Tool to create and try FM instruments | MSX Resource Center (Page 3/4)

Paragon (1920)

14-06-2018, 01:35

DarkSchneider wrote:

Full of user-defind instrumets. Simply uses 1 at the same time. The result is so good. Open on youtube for description.

actually, this song only uses 1 user defined instrument (custom voice/software instrument/whatever), the bassline.

The reason so many instruments are listed is due to them being the standard hardware voices with different pitch/volume macros, for different uses ;)

But yeah you can use more than one software instrument in one song by alternating/"weaving". For example this song uses 3 or 4 software voices (the organ in the background, 1 snare drum layer and 1 or 2 tom sounds). Note that this may not the be only or best example, but it just happens to be a bit of a shameless selfplug and I have not analyzed other opll songs ;)

You can also change the Hardware instrument during playback of notes to create new interesting instruments, like microcabin does. I did a short test myself last year in Trilotracker FM and it works pretty well, the trade-off being that you may get some plops during the changing of instruments, so that needs to be masked by other sounds, limiting how you use your instruments.

wolf_ wrote:

Listen to Micro Cabin to know that it's perfectly possible to use this hardware set with one custom voice and not having the impression that something's missing.

Personally, if I'd re-design the chip, I'd cap the carrier ratio to 4 or so (1, 2, 3, 4) so that two bits are free for other uses.

I disagree, I think it would be great to have multiple software voices ;)

By DarkSchneider

Paladin (880)

11-06-2018, 09:05

MicroCabin was the best using the MSX-Music at that age.

Yes obviously more SW voices the better, but when you see the die size it is reasonable:

Seems that a good tool for defining user-defined instruments + TriloTracker FM could be a good combo. Any manner for TriloTracker to include the already defined ones in FM-BIOS? I think those ones are good.

By Parn

Champion (424)

11-06-2018, 14:12

Grauw wrote:

So yes the OPL is in certain ways more limited than the OPL, but more powerful in others. As for dealing with the preset instruments, I was thinking to use a software envelope to increase the range of timbres, e.g. never doing key off gives a number of interesting base waveforms, and then drive the volume control with software envelopes.

This, please! And not only this, software-driven vibrato is also more powerful and flexible and it's a bit more useful if defined at instrument level.

Incidentally, VM2413 (which seems to be the YM2413 implementation on OCM and Zemmix Neo) supports custom instruments on all channels. Its approach is having extra registers to redefine the internal instruments. I tried to use it on my Zemmix Neo but it didn't work. I got the impression that the feature was disabled along the way, since KdL told me he didn't disable it himself, but it could be due to some mistake on my part. With the audio quality improvements in latest KdL firmware this could become quite useful.

By Manuel

Ascended (15804)

11-06-2018, 14:38

Um, the chip's packaging doesn't tell you much about its die size.

By Grauw

Ascended (8507)

11-06-2018, 15:52

Parn wrote:

This, please! And not only this, software-driven vibrato is also more powerful and flexible and it's a bit more useful if defined at instrument level.

Only thing is, the volume control resolution is only 4 bits (16 values), so it’s best suited for fast envelopes, slow envelopes don’t sound so great with audible stepping.

Parn wrote:

Incidentally, VM2413 (which seems to be the YM2413 implementation on OCM and Zemmix Neo) supports custom instruments on all channels. Its approach is having extra registers to redefine the internal instruments. I tried to use it on my Zemmix Neo but it didn't work. I got the impression that the feature was disabled along the way, since KdL told me he didn't disable it himself, but it could be due to some mistake on my part.

Yes the feature was disabled quite a while ago. Probably to save LEs. Since it’s not used by any software, and can not be used either while preserving compatibility, I agree with the decision. If more FM capabilities is the goal, better to do an OPL2/3 implementation.

By syn

Paragon (1920)

11-06-2018, 16:06

Yes, while it is fun to dream about a better opll (heck even i dreamed of a stereo one with 9 custom instruments) one can just get a different existing one.

By DarkSchneider

Paladin (880)

11-06-2018, 16:55

The MSX-Music standard is the one that must be used. Cannot make things with the label "only for Zemmix" in any case.

By JohnHassink

Ambassador (5417)

11-06-2018, 18:41

DarkSchneider wrote:

Any manner for TriloTracker to include the already defined ones in FM-BIOS? I think those ones are good.

https://youtu.be/2EmhAOmngaY

By DarkSchneider

Paladin (880)

11-06-2018, 20:14

JohnHassink wrote:

DarkSchneider wrote:

Any manner for TriloTracker to include the already defined ones in FM-BIOS? I think those ones are good.

https://youtu.be/2EmhAOmngaY

There are many, but I mean the user-defined ones included in the FM BIOS:
http://map.grauw.nl/resources/datapack/Vol2-3.2MSX-MUSICExtendedBASIC.pdf
Page 14 of the PDF. Those marked with * are clones of the HW instrument.

By Grauw

Ascended (8507)

11-06-2018, 20:15

Well you can always enter them manually right?