Hello Amos-ers ! Hope this program is of some use to you. If you have any suggestions for improvement, then please pass your ideas to me at the following address, and I will see what can be done in a future release. Please send all correspondence to me at the following address. Paul Townsend 2 Ashwell Ave Lowton Warrington Cheshire WA3 2HT ENGLAND Phone (0942) 729680 (Office Hours only Please) Please quote the version of software you are using so I can tell if you need an upgrade. If you have any problems using this software, then give me a call, I will do my best to help. ======================================================================== Manual ====== I will update the program if there is a demand for it. Any ideas for improvements would be most welcome. I will give any helpers a mention in the next version. Contents ======== 1. Known Bugs 2. Getting Started 3. Hints and Tips 4. Writing your own programs 5. Technical Info (1) === Known Bugs ========== There are one or two bugs in this program that I know about which I now list, in order of remembrance, and will attempt to fix them in any future updates. 1. File Selector ================ This causes a little screen corruption on the file selector, but you may not even notice it, it happens when you type in a new drawer name, part of the graphics are overwritten by the drawer name you type in. The parent button on the file selector does not seem to work from within more than one sub directory, you have to select the device again, e.g DF0: DF1: RAM: DH0: etc. 2. On soundtracker and GMC, the halt tune does not work properly. For the time being there is a way around this. If you are playing GMC, just hold down both mouse buttons and the music will stop. For soundtracker the procedure is a little more complicated (not much) A. Press and hold LEFT AMIGA key B. Tap 'A' C. Release LEFT AMIGA key D. Tap 'ESCAPE' E Press and hold LEFT AMIGA Key F. Tap 'A' G. Release LEFT AMIGA key That's all the bugs I have noticed so far, none of them are too serious, if you spot any others then please let me know. (2) === Getting Started =============== When you exit from this file, Music Engine should auto run. After a few advertisements you will be greeted by the main player screen this contains several 'Buttons' which are activated by moving the mouse and clicking with the left button while covering up the required button. File Selection ============== The file selection can be set to Auto or Manual, in auto mode when you load in a tune the program tries to decide what type of music the file is, it seems to guess correctly at Med, Octamed, Soundtracker, Sonix and Amos. If the file type is recognised then a player will be selected and an attempt will be made at playing the tune. The success of the tune playing depends on a few factors: 1. You having enough memory to process the tune 2. The correct file type being recognised 3. Which way the wind is blowing (you know what these Amigas are like !) Led Filter On/Off ================= 1. Surprisingly enough, it turns the Led on and off (Well I never !) The button reflects the current status of the led (So does the Led !) Quit ==== I'll give you three guesses. Credits ======= This tells you who was involved in the creation of Music Engine. Press Left mouse to return to main program. Help ==== Toggles the Help Mode, a message will be displayed to show you if Help is currently active. When in Help Mode, further selection of any of the buttons on the screen will display a short message giving you a reminder of what that button does. To exit Help Mode, just select Help again. The Help Mode is not intended to be a tutorial for the program, its intentions is to remind you of a function, please refer back to this manual for full instructions, if the instructions do not help, I can be contacted at my address as above. Display Paths ============= This lists the external programs that will be used to play the different types of music. Set up Paths ============ This allows you to change the paths to the external programs so that you can use different programs. The current paths will be displayed and you will be asked if you wish to amend the paths or return to default settings. If you select amend, you will be prompted for the full pathnames to the programs to use as players for the music If you select Default, the programs original default settings will be used, which are:- Music Type Default Path ========== ============ Sonix c:Sonix_play Soundtracker c:Soundtracker_play Oldmed c:Oldmed_play Octamed c:Octamed_play GMC c:GMC_play When everything is input, the data is redisplayed and you are asked if it is correct, if you answer No then the paths are unchanged and you are returned to the main screen. Load Music ========== A file selector will appear click on DF0: or DF1: or click on the 'Drawer' window and enter a device name e.g. DH0: RAM: etc. A list of files will appear, find the one you want, click on it and then click 'PLAY'. If Manual file selection is active