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- SiGnAlS -
Issue II Volume I
July 21, 1993
"Dedicated to all the coderz and their insane delusions..."
Executive Editor: Necr s, The PsYcHiC MoNkS
I : Introduction
Welcome to the second issue of SiGnAlS. In this issue, we will
cover morebasics for the newbies out there, some advanced tricks
for the modhackers outthere, and some more of my wonderful (he he)
commentary.
II : Basix
Last time we covered the basics of what a MOD is. This time, we
shall examinethe whats and wheres of how to get started in the mod
coding business. MODcoding is not the easiest thing in the world to
do, but with the right tools,one can make the job much easier.
First, one needs a good tracker. A tracker is a program that
allows you toenter note data in MOD format, and to replay existing
song data. Most supportmany functions, like playlisting, sample
looping and finetuning, and trackcopy/pasting (more on that in the
next issue). There are many decent trackersout there, but make sure
that the one you find supports all the Protracker 2.2and up
functions. Most good trackers will also support more than four
tracksof sample data. Large FTP sites (cs.uwp.edu,
wuarchive.wustl.edu,nic.funet.fi, etc.) usually have a few trackers
in their /audio or /mods
directories. My personal favorite is Mr. T's FastTracker, which
is a goodsmall (~55K) tracker which supports many functions.
Secondly, one needs a good playback program. Most trackers
support playback,but sometimes you will want to use a
protected-mode MOD player. This willallow you to run music in the
DOS background, and put modules in extended orexpanded memory. The
PMP/DMP series by Otto Chrons is a good series ofhigh-quality
playback routines. There are also many other great players outther;
look around and I'm sure you'll find what you need.
Finally, you need a source of samples. MODS do not use
instrument files likeFM drivers. They use sampled instrument files
(with a format similar to thatof .VOC files) to produce the sound
data. Now, there are two way to get
samples. One, sample directly off CD or personal keyboard. It is
easy to gethigh-quality samples off a direct line-in connection via
outside source.Simply use a basic sampler, such as that hideous
VEDIT2 supplied w/mostSoundBlaster cards, and grab the sound off
the line-in port. Then, in yourtracker, convert the sample from
.VOC format to .SMP format. You will then beready to go.
The other method is a little more dastardly. There are thousands
of MODSfloating around out there on FTP sites. Each one probably
has 15 to 20samples. Out of these 15 to 20 samples, maybe five will
be goodgenerally-usable samples. You can simply grab the sample out
of the MOD and
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save it to a .SMP file, for easy use in your songs. Usually
about ten orfifteen mods will provide a good variety for starters.
Morally, this may be abit reprehensible. (You are practically
stealing the work of others right fromthe source.) What I would
suggest is to avoid ripping off sounds from modulesthat copyright
their samples. Usually they'll indicate this in the
instrumentnames, for example, 'All sample data (C) 1993 Necr s'.
However, if they don'tcopyright their stuff ... welcome to the land
of public domain.
Anyways, I hope this has been somewhat helpful. More on the
actual MOD fileitself in the next issue.
III: Tricks and Tips with Necr s
Greetz hacker friends. Today we cover some of the more
interesting efx you canuse in your modules. Here we go:
1 - The Famous Volume Slide
Many times you will have a basic chord sound in your mod. This
may sit on itstrack, all alone, repeating quietly until the end of
time (and the track). How
canst one liven up this chordal sound? The answer- XXA0F! Ah,
yes, now beforeyou accuse me of speaking in hex again, watch this
little example.
