Log inRegister an accountBrowse CSDbHelp & documentationFacts & StatisticsThe forumsAvailable RSS-feeds on CSDbSupport CSDb Commodore 64 Scene Database
You are not logged in - nap
CSDb User Forums


Forums > C64 Composing > music-assembler
2010-09-11 15:20
MC
Account closed

Registered: Jul 2009
Posts: 71
music-assembler

Any of you ever used it?

I am partly responsible for its existence.

Together with OPM who lived next door from me at the time (we lost contact) we decided after ripping lots of game tunes by Rob Hubbard and Martin Galway that we could do better technically.

We created a player routine which could play good sounding music based on tracks, sequences and presets (like hubbard's routine) minimizing RAM usage but without having big peaks in rasterline usage. The trick was working around the waiting stuff that had to be done with the SID or otherwise it wouldn't trigger. We accomplished this by having the player think ahead and make decisions for the next time the interrupt would be triggered. This routine would later become the music-assembler player code. The rest is history.

The two of us created the player routine, OPM was responsible for the track editor and I did the sequence and preset editors. We contacted Markt+Technik who also published some magazines in Germany and we had a publishing deal. They sold quite a large number of copies to my surprise at the time. I think I was about 17 years old or something back then.

I've read there were later 'updated' versions of our 1.0 release by Triad. Can anyone tell me what they changed/improved? I haven't seen a C64 in decades.

Cheers,

Marco Swagerman a.k.a. MC/DusaT
 
... 43 posts hidden. Click here to view all posts....
 
2010-09-26 15:51
MC
Account closed

Registered: Jul 2009
Posts: 71
I uploaded a manual for music assembler I'm working on at http://tanx0r.org/mc/masm_manual_0_01b.pdf (my own domain and webspace).

Any questions about the inner workings of MASM can be directed at me as I spent the last three days disecting and resourcing the player routine and writing the manual. My brain is up to par again concerning the old editor and player.

Cheers, Marco
2010-09-26 16:27
Stainless Steel

Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 966
I'd also love to hear some rockmonitor history.
2010-09-26 17:20
MC
Account closed

Registered: Jul 2009
Posts: 71
Heheh and to think I always hated 'digis'. True story! It made me dislike the Amiga and its shite audio capabilities and even now I still hate samplers.

When I load up rockmon 5 nowadays I don't have a clue how it even works! :) I guess the base we used for it (soundmonitor) has never really been my cup of tea...

Rockmonitor was mostly OPM's project, I don't really have any recollection of how we did things. Just that the first versions were really bad compared to version 5, which utilized NMI interrupts to play samples through the volume register at $D418.
2010-09-26 23:52
SIDWAVE
Account closed

Registered: Apr 2002
Posts: 2238
Rockmonitor:

9000 lowbyte
9100 hibyte
9200 patterns (01 00 00 02.....) (drums)

9fxx (address can be found in digiplayer at 9e00), here are the lo/hibytes of sample start/end, and there is a table of sample speed. (see in player for this)

anyhow, that is RM3 and 4, i think RM5 is a bit different.

you have to enter the values in 9000/9100/9200+ OUTSIDE the current tune. so if it goes from step 1 to 5, you have to enter the drums in 6-ff - now thats pretty lame, because you cant make the drums while the music is playing :(

you edit the drum stuff in right side, where its all filled with bf00.

anyhow, RM3 and 4 both have instructions when you start them up.


hehe
2010-09-27 07:30
Stainless Steel

Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 966
I meant history, not instructions :-D
2011-10-05 22:08
SURFiNG
Account closed

Registered: Sep 2011
Posts: 3
sorry to bring this up, but im looking after the manual and the link to MC's site seems broken.. Any Luck?
-----

Resolved: Found in cache of google documents! great!
2012-03-11 23:22
MC
Account closed

Registered: Jul 2009
Posts: 71
Soz I canceled my webspace. Will upload again.
2012-10-07 22:55
(451)
Account closed

Registered: Mar 2012
Posts: 3
Quote: *dropping down on my knees in total admiration*
"This is the rock-monitor three!"
Jan Harries is right. As far as I know all of Reyn Ouwehand's stuff is made in MA. (Except for LN III which at least uses the core of the playing routine)
There is a tune in the HVSC by me made in MA.
It was, at the time as promoted by you, the most economic and user-friendly music-maker around. And if you ask me it still is! It may lack some very advanced sound-creating functions (fast modulation, hard-restart etc.) but very easy to get into.
If goattracker wouldn't have come along I'd still be using it.
And I think that if you would type "music assembler" in the search box any other version of it should come up.
(being a dutch production I am sure anything dealing with will be on this site)


I know that I'm replying to a preeeeeeeetty old post now, but I'm still hopeful :)

I remember checking your tutorial vids a few months back and they were really helpful, so I tried checking them out again but for some reason some didn't work anymore, #6 to #9 to be exact. Could it be possible to sort that out somehow if you still have them laying around?

Thanks in advance!

I've also been working on a SDI reference sheet for a few months but haven't had that much spare time recently, hoping to finish it in a few weeks so I can finally move forward on my music project, cause SDI is obviously the way to go! :D
2012-10-10 07:52
Soren

Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 547
Hmm, I am quite sure that some of Reyn Ouwehand's music is made in other routines than music-assembler.
I remember having several of his tunes of his done in a player probably by Falco Paul, as sourcecodes.
2012-10-14 18:18
Mace

Registered: May 2002
Posts: 1799
Just adding my two cents: most of my tunes were done in Music Assembler.
An occasional one was done in *cough* futurecomposer *washes mouth*.
Sorry for that.
Previous - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 - Next
RefreshSubscribe to this thread:

You need to be logged in to post in the forum.

Search the forum:
Search   for   in  
All times are CET.
Search CSDb
Advanced
Users Online
Twoflower/ΤRIΛD
commodore_freak
Tom-Cat/Nostalgia
encore
Murphy/Exceed
cba
Spinball/Excess
t0m3000/ibex-crew
St0rmfr0nt/Quantum
Impetigo/Crescent
csabanw
jmin
New Design/Excess
psych
Guests online: 318
Top Demos
1 Next Level  (9.8)
2 Mojo  (9.7)
3 Coma Light 13  (9.7)
4 Edge of Disgrace  (9.6)
5 No Bounds  (9.6)
6 Comaland 100%  (9.6)
7 Uncensored  (9.6)
8 The Ghost  (9.6)
9 Wonderland XIV  (9.6)
10 Bromance  (9.6)
Top onefile Demos
1 Party Elk 2  (9.7)
2 Cubic Dream  (9.6)
3 Copper Booze  (9.5)
4 Rainbow Connection  (9.5)
5 TRSAC, Gabber & Pebe..  (9.5)
6 Onscreen 5k  (9.5)
7 Dawnfall V1.1  (9.5)
8 Quadrants  (9.5)
9 Daah, Those Acid Pil..  (9.5)
10 Birth of a Flower  (9.5)
Top Groups
1 Booze Design  (9.3)
2 Nostalgia  (9.3)
3 Oxyron  (9.3)
4 Censor Design  (9.3)
5 Crest  (9.3)
Top Diskmag Editors
1 Jazzcat  (9.4)
2 Magic  (9.4)
3 hedning  (9.2)
4 Newscopy  (9.1)
5 Elwix  (9.1)

Home - Disclaimer
Copyright © No Name 2001-2024
Page generated in: 0.049 sec.