___ _ _ ____ | |__| |__ OoooooO | | | |___ --------OO----O-------------------------------------------------------- OO O OoooO OoooO OoooO O O O OoooO OoooO OoooO OOO O O O O O O O O O O O O OOO O OO O OoooO OO O•ooO O•ooO O•ooO O•ooO OOO O OO O OO O OO O O OO OO O OO••O OO•oO O OO O OO•oO O OoooO OO•oO OO O Welcome to this guide to the Octalyser! It will help you use all the features and functions found in Octalyser. --- Index ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 Background and greetings 2.1 Introduction to the Octalyser-User-System 2.2 Menus 2.2.1 Options 2.2.2 Disk 2.2.3 Info 2.2.4 Mem 2.2.5 Fulleditor 2.2.6 Edit 2.2.7 Make 2.2.8 Sample/8 pattern/4 pattern 2.3 Sequencer 2.4 Sample-bank 2.5 General-User-Interface 2.6 Keyboard-short-cuts 3.1 The Tracker-Standard 3.2 Octalyser-addings 4.1 Registration and Contact Addresses 4.2 International Support Addresses --- Background and Greetings ---------------------------------------------- 1.1 Background and Greetings In the summer of 1992, I started to write a tracker called CD-TRACKER. This tracker was to be a tool to help me develop an 8-channel module for a demo. When the summer was over, and autumn came, I got in touch with Davor Slutej (Alan F/Reward). He betatested CD-TRACKER, and soon after some real heavy coding began. At about X-mas time, the results were released. With this version 0.5, the name changed from CD-TRACKER to Octalyser. (The name came from an Amiga 8-channel tracker.) I noticed some demos were able to play 50kHz music in 4 channels, which really confused me, because I knew that 50kHz shouldn't be possible on an ordinary STe. So I got in touch with Tord Jansson (Blade/New Core), who had done a 4 channel, 50kHz Player. After some mailings back & forth, I was able to implement the UCDM3-standard (now called UCDM) in the Octalyser, enabling it to load external replay-modules. Octalyser version 0.80 was released with some of my own written UCDMs (ALINA-players). There was a major jump between versions 0.50 and 0.80. Overall, version 0.80 was faster, had many more functions, and was more stable. Soon after version 0.80 was released, a misunderstanding with one of our beta-testers occurred, and version 0.81b was spread. This version had some bugs fixed (now worked better with HD's). In version 0.82, the Octalyser took real advantage of the Mega STE. Then some time passed. And some more. Then version 0.90 was released. It supported ALL ProTrackerEffectCommands, and it worked on the new Atari Falcon030. And now, you're about to use the version 0.96 release of the Octalyser. For help and ideas: + Unit 17 (thanks Jason for letting me test the Octalyser on your Mega STE) + H†kan Bratt (thanks for debugging!) + Excellence in Art (thanks for your BIG support!) And a big thanks to all our registered users! --- Introduction to the Octalyser-User-System ----------------------------- 2.1 Introduction to the Octalyser-User-System The Octalyser uses its own interface, designed to be as fast as possible. That's why the interface doesn't look too colorful. Adding color would have slowed things down too much. The Octalyser interface is mouse- and keyboard-driven. There are 3 different kinds of mouseclicks (using the left mouse-button): -Single click- The menu-item will only accept one mouseclick without repeat. -Single click + delayed repeat- This will work just like single click except from that if the button is held down the mouse will start repeating the click (if you press the right mouse- button too, there will be no delay). -Single click + repeat- This is just like single click + delayed repeat but there is no delay before it will start to repeat. The user can enter a value by pressing on the number, or by using up/down arrow. 2.2 Menus The main menu-area is in the upper right part of the screen. Here you can see 8 different buttons to press, OPTIONS, DISK, INFO, MEM, FULL-EDITOR, EDIT, MAKE and SAMPLE. 