PLAYER COMMANDS

So far we've ignored the 0000 appearing to the right of Tracker editor note names. Well, the four digits are collectively known as the command digits. They allow you to add special effects to the notes, and to ask OctaMED to do certain things. These effects and actions are called player commands.

The command digits are divided into two pairs. The command type is the sort of effect or action, and the command level allows you to control the effect or action's intensity, depth, speed, etc. (depending on the sort of command).

For example, the diagram in part 1.3 shows a note with command type 0C and level 32. Type 0C means ‘set volume', so the player command sets the note's volume level to 32. A full list of player commands is given in @{” Appendix A” link “AppA” 0}

Player commands are entered one digit at a time, simply by moving the cursor over to each digit (using the ← and → keys) and pressing the correct key. You'll find that turning Advance Cursor Right on will help (select Keyboard Options from the Settings menu and click Right). Also, to enter command types such as 19, position the cursor over the right-hand command type digit and press Alt-9 (the left-hand digit is set to 1).

Both the command type and command level are in hexadecimal. If you're unfamiliar with hexadecimal, please read @{” Appendix F ” link “AppF” 0}. A rough understanding of hexadecimal is important for successful use of player commands.

Slide creation

Slides can be created automatically, without having to painstakingly enter each individual command in the slide. This is done using the Pitch, Volume and Generic Slide items in the Edit menu.

To use the Pitch Slide function, firstly enter the notes that the pitch is to slide from and to. (The notes must be on the same track). Now position the cursor where the pitch slide is to begin; this will be somewhere between the two notes. Finally, select Type 1 or Type 2 from the Edit menu's Pitch Slide submenu. Try out both types; type 1 uses command type 03, type 2 uses types 01 and 02.

For Volume Slide, you need to enter two ‘set volume' (command type 0C) commands in the same track: one to set the starting volume level, one to set the ending level. Then position the cursor anywhere between the two commands and select Volume Slide from the Edit menu. Generic Slide works in the same way except that any command type (not just 0C) can be used.

The Soundstudio's new Mix mode has an additional set of player commands. See part A.3 for more details.

Next: Editing a song