Sound Graph By Chuck Thomka 1979 Source: ARCADIAN, 1, no. 8 (July 1979): 65. Documentation by Adam Trionfo "Sound Graph" is part of the "The Music Synthesizer" tutorial by Chuck Thomka. In order to understand what "Sound Graph" is doing, the user must read the tutorial or at least have previous knowledge of the sound ports. With this knowledge, then you may be able to make some noises, but you won't be able to understand why they work or really what is happening. The tutorial can be found on this page: http://www.ballyalley.com/basic/basic.html Loading "Sound Graph" "Sound Graph" is an autorun program. Simply type: :INPUT The program will load and run automatically. Overview "The Music Synthesizer" is light on information about how to use "Sound Graph," but it does say this: "Load the "Sound Graph" program and get some 'hands on' experience, and try out different ideas. Also, there is an optional modification to the program that will display all eight binary digits of the value that the knob is adjusted to at that time. It does slow down the program, but it is a good teaching aid." How to Use "Sound Graph" Use hand controller #1 to choose which sound port to modify (16-23). Hold the controller up or down to move from port to port. To change the value of the port, move the knob on the same controller left or right. The range of sound ports is 0 (knob to the far left) to 255 (knob to the far right). Press the trigger to set the sound port to the selected value. The trigger may be held down while you turn the knob, but that isn't necessary unless you want to change the value of the sound port in near-real time. How to Access the Binary Display By default, "Sound Graph" runs without the binary digit display mentioned in the tutorial. The code for the binary display is included in "Sound Graph," but the program does not run it. The user has to remove the remark at the beginning of line 70 in order to get the digits to display. Line 70 says: 70 .GOSUB 300 The binary conversion routine starts on line 300. The user can either choose to retype line 70 without the REMark (the period) or use AstroBASIC's editing feature to remove the REMark. The binary display is meant to teach the user about the sound ports. Chuck had good intentions for it, as it really does reinforce what he talks about in the "The Music Synthesizer" tutorial. However, it makes the program so slow that it becomes nearly unusable. I really do like the idea of the binary display-- I just don't like how much it slows the program down. The Legacy of "Sound Graph" There is a better program than this in the AstroBASIC manual (and of course later in the Arcadian), but "Sound Graph" predates AstroBASIC. Before "Sound Graph," as far as I can tell, only the program from the Bally BASIC handbook, "Player Piano," was available, and it doesn't give you the control of the sound ports that this program introduces. Other sound programs later improved upon this program, but somebody had to start experimenting with sound in 1979-- and this was an early step taken in Bally BASIC. Other people would later refine using sound in BASIC on the Bally/Astrocade. For excellent examples, see programs by Brett Bilbrey, George Moses and Mike Peace. "Sound Graph" was typed-in by Adam Trionfo on February 17, 2011.