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Hi there,

I'm using PSGLib .h/.c from devkitSMS to play music and sound effects. When I play the sound effects, the affected channel of the song seems to be silenced a lot longer than the duration of the sound effect.

I've got two sound effects, created in Deflemask.
- one that plays on SN3
- one that plays on SN4

The end of the SN channels are marked with an "OFF" note.

I use PSGTool to convert the first effect using the 2 flag, and the second using the 3 flag. I understood that 2 maps to SN3 while 3 maps to SN4.

Then I use assets2banks to export to bank2.c and bank2.h.

I'm just starting out so I wonder what step I'm missing. Any idea?

Thanks!
pw

Maybe the exported VGM has silence at the end? You could try trimming it.

I can confirm, trim the sound effect VGM and you'll have the desired effect.

If you're using Deflemask (like me), you could also just shorten the pattern size to stop right after the end of the sound, then re-export the file into VGM. Otherwise, any silence after your sound effect will also be exported. It makes more sense for music so that's why it does not trim silence.

That's likely the case. Although from what I understand, I only needed to add the OFF marker to the track.

I'm using the classic Deflemask. A "section" of music is 64 beats/notes/whatever and the sound effect uses the first 4. I haven't found a method in the app to trim everything past the sound effect notes.

EDIT: I replied too fast! :) I see the method to reduce the number of rows and I'll try again.

I believe the option is called "Rows", it is 64 by default

That was it! I reduced the number of rows. Sound effects work great now.

Thanks everybody!

You can also try the "Stop song" command.

I don't know the command in Deflemask, but in Furnace it is FF00, and in SnevenTracker C00.

I've gotten back to working on sounds for a bit and I noticed that the sound I'm playing on the noise channel doesn't sound at all like what I did in Deflemask. I had a high-ish pitched impact sound but in game it sounds like a low pitched burp. It's exported and played on channel three.

I've tried changing the feedback and frequency bits but that didn't seem to do anything. I was attempting to change it this way:

__sfr __at 0x7F PSGPort2;

void main(void)
{
PSGPort2 = 0xE5; // 11100101 and other variations...
}

I have a second bloop sound effect on channel 2 that I play right before it. It sounds perfectly fine. If I play the bloop sound, I get the low burp sound from the impact sound effect. But if I don't play it, the impact effect is higher pitched. I don't know enough to say what the difference might be.

Any ideas?

The 3rd square channel will affect the noise channel, depending what type of noise you use.
Normal noise where C is low pitch, C# medium pitch and D high pitch noise will NOT be affected by the 3rd square channel.
But any other type of noise will be affected by the 3rd square channel.

So try silencing the 3rd square channel, while you play the problematic sound effect.

Ok! I’ll try it out.

Are there any docs/references available about channel 3 affecting the noise channel?

If the noise channel is in white noise mode, it will play the noise at the pitch in channel two. If it’s in periodic noise mode, you’ll get a deep humming buzz that’s four octaves lower than the frequency laid down in channel two.

I don’t really know Deflemask, but assuming it works the same as Furnace, you have to note that those trackers handle the noise channel quite confusingly. In fact they let you enter both mode and pitch in channel 3. The "duty" part of your instrument determines the mode the noise channel is in. It works the same as the 20xy effect. Which you can also use.

If you use the noise channel in a mode where the pitch is controlled by channel 2, Furnace (and I assume Deflemask) expects you to leave channel 2 empty.

Frankly, I’d stay away from using either tracker for creating sound effects. They are great for music, but for sfx, I use Mod2Psg2 instead. You can easily try out how the channels affect each other there and see which one(s) you need to export for PSGlib to play them exactly the way you want. If you want any kind of pitched noise, you always need to tell the converter to convert both channel 2 and 3.

I've converted the sound effects to use channels 2 and 3 and things seem to sound like they should, which is good. I'm a little disappointed that a noise-based sound effect takes two channels instead of one, but I can live with it.

You can try to create sound effects that only use the three pre-set frequencies of the noise channel, as those will work on channel 3 alone. Of course you’re very limited in what you can do with them, but for short popping, clicking crackling or hissing noises, those ways of expression should be sufficient.

pw wrote

I've converted the sound effects to use channels 2 and 3 and things seem to sound like they should, which is good. I'm a little disappointed that a noise-based sound effect takes two channels instead of one, but I can live with it.

yeah, that's how the PSG chip works, and it's a common pitfall :/

Author	Message
pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	PSGLib - sfx silencing channels for too long Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:59 pm
pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	Hi there, I'm using PSGLib .h/.c from devkitSMS to play music and sound effects. When I play the sound effects, the affected channel of the song seems to be silenced a lot longer than the duration of the sound effect. I've got two sound effects, created in Deflemask. - one that plays on SN3 - one that plays on SN4 The end of the SN channels are marked with an "OFF" note. I use PSGTool to convert the first effect using the 2 flag, and the second using the 3 flag. I understood that 2 maps to SN3 while 3 maps to SN4. Then I use assets2banks to export to bank2.c and bank2.h. I'm just starting out so I wonder what step I'm missing. Any idea? Thanks! pw

