No Fragments Archive 10: Diskmags/nf_archive_10.iso/MAGS/ST_USER/1990/USERJL90.MSA/PSSED.FLD_PSSED.DOC

Text File | 1990-05-15 | 21KB | 366 lines

PSSED - A sound editor for Yamaha PSS series keyboards.
Programmed by Bryan Kennerley. (c) Blue Whale Software 1989.
A Public Domain program.

14th December, 1989.

    Right, instructions. In case you hadn't realised already, you will only be
able to use this program if you have an ST with color monitor/TV, a Yamaha PSS
synth which is capable of sending/receiving midi data and a pair of midi leads.
This program is only concerned with the creation, editing and librarifying(?)
sounds for storage in the PSS's 5 synth banks.
    The program runs in low resolution only but can be called from medium rez.
PSSED can be placed in any sub-directory (up to a depth of 4 folders) but any
library files should be in the same directory as the program. I haven't been
able to test it out on anything other than my 1040 and 1Mb internal drive but
since all the disk access routines are via GEMDOS there shouldn't be any
problem.
    I should make it clear that I own a PSS-680, and I can only vouch for
matters concerning that model and its manual. If I refer to the manual in this
text, it will be the 680 manual - other versions may differ so some of my
writings may not apply. As far as I know PSSED should work with other models in
the series but if you encounter any problems, either with compatability or
(shock, horror) bugs, let me know and I will see what I can do.
    Although the program is called PSSED, this is no reflection on my current
degree of inebriation. I just thought I'd make that point.
    When you load the program, you will notice that it uses custom windowing
routines to replace the rather boring GEM environment. This seems to be rather
in vogue at the moment, especially amongst sequencers and other music programs.
I must admit (although it pains me to do so - honest) that even I am surprised
at how much faster it is than certain programs I could mention. In fact, the
only operating system routines used are those concerning disk access and a tiny
bit of initialization. The point is that several sections will operate slightly
differently from their GEM counterparts, although I have tried to make it
operate as logically as possible so you should be able to guess how to use it
to some extent. There are some bits that you won't be able to work out so it is
important that you read this file in order to get the most out of PSSED.

The Main Screen.
    This is divided into (1..2..3..4..) eight windows.
    The top half of the screen is dedicated to the two synthesizer operators,
the modulator on the left and the carrier on the right - the action of these
two waves should be described in your manual. Clicking on the title bar of
these windows will switch between the two variable fields - volume control and
frequency control. Well that's the idea but I kinda ran out of space so RKS is
in the frequency window (explained later). The two waves are controlled in
exactly the same way, as dictated by the variables in these two windows. Each
variable can be decreased by clicking with the left mouse button and increased
with the right one. If a stat has an LED next to it, clicking on it will toggle
between on and off. I will attempt to describe the effects of each of the
variables in a separate section later on.
    At the bottom left side of the screen there is another window which
contains various other stats which wouldn't readily go into the wave windows.
These too will be described later.
    The bank selector sits in the middle and operates in a similar manner to
that on the Yamaha. The bank which is currently active is shown by a little LED
that lights up next to it. You should note that any changes to a sound are
permanent unless you have saved the sound in a library or set (keep reading).
    To the right of the bank display is the midi function window. This contains
two buttons: one for sending to the keyboard and one for receiving. You can
transmit the five banks to the synth at any time simply by clicking on the
'send' button (y'don't say). As well as sending the sound descriptions, PSSED
will also switch the keyboard to the bank currently selected and displayed on
screen, although you can of course switch to other banks using the Yam's
controls. This auto-switching uses midi channel 1 so make sure that the
keyboard can receive on that channel (refer to manual).
 Clicking on the midi recieve button brings up another window on screen with
only one button - cancel. This is a signal for you to invoke the PSS 'memory
bulk dump' function which is, on the 680 at least, achieved by pressing button
"e" twice and then pressing "+" (both on the Yam of course). Once this is done,
the program will return to the main display almost immediately. Clicking on
'cancel' will abort the operation.
    Next up is the library switch. Pressing this will take you to a whole new
screen for filing and naming your sounds. This will be described later.
    The window on the far right is for the loading and saving of the sounds
currently in the 5 banks. Both functions are carried out in exactly the same
way. Clicking on the appropriate button will bring up a custom file selector
(more later) so enter the filename you want and press 'Return' or click on the
'OK' button. If you select 'load set' with the right hand mouse button, the
data will automatically be sent to the synth once loaded. This can be useful if
you only load the program to switch between two or more frequently used sets.
    The sets are saved in the same format as they are received from the Yam so
the files are compatible with the PRO-24 dump module section. I would have
prefered to give them a .SET extender but that uses .SND - if it's good enough
for Steinberg it's good enough for lil' ole' me.
    In the bottom right hand corner of the screen is the credit box. this
contains a button labelled 'Quit' which when double-clicked will bring up the
option of leaving PSSED and returning to the desktop. Remember to save your
work before quitting.
    At the very bottom of the screen is the scrolly message line which will
tell you some very interesting things when performing certain operations, but
mostly just get on your nerves.

