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****************************************************************************
** **
** OctaMED Professional V4 by Teijo Kinnunen in 1991-1992 **
** **
** This is the full working NON-SAVE Public Domain Demonstration version **
** **
** **
** © R.BURT-FROST & T.KINNUNEN 1992 © **
** **
** Special Powerpacker Crunch routines © Nico Francois/R.Burt-Frost © **
** **
****************************************************************************
Thank you for trying this PD version of OctaMED Pro V4.This file contains
very important information,so please read it carefully before doing anything.
OctaMED is a music editor, which was originally designed for making music
for programs (demos, games etc..), but it works well as a stand-alone music
program, too.
OctaMED needs Kickstart 1.2 or later, is compatible with AmigaDOS 2.0, runs
on any Amiga from A500 to A3000, and multitasks correctly (even in
eight channel mode,but requires lots of memory).
Here are the contents of the complete NON PD version of OctaMED
(see opening screen of this Demo version on how to purchase)
Demos (dir) Demo songs (one SMUS conversion using AMFC)
Docs (dir) Legal copyright notice
Programmers (dir) Very usefull Code etc, for programmers
PlayerLibraries (dir) shared player libraries
MODPlayer (dir) linked module player/loader stuff
Examples (dir) some examples in Assembler & C
OctaMED Pro The Copyrighted SAVE VERSION of this Demo
OctaMEDPlayer The player program
The icons were designed to have a nice 2.0-look. If you are using WB 1.x,
the icon colours look "inversed".
First you should make a backup copy of your NON SAVE PD OctaMED disk, put
the original in safe place. If you want to install OctaMED on a hard disk,
you have to remember to copy the graphics file (OctaDEM.gfxX) and it's other
graphics files,(OctaMED.gfx2 etc),along with it.
These files contain some graphics data required by OctaMED, and they must
be in the current directory when you run OctaMED. If WB is used, just
make sure that OctaMED and the files are located in the same drawer.
From CLI/Shell, you have to 'CD' to the directory where all the files are
before starting OctaMED.
©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©
© ©
© OctaMED Versions 2 through V3 are now removed from sale and they may NOT ©
© be freely distributed/sold as public domain/shareware/licenceware. ©
© If any individual is found to be supplying the versions 2 to 3 then ©
© R.Burt-Frost WILL take out a court summons under the copyright theft act ©
© ©
© OctaMED Pro V4 and ALL subsequent versions are now Copyrighted 1992 by ©
© T.KINNUNEN & R.BURT-FROST and are NO LONGER COPYRIGHTED TO AMIGANUTS. ©
© However,AMIGANUTS U.K. & AMIGANUTS (AUSTRALIA) and other sub-licencees ©
© will continue to act as sales agents for V4 and any subsequent versions. ©
© ©
© The full SAVE version of OctaMED V4 is NOT public domain nor is it freely ©
© distributable,it is a fully copyrighted program. This NON SAVE PD disk has ©
© been provided to PD libraries etc, so that you may decide if you would like©
© to purchase the Copyrighted SAVE ENABLED version and if you do,(VERY WISE) ©
© you will be able to purchase new releases at a "previous purchasers" ©
© special upgrade price wich is considerably lower than the new buyers price.©
© ©
©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©©
Additional credits:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus Pol - the startup pic
Steve Hayes - the Electronic Arts' public domain IFF-loader (as found
on Fred Fish disk #64)
Special thanks to Pasi Kovanen, Sami Jumppanen, and Håkan 'ZAP' Andersson
for beta-testing!
Izrael Similä (Iz Productions)
all the icons (except the drawer icons)
To purchase the full save version of this program send your orders to:
Amiganuts United
12,Hinkler Road,
Thornhill,
Southampton.
SO2 6FT.
Payment MUST be by bank draught/order only and made out to Amiganuts United.
~~~~ ~~~~
and most importantly,the payment MUST be in POUNDS STERLING. (NOT DOLLARS)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Orders can also be sent to:
Amiganuts United Australia
199,Taylor Street,
Toowoomba,
Queensland,
Australia 4350
Phone (076) 331172
If you intend to send your order to our Australian address then you MUST
phone or write first,to check on prices/ordering etc,as the price per unit
quoted on this disk will differ to that of those quoted for UK orders.
You may also find a registered supplier of this program in your own country.
~~~
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you have something concerning the sales/distribution of OctaMED, please
contact the distributor: R.Burt-Frost at 169,Dale Valley Road,Hollybrook,
Southampton. SO1 6QX England. (You MUST enclose an S.A.E for a reply).
Teijo.
This file contains the main history of MED and eventualy OctaMED:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The history of MED began, when I got DOC SoundTracker VI in 1989.
I found that it was really easy to compose with it, but the program
itself was terrible: No multitasking, no Kickstart 1.3, no way to
exit (or was there??? there was no instructions), no keyboard
equivalents...
== Version 1.00 - 1.11 (spring - summer 1989) ===========================
Not released... V1.0 looks quite pitiful :-)
== Version 1.12 (autumn 1989) ===========================================
This is the first released version (on Fish #255). It contained some
mysterious bugs that crashed the machine sometimes... I never found them,
but they are gone now (maybe they were compiler bugs).
== Version 2.00 (8 Apr 1990) ============================================
The version V2.00 was the second released version. When I started to
program it, I thought it'll be V1.20. But finally the list of improvements
grew so large that I decided it must be V2.00!! And here's the the list of
the new features/fixes:
- Nearly completely rewritten code
- New player routine made in assembler
- Fast screen rendering routines also made in assembler
- New user interface with file requester
- MIDI support and up to 16 tracks
- Extended keyboard, lots of new keyboard equivalents
- Two equalizers (yes, imitating SoundTracker...)
