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MSSIAH Sequencer User Manual

1. Starting Up To start the Sequencer select Sequencer in the startup menu and press return The program loads from the cartridge and starts up in approx 10 seconds The user is strongly advised to carefully read the instructions on how to properly handle the cartridge in the booklet MSSIAH Getting Started available for download on our site at http www mssiah com The Basics The Sequencer consists of a main screen the Arrange window and a set of separate windows with each editor module The arrange window is where you put together and manage the building blocks in your current creation These blocks are called sequences and each one holds up to eight measures of note data The sequences are played within the arrange window s workspace in any of six tracks Each track is locked to a SID oscillator 1 3 for SID 1 and 4 6 for SID 2 if installed On top of the six note tracks is a control track for tempo shuffle and volume data changes Notes are inserted removed and edited with the Grid editor using standard piano roll design It opens up when double clicking a sequence The 32 available instruments are created with the Instrument Editor http www mssiah com 7 MIDI SID SOFTWARE All controls are accessed with the mouse pointing and clicking each object Values are altered by clicking at the parameters and moving the mouse up or down That turns the mouse pointer into a vertical bar indicating value change mode
2. Modulation Wheel 0 15 LFO Delay N A in MIDI mode 0 7 Mod Wheel max pitch mod depth 80 Envelope Attack 0 15 81 Envelope Decay 0 15 82 Envelope Sustain 0 15 83 Envelope Loop Mode 0 1 0 Off 1 On 84 Filter Cutoff Frequency 0 31 85 Filter Resonance 0 15 http www mssiah com 81 MIDI SID SOFTWARE 86 Filter Modulation Depth 0 7 87 Filter Velocity Depth 0 3 88 Filter Modulation 0 1 0 Env 1 LFO 89 Filter Type 0 7 0 Off 1 Lowpass 2 Bandpass 3 Highpass 4 Lowpass Bandpass 5 Lowpass Highpass 6 Bandpass Highpass 7 Lowpass Bandpass Highpass 90 VCA Attack 0 15 91 VCA Decay 0 15 92 VCA Sustain 0 15 93 VCA Release 0 15 94 VCA Velocity Depth 0 15 95 VCA Velocity Type 0 1 0 Sustain 1 Decay 96 Wave Table 0 1 0 Off 1 On 97 Wave Table Sync 0 3 0 Free run 1 Clk tics 2 32 3 16 98 Wave Table Repeat Start 0 7 99 Wave Table Repeat End 0 7 Wave Table Edits 100 Wave Table Row to Edit 0 7 Resets when quitting MIDI mode 101 Waveform 0 32 See separate table below 102 Trig 0 1 0 Trig Off 1 Trig On 103 Pitch Type 0 3 0 Relative 1 Absolute 2 Add 3 Subtract 104 Pitch Low byte 0 127 105 Pitch High byte 0 127 True 128 255 106 Filter Cutoff Freq Override 0 32 0 No 1 32 Cutoff Frequency 0 31 107 Pulse Width Override 0 31 28 50
3. reload meaning the ADSR is reloaded with the current envelope setting instead of an extreme restart value For a full list of init modes see the MIDI Controller List chapter The last sent init mode is buffered so that init at release see below can use it It resets to mode 1 when MIDI mode is quit Using values 9 10 or 11 with cc 65 sets the Hard and Soft or none settings see below Init mode 0 and 1 will probably work best most of the times 7 and 8 gates the envelope same as soft setting for wave table sounds which will make most sounds inaudible Init at Release In MIDI mode the VCA section s HARD setting means that the current oscillator s envelopes are initialized using the last init mode sent via control change 65 every MIDI note off This is the quickest and simplest way to get an envelope init without having to send cc 65s just release the key and you ll get an envelope init Just make sure you have sufficient time between the note offs and ons Init at release works best in multi timbral mode Wave Table Pretrigger In MIDI mode the VCA section s SOFT setting pretriggers the wave table if activated The envelope is preloaded with the ADSR setting and set to trig without a waveform It works quite well with wave table sounds The downside is that the wave table sound triggers late with about 20 30 milliseconds You can adjust it by setting the same time delay on your sequence If playing live you can crea
4. I TITLE NEUER G AUTHOR STOCK A cC 1987 MADE FOR SID MODEL 8580 SYSTEM PAL SID i 8580 While playing pressing SPACE BAR key blanks out the screen to improve audio quality RETURN key restarts the song http www mssiah com 76 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Loops Important to know when saving your Sequencer project is to decide how to loop the song If you leave cycle mode activated the playback will loop the cycle range If you save the file with cycle mode off the playback will loop the last measure defined as the song s end point If you want the song to stop make sure you set the end point one measure after the last object see picture on the left It is recommended to always leave cycle mode activated and define a cycle to play even if the looped range is a completely empty area Playing the file in the VICE emulator VICE is one of few the only PC emulators capable of reproducing a second SID Though versions of the VICE emulator might differ here is a general explanation on how to play a double SID version of your song in that emulator VICE version used in this example is 1 14 To activate the second SID Select the window for SID settings in the VICE emulator ax General ReSID HardSiD SID Engine presi 7 SID Model C 6581 fold 8580 new SID Stereo F Stereo SID at speoo IV SID Fiers Lox cos Activate the SID Stereo option and select the same address you chose in the
5. The menu at the top of the screen opens up when you click it once Click on a menu item to execute a function or activate an option Click anywhere outside the menu to close it Being larger than the C64 s internal memory the application needs to access the cartridge ROM when loading new window modules Whenever this happens the computer halts for a split second Be aware that this short delay is enough to lose the MIDI clock if synced externally Good thing is that subsequent calls to open the same window do not initiate ROM loads if it s already present in the computer s memory This constant flow of data between the cartridge and computer requires a flawless expansion port connection to ensure an error free execution of the application Same goes for MIDI synchronization and various other types of communication NTSC Since the old Commodore computers were directly hooked up to TV sets and TV standards around the world differ NTSC vs PAL so do C64s in different markets A computer built to run on the NTSC TV system has somewhat higher clock speed and less screen resolution outside the visible screen Running programs that are written for PAL machines on NTSC computers can make things go a bit faster than they were intended to As for music it does not only play faster but also in a slightly higher pitch Some programs do not even work at all The MSSIAH software is adapted for both PAL and NTSC standards however you must switch mod
6. Gareth Tonka Dolloway You can hear more of his C64 music by visiting http www monotron co uk To open the demo arrangement e Select Open in the FILE menu Navigate with the CRSR keys to the menu item DEMO Press RETURN key to select to open the demo song Press Y key or RETURN key to confirm The N key or key cancels e When the demo is opened only takes a second press to return to the arrange window You need two SIDs installed using a SID2SID for example to fully enjoy the demo arrangement If you are running the program on a Commodore 64 built for the NTSC TV system you must adjust the Sequencer to NTSC See the chapter Using the MSSIAH Sequencer for more info Save Project A project save includes arrangement data sequences instruments and settings Make sure to save often to avoid losing your work To save a Sequencer project http www mssiah com 67 Disk SDR MIDI SID SOFTWARE Select Save in the FILE menu Use CRSR keys and select DISK as media source and press RETURN key Enter a non existing filename in the filename dialog You can use all letters from a z and 0 9 as well as some additional characters Use INST DEL key with and without the LEFT SHIFT key to insert delete text Press RETURN when ready or to cancel and go back Select device 8 is default File saves onto disk After saving is done press key to return to the arrange window If the disk
7. Swap Tracks Swap tracks is for swapping all the sequences inside one track with the ones on another track There are two ways to do this Select a sequence residing in one track Open the functions window select Swap Tracks and set the value field to the other track Now click OK and all the sequences in the first track change places with the ones in the second track Done If no sequence was selected prior to opening the functions window nothing happens Or With no sequences selected open the functions window and select the Swap Tracks function Select the first track in the value field 1 6 Close the functions window and activate Trsf Selection in the Edit menu Select the sequences in the second track Holding LEFT SHIFT key and clicking left mouse button on the first sequence is all it takes empty spots do not work Release the left mouse button and click OK in the Are you sure dialog if confirm actions is enabled Now all the sequences in the first track change places with the ones in the second track Done Selections second method may span several tracks the swap function only recognizes the selection s first track Empty selections do not work You need at least one sequence http www mssiah com 55 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Select Original When your workspace is crowded with sequences and aliases finding an original sequence for an alias might be a little tricky That is when Select Orig
8. Therefore it is advised that you initialize memory if you for any reason have interrupted a load operation m DD sn a pur 4 ZZE O DD w meU DONT I T Y T L c D P DO OTOOZ mM OM DDN y V EX DA o Press Y key or RETURN key to go through and initialize the memory You can do this later at any time with the New function in the FILE menu Just be aware of that further edits in a corrupt project might cause the Sequencer application to suffer from irreparable runtime errors forcing you to switch the power off to proceed This message pops up if you interrupt an import also However imports cannot do any harm so you can just ignore it Export Sequence You can export the full content of a sequence to disk or SDR All notes velocity values and note controls are saved color and transpose settings are not To export a sequence e Select Export in the FILE menu http www mssiah com 70 Disk SDR MIDI SID SOFTWARE Use CRSR keys to select which sequence to export then press RETURN key Note that sequences that actually exist are displayed in white color s Black ones are non existing thus not selectable Continue to read the section for your media choice below Use CRSR keys to select Disk as media source and then press RETURN key Enter a non existing filename in the filename dialog You can use all letters from a z and 0 9 as well as some additional characters Use INST DEL key with
9. a set of intervals the LFO cycles when playing For example if you choose to sync the LFO every second measure a value of 2 the full LFO sweep from low to high and back will be exactly two measures according to your internal or MIDI clock signal Since LFO sync demands more system resources than normal LFOs do not check the sync box if you do not use it Same goes for tracks not used make sure the current instrument on those tracks hasn t got the LFO sync checked Even with no notes playing the sound itself on that track is still active consuming system resources ENV The software envelope is a basic attack decay sustain envelope with the ability to also function as a simple yet quite controllable LFO ENU 04 The different phases of the software envelope works just like a real envelope You have 15 fixed values for every parameter ATT DEC Ml mck It starts with the attack phase and moves on to the decay phase and then stops SUS WEIL when it reaches the sustain level 4 By checking the loop symbol the envelope turns into an LFO It then loops the attack and decay phase endlessly giving you two alternating speeds when oscillating If you want a standard sine wave set the same value for attack and decay VCF The SID has got only one filter that can be turned on or off for each of the oscillators This requires some special treatment to get it right More on that in a second first let s have a look at the parameters
10. adds 128 making 102 230 Using relative values pitch high is an addition i e value 12 means add relative pitch of 12 Pitch low however enters the subtract value and it s a little different Those values are inverted so you need to recalculate 127 means 1 and goes down from there making 126 2 etc You can use the formula TRUE VALUE 128 DATA VALUE So if you want the relative pitch to be 12 the formula is 12 128 116 So you enter the control change message 105 and the value of 116 Absolute values are only valid between 0 and 95 using pitch low It s actually possible to enter bigger values but that will only produce weird results http www mssiah com 62 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Advanced Random Composer The Advanced Random Composer is a built in tool to create cool random sequences It is accessed in its own modal window or inside the grid editor Your C64 needs to be equipped with a fully operational SID in the original socket SID oscillator 3 is used to obtain random numbers Control sequences and alias sequences are not affected MP The A R C has parameters for the number of notes to use which ones to include and the range to operate The result is stored in your current selected sequence and can be played back or further edited just like any other object Depending on your input the result can be very harmonically interesting Open the Advanced Random Composer by selecting A R C i
11. already contains a project file with the same filename the drive light flashes and you are notified with a Save Error message box Select Save in the FILE menu Use CRSR keys to select SDR as media source and press RETURN key Enter a filename in the dialog and press RETURN when ready or lt to cancel Select a speed for SDR Start by using slower speeds and gradually try out the device with faster settings Now make your digital device ready start recording Press SPACE key Screen goes blank and flashes while saving When saving is done press lt key to return to the arrange window You can break the save operation anytime during saving by pressing the RUN STOP key Verifying SDR Saves After an SDR save data can be verified Go through the save process once again from the start and enter the exact same filename When the message box asks you to press space there is also an option to press CTRL key to start the verifying process Press CTRL key Screen goes blank Start supplying data from your digital device that is play it back not record http www mssiah com 68 MIDI SID SOFTWARE If data is found to deviate from the current memory the verify process is interrupted and you are notified If not the verify process continues until the file is fully compared and you are notified that everything is ok Open Project To open a Sequencer project Disk SDR Select Open in the FILE menu Insert the disk
12. are asked to start your digital device and then press space to start the C64 read write sequence Saving can be switched to verifying instead That makes the program read from the SDR device comparing the saved data to the current memory The save is then considered valid if the SDR data is identical to the memory data Several speeds are available for SDR save enabling the output to fit various devices Speed is selected when saving SDR loading automatically adjusts to incoming data While saving and loading the screen flashes in different colors Every time a new block of 256 bytes is finished the set of colors changes If the type of the file found when loading is wrong loading halts and you are notified Note that the C64 does not have any control of the SDR device s current state i e it cannot control the player to actually start or stop http www mssiah com 66 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Opening the Demo Arrangement The demo arrangement for the MSSIAH Sequencer consists of three small looped pieces of music They demonstrate the ability to use the Sequencer s arrange window to quickly layout new ideas even as you are currently working on a completely different track That s usually when new ideas come into mind fun e wola You have to change the cycle region to loop each specific tune that you wish to listen to When first loaded the cycle region is set for the first tune The demo arrangement was written by
