Chip 1997 January/CHIP Turkiye Ocak 1997.iso/program/sound/amp21/amp.txt

Text File | 1996-10-29 | 21KB | 525 lines

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                └────╜    └─╜ └─────────╜ └─╜ └────╜    └────╜ └─╜

                               Torture Of Music
                   official release

       ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
       ║                         A M P   2.01                           ║
       ║  The module player for Sound Blaster AWE32 and compatibles     ║
       ║ (c) 1995-1996 by Lada Kopecky a.k.a. Grinus / Torture Of Music ║
       ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

   For more information about our group read the tom-info.txt file or visit
   our WWW homepage http://frodo.hiof.no/~gislemm/tom/tom.html


┌─────────────┐
│ 1. CONTENTS ╞═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└─────────────┘

    2.  Opening Words
        3.  Features
    4.  Requirements
    5.  Files in this package
    6.  Disclaimer
        7.  Distribution rules
    8.  Installation
    9.  Switches
        10. Modules and Listfiles
    11. Keyboard
    12. Unsupported pattern effects
    13. Useful hints
    14. Future Plans
    15. What you can't expect
    16. For Cubic Player users
    17. Something about treble setting
    18. Comments, suggestions or anything else
    19. Contacting the author



┌──────────────────┐
│ 2. OPENING WORDS ╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└──────────────────┘

 Hello and welcome to your new AWE Module Player v2.01 ... stay cool and enjoy
 the auditive experience. Before you start using our stunning player please
 do read through this description file. It will help you to understand and get
 maximum enjoyment out of each and every function provided by the AMP.

 If you are interested in the most accurate playback of your favourite modules
 on the Sound Blaster AWE32 (PnP) or Sound Blaster 32 (PnP) then there's
 no reason why not to use our player.
 We all in Torture Of Music believe that the AMP will become your one and only
 ultimate module player and we wish you many happy hours spent by listening
 to the amazing music composed by skilled musicians from all over the globe.

 In case you are totally unfamiliar with playback of music modules on your PC
 in general, you may need more information than this description file provides.
 We suggest that you visit some of the many web pages on the subject of music
 scene and music modules available on the Net.



┌─────────────┐
│ 3. FEATURES ╞═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└─────────────┘

 - plays XM modules (FT2.0x, format version $0104)
 - plays S3M modules (ST3.0+, IT1.01+)
 - plays MOD/NST modules (M.K.  FLT4  nCHN  nnCH  OCTA  N.T.)
 - plays MTM modules
 - plays PTM modules (max. 128 instruments)
 - up to 32 channels and 30 sounding notes
 - the strict compatibility with the FT2.06 and ST3.21 playback routines!
   (including the emulation of many undocumented bugs)
 - professional quality downsampling of highest samples to avoid the EMU8000
   pitch overflows
   The high quality anti-aliasing filter is used and numerous secondary
   complications involved by downsampling are properly handled.
   So you won't loose *any* note and the quality of playback is the best
   possible!
 - can play in Windows, even in background
   Just increase the Priority (using PIF editor) in Windows 3.x or decrease
   the Idle Sensitivity (in Properties of AMP icon) in Windows 95 to achieve
   a continuous playback.
   However, the background playback may be affected by running other resource
   intensive tasks (see the "future plans" section of this document)
 - can report all suspicious events during the module load and playback, e.g.:
   - invalid, unknown, unsupported and improperly used pattern effects
   - the synthesizer hardware limits exceeded
   - AdLib instruments and channels in S3M modules
   - invalid instruments or samples
   - bad sample/envelope loop points
   - and many more
   So you will know of everything that can impair the resulting sound!
 - informs about another interesting facts, such as:
   - data found in disabled S3M channels
   - unused patterns
 - plays multiple modules in batch (using wildcards and/or listfiles)
 - can play multiple modules in random order
 - all kinds of song loops can be reliably disabled  (a 'must have' option
   for background playback in a batch mode)
 - supports animated messages using sample names (sometimes found in S3M mods)
 - loads and plays even slightly corrupted MOD files
 - fast forward mode, pattern skip in both directions
 - forced tempo mode
 - support for custom reverb/chorus types created by AWE32FXWorkShop
 - all the settings taken from AMP.INI and/or from the command line
 - can play if not enough AWE memory
 - no problems with memory or extenders (70-220 KB of DOS memory is enough)
 - does not change the Sound Blaster mixer settings
 - does not use the SB DSP chip (i.e. you can simultaneously run a MIDI player
   or a tracker (configured to SB16) in another DOS box under Windows 95)



