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╔════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Custom Programming Unlimited's ║ ║ PCSOUND ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╝ Copyright ( c ) 1993 Custom Programming Unlimited ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Table Of Contents For PCSOUND ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Section Page 1 ) Do's & Don'ts .......................... 1 2 ) Installing ............................. 2 3 ) Contacting C.P.U. ...................... 3 4 ) Legal Stuff ............................ 4 5 ) Printing Manuals ....................... 5 6 ) What is PCSOUND ........................ 6 7 ) The EDITOR ............................. 7 & 8 8 ) HOT KEYS ............................... 9 - 12 9 ) Tips ................................... 13 10) Ordering Information ................... 14 & 15 11) Last Word .............................. 16 ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Do's and Don'ts ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 1 « DON'T : 1) Have any TSR programs running with PCSOUND ( They may cause unpredictable results ) 2) Contact the vendor you received this program from in regards to problems or questions. ( See the section Contacting C.P.U. ) DO : 1) Read the entire manual before you decide you have a problem. 2) Contact Custom Programming Unlimited for: a: Problems b: Questions c: Suggestions d: Comments I like all input, good or bad, from anyone using our products 3) Give a copy of this to a friend ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ INSTALLING PCSOUND ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 2 « PCSOUND is distributed as a self extracting file that created all necessary files when run, including this file. A list of all files is contained in LIST.CPU. To view this file: 1) Make sure you are in the directory that contains PCSOUND 2) at the Dos prompt type: < type LIST.CPU > <ENTER> This will give you a complete list of all the files you should have in this directory. If you find you are missing a file, read the section contacting C.P.U.. If you have received a copy from another source, follow the instructions they gave you. PCSOUND requires 560k of free memory, EGA or better graphics adaptor, and a Micro-soft compatible mouse. If you do not have ALL of these requirements, DO NOT use this program. To run PCSOUND simply type PCSOUND. You will see the opening screen. Press any key and the screen will display a message setting up PCSOUND one moment. After a brief period, you will be placed in the editor. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ CONTACTING C.P.U. ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 3 « There are presently two ways to reach me. 2) Drop me a line in U.S. mail at : Custom Programming Unlimited P.O. BOX 571 AMHERST NY, 14226 3) Send me EMAIL on DELPHI (tm) To: SHESS Questions and comments will be answered as soon as possible. I have a bulletin board system scheduled to begin operation in the spring of 1993. At the time of the release of this program it was not operational. This will improve my ability to answer questions from users more efficiently, and allow me to contact registered users directly through their phone numbers for added support when needed. ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Legal Stuff ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 4 « You are granted a 30 day test period in which you can evaluate PCSOUND. If you continue using PCSOUND you must register your copy with Custom Programming Unlimited. Reg- istration is only $9.95 + $3.00 shipping and handling. When you register you will receive a registered copy of this pro- gram which removes the registration notices found in this copy. You will no longer see the opening screen or the registration notice at the end of the program.In addition, you will receive two bonus programs. 1) PLAYPCS This program allows you to play a PCS( PCSOUND FILE ) from the DOS command line or any BAT file without using the editor. 2) APPPCS This program allows you to combine two PCS files into one. Even if the files are two large for the editor, PLAYPCS will play them. For more information on this see the ORDERING INFO section. Custom Programming Unlimited makes no warrantees either implied or expressed in regards to this product. C.P.U. shall not in any case be liable for incidental, consequenc- tial or other indirect damages arising from use of this product. Some states do not allow this exclusion so the preceding statement may not apply to you. If you experience a problem when using this or any other Custom Programming Unlimited product please let me know. I am constantly updating my products and always trying to improve them. Your input makes the job much easier. I welcome your questions or comments. See CONTACTING C.P.U. for more information. DELPHI is a trademark of General Videotex Corporation. ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ PRINTING MANUALS ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 5 « You can print the following documentation for PCSOUND 1) An order form for registering PCSOUND 2) Complete copy of this document. There is a file for each one of these documents. At the DOS prompt type: TYPE filename > PRN <ENTER> where filename is one of the following: PCSOUND.DOC ( Complete Documentation ) CPUORDER.FRM ( Order form ) README.1ST ( Last minute information ) VENDOR.DOC ( C.P.U.'S Distribution policy ) Both files are formatted for standard printing. They will automatically form feed to ensure all pages are printed in a uniform manner. If your printer has an auto form feed ( a setting for ensuring items are not printed on the perforations ) turn this option off before printing. These files can also be viewed from any word processor. Load the file as a standard ASCII file according to the instructions for your word processor. