ey and V this will also
toggle you back to the display if you prefer the keyboard commands.

Delete voice does what it says, it deletes all the note data for the voice shown, you must change to the voice you want to delete before going to the commands menu. To change voices go back to the main screen, and then press
the Commodore key and 1,2 or 3 for voice 1 2 or 3.

Incidentally shift and key 1,2 or 3 mute the voice. Here we can see that
voice 1 has been selected, you can see that the number 1 is in inverse
video.

As music supreme master you are permitted two voice sets in memory while composing. Swap sound sets allows you to change between these two
different sound sets. Finally leaving us with the tidy music option, this option does just that, it tidies the music to look more professional, tying notes, removing unwanted rests, this option isn't reversible, although its possible to go to the VWM and manually untidy them again, should you wish!

INFO

Info gives information about the current piece of music in memory. As
shown we can see amount of "music memory remaining and the filter settings
etc.

KEYBOARD

We can't move on without mentioning the keyboard, notes can be played and recorded in real time from your Commodore keyboard. Pressing a note on the Commodore keyboard displays the note on the GUI screen as shown.

The picture shows the violin sound has been selected and the tempo is set
at 100 and that the F key has been pressed see it even says the actual note name on the key. You can if you wish use the standard Commodore clip on keyboard but it does obscure some of then keyboard commands!

PART II - SYNTHESIZER

The program doesn't stop at just being able to use default sound sets, On
the B side of the disk or tape is the "Synthesizer editor" this allows
Custom sounds to be created from scratch; or by changing the default sounds
to something more interesting. You can use the standard waveforms,
triangle, saw tooth, pulse, and of course white noise generator. You see
the very familiar screen layout with menu options along the top. Nice to
see the programmers kept consistent both with screen layouts and graphics
but also with key combinations. So starting with the menu items.

FILES

Files for loading saving etc. Values is the same time signature key
signature etc and the info these options are just the same as in the song editor.

COMMANDS

That leaves us with just the commands option to go through. Let's leave
"DRE" for now and I will return to this particular menu item later on. On
the main screen the little envelope is the sound envelope, and as per the sequencer keys Q and W are used to change the option or sound. Pressing
SPACE bar to advance onto the waveform option, again keys Q and W are used
to change the option SHIFT SPACE moves back to the envelope option.

Next along is the Waveform where you can select the required waveform for
you sound, the pulse wave has an optional window that opens to allow for advanced setting of the pulse width. Moving along again by pressing space
bar we come to the filter options, the filter will change the waveforms
sound. Filters available are none and one through to four, although only
one filter can be used at a time.

The next option is ADSR this stands for Attack Decay Sustain Release. Here
we are changing what is commonly known as the instruments Amplitude. I
will try to explain this but first look at the picture of the Amplitude
graph.

Moving over the options is done by pressing keys [ ] for left and right
then Q or W to change the parameters. The first parameters is Attack, or
how long it takes for the sound to hit its maximum loudness shown in the example as 5. Next along is Decay or how much the sound dies away from its maximum this is shown as 15. We then have sustain this holds the sound for
a period of time, followed by decay or how long it takes for the sound to
die away both set to 0 in this example. Pressing space moves forward to a
mini VMW window, we see a musical stave section and a note placed on the
stave. To change pitch use up arrow and = to change duration use Q and W.
to play the note press * this is our test sound and used to test our voice data, you could also load song data and the window will change to show the dynamic voice data.

Pressing space again moves you to the Sequencer playback section from here voices can be turned on or off using shift and one through three. The
voice can be changed by using the keys Q and W. Navigation of the panel is
via the up arrow (move up), = (move down) and keys [ and ] for left and
right. When in a box you can change the value using Q and W the filter is either on or off and the envelope range is from 1 to 15.

Pressing space again moves you to the envelope name, here you can use 8 characters to give your creation a name. To move to a new instrument you
first need to confirm your instrument name and then use SHIFT Z to move 1 instrument back and SHIFT X to move an instrument forwards. Now when your instrument is created press * to listen to it at the pitch and duration displayed in the VMW window another use full key is the left arrow key (top
row next to one on a real commodore 64) this kills the sound to stop it playing.

NOW FOR SOME FUN

Using the editor you can load a tune and play with the editor settings in
real time, some commands are needed here so:

Run/stop key will play the tune pressing the key again will stop the tune playing.

