufacturers. ******************************************************************* SoundFX-Blast Page 9 ******************************************************************* Digital Sound Introduction to Digital Sound Chapter 2 ******************************************************************* This chapter is for those SuperSound users who may not be familiar digital sound or sound terminology. The chapter will introduce you to digital sound using the SuperSound System. What is Sound? Let's review some science that we were exposed to in school and explore sound. Sound is simply the movement of air molecules as detected by our ear drum. The air molecules are a mixture of Oxygen, Nitrogen gas, with a small percentage of atoms of other gases, unless you live in a smoggy area! These atoms are submicroscopic and the ear is not sensitive enough to detect just a few molecules striking the ear drum. However, there is a very large number of molecules of air in the even the ear canal and so the ear drum responds to the average bombardment of these many molecules. If rate of molecular bombardment changes, our ear, by auditory nerves, tells our brain of the change. Another name for this rate of bombardment or vibration of gas molecules is pressure. The ear then is a pressure detector. When the air pressure around us changes, as while driving a car quickly over dip or rise, we notice something in our ears. If the change is large, as when an airplane descend quickly during landing, we may feel discomfort in the ear. These are examples of very slowly changing pressure as detected by the ear. These slow changes in pressure are not usually referred to as sound but they are very closely related. When the air pressure changes at a faster rate such that it is heard we refer to that as sound. For most people the lowest rate we can hear is about 20 pressure changes per second. These pressure changes are also called a wave or waveform. When the pressure is at the maximum it is called the compress part of the waveform. The low pressure or minimum is called the rarefaction part of the waveform. A common naturally occurring wave is the sine wave. The sine wave is described by three characteristics, amplitude, frequency, and phase. The sine wave is symmetrical with a positive peak and a negative peak and repeats with time. A repeating portion of a wave of positive and negative peaks is called a cycle. Waveform - Amplitude Amplitude is the maximum change the pressure wave shows over the period of the time it repeats. A low level sound or pressure wave has a low amplitude and a loud sound wave has a large amplitude. For example, a pin dropping on a table in front of you would create a very low amplitude sound wave. A fire engine with screaming siren passing you by in the street would create a very high amplitude sound wave. These sound sources produce sound wave amplitudes near the limits of human sound detection. SoundFX-Blast Page 10 If the dropping pin were farther away you may not hear it and if the siren were any closer it would be painful. The intensity of sound is perceived by humans in a nearly logarithmic sensitivity. The smallest ratio of sound amplitude change which we perceive varies with the sound frequency and loudness. The common unit of this ratio is the decibel or dB as given by: dB ratio x dB = 20 Log10(Amplitude1/Amplitude2) A ratio of two sound amplitudes of 10:1 gives 20 dB. For humans the typical just-noticed-ratio is about 0.3 dB for pure tones and about 3 dB for voice. Waveform - Frequency Frequency refers to the number of peaks of the pressure wave per second of time or cycles per second. Pitch is the related musical term for frequency. There is a nonlinear relationship between pitch perception and frequency. Pitch is perceived in a logarithmic difference of frequency. The difference seems the same if the ratio of the frequencies is the same. For example, if the ratio is 2:1 or an octave, the interval between the two frequencies seem the same at low (98Hz/49Hz or G2/G1) or high (3136Hz/1568Hz or G7/G6) frequencies. The just noticed difference in two frequencies of sound varies with the frequency and loudness. The average person senses frequency changes as low as a 3% at 100 Hz and 0.5% at 2 KHz. The engineering unit name for frequency or cycles per second is Hertz (Hz). Sound Frequency Range - Sound as heard by humans has range of frequencies from a low of 10 Hz to a high of 20 KHz (1000 Hertz = 1 KHz). Examples of low frequency sound wave are the humming sounds you hear from AC line operated equipment such as electric motors, fluorescent lights, and stereo systems. The frequency of these sounds is 60 Hz, the AC line frequency. Examples of high frequency sounds, such as a shrill whistle or the jingling noise from a set of keys, are at 10 to 15 KHz. Most of what we hear has frequencies between these extremes and towards the lower frequencies. Normal human voices have frequencies from 300 Hz to 3 KHz and primary components of Western music ranges from 100 Hz to 5 KHz. Waveform - Phase Phase of a wave indicates the start or reference of the waveform. Phase is measured in units of a complete cycle. Two engineering phase units are degrees and radians. A complete cycle is 360 degrees as with the 360 degrees in a circle. If you turn in a circle of 360 degrees, you will come back to the same point from which you started. SoundFX-Blast Page 11 Phase is important in sound heard by humans because our brain uses phase, as sensed by our two ears, to determine the direction of a sound source. If we cover up one ear completely so no sound reaches it, we can not tell the direction of a sound source unless we move our head. If we move our head, we will get direction information from the perceived change in peak amplitude of the sound wave. If you listen, with both ears, to exactly the same sound waveform coming from a set of three speakers placed around you, the sound source would be perceived as surrounding you. If the sound waveform from two speaker is changed only in phase from 0 to 360 degrees with respect to the third speaker, the sound source would seem to move as the phase is changed. Sound - Spectrum Most sounds we hear each day are complex and comprised of a number of sine waves of different amplitude, frequency, and phase all combined together. The sine wave is a basic building block of all sounds. A simple pure sine wave sound or tone contains only a single frequency sine wave of constant amplitude. A rich and full sound wave is one that has a number of harmonically related sine waves added together and is considered pleasing in the Western world. A harsh or discordant sound wave is one that has a number of non-harmonically related sine waves added together and is considered unpleasing. Sound - Envelope The envelope of a sound is another term is used to describe a typical sound waveform which has changes in amplitude and frequency components over time. If the peaks of each positive pressure wave are traced and the peaks of each negative pressure wave are traced, these two traces are called the envelope of the complex waveform. The envelope indicates relative amplitudes or loudness of the sound over time but gives no information about