Music arguments

[Alkadian]

I would appreciate if someone could clarify the use of the MUSIC statement.

 

I have read on Oscar's book that MUSIC can contain up to 8 arguments. However looking at a few examples in both his books the typical format would be with 4 arguments only:

 

MUSIC Note/Octave/Instrument_Channel1, Note/Octave/Instrument_Channel2, Note/Octave/Instrument_Channel3, Drums_Channel4

(For instance MUSIC A4,A4,C4,M1)

 

How does the 8 arguments notation work please?

 

Also looking at the example below in the book:

DATA 8

MUSIC C4,F4,- 

 

It says that C4 extends 4 tempos and F4 only 2.

 

Could someone please explain it to me? 

 

I have understood that 8 means that each note will last 8 frames per second or 5/50sec (based on 50Hz) but I can't get my head around the meaning of 4 tempos and 2 tempos.

 

Many thanks in advance and apologies if I am missing the basic here but I really want to master it to start making my own tunes  

Edited September 16, 2023 by Alkadian

[+DZ-Jay]

The Intellivision has a built-in sound chip called the Programmable Sound Generator (PSG).  This chip offers three separate voices for tone or noise.

 

When expanded with the ECS module, the Intellivision gains an extra PSG chip, affording three more voices, for a total of six.

 

The IntyBASIC MUSIC statement supports those two modes, which is why it supports “up to 8 arguments”: four for the main PSG (three for notes plus one for drums); and an optional additional four for the secondary PSG.

 

The eight argument notation is the same four argument notation repeated twice.  For example:

 

MUSIC C4,F4,-,A4,C4,-

 

  dZ.

 

[carlsson]

9 hours ago, Alkadian said:

It says that C4 extends 4 tempos and F4 only 2.

That sounds like a typo or misunderstanding. Each row will run for one virtual tick (relating to the current tempo). The number 4 here represents the octave.

 

However in this example, we have a C4 that is sustained for four ticks and F4 for two ticks:

MUSIC C4, F4, -
MUSIC S , S , -
MUSIC S, ,- , -
MUSIC S, ,- , -

Note that S means to sustain the note, the dash will release it so it is silenced. Depending on which instrument you have chosen, you may not hear the sustain if it has an envelope that fades out regardless.

 

Also note that the white noise used for drums etc, will share at least one voice, with by-effects that you sometimes might not anticipate or want.

[+DZ-Jay]

10 hours ago, Alkadian said:

Also looking at the example below in the book:

DATA 8

MUSIC C4,F4,- 

 

It says that C4 extends 4 tempos and F4 only 2.

 

Could someone please explain it to me?

 

I believe you are referring to this section of the IntyBASIC manual:

    Music must be in this format: (each MUSIC statement can contain up to 8
    arguments)

        label:  DATA 8       ' Ticks per note (there are 50 ticks per second)
                MUSIC F4,A4#,C5
                MUSIC S,S,S
                MUSIC -,-,-

                MUSIC REPEAT
                MUSIC STOP
                MUSIC JUMP label    ' Jump to label (useful for separating intro in looping music)

                MUSIC GOSUB label   ' Go to subroutine at label (only one level)
                MUSIC RETURN        ' Return from subroutine

                MUSIC SPEED const   ' Set ticks per note starting here
                MUSIC VOLUME const  ' Set volume for music starting here (same as PLAY VOLUME)

                MUSIC C4,F4,- ' Note how C4 extends along 4 tempos and F4 only 2
                MUSIC S,S,-
                MUSIC S,-,-
                MUSIC S,-,-

 

The comment on the note duration is on this part:

                MUSIC C4,F4,- ' Note how C4 extends along 4 tempos and F4 only 2
                MUSIC S,S,-
                MUSIC S,-,-
                MUSIC S,-,-

 

You think of each column as a channel in the music track, and each row as a step in the the music sequence.  Like this:

 Ch1  Ch2  Ch3
===============
| C4 | F4 | - |
===============
| S  | S  | - |
===============
| S  | -  | - |
===============
| S  | -  | - |
===============

 

You can see that the note in channel 1 (C4) is played on the first step, then sustained ("S") for three more steps; while the note in channel 2 (F4) is played on the first step, then sustained for only one more step.  The end result is that the C4 note will play for four tempos and the F4 note only for two before being silenced.

 

This is akin to a music sheet score having a two notes, where one is half the duration of the other -- like a whole-note and a half-note, or a quarter-note and an eight-note.

 

      -dZ.

[+DZ-Jay]

8 minutes ago, carlsson said:

That sounds like a typo or misunderstanding. Each row will run for one virtual tick (relating to the current tempo). The number 4 here represents the octave.

 

However in this example, we have a C4 that is sustained for four ticks and F4 for two ticks:

MUSIC C4, F4, -
MUSIC S , S , -
MUSIC S, ,- , -
MUSIC S, ,- , -

 

Note quite. The "ticks" are the number of video frames, which is set at the top of the music ("DATA 8" or so).  The "four vs. two" represents what on tracker-parlance would be rows, but Oscar calls "tempos," as I believe that is the proper musical term.  (The relative duration between notes, based on the tempo -- like a quarter-note is twice as long as an eighth-note, so if a quarter-note lasts 4 tempos, the eight-note lasts only 2.)

 

[carlsson]

Tempos sounds like a very weird musical term, even from a computer music perspective. I would say duration, since that is what it is. For me, a song has one tempo at a time and it is normally measured in beats per minute. I can't recall either tracker program on the C64, Amiga, NES etc that refers to duration as "tempos". Perhaps it is Spanish?

