by utz/irrlicht project 09'2019
Archie is an experimental 1-bit sound engine for the ZX Spectrum Beeper. It draws inspiration from other modern beeper engines such as Pytha, povver, and Tritone Digi.
Archie uses the pulse interleaving technique to create 5 tone channels with asynchronous volume. The first 4 channels are intended to be used in pairs with controllable phase offset. This simple setup is useful for producing a range of different, sometimes surprising effects. The 5th channel is a regular pulse wave channel with duty cycle control and duty cycle sweep.
Channels 1a and 2a are playing at roughly 1/3rd of the volume of channel 1 and 2, respectively. The 5th channel plays at about 2/3rds of the volume of channel 1/2.
In addition to the tone channels, Archie features an interrupting click drum channel with 3-bit volume control. Click drums are arbitrary PWM samples played at 31250 Hz. The core synthesis runs at 15625 Hz (standard 224 cycle loop).
| Notation | Explanation |
|---|---|
| f1 | frequency divider channel 1 |
| f1a | frequency divider channel 1a |
| P1a | phase offset channel 1a |
| f2,f2a,P2a | as above, but for channel 2/2a |
| f3 | frequency divider channel 3 |
| d3 | duty cycle channel 3 |
Sine Wave: To (crudely) simulate a sine wave, use f1a = 3 * f1 and P1a = 0x1000. For a more triangle-y sound, combine channel 1a with channel 3 instead, using d3 = 0.
Sine Wave with Additional 7th: As above, but detune f1a or f1 slightly.
Saw Wave: Use f1a = 2 * f3 and P1a = 0
Volume Control: Use f1a = f2a with a variable phase offset. P1a = 0x1000 will produce the lowest volume.
Examples using channels 1/1a will equally work on channels 2/2a.
Archie's music data format follows the common sequence/pattern approach.
The sequence determines the overall structure of the song. It must be listed at the start of the music data. It consists of a list of words, which are pointers to patterns. The sequence end must be marked with a 0-word, followed by a word defining the loop point within the sequence. The loop word can be omitted if looping has been disabled in main.asm (by setting the LOOPING variable to 0).
Patterns are units containing one or more rows of notes and effect parameters. Rows are constructed as follows:
| offset (byte) | function |
|---|---|
| 0 | Global Control (see below) |
| 1 | Row Length in ticks |
| 2 | Phase Offset Channel 1a (0..0x1000) |
| 4 | Frequency Divider CH1a (12-bit) |
| 6 | Frequency Divider CH1 |
| 8 | Phase Offset CH2a |
| 10 | Frequency Divider CH2a |
| 12 | Frequency Divider CH2 |
| 14 | Frequency Divider CH3 |
| 16 | CH3 Duty Sweep (0xfd to enable, 0 to disable) |
| 17 | Duty Cycle CH3 (see below) |
| 18 | Drum Control/Length in half ticks (see below) |
| 19 | Drum Volume (3-bit, permitted values are (0x10..0x70) & 0xf0) |
| 20 | pointer to drum sample |
The bits in the global control byte have the following significance
| bit | function |
|---|---|
| 0 | skip CH1 update (omit data bytes 2-7) |
| 2 | skip CH2 update (omit data bytes 8-11) |
| 6 | pattern end marker |
| 7 | skip CH3 update (omit data bytes 12-15) |
| value | function |
|---|---|
| 0 | skip duty cycle reset (useful for arpeggios with duty sweep enabled) |
| 0x1..0xf | set duty cycle to 3.125%..46.875% |
| 0x20 | set duty cycle to 50% |
If the drum control byte (data byte 18) is set to 0, no click drum is played and data bytes 20-21 are omitted. Otherwise, data byte 18 signifies the drum length in half ticks (eg. a drum length of 2 equals a row length of 1). The user must ensure that the drum length does not exceed the row length.