13. can further transpose the incoming notes Recording It s also possible to record sequences into the grid editor in real time Press the record button in the lower left corner of the window to WABE start recording If the Sequencer is already playing recording Spi starts instantly If not SPL starts from cycle start If cycle mode is turned off it starts two measures ahead of the open sequence Provided that the SPL is within the current sequence s boundaries and the grid editor window is open all key strokes on either C64 keyboard or the MIDI keyboard if active is recorded into the sequence Recording mode is turned off either by stopping the sequencer exiting the grid editor or deactivating recording mode by clicking the record button once again C128 users can use the numeric pad key to start recording MIDI synchronization works with MIDI keyboard active so you can record the sequence playing back other MIDI parts on your master sequencer too http www mssiah com 39 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Metronome There is a built in metronome to guide you playing when recording The metronome works on SID 6381 revisions only 8580 cannot handle the technique used to produce the click actually 1t can but not in this context To activate the metronome and select any of the five metronome key notes check the options in the AUDIO menu You can use the metronome button in the transport window to toggle the metronome too a Metronome is
14. from gray into black indicating that it is enabled for editing When activated waveform settings on page 1 are turned off and are completely controlled by the wave table instead Loop The first column displays loop points for the current wave table It s an eight step radio button list where the top button checked is the loop repeat start position and the last one checked is the end point To visualize it further MSSIAH Sequencer draws a green line between the two points The wave table starts to play from the absolute top and then advances one step at a time when the criteria for sync is fulfilled When the end point is reached it starts over from the repeat start point Set the repeat start point by left clicking the radio button at the position you want Then set the end point by left clicking the radio button at the requested end position holding the LEFT SHIFT key Since there is no way to turn off the loop you need to set the last position of your table as both repeat start and end point if you want it to stop when the table has finished playing Keep in mind that this will repeat the waveform pitch pulse and filter settings of that last row 000600000 Moving a Table Loop Right under the loop controls are two arrow buttons These move the whole loop section the table rows within the green area up or down It does not only move the loop points but everything inside the loop also Data outside the boundaries is over
15. header before renaming the file to SID The header is really nothing else than two bytes determining its memory location within the C64 memory e Install a program capable of editing binary files Any hex editor will do in this manual we use Microsoft Visual Studio as an example Just be aware that MS Notepad or similar text editors will not do e Rename the PRG file to BIN e Open the bin file in the hex editor e Remove the two very first bytes in the file 90 Microsoft Development Environment design WANTYOUBACK BIN Fle Edt view Debug Tools Window Help D H SUG stelo o pg WANTYOUBACK BIN 00000000 50 53 49 44 00 02 00 7C SF 7C SF 7C 62 68 00000010 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 01 49 20 57 41 4E 54 20 59 00000020 4F SS 20 42 41 43 4B 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00000030 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 4D 41 52 54 49 4E 2F 50 00000040 4F 50 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00000050 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 31 39 39 38 20 20 20 20 00000060 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00000070 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 28 00 00 00 00 A9 80 00000080 8D D2 72 20 EO 61 20 09 62 20 9B 61 A2 F AO 07 e Save the file e Rename the file extension to SID e Load it into SID play and try it out http www mssiah com 78 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Playing the file in SID play In SID play select to open a SID file and pick the one you just converted The song starts playing automatically when loaded The title author and copyrigh
16. http www mssiah com 41 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Ver The filter is activated when you check the ON checkbox An FREQ RESO additional checkbox appears with filter type options These on are Low Pass LP Band Pass BP and High Pass HP a GENU MOD VEL OBP Any of those types must be selected in order for the filter to OLFO MM MiM OHP function properly Several types can be mixed You can set frequency and resonance and modulate the frequency directly with either ENV or LFO Select the source of modulation with the radio buttons and then set the modulation amount MOD The current frequency setting affects how low the filter goes This comes in handy when modulating the filter frequency with a slow LFO to not shut the sound off completely as the LFO reaches a zero value On that note you should know that all SIDs are different so there are no guarantees where you find the exact cutoff position for absolute silence if any By turning up the VEL parameter you apply velocity modulation directly to the filter frequency Setting the MOD parameter at the same time will make velocity affect modulation depth instead How to Apply the Filter The SID filter has to be turned on and off individually for each oscillator that E uses it MSSIAH Sequencer handles this automatically whenever it encountersa H program change with a filtered instrument You can watch as it happens by El looking at the F icons lighting up when a filter instrument is playing
17. it up or down You don t have to be dead on clicking in the neighboring area ok ill do http www mssiah com 30 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Program Change Program change sets the instrument for the current note If you click on the program change value the mouse pointer turns into a vertical bar and you can move the mouse up and down to alter the value You cannot manually insert program changes in between notes They are automatically inserted with the new note when using the pencil tool Pitch Bend Pitch bends have never been easier to insert in a C64 application e Find the position where you want the pitch bend to start e Click on it in the note control editor That s it The next following note turns white indicating that it s the destination for the bend The only limit is that the longest distance between the pitch bend and the next upcoming note must not exceed 16 steps The program itself sees to it that it isn t If you move the white note farther away from the bend point than 16 steps the bend automatically disappears If you try to insert a pitch bend where there are no destination notes available within 16 steps no bend is inserted Slide Slide is similar to the one found in MSSIAH Mono Synthesizer and Bassline Click the note where you want the slide to start to activate it It s displayed in white color just like pitch bend notes A note slide starts instantly when the note is up for p
18. loop Cycle mode is toggled with the Cycle button in the Transport Window More on that later The Song Position Line SPL The Song Position Line SPL from here is the white vertical line that marks the current song position in the arrange window and grid editor e A You can set the SPL position by clicking anywhere in the area below o the bar ruler B A EA EA The SPL is also controllable via the key to forward one measure and CLR HOME key to move back one measure Note Tips The SPL can be made a little wider to make it more visible if your screen is small Open the User Preferences window with the OPTIONS menu and make your selection for the Song Position Line n m ONG POSITION LIN AL SNI DE http www mssiah com 15 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Catch Mode The stick man in the upper left corner of the Arrange window indicates whether Catch 2 mode follow song is on or off Catch mode automatically moves the workspace to where the SPL is if it runs outside of screen boundaries If you start scrolling the window catch mode is automatically switched off Transport Window The Transport window includes the controls and parameters that concerns song playing Play plays from the current SPL position or cycle start if cycle mode is activated Stop stops playing Press twice to place SPL at the beginning of the song Rewind moves SPL one step back Keep depressed to repeat rewinding Forward moves SP
19. one would imagine the roll moving left then the vertical positioning of the block would represent the pitch whereas its length and horizontal position would correspond to the note s length and timing Grid editors are great to get a quick visual overview of a musical phrase They are also superior to other editors when altering note lengths Chord editing becomes a really easy task too of course the MSSIAH Sequencer being a monophonic editor does not handle multiple notes playing in unison Underneath the grid is an additional editor to alter note info such as velocity and program changes The data is positioned right under its parent notes Open For Edit The grid editor window opens whenever you double click a note sequence Alias sequences however being merely reference pointers to main sequences cannot be edited directly When double clicking an alias you need to decide how to handle it N_ALIAS WITHOUT DATA HP PAYE DNE gpEz Rane cory on CANCEL REAL COPY ORIGINAL http www mssiah com 25 MIDI SID SOFTWARE CANCEL Cancel the operation do not edit REAL COPY Make a real sequence object out of this alias sequence and open it with the grid editor ORIGINAL Open the grid editor at the selected sequence s position and edit the data In this case the data belongs to the main sequence i e the original sequence is being edited So which one do I choose If you want to edit specific notes on a specific positio
20. option toggles the overwrite mode Default is to overwrite notes so if you want to protect a certain sequence when editing make sure to uncheck this option Try out the different modes yourself so that you really understand the difference http www mssiah com 27 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Erase a Note e Select the eraser tool e Click on the note you wish to remove There are two alternative ways to erase notes Press the INST DEL key and the selected note s is deleted With the pencil tool double click the note to be erased Split Notes Splitting notes works in the same way as cutting sequences with the scissors tool e Select the scissors tool e Click on the note where you want to cut it The result is two new objects sharing the same velocity and program change values Glue Notes To glue two notes together e Select the glue tool e Select one of the notes to tie e Hold LEFT SHIFT key and click on the other note Notes are tied if they are on the same key and no notes are blocking the way in between Extend Notes Instead of adding two notes and gluing there is a better way to alter note pointer turns into a finger and you can set a new length by moving the mouse left and right It works on selections also Changing the length of a note makes it the new default length Move Copy Notes To move notes Select either arrow or pencil tool Left click the note to move and keep the mouse button
21. or without the LEFT SHIFT key to insert delete text Press RETURN key to start saving or to cancel Select device 8 is default When done saving press key to return to the arrange window If the disk you have inserted already contains a sequence file with the same name the drive light flashes and you are notified with a Save Error message box Use CRSR keys to select SDR as media source and then press RETURN key Enter a filename in the dialog and press RETURN when ready Select the SDR speed Now make your digital device ready start recording Press SPACE key Screen goes blank and flashes while saving When done saving press key to return to the arrange window You can break the save operation anytime during saving by pressing the RUN STOP key SDR saves can be verified as described in Verifying SDR Saves earlier in this chapter Import Sequence Exported sequences can be imported into existing ones You will first need to select a destination sequence where to store 1t The length must be equal to or longer than the sequence you import To import a sequence Select Import in the FILE menu Use CRSR keys to select to import a sequence then press RETURN key Use CRSR keys to select into which sequence to import Existing sequences are displayed in white color Black ones are not selectable http www mssiah com 71 SDR MIDI SID SOFTWARE Press RETURN key and continue to read the section for your med
22. that the other instrument oscillator playing in track 1 is the one affected third column If you copy the sequence from track 2 to track 1 the terms are changed Now as the sequence is playing in track 1 it will affect the instrument playing in track 3 If you didn t get that take a look at the table Instrument played in track affects instrument played in track 3 It s not really that hard just remember that you are not totally free of choosing tracks for your sequences when using sync and ring mod effects Use the table as guidance You should only set sync or ring mod on the instrument playing in the first track not the corresponding one That will cause another sync ring mod to occur Playing polyphonically in MIDI mode using ring modulation can make cool effects but you have no control over it since the MSSIAH MIDI engine fully controls the polyphony Pulse The width of the pulse waveform is defined and modulated in the DCO pulse section The WDT parameter is for basic pulse width any other influence from either LFO or ENV will use this width setting as a base point If you apply velocity modulation both LFO and ENV are inactivated for pulse mods Pitch The pitch of the oscillator can be modified with either ENV or LFO for effects like vibrato sirens drum slopes etc Tune Tune is to compensate extreme pitch modulations or create effects if you play two similar instruments on different tracks Detuned in each directi
23. the Sequencer http www mssiah com 11 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Sequences A sequence is an object within the arrange window holding the note information Sequence objects can be moved merged glued and copied into alias sequences Creating Sequences Clicking the left mouse button anywhere on the workspace with the pencil tool creates a new sequence Default length is one measure but can be extended up to eight measures by merging two objects with the glue tool To keep track of each sequence they are assigned a unique number from 1 to 255 automatically on creation limited memory prevents the use of full names Further identification is possible by the use of individual colors When created the sequence first inherits the predefined track color but you can change it afterwards With a graphic layout identifying single objects becomes so easy that you probably will keep track of your sequences visually instead of going for the number identifier Users of modern MAC PC sequencer software can testify to that The Sequencer edition can store up to 255 sequences with a length of one measure Every time you glue sequences together more on that later the limit is reduced To monitor remaining memory there is a memory meter in the transport window showing the percentage of used up memory It can be toggled to show either memory consumption or system performance by checking the SYSTEM PERF option in the AUDIO menu Add a New Sequence
24. turned on by default at start up NSTRUMENTS Transform Functions Transform functions affect notes directly These are covered in a separate chapter http www mssiah com 34 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Control Sequence Editor The first track in the workspace window is a control track for control sequences only A control sequence is a special object that contains special event data The data is stored within the sequence on every second sixteenth note The color is gray and the length is fixed to one measure You have 31 control sequences available and those can be further copied as alias objects like the other sequences Control sequences only exist within the control track and cannot be moved or copied outside of it The control sequence editor is where you edit the control objects It s a modal window that opens up when double clicking a control sequence Double clicking an alias object will give you the choice of either editing the original data or to create a new copy The data is laid out in eight columns with one row for every type The columns represent every two sixteenth notes in the timeline You change the value by clicking on it and move the mouse up and down The types of data events you can store in the control sequences are Tempo Changes The first row stores information about tempo changes If you set a value in any of the eight time positions the tempo will change at that position in the song Synchronization R
25. use a noise waveform to define the click and switch to a pulse wave to create the slope You can later experiment with different pulse settings or even change the waveform to a sine or saw tooth To make it as simple as possible we use only three rows WAVEFORM TRIG PITCH UCF PULSE o GHW ELTI DH ABS o GE S ELD 0i REL o KWS Elo O iSi SUB gt o GEMS EL O E The first row is a noise wave with an absolute pitch pretty high up The second row is the first pulse sound You will need this row to have a reference note for sliding We choose a medium frequency in relative mode so that you can vary the pitch when playing the sound later on The last row is an infinite loop continuously subtracting 151 from the current pitch That should make a nice slope falling down until it hits the bottom You probably need to tweak the subtraction value further when adjusting the kick to the tempo and style of your song http www mssiah com 50 MIDI SID SOFTWARE UCA ATT DEC SUS ME BEG MA Haal M OSHORT ODEC UEL NOR Finally we set the VCA envelope to hide the very last part of HARD CSOFT oSUS Bim the slope Try these settings Wave Table Example 2 A Simple Chord A normal chord such as C major consists of three or four tones in a harmonic pattern In this case C E G and possibly an additional C one octave up to thicken the sound The wave table plays through this sequence of notes repeatedly to creat
