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Re: Wanted: Mockinbird info
Markus Brenner writes ...
>
> Can someone please point me to some information on programming a > mockingbird soundcard?
Yes.
Rubywand
________________________
Apple II Sound Manual II
Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground file: F003s2Sound.txt
The Csa2 (comp.sys.apple2) usenet newsgroup Frequently Asked Questions
files are compiled by the Ground Apple II site, 1997, 1998.
ftp://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs
http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Faqs
The Csa2 FAQs may be freely distributed.
....
009- Does anyone know where I can get some details on
MockingBoard hardware and programming?
MockingBoard Mini-Manual 11/97 version
From: Rubywand
Part 1: Kinds of MockingBoards
The original MockingBoards come in four basic 'flavors':
Sound I-- produces music tones and a variety of sound
effects (3 voices to 1 Audio Output)
Speech I-- produces speech or limited sound effects
(1 voice output to 1 Audio Output)
Sound II-- 2 x Sound I on a single board (3+3 voices
to 2 Audio Outputs)
Sound/Speech I-- Sound I + Speech I on a single board
(3+1 voices to 2 Audio Outputs)
Note ...
Audio Output: This goes to a speaker or hi-fi amplifier
Voice: a musical note, sound effect, speech sound, etc.
Quite a few of the original MockingBoards were sold. Later MB's use
model names like "MockingBoard A", etc.. The main difference between the
original series and letter-named boards is wider availability of Speech.
Edhel Iaur and Mike Mahon supplied details on models A-D. Prices are
from a Sweet Micro Systems ad in the December, 1985 issue of _A+_
magazine:
MockingBoard A is a stereo music and sound synthesizer with six voices.
Suggested retail price is $99.00. This model has two sockets for adding
speech synthesis IC's so that a user could add speech to one or both
Audio Outputs. Except for the speech upgrade options, MB-A is very
similar to the earlier Sound II.
"MockingBoard B" is just the name of the Speech Upgrade; it is not a
separate MB board. The kit consists of one speech synthesizer chip.
Earlier MB's used the 16-pin SC-01 speech IC, while later board runs
provided 24-pin sockets for the newer (but somewhat flawed) SSI-263
speech synthesizer chip. Suggested kit retail price is $89.00.
MockingBoard C is simply a MB-A that has been upgraded by plugging in
one speech chip. Suggested retail price is $179.00. (There was an
'undocumented' upgrade, obtainable by plugging in the other speech chip,
which allowed the board to "sing harmony" with itself!)
MockingBoard D is a stereo music, sound and speech synthesizer for the
Apple IIc. It connects to a IIc through a serial port and is, of course,
external (unlike the Slot board models for other Apple II's). Its
drivers are very different from the slot I/O of the other MockingBoards.
Suggested retail price is $195.00.
Phasor is a MockingBoard-compatible sound card produced by Applied
Engineering. Looking at the software that comes with the Phasor may be
helpful to MB users.
MockingBoards work on Apple II's with at least 48K RAM. MB can go
into any Slot (except for MB-D, which must plug into a IIc). Most
programs expect it to be in Slot 4; however, it is fairly common for a
program which supports MB to ask you to enter the Slot #.
Most for-MB products will work with Sound I, Sound II, Sound/Speech
I, A, and C. (Some work with D.) Products that use MB include Ultima
III, IV, V Sky Fox, Wiley Byte', Thunder Bombs, Lancaster, Under Fire,
Music Construction Set, GuitarMaster, and Music Star.
MB's 0.5 Watt Audio Output(s) can directly drive an 8 Ohm speaker.
You can also run the Output(s) to a hi-fi amplifier.
Except for speech-only models, MB uses the General Instruments
AY-3-8910 Programmable Sound Generator IC. The PSG has 3 on-chip tone
oscillators (via channels A, B ,C) and a Noise Generator (NG). So, for
example, the Sound II can play up to 6 notes or effects at once. The NG
on each PSG can be mixed with any, all, or none of the three tones.
Many MB "Speech" version boards use the Votrax SC-01 Speech
Synthesizer IC. The SC-01 uses 64 phoneme sounds to produce speech. MB
software lets you adjust duration of each phoneme in 4 steps, create
"rules" for custom sounds, and speak sentences from text in BASIC
programs. The SSI-263 speech synthesizer appeared on later model MB's.
(At present, more info on the SSI-263 is not included here.)
All MB versions use the 6522 Versatile Interface IC to handle board
I/O. Except for the Sound I board, early models have circuit board
points to which you can add cables to utilize I/O ports not needed for
Sound or Speech.
Part 2: Sound Programming
Each Programmable Sound Generator (PSG) has 3 output Channels: A, B,
and C. There are also 3 Tone oscillators, one committed to each Channel,
and one Noise Generator (NG) which can send its output to any
Channel(s). Amplitude (output Level or Volume) and Envelope Control
ON/OFF is set for each Channel.
The PSG's Enable/Disable register has 8 bits. Three bits let you
decide whether or not to send a Tone oscillator''s output to its
Channel. For example, you can enable Tone outputs for the oscillators
going through Channels A and B while disabling Tone output for the
oscillator connected to Channel C.
The Enable/Disable register also lets you decide whether or not to
send the Noise Generator's output through a Channel. Three bits let you
decide which Channel(s) the NG's output will go through. For example,
you can enable NG output through Channels A and C but not through B; or,
disable NG output through all three Channels, etc..
If, for example, Channel A's Tone oscillator output is enabled and
NG output is enabled for Channel A, then, a mixed Tone + NG signal will
go through Channel A. Setting Channel A's Amplitude controls the Level
for the mixed signal.
