***Program Submission*** The Antic Music Processor Programmed By Steven Lashower (C) 1988 ArgoSoft Productions All Rights Reserved USER MANUAL 5-30-88 For use with the Atari 400/800/1200, XL or XE Series Computers -I. Introduction and Program Overview- The Antic Music Processor [AMP] is designed to take full advantage of the sound producing hardware of the 8-bit Atari computer. Written completely in assembly language, AMP can play up to four voices over a range of 5 1/2 octaves simultaneously. AMP features a user friendly note entry system with an "intelligent" parser. Songs with over 10,000 notes can quickly and easily be entered. And because the editor is set up like a spreadsheet, any part of a song can be located within seconds. In order to enter music, a knowledge of reading sheet music is desired. Of course, the music files created with AMP can be saved to and loaded from diskettes. AMP also includes a diskette management system so you never have to exit the program to go to DOS. As a bonus, AMP comes with an "Advanced Music System to AMP" converter program. Written in BASIC, this program automatically makes thousands of Advanced Music System II files which are available all over the Atari community instantly compatible with AMP. -II. Getting Started- Check to see if all the cartridges are removed from your Atari computer. Remember to make sure the computer is off before you remove any cartridges. If disk drive #1 isn't already turned on, you may do that now. Insert the diskette, label side up, and turn the computer on. If you are using a XL or XE series computer, make sure you hold down OPTION as you turn the computer on. The Main Menu should appear in about twenty seconds. -III. Using AMP- "P" Play Music Pressing "P" will cause the music in memory to be played back through your TV or monitor's speaker. First though, AMP would like to know what voices and measures to play. Select Voices: The highlighted (inversed) voice numbers are the ones that are going to be played. Defaults to: Voices 1,2,3, and 4. If you do not want a voice to be played, type the number (1-4) of that voice. Typing the number again will turn the voice back on. Press RETURN when voices are selected. Select Measures [x,y]: Measures to be played: starting at measure #x and playing through measure #y. Defaults to: Playing all measures. Press RETURN when measures are selected. Playback will now begin. Pressing START before playback ends, will return you to the Main Menu. "E" Enter Edit Music Pressing "E" brings you to the Music Editor. At first appearance, the Editor seems rather complicated. But with a little practice, it will become second nature to you. When entering the editor, the Voice #1 column will be highlighted. The first measure of each voice will be displayed. At the very bottom of the screen are the status lines. The status lines show: 1) Number of beats in the present measure (e.g., Beats=0) 2) The current Meter and Tempo (e.g., Meter=4/4 and Tempo=100) 3) The key signature (e.g., Key=0#) 4) The amount of memory left for entering notes (e.g. Mem=31250) Music Editor Command Specifications "Backus-Naur Form" The following command specifications are written in Backus-Naur Form, using the following symbols: [ ] An optional construct : Separates alternative substitutions All special keys found on the Atari keyboard are indicated in CAPITAL LETTERS. **Notes and Rests** Note[Acc][Oct][Dur][Env][/Dyn] : Rest[Dur] Note: A-G Rest: R Accidental (Optional): #:F:N (1) Octave (Optional): 1-6 (2) Duration (Optional): D:D.:D..:D3:^X (D=W:H:Q:E:S:T:Z; X=1-255) Envelope: ):>:':" (3) Dynamic: PPP:PP:P:MP:MF:F:FF:FFF:F1:F2:F3:F4:F5:F6:F7 If not specified, all optional items take on the values shown in the status lines at the bottom of the screen. (1) A note can be followed by an accidental ('#'-sharp, 'F'-Flat, or "N"-natural). You don't have to enter accidentals if they're in the key signature. If you do use an accidental, it carries through until the end of a measure, or until you specify a new accidental (e.g. C# remains sharp until you enter CN). AMP does not understand double sharps or flats, but Dbb (double flat) can be entered as CN or B# (the equivalent pitch.) (2) Note C, octave 4 (C4) is middle C. If you do not specify the octave, the octave number of the note nearest the previous note is used. For example, a C followed by a B3 is interpreted as C4, not C3. Of course, you can always specify the octave number. (3) -)- Ties notes together ->- Normal note envelope (not printed on screen after each note entered) -'- Slightly faster decay than ->- -"- Fastest note decay (stacatto) **Measures** M: Insert measure marker at cursor **Tempo** Tx: Change Tempo to x (x=30-290) at cursor **Cursor Control Commands** CTRL+Up Arrow: Move cursor up CTRL+Down Arrow: Move cursor down CTRL+Left Arrow: Move to voice edit column on the left CTRL+Right Arrow: Move to voice edit column on the right SHIFT+Up Arrow: Move cursor up to previous measure SHIFT+Down Arrow: Move cursor down to previous measure **Control