The Custom File Selector.
    This is functionally similar to the GEM file selector but of course does a
few extra things as well. Across the top you've got the drive selectors. If a
drive isn't present, the letter will be dark grey; if a drive is present but
not currently selected, it will be brown and the drive that is currently
selected is shown by a red letter. They are supposed to look like letters with
LEDs behind them, or not as the case may be. Click on one to switch to that
drive. Clicking on the current drive will return to the root directory.
    The current directory is shown in the directory box (where else?) and the
filespec is in its usual place. If you click on the directory control bar, you
can toggle between the filespec "*.*" and whatever extender the current
operation uses. The list can be scrolled using the on-screen arrows, slowly
with the left mouse button and quickly with the right. You can't slide the bar
as with GEM but the fast scroll almost makes up for it. You can select the
filename by clicking on it or choose it by double-clicking.
    The 'current selection' box works as you would expect and you can type the
filename as you will.
    The OK/cancel box is self-explanatory (I hope).
    The box down in the bottom right keeps track of the folders that you have
opened. For the sake of screen space you cannot go deeper than four
directories. This shouldn't be a problem unless you have a mega-complex
hard-disk filing system or you enjoy creating sub-directories just for the hell
of it. As you enter a folder, its name appears in the list and is removed when
you close it - much simpler than that pathname line in GEM and what's more,
this doesn't crash. So ends another section.

The Library.
    Pressing the 'library' button on the main screen will invoke quite a
complicated looking screen which, not very surprisingly, is the library.
    PSSED does in fact allow the loading and handling of up to four libraries
at any one time. A library consists of an 8 character library name and 100
sound definitions each with a 16 character name. When the program is first
loaded, the current directory is scanned for libraries which are then installed
in the program, so if you want a library to be automatically loaded it must be
in the same directory as the PSSED.TOS file. The file DEFAULT.LIB will always
be loaded into slot 1 if found. I recommend that you keep a separate library
for your own sounds rather than adding to the BLUEY (hey, that's me!) file
because it may get updated at a later date.
    When the library is entered, or anything altered within it, a search of the
currently loaded libraries is carried out in an attempt to put names to the
sounds in the banks. The results of this search are displayed down the left
hand side of the screen. Each box displays the bank number, the name of the
library the sound was located in, the name of the sound and the position of the
sound in the library. If the sound cannot be identified, appropriate messages
will be shown. It looks more complicated than it is.
    The main source of action lies in the right half of the screen. The 4
libraries can be selected by clicking on the 'library' button (top right) with
the left and right mouse buttons. The current library name is displayed next to
this button.
    The library can be scanned by clicking on the 'up' and 'down' buttons,
slowly with the left mouse button, quickly with the right.
    You can load a library into or save a library from the current slot by
pressing the appropriate button below the main display - the current library
name will be copied into the file selector for convenience. It is all too easy
to store all your sounds in the library and then forget to save it to disk, so
make a mental note.
    The bank data can be sent to the Yam from this screen by clicking on the
'midi send' button.
    Now, can you guess what the remaining button labelled 'Exit to Main' is
for? I thought so.
    That's a quick overview of the library screen but there isn't any
immediately obvious way to transfer sounds to and from the library. The method
I have used takes a bit of getting used to and involves double clicking on the
library list whilst simultaneously holding a key down. Here's a little table
that should make things clear.