26. 50 120 All Sound Off 123 All Notes Off http www mssiah com 82 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Osc Waveforms Control Change 67 101 Ring mod Sync Ring mod Sync 0 OFF 1 Sine 9 17 25 2 Saw 10 18 26 3 Pulse 11 19 27 4 Noise 12 20 28 5 Sine Saw 13 21 29 6 Sine Pulse 14 22 30 7 Saw Pulse 15 23 31 8 Saw Sine Pulse 16 24 32 LFO Frequency Clock Sync Control Change 75 132 16 CO N O O1 BR Co PO o k o i k N k o MIDI channel and bend ranges are saved in between sessions and even when the computer is switched off if you choose to save your changes when shutting down the MSSIAH http www mssiah com 83
27. A Simple Chord cece eeeeeseeeseeeseecnseceaecnsecsseceseesseeeseeeeneesaes 51 Slid TINE A A A A A AT she he IA 51 Copy InStrumentse scio ntsc lili a aest 52 TEMO Mi ati 53 Trans PO ii A ida 54 Set Pr di aid 54 Set Velocidad a 54 Limit Velocity A SS 54 Fixed Note Denothera td E A tt 54 Remove Slides BendS iii a eee 54 Repeat Objects ceiba a Rie i oe Aa 54 E A OO 55 Select Orsai a iaa 56 CTE cit RA A E A A E IEA AT 56 RR 56 Using MIDE ccssscsssciocssossssacsssdecessonsseneeastevessosnsshennsteneesoanesevesscescessstssedyeateseesonebesssscedeutessscesentes 58 MIDI Mode window oniinn tairi heel need ET ties ein dated a i 58 MIDI Channeli sesasi acid Gad ote TE E ded and abe SAA 58 Pitch Wheel RO iii A A AE A A 58 Instr mentee lio lit lite Lelaseeloscedetthicaatabeldestes 58 Modern ao o ida to rosa dire TO Si tarot to oo ltda 58 Voice Stella aia 59 Arpeggio Playing ni es er eG WE Le ee ee a ee ee ee 59 Start MIDE Mode usen aiii 60 Using Control Chan ges sas repenser nae aeii tonteria doce ataca 60 Using the Modulation Wheel 0 0 0 0 cescescceseceseceseeeeeeeeseeeseecaeecsaeceaecaecnsecsseeeseeeneeesneesaes 60 Envelope Mits wigs tices el A anit ice eee ened Rei ease 60 Esgato Sld inicia oe atin eee een LAL wie BAe 60 Note Length Tig Problem iia ii 60 Programming Wave Tables via MIDI oooconcccoccconnconnnonnnonnnonononnncnn ccoo nono nocn nono nncnnccnnncnnccnnnos 61 Advanced Random Compose cscscssscssscssscsssssssscsssssc
28. AD Ekim 4 FUNKLEAD MIN First select if you want to copy all of the instrument s parameters or just the wave table and then select from which instrument slot to copy Finally click the GO button to execute the copy Note Trying to copy a table does not have any effect on instruments 17 32 http www mssiah com 52 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Transform The transform functions are designed to perform time consuming tasks on a multiple selection of notes This is very useful when you have many similar changes to make F R R Ss S C H l E p FMEFDOZXZT A D TOMITOM o o o o o o o o o o Transform functions work with the two types of selections available in the Sequencer Arrange window workspace objects i e sequences non alias Grid editor window objects i e selected notes To transform a sequence object in the arrange window e Select the Transform item in the FUNCTIONS menu select a function and set the value Then close the transform settings window Clicking Ok will not necessarily start the function e Check the Transform Selections option in the EDIT menu Make the selection as usual Press LEFT SHIFT key Click the left mouse button and mark out the selection with the mouse e As you release either LEFT SHIFT key or left mouse button the selection becomes active and the transform function starts Only valid sequences full non alias objects within the brackets are affected e
29. After you are done uncheck the Transform Selections option to be sure that you do not accidentally trigger it when making a new selection To transform a selection of notes in the grid editor e Select the notes you wish to transform Open the transform settings window by choosing Transform in the FUNCTIONS menu and make your choice e Click OK and the transformation starts Notice the difference in how the OK button works in the transform settings window Only with an open grid editor window the button executes the function That is because the grid editor has a stored selection whereas the arrange window hasn t The arrange window needs to execute the function after the selection is made http www mssiah com 53 MIDI SID SOFTWARE To select a function click the radio button next to the one you wish to use and set the parameter value The value has a different meaning for every single function Transpose This option transposes the note frequency either up or down Select a transpose setting to add or subtract from the selected notes Set Program This option alters the program changes instruments Select a value between 1 and 32 Set Velocity This option sets all note velocities to a fixed value between 0 and 15 Limit Velocity This option lets you set a treshold for which the velocity should never exceed When the function executes 1t automatically lowers any velocity above the treshold Fixed Note Length A conveni
30. Controlling Just like the rest of the Sequencer the grid editor is fully mouse controlled la ET ia tala H T T TOERE H LEE toe H Notes are inserted moved copied and deleted with the same tools in the toolbox The grid editor window scrolls vertically to reach all the eight octaves and horizontally if the sequence length exceeds the two measures of screen space If you open up a sequence that is only 1 or 2 measures long you cannot scroll the window horizontally Use the scroll bars lt CHEM to scroll the window You can use the mouse wheel to scroll the vertical position also Insert a Note To insert a note Select the pencil tool e Select an instrument for the note e Point at a free position to place the note and click the left mouse button The note is inserted with the chosen instrument The length is one sixteenth note unless default note length has changed by extending or gluing Monophonic Editor The MSSIAH grid editor is monophonic It means that unlike other grid editors it cannot overlap notes since only one note is allowed to play at a time When inserting or moving notes onto others there are two ways to handle it Overwrite whatever is there Long notes are interrupted by the new ones Prevent overwrites completely Inserting and moving notes onto existing ones become impossible You find the settings for the overwrite mode in the EDIT menu Checking or unchecking the Overwrite Notes
31. G PITCH UCF PULSE o MA uy C S ABS 3i 68 ELLI 03 REL is 19 KEO S ED O 636 ADD e SS o 4 uS ELDI 635 SUB ei 24 o GWS ELDI O 22 gt i E 80 Se m UY ial o KWS Eli O lifJE o ED 0 1535 In the past most wave table editors were pretty hard to grasp Parameters waveforms pitches and repeat points all had to be altered in hexadecimal numbers Often the users also had to learn the control bits for different functions and manage all the memory themselves The MSSIAH Sequencer provides a fully graphic interface completely mouse controlled just left click the parameter and move the mouse up or down to change the value Each instrument has a wave table available to edit However instruments 17 32 reuse the ones for instrument 1 16 Le instrument 17 uses the same wave table data as instrument 1 instrument 19 uses the same wave table as instrument 3 etc So when you edit the wave table in instrument 19 you are also altering the wave table data for instrument 3 Length is fully variable but has a maximum of eight rows Each row stores changes in waveform pitch filter cutoff frequency and pulse width http www mssiah com 46 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Wave table settings reside on page 2 of the instrument editor PAGE iv Either use the scroll bar or press the arrow next to the page number display to flip pages MENABLE First check the wave table enable checkbox to activate the wave table The table data turns
32. L one step forward Keep depressed to repeat forwarding Cycle mode toggles cycle mode You can reach this option in the OPTIONS menu also or simply press the C key 0500900 Blank screen activates screen to go blank in the arrange window when playing Screen becomes visible again when playing is stopped This will reduce the noise from the audio output significantly thus improving audio quality Alternatively press the K key to toggle blank screen External activates synchronization with MIDI clock This option is also Syne accessed via the OPTIONS menu or the Y key Metronome activates the metronome in Grid Editor recording mode The metronome can also be activated in the AUDIO menu together with the click note Current Position The transport window displays the current song position in measures beats and sixteenth notes http www mssiah com 16 MIDI SID SOFTWARE The Position Window In the top left corner of the screen is the Position Window Since it is located outside the working area of the Sequencer application it stays open at all times though you cannot reach it or edit the values directly POSITION i The position window is a quick display of your song s current position the current tempo and volume The green arrow indicates that cycle mode is activated This window is a great help when working with any of the editors not being able to see the transport window Tempo When running
33. MSSIAH MIDI SID SOFTWARE Sequencer MIDI SID SOFTWARE Introducir ia 6 Using the MSSIAH Sequencer scccscccssccsssssscsccsscccssscssccssesescscscsssssccssccesscessnesssccsseseoes 7 A A TA 7 The Basics union ta pa eden BO Ras aa eee eae tees 7 UR Ee S 8 User Input Controls cc ccccccssccisessescesesescasscnsescesacsssctsvesoscecensses seecsscosstonssocsepestecesepsssosesedsess toasstes 9 J OVSUCK ees aot ces lesen shee tas edes eee oa a 9 TA 9 Amiga MOUSE tomando iodo dario ooo Lia E ana ar ioa acts eare eens dees 9 Atar MOUSE bo tt SS Ad A A lt ii 9 Right Mouse Button cestos neer ea aent neen Oe EE Ea EEEE EE NEE EEE aA 9 Acceleration cin a dai 10 Trimming Mouse Controls iuris tira 10 Double Click Time nicer n erone ida chants od seas ates ee aad e 10 Changing Background Colot ce cescesecsseceseceseeseeeesneeeseeeseeeaaecaaecsaecsaecaeesseeeeeeseeesneesaes 10 Keyboard Conttoltitemoccii sin ai psico initial NCERT EEDE 10 AS Word of Advices nic dl 10 SR oseese sopes asoeio Se SOES eE S ESANS SAR oSer Oois DS SEOs So ersi 11 A artnr oasen E rE Ea E E TEE ES AE N RI TN 11 Th FOO DOR it A A A A A a AAA AT 11 DEQUENICES isc ia A a 12 Credne SEQUE A tds 12 Adda NeW Sequence cimas ta daa tinas 12 Delete a Sequence ad 13 Glue Sequences Increase Sequence Length ooconccinnoniccnoccnnoncnoncnonono nono noconaconccanccnnncnnnos 13 Split Seguente Sn arthuri teieni rie E e e a ke peta TEE TEON iggees Teta ASt Toae
34. N RUN STOP Play Stop alternatively Play Zoom in out Delete selected sequence Cycle on off Blank screen on off MIDI sync on off SPL forward one measure SPL rewind one measure Hot keys for dialog boxes Dialog OK Dialog CANCEL Commodore C128 numeric keyboard ENTER Copy Move sequences To move a sequence Start Stop Record grid editor Zoom in Zoom out e Left click the sequence with either arrow or pencil tool Keep the left mouse button depressed e With the mouse pointer shaped like a hand drag the object to the 9 new position e Release the left mouse button and the object slides into the new position if it s empty and there is enough room http www mssiah com 19 MIDI SID SOFTWARE You cannot move or copy control sequences outside the control track or normal sequences into the control track Copying is the same procedure except keep the Commodore C key depressed When releasing the left mouse button you end up with a new object It is not really a new sequence copy but a so called Alias sequence Alias Sequences An alias sequence is not a real object but merely a reference to a main sequence It therefore contains no data and does not consume any memory Whenever a main object s data is changed it also affects the alias You can identify an alias object by its check pattern Main objects are filled Aliases are great to free up memory when working with r
35. RN key Select device 8 is default Select a file in the directory list If the disk you have inserted does not contain any instrument files you are notified with the No files message box Press RETURN key to start loading or lt to cancel When done loading press lt key to return to the arrange window Use CRSR keys to select SDR as media source and then press RETURN key Press SPACE key Start playing back data on your digital device When done loading press key to return to the arrange window If a file is found with a different file type loading stops and you are notified http www mssiah com 73 IES VAN nl MIDI SID SOFTWARE Making PSID Files The MSSIAH Cartridge features a separate application that converts your Sequencer project to either a stand alone C64 executable file or a PSID file to be played on a PC The Sequencer files are not made to be compact in size or even optimized for CPU performance In fact they eat both memory and CPU power Those looking for a player to include MSSIAH Sequencer projects in demos or games will be disappointed to find it not possible The Sequencer was primarily developed as a music sequencing tool and MIDI synthesizer for recording studios not to make game or demo music Select the menu item PSID Converter in the startup menu and press the RETURN key to start the application Loading a Sequencer Project When the application starts you have one option only and
36. SIMMONS 54 WHEELER 4 EUROPAD 21 8580 BASS 38 DISCOTOM 55 GOGETIT 5 NICEPAD 22 POP BASS 39 BIGSLOPE 56 LASTNINJA 6 C64LEAD1 23 C64 BASS 40 VELOPULSE 57 CHDMINOR 7 C64LEAD2 24 HUBKICK1 41 ANALOGVL 58 CHDMAJOR 8 C64LEAD3 25 HUBKICK2 42 BANJO 59 FALLING 9 JR EWING 26 POP KICK 43 TUBA 60 BASS BD 10 VACUUMDOG 27 ELECKICK 44 FLUTE 61 BASS SD 11 LEAD US 28 DEEPKICK 45 MELOTRON 62 BASS HH 12 PAN PIPE 29 HUBBSNRI 46 CLAVINET 63 AREA 51 13 STARLEAD 30 HUBBSNR2 47 CHINA 64 POLE POS 14 WARPLEAD 31 POPSNARE 48 WHINING 65 DUCKTALK 15 NEATLEAD 32 SOFTSNR1 49 CHARMED 66 CHEVY9C1 16 BASSGTRI 33 SOFTSNR2 50 INFECTED 67 LASERHIT 17 BASSGTR2 34 CL HIHAT 51 RATTLER 68 BOEING737 Testing Instruments You can use the C64 keyboard or MIDI keyboard to play the instrument live as long as the Input button is active For C64 keyboards use the keys ZSXDCV for the lower octave and keys Q2W3ER for the higher octave The lower part of the C64 keyboard follows the default octave in the window title bar The instrument plays in the track of the last selected sequence MIDI keyboards are restricted to use keys between C to F but the selected octave transposes incoming notes so you can reach the full scale of the SID When running the Sequencer in MIDI mode there are no such restrictions Sound Layout MSSIAH Sequencer instruments have settings for oscillator DCO f
37. Steals the next Latest Steals the latest note struck Arpeggio Playing Checking the Arpeggio checkbox treats wave table instruments as live arpeggios That means it replaces the wave table s pitch changes and inserts the notes you are currently playing The result is a classic C64 broken chord that you can play interactively Try changing the waveform and wave table sync settings in the wave table to produce cool effects Arpeggio mode is only available in polyphonic modes Important Because of the SID s unwillingness to retrigger sounds at higher sustain levels than the previous one under given circumstances set VCA velocity level to zero to prevent drop outs when using arpeggio playing http www mssiah com 59 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Start MIDI Mode Use the START button to start MIDI mode The screen goes black and Sequencer readily awaits MIDI input If you haven t plugged in your MIDI cable into the MIDI input of the MSSIAH Cartridge now is the time to do so Press the RUN STOP key to exit MIDI mode Press CLOSE button to exit the MIDI window Using Control Changes Make sure to have at least 2 4 ms in between messages when feeding MIDI control changes into the MSSIAH Sequencer Even though MSSIAH uses buffering to catch up control change data it is not recommended to stress the Sequencer with control changes if you wish to avoid dropouts Also be aware of that altering instrument parameters will affect all tracks playing the s
38. able it temporarily uncheck the Confirm Deletes option in the EDIT menu You can also use the INST DEL key to delete the currently selected object Several sequences can be deleted at the same time by using selections covered later in this chapter Glue Sequences Increase Sequence Length Two sequence objects can be glued together to form a longer sequence Select the Glue tool Left click the first sequence to join Hold LEFT SHIFT key and left click the second one The objects are glued together http www mssiah com 13 MIDI SID SOFTWARE 23 25 27 23 25 27 A EA AAA fad ER AS If the two sequences are several measures apart the gap between them are filled automatically Merged sequences can be further glued to other objects as long as the maximum length does not exceed eight measures 23 25 27 23 25 27 T AAA fel The sequences do not have to be on the same track as long as there is empty space between the two objects This is taken care of automatically by the MSSIAH Sequencer The glue operation can fail for three reasons One or two objects are blocking the way Unlike modern PC Mac sequencers MSSIAH Sequencer does not allow objects to overlap Two objects joined together would form a larger sequence than eight measures Memory is full Split Sequences Glued sequences can be split up by the Scissors tool 23 ES 27 e Select the Scissors tool Left click the position where you want to split the ob