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WHAT IS PCSOUND ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 6 « PCSOUND is a program designed to let anyone get the most out of an internal speaker. On standard PC machines, sound capabilities are extremely limited. Everyone is familiar with the BEEP you hear when you make an error and the simple sounds most programs make at one time or another. PCSOUND is designed to change that. If you like sound effects then PCSOUND is definitely for you. Originally designed for just that purpose, PCSOUND really makes designing sound effects easy. Whether your a novice or a seasoned pro, PCSOUND makes it easy. Play the demo files that come with PCSOUND for a demonstration ! With PCSOUND you can easily create songs or complex sound effects. Writing songs is as easy as moving the mouse and pressing the left button. There's no need to worry about being able to play 1/16 , 1/32, or even 1/64 notes, PCSOUND can play up to 250 notes per second ! Any way you look at it PCSOUND is the best there is. It makes playing any sound on a PC speaker as easy as using a mouse. No more will you press keys on the keyboard trying to emulate a piano. Simply draw notes on the screen with the mouse and let PCSOUND do the work. I have released this as a shareware product so you can try it before you buy it. I'm convinced that once you start using it you'll find you're amazed at the sounds you can make. Enjoy Your Self ! Steve ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ The EDITOR ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 7 « After the opening screens, you will be placed in the editor. If you would like a file to be loaded at the start, you can spe- cify it's name on the command line when you start PCSOUND. The format is as follows: 1 ) Make sure you are in the directory that contains PCSOUND and the file you want loaded. 2 ) At the command line type: < PCSOUND filename.PCS >< ENTER > where filename is the file you want loaded at start-up. There are four sections to PCSOUND EDITOR that I will describe here. The top of the screen gives you the information on all of the current functions of PCSOUND. The middle of the screen is broken into two parts, the note section on the left and the drawing section on the right. The bottom of the screen displays the functions available, with one of the letters highlighted in yellow to designate the key to PRESS to activate that function. In the top left corner Custom Programming Unlimited's PCSOUND appears. On the right the current file name is displayed, the screen displays NEW if there is no file loaded. On the second line the first item displayed is the maximum file length given in seconds. There are two factors that determine this. First is the range of the scale( How many different notes can be played). Second is the speed at which the notes are played ( How many notes the editor plays in one second ). Thus, the smaller the scale range and the less notes per second the editor plays, the longer the song can be. Next on this line is the BAR LOCATION. Because it is possible for a song to be 90 screens wide, this information is very important. Each bar represents one second of playing time. Bar location is displayed in two parts, the bar and sub bar location. The first number is the lowest bar location shown, and the sub bar location tells you how many notes into the bar you are. Example : 5. 12 │ │ ┌────────┤ ├───────┐ │ BAR │ │SUB BAR│ └────────┘ └───────┘ In this example the first note displayed would be 5 bars and 12 sub bars into the piece. O.K., I understand that one bar is one second, but what is a sub bar, you ask? The sub bar is determined by the speed at which a song is played ( more on SPEED in a moment ). If the speed is set to 15, there are 14 sub bar locations. Why not 15 sub bar locations, you ask? Because a location of 15 would be the start of the next full bar. » continued on next page « THE EDITOR CONTINUED » 8 « If this explanation is still not clear, when you start PCSOUND simply use the left and right arrow keys to scroll the screen and watch how the bar location changes. It will become clear what this shows. The last information given is the speed. Speed is shown in notes per second. The first number indicates the number of notes per second, the last number will always be one. Example : 15 : 1 │ │ ┌──────────┤ ├────────┐ │ notes per│ │ one │ │ second │ │ second │ └──────────┘ └────────┘ The next two sections of the screen work together. The left side shows the note values that will be played and the right side is where you draw the notes to be played. First, the notes on the left correspond to each line on the screen. You can scroll them up and down using the arrow keys. You will notice that the screen also scrolls with the note values. The second part is where you will spend most of your creative genius. This is the portion of the screen where you actually draw the notes to be played. By using the mouse drag the cursor over the spot where you want to put a note. Pressing the left button puts a note in that spot. Pressing the right button changes the note back to a dot. At this point it is important to understand the way the editor looks at these dots and notes. When you press the P key the editor then formats the song on the screen into a form that the pc speaker can use. Once the song is formatted it will begin to play. The editor starts at the top and reads to the bottom. If two notes are on the same vertical line, the editor will only consider the lower value and then move on. You will notice that the editor is active even when you are playing sounds. This is to say, you can press play and once the song starts you can continue editing. If you press another function key while a song is playing the editor will stop playing and execute the function you requested. Drawing notes or dots will have no