Left mouse button double-click = save bank to library
Right mouse button double click = load bank from library

Keypress  Effect
~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~
 1 = bank 1
 2 = bank 2
 3 = bank 3
 4 = bank 4
 5 = bank 5
 Q = quick load (bank 1-5)
 D = delete bank

    To load a sound(s) you must always double click on the library list with
the RIGHT mouse button. The key you hold down will be "1", "2", etc. for single
banks or "Q" to load a chain of 5 banks (quick load).
    To save a sound(s) you double click with the LEFT button and follow the
same key convention as with loading.
    To delete an entry in a library, simply hold the "D" key down and double
click on the entry with either mouse button.
    It sounds rather complicated but once you get used to it it's passable.
    There is more to come (groan) because of course you will want to name your
own creations and libraries. This is a bit simpler because all you have to do
is point at the text you want to change and double-click with either button.
Type merrily away with full cursor control, backspace and delete and press
'return' when finished. You can press 'Esc' to blank the entry if you want,
just like GEM, but remember that any trailing underscores will be replaced by
spaces. You should also be aware of the fact that while you are in text entry
mode, you cannot perform any sound load/save/delete operations since these
would require holding a key down. I think that's all for the library.

Explanations and other gunk.
    Right, time for a few words about all the variables. I'll take it a window
at a time. The front panel referred to is the PSS console.


First up is the frequency domain window.

Sine: Not on front panel.
 The shape of the wave does not necessarily have to be a sine curve. By
using different shaped waves the sound can be changed quite drastically. The
wave can either be a sine wave, squared sine wave, sine half wave or squared
sine half wave. Since either wave can take any of these forms, this makes 16
combinations and since any of these can be of 16 frequencies there are ooh,
several possible sounds. The trouble is that most of the combinations sound
plain awful.

Frequency: (4/5) on front panel.
 This is a measure of the...well, of the frequency of the wave. Doubling
this number will increase it's pitch by an octave. This does not necessarily
mean that the final note will be an octave higher because modulation can be
unpredictable at times.

Fine Detune: Not on front panel.
 This has the effect of moving the wave slightly off pitch, either up or
down. This adds a touch more 'body' to the note.

Coarse Detune: Not on front panel.
 This is similar to fine detune but is either on or off. It raises the
wave's pitch noticeably and makes it quite definately out of tune. Examples of
what this can do are (Timpani - Default 66) and (School Piano - Bluey 8).

LKS lo/LKS hi: Not on front panel.
 These are gonna be real doozies to explain. If you open your manual at the
pages detailing the System Exclusive data format, in particular the Voice Data
description you will see a weird little diagram which looks rather like Sir
Robin Day's neck might if he'd had a few drinks (no slur intended, it's just a
simile). I'm sure the lines are crooked for a good reason.
 LKS stands for Level Key Scaling, which put simply means that you can
change the way volume varies along the length of the keyboard. For example, you
may want the low notes to be quiet and the high notes to be louder. In this
case, LKS is your man (or woman). Looking at the diagram (if you haven't got
one then you're knackered), numbers near the top of the y-axis signify high
volume while numbers at the bottom signify low volume. The volume of Middle C
is not affected by LKS. So basically, 0 is very loud and 15 is very quiet.
Maybe an example will help.
    Assume that you have set LKS lo to 1 and LKS hi also to 1. The notes down
the bottom of the keyboard will be very loud, but as you go up the keyboard,
the notes will become quieter until you reach middle C. Then the notes will
again become steadily louder, reaching a crescendo at the top end of the
keyboard.
    Unfortunately, things are a bit more complicated than that as you will see
from the diagram (if you have one of course), because LKS hi does not follow a
particularly regular pattern and most certainly does not guarantee the same
effect as LKS lo. It's easy enough to just fiddle with it until you get the
effect you want.

RKS: Not on front panel.
 This stands for Rate Key Scaling and really belongs in the volume domain.
It alters the speed at which the volume of the wave changes: 0=none, 3=a lot.
The higher the number, the more quickly the high notes will attack and decay.
This simulates the way in which string instruments behave - high tension/high
pitch notes die much quicker than low tension/low notes. An example of this is
(Piano 1 - Default 3).


Next up is the volume domain window (ADSR).

