J's D-Chirp is an extremely simple piece of TRS-80 software originally written for the MC-10. It should work on any TRS-80 model that runs basic and supports the SOUND command.

It is based on a program from an old TRS-80 programming book but with all the bugs and typos fixed and a few additional features. The audio file below is NOT an example of the audio, it contains the program itself, to be played back via the cassette port and loaded with the CLOAD command. The video below walks you through the steps in case you're a complete beginner.

To be honest, there's not a lot that can be done with this sound chip using only basic but running this through an effect unit or pedals can give some nice sounds.

Instruction/Demo video:


This is version 0.1, the following features are currently functioning:

-Play notes with keys "1" through "-" (12 notes in the C major scale, starting at C)
-Change the note length with F, H, Q, E  (Whole note, half note, Quarter Note, Eighth Note)
-Ugly visual representation of notes being played

Version 0.2 is already in development and the following features are to be included:

-tracker style organ keyboard (row starting at z, white keys low octave; row starting at a black keys low octave; row starting at q white keys high octave; row starting at 1, black keys high octave)
-Nicer visual representation of note being played
-Simple arpeggios or 5th mode toggled with spacebar

If you actually use this program and think of some feature that you'd enjoy, please just ask. There's not much that can be done in terms of sound generation but UI, controls and general usability is easy to do.

Download J's D-Chirp.

770

(12 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

I've got a sparkfun shield sitting around somewhere. I'll take some time tonight to see if I can make the arduinoBoy code work with it and I'll upload it here if I do.

It's not a tracker but it's very learn and use. You've got more control than most little mobile music programs give you, not too bad overall.

772

(161 replies, posted in General Discussion)

The biggest market right now is in jefftheworld branded merchandise. I can give you a very generous licensing deal but you'll have to promise certain quality and quantity milestones are met. Email my business guy if interested:

[email protected]

773

(16 replies, posted in General Discussion)

My upcoming album isn't really chip (though some songs include chip elements). It's all 4-channel XM music.

I'm totally unsure of how to characterize the sound, but for now it's being called "space funk".  There are two singles from the project up on my soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/jefftheworld/set … ak-preview

774

(4 replies, posted in Software & Plug-ins)

Great work, I will absolutely use this!

Are you a clean-shaven white male? That actually makes a pretty big difference. I've gotten on board with bags full of homemade eletronics while a friend of South Asian descent was forced to boot his laptop and show that his wireless mouse functioned to prove they weren't bombs.

776

(2 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)

Sadly, it sounds a little like the chip has bought it. It's hard to know without more testing, but that's what it sounds like.

777

(7 replies, posted in Releases)

jackary wrote:
jefftheworld wrote:

Post the modules, too! Some of us are still using Windows 95 and don't have the HDD space for all these fancy recordings.

Technically... If you were running windows 95 you'd be able to fit a lot more space worth of 'fancy recordings', seeing as 95 only took up 30-40MB worth of hard drive space wink

But my HDD is very small and most of it is taken up with samples.

dualtrax wrote:
jefftheworld wrote:

Post the modules, too! Some of us are still using Windows 95 and don't have the HDD space for all these fancy recordings.

Ok. I posted linkk the to XM filew in the Soundcloud description. 1 XM is not available right now.

Amazing, thanks!

778

(7 replies, posted in Releases)

Post the modules, too! Some of us are still using Windows 95 and don't have the HDD space for all these fancy recordings.

779

(20 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

It's probably a doable fix, but given how inexpensive and readily available Game Boys are, I'd probably just buy a new Game Boy (a really scuffed up one is maybe $5-10 locally) and use it as a donor.

Just a simple question for you folks. I'm looking for to add MIDI in/out to my OPL/DOS tracking computer and I'm wondering if there's a big difference between parallel port and PCIe-based options. I've heard that LPT timings can be very, very tight (even more so than USB MIDI). Is the same true for PCIe?

The laptop doesn't have USB and while there is a serial port it sits on a bulky dock (though I've heard MIDI via serial isn't the best anyway). Any particular devices you folks can recommend? Thoughts on the two protocols?

I'd love to come down to the next big event you do down there. Glad to hear it went well!

782

(9 replies, posted in Releases)

They remind me of some of the music from Mother 2-3, really rad stuff. Glad you offered the *.it files, it's always fun to be able to pull stuff apart in a tracker.

Lazerbeat wrote:
jefftheworld wrote:

Personally I listen almost exclusively to tracker music, be it old democene stuff - 4-channel MOD or XM modules - or chiptune music. I listen to it daily and I have no sense of pop music of any era, even the era in which I grew up.

You are totally my hero. I know this is a bit of a sidetrack, but do you have an Ipod or something full of rendered mods / xms you carry around?

Yup, I've got a ton of them on my google play music account for playing on my various devices and and I also generally have a huge load of mod/xm with me and a mod/xm player on my phone.

784

(15 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)

nitro2k01 wrote:
jefftheworld wrote:

Current (noted as I) is equal to Voltage divided by resistance.

I = V/R; V = I*R

That's how voltage works!

Well, yes and no. That's true for a purely resistive load, but in many situations and circuits, a too high voltage can be harmful (for batteries), or even a too low voltage (for switching power supplies.)

I was just giving the basic formula, but yeah. In practice almost everything has tolerances.