65 Reply by Aly James

(22 replies, posted in Sega)

SID sound...Timer modulation implemented on SN76489 MIDI board & in SPSG VST >> http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/12578 … ded-synth/
The idea is to enhance the variety of sound, producing tones that the chip normally cannot produce to make some cool music!

Compatible with the SN76489 (code heavily modified!) open source arduino code by Littlescale smile
The code will be available for free of course to anybody wanting to mess around.
When use in conjunction with the MIDI device, SPSG vst will act as a controller with volume/pitch envelope generator and table! smile smile smile

PREVIEW

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66 Reply by Aly James

(16 replies, posted in Sega)

IMO, A better choice would have been to make a mix of FM + Mod...
keep samples for layered drums with gated and reverberated stuffs and boost it up with FM on top (basically a drum layering)

Another cool trick is to use samples only for the attack or sustain transient part of the FM sound...very powerful when FM alone cannot produce a particular sound.
combination of both is better than only FM or only PCM but as a whole FM is still preferable on the Genesis because well...the system is FM powered smile

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67 Reply by Aly James

(22 replies, posted in Releases)

Great stuff!
by the way, FMDrive is on your way... wink

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68 Reply by Aly James

(53 replies, posted in Sega)

Might be of interest, a little enhancement about the note on/off handling smile
to avoid a note off to cut short any new playing note...
EDIT: I forgot to wrote channel check, added now  ^_^
SID effect have also been done...:)
In your Teensy board code >>
add a variable to keep track of the latest MIDI note on number

byte p_pitch;
byte p_channel;

then in the function : void doNoteon ()
add:
p_pitch = pitch;
p_channel = channel;
each time there is a check for velocity >0

then in : void doNoteOff()

if(pitch == p_pitch)   // avoid note cuts
        {
            velocityData[channel + (chip_select * 4)] = 0;
            writeAmplitude(0, channel, chip_select);
        }
        else if((pitch != p_pitch) && (channel != p_channel))
        {
            velocityData[channel + (chip_select * 4)] = 0;
            writeAmplitude(0, channel, chip_select);
        }

then in in the function : void doMidiIn ()
//note on

Line : else if((data < 0x80) && (flag_previous == 1))
add , p_pitch = data;

Line :if((data >= 0x90) && (data < 0xa0) && (flag_previous == 0))
add, p_channel =channel; 

this will keep track of the previous note played when there is a note off message next

//note off
else if((data < 0x80) && (flag_previous == -2)) 
    {
      velocity = data;
      
    if(pitch == previous_pitch)  // only if previous pitch is the same!...to avoid note cuts
      {
          doNoteOff(channel, pitch, velocity);
      }

      else if((pitch != p_pitch) && (channel != p_channel)) // if pitch is not the same BUT from another channel
      {
            velocityData[channel + (chip_select * 4)] = 0;
            writeAmplitude(0, channel, chip_select);
      }
      flag_previous = 0;
    }

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69 Reply by Aly James

(16 replies, posted in Sega)

Yeah it is a nice feature smile
especially thinking that you can also create some small looping pcm data with virtually no memory to create new waveforms channels....then, read x samples from the rom >> handle playback rate >> mix them in an output buffer >> output the obtained sample to the DAC

There is an implementation of something like this here for example https://code.google.com/p/sgdk/source/b … 0_drv4.s80
(no playback rate support though)

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70 Reply by Aly James

(17 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Yeah I try to do similar tricks on SN76489, although slightly more limited than YM2149 (no built-in eg) we can do similar tricks with software volume modulation...that is the main reason for my Master System experiment and then SMS PSG vst by the way smile
Here >> Only 1 Tone channel of PSG + faster and faster arpeggio...listen what happens at 17sec...:)
http://www.alyjameslab.com/tutorials/SN … ONECH1.wav

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71 Reply by Aly James

(17 replies, posted in General Discussion)

breakphase wrote:

[

Yeah I think static fm sounds are the cheesy ones. If you modulate the modulator tongue even with a simple envelope you can get some sweet timbres. FM8 is a really good softsynth, and it goes way beyond trumpets and bass plucks. It's still challenging to program, but it comes with really good examples.

Yeah I co-sign that, FM is often dismiss because of static presets or lack of knowledge.
It is for sure one of the best synthesis method if you want to program a bit.

Modulation is the key, changing ratio, envelopes, pitch etc between operators, velocity assign, expression etc... all this while playing and it is a new world of moving tones opening up. An oscilloscope (hard or soft) is handy at first because you will see what modulation do to the waveform...

The sound can't go pretty crazy and creative, melodic or percussive and you can design any drums or sound.
I think that the old days of FM mainly emphasis what I call "Soft FM" DX piano sounds etc...not to crazy for the masses...
Nowadays people are more inclined to listen to crazy digital sound than before.

