This is a summary of the changes that have been made to the manual. If this is your first time reading this manual, you can ignore them.

If you have read the manual before, give this log a check, and see what has changed!

Also if you find any confusing stuff or errors, please let me know so they can be fixed!

Newest Release. Sound Effects (subtracks) are in for all of you to use. Bugfixes for things like fast-waveform changing HUCARD SUPPORT. No more CDs.

• Fixed an error in the explanation of volume command. *Each* channel has a volume value ranging from 0-31, AND panning. And THEN there is a global volume for the entire sound circuit

• The V in .channel 0 is global for the entire sound circuit. The V in .channel 1 thru .channel 6 is local to that channel. If you don't set it, it defaults to max.

• Also, I typoed the value of the volume. 32 is invalid. Sorry! It should be 31. Slight oversight there. Oops. You will find it corrected / clarified in the places where it is mentioned!

• Added new files to the contents of Squirrel section. Namely, it is all stuff you don't need to touch or worry about. Just leave them be!
• Turns out you can't do individual channel tempos like originally thought. Bummer.
• I read something wrong. The drum tone values are limited to 4095. If you happened to use

large values, it was being truncated by the compiler anyways, so it shouldn't ruin any of your current drum sounds. Just know that 4095 is the limit!

Simply put, it is a simple MML library to create music for the PC-Engine. It utilizes the library designed by Hudson for Hu7 & Develo. It is fully featured. You have complete control over everything sound-wise including waveforms, envelopes, percussion, and effects!

If you don't know MML, don't worry. MML is easy. So easy a caveman could do it!

Squirrels are awesome. Hating Squirrels is wrong and absurd.

If you do use this in a game ever, all we ask is that you credit us for it, AND SPREAD THE WORD

…….and send me half the money! maybe?

   
	mml2pce.exe:     The compiler.  This is what does all the magic.
	squirrel.c:      test program source.  Everything needed to compile a song is here!
	make.bat:        run this to autobuild and get a .pce rom to run and listen to.
	
	/data/
		important files that you need not concern yourself with. 

	/Main/
		More important files that you need not concern yourself with.

	/mml/
		a bunch of MML files for you to experiment with, including one showing some SFX

	/SongLib/
		ignore this stuff.  I hope you are seeing the pattern here

	/Sound/
		ignore it.

	/Sub/
		Sound Effect stuff.  Ignore it.  
	  
	MANUAL.txt:       You are currently reading this.  I hope.  If you're reading this
					  but aren't reading the manual, I would like to borrow whatever
					  dimension hopping warp device you are using to screw with reality!
					  
	HuCINSTALL.txt    Explains how to install HuC on your computer if you are new to that.
	
	You can also ignore psg_bios.asm, startup.asm, sound.asm and sound.inc.  Don't touch them.

* note you really only need to worry about the executable, and squirrel.c

First, some information regarding WSG. or PSG. Whatever you want to call it. I call it God's gift to chiptunes. I've also called it “the chirpy thing” and “the chirpinator”.

• It has SIX channels numbered 1 thru 6. (or 0-5, depending who you ask or what you read!)
• Channels 5 and 6 (the last two), may be set to white noise mode, thus generating white noise, aka drums, with the proper enveloping.
• Each channel has a left and right panning volume. This is awesome. It is one of the key reasons the PCE has such great music! Stereo panning!

MML EXPLANATION OMITTED AS IT APPEARS IN THE WIKI ALREADY

There are some more commands usable in Squirrel. These will be explained shortly, with an accompanying example. A full table reference is available at the end of this document for your viewing pleasure…

the V in .channel 0 is global for the entire sound circuit. The V in .channel 1 thru .channel 6 is local to that channel. If you don't set it, it defaults to max.

Now that that is out of the way………..

Using Squirrel is easy. Follow these 3 simple steps, and you are on your way.

NOTE: The included test files (squirrel.c, and one of the files in /mml/) can be used as a skeleton for your music, and I strongly suggest you use them to familiarize yourself with how to use this in projects!

The test file (squirrel.c) also is setup to play test sound effects.