2.2.1 OPTIONS When this button is clicked, a new submenu will be opened, making it possible to adjust the Octalyser's internal working system. The menu is divided into 4 parts; sliders, submenus, replay-quality and flags. The SLIDERS adjust the STE-hardware and some keyrepeat-functions. From left to right: -STE-specific options Bass -adjust the bass (-12dB -> +12dB) Treble -adjust the treble (-12dB -> +12dB) Main volume -adjust the main volume feed to the output Left volume -adjust the left channels volume Right volume -adjust the right channels volume -Interface options Keyrepeat-factor -this will adjust how fast the keyboard will repeat a key. Keydelay-factor -this will adjust how long it will take before the keyboard will start repeating a key Mousedelay-factor -this will adjust how long it will take before the mouse will start repeating a click There are 4 different SUBMENUs; SO, COL, UCDM and SM. SO = Save Options, saves all options. COL = COLors, enables the user to edit the colors used in the Octalyser. UCDM = External play-routines. In this submenu, you can select 4 different players. (If you have them loaded.) You can clear a position, load a position, and you can get information about the player. When you want to use a player, select it and press USE. After a brief delay, the Octalyser will use an external player. The TOnes-value should be as high as possible (more tones require more memory). The BP (Big Pattern) menu enables you to select how many rows will be displayed in the 4-channel pattern (on the lower part of the screen). SM = Save Memory. This option is rather complicated. It will set the number of patterns the Octalyser can use. Max 80 (hex) and min 1 pattern can be selected. When you can't load a module because there is no room for samples, then you can decrease this value. If this value is 10 (hex) and you try to load a module that contains 14 (hex) patterns, the loader will abort at once, stating that there is no memory left. Increase this value to be able to load that module. This option is added because all 1 Mb STEs will have some memory problems because each pattern requires 800 (hex) bytes. A value of 40 (hex) is quite enough for most modules. In REPLAY-QUALITY, you can adjust what replay-speed the INTERNAL replayer will play. You can select between 12.5, 15.5, 18.9 and 25.0 kHz, AntiAlias on or off, and 4, 6 or 8 channels. The FLAGS are options-extended buttons. They are: B, R, V, L, T, L-Noise, 16, 20, 25 and nops. B = BPM. Enable the player to use the F20-FFF effectcommands. Some UCDM's can't use this feature. R = Repeat. If you hit a tone with this flag set, and hold down the key, the tone will start to repeat. Otherwise, no repeat will occur. V = VU-meters. VU-meters on/off L = Loop. This flag SHOULD be set on computers that have internal CPU-cache (like Mega STE/Falcon and turbocards like ADSPEED). On a normal STE, this flag WILL be off. T = Trash. This flag should always be set. L-Noise = Only for STE. This is a real nice feature, because of the linenoise that the STE (not the Falcon) produces. When the Octalyser is not playing, the linenoise can be removed by enabling this option. If a module sounds strange (like "clicking" a lot), try turning this option off. 16,20,25 = Sets the basespeed that the samples have been sampled with. For normal Amigamodules, it should be 16. For TCB tracker- sampled samples, this option should be 20. If you sample new samples, please try to use the 25 basespeed option. This will enable you to play 50kHz samples in the Octalyser. (The number <16/20/25> is equal to the C-3 frequency, e.g. if you sample a sample in 25 kHz and select 25 kHz basespeed, then when you play C-3, the sample will replay in the sampled speed). nops = If the lower border flickers, then adjust this value until the lower border is stable. 2.2.2 DISK From the disk-menu you can load/save modules/samples, delete files and jump to a GEM-door (making it possible to reach ACC's (if MTOS is loaded, you can also reach all active processes running). In the unregistered version, you can't save modules/samples. If you use UCDM you can only load modules, delete files and go to the GEM-door. Disable the UCDM-module when you want to load samples and save module/samples. When loading a module, the Octalyser will use GEM's fileselector. After you have selected the module, the Octalyser will check to see if it recognizes the file format, then report what it finds (e.g. 4 CHannels, 31 SAMples). If you know that the file isn't in that format, press NO, else press YES (Octalyser recognize most modules. The only problem could be a ripped module that doesn't have the original header). If you pressed NO, select the fileformat of the module from the options given. Now the Octalyser will load the module. If it aborts immediately, stating NO MEMORY, you'll need to increase the number of patterns in the SM-menu in the