effect on the song playing, unless you press play again. Just beneath the drawing portion of the screen there is a blank line. This is where the editor displays any messages it has for you. If the editor requires a response from you it will alert you and print the message on this line. Most of the functions get their input from you here. You may be asked a yes or no question or for the name of a file. In any case the editor will ask you for what it needs to know. The last portion of the screen at the bottom is a display of the available functions while using PCSOUND. You will notice that one letter of each word is yellow and the rest of the word is white. These yellow letters are called hot keys. These keys activate the function that they are displayed in. For instance, you will notice that the letter 'I' in instructions is yellow. Pressing the 'I' key on the key board will bring up the instruction screen. Each function is described in the next section HOT KEYS. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ HOT KEYS ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 9 « There are fourteen different functions you can use in the editor. These are described in the following text in the order they appear in the editor. » I « Instructions :This will bring up a small instruction screen. A brief description of each function is given here. Use this as a reminder of what each function does. Use the PGUP and PGDN keys to move you through each screen and function. Pressing ESC exits back to the editor. » P « Play :This function formats and then plays the song currently displayed. The only thing to remember here is if you press another key while a song is playing it will stop and the editor will take you to the called function. » S « Stop :This function simply stops any song that is currently being played. » L « Load :This function opens a window and shows you a list of files that you can load. You can move through the list by pressing the PGUP and PGDN keys. Once you found the number of the file you would like to load simply enter that number. The window will close and then it takes a few seconds to load the song into memory. As soon as the song is loaded you are placed back in the editor. » A « Save :The Editor will ask you for the name of the file to save. If this file already exists the editor will then ask you if you want to overwrite that file. Once you press 'Y' that old file will be lost and nothing( with the exception of having a back up of your files ) will bring it back. So be certain you no longer need that file before you have it overwritten. Pressing any other key will be considered to be a no answer and will return you to the editor. The file name can be 8 characters in length and wild cards are not allowed. » continued on next page « HOT KEYS CONTINUED » 10 « » X « Exit : This will exit the program after asking you if you are sure. If you have not saved the file you are working on, do so before you exit. The editor does not automatically save any changes or files you are working on so to avoid frustration save first, save often. Pressing the ESC key will also exit. » C « Scale : This function changes the note values that are available for you to use. There are two different types of scales you can use. The first question you will be asked is which of these scales you would like to use. The editor will ask you to enter 'U' for user scale or 'N' for note scale. User scale: You can set your own scale by selecting this option. You will be asked for the lowest sound value, ( in Hz. ) The highest sound value and an increment value. The lowest sound value is the lowest note you want to play, the highest sound value is the highest note to play, and the increment value is the number ( in Hz ) between notes. The editor allows up to 96 values to be covered. The least is 24. Don't worry if your values don't fit in this range the editor will automatically ask you if a substitute value will be O.K. if yours are out of range. Simply answer Y or N and the editor will either substitute the new value or return you to the editor depending on your answer. Note Scale: The editor will first ask you for the lowest scale. ( 1 - 8 ) One being the lowest sounds and eight being the highest. It will then ask for the highest scale. The editor will not allow a value lower than the lowest value. In both cases, User or Note scale, if the number of notes(or the RANGE)doesn't match the current range the editor will tell you that the current song will be lost by changing the scale. Again it will ask you Y or N to continue. If you haven't saved the current song or you don't want it erased, press N and you will return to the editor. » E « SPEED : This function sets the number of notes that are played per second. The higher the number the faster the notes are played. The editor allows values from 1 - 250. If you enter a value that is not allowed, the editor defaults to one note per second. Changing the speed will not erase the song or change the way it is displayed, only how fast or how slow it is played. » continued on next page « HOT KEYS CONTINUED » 11 « » G « GOTO : This function will take you to a new bar location in the editor. You will be asked for the new location. You must enter the new location in terms of whole bar locations. Do not enter decimals the editor will not jump to sub bar locations. » O « Copy : This function copies a block of notes and places it where you indicate. You will first be asked to mark the beginning of the block to copy. Simply move the cursor using the mouse to the beginning of the block and press the left button. You will notice the background changes to black. Next you are asked to mark the end of the block. This is done in the same manner as marking the beginning. It is important to note that the end of a block must be to the right of the beginning of the block. Last you must tell the editor where