Contents |
Description
This software was provided with the Philips NMS 1160 music keyboard and expanded on the idea of the Music-BOX firmware included in the Philips NMS 1205 Music Module cartridge.
It needs to be used this cartridge in a slot and you must press the ESC key while booting the computer (except if you have a modified Music Module). Another OPL1 cartridge can also be used, but some features will not be available.
It allows users to play the device as a regular music keyboard, the MSX providing the background instruments and rhythm, and the user playing along with the right hand while changing the chords using the left hand.
This follow-up software has support for keyboard, mouse in port 1 and joystick in port 2 and is likely also the first software that used the MSX-AUDIO Sample RAM for drums (DRUMKIT.SAM and DEFAULT.SEQ files). The main menu gives you the choice between two options: the Sound Creator and the Composer.
Sound Creator
The four green icons give access to
- the Voice Perfector
- the Sound Sampling
- the MIDI menu: you can here decide to play FM music or a sample and select the MIDI channel (between 1 and 16 - default value:1)
- the Disk functions: you can load, save or delete three different kinds of files: FM voices (.VOC files), Sequences (.SEQ files) and Samples (.SAM files)
You can also choose to run the Composer.
Note: To go back to this screen when you are in the Voice Perfector or the Sound Sampling, you need to click in the highest part of the screen.
Voice Perfector
The Voice Perfector is a tool that allows to improve the default sounds or voices (see the Voice Data Table below): you can change the sustain, the brightness, the sound color (with 2 parameters) and the volume.
The left green icon gives access to a screen where you can select the voice you want to improve (RECALL) or save a modified voice under a new name (STORE) in the computer RAM.
The right green icon gives access to the disk functions. You can save your new library of voices in a .VOC file.
Sound Sampling
The Sound Sampling utility is composed of 5 screens.
The main screen allows to
- select a part of a sample file (.SAM file)
- choose an action (RECORD or AUDITION)
- choose the TRIGGER MODE for recording (AUTO or MANUAL)
- to set the TRIGGER LEVEL used in AUTO mode (only sound above the choosen level, indicated by a T, will activate the recording)
- access the 4 other screens
The Sample Setup screen allows to
- divide a sample file into 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 parts or slots
- change the sampling frequency
The Looping screen allows to visualise the sample and to define which part needs to be repeated when pressing a key on the music keyboard.
The Sample Sequencer screen allows to divide a complete drumkit for a song (.SEQ file) into smaller sequences, to visualise, play and change these sequences. The length and the tempo of the sequences can also be modified.
You can save your samples or sequences in the DIsk Functions screen as .SAM files or .SEQ files.
Composer
The 10 icons allow to
- set the music keyboard split point
- set the transpose parameter (value between -5 and +6 - default value: 0)
- access the play options menu
- access the real time mode
- quit the Composer and run the Sound Creator
- access the MIDI menu: you can here activate/de-activate MIDI and choose the MIDI channel (between 1 and 16 - default value:1)
- activate or de-activate the rhythms
- access the input options menu: you can here choose between external keyboard and MIDI keyboard
- access the step time mode
- access the disk functions: you can load, save or delete five different kinds of files: Step Time songs (.SPT files), Real Time songs (.RLT files), Accompaniment (.ACC files), FM voices (.VOC files) and Percussion (.SAM files)
Most of the actions can be made even while listening to your song. However, some actions will stop the playback mode.
Play Options
This menu includes three options allowing to change
- the volume of each sound (or voice) used in your song, with exception for the drums
- the sounds (or voices) used for the 2 melody channels, the 6 accompaniment channels and the bass channel - see the Voice Data Table below
- in 'Ensemble' submenu, the transpose parameter (between -1 and +1) for each sound (or voice) corresponding to these channels
All these changes can be made even while listening to your song.
Real Time Composer
The Real Time Composer mode corresponds to the GLING input mode of the Music-BOX firmware, but with a big difference: you need absolutely to use the music keyboard to play live the song that you want to create.
The maximum time is 8 minutes and you can check the memory status on the screen. When this status is completely red, it means that you have entered the maximum number of notes and that the computer RAM is full.
The 7 icons allow to
- clear the computer RAM (recommended before playing live a new song)
- change the tempo (value between 62 and 200)
- change the music keyboard mode: split mode (default mode) or 9 channels mode
- make a live recording (in the computer RAM)
- get a playback (of your own song or a loaded song)
- test your song with the drums
- go back to the Composer menu where you will find the Disk functions: the songs created in Real Time can be saved as .RLT files
Note: 4 .RLT files are included on the disk (see the Songs List below).
Step Time Composer
It's a more complete version of the Step Time input mode available on the Music-BOX firmware: you select first a note or a silence, then you position the pointer between the two markers above and below the music stave before playing the tone on the music keyboard.
