Re: Release of DMS Drummer: A Percussion Sequencer for the Apple II

["Marc S. Ressl" <mressl@gmail.com>]

On Nov 30, 8:05 am, bloomer_au <bloo...@iprimus.com.au> wrote:
> On Nov 30, 5:46 pm, Michael J. Mahon <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
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> > "Michael J. Mahon" <mjma...@aol.com> wrote:
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> > > With inspiration and musical mentoring provided by Seth Sternberger
> > > of _8-Bit Weapon_, I've impemented a percussion sequencer/synthesizer
> > > for the Apple II.
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> > > It allows a user to create sequences as long as 255 patterns, where
> > > each pattern is one of a set of 16 musical measures. Within each of
> > > these patterns, any one of 8 percussive voices can be played at any
> > > 1/16th note boundary.  In addition, the "pitch" for playing back the
> > > percussion sample can be specified, which is useful for pitched drums,
> > > like tom-toms.
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> > > Like RT.SYNTH (which Seth also offers as DMS Synthesizer) DMS Drummer
> > > uses the DAC522 5-bit 22kHz pulse-width-modulation wavetable synthesizer
> > > engine, driven by a sequencer that runs in real time.  DAC522 represents
> > > "silence" as pairs of 6 cycle pulses spaced 46 cycles apart, regardless
> > > of whatever the code is doing--which subroutine it's calling or which
> > > branch path it's taking.  Executing "branchy" code while maintaining
> > > a constant stream of evenly spaced pulses is pretty tricky, but it must
> > > be done if the sequencer is to keep silent except for the desired
> > > sounds.
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> > > Seth is offering the full version on his website:
> > >    http://www.8bitweapon.com/store.htm
> > > for $15, but the demo version (downloadable both from my website
> > > and his) is free for you to play with!  It is limited to 8 distinct
> > > programmable patterns and the Save function is disabled.
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> > > Listen to the sample song, created by Seth, on either of our websites
> > > to hear the realistic rhythm line that an 8-bit Apple II can produce!
> > > The melody and bass lines are being played on RT.SYNTH, so the only
> > > non-Apple II-produced sounds are the "explosions" (which could also
> > > have been played by SOUND.EDITOR on an Apple II!).
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> > > -michael
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> > > DMS Drummer for more rhythmic Apple II computing!
> > > Home page:  http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/
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> > > "The wastebasket is our most important design
> > > tool--and it's seriously underused."
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> > I should mention that many emulators do a pretty bad emulation of Apple
> > sound at 22kHz--I recommend a real Apple II, but with a good amplifier
> > attached. The "treble" should be turned down, since any frequencies above
> > 5kHz are just noise.
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> > Headphones are also good, unless you are one of the people who can hear
> > 22kHz. ;-)
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> ActiveGS (ergo KEGs) does the best job. There's a crackling, but the
> sounds are still clearly audible, vs Virtual II and Sweet16 in which
> they are awash with noise.
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> Obviously I look forward to hearing it on my IIGS, but it's down atm.
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> When I listen to Seth's sample, the bass tone coincidentally sounds a
> ton like the bass synth in IIGS Music Studio.
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> - Wade

¿Have you tried AppleIIGo? http://code.google.com/p/appleiigo/

I am not supporting this project anymore, but the sound engine is
quite similar to the OpenEmulator one. I would love to hear your
comments on sound quality.

Best wishes,

Marc.-