Button I:  Plays subtrack 1
Button II: Plays subtrack 2

You may be confused beyond all belief right now. (What is a subtrack!?).

Don't worry. Check the Sound Effect (SFX) section at the end of the manual.

Step 1:

Make a file containing your MML song. You can have as many songs in one file as you want. More on this when the example song is examined in detail below.

file extension doesn't matter either. You could name it MySongs.Rule if you want.

Step 2:

Send the file through mml2pce.exe on the command line (cmd.exe). YOU MUST USE THE COMMAND LINE!!!! DO NOT DRAG AND DROP THE FILE ONTO THE EXECUTABLE. THIS WILL PRODUCE GARBAGE NONSENSE THAT DOES NOT WORK.

Usage: mml2pce input_file

If there is a problem, It will tell you!

Also, the converter ignores whitespace, and case sensitivity. Use this to make your files readable! :)

Step 3:

The compiler (assuming all went well), will spit out an .ASM file or 2, depending how long your song turned out. It will also have a snginit.c. From here you are able to use the squirrel.c program and play the song! You need not actually open the .asm or snginit.c files. They are generated and fully functional automagically.

Leave all the hard stuff up to Squirrel!

The ASM files will be made in the same directory as your .mml file.

----------------
Compile it with:
----------------
huc -scd squirrel.c  (for CD-ROM projects)
OR
huc squirrel.c       (for HuCard projects)

You'll get an .iso or a .pce! run it in an emulator and rejoice at your glorious music.

A make file (make.bat) is included. It runs on Windows environments. You can edit it with Notepad to change which file it will build.

Thats it! No fiddling with ASM, or having to program anything. This is designed for musicians, not programmers! If you are both, well then lucky you!

NOTE: I CUT MOST OF THE SONG OUT, AS IT IS IRRELEVANT TO THE EXPLANATION!!!!!

First, the Squirrel Specific Commands that will appear here. (See the full table at the end of the doc for EVERYTHING in one quick reference location!)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME| Description           | SYNTAX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@   | Change Waveform       | @# where # is a waveform number! (See waveform section)
@E  | Change Envelope       | @E# where # is an envelope number! (See envelope section)  
P   | Channel Panning       | P#,# where L,R volume are defined (0-15)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

–Please reference the included file (/mmlsongs/Cathedral.mml) where needed!

You use .TRACK to section off each individual song. The name following it is up to you. You can have more than one .TRACK in a file.

Insanity's soundtrack is all in one single file.

Each one is played in code with psgPlay(track#).

.TRACK Cathedral

Next, you define each .CHANNEL's data. Channel 0 is your setup channel where you can define global, entire song specific stuff. Anything in Channel 0 will effect the ENTIRE song, but is over-ridden by anything a specific channel does (Such as change it's tempo).

Macros get defined in channel 0 also. You will get to learn about macros in a little bit.

Also note, the volume that is set in channel 0 is the global volume for the ENTIRE sound circuit. You can give each channel its own volume, and panning along with this.

Think of it like this, a stereo mixer board:

Channel 0: MASTER VOLUME (V)

Channel 1 thru 6: CHANNEL VOLUME (V) and PANNING (P#,#)

imagine the volume command being a knob, and you have one for each channel, and then you have one more, a very large one, which then increases the entire thing in unison. :)

Channels 1 through 6 are your actual song channels. Define them as shown, and give a name if you would like.

.CHANNEL 0  Setup
T35 V31 ^D0

.CHANNEL 1  Organ
O4 P13,13 L1 @12 @E01
r1f1l2&fc1&c8&c32c16.fgg+a+8g4.l16g+gfd+c+c<a+g+a+8>g+8f8c+8gfd+c+c<

.CHANNEL 2 Violin
O3 P13,13 L1 @09 @E01
r1r8.>g+.f8.f.e.f1&f8l32&fc16el2fgg+l8a+gecl16g+gfd+c+c<a+g+a+8>g+8f8

.CHANNEL 3 Cello
O3 P15,0 L1 @01 @E01
r1r4r16r32r1r1r1.rl16o2fgg+fb+g+gfgg+a+gb+g+geg+a+b+g+b+g+gfececegg+>g<fb+g+>cfc

