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

[Michael J. Mahon <mjmahon@aol.com>]

"Marc S. Ressl" <mressl@gmail.com> wrote:
> 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:
>> 
>>>> With inspiration and musical mentoring provided by Seth Sternberger
>>>> of _8-Bit Weapon_, I've impemented a percussion sequencer/synthesizer
>>>> for the Apple II.
>> 
>>>> 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.
>> 
>>>> 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.
>> 
>>>> 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.
>> 
>>>> 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!).
>> 
>>>> -michael
>> 
>>>> DMS Drummer for more rhythmic Apple II computing!
>>>> Home page:  http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/
>> 
>>>> "The wastebasket is our most important design
>>>> tool--and it's seriously underused."
>> 
>>> 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.
>> 
>>> Headphones are also good, unless you are one of the people who can hear
>>> 22kHz. ;-)
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> Obviously I look forward to hearing it on my IIGS, but it's down atm.
>> 
>> When I listen to Seth's sample, the bass tone coincidentally sounds a
>> ton like the bass synth in IIGS Music Studio.
>> 
>> - 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.

No, I've not used AppleIIGo. 

I'll give it a try and report back. 

-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon