SYNTHINGS is a digital synthesizer development platform that I've been building.
jason | 09 January, 2011 22:32
I've combined two days into one, since the first day there wasn't a lot to show for it - I spent most of it refactoring where playing of notes was to be performed in preparation for the tune playroutine.
This meant that the pattern editor didn't get a lot of work done on it, except you could scroll through the pattern and it would play the notes that was in the pattern. Also, I planned what the effects are - based on Desktop Tracker.
The second day was when it started to take a bit more shape.
The first thing I did was get the pattern compression code working: the pattern editor uses an uncompressed format for ease of data manipulation (each line consumes 10 bytes of data). When compressed, each line will take between 0 and 11 bytes of data depending on what the line is doing (I am aware that 11 is more than 10!).
When the pattern is compressed, it is then put into the allocated chunks when you want to store/save the pattern.
When that had been written, I wrote the decompressor - that takes the compressed data and expands it into the more manageable format. This did take a couple of iterations for the compressor/decompressor to work. I think I could get it slightly more compressed, but the code complexity goes up a bit.
I also decided that I wanted to have the RS232 port emulate the user interface - so I don't actually need to touch the device itself. It also allows me to define other operations as well (such as deletion of the current field data directly from the keyboard, rather than having to go through the menu). Scrolling up and down can also be performed without having to select the line as the current editing field.
I may make a device to send these via MIDI (and merge from a MIDI keyboard at the same time).
Then, it was a case of "filling in the blanks" for the menu, and also the current status display. I've not taken screenshots until the end though.
So, here's what the editor looks like:
The bottom of the screen shows the current status. From left to right:
The current sample can be "--" - in which case, it will leave the sample as the previously one played.
The menu has changed too:
I did move the "End edit" option to the top. If you select "Insert row", you get an additional menu:
Likewise, if you select "Delete row", then it'll ask you if you want to decrease the size.
Selecting the "Set sample mode" turns the sample mode on/off. Here it is turned off:
And with step mode:
The last three menu options allow you to select a MIDI note which will perform a scroll up, scroll down or clear the current events. Since SythTracker has a 63-note range, if you have more keys than that, you can select some that will not be playable in SythTracker to perform these functions. I've got a 25-key, a 61-key and an 88-key MIDI keyboard. Currently, I'm only using the 25-key one for testing.
Clearing the current field has a special context if you've currently got the line selected - this clears the entire row. Otherwise, it'll clear the currently selected field (if you have one of the effects fields selected, then both of the relevant effects fields are cleared).
Selecting a sample uses the same dialog as before - except you've got an option to select none:
And this looks like:
The colours are the same as the sample selection dialog, so the none one will be in blue, a sample which has data is in orange, and a sample which has no data is in grey.
I've almost reached the 100K size for the ROM:
Program Memory [Origin = 0x200, Length = 0x2aa00] section address length (PC units) length (bytes) (dec) ------- ------- ----------------- -------------------- .text 0x200 0x136e 0x1d25 (7461) .const 0x156e 0x2664 0x3996 (14742) .text 0x3bd2 0xb89c 0x114ea (70890) .dinit 0xf46e 0x232 0x34b (843) .text 0xf6a0 0xc32 0x124b (4683) .isr 0x102d2 0x2 0x3 (3) Total program memory used (bytes): 0x1813e (98622) 37% Data Memory [Origin = 0x800, Length = 0x7800] section address alignment gaps total length (dec) ------- ------- -------------- ------------------- .nbss 0x800 0 0x9ea (2538) .ndata 0x11ea 0 0x2 (2) _035f4ee04d299d91 0x11ec 0 0x200 (512) _035f70704d299d91 0x13ec 0 0x200 (512) .nbss 0x15ec 0 0x314 (788) .ndata 0x1900 0 0x86 (134) .nbss 0x1986 0 0x9e (158) .ndata 0x1a24 0 0x1c (28) .nbss 0x1a40 0 0x18 (24) .ndata 0x1a58 0 0x12 (18) .nbss 0x1a6a 0 0x1c (28) .ndata 0x1a86 0 0x8 (8) .nbss 0x1a8e 0 0x1a (26) .ndata 0x1aa8 0 0x2 (2) .nbss 0x1aaa 0 0x4 (4) .ndata 0x1aae 0 0x4 (4) .nbss 0x1ab2 0 0x2 (2) .ndata 0x1ab4 0 0x2 (2) .data 0x1ab6 0 0x106 (262) .dconst 0x1bbc 0 0x8 (8) .data 0x1bc4 0 0xa (10) .bss 0x1bce 0 0x4 (4) .data 0x1bd2 0 0x2 (2) .heap 0x1bd4 0 0x2000 (8192) Total data memory used (bytes): 0x33d4 (13268) 43% Dynamic Memory Usage region address maximum length (dec) ------ ------- --------------------- heap 0x1bd4 0x2000 (8192) stack 0x3bd4 0x442c (17452) Maximum dynamic memory (bytes): 0x642c (25644)
Tomorrow, there'll be a little bit of finishing for the pattern editor (the colour editor needs to be done, and I need to make it so when you change the pattern length, it's reflected in the pattern below it).
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