.CHANNEL 4 Harpsichord
O3 P12,12 L1 @26 @E01
l1rrr4r16rr.r8l32r>c16.el2fgg+l8a+gecl16g+gfd+c+c<a+g+a+8>g+8f8c+8gfd+c+c<

.CHANNEL 5 TremoloStrings
O4 P13,13 L1 @09 @E01
r1r4r16r32r1r1r1.rl2<fa+>g+cc<g+>gg+l4c+c+eb+c1l2c+a+g+c+l4a+b+g2>geeel2<<fa+>g+c

.CHANNEL 6 Pizzicato
O4 P0,13 L1 @30 @E01
r1r4r16r32r1r1r1.rl16o3fgg+fb+g+gfgg+a+gb+g+geg+a+b+g+b+g+gfececegg+>g<fb+g+>cfc

Also note that each channel has it's own initial parameters set up in regards to octaves, selected waveforms and envelopes, and its own channel panning (left and right volumes). These override anything that appears in Channel 0's setup. If you leave out the volume command, it defaults to 31 (max).

Also, ^D0 sets the time base. You can ignore this unless you are doing something crazy. Leave it as ^D0 and always use that for just about any song. If enough people are curious and ask about the various time-base information, I promise I will make a second document with the details on that.

There you have it. That is one entire song (assuming you view the actual file, rather than the bastardized excerpt shown here).

BUT WAIT! These channels are a mess! It's just a bunch of notes smeared together! Are all files this messy looking?

NO!

That is what macro and repeats are for!!!!!

Macro: Basically, mapping a shorter name to a longer input sequence.

Macros and loops are what makes Squirrel pretty awesome. You can define macros (patterns for all you tracker-folk), and repeatedly use them, thus saving space. It also makes it much easier to read, work with, and plan! Reduce, reuse, recycle!

You can also use loops (repeats) to save you from typing, and reduce clutter as well. You also have the option to use segno and del segno, if you are used to that style from sheet music.

Someone who is classically trained will appreciate it's presence for sure!

To define a macro:

In the setup channel (.CHANNEL 0 in your file):

MACRONAME=MML STRING'

MACRONAME can only be used one time! Use a new one for each different macro.

Also, the syntax MUST be “MACRONAME=” no space between the end of the macro name and the =. Spacing after the equal sign does not matter.

Macros have a maximum length of 255, and you must put a ' at the end of the string. This signifies the end of that macro. If you forget it, a bunch of macros will all bleed together into a glorious trainwreck.

bass=c>c<c>c<c>c<c>c< d>d<d>d<d>d<d>d<'

Again, You must place the ' at the end of the string to denote the end of that macro!

…And again, you define macros in .CHANNEL 0, after any initial paramters are set up.

~~~~~~~~ example: ~~~~~~~~

.CHANNEL 0 Setup
T120 O4 L4 ^D0
bass=c>c<c>c<c>c<c>c< d>d<d>d<d>d<d>d<'

That's it!

To call a macro:

This is my favorite part.

(MACRONAME)

That's it. Oh man. It doesn't get much easier.

~~~~~~~~ example: ~~~~~~~~

.CHANNEL 1 bassline
P15,15 @01 @E01
(bass)

There you go. it will play your bass macro one time on that channel. Woo!

“But….. I want to play that bass line for the entire song! Do I copy paste it 35893 times? That seems kind of crazy!”

That's because it is. Use repeats/loops! They're great!

