llVeXXll
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Hi :3 I usually use LSDJ and have been wanting to learn to make music for other platforms, namely, the Atari ST. I only have a PC so I have installed the Steem Emulator and am running maxYMiser for the first time. I have been reading the manuals that come both with MaxYMiser and Steem.

I can't even get the damn thing to make a sound. I swear I have set up an instrument correctly and have got notes entered into the channels but I play the song and hear nothing. Other Atari games and programs make a sound fine so I am assuming the problem is with me. All these tutorials seem to assume I know the basics of this program already! Please help, it's soul destroying! X

Panda Chan
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Melbourne, Australia

I've sometimes found that if you have the octave set too low it doesn't make a sound. So maybe move up a few octaves? If you press F5 then you should be guaranteed a sound hopefully. If you go below F2 sometimes it doesn't play.

Otherwise, just double check everything has been put in properly, and triple check the volume table! It's confusing at first, but once you get into it, MaxYMiser is super fun and has heaps of depth!

XyNo
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Joliette, QC, Canada

Have you made a sequence for the mix ?
Most of the time first timers have a lot of troubles pulling a simple sound in maxymiser because of that (I know because I was one of these guys just some months ago...and I am doing stuff on ST since 2009 derp !)
MIX SETTINGS GOES LIKE THIS (0 is OFF, 1 is ON. The 4th digit have 5,B and D instead of 1) :

NOISE      :1000
SQUARE  : 0100
BUZZER   : 0010
TIMER FX : 000X (X represent the effects I wrote below)
5 : SID
B : Syncbuzzer
D : Digidrum

So you can use something like 0105 (and be sure to make a sequence in the Timer box) if you want to make that cool SIDlike leads !)
or 1100 with short volume sequence + things of your taste (like a fixed frequency or an arp) to do a snare !
Really hope I did help you with this one and if you want to know more be sure to check out this link !
http://www.preromanbritain.com/maxymise … ument.html
Enjoy !!! smile

Last edited by XyNo (May 31, 2016 6:28 am)

garvalf
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France

MaYMiser is cool, but it's true it's not easy to make instruments. Once you get used to it, it's a bit better.

I think there are some sample instruments with the maYMiser archive, you could check this out first, you can also load some sample tunes and check if this work.

I advise you to setup an harddrive instead of using a floppy image so it'll be easier to share files between your computer and the ST emulator (I'm using hatari with gemdos drive).

Also for navigating into the patterns, you can use the arrows by default, but if you've redirected them for emulating joystick, then you won't be able to use them in the tracker.

Good luck wink

llVeXXll
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Wow argh >.< Thanks so much for your replies guys but it's still going straight over my head. I followed the instructions in the manual exactly, I have 1 in mix, 2 in vol, and 3 in Tim. The Mix sequence has nothing but a single value 05 at the end. The vol sequence legnth is 06, the repeat is 05, the actual sequence goes 0f 0e 0d 0c 0b 0a (I am assuming this is just a short fade out). The Tim sequences legnth is 10, the repeat is 00, the actual sequence is 08 0a 0d 0e 0f 0e 0d 0a 08 05 02 01 00 01 02 05 08.

I see no notes in the channel sections. The only way I have found to enter notes is to press record song and then mash my computer keyboard. I'm sorry that I am such a noob at this, also when I try to save the instrument it just says failed. I have never used an atari emulator before now sad

THANKS FOR THE LINK, if there are any more resources to do with maxymiser please let me know, it seems ridiculously hard to find on google. Alternatively, if you think I should be using something else to make music for Atari please let me know that too.. x

garvalf
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France

To be able to enter notes, go into "note edit mode" by pressing space, then the background will be grey.

If you still don't get music, have you tried loading songs or instruments?

With a 05 in the mix sequence, I don't think it would make some sound. Try 01 00 instead (square waves). 01 05 is for SID effects and requires extra settings. 00 05 is for SID custom waveforms and needs also more settings.

Are you aware of this good manual?

http://preromanbritain.com/maxymiser/ma … by_xia.pdf

Besides maxymiser, on Atari ST there is also musicmon, which is easier to use for creating songs, but have some drawbacks on the other hand (the orderlist is horrible to use in my opinion): http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/13445 … n-v2-help/
There are also others, but they might be even more difficult to use.

If you're looking for something else than Atari St, I'd recommend you deflemask, vortex tracker, arkos tracker, famitracker...

Last edited by garvalf (May 31, 2016 3:39 pm)

XyNo
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Joliette, QC, Canada

If MaxYMiser is too tough for you I highly suggest you to check out Musicmon 2.5e ! Really awesome tracker, you don't have the 2 extra channels for Digis and the FX collumns but trust me the sound editor is really powerful and easy to pull !
http://dhs.nu/files.php?t=single&ID=52

llVeXXll
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OMG THANK YOU it has finally made a sound. You were right I needed to have 01 instead of 05 as the last digit in the mix sequence (not that I understand what that means or why) I still have loads more questions though:

I read something saying that I won't even be able to use the 2 sample channels unless I have an Atari STE (I only have Steem which is an ST emulator I think?) Is this true?

