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Category Archives: Oldskool/retro programming
Putting the things together, part 2: MIDI and other problems
Remember a few months ago, when I explained my approach to playing VGM files? Well, VGM files are remarkably similar to Standard MIDI files. In a way, MIDI files are also just time-stamped captures of data sent to a sound … Continue reading
Posted in Oldskool/retro programming
Tagged 8088, chiptune, demoscene, IBM, James Pearce, lo-tech, lo-tech.co.uk, MS-DOS, oldskool, PCjr, PSG, retroprogramming, Skate or Die, SN76489, sound, Tandy
6 Comments
What makes the PCjr cool, and what makes it uncool?
The IBM PCjr was a huge flop in the marketplace. As such, it has only been in production for about 14 months, and never even reached my part of the world. When I grew up, I had a vague notion … Continue reading
Posted in Oldskool/retro programming
3 Comments
More PC(jr) incompatibilities!
The race for PC-compatibility Since the mid-80s, there have been many clones of the original IBM PC. IBM themselves also made new-and-improved versions of the PC, aiming for backward-compatibility. DOS itself was more or less a clone of CP/M, and … Continue reading
Posted in Oldskool/retro programming
Tagged 8259A, CP/M, Creative Music System, DOS, Game Blaster, IBM, IBM Music Feature Card, IMFC, lo-tech, oldskool, PC-Compatibility, PC-Compatible, PCjr, PIC, reenigne, retro, SN76489, SN76496, Tandy, veovis
8 Comments
The Covox years
I have covered various early sound solutions from the DOS/8088 era recently, including AdLib, Sound Blaster, PCjr/Tandy’s SN76489 chip, and the trusty old PC speaker itself. One device that has yet to be mentioned however, is the Covox Speech Thing. … Continue reading
Posted in Hardware news, Oldskool/retro programming
Tagged Covox, Crystal Dream, CVX-4, CVX4, CvxPlay, digital audio, dreamblaster, FastTracker, Modplay, retro, Serdaco, Serdashop, tracker, Triton, Trixter, Vogons
2 Comments
Trackers vs MIDI, part deux
The previous post got rather long(winded) already. But shortly after I posted it, I realized that I had not yet said all that I wanted to say. Namely, I mentioned the Yamaha FM synthesizer chips at the start, and I … Continue reading
Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development
Tagged demo, demoscene, DOS, FastTracker, FM synthesis, Future Crew, General MIDI, MIDI, OPL2, OPL3, PC, Scream Tracker, SMF, Standard MIDI File, tracker, Triton, UltraSound, Yamaha, YM3812, YMF262
5 Comments
Trackers vs MIDI
With all the recent tinkering with audio devices and sound routines, I stumbled across various resources, old and new. One such resource was this article on OS/2 Museum, about the Gravis UltraSound. (And small world, this site is by Michal … Continue reading
Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development
Tagged demo, demoscene, DOS, FastTracker, Future Crew, General MIDI, MIDI, PC, Scream Tracker, SMF, Standard MIDI File, tracker, Triton, UltraSound
30 Comments
DMA activation
No, not the pseudoscience stuff, I am talking about Direct Memory Access. More specifically in the context of IBM PC and compatibles, which use the Intel 8237A DMA controller. For some reason, I had never used the 8237A before. I … Continue reading
Posted in Oldskool/retro programming
Tagged 8088, 8237A, audio, Crystal Dream, DMA, DOSBox-X, DSP, DSP v1.xx, DSP v2.00, GoldPlay, music, Sound Blaster
5 Comments
