From: kevin@vaildc.net   
      
   In article ,   
    WB  wrote:   
      
   > Tvdog and I have created a new program to convert Deskmate Music .SNG files   
   > to .HDS text format which can then be played by my Instrument   
   > simulator/player (see link below) through your soundcard, using rich grand   
   > piano, or 127 other instruments.  Hey, I'm a big fan of Tandy's 3-voice   
   > sound, but it's no match for today's Soundcard Midi capabilities.  You   
   > really should hear these songs after they're converted, including the   
   > original classical pieces that were included with Deskmate:   
   >   
   > Bach.sng (Two Part Invention in F Major by J. S. Bach)   
   > Canon.sng (Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel)   
   > Sonatina.sng (Sonatina in D (1st Movement) by Muzio Clementi)   
      
   I was the project manager for the DeskMate Music program, which was a   
   really fun thing to do.  The Canon in D has the distinction of being the   
   only piece of music I listened to daily, sometimes several times a day,   
   for well over a year, and still like.   
      
   The device we were using for the digital/analog conversion was actually   
   the mouse controller...someone realized it could be used for more than   
   just the mouse.  The three-voice limitation is because that was the best   
   we could do and still have a fairly decent signal-to-noise ratio.   
      
   The output was semi-interrupt driven.  Either engineering or marketing   
   (and I know which one I'm betting on) decided to save money by having   
   the device NOT generate an interrupt when it was at the end of the   
   buffer, which left it looking like the low-level driver was going to be   
   sitting there busy-waiting.  However, what we finally did was reprogram   
   the real-time clock interrupt to let us know when the buffer was close   
   to its end (about 46 milliseconds, if I remember correctly) and then   
   just loop until it actually finished.   
      
   I also remember the work it took to do the different notes from just a   
   few sound samples, interpolating things on the fly.  That was pretty   
   challenging as well.   
      
   Ah, those were the days...   
   --   
   Kevin Michael Vail | a billion stars go spinning through the night,   
   kevin@vaildc.net   | blazing high above your head.   
    . . . . . . . . . | But _in_ you is the presence that   
     . . . . . . . .  | will be, when all the stars are dead.   
    . . . . . . . . . |     (Rainer Maria Rilke)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)