669'er - Volume 1 Issue Number 1

Published in

· 11 Jul 2021

                                                                  Vol 1 No 1 
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       An electronic magazine dedicated to perspiring .669 musicians! 

                          Editor: Scott Burkett 
        Reporters for this issue: None 

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In this issue:

Editorial - Introduction to our first issue!
Composer 669 - Wish List!
669er Slam-o-the-month
669er Survey! Favorite .669 tune!
Whatever happened to the .670 format?
Digital sample collections
Sample Merging
669er Tip-o-the-month: Echoing Notes
669 Jam-o-the-month: Twinklefuttocks - The Woodhouse
669er's Digital Utility Listing

EDITORIAL: Welcome to our first issue!

Computer music has come quite a long way since those early days. Those of you who have been around long enough to remember SID chips, peeking and poking 'til early morning, and possibly the original Covox Voicemaster are well aware of this rather astounding evolutionary process. Back in 1983 or so, I authored a package for the Commodore 64 aptly entitled "Synth-64". Some of you may remember this package (scary!). At the time, nothing could even come close to the level of synchronized real-time recording on an 8-bit machine. Hell, you could even use your trusty paddle controller as a pitch bend wheel! (That is, if you could coax your friends away from centipede long enough to use the damn thing!).

I have seen music packages come and go, but never have I seen one with the accuracy and quality of Composer 669. When Rennaissance first released the package, I was skeptical as to the quality of sound that would/could be produced by shoving 8 samples through a standard SB DAC. However, several recordings later, all doubt was removed.

As the 669 scene began to expand and grow, I began to see the need for a regular periodical that would focus on 669 composing. I kept putting it off for various reasons, but when one of my users made mention that he was also interested in starting up a magazine of this type, I tossed in the towel and began work on what you have in your hands now: our first issue!

Although the magazine is entitled "669'er", I have a feeling that several other formats may also be covered. Subjects such as MOD composing, MIDI, and other formats come to mind. However, I do not wish for this magazine to become another SoundBlaster Digest. Although SBD/Waffer is a wonderful publication, in my opinion they are trying to cover entirely too many areas at once. 669 musicians are completely left out of their scene.

Should you have any suggestions, ideas, articles, tidbits, rants, raves, or nude pictures of your sister: send 'em on!

Scott

COMPOSER 669 Wish List!

Over the course of my experiences with Composer-669, many things have come to light, mainly, missing features! Although Tran (author of Composer) has vowed that v1.3 will be the last release, here are a few suggestions:

Ability to copy patterns from one song to another
Ability to merge two .669 files together
Ability to copy from one pattern to another in the same song

Like the majority of 669 authors, I have a directory full of 669 "snippets", each usually a few patterns long. Often times, There are a batch of them that would sound great in the same song. Ahh, those missing editing features...

669er's SLAM-O-THE-MONTH!

This little section of the magazine is dedicated to slamming. People, songs, whatever floats yer boats.

This month's coveted Slammo award goes to a 669 author who calls himself Reepicheap, of the group TTA. In a recent 669 release entitled "Corehop", one of the main tracks in his song was "RIPPED!" from one of my earlier releases entitled "Shadow of the Shallow". Since there is no way to protect your work once it leaves your system, I really didn't mind, however, this individual gave no credit to myself, and therefore earned enough "Slammo" credits to win this issue's award.

669er Survey: Favorite 669 Tune!

Ok, everyone cast your votes for your favorite 669 song! Your vote can be entered by sending a message to Scott Burkett on one of the following BBS systems:

Music Connection (214) 596-2827
Sound Barrier BBS (718) 979-6629
Under the Nile (706) 596-8126

The results will be posted in the next issue!

Whatever happened to the .670 format?

Most perplexing editorial question of the decade! Anyone?

Digital Sample Collections

For those of you who are just starting out with Composer 669, you will find yourself in quick need of digital samples. Available on both Under the Nile and Music Connection is the Cairo Research Labs Digital Sample Collection:

 669BASS.LZH  Cairo Research Digital Samples - Bass Samples 
 669BDRUM.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Bass Drums 
 669BRASS.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Brass 
 669CHOIR.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Choir/Chorus 
 669CYMBS.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Cymbals 
 669DPATT.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Drum Patterns 
 669FLUTE.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Flutes 
 669GUITR.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Guitars 
 669HIHAT.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Hi-Hats 
 669LGUIT.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Lead Guitars 
 669MISC1.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Miscellaneous #1 
 669MISC2.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Miscellaneous #2 
 669MOOG.LZH  Cairo Research Digital Samples - Moog Effects 
 669ORCH.LZH  Cairo Research Digital Samples - Orchestra Samples 
 669ORGAN.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Organs 
 669PERC.LZH  Cairo Research Digital Samples - Misc. Percussion 
 669PIANO.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Piano Samples 
 669SNARE.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Snare Drums 
 669STRIN.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Strings 
 669SYNBS.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Synth Bass Effects 
 669SYNTH.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Synthesized Effects 
 669TOMS.LZH  Cairo Research Digital Samples - Tom Drums 
 669WEIRD.LZH Cairo Research Digital Samples - Weird Samples