When I press space bar it doesn't go grey it goes like, with pink lines in between the green bit? I can press computer keyboard keys to enter notes, but is there a way I can edit the notes manually like what octave they are and stuff? I'm sorry for such basic questions but I have been trying for hours and none of it seems obvious at all!

XyNo
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Joliette, QC, Canada

Steem can easily emulate the STe a lot of coders use this emulators to do their stuffs and I watched a lot of STe demos to say that it works A1 just go in the options and select STe as the ST model...and be sure to put 4MB of Ram too it will help you with a lot of stuff !
I did a pic to help you !

garvalf
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France
llVeXXll wrote:

not that I understand what that means or why

again, I recommend you to read this good manual which covers most of the tricks of maxymiser: http://preromanbritain.com/maxymiser/ma … by_xia.pdf

Everything in maxymiser is about sequences, which is the representation of what you would otherwise have seen graphically in other (windows based) trackers. 

Mix     YM mixer sequence. This is absolutely crucial for sound generation. An empty sequence here is going to result in an in-
strument with no sound. Rather than explain all values here, I’m just going to give you the most common combinations /.../

10 00     Noise
01 00     Square
00 10     Buzz (requires you to set Buzz Wave to $8, $a, $c$e)
01 05     SID (requires a timer sequence of “00 0f, 00 00”)
00 1b     SyncBuzz (similar to buzz, but stays in tune in
higher octaves ...at a CPU cost. It is similar to the
“sync” function sometimes found in analog synths)
00 05     SID with custom waveform (last nibble in timer
sequence gives waveform)
00 0d     DigiSample sound (choose sample with DigiSample
field just below)

llVeXXll wrote:

I read something saying that I won't even be able to use the 2 sample channels unless I have an Atari STE (I only have Steem which is an ST emulator I think?) Is this true?

As XyNo said, emulators can emulate STe, which has a dma for using such samples. That being said, the final sndh file will only work on real STE, and not older Atari ST, but it's probably not really a problem.


llVeXXll wrote:

When I press space bar it doesn't go grey it goes like, with pink lines in between the green bit?

strange, but maybe it's different according to the emulator or the TOS rom used or other settings (my Maxymiser has a dominant yellow skin).

llVeXXll wrote:

is there a way I can edit the notes manually like what octave they are and stuff?

No, I don't think so. You can only change instruments, but not octaves, unlike some other trackers. You have to retype the note again (and change octave with F1 to F5 or F6)

If you want you can have a look at my reviews of a few trackers there: http://garvalf.online.fr/index.php?page … s_trackers

There is also this page which is recommended: http://battleofthebits.org/lyceum/View/Tracker

Last edited by garvalf (Jun 1, 2016 3:35 pm)

fedepede04
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as gervalf mentions you need to turn of the joystick, many of the keys are map to the joystick

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g2dz54iwcbg0g … g.png?dl=0

Last edited by fedepede04 (Jun 1, 2016 8:32 pm)

garvalf
Offline
France

Talking about trackers for Atari ST, fedepede04 made a nice windows trackers which can export music on Atari ST (ym format), you can grab it there: http://www.fedepede04.dk/Ym2149.html (I'm just trying it now...)

There is also Vortex Tracker II which can export to sndh format, even though I've always used it for my Sinclair ZX spectrum in AY format... http://bulba.untergrund.net/vortex_e.htm

Last edited by garvalf (Jun 1, 2016 9:35 pm)

fedepede04
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garvalf wrote:

Talking about trackers for Atari ST, fedepede04 made a nice windows trackers which can export music on Atari ST (ym format), you can grab it there: http://www.fedepede04.dk/Ym2149.html (I'm just trying it now...)

There is also Vortex Tracker II which can export to sndh format, even though I've always used it for my Sinclair ZX spectrum in AY format... http://bulba.untergrund.net/vortex_e.htm

thx for the nice words.
but the tracker you pointed is a very old version, i will try to upload a new one.
and an other thing with my player is, it have no native ST player, it can export to YM format, but in that format, you can't have all special sound like wave form, pwm. but you can export them to a 300hz, and i have also mad a Ymt player for the ST that support the format.

fedepede04
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Link to the newest version
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/308 … Editor.zip

garvalf
Offline
France

Wow, thanks a lot for this new version, i'll have a look and i'll send you some feedback!

Last edited by garvalf (Jun 2, 2016 3:09 am)

llVeXXll
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Thanks again people big_smile I guess for me it is just a steep learning curve. I am determined to master this eventually though. I have indeed read the manual, I think I am just not used to Atari controls. Well at least I can make it make a sound now, and I am running STE instead of ST emulator. I love this forum because everyone is kind and helpful! No doubt I will probably need to post again in the future to ask about SID and Digidrums, but I think I am a long way from that yet hmm x