- Insert/delete to playing sequence list
- Insert/delete blocks
- Cut/Copy/Paste rectangular regions
- Transposing and expanding/shrinking blocks
- SoundTracker module load support
- SoundTracker song saving
- Can write icon with song
- "MOD" save (song + samples)
- Writes object files for your own programs
- Song packing (not a real packer, but maybe "optimizing save routine")
- More octaves (5)
- Supports IFF 3- and 5-octave instruments
- New commands (filter on/off, note off, stop playing, repeat note)
- Repeat with beginning offset 0 works
- "Quick note" feature
- Insert effects when entering notes with Left or Right Alt
- An option to turn off automatic advancing to next line
- And maybe something else I've forgotten to put here...
== Version 2.01 (10 Apr 1990) ===========================================
Not a long time from previous release!!! I found few bugs:
In Finnish version, version 2.00 didn't save the song to correct directory.
In both versions, the icon did not go to correct directory.
These are now fixed. What a pity I sent Fred Fish V2.00 (yes, the letter
was posted today...my luck!!).
== Version 2.10 (17 Jul 1990) ===========================================
Again lots of new features...
- max. 63 samples
- block length is modifiable (1 - 256 lines)
- relative volumes for each channel and master volume
- samplelist
- new commands (3, 4, B, FFA, FFB, FFD)
- new MIDI commands (modulation wheel, pan, hold pedal)
- saves now Sound/NoiseTracker modules (ST-song save removed)
- programmable keys (Shift 0 - 9) can be edited/saved
- real-time sample display (updated every frame), looks nice
- new file format: module (MMD0)
- intelligent sample loader, minimizes disk swapping, doesn't
reload samples which are already in memory
- automatic slide making (+ volume fade)
- track numbers always displayed, can be scrolled one track at a
time
- free memory can be displayed
- screen outlook a bit better (more space for sample name),
many panels enhanced
- an option to read volumes when entering notes with MIDI
- each sample can be independently transposed (like play-transpose)
- it's possible to highlight lines (reversed colors) for easier
positioning of notes
- the player tries to flush "serial.device" if allocation failed
- delete option in file requester
- volumes (command C) can be hex or decimal
- blocks can be splitted or joined (thanks to modifiable size)
- filename paths can be added/removed when loading samples
- better compatibility mode for ST/NT
- detaches from CLI (uses cback.o)
- a bug in MIDI preset changing fixed
- small enhancements everywhere
Also there's a new version of MEDPlayer, better instructions (I hope)
better playroutine, "medplayer.library", module loader.......
== Version 2.11 (21 Jul 1990) ===========================================
This version contains two small fixes to the previous version:
- MED now doesn't insert entered MIDI notes with volume 0
(because it means "note off")
- a very, very small bug fixed (when loading MMD0-module, instrument
names were not always deleted)
== Version 2.12 (25 Jul 1990) ===========================================
- MED had a bug which affected command FFF with MIDI. It's now fixed.
The "modplayer.a" was correct, however. (strange...)
- There should be no files missing from the source archive any more
(due to a bug in Lharc or me).
== Version 2.13 (24 Sep 1990) ===========================================
- MED loads now all 8 colors...
- Block display correctly cleared after "Clr song only".
== Version 3.00 (31 Jan 1991) ===========================================
New major version featuring:
- built-in sample editor with sample handling/sampling abilities
- simple (C64-style) synthsounds, built-in editor
- "hybrid"-instruments (sample with synthsound "programming language")
- MED now uses CIAB timers instead of CIAA. This means that MED is now
compatible with Kickstart 2.0.
- better sample list
- an alternative note-display method (more graphical) REMOVED IN V3.10!!
- play-length timer
- enhanced file-requester (no need to wait until all names loaded,
can list devices/assigns)
- better control over playing speed (now TWO tempo-selection gadgets,
(leading to minor compatibility problems with previous versions))
- option to start playing when a key has been hit (for real-time rec)
- real-time recording works a bit better
- "jump-to-last-used-sample-slot"-gadget
- Hold/Decay implemented, allows accurate control over note
duration (+ automatic decay after note end). THANKS TO ZAP FOR THE IDEA!
- Insert Line/Delete Line -gadgets
- an option to use space bar as an empty note (DEL)
- 2×-option removed. Now there's "Spc" (space can be modified)
- keypad working changed (can be used as track on/off switch or
selecting instrument)
- now a range of notes (instead of just a single note) can be assigned
to Shift 0-9
- many other options are now also saved when saving keys (screen
colors etc.), they're loaded as defaults during start-up
- an option to use note B instead of H (in some countries (like Finland)
it's H, in others (like USA) it's B)
- Workbench screen can be opened/closed from MED
- MED can be synced externally (through MIDI), or MED can send MIDI-
sync pulses
- active sensing msgs can be switched off
- gadgets to reset pitchbenders/modulation/presets, send MIDI-reset,
and turn local control on/off
- MIDI-input channel can be specified (or data can be received from
all channels)
- MIDI key-up can be received (especially for long notes...)
- range for all editing operations can be selected with mouse
(dragging using right button) and is displayed
- it's possible to select individually tracks used in editing ops
- affection of editing ops can be selected:
song/block/selected tracks/current track/range, current instr/all
- it's possible to change/exchange notes individually e.g. F-2 => E-3
- instrument numbers can be changed or notes with a specified instr
number can be deleted
- it's possible to type a short "anno" text, that contains e.g. song
name, composer, ©... It's displayed when file is loaded (in MED and
MEDPlayer)
- option to automatically advance to many directions (up, down,
next track, prev. track, next num, prev. num)
- notes in one track can be "spread" to many tracks, similar to
"polyphonize" in NoiseTracker...
