OpenMPT FM+PCM example song compo (extended deadline 2018-11-16)

Saga Musix · July 01, 2018, 20:52:50

COMPO RULES, DEADLINES, ETC: https://forum.openmpt.org/index.php?topic=5981.msg45224#msg45224

Those of you who are following OpenMPT development may already know it: OpenMPT 1.28 will finally gain support for OPL2/3 instruments in S3M files, a rarely used (and rarely supported) feature. OPL2 and OPL3 are sound chips by Yamaha that are based on phase modulation (typically known as Frequency Modulation - FM). This is the same technique as used by the famous Yamaha DX7, except that these chips are cut down in cost and features (e.g. they have less operators).
Most OPL-based music you have heard is probably based exclusively on this chip, as it was popularized by the AdLib soundcards on which it was the only means of sound generation. However, on the Creative SoundBlaster cards, it was possible to use both this chip and play some samples at the same time. The combination of these two techniques represents a pinnacle of game and demo music in the early 90s for me personally.

To cut a long story short: I think OpenMPT deserves some example songs to show off the beautiful combination of small PCM samples combined with great OPL instruments. Currently this is only possible by using the S3M format. There is no specific rule set at the time of writing, and no compo deadline either because it isn't even clear yet when OpenMPT 1.28 is going to be released. Since there is no possibility to share samples between S3M files, it probably does not make much sense to demand the compo entries to use a specific sample set, but of course I can provide some nice samples to get your inspiration going. There are plenty of OPL2 instruments floating around (e.g. JuceOPLVSTi comes with hundreds of them), but many of them have been heard over and over again (also because editing FM patches is a very cumbersome task in many AdLib trackers), so I suggest you go wild and work on some custom instruments as well.
I'm open to any further ideas concerning compo rules.

Alice (Midori) · July 02, 2018, 00:02:27

Am i assuming correctly that those would need to be made with other tools, not the MPT itself, since the current version isn't capable of handling FM?

Saga Musix · July 02, 2018, 07:47:47

No, all you need is an OpenMPT 1.28 test build.
Note that you cannot currently create new OPL instruments from the sample editor; you need to either copy/duplicate an existing OPL instrument slot or load an OPL instrument (SBI or S3I instruments) from disk. This will of course change in the future.

Alice (Midori) · July 02, 2018, 13:01:57

Oh
Thanks!

Exhale · July 04, 2018, 01:33:53

A couple of thoughts - for this do you want a file with only these instruments in it, I made something but I grabbed a sample bass drum and snare, which I hope is ok, if not I will have to hunt some more, and second thought, will there be some way to apply changes on the fly to the values of these instruments? EG, change the release rate and other effects on the fly in the patterns because I went for a retrigger and it didnt work, so there are obviously plenty effects that will not apply to these instruments, maybe we can take the ones that do nothing and give them a secondary function for these new instruments.

Saga Musix · July 04, 2018, 07:40:48

There is no way to modify OPL instruments in S3M beyond what is possible with regular samples (volume, pitch, etc.). Retrigger does not work the way you expect as there is no explicit "note-on" event on the OPL chip - simply put, a voice is either running or not.

QuoteI made something but I grabbed a sample bass drum and snare, which I hope is ok

Since drums are pretty much a weak point of FM synthesis, that's absolutely okay and actually encouraged.

LPChip · July 04, 2018, 09:32:06

Gave it a shot, this is really cool.

Already got myself a few new instruments, so I'll definitely have one (or more if allowed) example tunes.

Would it be possible to somehow make the volume louder though? I have some really good drum sounds but they are pretty weak in volume. If I double up the notes in the pattern area, it works great, but then I reach my 9 channel limit rather quickly.

Saga Musix · July 04, 2018, 11:18:32

This is an outstanding issue, but the S3M format has no ways of specifying the general OPL volume. Often the OPL instruments will still be able to overpower all samples though.

By the way, feel free to report here (or even better, in the issue tracker) any problems you might be having with OPL instruments, like if they do not initialize properly, bugs when editing in the instrument editor, etc... I'm sure it's far from bug-free at this point.

Exhale · July 04, 2018, 15:15:32

Here's something I made with some instruments from JuceOPLVSTi and a few samples.
I love these new instruments, and am holding thumbs that they will find their way into mptm eventually

also, are all these instruments made from the same waveforms with variations on those sliders? because if so then would it be possible to have an easy way to make one of these instruments, without dragging one from outside modplug, on the drop down for new instrument, it could have the option; New OPL Instrument?

Saga Musix · July 04, 2018, 15:19:21

As I have already said, this feature is far from being finished and being able to initialize OPL instruments directly from within OpenMPT is of course on the to-do list.

Exhale · July 04, 2018, 15:37:57

Quote from: Saga Musix on July 04, 2018, 15:19:21
As I have already said, this feature is far from being finished and being able to initialize OPL instruments directly from within OpenMPT is of course on the to-do list.

Ok, epic

please excuse my over enthusiasm

ida · July 31, 2018, 14:11:48

Wow, this new feature is amazing! I'm having a lot of fun messing around with it so far, i'll definitely be entering a module into this.

Saga Musix · July 31, 2018, 18:01:46

Cool.

FreezeFlame(Alchemy) · July 31, 2018, 22:20:29

Very interesting feature. It works so far with some S3M files using OPL instruments from my module collection.
Will experiment with it abit, maybe even do a module.

Domarius · August 07, 2018, 02:31:10

Quote from: Saga Musix on July 01, 2018, 20:52:50OpenMPT 1.28 will finally gain support for OPL2/3 instruments in S3M files, a rarely used (and rarely supported) feature.

Coincidentally I just started looking into what tracker programs support FM synthesis, and wondered if my favourite one, OpenMPT, already supported it via S3M files. And stumbled across the news.

I read some other threads where you guys were adamant you weren't going to spend time on such a rarely used feature. I'd really like to know - what changed your mind?