OPTIONS-menu. (See above.) When loading the module, the Octalyser will show you which sample is loading. If the Octalyser can't load all the samples, you'll need to decrease the numbers of patterns in the SM-menu in the OPTIONS-menu. (Again, see above.) The Octalyser can load StarTrekker (Amiga), Octalyser (Amiga), FastTracker (PC) and all those 4-channel modules from NoiseTracker/ProTracker/SoundTracker. When saving a module (disabled in the PD-version) the Octalyser will save the module with the numbers of channels and basespeed you've stated in the OPTIONS-menu. The Octalyser can load AVR, IFF and RAW (signed/unsigned) samples. It recognizes the AVR and IFF format automatically, but in the RAW format you must state if the sample is signed or unsigned (most samples are signed, but some old ST-samples are unsigned). The Octalyser can save AVR or RAW (signed). If you enter a filename with the suffix .AVR, the Octalyser will save in AVR-format, else it will ask the user how the sample should be saved. (Saving samples are disabled in the PD-version). If you choose to delete a file, it is deleted PERMANENTLY. For that reason, the Octalyser will ask for confirmation before preforming a delete. In the GEM-door, you will be able to execute another program or reach the Accessories. In this door, you can quit the Octalyser, too. Press "Back To Octalyser" in the File-menu or on the fuller in the window. 2.2.3 INFO This button opens an online help feature. It states who made it, some greetings, keyboard shortcuts, effect-commands and to whom the program is registered. Use Prev and Next to display all 9 pages. 2.2.4 MEM In this menu, the Octalyser shows the memory-bank status. The Octalyser splits up the memory in two different banks. One systembank and one Octalyserbank. The systembank is the memory left for the system, for the fileselector and for running program from the Octalyser. The Octalyserbank is used for pattern, samples, UCDM and some internal buffers. The different statistics are: SYSMEM -How much memory is left for the system. REQUEST -How much memory the Octalyser has requested from the system. This value is editable, when changing this value, everything is lost (samples/patterns/UCDMs). SAMPLES -How much memory is used for samples SONG -How much memory is used for pattern TOT USED -How much memory used in the complete Octalyserbank FREE -Free memory left in the complete Octalyserbank SAMPLES + SONG = length of module when saving to disk. 2.2.5 FULLEDITOR When pressing this button the Octalyser will (if there is enough memory) remove the menu and show a pattern in the whole display-area. In this mode all channels are displayed. Exit this by pressing ESC/Control E or by pressing the mousebutton in the leftmost border. In this fulleditor only keyboard shortcuts works. 2.2.6 EDIT This will open a pattern editor menu. Here the user can effect the pattern of the module. Most of the functions can be used without entering this menu using the keyboard. The edit-functions are also controlled by EDITING-FLAGS. They are in the lower area of the menu (between the 2 and 3 channel). The modes on those will be discussed later on in the GENERAL section. The functions are: BEGIN = Set block start (Control - B). END = Set block end (Control - K) HIDE = Hides the block begin and end COPY = Will take the block marked by the BEGIN and END-marks and copy it to the current cursorposition (Control - C). MOVE = Will take the block marked by the BEGIN and END-marks and move it to the current cursorposition (Control - V). CLEAR = Clears the patterndata marked by the BEGIN and END-marks (Control - Z). If no block marked, current channel will be cleared (F3). INVERT = Works like MOVE, except that the block is inverted before copied (Control - X). LOAD = Loads a block into the blockbuffer SAVE = Saves a block from the blockbuffer ^ = Increases the tonepitch in the block. If no block marked, the current channel will be increased. v = Decreases the tonepitch in the block. If no block marked, the current channel will be decreased. INS = Inserts a row in the current position (INSERT or Control - I) DEL = Deletes a row in the current position (DELETE or Control - Y) The cur/all marks if blockeffects should affect the current channel or all channels. Use SHIFT+keycommand for that effect using the keyboard. If cur is selected when transposing (increasing or decreasing) then only the current sample will be transposed. Else all samples will be transposed in the channel. 