00 E-2 01000 (a boring repeating) 00 E-2 01A0F (yes, what is
this?)01 --- 00000 (string chord sound) 01 --- 01A0F02 --- 00000 02
--- 01A0F03 --- 00000 03 --- 01A0F04 --- 00000 04 --- 01A0F05 ---
00000 05 --- 01A0F06 --- 00000 06 --- 01A0F07 --- 00000 07 ---
01A0F08 --- 00000 08 --- 01A0F09 --- 00000 09 --- 01A0F
The pattern on the right uses the volume slide command, --A0F to
create a'stuttering chord' effect. The volume slide command slides
the volume of thetrack from 00 to 3F in one beat. This, when
repeated, creates an interestingeffect. The effect can become even
better when the pattern is slightly varied,such as this:
00 E-2 01A0F Note that the sample number (1) is repeated in
front01 --- 00000 of the A0F effect. This is necessary for the
slide02 --- 01A0F to work correctly.03 --- 01A0F04 --- 01A0F05 ---
00000
06 --- 01A0F07 --- 01A0F08 --- 0000009 --- 01A0F0A --- 01A0F0B
--- 000000C --- 01A0F0D --- 000000E --- 01A0F (repeated 4X)0F ---
00000
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Enjoy!
2 - PhAsE Shifting from Hell
Phase shifting is the overlaying two samples so their peaks are
off by a smallamount, creating a slow interference effect in the
final waveform. (Ack!) Inother words, you play the same sample on
two different tracks, at pitches thatare off from each other by a
very small amount (+- 10 cents). This creates a
sweeping effect in the final sound. This works very well for
snare drumsamples, sawtooth wave pads, guitars, and any sample with
a textured wave. Todo this, simply take a sample (we'll use a
generic snare sound for thisexample) and layer them together with a
pitch shift.
00 C-2 01000 C-2 01101 Here, we use the pitch shift effect,
--1XX,01 --- 00000 --- 00000 to create the needed shift. Do not
make the02 --- 00000 --- 00000 pitch shift too large! Sometimes you
will03 --- 00000 --- 00000 even want to use a finetuned pitch, if
your04 --- 00000 --- 00000 tracker supports it (--E1X).
The amount of the shift needed is inversely proportional to the
pitch of thenote you are phasing. If the note is low (a C-1,
perhaps) then you may need a
--102 or --103. If it is high (a C-3 or F-3) then you only need
a slight pitchshift (a finetune: --E11 works nicely).
Try this effect on long sustained samples (not looping,
SUSTAINED ... there'sa difference.) Have fun, my friends.
Next issue: vibrato and what it can do for you, and the delicate
art of thedrum track.
Any comments or tips? Please send 'em to me at:
[email protected](Subject : tricks and tips)
- Necr s
IV : Visualizations
I'd like to offer up a few of my unanswered ruminations. If
anyone has anyanswers to enlighten me ... I'd be glad to hear them.
Send any mail to me atthe above address.
Why is the United States of America such a shithole for demo
groups? Everyonearound here seems interested in Windows NT and LAN
networks and user-friendlygarbage like that. Walk into a computer
software store, and you will see
nothing but the same rehashed plots and ideas shoveled out again
to thepublic. I'm moving to Finland. ;)
Why don't developers use MODS instead of lame FM crap in their
games? It slowsthings down, granted, but that is a small price to
pay for the sound quality,especially on higher-end machines. The
only commercial game around here thatI've seen use MOD technology
is Alone In The Dark. A French game! Thecorporate giants don't know
what they're missing.
The fact that techno mods are easy to write should not preclude
people frominventing new and interesting music.
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And finally, (and I've oft wondered this myself), how does
Internet makemoney? I can call up nic.funet.fi and download nine
billion megs, using weeksof phone time, overseas, and not pay a
dime. AT&T would shit if I tried thison a voice line. Yet
thousands of people do it all the time. Given, I'mshelling out
thousands of dollars for my education, with a internet account asa
side benefit, but it still seems like a huge loss of
intercontinentalfiber-optic line time. Oh well. I'm not
complaining.
- Necr s
please send all submissions to:
e-mail: [email protected]
turtle-express: Necr sre: Signals
The PsYcHiC MoNkS7958 State Route 69Oriskany, NY 13424
thanks ;)