- chord-entering mode (the tracks that are used in chord can be
selected)
- tracks can be turned on/off by clicking the track on the note
display
- gadgets to turn on/off all tracks, and select all tracks
- player recognizes new commands:
8 = set hold/decay for note
9 = change secondary tempo
- samples can be saved in IFF-format (optional)
- outlook is now a bit better (gadgets are bigger etc...)
== Version 3.10 (14 Apr 1991) / OctaMED Version 1.00 (02 Apr 1991) ======
New features in OctaMED:
- 8 channel playing with Amiga audio (like Oktalyzer etc...)
- 8 tracks can be displayed at a time
New features in both OctaMED and MED:
- new look (in MED-res 640 x 200/256), looks more professional
- volumes in Instr-panel are displayed in both hex and decimal
- expand and shrink space can be controlled
- option to use 4-color screen (8 colors are quite slow on std Amiga
especially in 8-channel mode)
- option to load 8-channel samples in fast memory (mostly for listening
only, as they can't be played from keyboard)
- changing play rate and pitch in sample editor is easier
- sample editor contains a delta-filter that can reduce noise
- changing play rate and stretching in synth-editor now do some
anti-aliasing
- status line contains a button (CHRD) to activate/deactivate chord mode
- backspace key can be used to delete/insert editing of notes
- horizontal note display of MED 3.00 was removed
- many MED 3.00 bugs (hopefully) fixed including:
* Ext Sync (caused an instant travel to India)
* Synth editor range dragging (trashed the screen in some instances)
* MODULE SAVING (MED 3.00 didn't always align the fields, causing
terrible results (Guru 00000003) with programs using modplayer.a)
* Hybrid sound saving in object files
* More reliable old ST-song loader. Doesn't necessarily crash when
loading e.g. text files (but don't count on this!!).
== Version 3.11 (07 May 1991) ===========================================
Minor perfections and bug fixes:
- timer reset gadget area fixed (yes, you can reset the timer by clicking
on it!!)
- new Boost-option in the sample editor (the opposite of the Filter)
- only Left-Alt+Cursor up/down now moves you to the 1st/last block (to
avoid accidental jump when using Alt+Cursor left/right)
- no more "Loading synthetic sound..." messages during module/sng+samples
load
- a bug in the player routine command 3 (slide) fixed (in certain
conditions the period got down to $ffff....)
*** Release 3.11b (09 May 1991) / OctaMED Version 1.01 (20 May 1991)
Some more fixes (these bugs were totally harmless, but I'm a perfectionist)
- in addition: keyboard shortcuts of Cut/Copy/Paste range now work.
They are Ctrl-X (Cut), Ctrl-C (Copy) and Ctrl-V (Paste).
== OctaMED Version 2.00 (17 Aug 1991) / MED Version 3.20 (25 Aug 1991) ==
New features in OctaMED:
- Notation editor/printer.
- 5 - 7 channel modes. These allow you to use high quality, non-CPU-
stressing audio and splitted channels at the same time.
- 16 track display (for MIDI use).
New features in both OctaMED and MED:
- numerous bugs fixed!! (including some nasty ones).
- MED_paths can be now loaded.
- insertion/deletion of tracks is possible.
- DEF gadgets for New block and New here create 64-line 4/8 track blocks
- MIDI note-off messages can be suppressed for a particular instrument
- there can be multiple songs in memory at once, sharing instruments,
can be saved as a multi-module.
- new synthsound commands: envelope, set vibrato waveform.
- proper loop markers in the sample editor.
- no more "Sample too short" messages in the sample editor: the display
is no longer limited to minimum of 624 bytes (the minimum is now 1 byte).
- the sample editor can generate noise (e.g. for wind/sea effects).
- a range in sample editor can be transferred to the synthsound editor.
- the "red line" in the sample editor.
- sample list displays the total number of samples in dir/memory.
- the MIDI works now better: commands are handled BEFORE sending out
notes, notes with volume 0 are not sent out, some new commands:
channel/polyphonic aftertouch, pitchbender setting, controller
change
- most of the graphics data is now loaded into fast ram, giving more
chip ram for samples (in addition, the S2FST switch was removed).
- the range is now visible also on 2 bitplane-screen.
- direct object saving removed - removing this seldom used feature
made the program a couple of Kbytes shorter. There's now another
method for incorporating modules into programs (requires a bit more
work, though).
- Topi, the jumping pointer, is now hidden if Jump setting is turned off.
You can also save this (click Save prefs). Perhaps I'll "kill" Topi
completely in the future (frees a couple of Kbytes)...
- when you real-time enter with SPC on, the notes will be now quantized
correctly.
- an option to use the most common Protracker keyboard functions.
== OctaMED V2.00 release B (21 Aug 1991) ================================
- a slight bug in the player routine audio channel freeing code fixed
(didn't mark the channels as freed, could cause a crash in certain
cases).
- some slight cleanup in OctaMEDPlayer.
== Small bug fixes (16 Oct 1991) ========================================
- "medplayer.library" now clears the _modnum during GetPlayer().
- A minor bug in modplayer.a signal freeing code fixed.
== MED Version 3.21 (01 Jan 1992, Happy New Year :-) ====================
A bug fix release of MED V3.2. Many bugs fixed, including:
- if SPC was set to 0, a Guru appeared.
- Range All + Show Range trashed the screen.
- volume arrow gadgets had incorrect widths in their Gadget structs.
- problems with saving extension struct in multi-modules...hopefully
cured.