To use a repeat/loop:

[# MMLSTRING] or [#(MACRONAME)]

~~~~~~~~ example: ~~~~~~~~

.CHANNEL 1 bassline
P15,15 @01 @E01
[58(bass)]

BAM! That bassline will play a whopping 58 times, with that one little bit of typing.

Segno / Del Segno work's identically, but you use {}'s instead and it only works one time.

So you see, you can use macros and loops together to organize your songs in a very nice, orderly, easy to use manner.

Waves and Envelopes!

If you don't like the built in waveforms (0-44), or the built in volume-envelopes (0-16), you may define your own! Novice users should find plenty of sound options with the presets to get started, so don't worry if this part seems strange.

You may also define pitch envelopes, and modulation envelopes to do some other interesting things..

Waveforms are formed of 32-byte values. They are 5-bit. Basically, The value of each byte ranges from 0-31.

To define your own waveform:

.WAVE # NAME *data goes here* Note, # ranges from 45 to 127

~~~~~~~~ Example: ~~~~~~~~

.WAVE 45 Chirp
	0x10, 0x1E, 0x1A, 0x14, 0x1A, 0x1E, 0x16, 0x10 
	0x1A, 0x1F, 0x1C, 0x12, 0x16, 0x18, 0x10, 0x06 
	0x12, 0x1C, 0x10, 0x0C, 0x0E, 0x10, 0x06, 0x02 
	0x08, 0x12, 0x0C, 0x04, 0x08, 0x0E, 0x08, 0x04

You may then use @45 to select this wave with your song.

Also you have to define the new waveforms in order. So your first user-made wave starts at 45. The next one is at 46, etc.

Envelopes are an interesting concept. You use a sequence of attack (rise towards max volume), decay (time from max volume to sustain level), sustain (volume for the majority of the sound output) , and release (time for sound to go from sustain to nothing after note-off)

It is best visualized as a graph: / —– —– \ / \ / \ A D S R

This for example is a graph where the sound will slowly rise to the max volume, sustain at that same volume, and then slowly release after ending the note.

The envelopes in Squirrel CAN be done as such if you are used to synthesizers. The only difference is you are not limited to one Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. You can chain different sequences together.

To define your own envelope:

For Volume Envelopes:

.adsr # NAME

• data goes here *

for OTHER envelopes

.ENVELOPE .TYPE # NAME *data goes here*

Where .TYPE is .pitch (pitch envelope), or .mod (Frequency Modulation envelope)

# is limited to 16 - 127 when a .adsr envelope is used, and 0-127 for pitch and FM envelopes. This is because regular ADSR envelopes already have 16 presets. Be sure to start your user made .adsr envelopes at 16 and follow in sequence, just like with custom waveforms.

The # you assign to a custom envelope is also what you use to USE that envelope with each specific command. (@E, @ME, @PE respectively. See command table for more details).

Aside from setting a specific envelope #, you may also set the delay at which they occur. Use @MD and @PD for this. Refer to the chart at the end of this document for the details!

————— ADSR ENVELOPES:

These commands are used to form ADSR envelopes: R: Release. Also functions as attack. Values range from -31744 to 31744. Negative values are treated as RELEASE, and positive are treated as ATTACK

L: Level, defines the level of the envelope, from 0 to 31744. Experiment with this to achieve nice sounds.

D: Decay, Also functions as Sustain. Values range from -31744 to 31744. Positive values are treated as DECAY. Negative are SUSTAIN.

From there you just string these commands together to form envelopes which achieve the sound you want. Like all synthesizer-like environments, the only true way to get the sound you want is by experimenting. Once you have a feel for how the envelopes shape sounds, you will be able to use these ADSR envelopes to their fullest potential!

~~~~~~~~ Example: ~~~~~~~~ .adsr 16 sample

r 32  L 31744 d 200 L 16384 d 20

There is no rhyme/reason to the order in which you define values.  You literally do whatever
you want, and see what happens!  Experiment!  Generally, if you try to keep an ADSR pattern
(positive r, negative d, positive d, negative r), you should come out OK.

I have experimented with the adsr envelopes quite a bit, but if anyone finds them to be functioning differently than what has been described here, please feel free to inform me asap. I will be more than happy to update this explanation.

It is probably the strangest part of the entire Squirrel system.

—————- Pitch Envelopes:

Pitch envelopes are to change the pitch of the notes. This is good for slide effects. Along with a ton of other strange things.

There is not much to it. You simply string together step-changing values similar to how you would detune with the command @D. Values range from -127 to 128

~~~~~~~~ Example: ~~~~~~~~ .Envelope .Pitch 0 sample 0, 1, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 ——————— Modulation Envelopes:

Use these for vibrato effects, and other strange effects. They work similarly to the pitch envelope in reality. You want to put in enough data for one full waveform cycle (32 numbers), but do not need to. You just may not get as good of a result without it.

~~~~~~~~ Example: ~~~~~~~~

.Envelope
	 .Mod 0 sample
	0,0,1,1,2,2,3,3,2,2,1,1,0,0,-1,-1,-2,-2,-3,-3,-2,-2,-1,-1

Modulation envelope values range from -127 to 127.

NOTE: This envelope can also be used to make race-car noises. You will notice this as soon as you start experimenting!

What song is complete without drums? You may define and tweak drums using the white noise/tone generation of the PSG.

Drums are defined somewhat like an envelope. You may have up to 12 drum sounds defined. One for each note of the musical scale (C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B).

It is best to show with an example. This will define 12 drums, 9 of which all sound identical.

.Perc 0 
       C:  E01 W00 P13,13 T4095 T4095 T3000         
       C#: E01 W00 P15,15  T200  T400  T800 N15 N20 T1000 T750 N15 N20 T1000 T2000 T3000 T4095 N9 N15  
       D:  E00 W00 P14,0  T90 T90 T110    N31 n30 n30 n29
       D#: E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       E:  E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       F:  E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       F#: E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       G:  E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       G#: E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       A:  E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       A#: E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26
       B:  E17 W45 P15,15 T940  T103      N31 N27 N29 N26

Explanation of commands:

E: Envelope! The very same “ADSR” envelopes we have been discussing. Use any of the presets, or perhaps one you defined on your own. These are the same as the ones you use for waveforms!!

W: Waveform! Again, the same waveforms as we have been explaining. Use the presets, or custom ones

P: Panning. Set the L/R panning. This is ideal for if you want stereo tom-rolling. Define a few toms with different panning values that work from L to R or R to L, and play them in sequence!

Note though, that this panning value changes the panning of that channel. It will not reset it to whatever it was before the panning change.

T: Sound interval number. Experiment with this value. It is the tonal frequency for the drum sound low numbers are high pitched and big numbers are lowpitched. String them together for more thicker drums. A bunch of large #'d T's with no noise can produce some nice kicks.

The value of T can range from 0-4095

N: Noise value, again experiment with values between 0 and 31. Low #s are low noise, High #s are not again string these together to get nice effects. Mix tone + noise for killer snares!

Drums are probably the most experimental aspect of this music system. You will really have to experiment and see what sounds best for your tastes. In the future, I hope to have some drumkits available, and perhaps others will do the same. Open Source Drums! :D

Once you have drums defined, all you need to do is put that channel into percussion mode, and string MML together as always. Only now, instead of generating musical tones, you will generate percussive effects based off of the data you entered for that note.

Note, you can set ANY channel to percussion mode (using the @M command), but only channels 5 and 6 will be able to generate any white noise. Using white-noise based drums on other channels may produce undesirable, and even annoying effects.

@M1 enters a channel into percussion mode.

Command Table for Hu7/Develo style MML for use with Squirrel!

Musical notes: CDEFGAB
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME| Description           | SYNTAX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^D# | Set Timebase          | ^D#  where # is 0-15.  1-15 are to change timebase.  0 is default.
L   | Length                | L#   where # = 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,12,16,24,32,64,128  
O   | Octave                | O#   where # = 0 - 7
>   | shift octave up       | >    (each successive > will continue shifting the octave)
<   | shift octave down     | <    (each successive < will continue shifting the octave)