frequency content. In music names have been given to the different parts of the sound wave envelope. The beginning of the envelope is the attack and decay parts, the middle is the sustain, and the trailing part is the release. Each musical instrument has envelope time and amplitude values that are characteristic of that instrument. We recognize these instruments by their envelope and the quantity, relationship and loudness of the sine wave sound components. What is digital sound? Digital sound refers to process by which analog sound or pressure waves have been measured and converted to a digital value and then reconstructed back to represent the original sound. The values have distinct steps with binary weighting most commonly. SoundFX-Blast Page 12 A finite time is needed to make each measurement or sample with practical electronic equipment. The rate at which the samples are made is called the Sampling Rate. The analog to digital conversion process is called Quantization. Reconstruction is the reverse sampling process which, fortunately, recovers the original sound waveform from the samples based on a simple rule developed by Nyquist. He was the first to prove that these time samples can reconstruct the original waveform exactly, if the sampling rate is at least two times the maximum frequency component of the waveform. For example, if the maximum frequency is 3 KHz (the maximum telephone quality voice frequency), the sampling rate must be 6 kilo samples per second or higher. If the sampling rate is less than two times the maximum frequency component, the reconstructed waveform will have added lower frequency components or distortion. This distortion of the reconstructed waveform is called Aliasing because the lower frequency components are false, having not been in the original. So a big advantage of digital sound is that it never degrades no matter how many times it is played back. Digital sound does not use a direct mechanical process to record or play the sound waveforms so there is nothing to wear out. Of course, the speakers used to reproduce the sounds are electromechanical devices, but practically they do not wear out. Other advantages of digital sound are increased signal to noise ratio and dynamic range. Signal to noise ratio (S/N) is the measure of the power or loudness or the sound you want to hear compared to the loudness of the background noise. The signal to noise ratio of a recording can be only as good as the input to the sound system, which is usually a high quality analog microphone (since digital microphones really do not exist yet). In a common analog sound system everything in the signal path after microphone contributes to the quality of the reproduction by increasing the noise level. Digital sound systems can be built that add no noise at all over that from the microphone itself by increasing the number of bits in each sample. Since the microphone noise can be a reduced to a very low level, a digital sound system can have a large range from the lowest sound level to the highest. This range is called the Dynamic Range of the system. The compact disc (CD) sound system is an example of a digital sound system and has 16 bit samples. The Sound Blaster uses digital sampling techniques like those used in a CD sound system. However, the more limited memory storage in personal computer requires a compromise of fewer bits in each sample. Like the Apple Macintosh and Commodore Amiga, the Sound Blaster card uses a 8 bit sample. SoundFX-Blast Page 13 ___________________________________________________________________ How SoundFX-Blast Displays Sound SoundFX-Blast displays a graph of mono sound representing the sound pressure waveform as converted to a digital byte by the Sound Blaster. When the graph has been expanded to maximum each sample value is displayed (up to 600 samples with high resolution display cards). When the graph is not at maximum expansion a regularly spaced sample is taken from the file. If the average display mode is selected the average of a number of file samples values is displayed. This graph of mono sound values indicates the loudness of the sound in each channel. For example, if the graph is a straight line of zero or near zero value, the sound is no sound or relative quiet. If the graph shows full swings from maximum to minimum values, the sound is a very loud sound and may be distorted. If the graph displays a waveform between those two extremes, the sound output will be at a more normal level. As you will see when you look at some of the prerecorded sound files or your own recordings, music sounds tend to fill the display and be constant. Voice or many non-musical sound tend to irregular periods of high and low level sound. After you have seen a number of different sounds graphed you will known the general nature of the sound displayed before it is played. ____________________________________________________________________ Sound Blaster - How Sound Blaster Captures Sound The Sound Blaster card captures sound by taking a sample of the sound at an instant of time over and over again and storing each sample. The sound must be sampled at a rate determined from its maximum frequency content. This sound sampling process is somewhat like that used to make movies. There the allusion of motion is created from a series of samples or frames quickly flashed to the eye. For the human eye, most motion in the movie scene appears smoothly reproduced when the flashing rate is 24 frames per second. For the human ear, good sound reproduction requires a much higher sampling rate, usually greater than 6000 samples per second. Sampling Sound Sampling sound is the process of taking a piece of the sound waveform, at regularly spaced time intervals, and saving it to memory. This process is also referred to as digitizing when the sample is stored in digital form. The names digital sound and digital audio are applied when digitizing or sampling is used. SoundFX-Blast Page 14 Sampling Sound - Aliasing Aliasing in the sampling of sound is the effect that comes from not taking enough samples of a quickly changing sound waveform. Sounds that were at a high frequency get shifted down as false lower frequency sounds. Aliasing does not occur if at least two samples are taken per unit of time corresponding to the waveform period of the highest sound frequency. The maximum sound frequency allowed before aliasing is displayed as a guide in the various dialog boxes in SoundFX-Blast. As a rule of thumb, keep the actual sound frequencies below 50% of the displayed maximum. Sampling Sound - Quantization Quantization of sound is the process of converting a continuous or analog waveform to one with distinct steps or levels. The Sound Blaster uses 256 levels like the Apple Macintosh and other personal computer. A more common example of quantization occurs in newspaper publishing. If you look closely at an ordinary 35mm color photo print you will see a continuous range of colors and brightness. This print could be called an analog print. However, if you look closely at any picture or image in a newspaper or magazine you will see something quite different. The image is not continuous in color or brightness, but is a mixture of