The Dynamic Studio Module (DSM) format by proton / n-factor
Description of the structure in a DSM Module.
Header:
000 004 "DSm",1ah
004 001 Version, current is 20h
005 020 Songname
025 020 Composer
045 001 Channels used
046 001 Samples used
047 001 Songlength
048 001 Packinformation
049 001 Mastervolume (0-100%)
050 014 ** reserved **
Songinfo:
000 Chn Balance Control (0-15)
xxx Sng Songlist
Trackinfo:
000 Chn*Pat*8 Tracknames
Sampleinfo: (*number of samples)
000 022 Samplename
022 001 Typ (8=8bit,16=16bit)
023 002 Length
025 001 Finetune (signed nibble)
026 001 Volume (0-64)
027 002 Repeat Start
029 002 Repeat Length
031 001 ** reserved **
Channelinfo: (*number of channels *number of patterns)
000 001 Sample
001 001 Note
002 001 Command
003 001 Databyte for command
Samples:
000 ??? signed samples
Description of all commands in Dynamic Studio v1.0 (by ???)
To understand how to use effects with your samples, a description of the
patternstructure will be needed. A pattern is built up out of tracks,
or channels. Every channel can play one sample at a time. Now, without
adding some effects, the samples will sound pretty much the same in all of
your compositions. To avoid that, effects are used! There are currently
35 different effects supported in Dynamic Studio v1.00.
Every channel consists of three sections: Note, Sample and Effect (the first
two parts will not be mentioned in this chapter!). The Effect section con-
sists of four sequential digits, like this:
C-2 01 0000
Note Sample Effect
Effects are created by changing the effect section from other values than 0.
To be able to separate the four digits building up an effect, they will be
referred to as HiCmd, LoCmd, HiData and LoData, see figure below:
HiCmd----------+
LoCmd--------+ |
HiData-----+ | |
LoData---+ | | |
| | | |
| | | |
0 0 0 0
Effect
All commands below will be described in the above format. For instance, the
Volumeslide (Effect #A) will be described something like this:
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: A HiData: 0-F LoData: 0-F
The above means that to produce the Volumeslide effect, you place a 0 in the
HiCmd column, an "A" in the LoCmd column and a value from 0-F in the Hi- and
LoData columns. This is what a channel might look like if we followed the
above description:
C-2 01 0A03
Note Sample Effect
In this case, we play the note C-2 with sample No.#1 and use the Volume-
slide command. We also put a value of 3 in the LoData column and left the
HiData column empty (0).
Since all commands are built up differently, there may be combinations of
the four digits like this:
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 1 HiData: 00-FF
This means that the HiData field has been combined with the LoData column.
An example of this is the Portamento Up command, that requires two digits
of data:
C-2 01 0129
Note Sample Effect
In this case, we play the note C-2 with sample #2 and use the Portamento
Up command. The HiData in this case equals to "29" (the LoData column has
been combined with the HiData column).
The full description for all different commands now follows.
1 Portamento Up
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 1 HiData: 00-FF
Portamento means "Sliding the frequency". This effect slides the
current note upwards until it reaches the highest frequency, B-4.
The HiData represents the speed with which you want to slide the
note.
Example:
C-2 01 0109
Note Sample Effect
The above example will play a C-2 with Sample #1 and slide the
frequency up 9 times for that row.
Try this:
The portamento could be used to create a police sireen effect. Load
a looped clean sound (like a sinewave) into Sample #1. Play a note
slide the frequency up with this command and slide it down with the
Portamento Down effect (later described!).
2 Portamento Down
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 2 HiData: 00-FF
This command works just like the Portamento Up effect, with the
difference that it slides the frequency down.
Example:
C-2 01 0207
Note Sample Effect
The above example will play a C-2 with Sample #1 and slide the
frequency down 7 times for that row.
3 Tone-Portamento
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 3 HiData: 00-FF
This command will automatically slide from one note to another. The
effect requires two different notes to work properly. The HiData is
the speed for the frequency slide.
Example:
C-2 01 0000
D#3 01 0304
--- -- 0304
--- -- 0304
Note Sample Effect
The above example will first play note C-2. When it reaches the 2nd
line, the D#3 will not be played as normal. Instead a slide from C-2
will begin and end at D#3. Note, that the D#3 might not be reached
at the first line. Therefore, the two empty effect lines
(--- -- 0304) are used in this case.