┌─────────────────┐
│ 4. REQUIREMENTS ╞═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└─────────────────┘

 - PC 386 or better
 - EGA/VGA
 - Sound Blaster AWE32 or a compatible sound card with EMU8000
    (at least 2 MB of on-board sample RAM is strongly recommended)
 - 70..220 KB of free DOS conventional memory
 - the player can need a small amount of Extended memory during the downsampling
   (if not enough low memory)
 - no Expanded memory needed
 - no AWE32 drivers needed
 - the BLASTER environment variable is used though it is not necessary



┌──────────────────────────┐
│ 5. FILES IN THIS PACKAGE ╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════
└──────────────────────────┘

 Here is a list of the files enclosed to this package.

   AMP.EXE  - the player itself
   AMP.INI  - a sample configuration file
   AMP.PIF  - Program Information File for MS Windows
   AMP.REV  - the revision history
   AMP.TXT  - this file



┌───────────────┐
│ 6. DISCLAIMER ╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└───────────────┘

 This software program is spread "as is", without express or implied warranty
 of any kind. In no event will author of this software program be liable for
 any special, incidental or consequential damages resulting from possession,
 use or malfunction of this software product. (E.g. deafness or blown speakers
 by the volume being turned up too high).



┌───────────────────────┐
│ 7. DISTRIBUTION RULES ╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└───────────────────────┘

 This material is freeware only for NON-COMMERCIAL use. You are allowed to copy
 it without restrictions for non-commercial use. No payment of any kind may be
 charged for this product or any combination of products or services including
 this product without our authorization and official written license.

 Commercial use, especially the industrial manufacturing on any data storage
 media and their distribution without the expressed permission of the producer,
 is strictly prohibited. This program or the data files contained therein may
 not be altered or modified without the permission of the author.



┌─────────────────┐
│ 8. INSTALLATION ╞═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└─────────────────┘

 Just unzip the archive into your destination directory and run amp.exe.
 Make sure that AMP.EXE and AMP.INI are stored in the same directory.
 For more information about associating AMP player with your modules please
 read the HINTS section.



┌─────────────┐
│ 9. SWITCHES ╞═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└─────────────┘

  The list of command line switches (they are preceded by '/' or '-'):

  V     Verbose mode
      - all available info shown in Log window
      - message colors: INFOS - white, WARNINGS - yellow, ERRORS - red

  S     Single mode
      - no module looping, no batch looping
      - the loop detection works at the pattern level (it may fail
         if the patterns are splitted into non-continuous parts)

  P     Pause mode
      - waits at the end of each module
        (you can continue switching and scrolling the screens)

  J     Jukebox mode
      - modules are played in a random order
      - you can combine it with the Single mode and Pause mode
      - some additional DOS memory is needed for the filenames stored

  F     force play if not enough sample memory
      - some samples will be ignored

  I     show numeric pan values 0 to F and M (instead of L/R/M)

  W     disable the Windows detection (a safe mode)
      - a support for enhanced multitasking will be disabled

  Xn    force the EMU8000 base port (in hex, e.g. 620 or 640)
      - if you include this switch, AMP won't use the 'BLASTER' variable
        nor the autodetect routine

  Nn    default panning from the middle (0..127, default 72)
      - this is the initial panning of the left/right MOD/S3M channels
        (something like 'n' switch in DMP player)

  Mn    initial volume 0..64 (default is the automode)
      - in automode the initial volume depends on the number of channels

  Rn    initial reverb level (0..255, default 36)

  Cn    initial chorus level (0..255, default 0)

  En    reverb type (0..7, default 4)

  On    chorus type (0..7, default 0)

  Kn,filename       (0..7)
        overload the n-th reverb/chorus type from FXR/FXC file created
        in AWE32FXWorkShop v1.1 (by Vincent Vu)

  Bn    initial bass level   (0..11, default 5)

  Tn    initial treble level (0..11, default 5)

  Dn    downsampling control (0..24, default 12)
      - use it to set the EMU8000 pitch safety value in semitones (1 to 24)
            It controls the maximal EMU8000 sample rate used by AMP.
        (the hardware limit is at 176.4kHz)
      - a zero has a special meaning - it disables the downsampling at all
      - the default value of 1 octave means that samples will be downsampled
        so that the highest note won't exceed 88.2 kHz virtual sample rate.
      - very small values are not recommended as there must be some range
        left for vibratos and slides. Another reason is that EMU8000 doesn't
        avoid an aliasing effect when doing a pitch up-shifting (i.e. for
        sample rates above 44.1 kHz).


