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Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection
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BS1 part 26
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Soundtracker v2.6.adf
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Soundtracker.DOC
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1991-10-09
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
SOUNDTRACKER V2.6
User Manual
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Last changes to Soundtracker done on : see program.
Soundtracker-Update done by : MnemoTroN.
Soundtracker-Playroutine by : Mahoney & Kaktus.
Soundtracker-Playroutine improved by : MnemoTroN.
Soundtracker-Documentation updated by : MnemoTroN.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A FIRST-TIME USER: READ THIS DOCUMENTATION
CAREFULLY - YOU WILL DISCOVER NEW AND IMPORTANT NEW FEATURES !
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So whattz upp?
--------------
* - Song is now track-orientated
- 128K samples supported
- Soundtracker-Interrupts are now legal (no more messing
around in the zeropage)
- Keyboard-presses are now converted with the current
KeyMap (except for special keys like Return and so on)
- Channel-equalizer now shows (nearly) real volume
during play
- General improvements
- Full workbench support
- Everything now works with scan-waits (should work fine
with Turboboards - could not be tested, though)
- IFF-Support on loaded files
- Directory is now dynamic list-based, maximal entries
depend on free memory
- Preconfiguration - save songs/module/sample-directory,
IFF-Configuration and size of PresetList to be present
at startup
* - Soundtracker-/System-Switch
* - improved Speed-Command
(*) most important changes
The Song.
---------
The 'Song' is build up from tracks. A 'track' is the note- and
command-data for one channel. Your Amiga has four
hardware-audio-channels, two on the left side and two on the right. A
Song has 128 positions, with each position holding the tracknumbers
for each of the four channels, so repeated parts will save memory.
Please note that the track-number above each voice is represented in
hex. There are 256 possible tracks in total. USE TRACK 0 AS AN EMPTY
TRACK!
The Keys.
---------
As you may already have read above, Soundtracker now understands the
current KeyMap-setting when inputting text, so you can configure your
system as you like. The note-keyboard is Sonix-style, try typing on
the whole key-rows. The keys on your Amiga have been grouped to
represent the layout of a two-octave piano-keyboard. You can "shift"
the keyboard one octave up or down with the aid of the F1 and F2 keys,
thus incrementing the range of the keyboard to three octaves.
Explanation of the options:
---------------------------
MAIN MENU:
----------
Play - will play the song whilst showing you the current tracks
Pattern - plays just the current position
Stop - stops the player
Insert - inserts one step at the current position
Delete - delete the current position - following will move up
Edit - edit a pattern (switches to edit-menu)
Record - edit pattern in real-time
Clear - will kill the song in memory
Use Pset - will load a sample, which can be chosen with the Preset-
gadget
Filter - will switch the Power-LED (and lowpassfilter on selected
machines) on and off
Disk Op - switches to the Disk-Menu (see below)
Print - will print the Songheaderdata to PRT: (right button to
abort)
Pset-Ed - switches to the PresetList-Editor (see below)
The small gadgets titled from 1 to 4 represent the four audio channels
of your Amiga computer. When lit, the respective audio channel is
enabled.
DISK MENU:
----------
Load Song - loads a song
Save Song - crunches and saves a song
Delete Song - deletes a song from the disk
Load Module - loads a module
Save Module - saves a module
Delete Modules - deletes a modules from the disk
Load Sample - read a sample from any disk
Save Sample - save the selected sample to disk
Format Disk - formats a disk
To change the path of song/module/sample without reading it, move the
cursor to the uppermost line of the screen over one of these options
and press the left mousebutton. The directory-display will change to
this option.
Please note that the Format-Option has been improved and should now
work 100%.
PRESETLIST-EDITOR:
------------------
Edit - to edit an entry (see below)
Insert - inserts an entry into the PresetList
Delete - deletes an entry
Read path - reads the specified path and inserts the entries into the
list
Print Plst - lists the PresetList to PRT: (right button to abort)
Save Plst - saves the PresetList to disk
Use Pset - loads a selected sample into the memory
Press the right mousebutton to move up and down faster!
The 'Edit'-option is not included in the menu. Just click on one of
the entries and you can change the name or the other values. To read
a sampledisk using 'Read path' you have to enter the path you want to
read (in most cases 'df0:' to 'df3:'). Harddisk users may enter a
volume-number which will be inserted before the samplename. Click on
'Volume' to change it. Disks with a name like 'ST-xx' will be
automatically identified!
Preferences menu:
-----------------
Press Shift+HELP in the main menu to enter the Preferences menu.
