I’ve changed the samples on the Atari 2600 sample playback mode, so that there are now a total of 16 samples. I am currently looking at adding more. Are there any requests for specific samples?
via little-scale: More Atari 2600 Drum Sample Channel Action.
little-scale’s done it again by being crafty as hell to upgrade the capability of his MIDI interfaces; this time for the Atari 2600. We showed you before that the Atari 2600 was capable of 8-bit PCM earlier via TROGdor. He’s taken this technology and melded it into his MIDI interface.
I wonder if he’s also added the capability to speed up or slow down the playrate of the samples yet. ;D
BOOdAw posted a link to interesting code for adding samples to your 2600 tracks. From the TROGblog:
I have a habit of checking out the 2600 programming forums every week or so, and two weeks ago I started commenting on the topic Advanced sound techniques: how do they work? My interest in this topic was mostly in sample playback. I’ve been messing with digital sound samples since 1990, and I was very impressed when I found out a couple years ago that the 2600 was capable of playing back decent quality sound samples. My only exposure to this was the Berzerk Voice-Enhanced, which is a thing of beauty (and a joy forever.)
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If I get the time and energy, I’ll enhance wav2atari to work on 16-bit samples, and add a downsampling option so you can specify the output sample rate. I also need to clean up the playback asm so the delays are balanced.
The zip file I’m including below contains the wav2atari.pl script, the HELLO.BIN Atari binary, the hello.asm dasm assembly file, and the original hello.wav file for comparison. Enjoy!
HelloWorld.zip ( 11K ) Number of downloads: 29
Here’s another demo that varies the pitch of the sample:
HELLO2.BIN ( 4K ) Number of downloads: 22
Here’s the modified source code:
hello2.txt ( 45.82K ) Number of downloads: 21
While you are there check out his hilarious Lehman Bros. game, and the sadly stuck in turnaround, Nort.Exe.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/0ARWzYiPnDw" width="425" height="344" allowfullscreen="true" fvars="fs=1" /]
Seb Tomczak, a.k.a. little-scale, has been and is currently working on an equal-tempered, MIDI-controlled TIA.
This is accomplished effectively by turning the TIA into a beeper; like the old ZX Spectrum. A “beeper” is just a chip with audio out pins that can be software modulated. It does not use or have any hardware logic for music. In this case the TIA does, but the available logic is used to modulate a single beep into other waveforms by ascending or descending each sample manually; and then repeating that waveform at a specific rate to generate pitch. The volume in this case instead of modulating the height of the waveform is actually controlled by the TIA hardware.
Where some TIA enthusiasts love the character and its unloved design, those who hadn’t liked the TIA before now have less of a reason.
In little more than 12 hours everyone’s favourite -PURE DEMOSCENE- (no gaming fuckers) party is about to commence.
After a bad start generated by the global crisis, sceners worldwide have helped the party to be a reality and it might be, as they say, its finest hour! Corporate twats, take notice!
We’ll be looking forward to the oldschool competitions: usually the best Amiga demo of the year is released at Breakpoint (probably by TBL), so it’s going to be a busy weekend.
Those lucky party-goers attending the venue are in for a good weather treat: the forecast looks promising, so you will have the chance to spend good time outside of the place and your screens. Remember, this party doesn’t accept remote entries, so if you want to be part of the competitions, your only choice is to go to the party!
For us who can’t go, it seems this year, despite the economic problems, we’ll get the stream again. Yipee!
Schedule, Compo rules and more? Head over to the official site of Breakpoint 2009.