> > And, of course, to make it a bit harder, GameBlaster has a different clock > > (28kHz) compared to approx. 31kHz on Sam, so some "emulation" will be > > needed. > > 'Approx'? Is this why the hz settings for standard diatonic scale are so > shonky (=badly simulated)?
No, it just means 'approximately'. It is divided from 8MHz clock, and can be never 100.00000% accurate. (The inaccuracy is always < 1%, and you can find it on all hardware. So why do you mind?) > The tone numbers in the Technical Manual are fairly logical, but the hz > output can be out by as much as .25hz...... Yes, and that is what "normal" people can't hear, at least I can't. > 'Who cares?!' shouts SAMlist people. (Mind if I go off topic for a bit?) > Well, amazingly enough, anyone who uses diatonic harmony (ie standard > western): > Anyone who plays music on mathmatically accurate frequencies over 5 octaves > or more, are in for a really 'sharp' musical surprise. It goes well out of > tune! > > This tuning is called 'natural tuning' and is used in modern music with > prepared pianos (sticks and stones placed on the strings!) and other > _interesting_ sounding John Cage-y crap. Most people use the 'well-tuned > clavier' (normal piano), which is technically inaccurate but sounds 'right'. > > In most 8-bit soundchips there simply aren't enough sound registers for this > to be very important, as bad tuning only becomes noticeable with lots of > notes (this is why dance music is so harmonically basic). But the SAM's got > 6 registers, so maybe it's worth thinking about. > > I'm guessing this is the reason why the Commodore 64 sounded good enough to > put in 80s pop songs, (the ADSR is a red herring), unless anyone knows > better....? The other reason it sounded so good could have been the waves > it had - sawtooth, square wave etc. You got the point - it sounds well, because of nice waveforms, not 101% proper pitch. > -howard Aley
