pkg://ksidplayer-0.52-1.tar.gz:451859/
ksidplayer-0.52.1/
ksidplayer/
doc/
en/ksidplayer.sgml
downloads
<!-- This is the KSidplayer Handbook, by Maik Röder. See ksidplayer.html
for formatted output.
-->
<!doctype linuxdoc system>
<!-- The KSidplayer Handbook.
-->
<article>
<!-- Title information -->
<title>The KSidplayer Handbook</title>
<author>Maik Röder, <htmlurl url="mailto:roeder@berg.net" name="roeder@berg.net">
</author>
<date>Last updated 30. September 1998.
</date>
<abstract>This Handbook describes KSidplayer Version 0.52
</abstract>
<!-- Table of contents -->
<toc>
<!-- Begin the document -->
<sect>Introduction
<p>
With KSidplayer you can listen to more than 8000 musics from old
and new C64 programs. The majority of available musics is in the
High Voltage SID Collection.
(See section <ref id="hvsc-faq" name="High Voltage SID Collection FAQ">)
KSidplayer is capable of playing
PSID, INFO, MUS, PP and SID files.
<p>
This document is the handbook to the KSidplayer. It contains more or
less everything you need to know to set up KSidplayer and play
back sid tunes using it. Take a look in the directory <tt/Example-Sidtunes/
of the distribution for some examples of SID tunes.
<p>
I hope you will enjoy this SID player.
<p>
<tt>Maik Röder</tt>
<p>
<htmlurl url="mailto:roeder@berg.net" name="roeder@berg.net">
<p>
<sect>Installation
<p>
You can get <tt/ksidplayer-0.52.tar.gz/ from the following ftp site:
<itemize>
<item><htmlurl
url="ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/unstable/apps/multimedia/sound/ksidplayer-0.52.tar.gz"
name="ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/unstable/apps/multimedia/sound/ksidplayer-0.52.tar.gz">
</itemize>
You should also be able to download KSidplayer from the homepage of Michael Schwendt at
<url url="http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/5147/">.
<sect1>Requirements
<p>
The file <tt/ksidplayer-0.52.tar.gz/ contains everything that you need to
play back SID tunes.
In order to successfully compile KSidplayer, you will need sidplay,
which is part of the KSidplayer distribution in the subdirectory
<tt/sidplay-13625/.
The latest version of sidplay can be downloaded from the homepage of Michael
Schwendt at <url url="http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/5147/">.
<sect1>Compilation and installation
<p>
The steps needed to install and configure KSidplayer are:
<enum>
<item>
First unpack the tar file <tt/ksidplayer-0.52.tar.gz/ somewhere.
This will create the directory <tt/ksidplayer-0.52/. It doesn't matter
where you unpack this file: just don't move things around within the
<tt/ksidplayer-0.52/ directory.
<item>
Enter the directory <tt/sidplay-13625/, contained in the directory
<tt/ksidplayer-0.52/. For the moment, the installation of sidplay
is NOT integrated in the installation process of KSidplayer, so you will
have to install it separately for the moment.
<item>
Check the <tt/INSTALL/ file of Sidplay on how to compile and
install it. Normally the following command sequence should
do it.
<tscreen><verb>
% ./configure
% make
% make install
</verb></tscreen>
Be sure to check back the <tt/INSTALL/ file, if
you run into problems. Send bug reports to Micheal Schwendt
<htmlurl url="mailto:sidplay@geocities.com" name="sidplay@geocities.com">,
as he is the author of sidplay and should be able to help you.
<item>
Check the <tt/INSTALL/ file of KSidplayer on how to compile and
install it. KSidplayer automatically checks for the position of the
header, include and library files of sidplay, so KSidplayer should
compile out of the box once libsidplay is installed.
In order to compile and install KSidplayer, typing the following in the base
directory of the KSidplayer distribution usually works:
<tscreen><verb>
% ./configure
% make
% make install
</verb></tscreen>
</enum>
Should you run into problems please report them to <tt>Maik Röder</tt>
<htmlurl url="mailto:roeder@berg.net" name="roeder@berg.net">.
<p>
<sect> Getting Started <p>
<sect1>Example SID tunes
<p>
To get you started, I have included some of my favourite SID tunes in the
subdirectory <tt>Example_Sidtunes</tt> of the KSidplayer distribution:
<tscreen><verb>
PSID.Dance_At_Night
PSID.Final_Synth_Sample
PSID.Shades
PSID.Synth_Music_Gen_85
PSID.Some_Pleasure
PSID.Guy_Shavitt-2
PSID.Guy_Shavitt-4
PSID.Weekend
Trifle
Taboo-1
</verb></tscreen>
<p>
<sect1>Where to get SID files<p>
For a large collection of SID files, check out for example the High
Voltage SID Collection (HVSC) at <url url="http://www.dhp.com/~shark/c64music/">.
