Does anyone have or know of an existing scan for a Sorgan II manual?

pixelpedant · February 16, 2020

The other Databiotics carts I have from this era have rather inauspicious "manuals" (to go with the inauspicious cart labels), but at least came with something. Anyone know if Sorgan II had a manual?

+InsaneMultitasker · February 16, 2020

Here's what I found in my library. It is part of a set of files that includes much of the source code.

~~~~~~~~~~~ S O R G A N I I ~~~~~~~~~~

Program By Jerome Trinkl

~~~~~~~~~~~~ T I 9 9 / 4 A ~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorgan II will allow you to use your computer keyboard to play
voiced notes and chord formations. You have control from the keyboard
to change some of the variables that affect those voices and chords.
The Sorgan screen has three main sections and was created in
full color in the bit-map graphics mode. The first and most obvious
section is the keyboard. It corresponds to a piano keyboard showing
two octaves of keys (twenty-four keys). The twenty-fifth key on the ex-
treme right is depressed only for special effects.The keys are accurate
with that of a piano and not the computer keyboard. Uppercase letters
on the computer play the notes and lowercase letters play the chord
formations. When a note is played the piano key that corresponds on
screen is shown depressed. Likewise when a chord is played the three
notes making up the chord have their keys shown depressed. The key will
stay depressed as long as the computer key is held down.
In the upper section the triangular mountain is the graphical
representation of notes and chords played. Any one of the twelve bars
generated are of random colors and correspond in height on the mountain
to the frequency of the single note or the higher chord note played.
Although two octaves may be played from the keyboard only one octave
is displayed in the triangle. The second or higher octave is repeated
using the same locations as the first. The color bars stay on screen
as long as the note is played. The bars for chords stay on screen until
they are deleted by playing a note of the same value or using the equal
key to clear the graphics.
The lower section gives the status of all the key options except
that of defaults and # or b. Those key options are discussed in detail
following this text.

Page 1
Now is your chance to use one of those extra plastic strips
for write-in key options that came with your computer when it was new.
I have setup mine up like this:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
OCT | OCT | CHRD | CHRD | VOL | VOIC | CMOD | NMOD | # | DFAULT | SOM
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UP | DN | UP | DN | SELT | SELT | SELT | SELT | b | ON/OFF | CLR
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: This strip represents the top row of keys 1 through =
only and not the function or control keys normally associated with
the strip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Detailed Desription of Sorgan II Key Options ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

M A I N K E Y S

K E Y S F U N C T I O N D E S C R I P T I O N
----------- --------------- ------------------------------------------
Z-M,A-L,Q-I Notes 24 Keys or two octaves of chromatic notes

z-m,a-l,q-i Chords 24 Keys or two octaves of chromatic chords

Note: Release Alpa-Lock key and use the
shift key to play notes with chords. Also
the sustain volume should be greater than
zero in order to hear both together.

1 & 2 Octave There are 6 oct. for notes. You play two
Up/Down octaves from the keyboard,the octive shown
and the next higher octave.(6 plays 6 & 1)

3 & 4 Chord Formation Select formations: Major, Minor, Major7th,
Up/Down Minor7th, Augmented,and Diminished.

(5) Volume Select Set individual volumes for Notes, Chords,
Sutain, and Bass.(use + and - keys too)

(6) Voice Select Select the voices of Organ, Piano, Space,
Pulse, and Funny for Notes only.

(7) Chord Mode Provides different effects for chords. The
Select Y factor will alter some of these effects.

(8) Note Mode Provides different effects for notes. The
Select X factor will alter some of these effects.

(9) # or b Select sharps or flats. Note values will
be consistent with music therory. This key
gives an audible indication only.

(0) Defaults Certain default parameters were set up for
On/Off all voice selections and certain chord
mode selections. Gives an audible indi-
cation only. More detail following.

= Clear/S.O.M. Pressing this key briefly stops all sounds
and clears the triangle graphics. Holding
the key depressed will produce what I call
sound of memory.(S.O.M.) You actually hear
the machine code of this program. The X
factor affects the time delay between each
sound of S.O.M.
Page 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ S O R G A N S T A T U S S C R E E N ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

note
Chord-Major \ / Organ-Note
/Sustn A# Norml\
Modes- 100 Cb 100 -Mode
\Chord / \ Notes/
Octave chords Bass
\01/ Note - 15 -Volume Off

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

S P E C I A L K E Y S

K E Y S F U N C T I O N D E S C R I P T I O N
----------- --------------- -----------------------------------------
P Special Effect Special effect sound heard as long as key
is pressed and is modified by both the X
and Y factors. Graphics are a solid color
randomly chosen in the triangle.

+ or - Volume Increases or decreases the volume you se-
lected with the number 6 key(Vol select).
Values range from 0 (off) to 15 (loudest)

; Random X Value Chooses a random value for X in the range
of from ten to one thousand.

: Random Y Value Same as X.

, X Decrease Decreases X by one.

. X Increase Increases X by one.

> Y Increase Increases Y by one.

< Y Decrease Decreases Y by one.

(Space Bar) Bass on/off Once turned on bass stays on until =
is pressed or space bar is pressed
again.

Fctn Back Key Options On screen review of these key options.

Fctn = Quit Same as most programs.

Note: Key options in () signify that one key is used to select from a list
of options.The list is read from beginning to the end and then back
to the beginning again.

What are these X and Y factors? They are simply a means by which
you can control the various note and chord mode characteristics. If
you are into programming they are a for-next delay loop for X or Y
number of iterations. X affects the voices of Piano,Pulse,and Funny.
It affects the note modes of Echo,Vibro, and Decay. Y factor affects
the chord modes of Arpeg,Vibro, and Invrt. The idea is to experiment
with different X and Y values for different sound effects. Use the
random keys to get close to the number range you want for X and Y,
then use the increase or decrease by one keys for an exact number.

PAGE 3

X A N D Y P A R A M E T E R S

Note Echo Mode
--------------
Plays a normal note three times after key is released and the delay
between each note is governed by the X factor.

Note Vibro Mode
---------------
Plays a distorted note with the X factor governing the amount of dis-
tortion.

Note Decay Mode
---------------
As the key plays the note its volume decreases to zero as a function
of how long the key is held depressed and the X factor.

Arpeggio Chord Mode
-------------------
Plays the individual notes of the chord from lowest to highest with
a delay between each note of Y factor.

Inverted Chord Mode
-------------------
Same as an arpeggiated chord but from highest to lowest notes.

Special Effect (P Key)
----------------------
Both X and Y in combination affect this special sound.

D E F A U L T P A R A M E T E R S

Notes
-----
Organ X=100 Octave=1

Piano X=600 Octave=3

Space X=600 Octave=2

Pulse X=500 Octave=1

Funny X=100 Octave=2

Chords
------
Arpeggio and Inverted Y=500

All Other Modes Y=100

Note: The 0 key is used to turn on and off these defaults.

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