- a minor bug found in synth editor JVS renumbering code.
WARNING: A deadly bug found in MED 3.20 player stuff
(MEDPlayer/modplayer.a/medplayer.library). The bug can cause
problems when playing multi-modules or old (pre-3.00) modules.
Be sure to use the new versions from now on!
(Also, some minor bugs have been exterminated.)
== MED Version 3.22 (28 Jan 1992) =======================================
Some more known minor bugs fixed:
- state of the E3 switch is now correctly saved to prefs file.
- ST-module saving may *finally* work perfectly. I'm not sure if it
helps, but I added some code to ensure clearing the unused entries
of the pattern sequence table.
- two load error traps fixed.
- a seldomly occurring minor playseq list display bug fixed.
(Probably the very last PD version of MED. ie OctaMED rules!)
** OctaMED Professional V3.00 (26 May 1992) ***This was a special version****
A large update to V2 but was only available as a Freebie on a coverdisk
so no details given here for this one,Read on:-
** OctaMED Professional V4.00 (17 Jul 1992) *****************************
The major version number was lifted for copyright technical reasons.
New features:
- New note format. There are TWO digits for the command number, e.g.
C-3 10201.
- Finally, a decent file requester. Displays 13 file AND device names
at a time. Also displays disk space. No danger of destroying your
work by pressing accidentally LOAD SONG (there's also a confirmation
requester to be sure of this).
- Maximum block length: 3200 lines.
- Supports many Protracker-equivalent commands which were not
implemented in the previous versions, also many other new commands.
5 slide + fade (Protracker compatible)
6 vibrato + fade (PT compatible)
7 tremolo (PT comp.)
10 send MIDI message
11 slide up (only once), equivalent to PT cmd E1x
12 slide down once, equiv. to PT cmd E2x
14 PT compatible vibrato, similar to cmd 4 except that
depth is halved.
15 set finetune
16 loop (1600 marks the beginning, e.g. 1602 repeats the loop
twice). (PT cmd E6x)
18 cuts the note by zeroing the volume at the specified pulse
(PT cmd ECx)
19 sets the sample starting offset (in steps of 256 bytes)
(PT cmd 9)
1A volume up, only once (PT cmd EAx)
1B volume down, only once (PT cmd EBx)
1C change the MIDI preset of an instrument
1D jumps to next block in playseq list (like cmd F00), but
starts playing from the specified line. (PT cmd D)
1E play the current line the specified number of times (only
effects, notes not replayed). (PT pattern delay)
1F combined note delay/retrigger: form 1Fxy
x = note delay
y = retrig
- Lots of new features for MIDI use:
* MIDI message editor for hex-level editing/storing e.g. SysEx messages.
* optional input remapping (e.g. control OctaMED from the MIDI keyboard).
* you can now use either All Notes Off or note-off msgs to turn off all
notes (all devices don't recognize the former).
* you can now access ALL MIDI NOTES (except one :( ) directly, without
sample transpose etc. The octave range is C-1 -> F#B (A = 10, B = 11)
* sample transpose +24/-24 limits changed to +127/-128. Don't use such
values with samples, though (may cause problems).
- TOTAL PowerPacker load support (requires powerpacker.library). OctaMED
will now load automatically powerpacked modules, songs, synthsounds,
samples, even powerpacked MED_paths-lists! (Thanks Nico & Ray)
* Unfortunately, there are some memory maintaining problems when using
this feature, I'm not sure if they are dangerous. The problem seems
to be in powerpacker.library, not in OctaMED.
- There's a new module file format, MMD1. Loading/saving old MMD0 modules
is still supported. However, you are no longer able to save Sng+samples
format files, for two reasons:
* Sng+samples files are very complex and tricky to load. They are not
particularly extendable, though. So, I'd have been forced to design
a new sng+samples format for the new OctaMED Pro note format. I
thought it was not sensible to create "one new" file format, it would
obviously have caused just confusion.
* MMD-modules can be easily supported by player programs etc., I hope
to make the life of authors of such programs a bit easier.
* Some memory is saved. (OK, three reasons :)
Although MMD files are longer than Sng+samples, you can now store your
modules in powerpacked format (provided you have enough memory for
decrunching them). (PowerPacker crunching support may be added to a
future version.)
- You can now give names for each block and song (of a multi-module).
- It's now possible to control the playing speed more accurately in
8-channel modes. Also, HQ-gadget will give better sound quality on
accelerated Amigas (works also on standard Amigas in 5 and 6 channel
modes).
- BPM-style tempo control now possible. Helpful for MIDI work.
(Thanks Ray)
- Sample-editor:
* Freehand drawing.
* Echo rate now in steps of 1 bytes.
* Optional Display Pixel mode. Much quicker.
* Cut and Paste won't unzoom any more.
- 2, 4, 6 and 7 octave IFF samples supported. (The highest octave of a
7-octave sample can't be played, though.)
- Many proportional gadgets now use FOLLOWMOUSE, i.e. they will act
immediately, not just until you release the mouse button.
- Tracks can be turned on/off using gadgets on the status bar.
- Constantly updated free memory display.
- Finetune (Protracker-compatible).
- Jumping mouse pointer totally removed.
- An optional keypad arrangement available (suggested by a user).
See docs.
- An option to hear the notes while moving the cursor up/down. Useful for
non-real time editing.
- An option to load the synth/note/sample/MIDI editor graphics from disk
when required. Saves some memory.
- An option to set cursor position with the left mouse button, instead of
turning tracks on/off.
- Note Echo creates automatically "echoes" with the C-command.
- Automatic Chord track resetting can be turned off. Realtime chord
recording now works.
