pouët.net

Songs Of The Unexpected by OUCH

                                         Ålesund, the 5th of April, 1991



After  having  listened to the divine sounds of  'The  Ultimate  Musical
Experience',  you'll  probably be wondering how and with  what  software
these songs have been conceived.  To be frank,  writing such songs  will
need the skill of a true artist, but at least the software is right here
at your fingertips, well, in your drive, to be precise.

Esion  is  a  program  for writing  music  using  samples  of  real-life
instruments.  With four separate channels,  two in your left speaker and
two in the right, these samples can easily be matched in to form genuine
music  of a previously unheard quality.  Esion has been written to  take
your STe's sonical capabilities to the absolute limit.

Writing Esion has taken and is taking rather a lot of at least my  spare
time, which at least partly should have been spent reading for my exams.
Getting a job without an education is tough luck these days,  and so far
Esion has not brought us a single dime.  We plan to continue to  develop
Esion,  but unless we start earning some money on it,  we are forced  to
abandon Esion as a failed project. If you want us to continue working on
Esion and software of high quality in general, please show your support.
Thank you.

A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE USAGE OF ESION

The  notes  which  are valid for Esion range  from  C-1  to  B-3,  three
octaves.  Two  octaves are accessible from the keyboard at a  time.  The
other  two octaves can be accessed when pressing [TAB].  Pressing  [TAB]
one  more  time will make the first two octaves  accessible  again.  The
notes are laid out over the keyboard as on a piano.

When EDIT is off, no changes can be made to the patterns. Pressing a key
will sound the respective note, but no note is inserted in the patterns.
When  EDIT is on the note will be inserted,  and all four channels  will
sound.

A tune is built up on positions.  A position specifies a  pattern,  e.g.
position 0 specifies pattern 0. When the position is set to 0, pattern 0
will  be played.  When the end of the pattern is reached,  the  position
counter will be increased to 1.  If position 1 also specifies pattern 0,
pattern  0 will be played again.  This will continue until the  position
counter reaches 'length'.  The position counter will then be loaded with
the value specified by 'restart'.

Use shift + sideways arrowkeys to view the different patterns.

A pattern is divided in four tracks,  which in their turn are divided in
64 notes. A note looks like this:

     --- 0000
      |  | +-- Command field
      |  +---- Sample number
      +------- Note

A typical note could look like this:

     C-2 1000

This  implies  that  a C-2 should be played with  sample  number  1.  No
command is specified.

     C#314C20

This will order Esion to play a #C3 with sample #14.  A command is  also
specified.  Let's have a closer look at the commands.  The command field
is built up like this:

    C 20
    | ++-- Command parameter
    +----- Command

The command here is 'C' and the parameter is '20'. The command 'C' means
that the volume should be set to, in this case, 20.

I'll list some of the commands available:

1 - PORTAMENTO UP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1XX = slide note up (speed=xx)

Will slide the note xx steps upwards per vertical blank.


2 - PORTAMENTO DOWN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2XX = slide note down (speed=xx)

Will slide the note xx steps downwards per vertical blank.


4 - VIBRATO
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4XY = vibrato note (x=speed, u=size)

Will vibrate the note,  where x specifies the speed of the vibrato and y
is the size of the vibrato. Specifying 400 will continue the vibrato.


A - SLIDE VOLUME
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AXY = slide volume (+x/-y)

Slides the volume with speed x steps upwards and speed y steps downwards
per vertical blank.


B - POSITION JUMP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BXX = jump to pattern xx

Will  exit the present pattern immediately and set the position  counter
to xx.


C - SET VOLUME
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CXX = set volume to xx

Will set the volume of that channel to xx.


D - PATTERN BREAK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
D00 - next pattern

Will exit the current pattern and jump directly to the next pattern.


F - SET SPEED
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FXX = set speed to xx

Will  change  the  speed at which the patterns  are  played  to  xx.  xx
indicates the vertical blanks between each new note.  The smallest value
allowed  is 1,  which suggests that a new note is played every  vertical
blank.

The default speed is 6.


This small documentation is in no way full,  there simply are no  better
docs  at   present.   But   to  make it a bit  easier  for   you,   I've 
included  a finished module with which you can experiment.

For  those who have been using the infamous TCB tracker,  we have  added
the ability to load TCB tracker modules.

We  hope  you like Esion. If enough interest is shown we hope to include
the following features:

- AVR sample loading/saving
- Midi support
- TT support
- sample editor
- powerful cut/paste functions
- YM2149 (PSG) sound chip support
- 25kHz
- 8 voices
- Monochrome support?

But you really shouldn't count on us getting it done ;^)


The ESION XLI tracker is in no way finished. You'll probably come across
lots of bugs etc.  when using it.  Esion is under continual  development
and may not even be finished as you read this.   Still, you can get hold
of the latest version of Esion by registering by the author.   You  will
then receive the  latest version of ESION XLII together with  documenta-
tion,   replay   routines for ST/E for  incorporation in your  very  own
programs  and three disks full of high quality samples. The registration
fee is a measly 20 GB pounds or equivalent.

At  the moment we are looking for distributors,  so ESION XLII may  very
well appear at the commercial market.  If you are interested in  distri-
buting  the tracker for us or need music or sfx for a game,  do  contact
us!



Karl Anders ▓ygard
Box 8
N-6180 SÆB▓
NORWAY

Phone:  +47 070 40015  (in the weekends only)
Postgiro account: 0824 0427932
Email:   Karl Anders 0ygard <data3d@aahs.no>

With love from Norway...



Disclaimer:   The author does not take any  responsibility for any damage
done with this demo/Esion. If it turns your 200Meg HD into a C60 cassette
tape  or you  blow your  speakers in  pure  extacy,  that is  really your
problem.