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:06 pm
	Maybe the exported VGM has silence at the end? You could try trimming it.

armixer24 Joined: 12 Aug 2021 Posts: 74	Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:25 pm
armixer24 Joined: 12 Aug 2021 Posts: 74	I can confirm, trim the sound effect VGM and you'll have the desired effect. If you're using Deflemask (like me), you could also just shorten the pattern size to stop right after the end of the sound, then re-export the file into VGM. Otherwise, any silence after your sound effect will also be exported. It makes more sense for music so that's why it does not trim silence.

pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:28 pm
pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	That's likely the case. Although from what I understand, I only needed to add the OFF marker to the track. I'm using the classic Deflemask. A "section" of music is 64 beats/notes/whatever and the sound effect uses the first 4. I haven't found a method in the app to trim everything past the sound effect notes. EDIT: I replied too fast! :) I see the method to reduce the number of rows and I'll try again.

armixer24 Joined: 12 Aug 2021 Posts: 74	Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:31 pm
armixer24 Joined: 12 Aug 2021 Posts: 74	I believe the option is called "Rows", it is 64 by default

pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:34 pm
pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	That was it! I reduced the number of rows. Sound effects work great now. Thanks everybody!

slogra Joined: 09 Jun 2014 Posts: 378	Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 9:39 pm
slogra Joined: 09 Jun 2014 Posts: 378	You can also try the "Stop song" command. I don't know the command in Deflemask, but in Furnace it is FF00, and in SnevenTracker C00.

pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2023 11:43 pm
pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	I've gotten back to working on sounds for a bit and I noticed that the sound I'm playing on the noise channel doesn't sound at all like what I did in Deflemask. I had a high-ish pitched impact sound but in game it sounds like a low pitched burp. It's exported and played on channel three. I've tried changing the feedback and frequency bits but that didn't seem to do anything. I was attempting to change it this way: __sfr __at 0x7F PSGPort2; void main(void) { PSGPort2 = 0xE5; // 11100101 and other variations... } I have a second bloop sound effect on channel 2 that I play right before it. It sounds perfectly fine. If I play the bloop sound, I get the low burp sound from the impact sound effect. But if I don't play it, the impact effect is higher pitched. I don't know enough to say what the difference might be. Any ideas?

slogra Joined: 09 Jun 2014 Posts: 378	Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 2:56 am
slogra Joined: 09 Jun 2014 Posts: 378	The 3rd square channel will affect the noise channel, depending what type of noise you use. Normal noise where C is low pitch, C# medium pitch and D high pitch noise will NOT be affected by the 3rd square channel. But any other type of noise will be affected by the 3rd square channel. So try silencing the 3rd square channel, while you play the problematic sound effect.

pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 4:35 am
pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	Ok! I’ll try it out. Are there any docs/references available about channel 3 affecting the noise channel?

Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 878	Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2023 7:04 am
Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 878	If the noise channel is in white noise mode, it will play the noise at the pitch in channel two. If it’s in periodic noise mode, you’ll get a deep humming buzz that’s four octaves lower than the frequency laid down in channel two. I don’t really know Deflemask, but assuming it works the same as Furnace, you have to note that those trackers handle the noise channel quite confusingly. In fact they let you enter both mode and pitch in channel 3. The "duty" part of your instrument determines the mode the noise channel is in. It works the same as the 20xy effect. Which you can also use. If you use the noise channel in a mode where the pitch is controlled by channel 2, Furnace (and I assume Deflemask) expects you to leave channel 2 empty. Frankly, I’d stay away from using either tracker for creating sound effects. They are great for music, but for sfx, I use Mod2Psg2 instead. You can easily try out how the channels affect each other there and see which one(s) you need to export for PSGlib to play them exactly the way you want. If you want any kind of pitched noise, you always need to tell the converter to convert both channel 2 and 3.

pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 1:13 am
pw Joined: 10 Aug 2023 Posts: 33	I've converted the sound effects to use channels 2 and 3 and things seem to sound like they should, which is good. I'm a little disappointed that a noise-based sound effect takes two channels instead of one, but I can live with it.

Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 878	Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 5:50 am
Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 878	You can try to create sound effects that only use the three pre-set frequencies of the noise channel, as those will work on channel 3 alone. Of course you’re very limited in what you can do with them, but for short popping, clicking crackling or hissing noises, those ways of expression should be sufficient.

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3828 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2023 9:51 am
	pw wrote I've converted the sound effects to use channels 2 and 3 and things seem to sound like they should, which is good. I'm a little disappointed that a noise-based sound effect takes two channels instead of one, but I can live with it. yeah, that's how the PSG chip works, and it's a common pitfall :/

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