198 lines
9.2 KiB
Plaintext
198 lines
9.2 KiB
Plaintext
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- SiGnAlS -
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Issue II Volume I
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July 21, 1993
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"Dedicated to all the coderz and their insane delusions..."
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Executive Editor: Necr<63>s, The PsYcHiC MoNkS
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I : Introduction
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Welcome to the second issue of SiGnAlS. In this issue, we will cover more
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basics for the newbies out there, some advanced tricks for the modhackers out
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there, and some more of my wonderful (he he) commentary.
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II : Basix
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Last time we covered the basics of what a MOD is. This time, we shall examine
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the whats and wheres of how to get started in the mod coding business. MOD
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coding is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but with the right tools,
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one can make the job much easier.
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First, one needs a good tracker. A tracker is a program that allows you to
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enter note data in MOD format, and to replay existing song data. Most support
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many functions, like playlisting, sample looping and finetuning, and track
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copy/pasting (more on that in the next issue). There are many decent trackers
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out there, but make sure that the one you find supports all the Protracker 2.2
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and up functions. Most good trackers will also support more than four tracks
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of sample data. Large FTP sites (cs.uwp.edu, wuarchive.wustl.edu,
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nic.funet.fi, etc.) usually have a few trackers in their /audio or /mods
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directories. My personal favorite is Mr. T's FastTracker, which is a good
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small (~55K) tracker which supports many functions.
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Secondly, one needs a good playback program. Most trackers support playback,
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but sometimes you will want to use a protected-mode MOD player. This will
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allow you to run music in the DOS background, and put modules in extended or
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expanded memory. The PMP/DMP series by Otto Chrons is a good series of
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high-quality playback routines. There are also many other great players out
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ther; look around and I'm sure you'll find what you need.
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Finally, you need a source of samples. MODS do not use instrument files like
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FM drivers. They use sampled instrument files (with a format similar to that
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of .VOC files) to produce the sound data. Now, there are two way to get
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samples. One, sample directly off CD or personal keyboard. It is easy to get
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high-quality samples off a direct line-in connection via outside source.
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Simply use a basic sampler, such as that hideous VEDIT2 supplied w/most
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SoundBlaster cards, and grab the sound off the line-in port. Then, in your
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tracker, convert the sample from .VOC format to .SMP format. You will then be
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ready to go.
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The other method is a little more dastardly. There are thousands of MODS
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floating around out there on FTP sites. Each one probably has 15 to 20
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samples. Out of these 15 to 20 samples, maybe five will be good
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generally-usable samples. You can simply grab the sample out of the MOD and
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save it to a .SMP file, for easy use in your songs. Usually about ten or
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fifteen mods will provide a good variety for starters. Morally, this may be a
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bit reprehensible. (You are practically stealing the work of others right from
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the source.) What I would suggest is to avoid ripping off sounds from modules
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that copyright their samples. Usually they'll indicate this in the instrument
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names, for example, 'All sample data (C) 1993 Necr<63>s'. However, if they don't
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copyright their stuff ... welcome to the land of public domain.
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Anyways, I hope this has been somewhat helpful. More on the actual MOD file
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itself in the next issue.
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III: Tricks and Tips with Necr<63>s
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Greetz hacker friends. Today we cover some of the more interesting efx you can
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use in your modules. Here we go:
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1 - The Famous Volume Slide
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Many times you will have a basic chord sound in your mod. This may sit on its
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track, all alone, repeating quietly until the end of time (and the track). How
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canst one liven up this chordal sound? The answer- XXA0F! Ah, yes, now before
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you accuse me of speaking in hex again, watch this little example.
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00 E-2 01000 (a boring repeating) 00 E-2 01A0F (yes, what is this?)