Commands** Mx: Display measure x MET=x/y: Change meter (x=1-32, y=1:2:4:8:16:32) KEY=na: Change key signature (n=0-7, a=#:F) P: Play Notes in current edit column **Delete and Undelete** DELETE: Delete last character in data entry line CTRL+DELETE: Delete note at cursor CTRL+INSERT: Undelete note at cursor **Cut and Paste** SHIFT+DELETE: Place note at cursor in buffer SHIFT+INSERT: Place notes in buffer at cursor SHIFT+CLEAR: Clear out all data in the buffer **Miscellaneous** ESC: Returns to Main Menu (1) (1) Escape can be used at any point in the program (except during playback) to return you to the Main Menu. "C" Clear Music Typing "C" will clear all of the notes that currently reside in the computer's memory. Answering "Y" to the prompt will carry out the function. Pressing any other key will return you to the Main Menu. "T" Tempo Tempo is the speed of playback. Tempo can be selected using this function from the main menu, or embedding tempo commands in with the notes. Tempo can range from 35 (slowest) to 290 (fastest), inclusive. Also, the most recent tempo change (if any) encountered during playback will be displayed here. "L" Load File Type "L" Load a music file from drive #1. Type in the file name and press RETURN. Format: filename.EXT If wildcards are used, the first file found will be loaded. Use '?' to substitute for single characters. An asterisk (*) can stand for any valid combination of characters. Please refer to your DOS manual for information on valid filenames and DOS I/O error messages. "S" Save File Typing "S" will save a music file to drive #1. Type in the file name and press RETURN. Should a file with the same selected already exist, the old file will be erased and replaced with the new file. "D" Disk Directory A directory, showing the files in Drive #1 is available with this menu selection. Pressing RETURN without specifying a file name will list all of the files on the disk. Wild card can be used. Once the directory has been displayed, you have the option to Lock, Unlock or Delete a file, selected by L, U, or D, respectively, followed by a file name. Lock is used to write protect a single file. A locked file cannot be written over or deleted. It is designated by an asterisk (*) in a directory. Unlock removes the write protection. Delete erases a file from the disk and the directory. Wild cards can be used, but be careful when using them with Delete! "F" Format Disk To initialize a disk for the storing of data, it must be formatted. After typing "F", a prompt will then be displayed asking you to confirm whether or not you wish to format the diskette. If confirmed, the AMP will then proceed and format the diskette in drive #1. ALL previous information on it will be lost, including locked files. -IV. Musical Demonstrations- AMP includes six demonstration pieces (located on the back side of the AMP diskette.) They'll give you an idea of the power and versatility of AMP. To load and play a song type "L" followed by one of the filenames listed below. When the song is loaded, type "P" and press RETURN twice. To prematurely stop the playback, press START. BEE This piece is "Flight of the Bumblebee", by Rimsky-Korsakov. Try playing BEE at different tempos. COMESAIL This piece is "Come Sail Away", by the rock group, STYX. This top-ten single appeared on their Grand Illusion album. Contains the instrumental solo found only on the album. This file uses short notes with different dynamics tied together to create custom envelopes. FANTIMP This is Fantasy-Impromptu in C# minor, Op.66, by Chopin. GRNDDSGN This file is "Grand Designs", by the rock group, RUSH. Notice the heavy percussion AMP is capable of producing using very short low notes. AMP creates a nice visual display when playing this song. MUNSTERS The theme from the "Munsters" television series. This piece shows off the built-in envelope capabilities of AMP. NUT This is the Overture to The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky. Notice the different degrees of articulation used. -V. AMS File Translator- A special program is included on your AMP diskette: an AMS II to AMP file translator. With this program, you can convert any Advanced Music System II file to a file that will work with AMP. Load the Translator using BASIC. Type RUN"D:CONVERT" to use the program. Type in the source and destination files when prompted. Be sure to include the device specification (e.g. "D1:" or "D2:".) Depending on the length of the file, the translation process may take quite a long time. Once finished, load AMP. Then, load in the converted file by typing "L" and then the destination file name you used in the translator program. And last, but not least, play it! PLEASE NOTE: Duration errors may be encountered through the conversion process. Notes longer with durations longer than 255 clocks (e.g. W.,W..) will be interpreted differently by AMP. These notes should be deleted using the AMP Music Editor and re-entered using shorter durations and ties. This process can be used to create notes of any length.