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Its been 10 months since I put the TASCAM TA-1VP vocal processor in the rack. I've had the time to read the manual several times and watched the youTube videos. This made me feel a little less clueless during these initial tests. Since a vocalist was unavailable the Atari Pokey chip was a good substitute. The TA-1VP is designed to take an input from a microphone or the line input and adjust it to the nearest pitch specified in the SCALE settings. It will work for one voice or instrument tone. As it turns out the Atari is able to stay on key for most of it's range. When the notes get up to around C6 and above the Pokey chip can't be programed to the proper frequency. At least if your using the Advanced Music System or BASIC SOUND command. Tuning the Atari sounds to the musical scale was not much of a challenge for the TA-1VP. The wave form isn't that complex. The only feature that was used in these examples was the AUTO-TUNE. The MIC MODELER, COMPRESSOR/GATE, DE-ESSER, and EQUALIZER/OUTPUT modules were turned off. Can't get much more basic then that. The Hardware The Atari 130XE is hooked up to a TV monitor through it's composite/audio port. The TV monitor headphone jack is connected to TA-1VP LINE input in the back. The mono out put is connected to the mixer. The mixer is connected to the audio digitizer. The digitizer is connected to the PC through the USB connection. Your system may be different. The first thing you want to do is set the input to LINE and turn the Phantom power off. This is done from the SETUP section. It's also mentioned in the manual. Turn on the rest of your system and Make your adjustments until you can hear/record the signal from the TA-1PV. You may want to check to see if your headphones are working. It was the last thing I checked. There are two setting that are controlled in the AUTO-TUNE section. The SCALE and SPEED. The scale is the notes you want to be active. The C-Major scale is used for the first two tests. The second is the SPEED. This determines the reaction time of the AUTO-TUNE. A SPEED of zero makes the auto tune happen almost instantaneously. Test 1 - SWEEP This simple "SWEEP" test is written in ATARI BASIC. It outputs the sound between 0 and 255. Maybe it should have been called the bomb drop test. The recording starts out with a RUN without the auto-tune followed by a run with auto-tune. You can hear the auto-tune stepping through the notes. 10 FOR X=0 TO 255 20 SOUND 0,X,10,10 30 POSITION 19,0:? X;" " 40 FOR Y=1 TO 20:NEXT Y 50 NEXT X Sweep.mp3 Test 2a - C Maj scale This program uses a chart from the XE manual to set the pitch to produce the notes in the C-Major scale. The frequency is off for the highest notes. Sounds are in tune with the AUTO-Tune on. 10 RESTORE 100 20 READ PITCH 30 IF PITCH=-1 THEN END 40 SOUND 0,PITCH,10,10 50 FOR X=1 TO 200:NEXT X 60 GOTO 20 90 REM Pitch table 130XE Manual-P67 100 DATA 121,108,96,91,81,72,64,60,53,47,45,40,35,31,29,-1 190 REM Detuned 200 DATA 118,109,94,92,83,71,63,60,54,47,44,39,34,32,28,-1 Cmaj table.mp3 Test 2b - Detuned Change the line 10 to RESTORE 200 and you will hear a scale that is intentionally detuned. The audio file has the detuned (auto-tune off) and then with auto-tune. A third run is with the SPEED set to 7. You'll hear the note start out at original frequency and then it sounds something like using the pitch bend wheel to adjust to the properly tuned note. Nice effect if you need it. Cmaj detuned table.mp3 TEST 3 - RITZ.AMS This last test is the intro to "Putting on the RITZ" using Advanced Music System software. There were some off key notes at the end of the intro that needed fixing. The Voice 1 was recorded with the Auto-Tune and all notes of the chromatic scale were on. Then Voices 2-4 were record on a sperate track without auto-tune. Then re-mixed into a third track. The out of tune notes were corrected and it still maintained its POKEY sound. Intro: Audio file orgRitz original AMS.mp3 Audio file voice 1ritz track 1 auto tuned .mp3 Audio file voice 2-4ritz track 2-4 no autotune.mp3 Audio file remixedritz track 1-4 mixed.mp3 Atari support files (.BTX are BASIC Text) AUTOTUNE.atr Conclusion: It works really well for those higher notes that need Auto-Tuning. I'll bet you - I'd use it a lot if a AMS Chip Tune Radio Station was in the works. I can't wait to try mixing a sing-a-long track with some songs in my Atari AMS collection. Can it make me sound like I can sing? Or, should I try to auto-tune SAM? I just have to remember there are limitation and that "You can tune a piano but you can't tune a fish."