     n      Bass/Treble       Reverb Type      Chorus Type
    ---     -----------       -----------      -----------
     0        -12 dB          Room 1           Chorus 1 (*)
     1         -8 dB          Room 2           Chorus 2
     2         -6 dB          Room 3           Chorus 3
     3         -4 dB          Hall 1           Chorus 4
     4         -2 dB          Hall 2 (*)       Feedback Delay
     5          0 dB (*)      Plate            Flanger
     6         +2 dB          Delay            Short Delay
     7         +4 dB          Panning Delay    Short Delay Feedback
     8         +6 dB
     9         +8 dB
    10        +10 dB
    11        +12 dB

 (*) are default values

 All switches above can be used in AMP.INI, one option per line.
 Command line switches take precedence over the INI file settings.
 The mode switches V/F/S/P/I/J/W can be reset from the command line
 by appending the minus sign (e.g. -S-).
 Remember that AMP.INI must be placed in the same directory as AMP.EXE !



┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 10. MODULES AND LISTFILES ╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════
└───────────────────────────┘

 You can specify one or more modules and/or listfiles in the command line.
 You can use wildcards in module names. The extensions may be omitted.
 The listfile is the list of modules to play, one filename per line.
 The lines with leading ';', '#' or space will be ignored (also in AMP.INI).



┌──────────────┐
│ 11. KEYBOARD ╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└──────────────┘

  F1              Help Screen

  F2              Log Screen
                   - in Verbose mode only

  F3              Channels Screen
                   - instrument name, channel volume, channel pan are displayed
                   - volume bars reflect the final volume (incl. envelopes and
                     a global volume)

  F4              Instruments Screen
                   - 16-bit sample points are displayed in sample units
                   - looped samples are truncated to the end of loop
                     and invalid loop points are corrected
                   - envelopes, bidirectional loops and instrument vibratos
                     are indicated by proper symbols
                   - a downsampling factor for each sample (1 to 4 octaves)
                     is shown in the last column

  PgDn PgUp       scroll channels or instruments
  Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn
  Home End        for a faster move

  Up              Fast Forward (4-times faster, no pattern data is skipped)

  <-  ->          Pattern Back/Forward
                   - remaining pattern data is ignored
                   - the active notes are terminated (so they can't hang)

  Ctrl <-         Module Restart

  Esc             fadeout and exit to DOS
  Enter           fadeout to the next module in batch (or exit)
  spacebar        Pause/Resume playback

  Ctrl Up/Down    Forced Tempo up/down (following tempo changes are ignored)

  -  +            Main Volume down/up
  F5  F6          EMU8000 equalizer Bass Level down/up
  F7  F8          EMU8000 equalizer Treble Level down/up
  F9  F10         Reverb Level down/up
  F11 F12         Chorus Level down/up
  Alt             display the active effect types
  Alt-F9  Alt-F10 Reverb Type down/up
  Alt-F11 Alt-F12 Chorus Type down/up

  1-9 A-P         channel 1-25 on/off  (no more free letters)
  R  S            all channels off/on

 There is no mouse support.



┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ 12. UNSUPPORTED PATTERN EFFECTS ╞═══════════════════════════════════════════
└─────────────────────────────────┘

 - Set Filter             (unsupported by ST3/FT2, Amiga HW specific effect)
 - Old ST Stereo Control  (unsupported by ST3, does anybody know the function?)
 - Funk Repeat            (unsupported by ST3/FT2, never seen it)
 - Set Finetune           (unsupported by ST3, never seen it)
 - PTM effects J,K,L,M    (does anybody know the function?)



┌──────────────────┐
│ 13. USEFUL HINTS ╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└──────────────────┘

 Examples of use (the default AMP.INI was assumed):

  a) To play all modules from a directory (all MOD/MTM/S3M/XM/PTM extensions):
    AMP  E:\MODULES\*

  b) To play your favourite songs in random order without waiting between them:
    AMP  @E:\MODULES\MY-BEST.LST  -J  -P-

  c) To play specified modules with looping enabled:
    AMP  E:\MODULES\DOPE  C:\*.XM  -S-

  d) To play all modules from a directory sub-tree:   (hint by Roger Dahl)
        DIR /B /S /A-D  E:\MODULES  >ALL.LST    (creates a listfile)
        AMP  @ALL.LST

 If you can't live without a file selector, you can use an external shell
 of your choice (DMPC, SHELL10, etc.).
 With DMPC you'll just have to add a new section into DMPC.CFG file:
    [AMP]
    OPTIONS=%S
    LISTFILE=TRUE
    FILEMASK=3MNPTX
    PLAYER=amp.exe

