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t.world music
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2022-08-26
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S C E N E W O R L D M U S I C
From People of Liberty
Text by Dave Moorman
NOTE: Scene World Music will LOAD and
play the first number from any drive,
but the menu of songs will work only
on Drive 8. Also, the program does not
return to LOADSTAR.
Let's face it: Here in the USA,
our SID music is lame by Euro
standards. Not bad music, for the
transcription works of Dave Marquis,
Corky Cochran, and others have brought
rich, classical and classic music to
the C-64.
But our most used music player is
SIDPlayer. There is nothing wrong
with SIDPlayer, either. But music
programs used by the Demo Dudes take
the SID a step or two beyond just
"play".
Like drums. Cymbals. Ripply
arppegios. Rock music.
Having written a lame music
processor, I wondered [how] the Euro
music could have such remarkable
sounds. I really wanted to incorporate
the technology in PRESTO. But I
couldn't figure out the trick.
At the 2002 Chicago Expo, I was
finally let into the secret. A folder,
stamped with "Eyes Only", "Need to
Know", and "Shoot Yourself After
Reading" was placed before me by Robin
Harbron. Actually, there was no
folder. Sean Pappalardo (a.k.a.
Pegasus/RPG) was working with one of
the DemoTune programs, making the
sound of a tom-tom.
And here is the trick. Demo music
is based on a 60 cycle per second IRQ
(or to be more exact, a raster IRQ,
which in Europe is 50 Hz). So is
SIDPlayer, but what the Euro Dudez do
is create compound sounds. Each 60th
of a second, the output of the voice
is changed: For example (if I recall
correctly), the tom-tom began with a
high frequency sawtooth tap, then slid
down the scale in musical 5ths with a
pulse waveform. "t!uuuuuuuuuu".
Change the frequencies, waveforms,
duration and you can create most any
sound. The power behind the trick is
to divide the sound into 60th of a
second slices.
And actually, this is not that
different from the rich ripply
arppegios that grace Euro songs.
WE need to learn how to use the
DemoTune sequencers. We really need an
IRQ driver and understanding of how
the files play. I did a little
research and found that these files
execute at $1000. To see the Basic
I used to test things out, LOAD and
LIST "PLAYTEST".
Then I wrote a little IRQ driver:
"PLAYER832.ML". I situated the code at
location 832, since that is very often
completely out of the way. The only
downside is that everything below 1024
is cleared with a warm reset. So, you
will also find "PLAYERC000.ML". Use
ML-MOVER and these two assemblies to
put the code wherever you want it.
To see the whole set-up, LOAD and
LIST "PLAY.BAS" from this side.
Now we have a whole slew of brand
new songs for your enjoyment from
Scene World. These are the "musics"
that have graced the first five issues
of this "Talking Disk" magazine.
By the way, we will carry each
issue of Scene World as it comes out.
Next month, we will take a step back
to SWO3, which has historic interviews
with Fender Tucker and Yours Truly.
Then SWO6 should be available.
And we are not just ripping off
Scene World. This is a unique look at
what is going on around the world. If
you are not on the Internet (and many
of you are just as happy that way),
Scene World will expand your horizons.
And in reciprocation, I have edited a
one-D64 special LOADSTAR for Scene
World to distribute in their neck of
the woods.
We are all in this together! And I
find new excitement in reaching around
the world to friends who have so much
in common with us.
Thank you, People of Liberty.
DMM