Try this:
The toneportamento is excellent to use with strings to avoid the
string to be started all over. The string will just continue to loop
and thereby give a smoother overlap to the next string.
4 Vibrato
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 4 HiData: 0-F LoData: 0-F
Vibrato means exactly what it sounds like, vibrating the frequency
of a sound. The HiData describes the speed of the vibrato and the
LoData describes the depth. The depth could better be described as
how much from the original frequency the minimum and maximum fre-
quencies should be.
Example:
C-2 01 0493
--- -- 0400
--- -- 0400
--- -- 0400
Note Sample Effect
The above example will vibrate the sound with a speed of 9 and a
depth of 3. Try different values out to see the result.
Note: The three empty lines keep on vibrating the sound with the given
Data values.
5 Toneportamento + VolumeSlide
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 5 HiData: 0-F LoData: 0-F
This command will continue the current Toneportamento and at the same
time slide the volume either up or down. The HiData is the amount
the volume should slide up and the LoData the opposite.
Example:
C-2 01 0501
Note Sample Effect
The above example will continue a toneportamento and slide the volume
down at a fairly slow speed.
Try this:
The command is of course used together with the Toneportamento
effect. Use the effect on looped sounds.
6 Vibrato + Volumeslide
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 6 HiData: 0-F LoData: 0-F
This works like the Toneportamento + Volumeslide effect, except that
it continues vibrating a sound instead of sliding the frequency. The
HiData digit specifies the value with which you want to slide the
volume up, and LoData the slide down value.
Example:
C-2 01 0620
Note Sample Effect
The above example will continue a previous vibrato and at the same
time slide the volume up at a speed of 2.
7 Tremolo
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 7 HiData: 0-F LoData: 0-F
Tremolo is a variant of Vibrato. Vibrato vibrates the frequency of
a sound, tremolo vibrates the volume of a sound.
Example:
C-2 01 0793
--- -- 0700
--- -- 0700
--- -- 0700
Note Sample Effect
The above example will vibrate the sounds volume with a speed of 9
and a depth of 3. Try different values out to see the result.
Note: The three empty lines keep on vibrating the volume with the given
Data values.
9 Sampleoffset
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 9 HiData: 00-FF
This command will play a sound beginning at a specified offset. Let's
say we have a voice sample saying "DYNAMIC STUDIO IS GREAT!". With
this command we can get the sample to play "GREAT!" instead of the
entire sample by adjusting the offset.
The HiData represents the HiByte of the sample's size. If a sound
has got a length of 2000 hexadecimally and we want to play the sound
from the middle and forward we type:
Example:
C-2 01 0910
Note Sample Effect
The above example will play sound #1 from offset 1000 and forward.
A Volumeslide
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: A HiData: 0-F LoData: 0-F
Volumeslide slides the volume for a sound either up or down. The
HiData is the amount to slide the volume up and LoData the opposite.
Example:
C-2 01 0A0F
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the value down 15 steps times the speed
for that line.
Try this:
This command can be used to creating bumping sounds. Load a looped
sound into sample #1 and try the following:
C-2 01 0A0F
--- 01 0A0F
--- 01 0A0F
--- 01 0A0F
--- 01 0A0F
Note Sample Effect
B Positionjump
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: B HiData: 00-7F
The positionjump will let you jump from different positions in your
song.
Example:
C#1 01 0B04
Note Sample Effect
The above example will first play the C#1 and then jump to position 4
in your song.
11 Portamento Up - 5
HiCmd: 1 LoCmd: 1 HiData: 00-FF
This command works like the normal Portamento Up command. The differ-
ence is that it utilizes all five octaves that are available in
Dynamic Studio.
Example:
C#4 01 1102
Note Sample Effect
The above example slides the current note up two steps.
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
12 Portamento Down - 5
HiCmd: 1 LoCmd: 2 HiData: 00-FF
This command works like the normal Portamento Down command. The
difference is that it utilizes all five octaves that are available in
Dynamic Studio.
Example:
C#4 01 1203
Note Sample Effect
The above example slides the current note down two steps.