39. ad 35 Volume Chale nieret iii olle lla 35 SR RAN 35 Pattern Selecta A a 36 Instrument Editt anal dei 37 Selecting INstrument aia a ais 37 Naming an instruido scteeecues eaei ects patio noroeste ici 37 Factory Presets is LA tc tee odes tebe lada 37 Testing Instrumentsin ea a angeles Ge ele 38 Sound Layout sis iii A eh hei es hake Ae ine deh inlets 38 Edit tasa a eine cea ities 39 DEDO A A A A A tah a wh A A A Rd 39 1 O E A RR TNT 40 ENYA Ad 41 MEE lidad 41 How to Apply the Filter ius a 42 http www mssiah com 3 MIDI SID SOFTWARE VCA cla 43 Additional VEA Settings tit A AA A A E AA 43 How to master the SID envelopes oooonccnoconoccconoconnconnnonnncnn nono nono nono no nn nono nono nc cnc E Aise 44 Envelope Inits Ma MID Lc tados 45 WaverLabl s cit atada 46 Loops A A ea ee eae 47 Moying a Table LOOP si a aa 47 Waveforp e eere eae e ae toceus r E aR E a tastes ects TEOR E Ea ea eta Eat Resi 47 MN E 48 Pd A A oes eteteeds 48 Filter enna fishes Ae a ee a et peste een al ai Rien i Bae A ete tee 49 A O oO 49 Wave Table Synchronization s i sereine eneeier i er aik a iieii 49 Wave Table Editing via MIDI oooonnnccnnccnocococononoconnconnconnnono i iei a i i i 50 Wave Table Transpose and Pitch Bend sseeseeeeeeeeseesesseessesresresreeserrrsseertssresresressesereseee 50 Insert Chord Finclu ni ri 50 Wave Table Example A Simple Bassdrum ee eeeeeseeseeeseecssecesecnseceseceseeeseeeseeeeneeenes 50 Wave Table Example 2
40. ae As an unfiltered instrument comes up the application turns the filter off again OGATRE and you will notice how the F icon for that track goes out MIDI mode handles the filter on off control automatically too though you wont be able to see the F icons since the screen is blanked out With no doubt this built in filter control is a convenient way not to worry about turning on and off the filters just click the checkbox Unfortunately the SID uses the same filter for all oscillators In practice this means that two filtered instruments playing on two different tracks within the same SID track 1 3 or 4 6 will share the same frequency and resonance parameters To not cause unwanted noise because of this filter conflict MSSIAH Sequencer gives the highest track priority Though two instruments have completely different filter sounds the one playing on the track with the highest number wins MIDI mode is reversed lowest numbered track in each SID gets the priority You cannot play individual filtered bass and lead sounds simultaneously unless you put them in tracks on separate SIDs You can however use two sounds with different timbres and characteristics on two tracks playing the same notes and let the one on the highest track control the filter as long as the lower instrument has the filtered switched on too http www mssiah com 42 MIDI SID SOFTWARE VCA The VCA section controls the SID VCA envelope sound triggering and velo
41. ame instrument as they use the same buffers Using the Modulation Wheel The modulation wheel can be applied to pitch modulation depth That means the more you push the modulation lever wheel depending on your keyboard the more increase in pitch mod depth you will get The maximum level is set with the LFO delay parameter with a value between 1 and 7 LFO delay itself is not used in MIDI mode this parameter is instead fully dedicated to mod wheel depth A value of zero means no mod wheel effect Envelope Inits When playing instruments on different tracks MSSIAH Sequencer accepts control change 65 to initialize the current envelope This way you can control what is known as hard restart in the C64 world via MIDI Read more about the technique of initializing envelopes in the How to Master the SID Envelope section of the Instrument Editor chapter Control Change 65 offers eight modes of envelope initialization You will probably need to try them since their effect varies on different types of sound The recently used mode is set as default the next time a CC 65 is sent until MIDI mode is quit You will find a complete list of all modes in the MIDI Controller List chapter Legato Slide In monophonic modes playing two notes after each other without releasing the first one is called legato Legato on the MSSIAH Sequencer also triggers a slide between the two notes If you wish to lessen the slide effect set a lower slide value for the i
42. an Alias Sequence Since alias sequences are reference objects editing means altering the data of the main sequence However when double clicking the alias to open up the grid editor you have three options 43 e a e ALIAS WITHOUT DATA fl DIT A REAL COPY OR E THE 5R IGINA CANCEL REAL COPY ORIGINAL CANCEL Cancel the operation Do not open grid editor REAL COPY You create a completely new copy of the alias so your edits take place in a brand new sequence ORIGINAL You edit the alias affecting the main sequence directly The alias position in the arrangement is kept as the reference point for the grid editor The REAL COPY option is a great way of making real copies of alias sequences The ORIGINAL option is great when you have repeated sequences e g drum beats and want to edit any object but affecting all the other objects too It s important to learn the difference to not confuse one option with the other Deleting an Alias Deleting aliases are done the same way as deleting main sequences However if you try to delete a main object that has underlying aliases all of those will be deleted too They are not allowed to exist freely without a parent object pege si DON T CLEAR CLEAR You are given a choice on how to proceed before anything is deleted http www mssiah com 21 Selections MIDI SID SOFTWARE A selection is a consecutive block of sequences that are about to be moved copied deleted or tr
43. an to set up your tracks from MIDI via program change messages Mode There are three modes of operation in MIDI mode http www mssiah com 58 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Multitimbral Multi mode is a multi timbral mode where each track oscillator on the SID circuit listens to its own MIDI channel Multiple tracks can be assigned to the same MIDI channel for doubling effects Either way each track plays monophonically With SID 2 enabled MSSIAH Sequencer offers six separate MIDI tracks With one SID only that makes three Polyphonic Polyphonic mode plays the same instrument on all three SID oscillators three voice polyphony or six oscillators with a second SID enabled Note that all the voices of SID 1 share the same filter and so does SID 2 Multi Poly This mode runs SID 1 in multi timbral mode and SID 2 in polyphonic mode You can thereby sequence SID 1 with drums and bass etc while playing chords on the second SID Voice Stealing When you play polyphonically with only three voices available poly mode and multi poly mode you can choose how to treat a voice overflow 1 e holding three notes down and then press a fourth one POLYPHONIC STEAL MIDDLE ARPE T I RPEGGIO The voice stealing patterns available are None No stealing Fourth note does not play Highest Steals the highest note struck on the keyboard Middle Steals the middle note Lowest Steals the lowest note Cycle Cycles through oscillators 1 3 etc
44. ansformed in one of several ways The limited memory prevents buffering of sequence selections so they only exist on creation and processing is done immediately thereafter Sequence selections have a maximum range of 64 measures All seven tracks may be included although control objects and ordinary note sequences cannot co exist on the same track How To Make a Selection tat Press and hold the LEFT SHIFT key Press left mouse button and draw the mouse on the workspace to select an area The area is marked out with brackets Release LEFT SHIFT key still holding left mouse button depressed to make the selection active You can tell this by the mouse pointer changing to a hand icon The selection is now ready to be moved copied or transformed j Not all sequences may be included in your selection Only full objects within the marked up area is considered valid The left image illustrates this The longest sequence second from the top is not included nor the one in the bottom as they are sticking out of the white brackets Move Copy Selections Move Press and hold the LEFT SHIFT key Press and hold left mouse button and mark up the area using arrow or pencil tool Release the LEFT SHIFT key still holding down the left mouse button As the mouse icon turns into a hand you are free to move your selection anywhere on the workspace mm aaa A SE When the selection is in place release the left mouse button and the objects are
45. ave table activated then this setting will have no effect SHORT By checking the SHORT option the note 1s shut off a little earlier like a TB 303 This will make hard restarts HARD and SOFT settings trigger earlier too Use it for 303 style note length or when playing at high speed using hard soft initialization This setting has no effect in MIDI mode since note lengths are completely determined by your MIDI data Velocity Setting the MOD parameter routes note velocity to the VCA envelope The higher the mod value the more effect of the velocity span http www mssiah com 43 MIDI SID SOFTWARE With a value of 3 the velocity curve is applied to the VCA envelope destination parameter directly The modulation destination is either decay DEC or sustain level SUS of the VCA envelope Sustain velocity ATT DEC SUS REL MGT Ml ME BEI SUS makes the modulation affect the sustain level only This makes perfect velocity sensitive sounds if attack decay and release settings are all left at zero like the default sound Decay velocity ATT DEC SUS REL ME ME Mi WEI DEC works better when using envelope initialized sounds for example drums If you try to make a sound with VCA decay and low sustain value and you don t hear any effect it s most likely because of the velocity MOD Turn VEL off by setting it to zero When playing in MIDI mode and using VCA velocity the SID has a strange quirk that does not trig a new s
46. base address However D500 requires special decoding circuits to allow a proper access to the second SID If your computer is not modified with such logic do not select D500 as the base address It will only sound weird or be completely silent When playing back the song on an emulator such as VICE these addresses are virtual so it does not matter whether you choose DE00 DF00 or D500 Just make sure you set the same address for the VICE s second SID as you did in the MSSIAH executable startup window http www mssiah com 79 MIDI SID SOFTWARE MIDI Implementation Chart MSSIAH Version 1 00 Saquencer MIDI Implementation Chart Function Transmitted 1 Recognized Remarks Basic Default X 1 16 off Memorized Channel Changed X 1 16 off Memorized Mode Default X Mode 4 Messages X X Note X 12 107 C Be C Fa in Instrument Number True Voice X 12 107 C Be and Grid Editor Velocity Note On X 9nH v 1 127 Note Off x 9nH v 0 or 8nH After Key s X X Touch Channel s X X 0 24 semitone steps Fene ena a 9 14 bit resolution 1X O Control 7 X 0 2 era 65 104 X o 2 120 X 0 123 X 0 Program X Change True X 1 8 2 3 System Exclusive X X System Song pos X X Common Song sel X X Tune X X System Clock X O Real Time Commands X O Start Stop Aux All Sound OFF X o 120 Messages Reset Cntrl x O Pitch Wheel only Local ON OFF X x All No
47. city VCA envelope has separate controls for Attack UCA Decay Sustain and Release These are the only parameters available for HS es ies BGG manipulating SID oscillator volume Additional VCA Settings The controls beneath the envelope handle triggering note trig offs and velocity modulation ONORM SHORT HARD ODEC UEL OSOFT 05SUS Hea Triggering includes three types NORM This is the setting for a normal trigger without any hard restart of the SID registers HARD The HARD setting sets all SID registers to zero on the current track for each new note before the note is triggered When using full MIDI mode the HARD setting means that a hard restart is performed the moment a note is released Full MIDI mode also gives you control to choose the type of initialization control change no 65 and uses it as default until you select another one SOFT Instead of zeroing out the envelope this setting preloads the SID registers with the new parameter values It gives a somewhat better result on various sounds like drums wave table effects and sounds that vary in velocity volumes a lot The initialization will occur shortly before the note triggers depending on the speed of the song whether it runs on internal or external clock In MIDI mode the SOFT setting means wave table instruments are pre triggered This results in the sound being delayed by 20 30 milliseconds but triggers more accurately If the instrument does not have a w
48. cted If both Delete Selections AND Transform Selections options are checked in the EDIT menu Transform has priority when making a selection Caution Make sure to uncheck the Transform Selections option after you re done unless you really plan to use it repeatedly on multiple selections New Initialize Project By selecting New in the FILE menu you can initialize memory to start a new project You will be asked to confirm the action since this function completely wipes out your current project even the instruments Unsaved work is lost Naming the Project The project s name is displayed in the title of the arrange window Default name is Untitled until you save the project Then the filename is automatically used as project name and will be seen in the arrange window title If you would like to name your project prior to saving you can always fake it by saving with the SDR as the media source You then abort when MSSIAH Sequencer asks you to start your device The window title will now display the project name The topic of saving and loading is fully covered in the Files chapter http www mssiah com 24 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Editing Sequences Grid Editor Note sequences are edited in the grid editor window e a Q Grid editors are often called piano roll editors referring to the old player pianos It s the same principle except the holes of the piano roll is made up by note blocks on the screen If
49. current note transpose included Make three or four relative pitch changes in a harmonic pattern and you ve got yourself a chord Add Adding pitch means adding a value to the current frequency While relative pitch operates in semi notes add and sub uses direct frequency This is ideal to create a pitch slope for drums or sound effects like sirens etc Sub Same as add but subtracts the value instead http www mssiah com 48 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Filter The filter value in a wave table row overrides the current filter frequency UCF setting ERAS 31 If you don t know how the filter works see the VCF section earlier in this 57 chapter ei 66 Pulse poke PULSE 6s i9 24 The pulse value in a wave table row overrides the current pulse setting Wave Table Synchronization You can choose between four different ways to advance the wave table row when playing SYNC FREE FREE This is classic C64 style The time in between each row is approximately 20 ms TICS The wave table advances at every tic from the internal or MIDI clock There are six tics per sixteenth note in MIDI clock The result is a slower or faster wave table sound depending on the current tempo 1 16 Wave table advances every sixteenth note 1 32 Wave table advances twice as fast as the last option at every thirty second note You can try out these different sync modes to create interesting sounds For example change waveforms every sixteenth note pe
50. depressed Drag the note to a new place Release the left mouse button http www mssiah com 28 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Copying is the same procedure except press and hold the COMMODORE C key during the whole operation Unlike the arrange window workspace notes do not have alias objects Depending on the current state of the overwrite option notes are kept or overwritten when moving copying a note or whole selections of notes Selections As opposed to the arrange window the grid editor offers an in memory selection feature That means you can select any notes you like to include in the selection and they stay selected until you close the grid editor window E E mi E Move and copy extend and eraser tool all operate on selections That means if you have more than one note selected UPI ES _ while for example deleting all of those notes will be o erased There are several ways to include notes in a selection Left click a note Drag the mouse over an area of notes you wish to include Click on a key on the left piano keyboard to select all notes on the same key Use the Select All function in the EDIT menu alternatively press Commodore C key together with the A key That will select all notes in the open sequence Holding the LEFT SHIFT key includes the note to an already defined selection If you don t all the previous selected notes are deselected Left clicking a note multiple times hol