Often, a programmer will want to individually control the Levels of
Tone outputs (for music) and Noise outputs (for sound effects). This is
accomplished by using one PSG Channel only for Noise and two Channels
only for Tones. Since the MB Sound II has 2 PSG's, a typical game
application using the board will have 4 music tones and 2 effects
sounds-- each individually controlled for Level.
More specifically, the user can set Tone Frequency (12 bits, 4
coarse & 8 fine) and Amplitude (4 bits) for each channel individually. A
fifth Amplitude bit lets you decide if a channel's Level will be "fixed"
(use the Level value) or "variable" (i.e. follow the current Envelope
pattern). You have 4 bits to set Noise Generator Frequency.
Tone Freq = A2 Clock Freq/ [ (4096 x Coarse) + (16 x Fine) ]
Noise Freq = A2 Clock Freq/ (16 x NG value)
The Envelope of the combined outputs of enabled sources can be
controlled for Period (16 bits, 8 coarse & 8 fine)** and, roughly, for
Shape (4 bits).
Env Freq = A2 Clock Freq/ [ (65536 x Coarse) + (256 x Fine) ]
The registers of the PSG are described briefly below:
Reg. Function and Bit(s) used
00 A Freq. fine (bits 0-7)
01 A Freq. coarse (bits 0-3)
02 B Freq. fine (bits 0-7)
03 B Freq. coarse (bits 0-3)
04 C Freq. fine (bits 0-7)
05 C Freq. coarse (bits 0-3)
06 NG Freq. (bits 0-4)
07 Enable/Disable note: Enable =0/ Disable =1
bit 5: NG sent to A
bit 4: NG sent to B
bit 3: NG sent to C
bit 2: A Tone
bit 1: B Tone
bit 0: C Tone
Ex: Writing $F0 to Reg 07 plays tones A, B, C plus noise on C
Ex: Writing $F8 to Reg 07 plays tones A, B, C and no noise
08 A Level (bits 0-3) and
Envelope Control (bit 4): 1 = Use Env; 0 = Use Level value
09 B Level (0-3) and
Envelope Control (bit 4): 1 = Use Env; 0 = Use Level value
0A C Level (0-3) and
Envelope Control (bit 4): 1 = Use Env; 0 = Use Level value
0B Envelope Period Fine (bits 0-7)
0C Envelope Period Coarse (bits 0-7)
0D Envelope Shape (four bits):
Continue (bit 3) 0= do 1 cycle and set Level to zero
Attack (bit 2) 1= count up 0= count down
Alternate (bit 1) 1= reverse count direction each cycle
Hold (bit 0) 1= do 1 cycle and hold count
To program the MB you write to the board's 6522 I/O chip(s). All
address references here are for a MB Sound II (2 Audio Outputs) in Slot
4.
$C400 ORB1 function to perform, Output 1
$C480 ORB2 function to perform, Output 2
$C401 ORA1 data, Output 1
$C481 ORA2 data, Output 2
$C402 DDRB1 data direction, Output 1
$C482 DDRB2 data direction, Output 2
$C403 DDRA1 data direction, Output 1
$C483 DDRA2 data direction, Output 2
Before sending music, etc. data to the MB you must Initialize the
board's I/O. To Initialize the 6522's: Store $FF at $C402 and the other
three DDRxx addresses. This needs to be done by your program just once.
Your program gets access to a PSG via the 6522 by using a few basic
Function codes which set the PSG's I/O control lines:
Set Inactive = $04
Set PSG Reg# = $07
Write Data = $06
Reset = $00
To Write to a PSG register: Tell the PSG which Register you wish to
access (i.e. Set the "current register" #) and Write the data. This is
easiest to do with subroutines to handle the basic Functions.
Example Subroutines (for Output Channel 1):
Set Reg # 1000: A9 07 8D 00 C4 A9 04 8D 00 C4 60
Write Data 100B: A9 06 8D 00 C4 A9 04 8D 00 C4 60
Notice that each Function sub ends by setting the PSG control lines to
Inactive.
Similarly, to do a Reset (set all PSG regs to zero) ...
Reset 1016: A9 00 8D 00 C4 A9 04 8D 00 C4 60
To put the value $55 in PSG Register 02 (Channel B Freq. fine) ....
1080: A9 02 put Reg# in A (6502 accumulator register)
1082: 8D 01 C4 store A at the Data address ORA1
1085: 20 00 10 JSR to Set Reg# (sets "current register" to Reg 2)
1088: A9 55 put the value $55 in A
108A: 8D 01 C4 store A at the Data address ORA1
108D: 20 0B 10 JSR to Write Data ($55 goes into PSG Register 2)
1090: 60 Exit from subroutine
----------------------------
010- How do I get my MockingBoard to work on my GS?
You need to go to the GS Control Panel and change the Slots setting
for the Slot your MB card is in to "Your Card".
The 'standard' place for a MockingBoard is Slot 4. A few early
programs require that the board be there in order to work; but, most
programs which use MB will let you specify the Slot. A few games and
other wares require modifications or interface software to work with MB
on a GS.
---------------------------
011- I have a Mockingboard Sound II board installed in my GS but
cannot get it to work with Ultima IV and Ultima V. How can
I play these games with MockingBoard music and sound effects?
U4MOCKV2.SHK is a collection of programs which will let you play
Ultima IV on your GS with MockingBoard sound. You can also set game
speed and border color.
For playing Ultima V with MB sound, check out U5MBONGS.SHK.
Both of these wares take care of activating the MockingBoard Slot
without changing Control Panel settings. You can find them on Ground in
the AOL Collection area:
http://ground.isca.uiowa.edu/2/apple2/Collections/AOL/Games/Adv./Roleplay
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