&   | note tie              | NOTE&NEXT NOTE
T   | Tempo                 | T#   where # = (0-255).  Be reasonable.  Its music!
V   | Volume                | V#   where # = 0 - 31
P   | Channel Panning       | P#,# where L,R volume are defined (0-15)
Q   | Sound Ratio           | Q#   where # - 1-8.  default value is 8.
@V  | Relative volume       | @V#  where # is from -31 to 31.  
R   | Rest                  | R#   where # = 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,12,16,24,32,64,128
.   | dot extender          | NOTE(#). Adding in a numerical length is optional
#/+ | sharp note            | NOTE#/+  raises note one step. The # in this case does NOT mean number
    |                       |          it literally means use the pound sign
-   | flat note             | NOTE-    lowers note one step.
@   | Change Waveform       | @#   where # is a waveform number!  (See waveform section)
@E  | Change Envelope       | @E#  where # is an envelope number! (See envelope section)  
}   | Dal Segno             | Returns to point defined by Segno
{   | Segno                 | Set point for return when Dal Segno is used
[]  | Repeat Braces         | [# mml string] where # is number of repeats.]
()  | Macro Call            | (macro name)
^ME | FM Set                | ^ME# where # is 0-127.     Sets FM envelope number
^MD | FM Delay              | ^MD# where # is 0-255.     Set's delay for FM
^MC | FM Correct            | ^MC# where # is 0-8.       Specify an octave for FM correction
^PE | Pitch Env.            | ^PE# where # is 0-127.     Sets Pitch Envelope #
^PD | Pitch Env. Delay      | ^PD# where # is 0-255.     Sets delay speed for pitch envelope
@D  | Detune                | @D#  where # is -128-127.  Defines detune step!
^SC | Sweep                 | ^SC# where # is -128-127.  0 turns sweep off, negative values
    |                       |                            send interval up, and vice versa
^ST | Sweep Time            | ^ST# where # is 0-255.     Specifies sweep time.
/   | JUMP                  | /TRACKNAME.                Used to jump to a different track entirely
^T  | Absolute Transpose    | ^T#  where # is -128-127.  Similar to detune.
^TR | Relative Transpose    | ^TR# where # is -128-127.  Relative means transpose from current pitch
^TA | All Transpose         | ^TA# where # is -128-127.  Like ^T but effects every channel.
^FV | Volume Fade           | ^FV# where # is -128-127.  Gradually increase/decrease volume
^FR | R. Volume Fade        | ^FR# where # is -128-127.  Gradually increase/decrease right volume
^FL | L. Volume Fade        | ^FL# where # is -128-127.  Gradually increase/decrease left volume
@M  | Mode Change           | @M#  where # is 0-2.       0 is normal mode, 1 is percussion mode 
    |                       |                            (see drums), and 2 is noise mode.
^FO | Fade Out (cadence)    | ^FO# where # is 1-127.     gradually slow tempo with given speed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These are all of the commands available to you. Some are somewhat difficult to explain via text and are best left for experimentation, as one needs to hear what they do with given values to really get a feel for how to use them. Experiment with different sweeps, and modulation tables to get interesting vibrato effects, and slides. Practice makes perfect! It's almost like having a synthesizer full of knobs, sliders, and switches, in computer-text form for PCE!

Also note: Many of these commands are more advanced, and are not important for beginning to use and understand MML. The most important commands to focus on if you are a novice are the ones that were mentioned in the mini-tables in Chapters 3 and 4. Once you are familiar with the basics, and are able to get a song playing, working in the advanced effects should come fairly easily!

If any of these are unclear, please feel free to email aetherbyte@gmail.com to ask for clarification

Waveform and Envelope Preset Reference.

These never had names. What you see here is what I have decided to call them all.

----------
WAVEFORMS:
----------
0:  SQUARE
1:  SINE
2:  SAW
3:  BANJO LIKE SAW (GORGLE)
4:  QUIETER VERSION OF 3
5:  FLATSAW
6:  SOFT SQUARE
7:  JETSAW
8:  SINE2
9:  CHIRPY (NEUTOPIA STYLE)
10: SQUARE/SAW?
