TRACKERS MOONBLASTER EN 03
THE MUSIC EDITOR
For every menu, submenu and input event: everything can be canceled with the [ESC] key.
Patterns and positions, playing music
When composing music in MoonBlaster it is important to know that this program works according to the pattern and position system. DU system has already been used in many other music programs on various computer systems and has proven to bring many advantages in practice. Both for the composer and for the programmer who wants to use the music later in his own programs. Below is a brief explanation of this system.
What are patterns and positions?
The memory of the computer is divided into small pieces in which music data is stored. We call this pattern. A complete piece of music consists of a series of these patterns arranged in a random order. The order in which the patterns are arranged can be determined by setting a pattern to a specific item number. These are the positions. As a result, it is also possible to play a pattern several times within a piece of music, while it only once in memory. You can compare this system with a CD player. Set the tracks on the CD equal to the patterns and the order of the tracks equal to the positions. If you want to listen to the fourth track first, then the first and then the fourth one is on position 1 track (pattern) 4, on position 2 track (pattern) 1 and on position 3 track (pattern) 4. Maybe the pattern / position system sounds a bit complicated, but in practice it is very easy and saves a lot of time and memory space.
Editing patterns and positions
Note: The current pattern means: the pattern that is currently displayed, the current position is the position indicated at the top right of the screen. If you change the current position, the current pattern automatically changes to the pattern that is in that position. That is not the case! The patterns are numbered from 1 to 76. The positions range from 0 to 199. In total, a song can be 200 positions long. During edicts of music it is necessary to walk through the patterns and positions quickly. With the [TAB] - and the cursors left / right you can walk through the positions in steps of 1; [TAB] and cursors up / down provide steps of 4. The patterns can also be run without changing the current position. With the [CTRL] and cursor left / right this goes with steps of 1, [CTRL] above and below provide steps of 4. Mel [CTRL] and the spade the current pattern is set to the current position. [CTRL] - [A] adds the current pattern after the last position.
A pattern can also be inserted, this can be done with [TAB] - [INS]. The current pattern is then inserted at the current position (the Mast position1 worth clan also incremented by 1). Erasing a pattern from the sequence series works in a similar way: the [TAB] and [DEL]-[keys] extract the pattern from the position order. The load position can be adjusted with [SHIFT] and the cursor keys. This allows the length of the track to be a
[en]3.4 === Edit functions ===
For all functions described below it is expected that no block has been defined (see section 3.5).
==== Clearing steps, channels, patterns and song ====
Do you want to delete a step, because something should not be there for example then you can use the [DEL] key. This clears the step where the cursor is located. A channel can be deleted with the [SHIFT] + [DEL] keys. The channel where the cursor is located is then erased. A pattern is deleted with [CTRL] and [DEL]. The current pattern will then be deleted. With the [F7] key, the entire song is deleted. A confirmation will first be requested before the song is erased. Also, all settings will be reset as they stood when MoonBlaster was just started up.
Copying patterns, channels
A number of patterns can be copied to another location in the song using the [CTRL] - [P] keys. First you will be asked which pattern you want to copy, then the plants where this pattern needs to be copied and finally the number of patterns is requested. So if you want to copy patterns 4, 5 and 6 to 10, 11 and 12 then you first use the [CTRL] - [P] after that you type in: [4] [RETURN], then [1] [0] and for the number of patterns [3] [RETURN]. Channels can also be copied, to a channel in the same pattern. It can also be specified how it must be moved up. the source channel (echo-steps). DU can use the [CTRL] - [C] keys. Beware: no block may be defined (see 3.5).
Changing two channels
With [CTRL] - [X] two channels can be exchanged. Its operation is fairly simple: first the first channel is requested, then the second and these two channels are exchanged.
Transpose of channels
Channels can be transposed per half tone distance or per octave at the same time. This can be done with the [.] Or [+] key for incrementing with a semitone distance, while the [,] or [+] decreases the channel by another half tone pitch. Increasing an octave can decrease by [>] or [CTR] + [+] with [<] or [CTRL] + [-]. The channel where the cursor is located will then be raised / lowered.