up to 3 or 4 different color dots of varying size. If it a black and white image, there are only black dots of varying size. This print form could be called a digital print because the image has distinct steps of color and brightness. Before you examined it closely, you may not have even noticed this printing process. The same is true for quantization of sound, if the steps are small. Sampling Sound - Clipping Clipping is the effect that occurs when the signal amplitude in an electronic circuit exceeds the range it was designed to handle. Normally the clipping occurs first on the output of the signal path. This effect causes the sound to be distorted greatly with an added harshness or fuzziness. Clipping occurs in the Sound Blaster when the amplified input exceeds the range of the digitizer ( 0 to 127 for the positive part of the waveform and 255 to 128 for the negative part). Clipping is visible in waveform graphs as flat tops at 127 or bottoms at 128. A slight amount of clipping of occasional peaks of sound is okay. Sampling Sound - Dynamic Range The allowable range of amplitude of the signal in an electronic circuit is called the dynamic range. This range is bounded by noise on the low level end and distortion and clipping on the high level end. For 8 bit sound digitizing circuits this gives a dynamic range of 0 to 255 or 48 decibels (dB). This range is less that the human ear's range of 120 dB, but it is fine for most application. Higher bits of resolution would require more storage space also. SoundFX-Blast Page 15 ******************************************************************* Using SoundFX-Blast Chapter 3 ******************************************************************* About SoundFX-Blast SoundFX-Blast is a full feature graphical mono sound editor for use with the Sound Blaster by Creative Labs. Sound Blaster is a plug-in card used to add digital audio to the IBM PC family of computers. With this Silicon Shack SoundFX-Blast editor and Sound Blaster you can record, create, edit, modify, play, and store sounds. There is no limit to the type of sounds you can capture, create or play. You can record music, voice, and other natural sounds. The sound fidelity is under your control. You can use the editing and modifying features to add special effects to a recording. Using SoundFX-Blast Before You Start You may want to make available a supply of formatted floppy diskettes, after you have installed the SoundFX-Blast System. You will need these diskettes to store your recording, if you are using a floppy based system. If you are recording many files on a hard disk system, use these floppies to keep from filling your hard disk. Starting on Floppy Drive System Starting SoundFX-Blast You can run SoundFX-Blast from a floppy or a hard disk. After you have completed the installation covered in Chapter 1, follow the steps below. For a Floppy Based System: Insert the backup SoundFX-Blast Program Diskette in drive A and change the default drive to A by typing: A: and press the Enter key. Starting on Hard Drive System - For a Hard Disk System: Change to the directory that contains the SoundFX-Blast files. Then for either system continue by typing: SFXBLAST and press the Enter key. The SoundFX-Blast screen will appear shortly after a check of your system is made to determine the speed of your computer and available memory. SoundFX-Blast Page 16 __________________________________________________________________ Mouse Input You can operate SoundFX-Blast from the keyboard or with a mouse. If you have installed a mouse, a pointer will appear in the SoundFX-Blast screen. Use this pointer to control and operate the program. The program controls and functions are in pull-down menus, at the top of the SoundFX-Blast screen. Placing the mouse pointer at the Menu Bar will cause a menu to expand down. While in the menus the mouse buttons are set up so that: Left Button = Select or Enter Middle Button = Escape Right Button = Escape Also, a fast double click of the Left button will cause a select and enter command where it is required. If your mouse has only two buttons, they are set so that: Left Button = Select or Enter Right Button = Escape Selecting an item from the pull down menus will cause a dialog box to appear. While in the dialog boxes press any mouse button to select or enter an item. ___________________________________________________________________ Keyboard Inputs Note: While you can use the keyborad for operation of SoundFX-Blast the graphical user interface of the editor has been optimized for mouse control. It is strongly suggested that you try the program using a mouse to see the real power and speed of the sound editor. If you are using the keyboard, press the Escape key to view the pull down menus. You select the control or operation by first highlighting the menu item and then pressing the Enter key. Change the highlighted item by using the keyboard cursor keys. To move up or down within the menu, use the up or down cursor keys. To move along the menu bar, use the left or right cursor keys. Press the Escape key to leave a menu or dialog box with no changes. Press the Enter key to store any changes and leave a dialog box or menu. ******************************************************************* Your first recorded sounds! General Operation of SoundFX-Blast Before you installed the SoundFX-Blast System, the only sounds you heard from your computer were just beeps and simple tones. Now is the time to record and hear your own voice, if you have a microphone. If you are not using a microphone, skip to How to Play a Record. Go to the menu bar and pull down the Play/Record Menu. Next select Monitor and press Enter or click the left mouse button. SoundFX-Blast Page 17 Speak into your microphone and your voice will come out of speakers. If you have any trouble, see the Troubleshooting Chapter. Adjust your voice level or distance to the microphone for the best sound. Let's go on to the next step. Stop the Monitor Sounds mode by pressing any key. Pull the Play/Record Menu down again and this time select Record Whole. A Record Whole Dialog Box will appear showing the current settings. You will use the default values for now. Select the Start button and begin speaking (say your name, for example), continuing while the recording process-in-progress message and dialog box is visible. Now pull the Play/Record Menu down and select the Playback Whole item. From the Playback Whole Dialog Box select the Play Loop button. You will hear what you just recorded. It will play in a loop over and over until you press any key. Now you have demonstrated a high-tech digital mono recorder with built-in looping. Okay, go up to the menu bar and pull down the Modify/Create Menu and select Reverse Sounds. The Reverse Sounds Dialog Box will appear. Select the Do Whole button. A Process-In-Progress message will appear. After the Process-In-Progress message disappears pull down the Play/Record Menu and select the Playback Whole/Play Loop mode. How does that sound? Practice saying what you hear. After you think you have mimicked the reversed sounds, rerecord yourself saying the sounds in reverse. Now select the Reverse Sounds operation again and reverse what