 Or you can make an association of modules with AMP.EXE in your favourite
 disk/file manager. Then AMP is invoked when you 'Open' or 'Start' the module.
 For example, to do it in XtreeGold, create the files MOD.BAT, S3M.BAT, etc...
 in a directory where Xtree resides. They contain just a single line like this:
    @C:\SOUND\AMP\AMP.EXE  %4.%5



┌──────────────────┐
│ 14. FUTURE PLANS ╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
└──────────────────┘

 A native Windows version has been started. It is designed for the smooth
 and low resource-consuming background playback with a standard file selector
 and playlist capabilities. At present it is in a zero-alpha stage (i.e.
 suitable just for my own private use :)).  A lot of hard work would be needed
 to prepare it for a public release.
 Yes, now it is the right time to give me some special feedback, folks!

 If there will be a sufficient demand then a support for PnP cards configured
 to non-standard ports can be added.

 And if more nice IT modules appear and if Jeffrey Lim really has stopped
 changing the IT format :)  and if I get into the right mood for coding...
 then IT support will be added.



┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 15. WHAT YOU CAN'T EXPECT ╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════
└───────────────────────────┘

 Don't waste your time asking me to implement a DOS shell or a file selector!
 Use Windows or OS/2 instead of DOS shell and an external file manager
 (as described above). That's the way I use it. :-)

 After many experiments with the resampling feature I've decided not to support
 the sound cards with a small sample memory.
 The reason is that I do prefer the sound quality and fidelity (these are
 still and forever the main goals of AMP player).
 Let's take an example: If 1MB of 8-bit samples has to fit into 512KB sample
 RAM (== 256k samples), most samples would be reduced by factor of 4.
 Every such downsampling involves a very big loss of high frequency parts
 and the sound becomes unacceptable to me.



┌────────────────────────────┐
│ 16. FOR CUBIC PLAYER USERS ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════
└────────────────────────────┘

 Older versions of Cubic Player (up to v1.7) did not initialize the EMU chip
 properly.  If used after any program using the ADIP 2.52 style initialization
 (e.g. AMP), some sounds were lost.
 For this reason I created a simple utility called AWERESET (available
 separately) for resetting the AWE32 in the style of ADIP 2.0. You'll need it
 to prepare the AWE32 hardware for Cubic Player after AMP was used.
 Instead of my AWERESET utility you can use the 'AWEUTIL /S' command as well
 (thanx to B.Boer).

 The corrected AWE driver v1.7c for Cubic Player is now available.
 NOTE: There are no such problems when running Cubic Player under Windows 95.



┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 17. SOMETHING ABOUT THE TREBLE SETTING ╞════════════════════════════════════
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

 When playing a module, there are 2 or 3 equalizers in chain:
     1. the digital equalizer in EMU8000
     2. the equalizer in AWE32 mixer (controlled by SB16SET or Windows mixer)
     3. the equalizer in external amplifier
 I think there should be used only last one in chain.  So I decided to set
 the default bass & treble levels of the EMU8000 equalizer to zero.
 But the AWE32 hardware defaults to the treble level approx. +10dB.
 That's why you can hear some loss of high frequencies compared to other AWE32
 players which use the hardware default.
 However, you can use '-Tn' option to change it.



┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 18. COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS OR ANYTHING ELSE ╞════════════════════════════════
└────────────────────────────────────────────┘

 In case you find any major or minor problem with the player, please try
 to find the circumstances which screws it up. If you can't, don't worry
 - let me know anyway.

 If you like AMP, don't be lazy and send me at least a few words. Remember
 - you don't *have to* pay for it but if you *DO* use the player and think
 that it's worth contributing a small amount towards, then please do so.
 It would be GREATLY appreciated. If you think this player is worth $5,
 then send $5. If you think it's worth $10, then send $10...

 Methods of payment:
   Cash
   Bank Cheque
   Postal Order
 Just enclose your donations securely wrapped into envelope and send it
 via snail mail.

 I don't like spoiling a program by showing in reminder messages or by anything
 else. However, the future of AMP depends on feedback and donations I'll get.
 It's up to you!



┌───────────────────────────┐
│ 19. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR ╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════
└───────────────────────────┘

 If you want to contact me for any reason then send me a mail to:

    [e-mail]
           <or>
        [e-mail]

 To those of you without the Internet access, here is my snail mail address:

    Lada Kopecky
    Nad lesnim div. 1116
    142 00    Praha 4
    Czech Republic