Sample Merging

Although 669'er is not a programming journal, occassionally we will offer a snippet or two of code. This month's offering is a cheesy little program designed to merge two samples. It makes no assumptions as to the sampling rates or lengths of the two samples involved, but here goes:

  
#include <stdio.h> 
#include <stdlib.h> 
#include <dos.h> 

#define EVER ;; 

main(int argc, char *argv[]) 
{ 
  char inbuf1, 
       inbuf2, 
       outbuf; 

  FILE *in1, *in2, *out; 

  in1 = fopen(argv[1], "rb"); 
  in2 = fopen(argv[2], "rb"); 
  out = fopen(argv[3], "wb"); 

  for (EVER) 
  { 
    fread(&inbuf1, 1, 1, in1); 
    fread(&inbuf2, 1, 1, in2); 

    if(feof(in1)) break; 
    if(feof(in2)) break; 

    { 
      asm xor ax, ax 
      asm xor dx, dx 
      asm mov al, inbuf1 
      asm mov dl, inbuf2 
      asm add ax, dx 
      asm shr ax, 1 
      asm mov outbuf, al 
    } 

    fwrite(&outbuf, 1, 1, out); 
  } 

  fcloseall(); 

}

Ok, first off, a little more effort could be put into the length portion.
In the above code, the program breaks on the first eof hit. Ok if both samples are roughly the same length, but not so good for those who vary greatly in size. Make a better one and send it on in! This is simply a filler for the first issue to get things rolling.... :-)

669'er Tip-o-the-month: Echoing Notes

A nifty way of achieving echo effects is to play the note repeatedly, while altering the volume of each note. For example

 CF 
 CA 
 C8 
 C5 
 C4 
 C3 
 C2 
 C1

Where "C" is the note and the second character is the volume. By altering the timing between notes, and the volumes, many nifty echo effects can be achieved. Toss a special command such as vibrato or portamento in, and you are on the way to more professional sounding toonage!

Jam-o-the-month!

In each issue of 669'er, we will be presenting an original .669 tune for your listening pleasure. Since this is the first issue, and nobody knows about it yet (!), I whipped up a quickie to fill the immediate void. This tune is nothing special, but kinda fun to listen to at least once (kinda like anything done by Vangelis....). Ok, so you have a great new tune that you would like to see in a future issue of 669'er? Great! Here are the rules..... :-(

The song *MUST* be under 200K when archived up.
The song *MUST* be an original piece of music!
The song *MUST* not be in distribution ANYWHERE

The reason for number 1 and 2 are obvious, but number 3 deserves a bit of attention. I for one would hate to spend the time to download the latest 669'er issue, only to discover that 200K of it already exists on my hard drive. Let's keep them original and reserved for 669'er distribution. Of course, if your song sounds like crap, or is not up to par, for whatever the reason, you will be notified, and you may then distribute your song as you see fit. All decisions are final, bud.

This month's toonage: Twinklefuttocks - The Woodhouse (TWINKLE.LZH)

669er's Digital Utility Listing

Here are the latest versions of most major 669/Digital Music Utilities:

 COMPSD13.LZH Composer-669 v1.30 - 8-track digital composer 
 CV2SAM31.LZH CV2SAM v3.1 - Converts RAW/VOC/WAV to SAM files 
 GRAVE105.LZH Grave v1.05 - German .MOD/.669 Player 
 MOD2669.LZH  MOD2669 v1.0 - Converts MOD to 669 
 P669GU0.LZH  P669 - .669 Player for Gravis Ultrasound Cards 
 SC11.LZH     Sound Convertor v1.1 (669/NST/STM/MOD)

If there are any more utilities or programs that need to be added to the list, drop me a line!

669'er Publication Information

Editor:
Scott Burkett
Under the Nile BBS
1:3613/12@fidonet.org
(706) 596-8126 9600v.32
1113 29th Street
Columbus, GA 31902

Published by and for 669 musicians and users of Compoer-669, the 8-track digital composer by Renaissance. It is a compilation of tips, reviews, and tidbits pertaining to digital composing and general 669 folklore. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of its editors or other contributors.

OBTAINING COPIES: The latest copy of 669'er Magazine will always be available under the magic name of 669ER at the system listed above.

SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in 669'er. Please send all items to one of the afore-mentioned systems via BBS upload or mailer file/attach.

End of 669'er - Volume 1 Issue Number 1