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
13 3D Simulate
HiCmd: 1 LoCmd: 3 HiData: 00-FF
This command is used fake a 3D sound. The HiData byte represents an
angle for the sound to played at. The angles ranges from 00-FF and
represents 0-360 degress. This is how you interpret the HiData
values:
(Far Back)
80
/\
/ \
/ \
(Far Left) C0 / \ 40 (Far Right)
\ /
\ /
\ /
\/
00
(Far Front)
Example:
C#4 01 1380
Note Sample Effect
The above example plays a '3D-sound' at the back center.
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
80 Panning Control
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 8 HiData: 0 LoData: 0-F
This command controls the balance. The LoData controls the balance
value from 0-F.
Example:
C#4 01 080F
Note Sample Effect
The example above plays a sound at the far right.
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
81 Default Volumeslide Up
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 8 HiData: 1 LoData: 0-F
Works like the standard volumeslide with the difference that the
volume stops fading at the sample's defaultvolume.
Example:
C#4 01 0812
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the value up 2 steps times the speed
for that line. It won't fade higher than the set default volume!
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
82 Default Fine Volumeslide Up
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 8 HiData: 2 LoData: 0-F
Works like the standard fine volumeslide with the difference that the
volume stops fading at the sample's defaultvolume.
Example:
C#4 01 0822
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the value up 2 steps for that line. It
won't fade higher than the set default volume.
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
83 Default Fine Portamento Up - 5
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 8 HiData: 3 LoData: 0-F
Works like the standard fine portamento with the difference that the
frequency utilizes all five octaves.
Example:
C#4 01 0832
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the frequency value up 2 steps for that
line.
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
84 Default Fine Portamento Down - 5
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: 8 HiData: 4 LoData: 0-F
Works like the standard fine portamento with the difference that the
frequency utilizes all five octaves.
Example:
C#4 01 0842
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the frequency value down 2 steps for
that line.
Note: This command is Dynamic Studio only.
20 Set volume + Sampleoffset
HiCmd: 2 LoCmd: 0-F HiData: 00-FF
This example works like the Sampleoffset and Set volume commands
together. The HiCmd represents the effect, the LoCmd represents the
volume (see below for values) and the HiData represents the sample-
offset the sound should be played from, just like the standard
Sampleoffset command.
LoCmd Volume LoCmd Volume
0 4 8 36
1 8 9 40
2 12 A 44
3 16 B 48
4 20 C 52
5 24 D 56
6 28 E 60
7 32 F 64
Note: All Volume in the above table are decimal values, NOT hexa-
decimal!
Example:
C#4 01 2730
Note Sample Effect
The above example will play a sound from sampleoffset 3000 hexadeci-
mally at volume 32 (=20 hexadecimally!). The '32' is taken from the
C Set volume
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: C HiData: 00-40
Sets the volume for a certain channel, or in other words, the current
sample. The HiData ranges from 0-40 hexadecimally where 0 means no
volume at all and 40 means full volume.
Example:
C#1 01 0C20
Note Sample Effect
The above example will set the volume to 20 (half the maximum
volume).
D PatternBreak
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: D HiData: 00-63
This command lets you break a pattern and step to the next. The Hi-
Data equals the line on the next pattern you want to jump to. This is
entered decimally.
Example:
C#1 01 0D20
Note Sample Effect
The above example will play the sound first and then directly jump
to the middle of the next pattern.
Try this:
Use this command to get a different rhythm ######## than the standard
4/4, e.g 3/4, 2/3, ...
E1 Fine Portamento Up
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 1 LoData: 0-F
This command works like the Portamento Up command described before,
with the difference that it will slide the frequency one time / line.
Example:
C#1 01 0E14
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the note up four times. Note how to
setup the E1 command!
Try this:
You can use this command to create chorus effects by using two
channels and slightly slide one of the channels up.
E2 Fine Portamento Down
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 2 LoData: 0-F
Works like the Fine Portamento Up command, but slides the frequency
down.
Example:
C#1 01 0E24
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the note down four times.
E3 Glissando Control
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 3 LoData: 0-1
Glissando is used together with the Toneportamento effect. What it
does is to switch between two modes of frequency sliding. Normally
Toneportamento slides straight up to the next note. With Glissando
turned on the toneportamento effect slides one semitone at a time.
Example:
C#1 01 0E31
Note Sample Effect
The above example will turn Glissando ON.
