new engine: Phase Squeek

Yes another masterpiece that is also really difficult to support in a tracker.

I thought, maybe instead of the XM conversion or all-for-one tracker we can design and create a MML-like system for these engines? One that compiles a human readable text into a AY/TAP/BIN (so you can hook it up to the Notepad++ and hear the result just by pressing F5 or something). Text allows more flexible input than tracker's row/column based grid, like variable number of channels and parameters.

Cool. And even beyond coolness: an other incredible engine.

A MML like converter would be a good idea.
I don't really enjoy the MML syntax itself (not very logical), and prefer the ABC notation syntax: http://abcnotation.com/

A comparison:

In ABC :

X: 1
M: 4/4
L: 1/8 % you can define the base note here
Q:1/4=120
K:C % 0 sharps
C2 D2 E2 F2|  G2 A2 B2 c2| d2 e2 f4| g2 ab c'4|]

In MML:

t120 cdefgab>cdef2ga8b8>c2

What I like in abc, we have at least 4 visual octave ranges: C, C c and c' (C, being the lower). It's possible to add marks to get even lower, for example C,, or higher (c'')
It's also easier, in my opinion, to read (and write) music this way. Just by a quick glance, we can see if a part is lower than the other. After a few < > < < > in MML, it's more tedious.
- In ABC, we use the opposite for length of notes. If 1 is the base, 2 means it doubles the base length.
It may just be an habit, but the advantage is you can count to check if your mesure or part is complete or not:
d2 + e2 + f4 = 8
g2 + a + b + c'4 = 8

Of course, using MML would be better for such a tool, because MML is widespread among chipmusician. And there is a very good tool to convert from midi to MML: http://3ml.jp/download.html (you can export tracks individually)

I've written a few tips and useful links about MML there:
http://garvalf.online.fr/index.php?page … s_pmd98.en

(sorry for highjacking this thread!)

Cheers guys

I quite like the idea of using a human-readable text interface. And yes, from the looks of it I would definately prefer ABC over MML. Have not looked much into either of them though tbh. In any case I think it's best to use an existing standard rather than creating our own.

The main question is if and how certain aspects like timbre settings (in case of Phase Squeek, that would be duty, phase, coupling modes, SID enable/disable, Earth Shaker setting, noise enable/disable, noise pitch) and the whole FX table business. I think we'll be making heavy use of the I: syntax ("Instruction"). But I really have to look more into the ABC standard to see how it could be done. Ultimately it should be done in a way that is not only usable for Phase Squeek, but also for other "un-trackerable" engines. So let's take some time to brainstorm about this - suggestions are very welcome!

Btw perhaps a thing worth noting, unlike with Tritone FX, the FX table syntax in Phase Squeek is almost exactly the same as the pattern syntax, with only two minor derivations.

The ABC notation standard is quite exhaustive (and still evolving), but it's more made toward folk / classical users, using real instruments. Yet a common use for extending it is to use the comment symbol % so it won't interfere with other applications. For example in a program which can convert to midi, one can add this:
%%MIDI channel 1
%%MIDI program 20 % reed organ
%%MIDI transpose 0

There are a bunch of applications for working with abc files, for example for converting from midi, for transposing, to printing to pdf, for converting to lilypond etc. (I've been using abc for almost 20 years so I like it quite much, I've transcribed many tunes with it).

The MML problem is there are several software using it, but they use different syntaxes, so you can get a tune in MML which won't compile because of some incompatibilities. As far as I've seen, most MML allows to define macros, for making differents parts or even some rythms. With the 3ML tool, it's ok for using with midi tunes (even if you have to manually import every track). MML is more popular among chip musicians so it might be a better choice.

Returning back to the topic: utz, I always knew that beeper was more rock'n'roll than AY, but massive thank you for providing plenty of convincing evidence recently.

I always thought that beeper must be good for emulating overdriven instruments.

I think it is better to start simple, without adding too many features, and without expecting to expanding the same code to new engines. In general, it needs to be a prototype, to see how convinient the current idea could be. Later we can redo it as an improved, expandable version, having better understanding how to design such thing.

I'm afraid an ABC/MML converter would be very difficult to pull off. A note/sequence importer from XM or perhaps MIDI would be easier.

Shiru, yes, good point. I still want to add some configurability right from the start though, because I want to improve my C++ skills a bit, too.

In any case, it'll take a while before I have anything to show, as I'm planning on taking a break from coding next week.

A quick update on this: Just got the parser to output it's first blob of correct asm data. Unfortunately today is the last day I can work on it for the forseeable future, but I'm glad I got this far. There's still tons of functionality missing, and the code would probably give any self-respecting programmer a heart attack at this point. So long story short, there probably won't be any public release till beginning of 2017.

In the meantime, here's a little preview, to give you an idea how the thing works (it has a name now, too, btw - MDAL aka Music Data Abstraction Language).

The input music file looks like this:

CONFIG=PhaseSqueek

:SEQUENCE
    intro
    pattern0
    [loop]
    pattern0
    pattern2
    
:intro
    A=a1, B=c3, C=e3, GMIX=or, MIXAB=or, MIXCD=or, SPD=$8
    .
    A=a2
    .
    A=a3
    .
    A=a2, C=0
    .

:pattern0
    .