- SynthEd:
* Current waveform number also displayed in hex (no dec->hex conversion
when entering the sequence).
* G.Trn automatically creates "slides" e.g. 00->0F, which would be
tedious to enter.
* F6-F10 keys now work as in the note editor.
- SList
* When inserting names, automatically deletes the old name.
* Instruments can be saved to or deleted from the selected directory
(no file requester actions required).
* Can save all instruments of a song to the selected directory (handy
for ripping samples from a module).
- For real time recording: a gadget to temporarily decrease playing speed
to 2/3 or 1/2 of the original.
- Many minor fixes/corrections...
OctaMEDPlayer V3.00 contains the following additions:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Support for OctaMED Pro MMD1 file format, and the new player features.
- Loads powerpacked MMD0/MMD1 modules (requires powerpacker.library).
- A simple ARexx interface, great for multimedia use! It's possible to
e.g. control OctaMEDPlayer within a multimedia program supporting
ARexx, to provide e.g. background music for your multimedia shows.
** OctaMED Professional V3.00 (31 May 1992) ** (the final version) ******
- Found a serious memory-trashing bug in the relocation routine.
Player routines/libraries/OctaMEDPlayer fixed..
** OctaMED Professional V3.00 (03 Jun 1992) ** (release B) **************
- Fixed some bugs in 8-channel effect handling.
- New nice icons included, by Izrael Similä (Iz Productions).
- Loads delta-compressed IFF-samples.
- The slider arrow gadgets now repeat when held down.
- A new sample editor filter parameter (phase length). This affects
the filtered/boosted frequencies, and can also produce some special
effects.
- The DOS requesters and propgadgets now have a 3-D look under 2.0.
- Bug fixes, including:
* DELETE now removes the file requester name correctly.
* Samples already in memory won't be reloaded, when loading MMD1
No Inst modules.
* A volume-handling bug in the 8-channel routine.
* The note editor had a display bug with very high notes.
* When printing song header, the MIDI channel was negative for
instruments with Suppr.N.Off.
(This revision not released to the public.)
** OctaMED Professional V4.00b (31 Jul 1992) ****************************
A revision to fix some bugs in 4.00, also adds some minor features.
- New MIDI command 13. This is equivalent to command 3 (set pitch-
bender), but can also be used when there's a note next to it.
- New commands FF4 and FF5. Command FF4 delays the note 1/3 of a line,
FF5 delays 2/3 of a line. Can be used e.g. to produce triplets:
C-2 10000 D-2 30000
D-2 10FF4 --- 00000
E-2 10FF5 D-2 30000
Works accurately only, when the secondary tempo is divisible by
three, e.g. 3, 6, 9..
- When using V37+ icon.library (2.04), DEL FILE now deletes the file
icon using DeleteDiskObject() => the icon disappears from Workbench.
- Command 19 (sample offset) now works in 5-8 channel modes.
- The sample editor line mode display is slightly faster.
- Bug fixes:
* When Clearing/loading a song, the note editor might remain in
3/4 mode...
* Command FFE didn't work in 5-8 channel modes.
* HQ is cleared, when loading 7/8 channel songs under 68000/010.
OctaMEDPlayer V4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Above new features added, bugs fixed.
- HQ gadget (only affects 5-8 channel modules).
** OctaMED Professional V4.00c (11 Aug 1992) ****************************
A single bug fix, the bug was dangerous: The ExtNewScreen tag array
wasn't terminated... (however, it appeared to work fine :-o)
(23 Aug 1992) - updated OctaMEDPlayer & octaplayer routines to support
command 19.
** OctaMED Professional V4.00d (22 Sep 1992) *INCLUDES THIS DEMO VERSION**
OctaMED:
Two bugs fixed. The other probably didn't ever occur. Another was
more serious, causing the MIDI message editor Send to often fail.
Proplayer/Medplayer.library
Some bugs fixed. Proplayer.a's VBLANK option ought to work now.
(Thanks to Stephan Fuhrmann for finding the bugs!)
OctaMEDPlayer:V4.01 (OctaMEDPlayer not supplied with Demo version)
One bug fix. Also a new feature: If you shift-click the Play button,
OctaMEDPlayer will play all songs of the multi-module in succession.
*************************************************************************
The following describes just a FEW of the features of OctaMED Pro
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(These may well be altered on updated versions!)
The file requester
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The new file requester is much better than the one that has appeared on the
previous versions of the program. The upper part of the requester contains
all the gadgets, and the lower one all the file and device names.
The save format gadgets replace the save format requester of OctaMED V2.0.
MOD1(+instr) is the new MMD1 module format, including the instruments.
MOD1(no inst) replaces the song format of OctaMED V2.0. This is basically a
MMD1 module with no instruments (they are loaded by OctaMED). The
files of this format can usually be powerpacked very effectively.
MOD0 (old) is the MMD0 format, which is compatible with all versions of
OctaMED, and MED starting from V2.1.
ST-MODULE is the ST/NT/PT module format. Automatic conversion of commands is
made.
The INFO gadget allows you to select, if you want to save only the data
required for playing, or also "extra" information e.g. instrument names,
screen colours. When INFO is active, all information is saved. The resulting
files are slightly shorter when it isn't.
When the ICON gadget is selected, a Workbench icon file is saved. The icon is
now saved for all module types. There's a new cassette icon image (designed
by Izrael Similä, thanks!).
LOAD/SAVE SONG/INSTR -gadgets are self-explaining, as well as DEL FILE.
LOAD/SAVE MSG/MAP -gadgets are used for saving MIDI dump files, and keyboard
input maps. These are described below.
