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Arkos Tracker

Started by Targhan, 15:56, 20 February 10

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Targhan

Hi,

Arkos will soon release a Windows-based tool to create your music for CPC. It's a bit like the STarKos, only more powerful and intuitive. Sound is outputed to your sound card, or directly to your CPC in real-time if you have a CPCBooster !

Here's a little preview :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3xqWeJjxVA

Some features of Arkos Tracker :
- 256 patterns available.
- Each pattern is composed of 3 independent tracks.
- 512 tracks available, each being reusable in any pattern, or even several times in the same pattern.
- Each track can be transposed independently in a pattern.
- A track has a height from 1 to 128 lines, independently of the pattern that uses it.
- 255 instruments available.
- The instrument editor allows you to modify each registers of the PSG.
- Replay frequency of 13, 25, 50, 100, 150 or 300hz.
- Possibility to put "events" in your song. They can either be used to synchronize your music with your production, or trigger digidrums for exemple.
- Big news : instruments are divised into two channels : a Software, and Hardware one. These channels can be independant or dependent from each other. Allows using two waves at the same time !
- Allows you to play sound effects in a very flexible and powerful way. You can also play the SFXs without any music.
- You can import any STarKos song.
- NO SID/DMA for CPC+ for now. I may plan that...

About the Player :
- Only 25 scanlines maximum used !
- On top of being faster than the STarKos player, it's lighter : one and a half kb.
- The player works on Amstrad CPC, MSX, Spectrum or Pentagon (using conditional assembling : only the necessary code is used).
- The generated songs are very light (about as much as the STarKos song. Sometimes a bit lighter, sometimes not).
- Can be used in Basic (call the player by yourself, or use it under interruptions), and Assembler.
- The source of the player is given, and documented.
- The format of the music is given. So you'll be able to create your own custom tools (conversion, new players...).
- Fade in/out available.

About the sound effects :
- Every instrument of your song becomes a sound effect.
- You can play/stop a sound effect on any, or all, of the 3 channels.
- You can choose the note, volume, speed of any triggered SFX.
- You can add Pitch to them (useful to add randomness to the sounds, for example).
- Sound effects are in a seperate file : you can use the same sound bank even if you change the music.

For the hardcore composers among you, nothing will prevent you from using STarKos. You can import you SKS song, convert them with Arkos Tracker, and use the new players !

I hope to release the tool in 2 or 3 weeks.

Thanks for reading and see you soon,
Targhan/Arkos.
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

mr_lou

 :o

You rule!  :) That looks really really really cool!  :D I especially like the instrument-as-sound-effects options now. That's really groovy!  :) And putting events into the tune is groovy too!

I hope it works with Wine on Linux. Would be neat. But otherwise I'm fine using STarKos, and letting the game-developer convert the track when it's ready. (I must admit, that I'm most comfortable using a real CPC to do the music, but that might change of course). In any case, I'm looking forward to checking out Arkos Tracker.  8)

Maybe the Arkos Tracker format should be added to IndieGameMusic.com? :) hehe. No doubt it'll soon be the format for the CPC, MXS, Spectrum and Pentagon machines.

Well done Targhan

redbox

This rules!

What language did you use to write the Windows application?

Targhan

I used C#. That's why I don't think it can be easily ported on other system. The software in itself should, but not the library I used (from Augusto Ruiz, the creator of WyzTracker. Thanks for your awesome support !!) to play the sounds, as it uses unmanaged code, which I guess is not supported by Mono.

>And putting events into the tune is groovy too!

Actually, those already exist in STarKos. Use the "D" command in a Special Track. It can be used for both digidrums and Events, it just matters how you interpret the signal from the player :).

Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Octoate

Cool to see a new cross-platform tracker based on Starkos. I already liked the Starkos Tracker and so using this tracker can now really help when developing on PC for the CPC. I can't wait to play with it and use my CPC Booster with it, too :D.
--

MacDeath

Sounds promising yet the PLUS should really be taken into account...


Targhan

>Sounds promising yet the PLUS should really be taken into account...

It won't for now, clearly. But nothing prevents you from using the player and add a SID/whatever support on selected instrument, as you have the frequency. And troll Zik who has been working on his Soundtracker DMA for 10 years, maybe he'll finish it.

Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Gryzor

Hey! Any news on the project? :)

Targhan

Yes, it's almost ready, but I'm currently also working on the release of another project, guess what it is :).

Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Gryzor


Targhan

You should be clever enough to find out :).

Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Gryzor

Ooh! Ooh! I know! Shadow of the Beast III!!!

Targhan

Sorry, I overestimated you :).

Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Gryzor

Ah darn... I've been waiting for that for 15 years now... :(

Targhan

Hi,


Arkos Tracker V1.0 Beta is now released ! 
Grab a copy on the Arkos website : www.arkos.cpcscene.com

See you soon,
Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Gryzor

Yaaaay! Unfortunately my music-making days are long gone, so kudos for the included goodies!!!!

Leonie

Nice tool!
Is it possible to run it on a Pentium2-PC with Windows 95?
Please don´t ask why, the story is too long to tell.

Devilmarkus

Quote from: Leonie on 19:26, 14 April 10
Nice tool!
Is it possible to run it on a Pentium2-PC with Windows 95?
Please don´t ask why, the story is too long to tell.

Just try it and you will see ;)
When you put your ear on a hot stove, you can smell how stupid you are ...

Amstrad CPC games in your webbrowser

JavaCPC Desktop Full Release

Targhan

Hi,


I don't think W95 will accept .net framework... So my software won't work. Sorry !


Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Leonie

Quote from: Devilmarkus on 19:29, 14 April 10
Just try it and you will see ;)

I have to move several meters to this PC.
So I should know it before I start to walk.

@ Targhan:

Fortunately I can run it on my dated E-Series Lifebook (Windows XP, 1,7 Ghz, 512 Mb Ram).

Leonie

Some instruments sounds like sid-voice or sync-buzzer.
Am I right?
Is the CPCs Cpu strong enough to generate Digi-Drums, sid-voice and sync-buzzer to the same time, maybe for a thick titeltune of a game (not InGame)?

Targhan

No, no SIDs here. Maybe later. But Arkos Tracker sounds kick ass :). Who needs SID anyway with all you can do with "normal" AY sounds ?
>Is the CPCs Cpu strong enough to generate Digi-Drums, sid-voice and sync-buzzer to the same time, maybe for a thick titeltune of a game (not InGame)?
If you code *very* well, it's possible.
Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

Leonie

Quote from: Targhan on 20:28, 14 April 10
No, no SIDs here. Maybe later.
But Arkos Tracker sounds kick ass :) .
Who needs SID anyway with all you can do with "normal" AY sounds ?

That´s quite impressive!
I´ve always been a big fan of the AY-Chip, and it´s really fantastic, what you can tickle out of this wonderful Chip.

Leonie

The demo-song is irritating...
It sounds just like a compilation of "single-exercises".
Deliberate?

Targhan

Absolutely. Just to show a sample of sounds. Such couldn't be done with any other tools on CPC (or at least, not as easily).
Just use the "Import SKS" option, there are plenty of STarKos songs to hear in the "SKS Songs" folder.



Trg.Aks
Targhan/Arkos

Arkos Tracker 2.0.1 now released! - Follow the news on Twitter!
Disark - A cross-platform Z80 disassembler/source converter
FDC Tool 1.1 - Read Amsdos files without the system

Imperial Mahjong
Orion Prime

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