:pattern2
    .

which gives us this:

    dw intro
    dw pattern0
loop
    dw pattern0
    dw pattern2
    dw 0

intro

    dw #b000, fx0, #b000, a1, c3, #4040, #c6, #c6, #0, #b000, e3, #0, #4040, #0, #800
    dw #b085, #800
    dw #b001, #b0c4, a2, #0, #800
    dw #b085, #800
    dw #b001, #b0c4, a3, #0, #800
    dw #b085, #800
    dw #b001, #b0c4, a2, #0, #b0c0, #0, #0, #800
    dw #b085, #800
    db #40

pattern0

    dw #b085, #800
    db #40

pattern2

    dw #b085, #800
    db #40

based on this config:

MDAL_VERSION(0)
USE_SEQUENCE;
USE_PATTERNS;

WORD_DIRECTIVE("dw");
BYTE_DIRECTIVE("db");
HEX_PREFIX("#");


CFG_SEQUENCE {
    USE_END("dw 0");
    USE_LOOP(LABEL, "loop");
    USE_TRACKS(1);
}

CFG_PATTERNS {
    USE_END("db #40");
}
    
CFG_COMMANDS {
                
    WORD("FX","fx0");    
    WORD("A", 0, USE_LAST_SET|USE_RESTS(0));
    WORD("B", 0, USE_LAST_SET|USE_RESTS(0));
    BYTE("DA", $40, USE_LAST_SET);    
    BYTE("DB", $40, USE_LAST_SET);    
    BYTE("SIDA", $c6, USE_LAST_SET|FORCE_SUBSTITUTION("off"=$c6, "on"=$ce));
    BYTE("SIDB", $c6, USE_LAST_SET|FORCE_SUBSTITUTION("off "=$c6, "on"=$ce));
    BYTE("ESA", 0, USE_LAST_SET);
    BYTE("ESB", 0, USE_LAST_SET);
    WORD("PAB", 0, USE_LAST_SET);
    WORD("C", 0, USE_LAST_SET|USE_RESTS(0));
    WORD("D", 0, USE_LAST_SET|USE_RESTS(0));
    BYTE("DC", $40, USE_LAST_SET);
    BYTE("DD", $40, USE_LAST_SET);
    BOOL("NC", false, USE_LAST_SET|FORCE_SUBSTITUTION("off"=false, "on"=true));
    WORD("PCD", 0, USE_LAST_SET);
    
    BYTE("DRUM", 0, FORCE_SUBSTITUTION("kick"=$40, "hat"=$80));
    BYTE("GMIX", $b0, FORCE_REPEAT|FORCE_SUBSTITUTION("or"=$b0, "xor"=$a8, "and"=$a0));
    BYTE("MIXAB", $b0, USE_LAST_SET|FORCE_SUBSTITUTION("or"=$b0, "xor"=$a8, "and"=$a0));
    BYTE("MIXCD", $b0, USE_LAST_SET|FORCE_SUBSTITUTION("or"=$b0, "xor"=$a8, "and"=$a0));
    BYTE("GSPD", $10, GLOBAL_CONST);
    BYTE("SPD", $10, FORCE_REPEAT);
}
    
    
CFG_FIELDS {
    WORD(0, REQUIRED(), SET_IF(!(FX&A&B&DA&DB&SIDA&SIDB&ESA&ESB&PAB&C&D&DC&DD&NC&PCD&MIXAB&MIXCD), 4), SET_IF(!FX, 1), SET_IF(!(A&B&DA&DB&SIDA&SIDB&ESA&ESB&PAB&MIXAB), $80), SET_HI(GMIX));
    WORD("fx0", SET(FX));
    WORD(0, REQUIRED(A|B|DA|DB|SIDA|SIDB|ESA|ESB|PAB|MIXAB), SET_IF(!(A&B), 1), SET_IF(!(SIDA&SIDB&ESA&ESB), 4), SET_IF(!DA&DB, $40), SET_IF(!PAB, $80), SET_HI(MIXAB));
    WORD(1, REQUIRED(B), SET(A));
    WORD(2, REQUIRED(A), SET(B));
    WORD($4040, SET_HI(DA), SET_LO(DB));
    WORD($00c6, SET_HI(ESA), SET_LO(SIDA));
    WORD($00c6, SET_HI(ESB), SET_LO(SIDB));
    WORD(3, SET(PAB));
    WORD(4, REQUIRED(C|D|DC|DD|NC|PCD|MIXCD), SET_IF(!(C&D), 1), SET_IF(!(DC&DD), $40), SET_IF(!PCD, $80), SET_HI(MIXCD));
    WORD(5, REQUIRED(D), SET(C));
    WORD(6, REQUIRED(C), SET(D));
    WORD($4040, SET_HI(DC), SET_LO(DD));
    WORD(7, SET(PCD));    
    WORD($1000, REQUIRED(), SET_HI(SPD), SET_LO(DRUM));

    REQUIRE_SEQ_BEGIN();    
}

congrat! So now there are already 3 engines... well done.

Alright, we've got a working PhaseSqueek config! It's pretty complete, except that MDAL doesn't support tables that aren't linked from a pattern yet.
For example something like this doesn't work yet:

:SEQUENCE
    pattern1
:pattern1
    A=c1, FX=fx1
    .
:fx1
   A=c1
   A=d1
   A=e1
   FXJUMP=fx2
:fx2
   A=f1
   A=g1
   FXJUMP=fx2

I have to say, MDAL makes things easier, but the engine is still a major p.i.t.a. to use. You have to be very careful especially when constructing tables, because of the data format quirks. For example, if you have A and B set in your pattern, and want to use a table that modifies A, then you should set B again at the start of the table. This is because the player expects a value for B when A is set, but mdalc has no means of knowing what that value should be, and thus will fall back to the default value if you don't tell it to do otherwise. (Setting the value once is enough, mdalc will use the value that was last set from this point on). Likewise, SIDA requires SIDB, ESA, and ESB and vice versa. Also, when in doubt, use PAB/PCD=0 to reset the phase.