you recorded speaking in reverse. Depending on how well you mimicked yourself in reverse, the results will vary from something completely unintelligible, to something sounding like you speaking with a strange accent. Record your normal voice again. Go up to the menu bar and select the Settings Menu. Select the Play/Record item. Move the highlighting in the Play/Record Settings Dialog Box to the box next to 12 KBytes/Sec and select it. Select the Continue button. Now play the recording. Your voice will sound higher pitched because the Sampling Rate number was increased. Select the 5.5 KBytes/Sec box from the Play/Record Settings Dialog Box to reduce the pitch of the recording. You have just used a small sampling of the things you can do with SoundFX-Blast. To get full use and enjoyment from all of the features of the SoundFX-Blast System, be sure to read the rest of this guide. SoundFX-Blast Page 18 ******************************************************************* SoundFX-Blast Basic Features Pull Down Menus - SoundFX-Blast Menus SoundFX-Blast is a menu driven program with pull-down menus and pop-up dialog boxes for control and operation. You access all menus from the menu bar at the top of the SoundFX-Blast screen. SoundFX-Blast operates in a mono mode. Pressing the Escape keyboard key or moving the mouse to the menu bar causes the menus to pull down. The menus available are: File, Edit, Play/Record, Modify/Create, Settings, Help, and SoundFX-Blast. The File Menu lists file operations for getting and saving sound files. The Edit Menu lists sound editing operations that are similar to those in a text editor. The Play/Record Menu covers all playback and recording operations. The Modify/Create Menu lists operations that modify or create a sound recording. You use these operations similarly to the way you use a graphic paint program to draw pictures. The Settings Menu covers the settings of various operations and the display. The Help Menu lists the help topics on the use of SoundFX-Blast and the Sound Blaster card. The SoundFX-Blast Menu item gives information about SoundFX-Blast such as version, serial number and registration. Use this information when calling technical support. ******************************************************************* How to Record a New Sound File Pull down the File Menu and select New File. The New File Dialog Box will appear and warn you that memory will be cleared. Also the filename will be reset to untitled. Use the Save As file operation to name the file. This file name will show just below the top menu bar. Pull down the Play/Record Menu list and select Record Whole. The Record Whole Dialog Box will appear. The box will show the current operating settings. If you want to change any item use Play/Record from the Settings Menu. SoundFX-Blast Page 19 How to Record Over an Existing Sound File Pull down the File Menu and select Get File. You will see a display of sound files in the current directory. To change the current directory, select the Get File box and type in the new path. You can use wildcards as in DOS. Select the file you want to record over. This file will become the active sound file and show in the graph windows. Recording conditions for that file (obtained from the file header) will become the current settings. If you want to record over the entire file with the same conditions, just select Record Whole from the Play/Record Menu and start the recording. How to Play a Record Pull down the Play/Record Menu and select Play Whole. You will see a Play Whole Dialog Box appear with the current settings for playing. See the Settings Menu Play/Record Settings Dialog Box description to see how these setting are changed. Use the default values for most applications. When you open an existing sound file, recording values for that file replace the previous playback settings. How to Save a Sound File Pull down the File Menu and select Save. This will save the active sound file, using the current file name as shown. To save a sound file under a name different from the current file name, select the Save As option. You can then type in another file name. The record settings used in the Record Whole (or the default values if Record Whole was never used) operation are saved in the file header, even if you may have changed the playback settings. How to Get a Sound File Pull down the File Menu and select Get File. You will see a display of sound files in the default directory. To change the default directory, select the Get File Box and type in the new path. Select the file you want to open. This file becomes the active sound file displayed in the Waveform Windows. The recording settings of this file will replace the previous playback values. Click on the file data box to type a file name or directory path. Press the Home key to access the data box if you are not using a mouse. How to Loopback a Sound Pull down the Play/Record Menu and select Play Whole or Play Block. From the dialog box select Play Loop. The active sound file will play and loopback. The loopback play will continue until you press a key. To adjust the loopback position in the sound file, see the sections on waveform marking or selection. SoundFX-Blast Page 20 How to Zoom or View Part of the Sound Record Adjust the left cursor position by selecting and dragging it with the mouse. Without a mouse installed you use the F3/F4 keys and cursor control keys. See the section on cursor control in editing for more detail. Once you position the two cursors or marks, click on the Zoom In Button (press the + key if no mouse is installed) to zoom in to the portion of the sound file between the cursor or mark positions. Select the Scroll Bar, between the left/right channel displays, and move the mouse to scroll the display. Press the F2 key and use the cursor keys if no mouse is installed. The waveform position get updated after release of the Scroll Bar. The Waveform Window display scale is not changed by scrolling. Sound Level You can determine the average input sound level by selecting Sound Level from the Play/Record Menu. The Sound Level mode shows the average level of the sound signal into the Sound Blaster by a bar graph for each channel. You can adjust the volume controls or sound levels for each channel to obtain the largest level without clipping. Higher levels give good sound quality. Too low of a level produces noise in your recording. Waveform Windows - Cursors There are different kinds of cursors used in SoundFX-Blast. One is the control Arrow Cursor that appears only if you have installed a mouse as a pointer. You position the Arrow Cursor over the item you want selected. The Arrow Cursor changes to a Highlighted Bar in the menus. When you press the left mouse button, a highlighted item is selected. If you are not using a mouse, then use the cursor keys to move the Highlighted Bar or blinking Cursor Bar. Another kind of cursor is a Waveform Cursor. These cursors appear as vertical lines in the sound Waveform Windows. These cursors mark the positions within the files. You use these positions to control various operations in playback, record, editing, and special effects. Waveform Marking or Selection You use the Waveform Marks to