Each time you add a note, it will move to the left, allowing you to input the next note. You can scroll through the music with the little arrows above the music stave and replace a note by another one. The DEL button can be used to remove a previously inserted note or silence.
The 8 icons allow to
- change the tempo (value between 62 and 200)
- get a playback (of your own song or a loaded song) with visualisation of the notes on the music stave
- access more musical settings such as triplets
- go back to the Composer menu where you will find the Disk functions: the songs created in Step Time can be saved as .SPT files
- change the time and key signatures
- clear the computer RAM (recommended before creating a new song)
- access more music notations such as D.C., D.S., FINE, CODA, etc...
- print the music score
Note: 22 .SPT files are included on the disk (see the Songs List below).
Songs List
Here below you can find the list of all the songs available on the Music Creator disk. Some titles are probably wrong, by lack of accurate infos.
Note: The songs are actually not numbered.
| Song No. | File | Title | Song No. | File | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RLT FILES | ||||||
| 01 | STEELBND.RLT | Steel Bound | 03 | WHITESHR.RLT | A Whiter Shade Of Pale | |
| 02 | SAILING.RLT | Sailing | 04 | MY WAY.RLT | My Way | |
| SPT FILES | ||||||
| 01 | DONT-YOU.SPT | Don't You (Forget About Me) | 12 | MIAMI.SPT | Miami Vice Theme | |
| 02 | 1NOTESAM.SPT | One Note Samba | 13 | MADONNA.SPT | Into The Groove | |
| 03 | MOZART40.SPT | Mozart Symphony 40 | 14 | LUCILLE.SPT | Lucille | |
| 04 | LADIESNT.SPT | Ladies Night | 15 | NEVERDNE.SPT | Never Done | |
| 05 | SUN ONTV.SPT | The Sun Always Shines On TV | 16 | TOCCATA.SPT | Toccata And Fugue | |
| 06 | WEDDEN.SPT | Wedding Song | 17 | RISINSUN.SPT | House Of The Rising Sun | |
| 07 | PACHELB.SPT | Pachelbel's Canon | 18 | BALLROOM.SPT | Ballroom Dance | |
| 08 | APRIL.SPT | Little April Shower | 19 | EDGEDARK.SPT | Edge Of The Dark | |
| 09 | EAST END.SPT | East Enders Theme | 20 | LITEFIRE.SPT | Light My Fire | |
| 10 | ALLGIRLS.SPT | To All The Girls I've Loved Before | 21 | MEXICO.SPT | Mexico | |
| 11 | ONLY YOU.SPT | Only You | 22 | MEXICO2.SPT | Mexico |
Accompaniment Data Table
This utility includes 19 pre-programmed musical accompaniment arrangements in different styles (*.ACC files on the disk). They can be used as starting point to create a song.
The below table includes the default values for the tempo and the different sounds (or voices), except the drums - Tp = Tempo, Mel. = Melody, Acc. = Accompaniment
Note: The files are actually not numbered.
| No. | Name | Tp | Mel. 1 | Mel. 2 | Acc. 1 | Acc. 2 | Acc. 3 | Acc. 4 | Acc. 5 | Acc. 6 | Bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ballad | 90 | Flute | Spanish Guitar | Strings | Strings | Vibraphone | Vibraphone | Strings | Strings | Electric Bass |
| 02 | 68ballad | 130 | Trumpet | Electric Organ 1 | Brass | Spanish Guitar | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Trumpet | Electric Bass |
| 03 | Country | 130 | Banjo | Mouth Harp | Banjo | Banjo | Strings | Spanish Guitar | Harmonica | Marimba | Electric Bass |
| 04 | Disco | 120 | Meaty Job | Toy Piano | Brass | Brass | Brass | Brass | Marimba | Electric Bass | Electric Bass |
| 05 | Disco | 120 | Meaty Job | Toy Piano | Brass | Brass | Brass | Brass | Marimba | Electric Bass | Electric Bass |
| 06 | Funk | 94 | Synth 1 | Brass | Electric Organ 1 | Brass | Brass | Brass | Brass | Plucked Strings | Electric Bass |
| 07 | Funk2 | 94 | Synth 1 | Brass | Electric Organ 1 | Brass | Brass | Brass | Brass | Plucked Strings | Electric Bass |