2.2.7 MAKE Make is one of the most powerful options of the Octalyser. This menu enables you to mix a piece of pattern to a sample. Great when making drumloop or accords. It works like it's in 8-channel mode, but instead of feeding the sound-DMA with data, it simply puts the sound data into a sample. The "Mix to sample" tells the Octalyser to which sample the sound data should be stored. Tone is at which frequency it should store it. That tone should be set to the highest tone taken in the piece of pattern that shall be made. The CLIP is useful to decide at which volume the mix should be done. (Note that the lower the volume-value, the louder the volume!) Then after setting the block BEGIN and END, the mixing can be done. The mixing is started at the BEGIN and ended at the END-point. 2.2.8 SAMPLE/8 PATTERN/4 PATTERN With this option you can switch what the lower part of the screen should show. The sample-menu is NOT finished, so it can only display a sample on the screen. (The sample-editor will be coded this summer, so by the end of this summer, OCTALYSER 1.0 will be released.) 8 pattern is a fullscreen-editor with the original menu. This screen can only be shown when there is sufficient memory, else it simply jumps to 4 pattern. When you are in 8 pattern mode, and try to start a UCDM you will get "PLEASE DISABLE 8PATTERNEDITOR". This is due to the internal function of the memory-manager. When this error occurs, simply go to the 4-pattern editor, and try again. Then go back to the 8 pattern editor. Note that the left border is turned on again due to video-hardware, but you can still use the slider to scroll trough the pattern. When in the 8 pattern-editor, switching between fullscreen-editor and back is done extremely fast. 2.3 SEQUENCER The sequencer is the simplest, as in all trackers. You have position, track (pattern), length and restart. Position tells you were you are. Pattern selects which pattern to play. The length is the length of all positions together. When the song reaches the end, it jumps to the position that Restart points at. The little +/- at the position inserts/deletes a position in the position-list. 2.4 SAMPLE-BANK The Octalyser handles up to 31 samples (1-IF (hex)). Each sample can have different volume, finetune, loopstart/length, length and samplename. The volume can vary from 0 (silent) to 40 (full blast). With the finetune it is possible to tune two instrument. The samplename should state what the sample sounds like. 2.5 GENERAL-USER-INTERFACE To the leftmost of the screen you have the VU-meters. They represent the volume that each tone has, and then they fade away. By pressing on a VU-meter, the channel is toggled on/off. It has the same effect as if pressing the 1-8 in the upper right corner of the screen. There are 5 buttons in the middle of the screen; PLAY, PATTERN, EDIT, STOP and MONITOR. These works like in any tracker. PLAY plays the current song. PATTERN plays only the current pattern. EDIT starts the edit-mode. STOP stops playing and stops the current sound. MONITOR starts the edit- mode too, but when the user walks though the pattern each row is played. Pressing on the text "songname" switches the songname to a list of numbers, representing a sample. (e.g. pressing on a 7 forces the current sample to 7.) By pressing on "songname" again the songname appears again. At the right there is a button called CLEAR. This button enables the user to clear the song (and all patterns), a sample (the current) and/or all samples. Warning! This function CAN'T be Undone! Under the CLEAR-button there is a timer. This shows the minutes and seconds played on the current module (resets when you press PLAY or PATTERN). When pressing the timer, the fullscreen-editor is activated. In the SAMPLENAME-row, some messages can be shown, like "INSTALLING EDITOR" or "REBUILDING MEMORY". Just below the SONGNAME there is a general row of data. Here the user can set if the upper or lower frequency should be used on the keyboard. Also here is where the 4-pattern-editor tells the user which 4 channels are being shown. The STEP states how many rows the Octalyser shall jump when a note/number has been edited into a channel. The "F TAA W R" are flags used when editing a pattern. These are very powerful. F stands for Flags. The TAA is a toggle-button. The first, T, is used when a