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I've started a project to recreate W. Carlos's Switched on Bach album playlist using the Atari8 as a sound source. A goal on my bucket list is to finish it. I intend to use the MIDI Music System to send data to other Ataris that will act as sound synthesizers. My original thought was to have the ability to play the songs in real time; something Carlos couldn't do in 1968 when the album was published. Then I thought of something else that lead me to something else until I asked, "Am I ever going to play any of this music in front of anyone?" The use of multitrack recording software (Audacity) could make this whole operation a lot easier. How much easier? I wanted to test it by recording a music file created using Advanced Music System(AMS). Record a track for each of the 4 voices, Pan the voices left or right to create a stereo effect, sync the tracks using timing marks, and then export as an MP3 file. I chose PRELUDE1.AMS from my collection, a bit of classical music. Sounds like it could be Bach but I am guessing. It took about 3.5 hours to produce the recording on my second try. Once I relearned the AMS v1 commands it started to come back rather quickly. The Prelude1.AMS file was loaded and a measure to help sync the tracks was inserted at the beginning of each voice. The mono recording is of all 4 voices recorded on a single track. The stereo recording had each voice recorded on a separate track and each track was panned left or right of center. You should be able to hear the difference. Prelude1_ams mono.mp3 Prelude1_ams stereo.mp3 The first attempt was recorded without the timing measure and the FX processer on the mixer was set for each voice. The results sounded like crap and there was no way to fix it without starting over. You should be glad I did. Since I had to get the manual for AMS out of the folder, I decided to make a command summary sheet much like the MIDI Music System Command Summary sheet. If you think you might use AMS once ever few years you may want a copy of this. Advanced Music System 1 Command Summary.pdf And…. Within the manual there was a section on how to sink your multi track tape machine . After reading that section, I developed a greater appreciation for digital recording software and a much higher regard for Carlos's contributions to electronic music. Then….This turned into a longer term project when my son got me a small delta 3D printer for my birthday. After I learn how to use 3D design software, I plan to use the 5hrs it takes to print an object to complete the Carlos project.
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A MIDIMate interface for the Atari 8bit computers. Plugs into the SIO port. Works with MIDI Music System 1.0 and MIDI track III. Includes two 1/4 " to RCA adapers for the Sync In and Out ports. Includes original disk and manual for MIDI Music System software. It also can convert AMS music to MIDI format that is uses. (.MUS file extension.) Includes a CD of the entire archive of the 3000 public domain MIDI files that can be played with this interface from the Action Annex BBS. I was co-sysop for a few years back in the day. This was the very same interface Donna used to make audio tapes and test her composition. How's that for maximum compatibility? Since all the MIDI Max interfaces are sold out at Best Electronics, this may very well be one of the last few times you will ever find a vintage equivalent interface like this. Until someone remakes the interface for the 1088xl or finishes the reverse engineering of an equivalent. SOLD!
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- atari 8bit
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Since Ksarul has been so kind to buy enough components up front to make 40 of these cards, I was thinking a dedicated thread on it's discussion might be nice to have. This way anyone who has a question on this device will know where to come, sort of like the dedicated thread for the F18A has kept everyone educated, informed and up-to-date. No longer on the "r@re", 'hard to get' list, or priced in the 'beyond belief' category, I see this new affordable 1 Meg Super AMS card bringing the community to a whole new level like the F18A has done for so many of us. Where will this new card lead us? I'm not sure anyone can say yet, but I do believe there will be things and new capabilities available to us in the future that no one ever thought possible on a TI, because with the talent I've seen on display here, and all the mind-blowing things I've witnessed over the past year alone, I now know... almost anything is possible. Stuff like the this 1 meg card, the F18A, Stuart's browser, the USB keyboard project, and all the others too numerous to mention are why the TI community is thriving. It's an exciting time to be a TI'er! I can't wait to plug one of these into my P-Box so I'm ready for the next big thing when it's released. Also,....if anyone needs a beta tester...
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Tim (InsaneMultitasker) had an excellent suggestion for a NEW Super AMS thread, and now that Jim, (Ksarul) will be bringing the amazing capabilities of this device to the masses, it'll no longer be a rare and hard to obtain item, so I expect interest and excitement will grow around it. There is also some talk behind the scenes of some current programs being modified to exploit it's capabilities as well. I think the next couple of years around here are going to be exciting TImes! Now I'm curious what kind of things do all you guys out there 'envision' as ways to exploit this new card? I'm sure there are things that no one has even considered yet. The sky's the limit, after all 4 megabytes is quite a jump from 32K. Come on in!