Atari XL/XE (8-bit) - software for digital music!

[yerzmyey]

If You think that Atari XL/XE is good only for making synthetic music (chiptunes) - then You're very wrong.

This platform has 4 hardware channels of sound and CPU strong enough (1,77Mhz for PAL machines and 1,78Mhz for NTSC machines) to play digital music from on-board POKEY chip (4-bit sound) or from an additional sound-card: COVOX (8-bit sound).

There are two important music-editors for making digital music on Atari XL/XE.


The older one is PROTRACKER.

http://madteam.atari8.info/uzytki/pro_tracker.zip
It alowes You to make 4-channels digital music. It can load and play MOD files however there are some limitations related with original MOD format's commands.
It works with original POKEY chip and also with a COVOX soundcard.
The PROTRACKER works on Atari machines with AT LEAST 128Kb of RAM (Atari 130 XE or older machines but WITH RAM expansions) , however the more RAM - the better. It works also with these RAM expansions: 256Kb, 320Kb (Rambo) and 512Kb.

Patterns' amount: up to 34.
Samples' amount: up to 31.

Each sample cannot be longer than 16128 bytes.

Commands:
c-volume
d-break pattern
f-tempo

Instruction of the editor: http://madteam.atari8.info/protracker.php (sadly only in Polish language, however the editor itself is in English of course).




The newest and the most advanced digital music editor for Atari XL/XE is NEOTRACKER.

http://epi.atari8.info/download.php?fil ... er-1.8.zip (1.8 version)
http://epi.atari8.info/download.php?fil ... er-1.7.zip (older 1.7 version - but in THIS archive You can find INSTRUCTION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Must be suitable to 1.8).
http://epi.atari8.info/files/neotracker-1.6.zip (1.6 version - also with INSTRUCTION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE).
The program appeared first time in 2002 but it's still beeing developed and the newer version comes from 2007.
It alowes You to make 4-channels digital music. It can load and play MOD files however with some limitations related with original MOD format's commands.
It works with original POKEY chip (4-bit sund) and also with a COVOX soundcard (8-bit sound).
The NEOTRACKER works on Atari machines with AT LEAST 128Kb of RAM (Atari 130 XE or older machines but WITH RAM expansions) , however the more RAM - the better. It works with RAM expansions up to 1 MB (the most popular ones are: 256Kb, 320Kb [Rambo] and 512Kb).
Frequency of mixing while playing music is 11.75kHz.

A quick instruction.


Maximal amount of samples is actually strongly related with Your RAM amount.
It saves music as *.NEO format.
It saves samples in *.NSF format.
Of course it can import *.MOD files.
Actually it can also import samples from the mentioned above ProTracker (from *.SMP format) if required.

Lately there have been added a very interesting feature to the NeoTracker related software: a player for pure Atari 800 XL and Atari 65 XE (64Kb of RAM, one POKEY)!! Of course to make music You still need higher configs, however if You make Your music fit in 45Kb - it will play normally on every 64Kb Atari. Hence - You can use 4-channel digital music in Your own program for stock 800XL/65XE machines.


Below You can find two examples of Atari XL/XE digital music -

POKEY:
"RAVE'olution" by YERZMYEY - http://yerzmyey.i-demo.pl/xl_digital/05 ... lution.mp3
That's how sounds digital music from pure Atari 800 XL (64Kb of RAM and one POKEY).
Made for NEOTRACKER.

COVOX:
"Jet Set Neo" by EPI (the author of NEOTRACKER) - http://student.agh.edu.pl/~epi/msx/epi-jet_set_neo.mp3
It's a cover of famous "Jet Set Willy" chiptune.
Recorded from Atari XE (320 Kb of RAM) and COVOX sound-card. And - of course - from NEOTRACKER.



Additionally, there's a tool for samples' editing/processing: AUDIO MASTER 1.0

http://madteam.atari8.info/uzytki/audiomaster.zip
As authors say - it isn't fully finished but it works after all.

[Analog]

hey, this program is really great. I have used Music pro tracker, which uses samples too, and the same file format like black magic composer: .smp.

My only issue is that i don't know how i can make my own samples on a modern computer... can that be possible?

[yerzmyey]

Actually we're drinking beer at the moment with the author of a convertor of samples from PC into XL/XE.

They're samples for MPT (Music Pro Tracker) format.

What You need from PC is a sample in format WAV, 8-bit, mono, (PCM signed), 8kHz or 16kHz.

Remind me later (after I get sober, hahhaah) and I will upload the program somewhere (the program is for PC).