When I was working on the FMDrive VST I have found that the potential of the YM2612 FM chip was huge and rarely used to its full effect.
SSG looping envelopes are capable of FM ring modulation  and the built in CSM mode is a speech synthesis system that found its final power in the FS1R unit, the most powerful YAMAHA FM synth to this day.

All these techniques are side usage of FM synthesis built around this simple fact.
FM is adding side bands overtones from a pure or almost pure tone while subtractive synthesis is the opposite.

A lots of people are re discovering FM simply because they are using new tools now to look at it with another point of view smile

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72 Reply by Aly James

(17 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Matej wrote:

What is simply the best in your opinion FM/PSG or DAC?

Combination of both smile depending on what you want to achieve or the limitation you want to apply to stimulate your creativity...

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73 Reply by Aly James

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

EDIT:
I will try the LS's SN76489 open source firmware and try to implement timer stuffs in the future hopefully smile

Done it works smile  I will take some time to perfect the hardware side anyway before releasing the Teensy code.
It should be the same for SMS & GenMDM interface hopefully.

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74 Topic by Aly James

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

OUT NOW!
http://www.alyjameslab.com
Super PSG is a bit perfect emulation of an SN76489 chip (SEGA MASTER SYSTEM VERSION) + Timer Interrupt routine modulation + the envelope part of the AY3-8910(MSX, SX SPECTRUM...)

It features band-limited waveforms to have a nice analog sound with no aliasing.
All you need to squeeze the hell of a square wave smile
Including Timer Modulation Tricks, High speed modulation (up to 300Hz), PCM sample import that can be played through the chip volume register which gives them a unique sound (PCM or PWM way) etc...
Some tracker like "tables" and a unique way of circuit bent the Noise channel! witch basically gives you the ability to reach some ATARI 2600 like metal noise or mess it up in a unique way, all of that in real-time.

Almost everything can be automated or MIDI learned.


Basically the main features of SPSG are:
SN76489 Sega Master System/ Genesis Version Emulation + some extended features (see timer modulation for example >> http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/12185 … 80-hblank/ )
in order to make some advanced sound out of the simple PSG.

  • NO aliasing on the tone channels at high frequencies! (band-limited)

  • Internal Sequencer/Tables for each global setting (envelope, pitch, arp, timers, lfsr...)

  • Master clock crystal setting : NTSC, PAL, 1Mhz, 4Mhz or anything in between (can be modulated in real-time and stay in tune...)

  • 1 to 64 Steps envelope for Amplitude and Pitch, with delay, clock speed, loop, ping-pong etc...

  • 2 modes arpeggiator (programmable or MIDI controlled with some unique features)

  • 8 memory slots per envelope, arp and advanced waveforms than can be internally sequenced at any available clock speed (can be used as a wave-table for software waveforms...)

  • Z80 Timer Interrupt routine for Pulse Width emulation (SID) Sound or custom waveforms

  • AY3-8910 emulated Envelope Generator! Buzzers, Sync Buzz... (not available on a SN76489 but nice to have smile )

  • PWM & PCM sample import/play

  • Each envelope clock master speed can be synchronized or independent

  • Noise channel LFSR extended feature: tweak-able in real-time (tapped bit masks and feedback bit)

The output can be converted from MIDI into a .vgm file using the free tool M2v_PSG by Valley bell.


Can also work as a controller for a modified version of the Little Scale's open source SN76489 interface.
Should work with GENMDM too.
It is available on the same basis as FMDrive Vsti (YM2612 emulation).minimum donation of 10.00 €

Here is an audio test with the real SMS and Alex Kidd ^_^  + custom sounds in the end of the video...

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75 Reply by Aly James

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

In case new users did not read the whole thread,
some additional infos about the CSM Speech Synthesis mode can be found here http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/11028 … sm-sounds/
It is also worth mentioning that this formant synthesis technology that was once deep embedded (hidden...?) in some Yamaha FM chips (included the YM2612) , came back in its latest form in the FS1R unit, witch was and still is, the latest and most powerful FM / Formant synthesizer ever made by Yamaha... smile

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76 Reply by Aly James

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

smile Here we go >> http://snesmusic.org/v2/select.php?view … mp;limit=0

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77 Reply by Aly James

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

Saskrotch wrote:

ugh, i was all excited but it's kind of pointless / useless in ableton

what is your problem with Live?
it loads & works fine in my Live 8 32bit here.

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78 Reply by Aly James

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

yeah smile

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79 Topic by Aly James

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

Not sure if It was talked about b4...so I share this ( please remove it if it is already there) ^_^
I was thinking doing a SPC700 Vsti at some point...until I found this recently smile

ALL IN ONE,
An accurate Japanese freebie called C700
WIN/MAC Vsti
Accurate BRR encoding / decoding
Accurate LOOP point setting...
FIR filter delay emulation
LOADS samples from SPC files or encode / play your own...etc
Really cool and accurate SNES sound chip emu! smile


MUST HAVE,GRAB IT !
http://picopicose.com/software.html

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80 Reply by Aly James

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

+1 keep it coming smile

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