to place this block. The only rule here is blocks can not be copied within themselves. In other words you must place it either to the left of the beginning or to the right of the end. You may use the arrow keys to scroll the screen to the position you want to mark. Pressing ESC will back out of the operation and return you to the editor. Any notes at the end of the editor will be lost if there is not enough room to copy the block. » N « Insert : This function is used to insert blank spaces in a song. This function works identical to the copy function except it inserts a blank space. This function is useful if you want to add different notes in the middle of a piece. Mark the beginning and end of the block as you do with COPY, and the editor will insert a space there. » D « Delete : This function deletes a block of notes from the screen. Mark the beginning and end of the block to delete as you did with the previous two functions. The editor will then remove the marked block from the song. » R « Clear : This function completely clears the editors memory. Any song that is currently displayed will be lost. The editor will ask if you are sure you want to clear. Enter 'Y' or 'N'. If you enter 'Y' the editor displays the message "Clearing one moment" and then returns you to the editor. » continued on next page « HOT KEYS CONTINUED » 12 « » F1 « F1 :Although this key is not displayed it has a use. If you position the cursor on a line and press the F1 key it will play that note. » HOME « Home :Pressing the HOME key will bring you to the first line of the editor. ( bar location 0.0 ) That concludes the discussion of the functions for PCSOUND. The best way to become familiar with these functions is to use them and experiment. ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Tips ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 13 « Making different sounds is easy once you get the hang of the editor. Experiment with different speeds, you may find the results surprising. Use the F1 key often. This will tell you exactly what the note for that line will sound like. If you notice that you have copied the notes for a song and it doesn't sound like it should there are several reasons for this. Each pc speaker may sound different. The housing that contains the speaker may be different than another. This alone is enough to make it sound different. Another reason is notes are not reproduced at there exact rate. For example a concert A is 440hz. This note is played correctly by the pc. However, the next note, an A# has a value of 466.16hz. The computer converts this to 466hz thus the tones are off slightly. Each note value is rounded to the closest whole number.Again, the key here is to experiment. ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Ordering Info. ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ » 14 « PCSOUND evaluation version is a user supported program. You may have received this program from any number of sources. The bottom line is it's not registered. And what is a registered version, you ask? Registered versions may only be obtained from Custom Programming Unlimited. Registration is only $9.95 + 3.00 shipping and handling. Why register, you ask The first and foremost reason is you have enjoyed using our product and would like to continue doing so. After thirty days, if you continue to use this product you are by law required to register it. When you register, you will also receive special bonuses. #1) PLAY_PCS : a program that allows you to play any song file without using the editor. This means you can add songs to any BATCH file or play a song from the DOS command line. When you start or boot your computer you can be greeted with your favorite melody. #2) APPPCS : This program lets you combine song files even if they are saved at different speeds. Although the editor cannot use these files they can be played with PLAY_PCS. Last but not least you get the most current version of PCSOUND. I am constantly improving the most popular programs using the input received from users just like you. When you register you are automatically notified if a new version is released. * Programmers * If you think PCSOUND makes it easier for you to develop sound for your programs I'm going to make it even easier. Add $10 to the registration and I'll send you the source code for using PCS files in your own programs! The $10 is to help re-coop the time spent on this project and it's more than worth it. I'll send a package that includes all necessary functions for using sound in the background of your programs. This includes new timer and interrupt functions so your programs can continue execution while the music or sound effects play and the file format of PCS files so you can load and use them. All code is written in TURBO C++ and is easily ported to any other language. The code is thoroughly documented so there's no questions as to what is going on. Nothing is worse than having code you're not sure what to do with. » continued on next page « ORDERING INFO. CONTINUED » 15 « To get a copy of the order form at the dos prompt type: type CPUORDER.FRM > prn This will print out a convenient order form, or simply send a check or money order to: PCSOUND Custom Programming Unlimited P.O. BOX 571 Amherst, NY 14226 * New York residents must add 8% sales tax * Don't forget to specify 5.25 or 3.5 disk. Total Package cost : PCSOUND Registration : $12.95 Programmers package : $22.95 NY Residents PCSOUND Registration : $13.75 Programmers Package : $23.55 All orders are shipped the same day they are received ! Without your support I will no long be able to bring you these quality programs for such a low price. Only through the support of users like yourself can shareware companies like Custom Programming Unlimited continue to bring you this type of software. If you use this or any sharware program, please register it today. Thank you.