fix the selected part of the active sound file waveform while using the cursors to zoom into another part. The marks are toggled on or off by selecting them. If no mouse is installed use the F5 key for the left Waveform Mark and the F6 key for the right Waveform Mark (both toggle on/off). The Waveform Cursor and Mark locations are shown in the boxes at the bottom of the SoundFX-Blast screen. The readout is in seconds of time or Kbytes as controlled by the Display Settings Dialog Box. SoundFX-Blast Page 21 Waveform Record Length The total length of the current sound waveform is shown in the Record Length Box at the bottom of the SoundFX-Blast Window. The length of the record is in units of time or Kbytes. This information is useful in planning scripts and storage. The record length is set in the Play/Record Setting Dialog Box accessed from the Settings Menu. You can set the record length to as short as 600 bytes. The maximum length of a single editable record is limited to the total amount of available memory. Moving Around in the SoundFX-Blast Screen You move around in the SoundFX-Blast screen as you do in most graphic or paint programs. You can use both a mouse and the keyboard. SoundFX-Blast is easy to use with either input method once you read over the information. Using the Mouse Cursor If you have installed a mouse on your computer, SoundFX-Blast will display an Arrow Cursor in the SoundFX-Blast screen. You can freely move the Arrow anywhere on the screen. If the Arrow touches the menu bar, the underlying menu will come down. An item in the menu gets highlighted and replaces the Arrow. Pressing the left mouse button will select the highlighted item. If a dialog box appears from that selection, use the Arrow to select the desired data or command box. Pressing any mouse button while a dialog box will select the highlighted command for execution. If the Arrow was touching a data box, the box will now accept data. You enter data by typing on the keyboard. Selecting and Entering with the Mouse You can use a double click to select and enter a highlighted item while in the Save As or Get File Dialog Boxes and the Help menu. A double click is two quick clicks of the left mouse button. Marking and Selecting the Waveform with the Mouse To mark parts of a waveform, place the arrow cursor over one of the Waveform Cursors. Then press and hold the left mouse button. Drag the arrow left or right to move the attached Waveform Cursor. Magnifying the Waveform To magnify or zoom in on the waveform, move the Waveform Cursors to the desired portion of the sound waveform and select the Zoom-In button at the bottom of the screen. The waveform will expand to fill the Waveform Window. The left Waveform Cursor gets fixed at left edge of the window. The right Waveform Cursor will expand to the right unless the scale is 1:1. SoundFX-Blast Page 22 Scrolling the Waveform Window with the Mouse To scroll a waveform through a magnified window, select the Scroll Box between the left/right sound Waveform Windows. The waveform will scroll in the window with the left or right motion of the mouse. Release the Scroll Bar to view the new waveform position. Using the Keyboard Cursor You can use keyboard inputs for SoundFX-Blast if you prefer, even if you have installed a mouse on your computer. Pressing the Escape key will access the menu bar. The File Menu by default will pull down, with the first item highlighted. You can change to other items by pressing the up or down cursor keys. If you press the left or right cursor keys you move to the other menus. Pressing the Enter key will select any item that is highlighted. If a dialog box appears from that selection, one of the data or command boxes will show highlighted. Pressing the Enter key again will select a highlighted command for execution. If a data box was highlighted, that box will accept data. The data is entered by typing on the keyboard. Moving in the Waveform Window with the Keyboard Press the F3 key to get into the Waveform Window and select the left Waveform Cursor. Press the F4 key to select the right Waveform Cursor. Use the keyboard cursor control keys to move the Waveform Cursors in the window. Press the Escape key when you are done, to release the Waveform Cursor. Marking the Waveform with the Keyboard Press the F3 key to select the left Waveform Cursor (F4 key for the right Waveform Cursor). Press the left or right keyboard cursor keys to move the cursor to the desired position. Press the F5 key to toggle the left Waveform Mark on and off (F6 key for the right Waveform Mark). Magnifying the Waveform To magnify the waveform or zoom in, press the + key. Press the - key to shrink the waveform or zoom out. The waveform will expand from the left waveform cursor location to fill the window. Scrolling the Waveform Window with the Keyboard To scroll a waveform through a magnified window, toggle the Scroll Bar on by pressing the F2 key. Press the left/right keyboard cursor keys to move the waveform in the window. Press Escape to toggle the Scroll Bar off to view the new waveform position. ********************************************************************* SoundFX-Blast Page 23 *************** Description of Menus ****************** The File Menu The File Menu lists commands used for SoundFX-Blast file operations. Some of these items will prompt you for information through a Dialog Box. Save To save the current sound waveform under its present name select Save. If a file already exists with present file name, a warning message is given. All the current settings for that waveform will be save in the file header. The current sound waveform replaces what ever was in the named file. Choose Save As and select an unused file name if you do not want to write over the original sound file. Save As To save the current sound waveform under a name different from its present name select Save As. Then type the new file name in the Save As Data Box. All the current settings for the active sound waveform get saved in the new file header. No warning message is given with Save As if an old file with the present name already exists. Get File To open an old file select the Get File item. A Get File Dialog Box will pop up listing the sound files in current directory. Select and enter a sound file name from the list. This sound file will load into the Waveform Windows and the playback/recording conditions from its file header will replace the current settings. New File To open a new sound file select the New File item. A dialog box will pop up warning you that the current sound memory will get cleared. If you want to save the current sound waveform select Cancel. Quit to DOS To exit the SoundFX-Blast program and return to DOS select Quit to DOS. The Quit to DOS Dialog Box will appear. If you still want to exit, select Yes, otherwise select No or Escape. _____________________________________________________________________ SoundFX-Blast Page 24 The Play/Record Menu Use this menu to access the play and recording operations in SoundFX-Blast. Move the highlighting to the desired menu item. Press the Enter key or left mouse button to select the item. A Dialog Box will appear with addition information about the selected