@node "other" Track Panning The "panning" of a track is the stereo location of its notes. The notes can be played on just the left speaker, just the right speaker, on both speakers at the same volume (mono) or at different volumes on each speaker. The panning of each track is adjusted using the Mix - Track Panning window. Open it by clicking Panning, at the bottom of the Mixing Settings window. Basic use Track numbers are displayed to the left of each slider, the tracks' stereo location to the right. To begin with, all tracks have a stereo location of 0 (center). This means that notes on all tracks are played with equal volume on both speakers; in other words, they're played in mono. To force a track's notes to be played entirely through the left speaker, drag the track's slider all the way to the left (value -16). Likewise for the right speaker: drag the slider to the far right (value 16). Intermediate values play the notes at different volumes on each speaker. Use the Up and Down buttons to adjust the tracks shown, if your song has over 8 tracks. Free Panning and Sum Of Balances Because track panning is the volume of each track on each speaker, you must be careful that the volume on either speaker doesn't become too high, causing distortion. For example, setting all tracks to be played on the left speaker (value -16) is bound to cause distortion on the left speaker. The Sum Of Balances display helps you prevent distortion. It displays all the tracks' stereo locations added together. When the volume is perfectly balanced between the two speakers, Sum Of Balances is 0, so adjust the sliders until it becomes 0. "Free Panning", when on, allows you to set the stereo locations to whichever values you choose, without worrying about volume distortion or Sum Of Balances. Not surprisingly, Free Panning is usually on. However, the drawback is that the overall volume is halved. Notes 1) Processor load varies, depending on the stereo location. A track with location -16 or 16 exerts least load on the processor. A track in the center (0) exerts slightly more load. A track in any other location exerts the highest load. 2) Stereo samples are handled correctly by Track Panning. For example, a stereo sample played on a centered track will play its left part entirely through the left speaker, and its right part through the right. A stereo sample causes more processor load than a mono sample (unless played in location -16 or 16). 3) Not all panning levels are saved with songs, only those that are needed by the song. In other words, the panning of any tracks completely unused by the song are not saved (for example, track 9 in a song consisting of 8-track blocks). Panning player command The new player command 2E allows track panning to be changed during play. The track on which the player command appears is affected. The command level is in signed hex: $F0 to $10 = -16 to 16 decimal. See @{" Appendix F " link "AppF" 0} for a reminder of signed hex. Special effects Special effects can be added to your music using the Mix - Effects window. Open it using the Effects button at the bottom of the Mixing Settings window. Different effects The effect you'll be dying to play with is echo! To switch echo on, set the Echo cycle gadget to Echo or Cross Echo. The difference between the two is that Cross Echo alternates echoes between the speakers; you must have Stereo mode on to use it. Echo Rate is the distance, in milliseconds, between each echo. It can take any value in the range 1 to 32767. Echo Depth sets the depth of echoing. The larger the value, the deeper the echoes. Technically, it specifies the relative amplitudes of successive echoes. For example, if it's 25%, the first echo's amplitude is 25% of the original amplitude, the second echo is 25% x 25% = 6.25% of that. Stereo Separation is interesting. Dragging the slider to the right "separates" the sound on each speaker. Dragging to the left brings the speakers' sound closer together. This feature is best understood by experimentation. (Technically, the stereo image is separated by feeding part of the left channel to the right in inversed phase, and vice versa.) Effect player commands Command type 2F changes echo depth and stereo separation during play: Use command levels E1 to E6 to set echo depth. E1 is 50.0%, E2 is 25.0% and so on down to E6 (1.44%). The signed command level DC to D4 sets stereo separation. The following command levels give the respective stereo separation: Command level | DC | DD | DE | DF | D0 | D1 | D2 | D3 | D4 -------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- Stereo separation | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Types 21 and 22 slide the pitch of a note up and down. They work exactly like 01 and 02, except that each command level value produces the same slide speed, regardless of the pitch of the note. For example, command level 06 will slide at the same speed if applied to note C-2 or note F-5, or any note for that matter. This is not true with commands 01 and 02, where lower pitches mean slower slide speeds if equivalent command levels are used. Type 20, with command level 00, reverses the sample. With other levels it changes the sample offset, just like command 19 except the command level is the new offset relative to the current sample position being played. For this reason, it should be used after a note. For example, suppose that a sample started (from byte 0) on line 005. By the time line 008 is reached, the sample might be at byte 10000. If a 2001 command appeared on line 008, the sample playing position would be moved to 10256, 256 bytes ahead of the current position. Command 1901, however, would move the playing position to byte 256, regardless of the current position. Type 20's command level is in signed hex: The largest value is $7F or 127, the smallest is $80 or -128). A negative value moves the playing position backwards. Slides can be created with any of the new Mix mode player commands, using Generic Slide. Signed hex is now respected @{" Notation Editor " link "Notat" 0} @{" Instrument Editor" link "Newins" 0} @{" Contents " link "Main" 0} @endnode