Attack Rate: (0/1) on front panel.
    This is the rate at which the note builds up to its maximum volume. High
values give percussive, stabbing sounds such as a piano hammer hitting the
string. Lower values mean the wave slowly builds up to a maximum. This can make
a sound interesting if applied to the modulator wave, making the sound slowly
change as the key is held down.

Decay 1 Rate: Not on front panel.
    Once the wave has reached its maximum volume, it can immediately decay to a
lower level. The speed at which it does this is the Decay 1 Rate.

Decay 1 Level: Not on front panel.
    The level to which the wave volume drops once the attack has ended. If this
is set to maximum, no change will be made. If set to zero, the wave will fade
to silence immediately.

Decay 2 Rate: (2/3) on front panel.
    Once the volume has dropped to the decay 1 level, it can then fade off once
more until it has reached silence. This is the rate at which it fades while the
key is held down.

Release Rate: Not on front panel.
    This is the rate at which the sound fades when the key is released. A high
value will make the sound stop dead while a short one will give a long sustain
effect.

Sustain Release Rate: Not on front panel.
    This is the special release rate used when Sustain is switched on. It is a
good idea to keep this value lower than the standard Release Rate just for
convention's sake.

AM enable: Not on front panel.
    This enables the AM (Amplitude Modulation) - see next page.

Last up is the general stats window.

Modulation Level: (7) on front panel.
    This is a measure of the modulator wave's volume and thus how much it
modulates the carrier wave. This isn't the easiest thing to describe but very
easy to hear. It can be fun to hook the synth's output to a realtime
oscilloscope display, such as that in better ST sound samplers, and watch the
effect of modulation. But perhaps I have a strange idea of fun.

Carrier Level: (8) on front panel.
    Also called the Total Level, this is a measure of the carrier wave's volume
and effectively the total volume of the sound.

Feed Back: (6) on front panel.
    This is a measure of how much the modulator wave modulates itself. This is
one of the reasons I hated physics at school.

FM level: Not on front panel.
    (Frequency Modulation) This is the amount that the sound's pitch will
'warble' when the FM (vibrato) is enabled. A high vibrato level will give an
effect like (Musical Saw - Default 98) but even that is not the maximum.

AM level: Not on front panel.
    (Amplitude Modulation) This is the amount that the sound's volume will
'warble' when the AM is enabled. An example of this is (Tremolo Guitar -
Default 69).

FM Delay: Not on front panel.
    This is the amount of time before the FM (vibrato) kicks in. It has no
bearing on the AM however - this starts as soon as the key is pressed.

FM enable: Vibrato on front panel.
    This enables the FM (vibrato). Quelle surprise.

Sustain enable: Sustain on front panel
    This enables the sustain - the sustain release rate will then be used
instead of the standard release rate.

 -----------------------
    If you have any comments/criticisms, my address will be coming up in a
minute. But first, I must tell you about this little idea I have dreamt up,
entitled the "Be a friend to a programmer scheme". What it entails is this: you
send me something that might make me happy to be alive, be it money or some
other interesting item, and if I am suitably impressed (which isn't exactly
difficult) you will become a "Friend for life". This will entitle you to a
certificate proclaiming you as such and whatever else I feel appropriate (I'm
open to suggestions). Then, at any time in the rest of your natural life (and
of course mine), you will be elligible for hints, help, chat, and attempted
help with most other needs you may have - all you have to do is ask. Your name
will also be included on any scrolly messages that I produce in future
demos/whatever (how can you refuse?). If anybody's would like to see some
ridiculously interesting source code then I might be able to help you out there
too. Don't delay, be a friend to a programmer today. I am house-trained,
reasonably clean, and haven't been known to bite - not as yet anyway. Well, ok,
but not hard.

Bryan Kennerley,
Genius & all round nice guy,
21 Graham Drive,
Rhyl,
Clwyd.
LL18 3RS

    One final comment just for reading to the end of this file. If a window has
no obvious clickable purpose, try double clicking on it. Remember that there
are two mouse buttons.

2nd April, 1990

    The original version of PSSED crashed when run on half meg machines. The
program has been extensively reworked and the bug seems to have been cured. The
program was shortened by the rewriting and is now packed using 4-pak.
 Many thanks to F.L.Clarke and Andy Seymour for bringing the problem to my
attention.