MODPLAY PRO Written by Mark J. Cox and Licensed to Covox, Inc. Copyright (c) 1992 by Mark J. Cox and Covox, Inc. INTRODUCTION TO MODPLAY PRO. --------------------------------------------------------- Modplay Pro allows you to play Amiga Soundtracker/Noisetracker files, Protracker files and even 4 channel Startrekker files on a PC (10Mhz or faster clock speed, 286 processor or better) equipped with Covox audio products (Speech Thing, Sound Master II, or Voice Master). Modplay Pro is written entirely in assembly language. 1. WHAT ARE MODULES? --------------------------------------------------------- A module consists of 15 (or 31) sampled instruments and a four channel music track. By playing the instruments at different pitches according to a prepared script, a sound track lasting many minutes can be produced. Through external hardware such as a Speech Thing, MODPLAY PRO comes close to the quality you would get on an AMIGA PC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION. --------------------------------------------------------- MODPLAY PRO implements all Amiga effects such as vibrato etc. Most Amiga modules have samples in them that are less than 64K each in length, these can be played as normal on any 286 10Mhz or better; a rare few have samples >64K in them and although these will be played by Modplay pro you really need a 16MHz machine minimum to keep up. These modules are marked with a '*' on the top line of the display next to the filename when they are playing. 3. MODPLAY PRO OPTIONS - COMMAND LINE PLAYING. --------------------------------------------------------- From the command line, a module can be played through many output devices with or without a moving graph display. The format is: MP [options] -i -i Interactive mode. Required if using [options] -v Display version information -o Display list of modules -l1 Speech Thing on LPT1 (also -l2, -l3) -ls Speech Things on LPT1 and LPT2 (stereo) -lm Speech Things on LPT1 and LPT2 (mono) -xm/s/q User defined D/As - See below -z Don't bother to check archived files. -a 10MHz AT -b 12MHz+ AT (default) More on [options]: -xm This is of use if you have a single D/A converter (other than a Speech Thing) on an expansion port or any known address. Use -xm(address) where the address is a 3 digit hex number. (Example -xm22F would play in mono to a D/A converter on a Covox Voice Master or Sound Master II.) -xs This is similar to -xm, allowing two D/A converters and hence stereo operation. Use -xs(address1)(address2). (Example, -xs22F24F would play in stereo to D/A converters on separate Voice/Sound Masters with ports set to VM0 and VM1.) Note that these switches must be used from the command line and cannot be changed when inside MODPLAY PRO -a Should be used if your computer crashes when playing tunes. This will decrease the sample rate (and hence the sound will degenerate slightly) but it should mean that 10MHz-12MHz machines can cope. -b This is the default mixing speed designed for a 12MHz or faster PC. 4. MODPLAY PRO IN INTERACTIVE MODE --------------------------------------------------------- MP on its own or MP [options] -i will bring up a display menu screen. Help on all key presses is available by pressing F1. From this screen you can change directory, change drive, or play one or more modules. Basic Keys: Cursor Keys Move the highlight bar together with the 'PgUp', 'PgDn', 'Home' and 'End' keys. This will play the current module highlighted, or change to the directory or drive highlighted. Same as Quits Modplay Pro Brings up a menu showing all the possible output devices. Lets you move around them using the arrow keys and select one by pressing SPACE or RETURN. Displays information about MODPLAY PRO. Deletes the highlighted module after confirmation Advanced: Tags the currently highlighted module or untags the module if already tagged. A "+n" is displayed next to the file where n is the order of play. Tags all modules in directory. Untags all modules in directory.

