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Almathera Ten Pack 3: CDPD 3
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scopedisk190
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soundfx
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sound.lzh
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Sound.doc
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1991-03-12
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***************************** Sound.doc ********************************
Sound will attempt to feed <SOUNDfilename>'s data to the audio device.
It will 'sound' files containing ANY kind of data, (try 'Sound Sound' :-)
and of ANY length. If you have expansion memory, 'Sound' will store data
in FAST ram, and use only 4-5 k. of CHIP ram to actually sound the data.
This is the magic of 'double-buffering'. In addition, if you set the 'D'
flag (for DIRECT_FROM_DISK), the sample will be played directly off the
disk instead of first being loaded into FAST RAM. The advantage is that
those with limited RAM can now hear those giant sized samples. The dis-
advantage is that, depending on your disk speed, the sample size, stereo
setting, samples/sec, how much multi-tasking is going on, and whether
or not the sample is compressed, the sample may sound fragmented. This
feature should be used to personal taste and necessity but will be
automatically enabled if there is insufficient contiguous RAM available.
When DIRECT_FROM_DISK is enabled, Sound will use most of the available
CHIP RAM to help limit fragmenting.
If the STEREO flag is turned ON,the data will be split and played in
stereo. Otherwise, identical data is sent to left and right channels
unless limited by the LEFT or RIGHT flags. (You MUST use a L or R flag
if you only want this sound to use only 1 Amiga audio channel).
Perfect Sound (tm) samples in stereo will automatically sound in stereo.
These are the only stereo samples I've seen, so I don't know if the code
used is universal (in IFF) for STEREO.
Thanks to a lucid description of Fibonacci compression by Wesley Howe,
(thanks, Wes!), Sound can now handle compressed IFF files.
If called from workbench, (by doubleclicking on a project icon), Sound
will search the 'ToolTypes' entries in the project icon for STEREO,
VOLUME, END_VOLUME, CHANNEL, CYCLES, SAMPLES_PER_SECOND, EFFECT, and
DIRECT_FROM_DISK. If found, these values will override any IFF values
read from the SOUNDfile.
If called from CLI, over-riding values for STEREO, CHANNEL, CYCLES,
VOLUME, END_VOLUME, SAMPLES_PER_SECOND, EFFECT, and/or DIRECT_FROM_DISK
may be specified in the command line. (see below)
If no settings for STEREO, CYCLES, CHANNEL, SAMPLES_PER_SECOND, VOLUME,
FADE, and/or DIRECT_FROM_DISK are found, in the file itself or in the
calling arguments, STEREO defaults to OFF, CYCLES to 1, left and right both
on, SAMPLES_PER_SECOND to 10000, EFFECTS to OFF, DIRECT_FROM_DISK to OFF. In
the special case where there is not enough contiguous memory to load the
entire sample, DIRECT_FROM_DISK will be automatically turned on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
***** ABORT! *****
!!! Sound may be aborted by typing <CTRL> 'c' from the keyboard. !!!
If <CTRL> 'c' does NOT abort the sound, click on the Sound 'Status'
line, (the top line), then <CTRL> 'c' again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*********** USAGE ************
NOTE!!! 'Sound' should be in your 'c' directory, (ie, 'copy Sound c:'),
before the following USAGEs will work!
USAGE: (from CLI)
Sound <filename> [SAMPLES_PER_SECOND] [vVOLUME] [eEND_VOLUME] [CYCLES] [FLAGS]
The filename MUST be the first argument, then the other arguments
may be in any order, or missing. (see below for valid values). Sound
alone will display a USAGE message. Sound will 'sound' the file, then
display the SAMPLES_PER_SECOND (if the file was found) and STEREO if
the sample was played in stereo. use v (ie v48) to set volume to other
than the default 64, or for effects using multiple cycles and e
(end_volume). For example, 'SOUND WhosBad 6 v10 e64' will play the
sample 6 times starting with the first at volume=10, and increasing
with each cycle such that the last cycle is at volume=64. Fades can
also be done within each cycle. See the fade and grow flags below.