TONE is edited to the pattern. The values can be Frequency, Tone, All and Volume. The second, A, is for insert/delete and backspace editing. Can be Frequency, Tone, Sample, Command, Data, Effect and All. The third, A, is used when using the block-editing. It can be toggled just like the other A. The W stands for Writing-mode, and is used when copying or moving block. Can be toggled to Replace, Underwrite or Overwrite. To understand exactly what the do, please try them out! Just to the right of the flag, the status of the blockbuffer is shown. To the lower left, there is a slider representing the pattern data displayed and hidden. Use this to scroll through the pattern. By pressing in the pattern, the Octalyser automatically jumps to that position even if it's playing the pattern. Note that you can use cursor-keys to walk in the pattern even if the tracker is playing. 2.6 Keyboard-short-cuts Here is a list of all keyboard shortcuts enabled in the Octalyser: Escape = Quit menu/Octalyser Cursor up = Up 1 step Cursor down = Down 1 step Shift cursor up = Up STEP steps Shift cursor down = Down STEP steps Ctrl cursor up = Up 16 (hex) steps Ctrl cursor down = Down 16 (hex) steps Cursor left = Go left Cursor right = Go right Shift cursor left = Leftmost channel (1) Shift cursor right = Rightmost channel (4/6/8) Ctrl cursor left = Next channel Ctrl cursor right = Previous channel Alt cursor left = Previous track/pattern Alt cursor right = Next track/pattern Clr home = Home Return = Play Shift return = Pattern-play Space = Stop/toggle edit Shift space = Stop/toggle monitor Tab = Next channel Shift tab = Previous channel F1 = Toggle octaves (Up/Low) F2 = Toggle writing-mode (Replace/Underlay/Overlay) F3 = Clear channels(s) F4 = Mark whole current channel as a block F7 = Go to 00 F8 = Go to 10 F9 = Go to 20 F10 = Go to 30 Shift F1 = Toggle edit-mode (Frequency/Tone/All/Volume) Shift F2 = Toggle Block-mode (Frequency/Tone/Sample/ Command/Data/Effect/All) Shift F3 = Clear (Pattern/Block) ^B = Block start ^K = Block end ^C = Copy block (if shift, all) ^V = Move block ---- " " ---- ^Z = Clear block ---- " " ---- ^X = Inverse block --- " " ---- ^I/Insert = Insert row ---- " " ---- ^Y/Delete = Delete row ---- " " ---- UNDO = UNDO previous command ^E = Toggle fullscreen-editor on/off Alt 1-8 = Toggle channels on/off Ctrl 1-8 = Set step accordingly Caps Lock = Stop all sound On the keypad: 0 = Stop * = Pattern-play/toggle edit + = Next sample - = Previous sample Shift + = Next position in song Shift - = Previous position in song Enter = Play Shift other = Choose sample ( = 0 Enter = 0F Ctrl other = Choose sample ( = 10 Enter = 1F --- The Tracker-Standard -------------------------------------------------- 3.1 The Tracker-Standard The standard that the Octalyser follows is the ProTracker-standard. One pattern is divided into 4 channels and 40 (hex) rows. This position looks like this: C-3 4000 ^^| ||^^ Tone | || | Octave || | Sample| | Effectcommand | Effect-data There are 3 different Octaves (1-3). The sample-number is referring to the samplebank. The effect-commands and effect-data is the following: 0 - Normal play or Arpeggio 0xy : x-first halfnote add, y-second 1 - Slide Up 1xx : upspeed 2 - Slide Down 2xx : downspeed 3 - Tone Portamento 3xx : up/down speed 4 - Vibrato 4xy : x-speed, y-depth 5 - Tone Portamento + Volume Slide 5xy : x-upspeed, y-downspeed 6 - Vibrato + Volume Slide 6xy : x-upspeed, y-downspeed 7 - Tremolo 7xy : x-speed, y-depth 8 - NOT USED 9 - Set Sample offset 9xx : offset (23 -> 2300) A - Volume Slide Axy : x-upspeed, y-downspeed B - Position Jump Bxx : songposition C - Set Volume Cxx : volume, 00-40 D - Pattern Break Dxx : break position in next pattern E - E-Commands Exy : see below... F - Set Speed Fxx : speed (00-1F) / tempo (20-FF) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- E0- Set Filter E0x : Not used on the STE E1- FineSlide Up E1x : value E2- FineSlide Down E2x : value E3- Glissando Control E3x : 0-off, 1-on (use with tonep.) E4- Set Vibrato Waveform E4x : 0-sine, 1-ramp down, 2-square E5- Set FineTune E5x : value E6- Set/jump to Loop E6x : jump to loop, play x times if x = 0 set loop-point E7- Set Tremolo Waveform E7x : 0-sine, 1-ramp down. 2-square E8- NOT USED E9- Retrig Note E9x : retrig from note + x vblanks EA- Fine VolumeSlide Up EAx : add x to volume EB- Fine VolumeSlide Down EBx : subtract x from volume EC- Note Cut ECx : cut from note + x vblanks ED- Note Delay EDx : delay note x vblanks EE- Pattern delay EEx : delay pattern x notes EF- Invert Loop EFx : speed The module is then played using the Sequencer. This selects the different patterns to play. If you want to know more about how this music is done, please have a look at Per Almered (Excellence in Art) Module-school. The first part is included in the Octalyser 0.90 package. 