operation. Playback Whole Select the Playback Whole Menu item to play the whole current sound file once. The Playback Whole Dialog Box will appear. This box will show the present parameter settings. If you want to change any setting use the Settings Menu. See the Setting Menu Play/Record Settings for details. When all settings are what you want select Play Loop or Play Once to begin the playback. You can escape the dialog box without a playback by selecting Cancel. Playback Block Select the Playback Block Menu item to play a part or all of the current sound file. The playback begins in the file at the left Waveform Cursor or Mark and ends or loops back at the right cursor or mark position. Adjust the cursors or marks to play to desired portion of the sound file. Monitor Sounds To put SoundFX-Blast into a real-time sound monitoring mode select Monitor Sounds from the menu list. A Process-In-Progress message will appear after selecting the Start button, showing that the monitoring operation is in effect. The process will continue until you press any key. Sound Level Use the Sound Level function to view a bar graph of the average input sound level. You can use this level indication to adjust the volume level controls or microphone locations. Record Whole To record into the whole current sound file select Record Whole from the Play/Record Menu list. A Record Whole Dialog Box will appear showing the present recording settings. If you want to change any setting use the Settings Menu Play/Record Settings item. After you have finished with any changes come back to the Record Whole Dialog Box and select Start to begin the recording. You can escape the dialog box by selecting Cancel or by pressing the Escape key. After selecting Start, a Recording-In-Progress message will appear during the actual recording. SoundFX-Blast Page 25 Record Block To record part of the current sound file (the portion between Waveform Cursors or Marks) select Record Block from the Play/Record Menu list. A Record Block Dialog Box will appear showing the present recording settings. You can not change any setting unless you use the Settings Menu Play/Record Settings item and select Record Whole or New File. The Record Block uses the base recording parameters stored in the current file header and these values are set only with Record Whole or New File. You can escape the Record Block Dialog Box by selecting Cancel. After selecting Start a Recording-In-Progress message will appear. _____________________________________________________________________ The Edit Menu Use the Edit Menu to access the sound file editing functions in SoundFX-Blast. These functions are like those you may have used in a text editor or paint program. Move the highlighting to desired menu item. Press the Enter key or left mouse button to start the operation. A dialog box will appear with addition information or prompts aboutthat operation. Clear Block The Clear Block operation will set the marked section of the current sound file waveform to zero. Use the Clear Block function to create quiet periods or to selectively erase a sound file. Delete Block The Delete Block operation removes the marked section of the waveform and discards it. Each time you Delete Block a section the size of the current sound file is reduced by the size of the deleted section. The Delete Block operation is like a cut and throw away operation on magnetic recording tape. If you want to save the marked section choose the Cut to Buffer Menu item instead. Cut to Buffer The Cut to Buffer operation removes the marked section of the waveform and stores it in the temporary buffer. Only one selection is held in the temporary buffer. Each new selection replaces the last one. Each time you use Cut to Buffer the size of the current sound file gets shortened by the size of the cut section. The Cut to Buffer operation is like a cut and save operation on magnetic recording tape. If you want to discard the marked section choose the Delete Block Menu item instead. SoundFX-Blast Page 26 Copy to Buffer The Copy to Buffer operation moves a copy of the marked waveform in the temporary buffer. The section marked in the current sound waveform is not changed in any way. The copied section of the waveform will stay in the buffer until you use the Copy to Buffer or Cut to Buffer function again. Replace from Buffer Use the Replace from Buffer operation to paste a copy of the temporary buffer into the sound file starting at the left Waveform Cursor or Mark location. Any previous sounds between the starting point and the length of the buffer contents will be loss. The active sound file does not change in size by this operation unless the replacement does not fit in between the left Waveform Cursor or Mark and the end of the sound file. Insert from Buffer Use the Insert from Buffer operation to add into the current sound file a copy of the buffer contents. The sound file is lengthened by the size of the buffer contents if memory is available. The insertion point is the left Waveform Cursor or Mark (if it is set on) location. Overlay from Buffer The Overlay from Buffer operation mixes a copy of the temporary buffer into the current sound file starting at the insertion point. The insertion point is the left Waveform Cursor or Mark location. The sound file is not increased in size by this operation unless the buffer contents does not fit in between the left Waveform Cursor or Mark and the end of the sound file. Switch Channels This function is available only with the stereo version of the Sound Blaster (two channel digitizer card). Use the Switch Channels function to swap the left channel sound to the right channel and vice versa. This function is an automatic copy and replace operation in the same time slot. SoundFX-Blast Page 27 ___________________________________________________________________ Modify/Create Menu The Modify/Create Menu is used to create or modify sound waveforms. Modify/Create operations work on part or all of the current sound file. If the Do Whole option is selected the entire sound file is modified. Selecting Do Block modifies only the section between the Waveform Marks (if they are set on) or the Waveform Cursors. Modify Existing Sounds These functions are used to modify an existing sound file. You can use any number or combination of these modifying effects. All of these modifying functions produce sound files that you can save in the regular manner. Filter Sounds Use the Filter function to restrict or modify sound waveform frequencies. This function uses advanced digital filtering techniques and will work best on unclipped sound waveforms. The Filter Sounds Dialog Box contains On/Off Switches and data boxes for setting the filter corner frequencies. Echo The Echo function creates the effect of reverberation or repeated sounds. Two echo constants are used to create different echo effects. The amplitude or loudness of each repeat of the sound is controlled by the Damping Factor Data Box value. A damping factor of 20% gives a slight echo that dies out quickly. Delay Time. The Delay Time Data Box value set the time delay between echoes. Amplify/Attenuate Use the Amplify function to scale a sound waveform up or down in amplitude or