51. ding the LEFT SHIFT key toggles its selection Selected notes are displayed in black color Move Copy Selection To move a selection e Left click any of the selected notes e Drag the selection to a new position To copy the selection e Same as moving but press and hold the COMMODORE C key during the whole operation The overwrite option applies to moving and copying both single notes and selections http www mssiah com 29 MIDI SID SOFTWARE If you have unchecked the Overwrite Notes option in the EDIT menu you could end up losing or corrupting the whole selection if moving it onto an already occupied area in the grid editor Note Controls Note controls are assigned values set individually for each note or in between them They appear in the space just below the grid editor The four types of controls are Velocity Program Change Instrument Pitch Bend Slide nm lt Editing is done one at a time which means you have to choose the active control UAGA You do this by clicking any of the four buttons in the lower left corner of the window o The active control type is displayed in plain abbreviated text right under the buttons yp play p 8 Velocity Every note has a velocity value It modulates any of three parameters in the instrument editor more on that in a separate chapter z HEN E oo pp no s To alter the velocity value grab the vertical bar representing the value and drag
52. e Joystick acceleration increases the speed of the mouse pointer gradually 1351 acceleration is more like a modern PC mouse acceleration it speeds up the pointer the faster you move the mouse It s great for saving time but also relieves stress on your wrists Trimming Mouse Controls In the Sequencer s user preferences you will find a couple of parameters to fine tune the 1351 mouse acceleration vere SE ACCELERATION 2 LICK TIME EFI Double Click Time In the User Preferences window there is also a parameter that controls the double click speed for the left mouse button If you find that the MSSIAH Sequencer is too slow or too fast with the double click sensitivity you can tweak the setting in here Double click the red circle to try out the new setting It toggles between white and red color when it detects a double click Changing Background Color While we re at it the Sequencer has a setting for background color in case the orange default color doesn t match your taste You find the setting in the User Preferences window just below double click time Background color is not saved onto disk Keyboard Control If you start up the Sequencer with any other device than joystick or accidentally select the wrong device you can always reach for the panic keyboard control By pressing the CTRL key keyboard control is activated and the mouse pointer is controlled with the CRSR and RIGHT SHIFT keys F3 key replaces le
53. e E EE EE NRE 79 Accessing the SID Alo as a 79 MIDI Implementation Chart ooonocconoonnconccnncnnccnnonncnnononconccnononoonccncoonoonconnon conc onien nono rconcononoss 80 MIDI Controler Titanio ici 81 http www mssiah com 5 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Introduction The MSSIAH Sequencer is a powerful music application that combines making music on the C64 with MIDI requirements in the 2000s Whether you want to sequence tunes that play on your favorite 80s computer or make your boxy old friend a multi timbral polyphonic MIDI synthesizer this is the application you have been looking for As a SID music composing tool the MSSIAH Sequencer breaks the barrier between old computers and modern producers Back in the day music applications were quite Spartan not the least C64 software which focused on optimized playback routines chasing CPU performance The user interface was less prioritized resulting in tedious note edits requiring lots of patience and steep learning curves That is something people could tolerate in the early days of sequencers but hardly anymore By contrast MSSIAH Sequencer targets musicians The elements you recognize from your studio sequencers are all there mouse control windows sequence blocks arrangement workspace and a grid editor MSSIAH Sequencer effectively mimics industry standard software so that most users are up and running within 15 minutes Making SID music becomes just as easy as producing music on you
54. e Select the Pencil tool e Left click the spot on the workspace where to place the new sequence e If the spot is empty the sequence is created and placed on the workspace The mouse pointer then switches to a hand allowing mr you to move the new sequence anywhere you like e If there is already an object in that position it is selected instead Sequencer edition does not handle overlaps If the sequence memory of the MSSIAH Sequencer runs out of available storage space you will be notified this when trying to insert a new sequence OUT OF MEMORY That means no more sequences can be created Memory is full You will have to clean up by removing non alias sequences you re not using http www mssiah com 12 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Delete a Sequence Sequences are deleted with the Eraser tool e Select the Eraser tool e Left click the object you wish to delete e Object is deleted If you try to erase a main sequence with one or more alias objects every alias will also be erased You are first asked to confirm this action Alias sequences are explained later in this chapter Note Tips There is no undo function in the MSSIAH Sequencer To prevent accidental removal of objects there is an option that always confirms deletions in the program The default mode of this option is On You access the confirm deletes option in the EDIT menu ARE YOU SURE IN EN If you find this option annoying or just want to dis
55. e manually Open up the AUDIO menu and check the NTSC option When active the Sequencer application adjusts its internal timers as well as the frequency scale If you are running a C64 built for the PAL system leave the NTSC option unchecked When opening project files or the demo arrangement don t forget that the NTSC setting affects how the song is being played back This is due to your own computer it does not make any difference on what type of machine the song was initially composed NTSC setting is not saved in the project file Make it a practice to always check the NTSC option when starting up the Sequencer http www mssiah com 8 MIDI SID SOFTWARE User Input Controls The Sequencer edition is compatible with a number of user control devices inserted into Controller port 2 Select the control device in the OPTIONS menu This must be made manually at startup The Commodore 64 cannot auto detect what is connected to the port plug n play was invented much later remember Joystick Joystick is the default control at startup It gets activated when no other control option is selected 1351 mouse This is the option that selects C 1351 mouse or a PC mouse with a special adapter 1351 mode gives you full control of the Sequencer including right mouse button to access the toolbox Mouse wheel on certain adapters is also supported 1351 is the recommended device to use for the Sequencer edition Ti
56. e or Noise On the SID 8580 R5 any of the waveforms except noise MOD mB can be mixed The SID 6581 can only mix pulse and sine ELE all other combinations result in silence The three buttons below the waveform buttons select built in effects for the SID DCO Waveform Synchronization EJ This means that the frequency of this oscillator is synchronized with the frequency of another oscillator playing on a different track Ring modulation This means that the saw tooth output of this oscillator is replaced with a ring modulated combination of this oscillator and another oscillator s output playing on a different track Ring modulation is often used to create the sound of bells Top Gun anyone Oscillator Disabled pg This turns off the oscillator completely Which oscillator is affected When using sync and ring mod the corresponding oscillator that affects this instrument s oscillator depends on in which track the instrument is playing Note here we use the Sequencer term track when actually referring to another oscillator http www mssiah com 39 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Take a look at this table SID Sync Ring mod Affects instrument playing instrument played in in track track 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 3 2 2 4 6 2 5 4 2 6 5 Example Let s say you have created an instrument with oscillator synchronization currently playing in track 2 Looking up track 2 in the second column shows
57. e select command a couple of sixteenth notes ahead of the next measure Remember that pattern selects lock up the receiver s pattern until sync mode is switched back to internal clock The Sequencer mirrors the synchronization signal on the user port too so that the other connected computer can follow it The booklet MSSIAH Getting Started contains specs for the user port connections http www mssiah com 36 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Instrument Editor The MSSIAH Sequencer has a total of 32 instrument slots You edit those in the instrument editor window by choosing the Instrument Editor option in the AUDIO menu The editor window has two pages to access all parameters T H nin Ri 00000009 UCA fin kio ke kio TT c os T kaia hih Biik enga yontu If you are a complete newbie to synthesizer sound editing this manual will not be of much help You should first get information on how to create and edit synthesizer sounds elsewhere Selecting Instrument The title bar of the instrument editor window displays the current selected instrument its name and which octave to use for playing The selected instrument is the same as in the grid editor When you change it there it also changes in this window and vice versa Use the arrows to alter instrument and octave Naming an Instrument Double click the instrument name in the title bar and enter a new name Press RETURN key when ready Factory Presets To si
58. e the illusion of a full chord Of course it will not sound like a real chord with three or four voices playing in unison but a very special sound that truly defines the computer game era of the 80s Play it back to any old gamer or coder and notice the nostalgic smile on their faces E o um MLN g REL Sie ae O 193 Bet sm 312 RET o a o E R K o Tea ED O REL You can also play the fundamental tones of the chord in another sequence to make it more interesting such as starting with the third note one octave lower etc Nevertheless it s recommended to use the Insert Chord function to create a wave table chord from the ground up It is very convenient and a fast way to get started Slide Time You can set the slide time for every single instrument Shorter values suits legato two notes played after each other with no release whereas higher values gives slow portamento effects The value of 3 default is the classic TB 303 slide SLIDE 3 Slide times range from 1 fast to 4 slow You change it in the lower left corner of the instrument editor in page 2 http www mssiah com 51 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Copy Instruments Instead of using a pen and paper to write down an instrument s parameters and then re enter those into another instrument slot the MSSIAH Sequencer has a simple yet very handy copy function You find it in the lower right corner of the instrument editor window on page 2 COPY TABLE FROM COE EUNKLE
59. ectecedubes tadestes ae Gyles sb cetodusccsadbeeccaanes adelantada 21 http www mssiah com 2 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Deletine an Alla iia li dic 21 SELECIONAR AAA A IA A 22 How To Makea Selection 2 csr ssccsetcteceets tii olle Lelasseloeseaeteh csatabeldesess 22 Move Copy Selections Turis tr ia tod 22 Delete Selections iia ainia 23 Transform Selectos arial 24 New Initialize Project ir e da rai 24 Naming the Projects reont ae o pia tagnea ects AET dees peed reiko petete 24 Editing SCQuen Ces o 0ii sccc0sc0hseansesaoseesivonsoonssesvsonseneseeedsstobisobcoenstesasecuoosoneeess KSEE E rnEeE raS Es 25 Grid Editon A A NN 25 Open Por Edits annin ena a Ae ett ees hed Ae te de ies 25 Controller ire eee 27 Inserta Noticia art E 27 Erase a NOt it A A A A A A TA 28 SPU NOES vincia iostsnti dl resis oia lguebectetetabortgazeal 28 Glue Notes cian eee Lee Peete een Lee ee 28 Extend Notes once en wt eto edie 28 Moves Copy Notes lt tc ss snes nite ee ei ee elas tite 28 Selec MnS A TR 29 Note Controls citant iia dre s a 30 A AO A E A Dense cele 30 Program Changes ca t 31 Pitch Bend ues O TS 31 SHES tas toda rd nd aii 31 Playa tantas ideario EOR EEE ERO dci 32 cl A tt 32 MP EN 32 Cate ca da a ele i Ate 32 OO 32 Output ECHO Notes eiii di A riada riada 32 A OR ANE ced bts E Mia setae 32 Alternative A A RSS 33 Transform FUnctHONS italia 34 Control Sequence Editor uti Ae 35 Tempo Chis ad da a ao nani 35 Synchronization ReSOlUON comicid
60. ent way to length quantize all the notes in your selection You can easily decide that all notes should have the length of for example four sixteenth notes In practice this requires free space so every note might not be converted Whenever another note gets in its way the note length is stopped No overwriting occurs Remove Slides Bends This option removes slide and pitch bend commands from the sequence In the grid editor this function ignores selections AlI slide and bend commands within the open sequence are removed Repeat Objects This function is very useful if you have a long loop of sequences or notes It repeats your selection any number of times you like Repeating objects in the arrange window means that all valid objects within the brackets sequences are copied a predefined number of times as alias objects Destination area starts at the end of the active selection http www mssiah com 54 MIDI SID SOFTWARE a E E En Ea E ci riii moga Paan 0 ce o a na The grid editor handles the repeat objects function by copying selected notes The sequence of notes repeated starts at the first selected note and finishes at the last selected one All selected black notes within that range are repeated starting one sixteenth note after the last one selected Depending on the current state of the Overwrite Notes option in the EDIT menu blocking notes are overwritten or ignored
61. epeated sequences but they also save a lot of work for you Instead of altering notes in each and every sequence you focus on one object only and all the aliases are affected at once A must have when working with drum sequences Creating an Alias Sequence Aliases sequences are automatically created when copying a sequence Transforming an alias back to a main object is explained later Cutting and Gluing Alias Sequences Gluing alias sequences is possible as long as both objects share the same main sequence As aliases are just reference objects the length cannot exceed the length of the main sequence If the main object is split afterwards the aliases are automatically split also You can split an alias manually However when playing an alias sequence it will always start playing from the beginning of the main object Changing Colors and Transposing Aliases An alias sequence color is always the same as its main object When you change it in the property window it also affects the main sequence as well as all other aliases Transposing is unique for every single object so every alias can have its own transpose setting just like regular sequences Finding the Original Object To quickly find the original object of an alias there is a handy function provided in the Transform Functions See the Select Original function explained in the Transform chapter for more information http www mssiah com 20 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Editing
62. esolution The second row is where to put changes in synchronization resolution That is whether to run on 24 or 48 tics per quarter note Volume Change Volume changes are stored in the third row Values go from 0 to 15 and affect both SID 1 and SID 2 if installed Shuffle Change Second row from the bottom stores shuffle changes Values go from 0 to 7 A zero equals no shuffle MSSIAH Sequencer does not automatically restore the tempo volume or shuffle levels Whenever you change these you will have to manually change them back or add another control sequence to do it for you Tempo and shuffle can be manually altered in the transport window Volume does not have a manual control http www mssiah com 35 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Pattern Select MSSIAH Sequencer is capable of sending pattern select messages on the user port to communicate with Prophet64 applications http www prophet64 com The MSSIAH applications use MIDI instead of the user port to switch patterns If you do not own a Prophet64 Cartridge or have no intentions of using this function you can skip this section The last row in the control editor is used for user port pattern select There are eight positions to send this information but since the receiver will not switch pattern until the start of the next measure thus only using the last one sent it s pointless to hammer away several pattern selects To make sure the receiver catches up though place th