11: FLAT AS HELL SAW
12: ANOTHER CHIRP (EVEN BETTER!)
13: SQUARECRUNCHY
14: CRUNCHY SAW
15: FM ORGAN LIKE
16: BELLS OF ST. MARY
17: TRUE GORGLE DOOM
18: SINE GORGLE
19: SWEET BASS.
20: SOFTER SWEET BASS
21: SEGA BELLS
22: MORE SEGA BELLS
23: SAWFART
24: SAW OF SOME KIND
25: NICE SQUARE
26: HARPSICHORD
27: HARPSICHORD 2
28: MELLOW BELL
29: BELL!
30: QUIETER BELL!
31: PLAIN OLD BASS
32: CHIRPY GORGLE
33: SQUARE
34: KEITH COURAGE GORGLE.
35: I DONT EVEN KNOW.  SOUNDS LIKE A BUG
36: SMOOTH GORGLE
37: SAWTHING
38: MELLOW GORGLE
39: SQUARESAWTHUD
40: ANOTHER KEITH COURAGE GORGLE
41: STATICKY SQUARE
42: FARTSAW
43: FARTSINE
44: OPEN GORGLEBELL

**The term Gorgle is compliments of the SCC by Konami.  

----------
Envelopes:
----------
00: Nothing.  Un-enveloped glory.
01: plucky.  Great for bass stuff
02: quiet
03: a little filtered and punchy
04: actual fadeout release of note (slowish)
05: like 4 only way more fade outty
06: Like 5 only WAY more fade outty.
07: slight attack rise, with fade out
08: like 7 only a bit softer volume wise
09: Volume swell.  I like this one alot!
10: Volume clip.  Quiets the waveform a bit.
11: long sustain/release :)  Pretty pad-like! 
12: same as 11, but softer
13: quiet, plucky, long release
14: same as 13 with less sustain
15: interesting tremolo with soft tone and some sustain/release.  

Sound Effects

The holy grail. Chiptune sound effects. This is your new secret weapon.

Sound effects are achieved via subtracks. They play on various channels, toggling off the music momentarily. You've heard this many times in video games. You shoot stuff and you notice the bassline, or the drums cutout for a second, but pickup right where they left off.

That's a sound effect done as a subtrack.

Sound effects are done just like any other riff in an MML song. No special skills required.

However, the best sound effects will be achieved by experimenting with all of the effects that you can use with Squirrel (Sweeps, etc.)

All you need to do to create a subtrack is the following:

.SUBTRACK  1   Beep
.channel   0   
V31 O1 @M0 P15,15 L16 @16 
.channel 	6
c

Note, this is basically a brand new song. You setup channel 0 as mentioned previously, and then setup any channels you want THIS sound effect to play on.

Also note that it is .SUBTRACK 1. Your sound effects are numbered based off of all of the other tracks you have made. So if you've made 3 .TRACKs already, (0, 1, and 2), your SUBTRACKs must begin at 3.

Once you've made a subtrack, you play it in the test program just like any other song (psgPlay(#))

The sound effect will overtake the main .TRACK on any channels it uses, finish its stuff, and pass the baton back to the main .TRACK without skipping a beat.

Awesome, right? :)

I've included the GNOP.mml file, and accompanying sound effect file (gnopfx.mml) for you to use to begin your sound effect adventure.

So all you get is a dumb “beep” and “boop” sound.

…and an awesome song!

You can include files within files using Squirrel. This is great for keeping soundeffects in a separate file, and your main music in another.

You use this feature just like this:

.include “filename”

You will achieve best results by .including the stuff at the bottom of your mainfile.

I typically use this for drums and sound effects that I want to reuse alot, so I can just keep including the file where I want it. :)

You'll see it used in gnop.mml

If you are using this for a game project and have a more specific question about the library and using it within code, please let us know. I have tried to omit that here, as this is more of an MML tutorial than a library/programming tutorial.

We will be more than happy to explain.

Well, there you have it! Squirrel! I hope this is not too overwhelming, and I hope everyone is able to understand this manual and produce some songs.

If you have any problems, this manual makes no sense to you, or you discover a bug, please let Arkhan know at Aetherbyte@gmail.com! I am happy to answer any questions regarding confusion!

Post on the forums at aetherbyte.com/forum as well! That way others can learn from what you may be doing.

Bugs will be fixed with the utmost of speed!

Also please feel free to share your MML files with others, and show your playing tunes to others as well!

Thanks for trying Squirrel out, and enjoy!

–Arkhan