loudness. The scale factor range is from 0.01 to 100.00 (or 0 to +/- 40 dB) and is set in the Amplify/Attenuate Dialog Box. Envelope Use the Envelope function to adjust the loudness or amplitude of a sound waveform file in an nonlinear way (similar to the way natural sounds build or decay). Position the cursors or mark to section of sound that you want to modify then set the loudness range. The loudness changes in a linear-logarithmic way between three Envelope Pins or points set in the current sound file. Set the range of amplitude change with the Scale Factor in the Envelope Dialog Box. The Scale Factor value will appear on the right edge of the Waveform Window along with the three Envelope Pins on the 0 dB line. SoundFX-Blast Page 28 The Pins are moved by selecting and dragging. If a Pin is dragged up above the 0 dB line the sound file amplitude is increased. If the Pin is dragged down below the 0 dB line the amplitude is decreased. The center Pin can move left and right also. Reverse Sounds The Backwards function reverses the data in the current sound file. This has the effect of reversing time in the recording. There is no change of the sound wave amplitude with this function. Create Sounds Sounds are created with the Generator functions. These functions create noise, simple tones, and complex multiple tones or FM sounds. These Generator functions replace any sounds in the active sound file starting at the left Waveform Mark or Cursor location. The replacement sound effect ends at the right Waveform Mark or Cursor. These functions are executed one at time. Each time they are executed they replace what was in the current sound file. Noise Generator Select the Noise Generator to replace the marked section of the waveform with random white or broadband noise. The Noise Generator sound is like the noise that you hear between FM radio stations with muting off. Use the Data Box in the Noise Generator Dialog Box to set the amplitude of the noise. Use the Filter function to produce pink or colored noise. Tone Generator The Tone Generator is used to create simple pure sine waves, square waves, and triangle waves. Use the Tone Generator Dialog Box to select the type of tone, the amplitude, frequency, and duty cycle. The frequency range is 1 Hz to 20 KHZ. The duty cycle range 1 % to 99 %. AM Generator Use the AM Generator function to create a sine wave with amplitude modulation. The carrier frequency, the amplitude of the carrier, and the percent of modulation are all set in the AM Generator Dialog Box. AM sounds can range from beating tones to rising or decaying tones. FM Generator The FM Generator function creates more complex sounds using a frequency modulated sine wave. The carrier frequency, amplitude, and deviation factor are set in the FM Generator Dialog Box. FM sounds can range from a siren wail to ray gun zaps depending on the settings. SoundFX-Blast Page 29 __________________________________________________________________ Settings Menu Use the Settings Menu to view, change or save settings used in the operation of SoundFX-Blast. You use these settings for recording, playback, file operations, and display of sound files. Display Settings You use the Display Settings Dialog Box to control the Waveform Window display. Select the Display Settings from the Settings pull-down menu to open the dialog box. The box will show all the current settings. Use the boxes in this dialog box to toggle the settings for: Display Vertical Scale: 1X, 2X, or 4X Display Vertical Units: +/- Decimal or Average Envelope Display Horizontal Units: Time in seconds or KBytes A vertical scale of 1X gives a range of -128 to +128. A vertical scale of 2X expands the display to a range of -64 to +64. A 4X scale expands the display to a range of -32 to +32. The sampled sound file waveform gets displayed when you set the vertical units to +/- decimal. However, because of the finite horizontal resolution of the display, not every file data point is displayed. This causes an aliasing effect in the display for certain sound waveforms. Sampling Rate / Record Length Select the Play/Record Settings Menu item to set the play and record conditions. You can change the sampling rate for a tradeoff of record size versus fidelity. Since the sampling rate directly changes the sound playing time the seconds box is updated when you change the sample rate. If you change the time the value in the record length box is updated. Sound Frequency/Memory Storage Tradeoffs To set the sampling rate to common values used by other software click or select the boxes for 12, 11, 7.5, or 5.5 KB/s. For special effects use the data boxes to set either the desired maximum sound frequency or sampling rate and type in the sample rate in Ksamples/s. Use the Record Length Data Box in the Play/Record Settings Dialog Box to set sound file length. You can set the sound length in units of time or bytes of memory. The sound file length in bytes of memory does not change with rate changes, but the recording or playback time does change. SoundFX-Blast Page 30 Resample Use the Resample operation to convert a sound file from one sample rate to another. The Resample Dialog Box will display the file header information for the current sound file. Calibrate You need to use the Calibrate function to correct SoundFX-Blast's internal constants only after you make a computer speed change with SoundFX-Blast running. You do not need to Calibrate if you have a single speed computer. ____________________________________________________________________ Help Menu Use the Help Menu to get information on the operation and use of SoundFX-Blast and the Sound Blaster without referring to this guide. The Help topics are grouped by menu location and subject matter. ____________________________________________________________________ SoundFX-Blast Use the About and Registration items to view information about the version of the software and registration. _______________________________________________________________________ *********************************************************************** SoundFX-Blast Page 31 ******************************************************************* Using SoundFX-Blast and Sound Blaster Chapter 4 ******************************************************************* You can use the SoundFX-Blast editor and digitized sound for fun, education, or business in many different applications. You can use any sound file created by SoundFX-Blast or translated from other software products that use 8 bit samples in ASCII format. There is no limit to the use of digitized sound in software but it may take a while to discover effective techniques for specific programs. As covered in Chapter 2 - Introduction to Digital Sound, the tradeoff of sound fidelity versus sound memory storage requirements is one of the first items to consider in the design of your application. This is important because generally computer memory may always be valuable and should be conserved. The amount of memory needed is: x KBytes = Total recording time(sec) x Sample Rate(KB/sec) where the sample rate must be at least two times the maximum sound frequency you want to record. You should limit the maximum sound frequency to minimize