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01 --- 00000 (string chord sound) 01 --- 01A0F
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02 --- 00000 02 --- 01A0F
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03 --- 00000 03 --- 01A0F
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04 --- 00000 <---------- VS. -------> 04 --- 01A0F
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05 --- 00000 05 --- 01A0F
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06 --- 00000 06 --- 01A0F
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07 --- 00000 07 --- 01A0F
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08 --- 00000 08 --- 01A0F
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09 --- 00000 09 --- 01A0F
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The pattern on the right uses the volume slide command, --A0F to create a
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'stuttering chord' effect. The volume slide command slides the volume of the
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track from 00 to 3F in one beat. This, when repeated, creates an interesting
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effect. The effect can become even better when the pattern is slightly varied,
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such as this:
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00 E-2 01A0F Note that the sample number (1) is repeated in front
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01 --- 00000 of the A0F effect. This is necessary for the slide
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02 --- 01A0F to work correctly.
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03 --- 01A0F
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04 --- 01A0F
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05 --- 00000
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06 --- 01A0F
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07 --- 01A0F
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08 --- 00000
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09 --- 01A0F
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0A --- 01A0F
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0B --- 00000
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0C --- 01A0F
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0D --- 00000
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0E --- 01A0F (repeated 4X)
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0F --- 00000
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Enjoy!
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2 - PhAsE Shifting from Hell
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Phase shifting is the overlaying two samples so their peaks are off by a small
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amount, creating a slow interference effect in the final waveform. (Ack!) In
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other words, you play the same sample on two different tracks, at pitches that
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are off from each other by a very small amount (+- 10 cents). This creates a
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sweeping effect in the final sound. This works very well for snare drum
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samples, sawtooth wave pads, guitars, and any sample with a textured wave. To
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do this, simply take a sample (we'll use a generic snare sound for this
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example) and layer them together with a pitch shift.
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00 C-2 01000 C-2 01101 Here, we use the pitch shift effect, --1XX,
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01 --- 00000 --- 00000 to create the needed shift. Do not make the
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02 --- 00000 --- 00000 pitch shift too large! Sometimes you will
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03 --- 00000 --- 00000 even want to use a finetuned pitch, if your
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04 --- 00000 --- 00000 tracker supports it (--E1X).
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The amount of the shift needed is inversely proportional to the pitch of the
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note you are phasing. If the note is low (a C-1, perhaps) then you may need a
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--102 or --103. If it is high (a C-3 or F-3) then you only need a slight pitch
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shift (a finetune: --E11 works nicely).
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Try this effect on long sustained samples (not looping, SUSTAINED ... there's
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a difference.) Have fun, my friends.
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Next issue: vibrato and what it can do for you, and the delicate art of the
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drum track.
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Any comments or tips? Please send 'em to me at:
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segaag@craft.camp.clarkson.edu
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(Subject : tricks and tips)
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- Necr<63>s
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IV : Visualizations
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I'd like to offer up a few of my unanswered ruminations. If anyone has any
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answers to enlighten me ... I'd be glad to hear them. Send any mail to me at
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the above address.
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Why is the United States of America such a shithole for demo groups? Everyone
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around here seems interested in Windows NT and LAN networks and user-friendly
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garbage like that. Walk into a computer software store, and you will see
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nothing but the same rehashed plots and ideas shoveled out again to the
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public. I'm moving to Finland. ;)
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Why don't developers use MODS instead of lame FM crap in their games? It slows
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things down, granted, but that is a small price to pay for the sound quality,
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especially on higher-end machines. The only commercial game around here that
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I've seen use MOD technology is Alone In The Dark. A French game! The
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corporate giants don't know what they're missing.
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The fact that techno mods are easy to write should not preclude people from
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inventing new and interesting music.
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And finally, (and I've oft wondered this myself), how does Internet make
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money? I can call up nic.funet.fi and download nine billion megs, using weeks
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of phone time, overseas, and not pay a dime. AT&T would shit if I tried this
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on a voice line. Yet thousands of people do it all the time. Given, I'm
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shelling out thousands of dollars for my education, with a internet account as
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a side benefit, but it still seems like a huge loss of intercontinental
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fiber-optic line time. Oh well. I'm not complaining.
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- Necr<63>s
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please send all submissions to:
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e-mail: segaag@craft.camp.clarkson.edu
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turtle-express: Necr<63>s
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re: Signals
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The PsYcHiC MoNkS
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7958 State Route 69
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Oriskany, NY 13424
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thanks ;)
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