FLAGS:
D or d = load the sample DIRECT_FROM_DISK (no FAST RAM buffer)
F or f = start volume from 64 and fade to 1 for each sample.
G or g = start volume from 1 and grow to 64 for each sample.
L or l = LEFT Channel only
R or r = RIGHT Channel only
S or s = toggles STEREO on/off <-- NOTE! changed from previous versions!
Q or q = disable the StatusLine that usually appears on the top line.
FLAGS should be separated by spaces: ie, 'Sound Sneeze 4 e20 l q'
will play 'sneeze' in the left channel four times, fading the volume
each cycle until the last cycle plays at volume=20. No status window
will be displayed. You may also use the full flag names if you wish for
any flag. So the above example could be: 'Sound Sneeze 4 E20 LEFT Quiet'
Although maximum CYCLES = 65535, from CLI the maximum is 55.
USAGE: (from WorkBench)
Double-'Click' on project icon whose Default Tool is set to 'c:Sound'.
ToolTypes: STEREO= CYCLES= SAMPLES_PER_SECOND=
CHANNEL= SOURCE= DIRECT_FROM_DISK=
VOLUME= EFFECT= END_VOLUME=
Valid Values: (these values stored in the .info file)
CYCLES 0 - 65535 0 = sound loops until aborted.
Use CONTROL-C to stop.
SAMPLES_PER_SECOND 1000 - 65535 greater than 30000 seems to have
no effect, but MAX = 64k.
VOLUME 1 - 64 How loud it starts. default=64
END_VOLUME 1 - 64 How loud the last cycle starts.
CHANNEL RIGHT or LEFT (r or l) Useful for effects.
EFFECT FADE - GROW Changes volume over single cycle
from 1-64 (GROW) or 64-1 (FADE).
STEREO ON - OFF default=off. Not case sensitive.
File is split left/right.
DIRECT_FROM_DISK ON - OFF Don't load into RAM first.
SOURCE any text Where did this sound come from?
AUTHOR any text Immortality, if ya want it...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
******** ARGUMENT PRIORITIES *******
Arguments from CLI or in the WorkBench Icon override any IFF info.
IFF file info overrides the default values.
Defaults: STEREO = off, CYCLES = 1, both CHANNELS, VOLUME = 64,
SAMPLES_PER_SECOND = 10000, FADE = OFF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
********* REVISIONS *********
MAY 1988 - Initial release.
DEC 1988 - Added multiple icon select, double buffering, QUIET flag.
DEC 1989 - Now shows soundfile name in status bar.
No longer crashes if all 4 audio channels are already in use.
JAN 1990 - No longer gives incorrect error warnings on 2500/30's.
FEB 1990 - Handles standard IFF de-compression.
Changed some input formats to allow adding:
VOLUME, END_VOLUME, FADE, GROW, and DIRECT_FROM_DISK.
Automatically adjusts period for PAL/NTSC clock rate diff.
Re-compiled with Aztec 5.0a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound is copyright 1988,90 by Richard Lee Stockton, 21305 60th Ave W.,
Mountlake Terrace, Washington 98043, 206/776-1253(voice), but may be freely
distributed as long as no profit is made from its distribution or sale
without my written permission. I call this concept 'FreeWare', you can
call it whatcha want.
NOTE: Sound has been compacted using PowerPacker 2.3b. (42% savings)
I also released the source code, (Manx 5.0a), in the hope that it
will be of benefit to someone in the Amiga programming community. Feel
free to alter it at will, (but at your own risk!). I _would_ appreciate
receiving a copy of whatever it may become, and it is always nice to be
credited, (perhaps just a few lines of glowing tribute.^).
Long Live Leo and All the Little Schwabie's!
Included in this arc file are a sample project icon and its related
data file (WhosBad.info and WhosBad) as well as Sound, & this file.
WhosBad is a COMPRESSED STEREO sound sample made with Perfect Sound.
Feel free to design your own icons, any project icon should work. Just
make the Default Tool in the icon 'c:Sound'.
Please try to keep all these files together when distributing as
every little bit may be of help!
Stay Warm & Enjoy! - Richard
***************************** Sound.doc **********************************