63. ft mouse button and F5 key is the right button A Word of Advice As stated earlier in this text it is advisable to either find a 1351 mouse or a PC mouse adapter to operate the Sequencer edition Not only does it give you a closer and more PC like response it is also free from C64 keyboard conflicts Because of the internal design of the C64 s keyboard and joystick inputs data signals on the controller ports sometimes interfere with the keyboard In practice that means Amiga and Atari mouse operation could seriously block different keys on the keyboard One example when this C64 quirk may become a problem is in the Instrument Editor Here you have the C64 s keyboard available to play notes and try out the sound you are editing Depending on the current position of the Amiga Atari mouse the sound might not play at all when you hit that key due to the conflict between the struck key and the input data from the Amiga Atari mouse The same goes for certain hot keys in the application Joystick mode has got the same problems but to a much lesser extent http www mssiah com 10 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Arrange Window Overview The Arrange window is the main window in the Sequencer edition It contains the sequence workspace window from now on referred to as the workspace a transport window and a property window that displays basic properties of selected items The workspace is where you create and arrange sequences Each block represent
64. functions for yourself and learn how to properly use them in your work and how they can help you to be more effective Caution Make sure to uncheck the Transform Selections option in the EDIT menu when you re done to prevent accidental loss of data http www mssiah com 57 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Using MIDI The MIDI implementation in the MSSIAH Sequencer consists of three different modes of operation These are run in MIDI mode as the screen goes blank and the Sequencer is ready for input MIDI mode is a separate window that both contains the MIDI settings and activates MIDI mode UN DN A R C MIDI hiss DE Access the MIDI window by selecting the MIDI Mode item in the Functions menu M MIDI Mode window The MIDI mode window has settings for MIDI channel pitch wheel range and channel preset The settings are enabled or disabled depending on the status of a second SID and whether you have selected a polyphonic or multi timbral mode START CLOSE MIDI Channel The first row sets the MIDI channel for each track Channels are selectable 1 16 or Off If SID 2 is enabled so are the lower tracks 4 6 If you choose polyphonic mode only channel 1 is enabled Pitch Wheel Range You can set the range up and down independently for all tracks in 24 semitone steps Instrument You can select what instrument to play on each track individually Default is the channel s last played instrument It s less important if you pl
65. ging especially after a release phase from a previously played sound The oscillator is then kept busy which is good in some occasions but really bad in others ATT DEC SUS REL MGI ME MX MX http www mssiah com 44 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Another example is using a fast decay for snappy sounds Even with initializing the envelopes might fail Mostly this is due to the song s tempo making pre trig time deviate too much from the optimal 33 ms value ATT DEC SUS REL MES ME MA Mil A trick to get around it is to use the Short option which re triggers a little earlier another is to apply a value of 1 on the attack setting As you see there is no one fits all solution for SID envelope init It takes a little experimenting before you find an acceptable workaround Envelope Initialization via MIDI MIDI mode offers three ways of initializing the envelopes These work best in multi mode since polyphonic modes cannot always predict which oscillator is to be used next Therefore envelope init in poly mode simply restart all the available oscillators Control Change 65 You can at any time send the control change message 65 on a MIDI channel to reset that oscillator immediately Following the 65 message is a value between 1 and 8 that sets the mode of initialization For example the value 2 means that the ADSR is reset with a full decay value the rest being zero and the envelope trig is set to 8 disable oscillator The value 6 is a
66. he top of this chapter and input the same parameters Those settings produce pretty interesting results Try it out add some notes and try it with or without slide Learn to use the Advanced Random Composer as a tool to complement your creativity or for that matter a last minute help in absence thereof http www mssiah com 64 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Files The file operations in the MSSIAH Sequencer have a separate screen window Even though accessed via the FILE menu there is no further mouse control once the file screen is entered Use the CRSR keys and RIGHT SHIFT to navigate and RETURN key to execute a function and select files etc Use key to cancel step back Media The Sequencer uses two types of media to load and save data disk and SDR Tape is not supported Disk All disk operations start by asking you to choose device number Unless you have changed your disk drive s device number 8 is default use CRSR keys to change device number Loading from disk means that a directory window opens with a list of valid files on your floppy You then select the file you wish to load The directory window shows the amount of free blocks in the upper right corner The file operations for the floppy drive make use of the operating system s basic disk functionality There are no delete functions and no replace and save options built in If you try to save the file onto disk with a name that already exists the save is interru
67. ia choice below Use CRSR keys to select Disk as media source and then press RETURN key Select device 8 is default Select a file in the directory list If the disk you have inserted does not contain any sequence files you are notified with the No files message box Press RETURN key to start loading When done loading press key to return to the arrange window Use CRSR keys to select SDR as media source and then press RETURN key Press SPACE key when you are asked to start your SDR device Start playing back data on your SDR device Screen flashes as data is received When done loading press key to return to the arrange window If a file is found with a different file type loading stops and you are notified If you try to load a file longer than the destination sequence you are notified that the sequence length is wrong In that case select another longer sequence as an import destination Export Instrument You can export a full instrument including the wave table to disk or SDR To export an instrument Select Export in the FILE menu Use CRSR keys to select to export an instrument then press RETURN key Use CRSR keys to select which instrument to export then press RETURN key Continue to read the section for your media choice below Use CRSR keys to select Disk as media source and then press RETURN key http www mssiah com 72 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Enter a non existing filename in the filename dia
68. ilter VCF and amplitude envelope generator VCA Added to this are three independent sources of modulation a wave table for instrument 1 16 can be reused for instr 17 32 and additional settings like envelope initializations hard restart and tuning Modulators available are the low frequency oscillator LFO and the software envelope ENV Both of them can be routed to pulse pitch or filter frequency http www mssiah com 38 MIDI SID SOFTWARE For greater flexibility the LFO can also act as a simple envelope and the envelope can be set to repeat like an LFO Note velocity is available as a real time controllable modulator to affect pulse filter and VCA The wave table has eight rows of data to change waveform pitch filter and pulse settings You can loop any positions within the table and synchronize it to either internal external clock 16th notes 32th notes or just let it run free classic C64 Editing Click the left mouse button in the black region surrounding the numbers and move the mouse up down to alter the value Keep both mouse buttons depressed to reset aa the value Radio buttons and check boxes are checked or toggled with the left mouse button as usual DCO The DCO section includes settings for waveform pitch and pulse modulation DCO PULSE MOD The four leftmost buttons select waveform s Click on the one s that graphically represents the SID ES mers SENZ me waveform s you want Saw tooth Sine Puls
69. inal comes in handy This function is the only one that takes effect immediately after clicking OK in the functions window If you have selected an alias sequence before opening the functions window clicking the OK button means that the original sequence is looked up and selected instead You can also use the 7rsf Selections option as long as the first object in your selection is the alias object Pressing the LEFT SHIFT key and left clicking the alias object is all you need to do really The original sequence is looked up and selected immediately regardless if confirm actions is enabled or not Crescendo Crescendo creates a velocity crescendo for all selected notes in the sequence The crescendo starts with the first selected one and ends with the last one Only selected notes are affected napaaga megan 3 43 By checking the nv radio button the crescendo gets inverted decrescendo so that the first note s velocity starts at full velocity and drops to zero instead Crescendo function only works inside the grid editor Half Speed Half speed makes all the notes in the current sequence twice as long and rearranges their start points respectively in order to make the sequence play back at half the original speed The length of the sequence is not affected whereas notes on the latter half of it will be lost http www mssiah com 56 MIDI SID SOFTWARE The half speed function only works inside the grid editor Try out these
70. ject aie e The result is two sequences with individual number identifiers sharing colors and transpose settings The two split objects do not consume any more memory than if merged together Changing Sequence Color Every sequence is assigned its own color for easier recognition Default color is inherited from the track in which it is created To change sequence color manually e Left click the sequence with either Arrow or Pencil tool to select it e Left click the value in the property window Drag mouse up and down to select a new color e An alias sequence has the same color as its main object Changing one will also change the others http www mssiah com 14 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Transpose Sequence A sequence can be played back with all its notes transposed up or down by 12 semi notes e Select the sequence you wish to transpose e Alter the transpose value in the property window Cycle Region MSSIAH Sequencer has a loop function that repeats parts of any length in your song r e Define the cycle region by marking the selected measures in the upper part of the bar ruler e Merge longer regions by holding LEFT SHIFT key when clicking on the new start or end measure If not already in Cycle mode MSSIAH Sequencer activates it as you click the bar ruler area Cycle mode means that the Song Position Line jumps back to the start position once it has travelled past the end when playing That creates an eternal
71. laying http www mssiah com 31 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Playing To start playing in the grid editor use the same keys as in the arrange window You can also use the play stop button in the lower left corner of the window Press it once to start playing and once again to stop While playing the button gets a lighter blue color Cycle The grid editor offers a higher cycle resolution than the arrange window Start and end points can start on any sixteenth note This makes it perfect for looped edits The cycle region goes back to full measure resolution when you close the grid editor but the start and end points are kept until you open it the next time To create a cycle e Mark out the cycle region in the upper part of the bar ruler e Press LEFT SHIFT key to join an already defined region SPL You can set the SPL by clicking in the lower part of the bar ruler Alternatively use the key to step forward and the CLR HOME key to step backwards Catch When catch mode is activated the screen is automatically updated to follow the SPL This occurs as long as the SPL is inside the position boundaries of the current sequence If you start scrolling the grid editor window horizontally catch mode is automatically switched off Solo The solo function mutes all tracks except the one for the current sequence That way you listen to it in solo Very convenient when editing Output Echo Notes E When output is activated no
72. log You can use all letters from a z and 0 9 as well as additional characters Use INST DEL key with or without the LEFT SHIFT key to insert delete text e Press RETURN key to start saving or to cancel e Select device 8 is default e When done saving press key to return to the arrange window e Ifthe disk you have inserted already contains an instrument file with the same name the drive light flashes and you are notified with a Save Error message box SDR e Use CRSR keys to select SDR as media source and then press RETURN key e Enter a filename in the dialog and press RETURN when ready e Select the SDR speed e Now make your digital device ready start recording e Press SPACE key e Screen goes blank and flashes as data is transmitted e When saving is done press lt key to return to the arrange window e You can break the save operation anytime during saving by pressing the RUN STOP key Import Instrument You can import an instrument into any of the 32 slots The first 16 slots accept full instruments the last 16 17 32 will only load basic instrument data no wave tables To import an instrument Disk SDR Select Import in the FILE menu Use CRSR keys to select to import an instrument then press RETURN key Use CRSR keys to select which instrument slot to import into Press RETURN key and continue to read the section for your media choice below Use CRSR keys to select Disk as media source and then press RETU
73. menu when starting to play the song DE00 DFOO or D500 are your alternatives even though VICE gives you lots of options To keep it simple use the same address MSSIAH is originally designed for DEO0O Note that the sound quality in VICE is reduced when emulating six SID oscillators compared to only three http www mssiah com 71 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Making a PSID File The procedure of making a PSID file is somewhat similar to making a C64 executable file If you haven t already read the section on loops earlier in this chapter to understand how to set the cycle correctly e Select PSID as the type using CRSR keys left and right TYPE PSTD e Enter a filename for the output file Make sure it does not already exist e Enter a title author and copyright statement release year for your song the copyright field is labeled released in PC players referring to the year of release e If you want to target a SID select either 6381 or 8580 Select No if it doesn t matter e Currently there are no PSID players capable of generating an extra SID Therefore it s best to turn SID 2 Off e Select SAVE and the file compresses and saves When done saving you are returned to the main startup menu e Transfer the saved PRG file to a PC computer This is not covered in this manual There are numerous programs and explanations on how to do this on the net To run the file in a program such as S Dplay you will need to remove the PRG
74. moved If there are objects blocking the way the move is canceled Empty spots in your selection are considered transparent After the selected sequences are moved or operation is aborted the selection seizes to exist You will need to define a new selection for every new action http www mssiah com 22 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Copy e Press and hold the LEFT SHIFT key e Press and hold left mouse button and mark up the area using arrow or pencil tool e Release the LEFT SHIFT key and move your selection e Before you release the left mouse button to drop the selection press and hold COMMODORE C key The selection is now copied as alias sequences into the new position Just like moving objects copying is not executed if there are blocking objects Empty space in your selection is considered transparent If you have a large selection that spans over several pages it s a good idea to start marking it up in the opposite side of the moving direction That way you will see what s ahead in the arrangement when dragging the selection Delete Selections Instead of deleting a large amount of sequences with the eraser tool there is a convenient way of doing this with the help of a selection First you need to tell the MSSIAH Sequencer that you want to treat the selections as deletions e Check the Delete Selections option in the EDIT menu e Press and hold the LEFT SHIFT key e Press and hold the left mouse button and mark up the area con