E4 Set Vibrato Waveform
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 4 LoData: 0-3
This effect changes the waveform for the Vibrato command. As default
the vibrato command uses a standard sinewave but that can be changed
with this command.
Example:
C#1 01 0E40
C#1 01 0E41
C#1 01 0E42
C#1 01 0E43
Note Sample Effect
The first line sets a standard sinewave for the vibrato, the second
a Ramp Down wave, the third a standard Squarewave and the last line
a random curve.
E5 Finetune current sample
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 5 LoData: 0-F
All samples can have different finetunes. For some parts in your
song you might want to temporarily change the default finetune value
for a specific sample. This is acomplished with this command.
Example:
C#1 01 0E56
Note Sample Effect
The above example will set the finetune to +6. To understand the
different values for this command, see the Finetune table in this
manual.
E6 PatternLoop
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 6 LoData: 0-F
The PatternLoop command is used to loop specific parts of a certain
pattern. The LoData byte has two states. If a LoData of 0 is set,
it means "this is the line I want to loop from". If LoData is set
to any other value it indicates the times the loop should run.
Example:
C#1 01 0C07
--- -- 0E60
--- -- 0EB1
--- -- 0E67
Note Sample Effect
The above examples utilizes the PatternLoop command to fade a samples
volume down to zero.
E7 Set Tremolo Waveform
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 7 LoData: 0-3
This effect changes the waveform for the Tremolo command. As default
the tremolo command uses a standard sinewave but that can be changed
with this command.
Example:
C#1 01 0E70
C#1 01 0E71
C#1 01 0E72
C#1 01 0E73
Note Sample Effect
The first line sets a standard sinewave for the tremolo, the second
a Ramp Down wave, the third a standard Squarewave and the last line
a random curve.
E9 NoteRetrig
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: 9 LoData: 0-F
This command will 'trig' a note for a certain amount of times. The
LoData is the number of times the note should be retrigged. This
command is dependant of the speed of the song. If you're playing
a pattern at speed 6 and retrig a note with a value of 1. The note
will be played every 1/6th of the current line. In other words, the
note will be played six times. Specifying a '2' for the above con-
ditions will trig the note every 2/6 times, in other words the note
will be played 3 times, like this:
Example:
C#1 01 0E93
Note Sample Effect
EA Fine Volumeslide Up
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: A LoData: 0-F
Works just like the standard Volumeslide except that it only slides
the volume once / line.
Example:
C#1 01 0EA2
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the volume up two steps.
EB Fine Volumeslide Down
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: B LoData: 0-F
Works just like the standard Volumeslide except that it only slides
the volume once / line.
Example:
C#1 01 0EB2
Note Sample Effect
The above example will slide the volume down two steps.
EC NoteCut
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: C LoData: 0-F
This commands cuts or stops the sample after a certain amount of
time within one line. It is used to cut sounds that must be stopped
before the next line, the next line is too far away so to speak.
Example:
C#1 01 0EC3
Note Sample Effect
The above example will cut a note at tick three within the current
line. 'Ticks' are equal to the current speed's value. Playing a song
at speed 6, means we have 6 ticks before getting to the next line and
so on.
ED NoteDelay
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: D LoData: 0-F
NoteDelay is used to delay a note a certain amount of time within
a single line. This will get a sample to play slightly after it
normally should be played.
Example:
C#1 01 0ED3
Note Sample Effect
The above example will delay a note to be played at tick three within
the current line. 'Ticks' are equal to the current speed's value.
Playing a song at speed 6, means we have 6 ticks before getting to
the next line and so on.
EE PatternDelay
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: E HiData: E LoData: 0-F
This commands delays the entire pattern for a certain amount of time.
It is used to 'pause' the pattern. The LoData is the number of notes
the pattern is to be delayed before playing the next line.
Example:
C#1 01 0EE9
Note Sample Effect
The above example will delay the entire pattern for nine notes.
F Set Speed / BPM
HiCmd: 0 LoCmd: F HiData: 00-FF
This command controls the speed of the song. All values for HiData
between 00-1F will set the speed of the song. Values between 20-FF
hexadecimally will set the BPM (BeatsPerMinute). All songs have
a default speed of 6 and 125 BPM.
Example:
C#1 01 0F03
C#1 01 0F85
Note Sample Effect
The first line sets the patternspeed to three, the second changes the
BPM to 133 decimally.