Songs Of The Unexpected by OUCH
Ålesund, the 5th of April, 1991
After having listened to the divine sounds of 'The Ultimate Musical
Experience', you'll probably be wondering how and with what software
these songs have been conceived. To be frank, writing such songs will
need the skill of a true artist, but at least the software is right here
at your fingertips, well, in your drive, to be precise.
Esion is a program for writing music using samples of real-life
instruments. With four separate channels, two in your left speaker and
two in the right, these samples can easily be matched in to form genuine
music of a previously unheard quality. Esion has been written to take
your STe's sonical capabilities to the absolute limit.
Writing Esion has taken and is taking rather a lot of at least my spare
time, which at least partly should have been spent reading for my exams.
Getting a job without an education is tough luck these days, and so far
Esion has not brought us a single dime. We plan to continue to develop
Esion, but unless we start earning some money on it, we are forced to
abandon Esion as a failed project. If you want us to continue working on
Esion and software of high quality in general, please show your support.
Thank you.
A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE USAGE OF ESION
The notes which are valid for Esion range from C-1 to B-3, three
octaves. Two octaves are accessible from the keyboard at a time. The
other two octaves can be accessed when pressing [TAB]. Pressing [TAB]
one more time will make the first two octaves accessible again. The
notes are laid out over the keyboard as on a piano.
When EDIT is off, no changes can be made to the patterns. Pressing a key
will sound the respective note, but no note is inserted in the patterns.
When EDIT is on the note will be inserted, and all four channels will
sound.
A tune is built up on positions. A position specifies a pattern, e.g.
position 0 specifies pattern 0. When the position is set to 0, pattern 0
will be played. When the end of the pattern is reached, the position
counter will be increased to 1. If position 1 also specifies pattern 0,
pattern 0 will be played again. This will continue until the position
counter reaches 'length'. The position counter will then be loaded with
the value specified by 'restart'.
Use shift + sideways arrowkeys to view the different patterns.
A pattern is divided in four tracks, which in their turn are divided in
64 notes. A note looks like this:
--- 0000
| | +-- Command field
| +---- Sample number
+------- Note
A typical note could look like this:
C-2 1000
This implies that a C-2 should be played with sample number 1. No
command is specified.
C#314C20
This will order Esion to play a #C3 with sample #14. A command is also
specified. Let's have a closer look at the commands. The command field
is built up like this:
C 20
| ++-- Command parameter
+----- Command
The command here is 'C' and the parameter is '20'. The command 'C' means
that the volume should be set to, in this case, 20.
I'll list some of the commands available:
1 - PORTAMENTO UP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1XX = slide note up (speed=xx)
Will slide the note xx steps upwards per vertical blank.
2 - PORTAMENTO DOWN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2XX = slide note down (speed=xx)
Will slide the note xx steps downwards per vertical blank.
4 - VIBRATO
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4XY = vibrato note (x=speed, u=size)
Will vibrate the note, where x specifies the speed of the vibrato and y
is the size of the vibrato. Specifying 400 will continue the vibrato.
A - SLIDE VOLUME
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AXY = slide volume (+x/-y)
Slides the volume with speed x steps upwards and speed y steps downwards
per vertical blank.
B - POSITION JUMP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BXX = jump to pattern xx
Will exit the present pattern immediately and set the position counter
to xx.
C - SET VOLUME
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CXX = set volume to xx
Will set the volume of that channel to xx.
D - PATTERN BREAK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
D00 - next pattern
Will exit the current pattern and jump directly to the next pattern.
F - SET SPEED
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FXX = set speed to xx
Will change the speed at which the patterns are played to xx. xx
indicates the vertical blanks between each new note. The smallest value
allowed is 1, which suggests that a new note is played every vertical
blank.
The default speed is 6.
This small documentation is in no way full, there simply are no better
docs at present. But to make it a bit easier for you, I've
included a finished module with which you can experiment.
For those who have been using the infamous TCB tracker, we have added
the ability to load TCB tracker modules.
We hope you like Esion. If enough interest is shown we hope to include
the following features:
- AVR sample loading/saving
- Midi support
- TT support
- sample editor
- powerful cut/paste functions
- YM2149 (PSG) sound chip support
- 25kHz
- 8 voices
- Monochrome support?
But you really shouldn't count on us getting it done ;^)
The ESION XLI tracker is in no way finished. You'll probably come across
lots of bugs etc. when using it. Esion is under continual development
and may not even be finished as you read this. Still, you can get hold
of the latest version of Esion by registering by the author. You will
then receive the latest version of ESION XLII together with documenta-
tion, replay routines for ST/E for incorporation in your very own
programs and three disks full of high quality samples. The registration
fee is a measly 20 GB pounds or equivalent.
At the moment we are looking for distributors, so ESION XLII may very
well appear at the commercial market. If you are interested in distri-
buting the tracker for us or need music or sfx for a game, do contact
us!
Karl Anders ▓ygard
Box 8
N-6180 SÆB▓
NORWAY
Phone: +47 070 40015 (in the weekends only)
Postgiro account: 0824 0427932
Email: Karl Anders 0ygard <data3d@aahs.no>
With love from Norway...
Disclaimer: The author does not take any responsibility for any damage
done with this demo/Esion. If it turns your 200Meg HD into a C60 cassette
tape or you blow your speakers in pure extacy, that is really your
problem.
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