aliasing and to conserve memory. A sampling rate of 11 KB/sec is good for general purposes using both voice and simple music. Additionally, as a sound application designer, you should consider the following sound use factors: 1. Random access 2. Short bites of sound 3. Natural sounds Random access is a unique property of computer stored files that you can use to your advantage in applications. Most other forms of stored sound information are linear. That is, the information is read from beginning to end. It is difficult and time consuming to select or find specific parts in a tape recording, for example. The access time for most hard drives is much faster than for even the CD ROM type of storage. Random access allows the software user to customize the information flow. You, as the software designer, can set the information or sounds for requested play only. If the user does not need the help sounds or information, they do not have to hear it play. Sound information can be presented without annoying the user if random access is optimized. Although very long playing times are possible with a hard drive based PC, you should use short bites of sound. The short bites give you fast access to different sounds and better listener focus. The short play segments give the user the more efficient use of an application. SoundFX-Blast Page 32 The Sound Blaster card is capable of playing any type of sound but its best use is with natural sounds. Natural sounds are those which the application user would normally hear, like pleasant, understandable digitized voices - not synthesized computer robot voices, or like real animals and sounds of the countryside. Very few quality natural sounds are available on low cost synthesizers. A sound player program, PLAYSB.EXE, and example source code for C and Quick Basic are included in the SoundFX-Blast Utilities files you get if you register. (Unregistered users can use the sound player that comes with the Sound Blaster card - Creative Labs.) These programs will demonstrate how you use the Sound Blaster with existing software. PLAYSB.EXE plays sound files created by SoundFX-Blast. This program is small since it just plays a sound file and does not have complex functions like editing or creation that are part of SoundFX-Blast. PLAYSB.EXE The PLAYSB.EXE program is a simple stand-alone sound player that you can use outside of SoundFX-Blast to play any SoundFX-Blast sound file from the DOS command line. You start the program by changing to the directory where the SoundFX-Blast utility programs are located and typing: PLAYSB <flag> <filename> where <flag> tells the program how to play a sound file or list of sound files created by SoundFX-Blast. PLAYSB.INI Each time PLAYSB.EXE is executed it looks for a calibration file, PLAYSB.INI. If this file not found PLAYSB.EXE will create it based on the current speed of your computer. If this file is found the calibration process is bypassed in PLAYSB.EXE, which minimizes any delay before a single sound file (or the first sound file in a list) is played. If you change the speed of your computer after the PLAYSB.INI file has been created at one speed you should delete the old PLAYSB.INI. Play once You can play a file once if no flag is given, for example: PLAYSB VOICE1.VOC plays the VOICE1.VOC sound file once and terminates. Play in Loop - /L Flag You can play the sound file in a loop if you give a /L flag to the play program. For example: PLAYSB /L ECHO1.VOC SoundFX-Blast Page 33 The ECHO1.VOC file will play in a loop until you press a keyboard key. The file extension of VOC must be present. Play a Map File List - /M Flag You can play the list of sound files in a map file if you give a /M flag to the play program. For example: PLAYSB /M TEST.MAP will play the list of sound files defined in the list of files in TEST.MAP. The general format of this sound file list is detailed below. You can define up to 5 sound files for each keyboard key sequence, and the maximum number of sets of key sequences is 100 per map file. The sound file list can not have more than 80 characters per line and the group of files on a line must end with a semicolon (;). __________________________________________________________________ The general format of the map file is: comments comments ;keys file names !CONTinuous Play (or !SINGLE Play) !FIXed length characters(or !VARied length characters or !SCAN codes) <keys> <filename #1><filename #2 >... <filename #5>; <keys> <filename> ... ; comments . . <keys> <filename>; where 'comments' is any text on the lines before the first '!' and after a semicolon following the file name (any comments will be ignored). The keywords in the first line beginning with an exclamation mark are: !CONT tells the player to go into the continuous play mode after it takes control. That is, it will continue to translate key strokes to sound files until it is toggled off. This action is used only by the Programmer's Libraries but the keyword must be included in the file at the location indicated. !SINGLE tells player to play a single sound file set and toggle off after the first set of key strokes is matched in the map file. This action is used only by the Programmer's Libraries but the keyword must be included in the file at the location indicated. The keywords in the second line are: !FIX is used to if all keystroke sequences are the same length. A carriage return is not needed to end the fixed length keystrokes sequence. SoundFX-Blast Page 34 !VAR is used for variable keystroke sequences with a carriage return to signal the end of the sequence. !SCAN is used to indicate that the keystroke definitions are in IBM key scan code form. The key-to-sound-file map is defined by: <keys> denotes the keyboard key or key sequence (Maximum of 16 key strokes per definition). <filename> is the sound filename (maximum of 5 filenames per key sequence). The same sound file may be played by more than one keyboard key. That is, the same sound can be part of a number of key or map definitions. For example: Example - ASCII map file named TEST1.MAP: !SINGLE ;single play !FIXED ;keystroke sequence same length, no return needed a A.VOC ; the 'a' sound b B.VOC ; the 'b' sound 1 1.VOC 2.VOC ; the '1' sound then the '2' sound When this map file, TEST1.MAP is played by the command: PLAYSB /M TEST1.MAP You will hear 'a', 'b', '1', '2' assuming the corresponding sound files exist and are in the same directory as the player. PLAYERR.TXT PLAYSB.EXE will create an error file, PLAYERR.TXT, if it has any problem in finding or playing a sound file. If you having a hardware problem contact Creative Labs technical support for assistance. If you believe that are having a problem related to Silicon Shack's software or would like to registered user, contact us for technical support. Notice: Silicon Shack, Ltd. reserves the right to make changes or improvements in the products decribed in this guide at any time and without notice. ******************************************************************* * * * SoundFX-Blast User's Guide 9/3/91 * * Copyright 1991 Silicon Shack, Ltd., * * San Jose, CA All Rights Reserved * * * ******************************************************************* SoundFX-Blast Page 35