Plays all tagged modules in sequence. Takes you into the Sample sub-menu screen. Displays program compiled date and version information. Sample Sub-menu: NOTE: It is only possible to play samples in modules that are not compressed. Modules with a .ZIP extension can be played in their entirety, but the individual samples that make up the module cannot be played. From here you can look at the samples that make up the module. There are a few special keys that perform various functions:

Plays the sample highlighted. Plays the whole module. Prompts for a filename and then saves the sample to disk. Reads a new sample into the old slot. Also, you can play any sample at any pitch you like. Pressing F1, F2, F3 changes the octave you are playing in (low, mid, high) and then the number keys play the sample. 1=C, 2=D, 3=E, 4=F, 5=A, 6=B. 5. PLAYBACK KEYS. ------------------------------------------------------- During any playback, pressing the left arrow key will slow the music down, the right arrow key will speed it up, and the down arrow key restores to default speed. The PgDn key will skip to the next track, PgUp jumps back one track. The END key will (almost) pause the music, and the down arrow key restores the speed. The F1 key toggles help which lists all the keys currently available. Turns on the Spectrum Analyzer display (with bars) Turns on test mode Turns on the Spectrum Analyzer display (no bars) Turns on the flashing blobs and bar display. <-> Decreases the sound output level. <+> Increases the sound output level. <1> Toggles channel 1 on/off (Similarly 2,3,4) Shells to DOS whilst still playing (not advised for slower PC's). 6. SPECTRUM ANALYZER. --------------------------------------------------------- MODPLAY PRO has a real 32 point Fourier Transform. MODPLAY PRO actually displays the frequency components of the sample. There are a few limitations: a) If your machine is a bit slow then it can't keep up and it will leave the odd red bars on the screen. Just press F8 to get rid of them b) The frequency axis is linear and not logarithmic. c) It's not in graphics mode - that would be amazingly slow! | | X | X | X X | X X X X |_X___X___X_ .. __X_ 500Hz--| | | | 1KHz-------| | | 1.5KHz---------| | ... | 8KHz-------------------| 7. LISTS OF MODULES --------------------------------------------------------- If like me you have hundreds of modules spread over many disks you may find the -o option useful. This option writes out a list of mods in the current directory to the screen which can be redirected to a file. Example: A:\> mp -o > c:\mod\list\disk21.lst Would create a file c:\mod\list\disk21.lst with the contents similar to: AXELF.MOD axel f 15 83 110K 10:24 FCMEDINA.MOD funky cold medina 31 31 229K 01:56 HUMANINV.MOD human invasion 31 26 197K 03:15 KYLIEMIX.MOD kyliemix 15 15 59K 01:52 SJUNGLE.MOD street jungle 31 45 135K 05:38 THEMODEL.MOD the model 31 28 74K 03:30 | | | | Number of Samples in the MOD (15 or 31)--/ | | | Number of patterns in the MOD (1..127)---------/ | | File Size--------------------------------------------/ | Estimated playing time (correct about 70% of the time)--------/ Modules that are compressed or archived (.ZIP file extension) will not have all of the above information displayed. 8. VERSION --------------------------------------------------------- The -v flag displays automatic information about your version of MODPLAY. It will show the main version number and the exact date/time it was compiled, for example: C:\> mp -v Program : MODPLAY PRO (MP.COM) Version : C.002 (February 1992) Compiled on : 02-02-1992 at 15:16:50 Compiled by : Mark J Cox It now also gives an estimate of your machine speed (for use in later versions to alter the mixing speed) and also dates and versions of source code modules. 9. ARCHIVED MODULES --------------------------------------------------------- Using a popular archiving utility normally saves about 30% of disk space for modules. Support is now added so that MODPLAY PRO will automatically find and play modules stored in archives (in interactive mode only at present). Modules can be archived into LZH or ZIP formats and there must be only one module per archive (modules must have a .MOD extension) MODPLAY PRO runs your unpacker for you, creating the .MOD file temporarily on your hard disk; plays the .MOD file then deletes it. To play ZIP files you must have a program or a batch file called PKUNZIP somewhere on your path. (PKUNZIP is available on electronic bulletin boards including Covox's). To play LZH files you must have a program called LHA. Please note that archived files cannot have their samples played using the 's' Sample Sub-menu mention previously. 10. SOURCE OF MODULES --------------------------------------------------------- You can obtain modules from many electronic Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's), Internet sites, Compuserve, etc. An excellent source of modules is the Covox BBS @ (503) 342-4135. 11. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS --------------------------------------------------------- These are a selection of comments/suggestions and questions I have received. Q. I keep getting 'Divide Error' and my computer locks up A. Some modules I have seen are corrupt - there is no way MODPLAY can tell and there is no time to do any checks - use the 's' command and you should be able to see (and listen) if the module has any garbage in it. Q. Can I edit and create modules? A. Not with MODPLAY PRO - use MODEDIT written by Norman Lin that uses MODRES, a resident version of MODPLAY. MODEDIT is available on many BBS's including Covox's. It's shareware. Q. How can I create my own samples? A. Samples are available on BBS's (including Covox's), or you can record your own with a Covox Voice Master or Sound Master II. Q. Why does music play slow and the program seems to run poorly on my 386 PC? A. MODPLAY does not always operate at the proper speed if you are running EMM386.SYS on your PC. Remove it from your CONFIG.SYS file, or try using another memory manager.