Sound list programming

[+OLD CS1]

I am going to have some questions about sound list programming for the ISR sound processor and compatibles, such as Retrocloud's Spectra² game framework/OS. There may be others with questions or other sound players with which I am unfamiliar.

 

First and foremost, is there a good tutorial or "manual," if you will, describing good sound list design practice, nuances, hints and tips, and examples? In particular, toward more complex lists (which leads into my next question.)

 

Secondly, if you want to slide a note pitch or simulate a vibrato or fade-in/fade-out effect: for the former can you simply command a change in the pitch of a sound generator, and is there a "thump" caused by doing so? For the latter can you simply give a command to change the attenuation of a sound generator?

Edited October 22, 2014 by OLD CS1

[Asmusr]

Sound lists are very primitive, basically just groups of frequency and attenuation bytes to be sent directly to the sound chip followed by a delay specifying when the next group of bytes should be sent. There's no concept of effects or instruments. Some players support simple loops to absolute addresses.

 

If you want to create music you should look at Tursi's VGM player and the PSG2MOD2 tracker.

 

Sound lists may be sufficient for sound effects. I used my own Sound List Ripper to edit the sound effects for Sabre Wulf. This is rather primitive but it's the only PC tool I'm aware of. If you want to have a look at it I should post an update because I think I have fixed a few bugs.

[+OLD CS1]

I am interested, thank you. I have been giving thought to my own sound player which works like a tracker with addressable instruments, each configured with settings like velocity, vibrato, fade-in/out, staccato, etc., but that is a more advanced project than what I am doing right now. As well, working such a beast concurrently would undoubtedly lengthen development time. (I am already going to miss CTIUG, but I pretty much expected that.)

 

Since I am not yet comfortable in assembly, I am doing sound test mock-ups in XB using Kurt_Woloch's XB example. Doing this I was hoping to learn more about the primitives of the ISR sound list player, including if I can do things like feeding attenuation without tone. It is obvious that I cannot send any commands without the duration, which is a bit of a bummer but understandable given its basic nature.

 

I am absolutely open to using a converter or ripper as that would save me oodles of time, especially one which can rip from MAME, NES, or MSX ROMs. Might be less fun than learning the basics but a time-saver nonetheless.

Edited October 22, 2014 by OLD CS1

[Asmusr]

I have updated the Sound List Ripper thread to include the latest version. My tool can only rip sound lists from TI files.

 

You can change the attenuation without changing the tone. This is how you make a basic ding sound.

If you want to use music from other sources you should use Tursi's VGM player (there are loads of VGMs available on http://www.smspower.org/ plus the Mod2PSG2 tracker).

[+OLD CS1]

Without going too far off topic, what I would love to have is something that can convert simple tri-phonic wav files. That is probably not possible.

[Asmusr]

Without going too far off topic, what I would love to have is something that can convert simple tri-phonic wav files. That is probably not possible.

 

Perhaps you can use a wav to midi tool and then import the midi file into Mod2PSG2?

[+OLD CS1]

 

Perhaps you can use a wav to midi tool and then import the midi file into Mod2PSG2?

 

Looks interesting. I need a tone file to go alone with my wav input, though. Do you have experience with this?

[matthew180]

Since you are working in XB, you might find the sound player I did for Owen useful:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/158605-assembly-sound-player-for-xb/

[Asmusr]

 

Looks interesting. I need a tone file to go alone with my wav input, though. Do you have experience with this?

 

Sorry no. I just found the tool by Googling. I would need to know more about the contents of your wav file to be able to help.