[+DZ-Jay]

5 minutes ago, carlsson said:

Tempos sounds like a very weird musical term, even from a computer music perspective. I would say duration, since that is what it is. For me, a song has one tempo at a time and it is normally measured in beats per minute. I can't recall either tracker program on the C64, Amiga, NES etc that refers to duration as "tempos". Perhaps it is Spanish?

 

I think it's a problem with translation.  In Spanish beats is translated into "tiempo" which is also the word for time, and it is generically used to represent instances of time, similar to duration.  Still, in that IntyBASIC example, those wouldn't be beats either -- they are the duration of the notes.

 

So yeah ... perhaps "tempos" is not a good term.

 

    -dZ.

[Alkadian]

1 hour ago, DZ-Jay said:

The Intellivision has a built-in sound chip called the Programmable Sound Generator (PSG).  This chip offers three separate voices for tone or noise.

 

When expanded with the ECS module, the Intellivision gains an extra PSG chip, affording three more voices, for a total of six.

 

The IntyBASIC MUSIC statement supports those two modes, which is why it supports “up to 8 arguments”: four for the main PSG (three for notes plus one for drums); and an optional additional four for the secondary PSG.

 

The eight argument notation is the same four argument notation repeated twice.  For example:

 

MUSIC C4,F4,-,A4,C4,-

 

  dZ.

 

Thanks, all clear! So I guess in you example the drums for both primary and secondary PSG's are not defined/muted by default.

[Alkadian]

1 hour ago, carlsson said:

That sounds like a typo or misunderstanding. Each row will run for one virtual tick (relating to the current tempo). The number 4 here represents the octave.

 

However in this example, we have a C4 that is sustained for four ticks and F4 for two ticks:

MUSIC C4, F4, -
MUSIC S , S , -
MUSIC S, ,- , -
MUSIC S, ,- , -

Note that S means to sustain the note, the dash will release it so it is silenced. Depending on which instrument you have chosen, you may not hear the sustain if it has an envelope that fades out regardless.

 

Also note that the white noise used for drums etc, will share at least one voice, with by-effects that you sometimes might not anticipate or want.

I see many thanks for pointing that out!

[Alkadian]

1 hour ago, DZ-Jay said:

 

I believe you are referring to this section of the IntyBASIC manual:

    Music must be in this format: (each MUSIC statement can contain up to 8
    arguments)

        label:  DATA 8       ' Ticks per note (there are 50 ticks per second)
                MUSIC F4,A4#,C5
                MUSIC S,S,S
                MUSIC -,-,-

                MUSIC REPEAT
                MUSIC STOP
                MUSIC JUMP label    ' Jump to label (useful for separating intro in looping music)

                MUSIC GOSUB label   ' Go to subroutine at label (only one level)
                MUSIC RETURN        ' Return from subroutine

                MUSIC SPEED const   ' Set ticks per note starting here
                MUSIC VOLUME const  ' Set volume for music starting here (same as PLAY VOLUME)

                MUSIC C4,F4,- ' Note how C4 extends along 4 tempos and F4 only 2
                MUSIC S,S,-
                MUSIC S,-,-
                MUSIC S,-,-

 

The comment on the note duration is on this part:

                MUSIC C4,F4,- ' Note how C4 extends along 4 tempos and F4 only 2
                MUSIC S,S,-
                MUSIC S,-,-
                MUSIC S,-,-

 

You think of each column as a channel in the music track, and each row as a step in the the music sequence.  Like this:

 Ch1  Ch2  Ch3
===============
| C4 | F4 | - |
===============
| S  | S  | - |
===============
| S  | -  | - |
===============
| S  | -  | - |
===============

 

You can see that the note in channel 1 (C4) is played on the first step, then sustained ("S") for three more steps; while the note in channel 2 (F4) is played on the first step, then sustained for only one more step.  The end result is that the C4 note will play for four tempos and the F4 note only for two before being silenced.

 

This is akin to a music sheet score having a two notes, where one is half the duration of the other -- like a whole-note and a half-note, or a quarter-note and an eight-note.

 

      -dZ.

Thanks for your further notes and clarifications. That was the section I was referring indeed!

[Alkadian]

1 hour ago, DZ-Jay said:

 

I think it's a problem with translation.  In Spanish beats is translated into "tiempo" which is also the word for time, and it is generically used to represent instances of time, similar to duration.  Still, in that IntyBASIC example, those wouldn't be beats either -- they are the duration of the notes.

 

So yeah ... perhaps "tempos" is not a good term.

 

    -dZ.

This is a very interesting subject. I haven't touched the Music theory for a while. I have stopped playing my guitar many many years ago. I seem to recall that BMP was just for measuring the time for example 60 or 90 BMP. The tempo was related to the rythym (2/4, 3/4, 4/4). Oh dear I forgot pretty much all!

Edited September 16, 2023 by Alkadian

[+DZ-Jay]

1 hour ago, Alkadian said:

Thanks, all clear! So I guess in you example the drums for both primary and secondary PSG's are not defined/muted by default.

Yes.  Note that these are not really drums -- more like noisy clicks to simulate rhythmic percussion.

 

   dZ.

[Alkadian]

10 hours ago, DZ-Jay said:

Yes.  Note that these are not really drums -- more like noisy clicks to simulate rhythmic percussion.

 

   dZ.

Thanks! Yup, they do sound like noisy clicks indeed

[+DZ-Jay]

55 minutes ago, Alkadian said:

Thanks! Yup, they do sound like noisy clicks indeed

Hehe!  They are not too bad, and are very similar to what is done on other chip tune platforms.  They also have the advantage of being able to play over the music, without having to dedicate one whole PSG voice to drums.

 

But imagine if you were to dedicate an entire channel for drums ... it may sound something like this:

... Or this ...

 

😁  But that's a topic for another day.

 

    dZ.

[Alkadian]

Awesome, many thanks for sharing! These tracks are fantastic!