The vertical note editor screen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order to make room for the extra command digit, the display looks a bit
different. The borders on the left/right side have been removed. Also, the
spaces between tracks have been replaced with thin separator bars (if this
looks strange, don't worry, you'll get used to it quickly).
Below the note data, there's another status line. On the left, there's a
memory display, which displays the available chip and fast memory. Next to
it, there's a gadget for block name. You can enter a name for each block,
the names will be saved (if INFO is active) to MOD1 modules. Then there's
a gadget for song name. Each song of a multi-module can have a name of its
own, but you can use this gadget for non-multi-modules as well.
The PLAY panel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This panel has not many changes. First, there's the HQ-gadget (High Quality).
Turning this gadget on significantly increases the audio quality on splitted
(8-channel) tracks. Unfortunately, it will also double the processor load,
so a 68020 or higher processor is required to use the HQ in seven and eight
channel modes.
Due to a technical reason, the HQ-gadget slows down the playing speed a bit,
but this can be compensated with the tempo settings.
In 8-channel mode, you can control the playing speed more accurately (to
techies: by changing the size of the mix buffer). This can be done with the
left tempo gadget (values 1-10; the lower, the faster). Values 11-240 are
equivalent to 10.
Finally, it's possible to use BPM timing in 4-channel songs. Be sure that the
right tempo gadget has the value of 6 (normal default value), then click the
SPD text, which will change to BPM. Now, the left tempo gadget will control
the BPM value (e.g. 60 = 1 beat/second). The right gadget controls the length
of a beat in lines, e.g. if you want eight lines to be considered as one beat,
set this gadget to eight. For example, if the tempo values were 060/08, Octa-
MED would play exactly eight lines in a second.
Due to technical reasons, very low speeds don't work correctly (this should
not be a problem).
The INSTR panel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The order of the gadgets has been slightly modified. The JUMP gadget has been
removed. The instrument scanning gadgets look like this:
|< first instrument
< previous instrument
> next instrument
>| last instrument
>|< last used instrument
The FINETUNE gadget(s) allow you to set the finetune value of the current
sample. Also works for synth/hybrid sounds. Acceptable values are -8 to 7.
Useful for tuning incorrectly sampled instruments.
The EDIT panel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The octave selection gadgets have been changed, as the octave range has been
extended. The numbers on the gadgets indicate the lower octave. E.g. '1'
selects octaves 1+2, '9' selects 9+A.
The leftmost advance gadget looks like a small loudspeaker. When activated,
you can hear the notes, when moving the cursor up/down.
When editing the programmable keys, the 'x'-key no longer enters an 'x'
(it would be impossible to enter D-1), now use Return instead.
MAP2 selects an alternative keypad mapping. Many users may prefer the new
maps to the old ones. Below are the keypad functions in MAP2 mode:
Track on/off:
Keys 0 - 9 Turn on/off tracks 0 - 9
'.' Turns off all tracks
'Enter' Turns on all tracks
Select Instrument:
Keys 0 - 9 select instruments 0 - 9
'.' Changes the first instr. number (e.g. from 05 to 15 or 15 -> 05)
'Enter' activates "alpha-enter", after pressing Enter, the user can
press the alpha-key ('A'-'V') to select the instrument.
'+' next instrument
'-' prev. instrument
'{' decrease volume of the current instrument by one
'}' increase volume of the current instrument by one
'/' select last used instrument
'*' pick instrument number nearest to the cursor
The MISC panel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The MISC panel has two new gadgets:
LOADGFX removes the synth/note/sample/MIDI editor graphics from the
memory. The graphics files will be loaded when required.
Saves some memory.
MOUSE2 allows you to set the cursor position with the left mouse
button, instead of turning on/off tracks.
The RANGE panel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside the CHORD gadget, there's a small RST (reset) gadget. When it is
selected (default), the cursor returns to the initial track after entering
a chord.
The NOTE ECHO produces echoes automatically with the C-command, e.g:
C-1 10000 ;the initial note
--- 00000
C-1 10C32 ;half volume
--- 00000
C-1 10C16 ;1/4 volume
--- 00000
C-1 10C08 ;1/8 volume
...
Echo notes will be placed only on empty note slots. To use this feature,
first select the range to affect. Then just click NOTE ECHO (editing must be
on). The number in the DIST gadget is the distance between the echoes, e.g.
value four places echoes every fourth line. MIN is the minimum volume of an
echo, echoes with volume smaller than this will not be generated.
The synthsound editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hex number of the current waveform is now displayed next to the string
gadget containing the decimal equivalent.
The G.TRN gadget creates transitions. For example, consider the following
waveform sequence list:
line
00 00
01 0F
02 END
Now position the cursor to line 01 (be sure that editing is on), click
G.TRN, and a smooth transition from 00 to 0F is magically generated.
The sample editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most useful new feature of the sample editor is probably the Freehand
option. Just click FREEHAND, and you can edit the waveform with the mouse.
In freehand mode, the maximum display size is 640 bytes. You can zoom closer
if you want.
Another new button is D.PIXELS, when this is activated, the sample is
displayed as pixels, not lines. The pixel display is much faster than the
line display.
One new, but not visible, change is that the echo rate is now specified as
bytes instead steps of 8 bytes, this gives greater control over the effect.
The SLIST editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are three new gadgets:
SAVE INST saves the current instrument to the currently selected
directory.
SAVE ALL saves all instruments of the song to the currently selected
directory.
DELETE deletes the instrument from the directory. Not only removes
the instrument name, but actually deletes the instrument
from the disk.
The other gadgets are the same as in previous versions, although a bit
squeezed to make room for the new gadgets.