another screen will appear and give you the option of deciding what type of music you want to play. If Auto file selection is active, an educated guess will be made at the type and if recognised, an attempt will be made at playing the tune. If the type is not recognised, or recognised incorrectly, then the music will probably just not play, but it may just crash the computer so be warned ! If the file type is Sonix or an old version of MED then you need to tell the program where to find the instruments for the tune, you will be asked by the file selector, to give it your answer just find the instruments directory and choose any instrument from that directory and select 'USE' the tune should then play. Halt Tune ========= This tries to stop the tune currently playing. (See known bugs, above). Play Sample =========== You are greeted with the file selector, just find the sample you want and click 'OK'. (3) === Hints and Tips ============== 1. Do not try to play a tune without first stopping any others that are playing, if you do then do so at your own risk. (You try singing two different songs at once and see how well you do !) 2. If playing 8 channel Octamed music, then I advise not selecting Credits or Help, as this tends to over power a standard Amiga (and it sometimes gets stuck in a continuous loop. This does not seem to be a problem on higher Amigas, (68020 and above i.e A1200) The reason for this is that 8 channel music puts a real strain on the Amiga and any multitasking is pushing things a little, you will also notice that the mouse pointer is not as responsive and some of the buttons flicker while it is playing. (4) === Using playroutines in your own programs ======================================= Before I explain how you can do this, let's get the boring stuff over and and done with. The Amos Source Code on this disk is (C)1993 Paul Townsend and no part of it may be used in any commercial release without prior written permission from myself. The Amos code itself does not play any music other than Amos music, all the other types of music are played using CLI commands which are P.D. (except Sonix which is Shareware). PLEASE NOTE: The charge made on this disk is for Disk duplication, and a small royalty to the programmer (that's me !), the charge is not being made for supplying the P.D. and shareware programs on the disk they are included at no extra cost so that Music Engine can be used. This program provides the interface between Amos and the CLI. For any P.D. or licenseware products produced using routines from this program, all I ask is that you notify me of your intentions and how you are releasing your program. The power that this program provides is to play many different music file formats without having to convert them first to an Amos music bank, i.e Europress software provided a Sonix converter with Amos to convert a Sonix score to an Amos music bank, what a fantastic idea, pity it doesn't work to well ! I have been led to believe that many people have tried to get Sonix scores to play in Amos, and not had much success. This program makes it all possible. If you use any of the players for your own programs then please include the relevant docs. If you include the Sonix player, please include a request for payment of the shareware fee to Mark Riley. If you use this program for playing Sonix Scores, please note that the actual code which plays the music is a Shareware program and that a contribution is requested for using the program. The only documentation I have ever seen for the sonix player is now listed:- ******************************************************** Sonix Score Player 1.0 - (C) Copyright 1987 Mark Riley December 1, 1987 - All Rights Reserved. ******************************************************** This program is Shareware; it isn't free. If you like it (or use it) please send $10 to: Mark Riley - Play P.O. Box 234 Simi Valley, CA 93062 Thank you! If you have any questions or comments, I can be reached at the above address or the following: BIX: mriley - PLINK: SONIX ******************************************************** Usage: PLAY [*] [I=instrdir] score[.SMUS] If you use play, or use Music Engine to play Sonix Scores then please respect Mark's wishes and send him a contribution. Soundtracker, Noisetracker, and many other similar types are played by Noiseplayer (Named Soundtracker_play on this disk) the only documentation I have available follows:- Req.Library · Power-Packer · NoisePlayer, Version 3.00 Copyright © 1990 By Flynn/TRISTAR!, This Program Is -»FREE WARE«- USAGE: NoisePlayer [-options] [filename] Options: -m# Load Module And Play... -p# Load Module Into Background And Play... -r Load Req.Library And Use It For File Requester, Text Output... -i Global Information And Copyright Notices. # Defines The Way To Exit: 1=Left MouseButton.2=Right MouseButton. 3=Both MouseButtons. 4=Left AMIGA+Control. 5=ESCape. 