3.2 Octalyser additions The Octalyser has added more channels, and the ability to set the sample-basespeed to this standard. The Octalyser can handle 4, 6 or 8 channels and basespeeds at 16, 20 or 25kHz. --- Registration and Contact Addresses ------------------------------------- 4.1 Registration and Contact Addresses The Octalyser is SHAREWARE! The shareware concept is a distribution method, allowing a user to try the software before paying anything. This means that if you use the program, then you should register it and pay the very affordable fee. You will receive a complete version, including ability to save modules/samples, by return mail. Please fill in this registration form when registering: ----------------------------------------------------CUT-HERE------>8------ * Personal Information * Your name: _______________________________________________________ Your handle (if any): ____________________________________________ Street address: __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ City: _____________________________ State: ______________________ Country: __________________________ Postal Code: ________________ Voice telephone number (include country-code): _______________________________ BBS telephone number (if you have a BBS): _______________________________ FAX telephone number (if FAX is 24h/day online!): _______________________________ FidoNet nodenumber (or pointnumber): _________________________________________ --> Crashmail available? YES - NO * System Configuration * Computer model(s) - Primary Computer: ________________________________________ Secondary Computer(s) (if any): ________________________________________ --> Primary Computer: Amount of memory: _____ kb Hard disk size: _____ Mb OS version: _.__ Connected to a HiFi system? YES - NO How long have you owned your computer? _______ years _______ months _______ days How long did it take before you decided that Octalyser is one of the best things that happened to you and that it just wouldn't be right if you didn't register it? _______ years _______ months _______ days _______ minutes _______ seconds _______ 10ths of a second Have you read the manual? YES - NO Are you sure about that? YES - NO When are you going to read all pages of the manual? SOON - NEVER Don't you just love answering questions? YES - NO ---------------------------------------------------CUT-HERE--------->8---- We now have Shareware Support Sites in various countries around the world. Please send the registration to your country's Support Site. If your country hasn't got a Site yet, send it to the Swedish Site. 4.2 Support Sites in different countries Sweden: Registration fee, for Swedish users: 100 SEK for foreigners: 170 SEK Tord Jansson Bj”rnk„rrsgatan 7A.12 582 51 LINK™PING Sweden Pg.nr: 477 86 94 - 2 Phone: 013/17 65 74 E-mail: di3dah@f_utbserv.adbutb.hks.se Cd@p4.tnogobl.ct.se FidoNet: 2:203/611.4 NeST: 90:1100/108.4 Great Britain: Registration fee: œ14 GBP Alan Parker 109 Highgate Road, Sileby, Loughborugh, Leics. LE12 7PW. E-mail: se1ap@de-montfort.ac.uk Netherlands: Registration fee: 40 Dutch Guilders Holland Game Design 's Gravelandseweg 127, 1217 ER, Hilversum, The Netherlands E-mail: Joost.vanderleij@phil.ruu.nl North America: Registration fee: $25US (includes bimonthly AU! SoftWareHouse support zine) ATARI UNITED! SoftWareHouse P.O. Box 1982 Ames, IA 50010-1982 USA Phone: 515-232-1627 (Monday, Wednesday & Friday after 9 p.m. Central) E-mail: biblinski@delphi.com Australia: Registration fee: $AUS32 Karl Meyland, 130 Pellatt St, Beaumaris 3193, AUSTRALIA. Phone (1900 - 2200): Intl : +61 - 3 - 589 - 1472 Aus: (03) 589 1472 E-mail (Preferred) : karlm@mel.dbce.csiro.au Germany: Registration fee: 25,- DM Olaf Gthe Hermannsburg 19 28259 Bremen GERMANY Phone: 0421/58 72 55 email: olaf_guethe@hb2.maus.de Achim Settelmeier Ruelzheimer Str. 39 76756 Bellheim Germany Phone: 07272/74654 Email: achim_settelmeier@ka2.maus.de --- End of the Manual ------------------------------------------------------