The MIDI panel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The MIDI panel of OctaMED has changed a lot from the previous versions. It
is now one of the big panels, and divided into three sections.
The upper right section contains the normal MIDI functions, carried over
from the previous versions. Next to them, there's the input map editor, which
allows you to change the meaning of an input key. The lower section contains
the new MIDI message editor.
----- Normal MIDI functions
There are a couple of new gadgets; SEND OUT, when selected, causes OctaMED to
replay input MIDI notes. This is useful, if you have a separate sound module
and keyboard.
ALL OFF: gadgets select the method to turn off all the notes (after pressing
the space bar). N.OFF:s sends standard MIDI note off messages for each track
$Bx7B00 sends MIDI All Notes Off messages for each MIDI channel. The latter
is recommended, if your MIDI devices support it. It will kill all notes, not
just those triggered by OctaMED.
----- Input map editor
You can remap all the input keys. You can assign each key to:
* enter any note/command you want (similar to programmable keys)
* perform some action
This also works for keys input from the keyboard of your Amiga. So, MIDI
keyboard is not required.
By default, there's no input map. Click NEW to create one (DEL will delete
it when you're finished with it). For each note there's an entry like this:
C-1xxxxxx
This means, that the key C-1 will enter just C-1, with the current instrument
number, and leave the command numbers untouched.
You can edit an entry just like the programmable keys on the EDIT panel.
First select an entry by clicking on it. Hold down the mouse button, point
the number you want to change, and press a key on the keyboard to change it.
The RESET gadget will reset the current entry to its default.
Now comes the exciting part: you can perform most editing tasks without
touching the keyboard of your Amiga or the mouse! It's possible to assign
a key on your MIDI keyboard to e.g. move the cursor up/down. The set of
FUNCT gadgets will be used for this.
First select the note you want to assign to control editing functions.
Then just use the FUNCT: < and > gadgets to scan through the available
functions. Currently the available functions are:
Play song/blk (block)
Cont song/blk
Stop play
Curs up/down/left/right (cursor up/down/left/right)
Prev/Next trk (previous/next track)
Prev/Next blk
Edit (turns editing on/off)
Spc (turns SPC on/off)
DEL (equivalent to pressing DEL)
-|- (equivalent to pressing Return)
Prev/Next inst
Chord (turns chord mode on/off)
1st/last line (equivalent to pressing F6 and F10)
Click the FUNCT: N to restore the note.
The ACTIVE gadget can be used to turn off input mapping temporarily.
You can save and load input maps, the FILE panel contains Load MAP and Save
MAP gadgets for doing this.
----- MIDI message editor
MIDI message editor offers the tools to capture/send/store MIDI data, and
perform hex-level editing. It's well suited for storing SysEx data, but
not limited to SysEx messages.
When you enter the MIDI message editor after booting OctaMED, there are no
messages. To create one, click NEW or N.HERE. NEW adds a new message to the
end of the list (usually preferred), N.HERE inserts the new message at the
current point on the list. DEL deletes the current message. CLEAR clears the
current message (sets all bytes to zero).
The newly created message is 8 bytes long. To capture a SysEx, for example,
the buffer needs to be _much_ longer, depending on the SysEx. Before you can
capture a SysEx, you'll have to set the message size high enough (the max.
size OctaMED can handle is 65536 bytes). Set it to 60000, for example.
To capture, press CAPT., then initiate SysEx send from your MIDI device.
Provided that AUTO-TERMINATE is active, OctaMED will automatically report
when the transfer is complete, and set the message size.
If AUTO-TERMINATE is not active, OctaMED will capture all incoming bytes
until the CAPT. button is released or the end of the buffer is reached.
AUTO-TERMINATE causes OctaMED to stop capturing when a SysEx end byte ($F7)
is received. OctaMED will also remove all unused bytes at the end of the
buffer. You shouldn't leave any unused 00-bytes after the actual MIDI data.
These 00's are also MIDI data, which will be sent, and this is likely to
cause problems. So, using AUTO-TERMINATE is usually preferred.
The SEND gadget sends out the current MIDI message. There's also a player
command which allows you to send MIDI messages within a song. (See below.)
The NAME gadget allows you to give a mnemonic name for the MIDI message.
(It's usually difficult to recognize a MIDI message by looking at the hex
dump :)
You can edit the hex data. Hit Esc to turn on editing, if it already isn't.
Now just use the cursor keys to move around the data and the number keys
(0-9, A-F) to modify the hex data. Use DEL to delete a byte, and Shift-DEL
to insert a new one.
Suppose, for example, that you want to send the rare Tune Request message
($F6). Create a message, set size to one byte. Then enter F6, then just
click SEND to send it. Using the command 10, you can send Tune Request at
the beginning of the song automatically, if you want.
The FILE panel has Load/Save MSG gadgets for loading/saving messages. All
MIDI messages are automatically saved to modules (both MOD0 and MOD1).
New commands recognized by the player
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Command 5 slide and fade
This command is the combination of commands 0300 and 0Dxx. The
data byte is the fade speed. The slide will continue during this
command.
C-1 10000
D-3 10303 ;slide at speed of 3
--- 00300 ;continue slide
--- 00502 ;continue slide + fade speed 2
--- 00502
Command 6 vibrato and fade
Combines commands 0400 and 0Dxx. The data byte is the fade speed.
The vibrato will continue during this command.
C-1 104A3 ;vibrato
--- 00400 ;cont. vibrato
--- 00603 ;cont. vibrato + fade speed 3
--- 00603
Command 7 tremolo
This command is a kind of "volume vibrato". The left number is the
speed of the tremolo, and the right one is the depth. The depth
must be quite high before the effect is audible.