Click on the lines showing the song/module/sample-directories to
change them. Click on 'IFF-Check' to change the IFF-Checking
(none/half/full). Click on Max Entries to change the number of
entries in the presetlist. If you change the number of entries,
Soundtracker will try to reload the PresetList with the desired number
of entries.
Press ESC to quit the menu or Shift+ESC to save & quit.
IFF-Checking:
-------------
Normally, if Soundtracker encounters an IFF-Samplefile, it will load
the data, remove the IFF-Header and set the Length, Repeat and
Repeatlength according to the data given in the IFF-File. This should
normally work fine, but if you have changed the values in the song and
load it afterwards, the values you changed will be overwritten by
those in the IFF-File. To prevent this, set IFF-Check to 'half'. Now
only the IFF-Header will be removed, but Length, Repeat and
Repeatlength will not be affected.
Due to a bug in old versions of NoiseTracker (hehe), a module saved
with it which uses IFF-Files will have the IFF-Headers saved with it,
but not the end of the samples. Soundtracker will remove the
IFF-Header and will try to copy the sample-data over it, but because
some bytes are missing, there can be strange noises at the end of such
a sample. If you encounter such a module, you should set IFF-Check to
none, this may result in a strange noise (VERY short) at the beginning
of the sample.
All time key-commands:
----------------------
Tab - Pattern Play / Play Pattern (in Edit-Mode)
Right Amiga - Edit Pattern
Space - Stop
While editing:
--------------
Cursor-keys move cursor.
shift + Cursor-keys move cursor fast.
alt + Cursor-keys move cursor fastest.
F6 - Set cursor to first line of pattern.
F7 - Set cursor to 16th line of pattern.
F8 - Set cursor to 32th line of pattern.
F9 - Set cursor to 48th line of pattern.
F10 - Set cursor to 63rd line of pattern.
DEL - Delete note under cursor.
shift + F3 - Cut track of current channel and copy it into a
buffer.
shift + F4 - Copy track of current channel into a buffer.
shift + F5 - Copy buffer to track of channel pattern.
ctrl + B - Mark beginning of block
ctrl + C - Clear from beginning to current cursor-position
ctrl + X - Cut from beginning to current cursor-position
ctrl + V - Copy from beginning to current cursor-position
ctrl + P - Paste from buffer to current-position
While using Soundtracker V2.6, HELP will show you these commands, plus
information about the song-, sample- and module-length and free
memory.
A small word about the +/- gadgets: pressing the left AND right
mousebutton will in-/decrease the value faster !!
Sample zero function:
---------------------
While editing you're able to set the sample to the value zero (0!).
Press both mousebuttons at the position of the samplegadgets (plus,
minus = +,-). Now you can edit the pattern with the sample 0 to
prevent difficulties according to the volume.
Instruments.
------------
You can use up to thirtyone different instruments in one music-piece.
All instruments are listed in the preset-list. The volume is normally
$40, but you can change it to each value between 0 and $40. To change
the other values of each instrument you have to enter the
preset-editor or use the gadgets in the program (this is only for
small changes. use the preset-ed otherwise!). With the PresetEd you
can change the whole preset-list. An instrument may have a maximal
length of 128K !! Due to this enhancement the Length, Repeat and
Repeat-Length display the length in WORDS !! Multiply by two to get
the length in bytes.
Notes:
------
C#1 0 3 C 2 3
/ |/ | \|
/ / | Par
/ / Command
/ Inst#
Note to
be played.
Note: This is simply the note that is played with that particular
----- instrument.
Inst#: This is the number of the instrument that is used to play
------ that note. When the instrument number is zero, the last
selected instrument will be used.
Command: This number tells Soundtracker what special functions shall
-------- be performed while playing the note.
Par: This byte contains the parameter(s) for the command.
----
These functions are as follows:
0 - Normal play or arpeggio.
1 - Portamento up.
2 - Portamento down.
3 - Tone-portamento
4 - Vibrato
A - Volume slide.
B - Position jump.
C - Set volume.
D - Pattern break.
E - Set filter on/off.
F - Set speed.
$0 Arpeggio - $0 + second halfnote-add + third halfnote-add
This command will produce a one-channel chord. No comments.
C-3 00037 produces a minor-chord
C-3 00047 produces a major-chord
$1 Portamento up - $1 + portamentospeed
This commans slides the pitch up.
C-3 00103 1 is the command, 3 is the speed.
$2 Portamento down - $2 + portamentospeed
This command slides the pitch down.
C-3 00203 2 is the command, 3 is the speed.
$3 Tone-portamento - destination-note + $3 + speed
This will automatically slide from the old note to the new. To
keep on sliding, just select the command 3. Try it out yourself,
and I'm sure you'll understand a little bit better.
C-3 00305 C-3 is the note to slide to, 3 the command and 5 the
speed.