Pressing SHIFT and a number from 1 to 3 will turn that voice number off.
Whilst the tune is playing the mini VMW windows will turn to show the
envelopes in use.

I will cover some of the advanced editing options.

DRE or Dynamic response envelopes, this is used for the filter sweeping and pulse width sweeps we all associate with the classic SID chip sound.
Pressing f5 brings up the COMMANDS menu and from here we select DRE UP to activate the DRE settings menu, this option is also activated by pressing D
on your Commodore, and can be toggled back to the ADSR view by again
pressing D. To move around again we are using up arrow (up), = for down
and [ ] for left and right. I am going to cheat her and redraw a page from
the manual as it covers the options so well. The top options are either on
or off the bottom items must be entered as amounts

Moving on with the command pull down option, you also have the options to
swap sounds, remember that we can have 2 sound sets in memory each holding
15 sounds. Dre up and filter up are the same as using the shortcut keys of
d and f as described before. Copy envelope allows the current envelope settings to be copied to another sound, nice for creating similar effects
on new instruments. Select copy filter and then a new box will appear
allowing selection of the filter with Q or W and [ ] to move to next item pressing return key copies the sound. The other options I am sure you can
now work out for yourself looking at the descriptions.

In all this is a superb piece of work, and holds itself well even with
today's more modern software, true it's not a tracker but for basic
notation I still think it's the best option. Please help me find a copy of
the advanced version so I can complete a full review of the software,
creating lovely sounds VIA MIDI.

Reviewer Nigel Parker, COMMODORE FREE

I also found a tap review here

www.gb64.com/oldsite/gameofweek/9/util_advmusicsystem.htm

And a demo of the system here

www.youtube.com/watch?v=An7M0lXJu1k

Manual can be downloaded as jpgs from here

www.remix64.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=8381



*************************************
INTERVIEW WITH PAUL GARDNER-STEPHEN
From The Mega65 Project
By Commodore Free
*************************************

MEGA65 8-BIT COMPUTER

MEGA65 is an open-source new and completely open C65-like computer.
Hardware designs and all software are open-source (LGPL). The core is programmed by MEGA member Paul Gardner-Stephen from Australia. MEGA65 is
more than a retro computer; it is the 21st century realization of the C65 heritage. It is a complete 8-bit computer running around 50x faster than a
C64 while being highly compatible. HD output, SD card support, Ethernet, extended memory and other features increase the fun without spoiling the
8-bit feel. You can build the hardware (apart from the FPGA) at home or
you can get it from us. You can enhance it yourself or together with the community

mega65.org/

For a First Steps" Tutorial on how to use the MEGA65 computer prototype
core click the YouTube link

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_0QCLBKfpc

MEGA65 will be a physical machine, whose appearance will be reminiscent of
its predecessors.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Q. Can you please introduce yourself to our readers

I am Paul Gardner-Stephen, an Australian computer science and engineering academic.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Hello Paul! Could I ask on behalf of our readers, what your history
with computing is and especially how you came to the Commodore brand of machines?

My first introduction to Commodore computers was when my primary school got
its first Commodore 64. From then until the end of high-school I was continually exposed to Commodore 64s. The first computer I owned, however,
was an unexpanded VIC-20, because that was all I could afford. Later, when
my high school replaced their C64's with PCs, I progressively bought about
20 working and non-working units from them, which meant that I had plenty
of parts for many years. Along the way I also got a couple of SX64s and a C128D which was my "work machine" on which I developed 64NET. 64NET was
sold primarily in Germany, and it was through that connection that I
received one of the Commodore 65 prototypes in 1994. I immediately loved
the C65, as like the C128D, it was all-in-one, but had a crisper RGB
display, more memory, was 4x faster than a C64 (and could keep the screen
on the whole time!), and had a 1581-compatible drive built in (the 1581 was very rare in Australia).

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Some may question "is the Mega65 a clone of the Commodore 65"

Some people will see the project that way. In fact, one of the things that
I realised early on with the MEGA65 project is that people each have their
own distinct view of it -- perhaps more than is usual with a computer -- because it is primarily a recreation of a time gone by. I suspect it is similar to the way that people respond when they visit a horse-drawn coach factory today. Some wonder why they even bother. Others who still use
horses for various purposes view it one way, tourists another, and those
who remember working with horse-drawn vehicles in the past yet another.