| 08 | Latin | 120 | Steel Drum | Marimba | Marimba | Clarinet | Clarinet | Horn | Horn | Plucked Strings | Electric Bass |
| 09 | March | 110 | Brass | Trombone | Brass | Brass | Brass | Clarinet | Horn | Brass | Electric Bass |
| 10 | Pop | 120 | Glockenspiel | Glockenspiel | Strings | Strings | Strings | Strings | Plucked Strings | Plucked Strings | Electric Bass |
| 11 | Pop2 | 150 | Hand Bell | Nice Sound | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Marimba | Marimba | Electric Bass |
| 12 | Pop2b | 150 | Hand Bell | Nice Sound | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Synth 1 | Marimba | Marimba | Electric Bass |
| 13 | Reggae | 110 | Synth Lead | Synth Lead | Plucked Strings | Plucked Strings | Plucked Strings | Plucked Strings | Electric Organ 1 | Marimba | Electric Bass |
| 14 | Reggae2 | 110 | Synth Lead | Synth Lead | Plucked Strings | Plucked Strings | Plucked Strings | Plucked Strings | Electric Organ 1 | Marimba | Electric Bass |
| 15 | Rocknrol | 120 | Electric Organ 1 | Blues Guitar | Spanish Guitar | Spanish Guitar | Spanish Guitar | Electric Organ 1 | Blues Guitar | Electric Bass | Electric Bass |
| 16 | Rock2 | 130 | Electric Organ 1 | Blues Guitar | Spanish Guitar | Spanish Guitar | Spanish Guitar | Electric Organ 1 | Blues Guitar | Electric Bass | Electric Bass |
| 17 | Swing | 150 | Brass | Trombone | Brass | Brass | Brass | Brass | Clarinet | Electric Bass | Electric Bass |
| 18 | Swing2 | 150 | Brass | Trombone | Brass | Brass | Brass | Brass | Clarinet | Electric Bass | Electric Bass |
| 19 | Waltz | 150 | Glockenspiel | Flute | Strings | Strings | Strings | Strings | Clarinet | Horn | Electric Bass |
Voice Data Table
This utility has its own default system of voices (or sounds), regrouped by instrument type and using abbreviations. It's the same voice system as for the Music-BOX firmware. The list is included in the DEFAULT.VOC file.
There are obviously user voices, but accurate infos are missing to compare with default MSX-AUDIO voices (see CALL VOICE). The below table tries to make this comparison, but it includes probably many errors and inacurracies.
Note: The sounds are actually not numbered, and the 5 last positions are reserved for 4 shorts samples (1.15 seconds) and 1 long sample (4.6 seconds).
| Voice No. | Name | _VOICE No. | Voice No. | Name | _VOICE No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Synth 1 | 24 | 34 | Trombone | ||
| 02 | Synth 2 | 35 | Horn | 48 | ||
| 03 | Synth Lead | 36 | Tuba | |||
| 04 | Synth Sweep | 37 | Wah Brass | |||
| 05 | Synth Bass | 23 | 38 | Bell Brass | ||
| 06 | Meaty Job | 39 | Strings | |||
| 07 | Wayout | 40 | Plucked Strings | |||
| 08 | Nice Sound | 41 | Violin | 2 | ||
| 09 | Alien | 42 | Saxophone | |||
| 10 | Bell | 21 | 43 | Clarinet | 4 | |
| 11 | Handbell | 28 | 44 | Flute | 3 or 36 | |
| 12 | Noizy | 45 | Piccolo | |||
| 13 | Spacebell | 46 | Blockflute | |||
| 14 | Plinkstring | 47 | Oboe | 5 | ||
| 15 | Sitar | 48 | Bassoon | |||
| 16 | Blues Guitar | 49 | Harmonica | |||
| 17 | Spanish Guitar | 50 | Bagpipes | |||
| 18 | Fuzz Guitar | 51 | Piano | 0 | ||
| 19 | Banjo | 52 | Electric Piano 1 | 1 | ||
| 20 | Harp | 53 | Electric Piano 2 | 32 | ||
| 21 | Mouth-Harp | 54 | Toy Piano | |||
| 22 | Bass | 33 | 55 | Harpsichord | 14 or 15 | |
| 23 | Slap Bass | 56 | Celesta | |||
| 24 | Electric Bass | 12 | 57 | Accordion | ||
| 25 | Rasp Bass | 58 | Pipe Organ | 7 or 40 | ||
| 26 | Glocklenspiel | 59 | Electric Organ 1 | 9 | ||
| 27 | Koto | 17 or 39 | 60 | Electric Organ 2 | 46 | |
| 28 | Marimba | 61 | Short Sample 1 | |||
| 29 | Xylophone | 8 | 62 | Short Sample 2 | ||
| 30 | Vibraphone | 16 | 63 | Short SAmple 3 | ||
| 31 | Steel Drum | 64 | Short Sample 4 | |||
| 32 | Brass | 35 | 65 | Long Sample | ||
| 33 | Trumpet | 6 |