75. mplify the instrument creation process a total of 68 factory presets were included in the application These can be loaded into an instrument slot for direct usage or further edits Even if you are a pro on editing instruments the presets are a fast point to start A newbie will certainly benefit from the easy access to lots of classic sounds from the SID and that is why this chapter starts by focusing on those presets The 68 presets can be loaded into any of the 32 instrument slots However instruments no 17 32 does not have wave tables so it is not a good idea to load a wave table preset into any of those slots You recognize wave table presets by the dash sign next to the preset number Some sounds are also using filters and therefore vary in quality in between SID revisions http www mssiah com 37 MIDI SID SOFTWARE The first preset named Default is the same as the startup instrument loaded into all the slots With a simple saw tooth waveform and a sustain only envelope it s very basic and great to start with when creating new sounds It s a quick patch to play with when learning the application or if you re just in the mood for some early 90s gangsta funk To use a preset click the arrow buttons to find a sound of interest and then double click Get 1 DEFAULT 18 BASSGTR3 35 OP HIHAT 52 DYNASTY 2 BEEFSTEAK 19 SYNBASS1 36 COWBELL 53 ELECSNAP 3 SYNPAD 20 SYNBASS2 37
76. n in the song you need to convert the alias to a real sequence If you on the other hand want to edit a whole loop of alias objects where they all are children of the same main sequence choosing to edit the original is a better idea since your edits will affect the whole loop A great example of this is when making a drum track Let s say you have a simple four measure drum loop track 3 in the right image The first sequence is repeated four times mmm AHD ADO DIDDI OULZNOM Now assume you want to add an extra snare drum strike in between beat 2 and 4 for the whole drum beat In this case you could either go for the main sequence and add the extra notes for the snare drum or go for an alias sequence and select to edit the ORIGINAL If you have lots of aliases it s probably easier to double click the closest object instead of looking for the main sequence Either way will do the job rra dl Let s say you also want to make a variation in the last measure before the loop starts over asik CA EE Now is the time to make a REAL COPY to distinguish the last GTR2 sequence from the rest As you select the real copy option the alias HEP MEE becomes a new sequence and any changes will not affect or be E R affected by the other sequences ETES GTR2 When you continue copying your drum beat HEP MM E the first three objects and the last one are GTRS N GTREG different sequences http www mssiah com 26 MIDI SID SOFTWARE
77. n the FUNCTIONS menu Lock Notes Click the left mouse button on the notes you wish to lock 1 e include in the random process Click once again to unlock exclude You can also use the upper and lower part of the computer s keyboard as a piano keyboard to toggle the locked notes If you wish to clear the whole keyboard press the CLR HOME key Range Range is the span of octaves to use RANGE 6 The random process always starts with the currently selected octave shown in the title window of either grid editor or instrument editor The range you decide is then randomly added to the current octave A value of 1 keeps it within the same octave at all times http www mssiah com 63 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Steps Steps determine the maximum amount of notes to be included This depends on the length of the selected sequence RND means A R C randomly decides the amount of notes STEPS RND Press the left mouse button and move the mouse up down to alter the step value Slide Select yes to let A R C randomly decide whether to add slide or not SLIDE 0YES ONO Velocity Select the maximum range to randomly decrease note velocity VEL i5 Lower values will increase the velocity span A value of zero sets maximum velocity on all notes Start Randomizing Click on the randomize button to start You can interrupt the process at anytime by pressing the RUN STOP key Example Look at the overall A R C picture in t
78. ne 14 Changing Sequence Color 25 5 di a vets dat dca N AE EEEE RES 14 Transpose SEQUENCE iaie o eet rn aee neee EOE TEE E a E EEEE EE a Ea A Eeh 15 Cycle R gion nonna na a e a a i a a aa a aa aaie ci 15 The Song Position Line SPL ecceessecessceesseceesseceeaceceeceecaeceeaaeceeaeeceeeeeaeeesaaeceeaeeeeaees 15 Catch Mode A ee ee ee 16 Transport Window ied server tet A a Ae 16 Current POSI Oisein poses is e EEEE e E Succ ee EE ade da foja 16 The Position Wind Wei sjniiias ina ene 17 Tempo sit AAA A A ent Rah Sa anes 17 SHUT ees at IN al S nats totes edd ca E E ea can vets oem Rin 17 SONS en iii A A A A E 17 Memory S ystem Performance esien oei a aa iaiia oeiia eoir 17 ME TACKS 50 nae e ies tetas A E A e AE O EAEE O E a e e Beckt 17 Naming a Track ia cave nacho E aka EATA A en EE aiiin 17 ZOOMIN ea See 18 S COMING cta ada E E E ue alien 18 Key Control sonerie laica dat e a ke eta alada lagen tapia 19 Copy Moye Sequences ini id E tt tata 19 Altas Sequence Seseo eee ae e nee leia EE EAGEN 20 Creating n Alias Sequences inisin noiniaii a peia e r eia ate 20 Cutting and Gluing Alias Sequences eseseeseeeeseseeseesrestesresresesrtssesrrssesrtssreeresressesressee 20 Changing Colors and Transposing Aliases 0 eeeeseeseeeseeenceccecesecaeceseeeseeeseeeseeesneesaes 20 Finding the Original Object szc6s co eeccedinecslerystevienougeburtesggubesesecs secusdevSuscnaeees EEL ane AE 20 Editing an Alias Sequence 2s 25 2el
79. nstrument Note Length Trig Problem Most grid editors found on popular PC Mac sequencers will default the note length to a full 16th or 32rd note see left image on next page That means the note off is sent just before the next adjacent if any note triggers Though most synthesizers handle this well the SID does not When trigging off a SID oscillator the chip needs a little extra time to recover before the next trig occurs http www mssiah com 60 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Therefore when working with an external sequencer shorten the length of notes so that note off do not get too close to the next note on right image Programming Wave Tables via MIDI The list of control change messages for the MSSIAH Sequencer even includes editing wave tables via control data That means you can fill a whole wave table with a drum sound a chord or what not by sending a series of control change messages and values The actual wave table data that is being altered is the one residing in the MIDI channel s current instrument As you learned in the Instrument Editor chapter instruments 17 32 reuse the wave tables for the lower instruments So when entering wave table data for instrument 17 you re in fact altering instrument 1 s wave table 18 uses no 2 s etc 19 no 3 etc Keep that in mind The control change messages available for wave table data programming are 96 Wave table on off 0 1 1 activate 97 Wave table sync 0 3 98 L
80. on they form the classic euro sound of modern dance music LFO The LFO is a software Low Frequency Oscillator that can also function as a simple envelope http Wwww mssiah com 40 MIDI SID SOFTWARE LFO EJ The frequency operating range is between 0 and 127 Lower values make a slower oscillation whereas higher ones make the LFO go faster uc Bets A zero value equals no oscillation at all You can delay the LFO operation with up to 15 sixteenth notes by setting TRG DENU e DEL value LFO Delay has an additional function when running the Sequencer in MIDI mode A value between 1 and 7 then sets the modulation wheel top limit instead of LFO delay Le a value of 4 will not allow the pitch modulation to go higher than 4 when pushing the mod lever on your keyboard The LFO runs continuously and resets only when a program change switches to another instrument If you wish to retrigger the LFO at every strike of a new note check the TRG box As you do this you will notice another checkbox appearing named ENV When checking ENV the LFO turns into a rudimentary envelope using the frequency setting as a decay value Lower values make a slower decay whereas higher values speed it up Unlike real envelopes the LFO envelope stops when it reaches zero There are no sustain or release settings and no attacks either LFO Sync If you click the note symbol in the LFO section you activate the LFO synchronization mode The LFO rate now displays
81. oop point start 99 Loop point end 100 Set row for entry 0 7 at what row do you want to place the data 101 Waveform sync ring mod at position 0 32 102 Trig on 1 or off 0 103 Pitch type 0 3 Absolute relative etc 104 Pitch low 0 127 105 Pitch high 0 127 106 Filter cutoff frequency override 0 32 107 Pulse width override 0 31 It s pretty straightforward e First set the position with cc 100 e Then set the waveform trig pitch etc e Once again change the position with cc 100 and enter the next row For more details on these messages see the MIDI Controller List chapter http www mssiah com 61 MIDI SID SOFTWARE A Start of List ys 1 Control 1 100 0Ctr100 a St Conwol 1 a01 2 Ctrl 101 1 1 3 1 Control 1 102 1Ctr102 1 1 4 1 Control 1 103 OCti103 TL 1 Control 1 104 0Ctr104 IEEE 1 Control 1 100 1 Ctrl 100 1 2 3 1 Control 1 103 OCti103 12 4 Control 1 Pitch Settings When setting pitch you first define if it s relative absolute or add subtract Then you set the pitch setting itself Now this is a little harder Pitch settings go from 0 255 whereas MIDI data only takes 0 127 Therefore two different control change messages pitch low and pitch high are provided to access 0 127 and 128 255 respectively If your pitch type is add or subtract then it s quite simple The value sent for example pitch high of 102 is applied to add sub with its reference added Pitch low adds nothing and pitch high
82. ound with higher sustain value than the previously struck note If you re experiencing weird drop outs when playing velocity sensitive parts that might be the problem How to master the SID envelopes By now you have probably learned that the SID envelope occasionally triggers quite poorly This happens every 8 notes or so and is impossible to predict Back in the C64 heydays clever coders and musicians examined the SID carefully and came up with a cure hard restart The idea behind hard restart is to initialize the SID envelopes a given amount of time before trigging the note 33 ms considered optimal Hard restart does not allow envelope release if two notes are triggered close together because it cuts off the sound completely The upside however is that the envelope triggers much better All envelope settings do not work in every given situation For example wave table sounds with a textured content and rapidly switching the sound in between notes can be a bit tricky for the SID So even if using envelope init you still need to tweak the ADSR to find the right settings This is what defines a good SID musician Learn to master the envelope and how to find solutions in different situations and spend a little more time to experiment and get the envelopes right A concrete example of a problem you will encounter when working with SID and wave tables is starting a wave table sound with the noise waveform These are known to cause trouble when trig
83. ps Press and hold the Commodore Key C while starting up the MSSIAH Sequencer to automatically activate 1351 mode Amiga Mouse Select this option if you use an Amiga mouse The C64 does not recognize its right button so you have to use the F5 key to reach the toolbox Atari Mouse Select this option if you use an Atari mouse for the old Atari 520 1040 ST series The C64 does not recognize its right button so you have to use the F5 key to reach the toolbox Right Mouse Button Reading the right mouse button off an Amiga or Atari mouse is technically impossible on an unmodified device If using a standard Amiga Atari mouse you will have to access the toolbox with the F5 key It is however possible to convert the signal from the mouse s right button output into a signal that the A D converter inside the C64 is capable of reading In that case Sequencer edition treats values above 128 80 hex on the POT X pin of controller port 2 as an activated mouse button Any value below 128 denotes a released button Be aware that an unmodified mouse will let the computer think that the right mouse button is depressed Selecting the Right Mouse Button option in the OPTIONS menu will therefore constantly open the toolbox preventing normal control Therefore do not select Right Mouse Button if not working with a modified mouse http www mssiah com 9 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Acceleration The accelerate option works with both joysticks and 1351 mic
84. pted and the drive light flashes When you need to scratch files use the Disk File Manager in the startup menu When reading the directory the correct type of files is automatically collected If there are no files of that particular type on the disk you will get a No Files error It does not necessarily mean that the disk is empty rather than empty of that type of files The No Files dialog displays the number of blocks free on the disk in the upper right corner for you to see whether it s totally empty or not http www mssiah com 65 MIDI SID SOFTWARE The file type depends on the file operation you selected whether it s a full project load or a specific import MSSIAH Sequencer File Types File suffix Disk space ARR 77 blocks gt 19Kb Sequencer project including instruments SEO 2 blocks lt 1Kb Single sequence export INS 1 blocks lt 1Kb Single instrument export SDR SDR is short for Serial Data Register a hidden feature never used by any peripheral device released for the C64 platform The SDR works with a serial data stream on the user port A dedicated device must handle this data to store it on a separate media This makes file management an issue for the user and not the MSSIAH file functions For example one could save SDR data onto a digital device like raw audio data The user then decides where to put the file how to handle multiple saves etc The procedure for saving and loading SDR data is very simple You
85. r Mac PC machine But it doesn t stop there If you re not looking for a Commodore 64 sequencer to make nifty SID music you can always switch the MSSIAH Sequencer to MIDI mode and it turns into a MIDI synthesizer awaiting your input It can operate in full six channel monophonic multi timbral mode or as a six voice polyphonic synth Alternatively you can mix these modes and get a 3 part multi timbral AND three voice polyphonic synth using one SID for each purpose For real versatile playing the poly modes can use your played notes as the input for wave table sounds That means playing classic broken chords live Recognizing notes and velocity control change messages program changes and even full range pitch wheels will make the MSSIAH Sequencer a trustworthy member of your MIDI setup Never before has hooking up the Commodore 64 to MIDI been so easy and cost effective and not to forget such great fun Whether you use it as a stand alone application for SID music or full MIDI only we are sure this program will bring lots of useful backup to your tracks when you need that something extra To fully enjoy MSSIAH Sequencer we recommend that you take the time to read this whole manual through 1 Though named Sequencer this program does not function as a sequencer in MIDI mode 2 Six tracks voices with SID2SID installed If not only three tracks voices http www mssiah com 6 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Using the MSSIAH Sequencer
86. rhaps combined with some waveform sync or ring modulation effects or why not run thirty second note classic arpeggios When using wave table synchronization in MIDI mode the MIDI clock advances the wave table pointer every 16th or 32rd note If you start playing the note exactly on a MIDI clock event the wave table might jump ahead a little too fast If so try playing it a couple of tics later http www mssiah com 49 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Wave Table Editing via MIDI You can input wave table data via MIDI too Read more about it in the Using MIDI chapter Wave Table Transpose and Pitch Bend Pitch bends only affect rows using the relative pitch change mode and a zero value no transpose Insert Chord Function To quickly create chords there is a handy function to insert INSERT CHORD chords Just select a type of chord and double click the INS MINORS IGEK button The pitch pattern is inserted into the first four rows of the wave table All other data is unaffected Wave Table Example A simple bass drum To make it easier to understand the wave table concept here are two examples of the most commonly used wave table sounds Let s start with a bass drum To imitate a bass drum sound we need to break it down to some basic building blocks First there s the initial click of the drum pedal beater Second there is a sloped pitch falling from a medium frequency to the absolute bottom To create such a sound with a wave table we ll
87. s one sequence and can be moved around freely Different tools are used to create and work with the sequence objects The workspace is 256 measures long Such a vast area to lay out objects aka sequences and aliases not only makes it possible for a quite lengthy song it is also a great place to throw out different ideas when working on another project That s often the time when new ideas keep popping into your head so take advantage of that Use the empty workspace area to test different variations and angles on your beats phrases bridges verses and choruses The demo arrangement provided with the MSSIAH Sequencer shows just that It consists of three independent blocks of ideas that you can loop mute un mute tracks and re arrange into full songs The Toolbox Editing objects in the MSSIAH Sequencer is done with a set of tools in the Toolbox To access the toolbox e Press the right mouse button or F5 key within the workspace are area The toolbox stays open until the right button is released ke e Select the tool you want gt Close the toolbox by releasing the right mouse button The mouse pointer now takes the shape of the tool you selected and is ready to be used N Arrow No tool selected Picks and selects objects s Pencil tool adds objects Eraser tool removes objects Glue tool merges objects together Scissors tool cuts objects in two The toolbox is a function you will use frequently when working with
