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Format Specifications!!
by Daniel Potter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, as you probably know, this is a pretty exciting program already. However,
it would be nothing to a lot of people who would use it in their games, demos,
etc, if I did not include the format specs. Besides that, I intend that this
format, which although is CERTAINLY not the most efficient (basically a dump
of the internals of the composer's editing mem), they will perhaps serve as
a standard 16 channel format, with ease of use on the level of a MOD. Remember
that this format is for EDITING purposes (storing EVERYTHING you're working on)
so it may include information not completely neccessary. You can even see into
the last moments of creation of the song through some of these variables :)
You may process this info as you see fit, such as the scrolltext, which is not
even supported in the current version of the composer. You could simply display
it on the screen, or you could be creative, and have a scroller at the top of
the screen while it's playing (that's the idea, for things like musicdisks).
Farandole .FAR file (16 channel tracker) format
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Header
Note that with the way the file magic(s) are set up, you can see the name of
the song by TYPEing it from DOS. For example, if the song name was
"StarLit MoonRise" then you would see when you typed it out:
FAR?StarLit MoonRise
In case you're teeming over with all the anxiety of all the wasted information
in the header, just think back to the last time you saw a tracker that saved
every info about what you were doing last. Think of it as a project file in
Borland C.
len desc
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 "FAR?" (file magic)
40 Song name
3 13,10,26 (bytes) (end of file chars)
2 Remaining length of header in bytes
1 Version number, major/minor upper/lower nybbles (0x10)
16 Channel ON/OFF map
1 Current editing octave
1 Current editing voice
1 Current editing row
1 Current editing pattern
1 Current editing order
1 Current editing sample
1 Current editing volume
1 Current top of screen display (top row visible)
1 Current editing area of the screen (0=sample,1=pattern,2=order)
1 Current tempo (default tempo)
16 Panning map, from 0-F for each channel
1 MarkTop (block)
1 MarkBot (block)
1 Grid granularity (default 4)
1 Edit Mode
2 Song text length
(above) Song text of length STLen (field above)
256 Order bytes
1 Number of patterns stored in the file
1 Length of order used
1 LoopTo location
2*256 Length in bytes of each pattern - Determine number of rows stored
for this pattern with this formula:
Rows=((PatSize-2)/(16*4))
The -2 will be explained below.
If the file is of a newer format than this one, then there might be extra
stuff down here. The original header here will NEVER have anything new
inserted before this space, to maintain a somewhat compatible file. The
original header, described about will always be 869 bytes long+SongText
len. So you should seek up HdLen-(869+STLen) bytes after reading the header
in case there is more.
Patterns
len desc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Break location in the pattern (length in rows)
1 Tempo for this pattern. ** THIS VALUE IS *NOT* USED ANYMORE!!! ** DO
NOT SUPPORT IT!!
Rows*16*4 Pattern data-
len desc
--------------------------------------------
1 Note value - (Octave*12+Note)+1 or 0 for no note
1 Instrument/sample value
1 Volume - reversed byte. MSN is stored as LSN, LSN as MSN. This is
for compatibility purposes. Basically, the lower nybble is the
major volume adjust, upper nybble for minor adjust.
1 Effect, upper nybble is effect, lower nybble is parameter
Current no provisions are made in this format to remove unused channels from
the file.
Sample Map
This is an array of 0-7 (8 bytes) which is a set of 64 flags. Each flag
corresponds to a sample, and these flags are packed into bytes. If the bit
is set, the sample record IS stored in the file. Otherwise, it is not (and
therefore should NOT be read). You can check to see if its present like this:
if (SMap[SampleNumber/8] & (1<<(SampleNumber%8))) ReadSample(SampleNumber);
Now that I think about it, I wonder why I didn't just store all the samples
that are used up to the last used one? Who knows.. I was tired that night :)
Samples/records
All samples are stored just like they are in FSM format on disk. Each one is
header-data-header-data, etc. Here is the header format:
len desc
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
32 Name of sample
4 Length of sample (currently only support up to 64k samples)
1 Finetune (also not supported right now)
1 Volume ... yet another unsupported feature
4 Repeat Start
4 Repeat End - If the sample is looping, this should be set to the repeat
end value. Otherwise, it should be set to the length of the sample.
1 Sample Type byte
1<<0 8/16 bit (8=0 16=1)
1 Looping mode byte
1<<3 On=looped, Off=not looped
(len) Sample data in SIGNED format
Info on playing-
Here are how you generate the various FX:
FEKT Hex# How!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tempo 0xf? Notes per second is 32/Tempo.
Pitch Adjust 0x1? Add ?*4 values to the value you're sending to the
GUS. This is based on 16 channels. If you're using
more or less, then you will have to calculate the
pitch through this proportion:
x ?
-- = ---
16 chn
which simplifies to
chn*x=16*?
or
16*?
x=----
chn
where ? is the amount, chn is the # of channels and
x is the amount you add to the pitch value. Note that
this effect and the one below are CUMULATIVE.
Pitch Adjust 0x2? Do the same as above, except subtract from the val
Fine Tempo up 0xe? Add this number to the current interrupt calls per
second. Sorry, I could not figure out any other way
to do it. My tempos are based on a system of 128/Tempo
for finer control of other things, so this value would
be added to that number instead of 32/x. So again,
solve the proportion.
Fine Tempo dn 0xd? Same as above, but subtract from tempo
Fine Tempo cnl 0xe? or Cancel fine tempo; revert ints/sec to normal value
0xd? for current tempo
Port to Note 0x3? Slide from current pitch to the pitch specified on
the line where the command is issued. The parameter
tells in how many rows the pitch should have gotten
to the destination. You can use this equation to
figure a standard increment:
P
----------
intSpeed*?
Where P is the pitch, intSpeed is the interrupt speed,
and ? is the effect parameter. Of course an integer
is not enough precision to store the increment most
of the time.
Retrigger 0x4? Repeat the current note ? times in this bar. If a
drum is issued as the note, and the parameter is 0x42
then the drum should be played 2 times that bar, in
evenly spaced intervals.
Set VibDepth 0x5? Set vibrato depth. Actually, in Farandole this value
is used to generate a new sin table; perhaps not the
most efficient way to do it, but what the hell.
The table is generated using this equation:
f(x)=sin(2*pi*f*t)*a
..where a is the value for the effect and f=1.
Vibrato note 0x6? Vibrato this note. Although it goes away if you stop
using it, this effect when used repedeatly actually
just tells FAR to continue the previous vibrato, which
may span several notes depending on how large it is.
Vibrato Sust 0x9? Is the same as above, but it doesn't stop until you
reach a 0x90 command
VolSld Up 0x7? Pushes the volume up one notch (0-F)
VolSld Dn 0x8? Same as above, but it goes down
Port To Vol 0xA? This uses the same method as the Port-To-Note command,
but it acts on volume
Note Offset 0xC? Pretend that you're doing an F-Retrigger command (0x4F).
What you do is blank out all the notes in the retrig
except the one specified here.