[Analog]

ahahahaha, all right then.... hope the hangover is not that hard .

cheers from chile, i'm having a beer right now 8-|.

[yerzmyey]

OK - here it is:
http://yerzmyey.republika.pl/WAV_to_Atari_XL.zip

Sorry for delay but MONO wanted to add also a convertor:
PC WAV to NeoTracker.

So You have both now.

[Analog]

Thank you!!!! my 800 xl is dying for some new samples .


i'm using Music pro tracker, i'll use it very soon.

[Analog]

YES! it works amazingly!!!!!

i love it, the samples on MPT work perfectly!!!

thank you so much!

cheers!

analog

[yerzmyey]

YES! it works amazingly!!!!!
i love it, the samples on MPT work perfectly!!!
thank you so much!
cheers!
analog

No problem at all, we're glad we could help.
I hope You will share some links with Your new stuff made on MPT.

As for me, I finished all 6 trax for my XL album (NeoTracker involved) and will put it on the Net in a month.

Best wishes!
Yerz

[Analog]

ok, i'll be working on it. I use an "unmodded" atari 800 xl.

i'm looking forward to hear your stuff!

[yerzmyey]

I have used Music Pro Tracker, which uses samples too

Hi again, Analog.
Actually for some time I was interested a bit in synthetic music for Atari XL/XE too. However I'm not fond of every Pokey's features hence I like the most Music Pro Tracker's sound. It would be the best util for XL/XE chiptunes, in my opinion.

I have the convertor of samples from PC to XL. I also have the program itself:
http://grayscale.scene.pl/download/mpt24s.zip

However all XL/XE trackers one can use only with keyboard shortcuts.
Could You make some instruction for me, how to use the prog?
I know this is not the best thread for it, but still MPT has 2 digital channels, so we can still discuss it here, I presume.

[Analog]

Hey yerz, sure!

I'm doing vacation time this week, I have spare time.

Let me connect the atari in the afternoon and i come back later with some goodies.

[Analog]

TAB moves around the different windows.

You can reach the upper menu by pressing CONTROL+TAB

Voice (instrument) window:

press CONTROL+E and it will let you edit the parameters.
using CONTROL+UP/DOWN you can change the values. Press enter again to go to the previous screen.

for more info about how to use this window:

http://8bc.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=13823

some really nice people help me translate that. but... i'm mistaken or you speak polish? over here is documentation of the program:

http://atariki.krap.pl/images/4/4b/Mpt24s_and_docs.ATR

Anyways, to load samples:

Go to Special,
turn Digi ON
go to Digi File
Open a file... you must type it (when you select load one, you must pick a single file (.smp) like the ones from black magic composer. Or Load All, and use a pack generated with wav2snd .

you may now notice that the file is in the list (from 0 to F). On my machine if its exceeds the memory avaliable, it hungs.

Now go to instrument, select 1f (last instrument) (that's were the samples are loaded, the 0 on low C, the 1 on the next C# and so on...)

You can save your instrument in the version with the link that you've posted here(in the voice window press CONTROL+S). and select which side of the stereo each channel will sound. ( no more than 4 channels i think )


Pattern window:

SHIFT+UP/DOWN: let you change the octave.
SHIFT+DEL: erases lines under.
SHIFT+INS: adds lines under.
SPACE: erase what is in the cursor.
SHIFT+P: playback from the beggining of the pattern.
SHIFT+CONTROL: playback from where the cursor is.

SPACE or RETURN: stops playback.



This will cover the basics i think ... anyhow, let's discuss and colaborate on this. the program is quite a jewel...

[yerzmyey]

Thx a lot, I already printed it.

These samples - they can be only for drums (one sample to every "note", like bassdrum to C, snare to C# and so on) or can they be also played like regular sampler (not a drummachine) for instance for bass????

Greetzzzz.


__________EDIT_________
For all other readers interested:
The prog we're talkin'bout is MusicProTracker:

In general, it has two channels digital and two channels synthetic.

[Analog]

it seems that in the pattern window are some columns i don't know for what they are , yet. I know that in the "arrangement window" one column is for transpose.

Can you read the manual in polish? i bet there's a chance to transpose the samples.

In other hand, is there a copy/paster/clone option? is really slow to copy all the things over and over again when you're trying to do just a simple variation.

[yerzmyey]

Well, I could ready Polish, but it's still a blah-blah of an idiot.

The only thing I can do, is to translate it 1:1. Sorry.


___________
For each and every channel there are 2 columns of digits.
The first one goes for the pattern to play. The second one goes to the transposition (regadring all the notes in pattern).
___________

Y