88. ssscssccsssccssscsesecssessssssssscesssssesesees 63 Lock Notes de aaa iras 63 A O 63 PS a rd thes 64 http www mssiah com 4 MIDI SID SOFTWARE A ON 64 Velocity neran AA AA A A E AI Cheseteeere 64 Start RandomiZine escitas iloicitttibrliasiteiatias 64 Example at alta cet ao a oo dea co dicto cds 64 PES 65 Medi a a ld Sa 65 Opening the Demo Arrangement oocconoccnocunonnnonnnonnnonnconnconnonnnoconocnncnnncnnnannn nana nrnanrnn cra nina noo 67 Saye Project stave onet ene a ae oct aa E RE e e Ea ke peo a Teee EON iggees Tea ASe terie tE 67 Verny Mo SDR Saye See A A E dea tosteeeets 68 Open Projet ees e A end ae ee dae Sie a a ele 69 Export Se quence s sisiunaitecs saline een Al aii Rie Aas 70 Import SEQUENCE sisi iii ete ote 71 Export Instrument ni a a ade 72 Import Instrume nt ii A ae ce hee A a e a a iaa iae 73 Making PSID Filesscccisssisieccsssecsssssecsccasssvesseetessocnsosvestestecssonssssescosdensssnssvensdesocssssessesasroncssssees 74 Loading a Sequencer AA ON 74 Set PODES ls Wiesreteneemiaa yeas 74 Making a C64 stand alone exe fll8 oooonocononcnnncnincnnocnnonnnocnnonnnnnncnn nono nc nono cono cnnccnnccnnccnnncnnnos 75 Playing the tiles ona tia A A A A A 76 LOODS estanco iia lila leelo till 77 Playing the file in the VICE emulator ee eeeeeeeeeeseeeseeeeecaeceaeceaeceseceseeeseeeseeeeneeenes 77 Making a PSID Files altiro 78 Playing the file in SID play oooonnonnnccnnccconcconcconaconnconncnnnnonn conc EEE EE EE
89. t fields are all displayed in the main window left picture iix Emulation ae xj A PRR Title WANT YOU BACK Real C64 environment C Ful bank switching Cancel Author MARTIN POP C Transparent ROM Released 1998 C PlaySID envi Song 1 out of 1 at CIA NTSC S re Time played 00 00 07 C PAL NTSC xl Only when speed not known ce Stop Pause Adjust tunes to this speed Om Pevan pre C Always play at this speed SID model C MOS 6581 MOS 8580 Only when model not known C Always use this model If you choose the only when not known option for clock speed and SID model right picture the song will play back with the correct speed and SID model according to the file properties Accessing the SID 2 The SID 2 can be accessed in different ways The most common technique is to hijack one of the two address lines of the cartridge expansion port Needless to say a cartridge present in the port needs at least one and sometimes both of these addresses thereby causing a conflict with the second SID The address lines are called 101 DE00 and 102 DF00 MSSIAH Cartridge uses IO1 to access the second SID That is the address line you solder from the SID2SID onto the seventh pin on the back of the expansion port inside the computer When playing back a stand alone compressed Sequencer file it is possible to choose either IO1 or 102 as second SID base address It is also possible to choose D500 as the
90. taining the sequences you wish to delete just like when copying and moving e Release left mouse button to start deleting e Make sure to uncheck the Delete Selections option when you are finished unless you plan to use it repeatedly on multiple selections As a matter of safety remember there is no undo function you are asked to confirm this action regardless of the current state of the Confirm Actions option in the EDIT menu Be aware that if you have alias sequences outside the selection that belong to main objects within the selection they will be removed too without any confirmation Caution Make sure to uncheck the Delete Selections option after you re done unless you really plan to use it repeatedly on multiple selections http Wwww mssiah com 23 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Transform Selections Just like deleting there is a way to perform a set of actions on a large selection of objects e Select Transform Options in the FUNCTIONS menu select action and set parameters explained later in a separate chapter e Press and hold the LEFT SHIFT key e Press and hold the left mouse button and mark up the selection of sequences whose notes you wish to transform e Release either the LEFT SHIFT key or the left mouse button to start transforming If you have checked the Confirm Actions option in the EDIT menu you will first be asked to confirm the action If not actions will be taken without your confirmation Aliases are not affe
91. te a feel for this and adjust your playing accordingly http www mssiah com 45 MIDI SID SOFTWARE The type of reset and init mode that will work best depends on your sound and various other situations For example initializing wave table sounds can be quite tricky since they often are made up of many different waveforms Pretriggering soft is probably best most of the times Generally the init mode depends mostly on the ADSR setting When tweaking that MIDI sequence to perfection you will probably need to try out a couple of different init types before you find the perfect solution When using the control change 65 method put the 65 message on the 7 MSSIAH riff same events as the notes for the current sequence in question Do this in an po empty sequence on the same MIDI channel and then alter the properties for Sii the control change sequence so that your MIDI sequencer plays 1t back 33 ms ahead of the others If 33 ms doesn t cut it try slightly lower or higher delay settings Also play around with the init mode 0 8 When you nail it you 1l have a perfectly triggered SID envelope Wave Tables Wave table is the accepted term for a predefined list of changes applied to waveform and pitch periodically about every 20 ms classic C64 Another word often used is arpeggio the technical term for broken chords It is the trick behind the famous drum and chord sounds of the C64 era WAVE TABLE GENABLE SYNC FREE WAVEFORM TRI
92. tes OFF X o 123 Active Sens x x System Res x x 1 MSSIAH Cartridge does not transmit MIDI Notes 2 Values outside of limits are recognized as top or bottom value 3 Program changes switches patch on next note on Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode 2 OMNI ON MONO O Yes Mode 3 OMNI OFF POLY Mode 4 OMNI OFF MONO X No http www mssiah com 80 MIDI SID SOFTWARE MIDI Controller List No Function Limit Remarks 1 Modulation Wheel 0 127 7 Main Volume 0 15 Affects both SIDs 64 Sustain Pedal 0 127 0 Off gt 0 On Poly mode only 65 Envelope Init hard restart 0 8 0 ADSR 0000 Trig 0 1 ADSR 0000 Trig 8 2 ADSR 0F00 Trig 8 3 ADSR 00FF Trig 8 4 ADSR FFFF Trig 8 5 ADSR OFOF Trig 8 6 ADSR reload Trig 8 7 ADSR 0000 Trig 9 8 ADSR 0000 Trig 1 9 Init Type Hard 10 Init Type Soft 11 Init Type None 66 Slide Time 1 4 67 Osc Waveform 0 32 See separate table below 68 Pulse Width 0 31 69 Pulse Modulation 0 1 0 Envelope 1 LFO 70 Pulse Modulation Depth 0 7 71 Pulse Velocity Depth 0 3 72 Tuning 0 127 64 middle 73 Pitch Modulation 0 1 0 Envelope 1 LFO 74 Pitch Modulation Depth 0 7 75 LFO Frequency 0 127 0 13 if LFO MIDI clk sync See table below 76 LFO Trig 0 1 0 Off 1 On 77 LFO Envelope Mode 0 1 0 Off 1 On 78 LFO Clock Sync 0 1 0 Off 1 On 79 LFO Delay
93. tes that are selected inserted or moved are echoed in the same track The same thing goes for clicking the piano keys on the left side of the screen If the sequence is transposed so are the echoed notes Colors The grid editor uses several colors to display notes Lower velocity makes the note appear in darker colors whereas a higher velocity results in a light color Selected notes are displayed in black color and destination notes for a slide or pitch bend appear in white http www mssiah com 32 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Alternative Editing Instead of using the mouse to insert notes you can use a step input for some fast composing Step Input Keyboard The input mode is activated with the I button in the upper left corner of the window With the Sequencer not playing press the I button to turn step input mode on Set the SPL at the position you wish to start Set instrument and octave in the window title bar Play the notes you want to insert on the C64 keyboard Use SPL buttons and CLR HOME to step forward to create pauses or backwards to go back When you re done turn off the input mode to not accidentally overwrite any notes If you wish to use an external MIDI keyboard check the MIDI keyboard option in the EDIT menu MSSIAH Sequencer now inputs notes from the first track s MIDI channel Note input on the keyboard is limited to three octaves ranging from C to F but using the grid editor s octave setting you
94. that is to read the directory to load a Sequencer project file Note that this application only supports disk files If your project is saved with SDR media first load it into the Sequencer and then save it onto a floppy disk e Insert the floppy disk containing your Sequencer project and hit the RETURN key to load the directory PSID Converter only reads disks on device 8 e Select the project file you wish to convert in the list of appropriate files only ARR files are listed e At this point you can either cancel and return to the main startup menu using the key or continue and start loading the file with the RETURN key Set Properties When the file is loaded the main window opens with file properties and output file options http www mssiah com 74 MIDI SID SOFTWARE When the file is saved the application returns to the MSSIAH Cartridge startup menu Note that you cannot escape to the startup menu from the property window other than to save the file unless you switch off on the power on your C64 Making a C64 stand alone exe file To create a file that plays directly on a C64 or a PC emulator Select C64 as the type using CRSR keys left and right Enter a filename for the output file Make sure it does not already exist Enter a title author and copyright statement for your song If you want to target a SID select either 6581 or 8580 or No if it doesn t matter In this case the target SID does not have any o
95. the MSSIAH Sequencer on internal clock 14 fixed tempo settings are available The current tempo is displayed in either black or gray color where black colors refer to classic C64 tempo settings When Sequencer is running as MIDI slave the tempo displays MID and follows your MIDI master device instead Shuffle The Sequencer has seven shuffle steps swing adding groove to the song Song Length Here you set the maximum song length of the current project When the SPL reaches this end point it stops playing Bar ruler turns gray passed the song s end position Memory System Performance The lower right numbers in the Transport window is the Memory Meter System Performance Meter The memory meter default shows how much memory is used up by the sequence objects whereas the system performance meter shows current CPU load for the audio engine Peak value holds for a short time The mode is toggled in the AUDIO menu Tracks The left side of the arrange window shows track numbers mute buttons and filter indicators alley The track number turns to a velocity level meter during playback BUET The mute button allows you to mute the output from the selected track T The filter indicator lights up when the filter is turned on for the track sat MET Naming a Track You can set a name for each audio track Ti e Double click the old track name ANEBSS e Mouse pointer turns into a cursor eat Y e Enter a new name
96. ther effect but to show the listener for which SID version the song was originally composed If using SID 2 you can set a base address to access the SID For C64 exe files this is used as guidance only since the user is free to set this address when starting the file later on If you wish not to playback any additional SID 2 tracks or your song is made for one SID only select Off Select SAVE and the file compresses and saves When done saving you are returned to the main startup menu http www mssiah com 75 MESS VAY n MIDI SID SOFTWARE Playing the file on a C64 To play the file on a real C64 or an emulator e With the MSSIAH Cartridge removed load the executable file from the C64 startup screen using the basic disk load command LOAD filename 8 1 Exchange filename with the name of your file enclosed with double quotes e Press RETURN key e File starts to load When ready enter RUN e Press the RETURN key The player program starts up D500 USE CURSOR KEYS AND RETURN If the song uses SID 2 you are first presented with an option where to address the second SID If you don t have a second SID installed you can select to ignore Note that you won t hear all six tracks with only one SID installed Ignoring also means that the program won t cause conflicts with fast loader cartridges etc that might be present on the expansion port Read more about accessing the second SID in the end of this chapter
97. use CRSR keys to go OOLBRM back forward BCEATRS BGBTR6 http www mssiah com DIDIDDA OULWN 17 MIDI SID SOFTWARE e Press Enter key when done Name length is limited to three characters Use short names like bss for bass drm for drums etc Zooming The arrange window workspace has three levels of zooming Mm ris J The zoom level controls are located at the lower right corner of the window e Use left part of the zoom control to zoom out e Use right part of the zoom control to zoom in Alternatively e Use key to zoom in e Use key to zoom out Commodore 128 numeric keypad is supported Scrolling You can scroll the workspace forward and backwards with the horizontal scroll bar Either click the left or right arrow buttons or grab the scroll box inside the bar and drag it to the wanted position Ea If you have a dedicated PC to C64 mouse adapter the Sequencer supports the mouse wheel so that you can use it for scrolling too When moving objects or marking up a long cycle region that spans over more than one page the workspace window scrolls its content automatically http www mssiah com 18 Key Control MIDI SID SOFTWARE The MSSIAH Sequencer offers a few hotkeys to access some of the most used functions in the program The hotkeys were kept to a minimum because of the Commodore 64 s user control keyboard conflicts SPACE RETURN INST DEL C K Y CLR HOME RETUR
98. with the project file you wish to open Use the CRSR keys to select DISK as media source and press RETURN key Select device 8 is default Wait until the directory is loaded In the directory window use CRSR keys to navigate to the file you wish to load and press RETURN key to start loading If you wish to cancel press key to go back one step If there are no files on the disk you will be notified by a message box saying No files In that case press key to go back insert a new disk and try again When the file is loaded you press the key to exit the files screen Select Open in the FILE menu Use the CRSR keys to select SDR as media source and press RETURN key Make your digital device ready The dialog box asks you to press space and then start your digital device Press SPACE key Screen goes blank and awaits your digital device Start your digital device play back Screen flashes as data is received When the file is loaded press the key to exit the files screen If a file is found with a different file type loading stops and you are notified You can break the operation anytime during loading by pressing the RUN STOP key However this opens the initialize screen asking you to clear the memory http www mssiah com 69 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Important If you interrupt a loading process of a Sequencer project vital data might be corrupt when returning to the arrange window This can cause a fatal crash if ignored
99. written Waveform The waveform column selects the waveform for the current row The four waveform buttons and three additional ones are just the same as in page 1 Refer to the DCO section earlier in this chapter for more info HAVEFORM w 18 IT ees Click the buttons to select waveform for each row respectively in the EEx wave table Leave it empty if you want the previous waveform just ATI ipg don t forget to set a waveform for the first row ELLI As you enable wave table the DCO section in page 1 becomes EE inactive and completely relies on these settings http www mssiah com 47 MIDI SID SOFTWARE Trig The trig column determines whether to trig the sound on or off TRIG To trig a sound set a waveform for the same row and check the trig checkbox To trig off a sound set a waveform for the same row but leave the checkbox unchecked O tal Do not check the trig checkbox if you don t have a waveform on the same O row That results in no sound at all and might confuse the SID envelope Pitch This column sets the pitch change for the current row PITCH o a DIDIVDIOD mmmmeomw rrrraord The pitch setting has four different modes Absolute In absolute mode you define the note to be played regardless of note and transpose values The table s pitch column displays the absolute note Relative Relative is the standard mode for wave table pitches It transposes the pitch a given amount of semi notes up or down from the

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