$4 Vibrato - $4 + vibratospeed + vibratosize
C-3 00481 4 is the command, 8 is the speed of the vibrato and 1
is the size of the vibrato.
To hold vibrato just select the command 4 without
parameters.
$A Volume-slide - $A + upslidespeed + downslidespeed
C-3 00A05 5 is the speed to turn down the volume
C-3 00A40 4 is the speed to slide it up.
$B Position-jump - $B + song-position to continue at
C-3 00B01 1 is the place to restart the song at.
This command will also perform a pattern-break.
$C Set volume - $C + new volume
Well, this old familiar command will set the current volume to
your own selected. The highest volume is $40. All volumes are
represented in hex. (Programmers do it in hex, you know!)
C-3 00C10 C is the command, $10 is the volume (equals 16).
$D Pattern-break - $D + nothing
Sure simple, this magic thing will end your pattern and go on
with the next one. This line will be played!!
C-3 00D00 D in one track, all others are a waste of memory.
$E Set filter - $E + filter-status
This command jerks around with the sound-filter on some A500
and A2000. This command shouldn't be used anymore !!
C-3 00E01 disconnects filter (turns LED off)
C-3 00E00 connects filter (turns LED on) * please keep LED off!
NEW AND IMPROVED:
$F Set speed - $F + speed1 + speed2
This will change the speed of your tune. (how fast your patterns
will roll ...) Speeds from $01 - $0f are allowed.
C-3 00F07 sets speed to 7
C-3 00F70 sets speed to 7
C-3 00F34 speed will change with every step to 3,4,3,4,3 and so
on (this was inspired by looking at the 'Kill Victor
Theme' and 'Chicago Song',both by Nightlight/Kefrens.
Nice idea, pal) Speed 3/4 will result in an effective
speed of 3.5. Please note that 3/4 and 4/3 will
behave different and also note that if you do Vibrato
with the slide-command, the slided pitch depends on
the speed (try the same slide for both speeds and the
pitch will raise/lower).
The even lines (0/2/4/6..) will last for <speed1>
frames, the odd lines (1/3/5/7..) will last for
<speed2> frames.
For your convenience the speed is set to 6 everytime you load a song/
module or clear the song.
The Playroutine.
----------------
On the original Soundtracker V2.6 release disk is a source code, which
has to be used if you want to use a piece of music created with Sound-
tracker in your own programs.
How to incorporate a module into your own programs:
---------------------------------------------------
1) Save the music you want to use with the SAVE MODULE-function in
Soundtracker. You now have a so-called 'MODULE', which contains
both the song- and the sample-data.
2) Load your favourite assembler.
3) Load the Player-Source.
4) If you use SEKA, don't bother. If you use GenAm, change the 'blk'
statements at the end of the source to 'dcb' (sic!).
5) Now you have to insert the module into your source (or better:
memory). This can be done in different ways:
1) Load the module to an absolute address (bad habit).
2) With Seka: reserve a chip-memory-block representing the length
of the module with 'blk.b' and
1) 'ri' the module-file to the address after assembling the
source or
2) >EXTERN the file and read the data with 'y' after assembling.
3) With Devpac: INCBIN the module-file in chip-memory (use SECTION
if required)
6) Call the 'mt_init' routine with the address of the module in A0.
7) Every frame (50 times a second) call 'mt_music'. You should hear
the music now.
8) To stop the music, stop calling 'mt_music', then call 'mt_end'
(once).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Soundtracker and Workbench(tm):
-------------------------------
All Workbench-fanatics can start Soundtracker from the Workbench
without using utilities like XIcon. Simply use the provided icon (or
draw your own), but remember: don't forget to assign the ST-xx:
disks! There should be however no problems with Workbench and
Soundtracker working together because Soundtracker disables all Mouse-
and Keyboard-Functions while active. The current directory is the one
Soundtracker has been started from which also applies to the CLI !!
The PLST and configuration-file will be read from that path.
Soundtracker and Multitasking:
------------------------------
In Soundtracker V2.6 you can easily switch between Soundtracker and
the Amiga Multitasking Environment, by pressing the Left Amiga key
plus the letter S(witch). I think there shouldn't occur any problems
with other programs running in the background, but I recommend not to
use any other programs when using Soundtracker. Soundtracker uses
vast amounts of processor-time (due to bad programming), so don't run
applications which depend on it (time, not Soundtracker!).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Last, but not least, many thanks to all people who tested
Soundtracker, made suggestions for changes and reported bugs (have
there been any?) to me. Sorry that I don't list you by name, but some
I don't remember and nobody shall be preferred, ok?
MnemoTroN, 03-Nov-90
-EOF-