But back to the point, one of the primary goals of the MEGA65 is to allow people who never got to use a real C65 the opportunity to experience what
that is like.

Another goal, however, is that I had begun planning to make a C64
accelerator about 20 years ago using a little trick that I had worked out
that would allow for a fully consistent memory model. By pulling the R/W
down to indicate a write whenever the VIC-II was accessing memory, this
would make the RAM in the C64 listen to receive data, instead of presenting data on the bus. I could then make an accelerator that used this way to silence the RAM so that I could provide the right value from in the accelerator. This would let the accelerator run at full speed the whole
time, without having to stop the fast CPU whenever it wrote to RAM while it
got copied back to the C64's internal memory. This problem is one of the
main reasons why the SuperCPU is usually only 4x - 9x faster instead of the
20x faster you would expect. Anyway, I never got around to making that accelerator, partly because this trick only works on C64s, not C128s, but
that little spark was still there of wanting to make the fastest C64 on the planet.

A third motivation was to make a complete replacement hardware -- keyboard, case and everything -- so that the C64 could survive the eventual failure
of all C64 hardware.

I also wanted to make a system that I could use at the University to teach "real programming" to students to help them to learn better how computers
work.

Finally, I wanted to design and make a laptop 8-bit computer that would be powerful and well-connected enough to perform basic productivity functions
on.

So even for myself, there are a number of different views about the MEGA65.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. So Paul can you tell our readers how the name of the machine came to evolve?

When I started, I used the internal project name of "C65GS", with the GS
being for my initials. I knew that this would most likely not be the final name, but it was a convenient label during the early stages. Then I got in touch with the folks at M-E-G-A.org, and we started thinking about the practicalities of making the MEGA65 into a physical product that people
could buy. In that process we decided to call it the MEGA65, in part to
ensure that there would be no trademark issues, even though there are no trademarks on "C65" that we know of.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Can you give our readers an idea of the machines specifications?

My goal was to make a C64- and C65-compatible computer that is at least
100x faster than a standard C64. I'm not quite at that speed yet; the
current design runs about 45x faster than a stock C64 using the SynthMark64 benchmark made by the developers of the Chameleon64. Even so, that makes
the MEGA65 easily the fastest hardware C64 or C65 option. In fact, it is
so fast that it about as fast as VICE in warp-mode on my 2.7GHz i7 Mac.

As for the other specifications, I decided early on that I wanted to shoot-the-moon, and make the MEGA65 the best 8-bit computer by as many
measures as possible. Thus it has 100 mega-bit Ethernet (10 mega-bit is
the best on any other 8-bit system, and then only with a cartridge),
full-HD 1920x1200 display (~700x500 is the best on anything else), 24-bit colour depth (although only 12 bit on the initial VGA interface), 1,024
colour palette, 28-bit (256MB) address space, stereo-SIDs as well as 8-bit digital audio, a fast microSD card interface, and support for 2.88MB 3.5" floppy drives.

The only point that I haven't completely succeeded on yet is the memory
size, partly due to the constraints of the FPGA board I am using. The
MEGA65 has 320KB of RAM running at 48MHz, which is RAM that is inside the
FPGA chip itself. The FPGA board does have 128MB of DDR2 RAM, which I have "mostly" working, but it is proving to make that "reliably" working.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. so you can download the source code and use your own hardware, can you
buy a physical configured machine?

Right now, you can only build it yourself, and we don't have a case or
keyboard you can build. But yes! The plan is to have designs for those,
and to offer the whole thing as a complete machine.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. So what hardware is needed to just download and setup the machine
yourself?

The main part is a Nexys4DDR FPGA board from Digilent Inc. and a microSD
card that supports the legacy SD card mode (as compared to SDHC). Apart
from that, you just need some files to put on the SD card the tutorial on
the website shows how this is done

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. IF the machine was available to buy pre configured, do you have an idea
of the costs of such a machine?

Sorry at the moment we have No idea of the total costs.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Some will question why such a machine is needed or that it's not a "commodore machine" would you like to comment to those questions?

Of course it isn't needed, just like apple pie isn't necessary: there are newer and "better" options for both. But some people remember Granny's
apple pie from when they were little. It is people seeking that sort of nostalgia who will most appreciate the MEGA65. As fo

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