==== Turning channels off ====
The channels can be turned off to easily listen to a specific channel when playing a song. This can be done by moving the cursor to a channel and pressing [CTRL] - [W]. Above the channel, the message 'OFF ' to appear. The channels are also switched on again with the same operation. (NB: The CTRL-W settings are not saved, as they are only meant for editing.)
[en]3.5=== Block functions ===
Defining a block, editing / editing a part of the song You can put a part of the song in a block, after which all sorts of operations can be released on this block. You can determine the beginning of the block (upper left corner) with [CTRL] - [B], the end (bottom right corner) with [CTRL] - [E]. The block will get a different color than the rest of the song. You can clear the block definition with [CTRL] - [D]. This does not delete the contents of the block, only the starting end position. Deleting a block The contents of the block are deleted by placing the cursor in the block, and then pressing the [DEL] key. You will first be asked for confirmation, so if you accidentally press [DEL] there is nothing wrong.
Transpose
Just like channels individually, blocks can also be transposed per half-tone distance or per octave. First place the cursor in the block. Then [.] Or [+] a block can increase a semitone distance, [,] and [-] reduce the content of the block by a semitone distance. The content of the block is increased by an octave by [>] or [CTRL] + [+], the [<] or [CTRL] - [-] decreasing the content an octave.
Copying a block
The block that has been defined can be copied with [CTRL] - [C] to where the cursor is currently located. Note: if no block is defined, a channel is copied instead of a block. Changing a block This is only possible if the block is a channel wide; the length does not apply. Place the cursor on the channel where the block should come and press then on [CTRL] - [X ]. because of this the block is swapped with the contents of the intended channel and vice versa. Note: the initial settings (such as instrument, detune, etc.) are not exchanged. You can do this (if desired) by hand.
[en]3.6=== Other functions ===
Entering the song name The song name at the top of the screen can be adjusted using the [CTRL] - [N] keys. The cursor will then appear at the top of the screen and the name can be entered. With [RETURN] the new title is recorded, with [ESC] the old title is retained.
RAMdisk
The MoonBlaster ramdisk provides content to a song and can only be used in the program itself. The current song can be written with [CTRL] - [R]. The question then appears whether to read from or written to the ramdisk. With the (S) the song is then written away, with [L] the program will bring out the song again. With [ESC], you can continue to return to the song. Initial setting Stereo and Detune The hegin settings are the settings that the song will start with. The stereo and detune settings can be set per channel. With [F9] the stereo setting is adjusted. The cursor appears in the stereo column and the cursor keys left and right can be selected from: BOTH, MSX-MUSIC or MSX-AUDIO. This only works if the chip is also on the stereo position! (NB: BOTH stands for MSX-MUSIC and MSX-AUDIO, so stereo.) The detune menu is located under the [F10] function key. Here the desired detune can be set per channel with the cursor keys left / right.
Modulation Depth
With [CTRL] - [M] the modulation depth of the song can be set. This only applies to the MSX AUDIO.
Tempo
The initial tempo can be set with [CTRL] - [T]. The tempo is between 1 (slow) and 23 (fast). In the tahel below, he starts from 'number of quarter notes per minute' (a popular tempo indication for sheet music) that you use a pattern per measure (a quarter note is four steps). (Kwn / min means quarter notes per minute f Steps / min means number of steps per minute, the gels are rounded.)
Tempo: Kwn / min 50 Hz: Steps / min 50 Hz: Kwn / min 60 Hz: Steps / min 60 Hz: 1 o o 07410901507707000400000 55678801? ^ 45702605102028 11111122222 2 33344567911 03900500 8913570360495200 125820533444455566678911111234 o o 50630876804103035900000 23345567801357037200505 I11111 n 14 n n II 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 5 6 7 n n 7 5 0 8 0 5 13468924704838534025857 33333344455566789111123 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Songinfo
With [CTRL] - [I] an information screen will appear on the image. This information screen contains all information about the current song, such as the hegin settings, which sample kit belongs to the song and which modulation depth is set (for MSX-AUDIO).