D-2 107DF ;tremolo
--- 00700 ;continue..
--- 00700
...
Command 10 send MIDI message
Sends a MIDI message. The data byte is the message number. Note that
the first message has number 0, so you must subtract one to convert
the message number from the message editor for use with this command.
--- 01000 ;send the first message
Note that the MIDI message data has priority over the MIDI note data.
MIDI timing pulses are sent immediately even if a message dump is
going on.
Command 11 slide pitch up once
Allows you to control the pitch at the highest possible accuracy.
When the command 1 "slides" the pitch smoothly, this command only
changes it once per note.
C-2 11105 ;slightly above the C-2
To techies: with this command, you can play a note at any period
value you wish. E.g. C-2 is 428. To play at period 431, just enter
C-2 11103.
Command 12 slide pitch down once
Equivalent to cmd 11, except that it slides down.
Command 14 PT compatible vibrato
In Protracker, the vibrato command was changed from NoiseTracker.
The maximum depth was halved, to give greater accuracy. This command
is compatible with the new Protracker vibrato.
Command 15 set finetune
Allows you to set a finetune value for a note, overrides the default
finetune value of the instrument.
C#3 21503 ;finetune +3
D-2 315F8 ;finetune -8
Since these are hex numbers, negative numbers must be expressed as:
-1 = FF -5 = FB
-2 = FE -6 = FA
-3 = FD -7 = F9
-4 = FC -8 = F8
Command 16 loop
This interesting command enables you to construct a loop within a
block. Example:
...
004 C-3 11600 ;data byte = 00 -> mark loop begin
005 D#2 10000
006 --- 11603 ;data byte = 03 -> loop three times
...
This example would loop lines 004 - 006 three times before going on.
You can't nest loops!
Command 18 cut note
Command 18 will mute the sound at the given timing pulse. This is
done by setting the volume to zero (unlike command 8, which actually
turns off the note by turning off DMA, and also works with MIDI).
C-2 11801 ;very short
D-2 11802 ;slightly longer
E-2 11804 ;even more longer
Command 19 sample start offset
When playing a sample, this command sets the starting offset (at
steps of $100 = 256 bytes). Useful for speech samples.
C-2 11904 ;play the sample starting at offset $400 = 1024
Command 1A slide volume up once
Allows you to make slow volume slides, the volume is slided only
once per line.
D-2 11A01 ;a looped string, perhaps, default volume 0
--- 01A01
(and so on..)
Command 1B slide volume down once
Equivalent to 1A, except that it slides down.
Command 1C change MIDI preset
Changes the MIDI preset number of the current instrument. As with
all commands which modify the song parameters, you should be very
careful when using this command in multi-modules (perhaps it's
better not to use it at all in multi-modules).
Command 1D jump to next playseq block
This command is like F00, except that you can specify the line
number of the first line to be played. The line number is specified
as HEX, you have to do the conversion.
...
--- 01D03 ;next block, start at line 3 (skip the first 3 lines)
Command 1E delay line
Plays the commands of the current line the specified number of
times. Doesn't replay the notes.
C-2 10000--- 00000
--- 00101--- 01E06 ;delay this line six times
Command 1F note delay and retrigger
Gives you accurate control over note playing. You can delay the
note any number of timing pulses, and initiate fast retrigger.
The left data byte number is the note delay value, the right one
is the retrig value.
Examples:
C-2 11F20 ;delay 2 timing pulses =>
pulse 0 ---
1 ---
2 C-2
3 ---
...
C-2 11F02 ;retrig every second pulse =>
pulse 0 C-2
1 ---
2 C-2
3 ---
4 C-2
...
C-2 11F22 ;delay 2 pulses AND retrig every second pulse =>
pulse 0 ---
1 ---
2 C-2
3 ---
4 C-2
...
The command 0FF1 is equivalent to 1F03, and 0FF2 to 1F30.
New keyboard features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are some new keyboard shortcuts, to make lives of advanced users
easier...
A Now inserts hold symbol -|- (like Return).
Amiga-O Creates volume slide.
Amiga-Space Play block (FINALLY!!)
Shift-Return Inserts hold symbols to all tracks of the
previous chord.
When entering commands, hold down the Alt key to set the left command
number to 1. E.g. press Alt-9 to enter command 19.
When the Caps Lock is down, you can enter the programmable keys without
holding Alt (and emulate a drum-machine, for example). Also, the keypad
can be used to edit the play sequence, without holding Ctrl.
LATEST - LATEST - LATEST
Amiga Music File Converter V2.00
************************ THE NEW AMFC (V2.00) *************************
AMFC STANDS FOR AMIGA MUSIC FILE CONVERTER AND THATS EXACTLY WHAT IT DOES!
THIS BRAND NEW VERSION WILL CONVERT STARTREKKER/OKTALYZER/ST MODS AND ALSO
SMUS FILES,(NOW INCLUDES THE CHORDS AS WELL),TO THE OctaMED FORMAT.
NOW THEIR IS ALSO NO NEED TO ALTER THE IFF SAMPLES BEFORE PLAYING.
THIS NEW VERSION WILL ALSO CONVERT ALL ABOVE MODULES TO MUSIC-X FORMAT.
A PERFECT ACCOMPANIMENT FOR ALL TRUE OctaMED ENTHUSIASTS.
SEND IN YOUR ORDER TO-DAY.
simply enclose $20.00 and ask for the Amiga Music File Convertor V2.
(don't forget that payment MUST be by bank draught/order IN POUNDS STERLING)
Well that's all for this Loooong file,see you in the SAVE version!!!!!!
Teijo & Ray