6=NO EXIT !! This Version Handles NoiseTracker, SoundTracker 2.3-2.5, Future Composer, Delta Music 2.0-2.1, Sound Monitor, SIDMon, TFMX And Jam Cracker Modules. Special Thanks Must Go To TRANSFORMER & TCM & PBA For Some Help !! IMPORTANT NOTICE: This Program Is Copyrighted By Flynn/TRISTAR!, But Can Be Freely Distributed, Providing That The Following Rules Are Respected ! - No Change Is Made To The Program Nor To The Accompanying Documentation - The Package Is Always Distributed In Its Complete Form Consisting Of 3 Files: 'NoisePlayer' , 'Req.Library' And 'NoisePlayer.Doc'. - Every Form Of Distribution Is Allowed And Encouraged, But No Fee Can Be Charged For This Program Except For, Possibly, The Cost Of Magnetic Media. By Copying, Distributing And/Or Using The Program You Indicate Your Acceptance Of The Above Rules. Req.library Is Copyright ©1989, 1990 By C.W. Fox And Bruce Dawson. It Is Freely Distributable. No Charge May Be Made For It's Distribution, Except For A Nominal Media Fee. Power-Packer Is Copyright ©1989, 1990 By Nico François !! Please note, I do not have a copy of Noiseplayer.Doc, so Iam unable to provide it on this disk, I found Noiseplayer on a P.D.demo containing Soundtracker music, and the coders of the demo did not include the files on the disk. My apologies go to Flynn/TRISTAR, you do not provide a contact address in the above so am unable to contact you for a copy of the relevant files, if you are reading this and would like me to include the file on future releases, please contact me at the above address so your request can be fulfilled. If anybody else out there has a copy of Noiseplayer.Doc please contact me. Octamed and Med use Octamedplay and Medplay, all the documentation for this is included on the disk. GMC music is played with a player provided on the GMC disk. The documentation relevant to the player appears to be:- The Playroutine. ---------------- The replayroutine is written in K-seka assembler and is very easy to use. Follow these steps: * Save your song with 'Save Data' in GMC * Load the replayroutine in to your program * Create a block in your program, big enough to contain the song-data * Load the song-data into this block * Put the address value of this block into A0 * Call MU_start * Listen * Call MU_stop For those who are interested the replay routine take about 2-3 scanlines to replay the song. (Up to 6 with all effects and schmuck on). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All coding except for the Midiport-handler (Robert Olsson) where made by Andreas Tadic (Megaman of Phenomena). If you wish to contact me (under the circumstances that you're not a lamer), this is the address: Coder: Andreas Tadic Rosjovagen 1D 29300 Olofstrom Sweden (tel: Sweden-454-42070) Midiport-coder: Robert Olsson Kiviksas 27057 Kivik Sweden Ps: This music program was made for the guys who makes the music for my game. There may be some bugs, but it's very unrealistic that I will do anything about them, because all my programming time is going to the game (And a demo once in a while). Phew ! That's all the mandatory documentation out of the way ! To be able to play music from within your own programs, proceed as follows: 1 Load Amos 2 From Amos, Load "Music_Engine.Amos" 3 Copy Procedure EXECUTE into your own program You may want to change the procedure so that it does not try to print anything. To use the procedure, just call it with the parameter set to the CLI command you wish to use. You must make sure that the command you use is on the disk, If it is not, copy it there ! Note: You MUST tell the command that any output is either discarded or written to a file somewhere, and NOT the CLI window, otherwise you are asking for trouble i.e. GURU, It's a little difficult to explain how to construct a valid command to pass to the EXECUTE procedure. I suggest you look at Music_Engine.Amos to get the idea, have a look at command$ settings and my EXECUTE calls. If you can't grasp the idea from this, give me a call on the above number and I will do my best to help. Suggestion: Either have pen and Paper ready, or Amos up and running when you call, or Both ! (5) === Technical Info ============== This program was written with the aid of the following 1. Amiga A500 Plus 2. Amos 1.34 3. Amos Compiler 1.34 4. Protext 4.22 (to write this doc) 5. Deluxe Paint IV (to create the pretty pics in the program) 6. A bit of trial and error 7. A LOT of patience (Messing about with DOS causes a lot of Gurus) 8. Some good Kylie Minogue music playing in the background 9. Suggestions and ideas from Len Tucker and Sandra Sharkey. This program was written without the aid of the following 1. Any knowledge of Machine Code whatsoever. 2. Alcohol (Need to be sober for this job). 3. Enough Sleep (i.e It's now 2:50am). OK. I think I have covered everything, If I have missed anything out, and you need help please contact me: Paul Townsend 2 Ashwell Ave Lowton Warrington Cheshire WA3 2HT ENGLAND Tel. (0942) 729680 (Office Hours only please) Thanks for reading Paul Townsend 26 January 1992 Last updated 22 August 1993 17:55:03