The next section <ref id="hvsc-faq" name="High Voltage SID Collection FAQ">
contains the Frequently Asked Questions on the High Voltage SID Collection.
<sect>The High Voltage SID Collection FAQ<label id="hvsc-faq"><p>
<tscreen><verb>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC)
-> Frequently Asked Questions <-
Last Updated: August 01, 1998
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Very Common Questions
[1] What is the High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC)?
[2] What software and hardware do I need to play the tunes in HVSC?
[3] So then, do I need to hook up a SID chip to my PC? Or what?
[4] Isn't Commodore C64 music just silly beep-blop music?
[5] Why should I get HVSC when I already have NemeSIDs?
[6] Why aren't there any Compute Gazette SIDPlayer tunes in HVSC?
[7] What is the SID Tune Information List (STIL)?
[8] Why doesn't HVSC support MSDOS's 8.3 filename convention?
Updates
[9] When will the next update be released?
[10] Do I have to download all of HVSC after each update?
[11] Why isn't the update tool available for my system?
[12] Why do the updates sometimes add SIDs that HVSC already has?
[13] After I ran the Update, I can no longer find some SIDs.
Where did they go?
General Questions
[14] How can I tell what version of HVSC I have?
[15] Why should I get HVSC when I can just load up the game/demo and hear
the music on a real C64?
[16] Why do some tunes sound different compared to how I remember them on
the C64?
[17] How do I rip SID tunes from games/demos?
[18] Why isn't tune X in HVSC?
[19] I can't find tune Y in HVSC which was used in an old intro/demo.
Can you tell me where it is?
[20] Why do some of the tunes in HVSC not play?
[21] Why are there some incorrect or ugly-looking credits in HVSC?
[22] Why does HVSC take up so much space on my hard drive?
[23] Can I just download the individual tunes I want?
[24] How is it determined which composers go under the /VARIOUS dir?
[25] Do you offer HVSC on CD?
[26] Is the High Voltage SID Collection related to the High Voltage CDs?
[27] Did you know that my virus checker reports some SIDs as having viruses?
[28] When will HVSC be completed?
[29] I find myself listening to SID music all the time. Am I normal?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] What is the High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC)?
---------------------------------------------------
HVSC is the ultimate SID tune collection featuring at least 99% of the
most requested SIDs from the Commodore 64. The collection includes SIDs
(aka C64 music) from games, demos, intros, etc. HVSC has been in the
making for over 2 years and is the result of many contributors.
[2] What software and hardware do I need to play the tunes in HVSC?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucky for you, there are many devoted SID fans throughout the world. Many
people have created or ported SID emulators to various OSes. To name a
few: Win95, Win3.1, Linux, MSDOS, MacOS, AmigaOS, Atari Falcon, BeOS,
OS/2, etc. For a complete list of which OSs are supported, see the HVSC web
page. You can also listen to the SIDs in HVSC on a real C64 with Real SID
Play. More information is available on the HVSC web page.
As for additional hardware, you only need a sound card. That's it!
[3] So then, do I need to hook up a SID chip to my PC? Or what?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Listen to me! You only need a SID emulator program, some SID tunes, and a
sound card! It's that easy.
[4] Isn't Commodore C64 music just silly beep-blop music?
---------------------------------------------------------
Absolutely not! Although the C64 went into production in 1983, do not
underestimate the C64's technology. In fact, Byte Magazine named the C64's
Sound Interface Device (SID) as one of the 20 most important chips in
computer history along side the PowerPC, Intel 8086, and Pentium. After all,
there has to be a reason why there are so many SID fans. I should note that
there were two distinctive regions for SID music, America and Europe.
American SID music is on average lower in quality compared to European SID
music. This is not to say that American SID music is crap, but if you are
judging SID music based on the American SID music you have heard, I can
understand partially why you might think SID music is silly. Why is American
SID music lacking compared to European SID music? Mainly this has to do with
much information sharing related to the SID composing tools in Europe (not to
mention some theft as well). The best way for you to determine if SID music
is or isn't for you is to listen to some of the best. Take a listen to some
Hubbard, Galway, Daglish, Gray (Fred and Matt) and Tel. If you do not like
any of those artists, then there is a strong chance you will not like any
SID music.
[5] Why should I get HVSC when I already have NemeSIDs?
-------------------------------------------------------
NemeSIDs is the only other legitimate, large-scale SID collection available
on the Internet. Primarily created for PLAYSID (Amiga) users, NemeSIDs was
a great collection in its time. HVSC, on the other hand, was built off
of all the collections available on the Internet, plus we added over 4000
SIDs from various people. This means that HVSC has all of the tunes found
in NemeSIDs, except for NemeSIDs 18-19 (Compute Gazette SIDPlayer SIDs).
Further, we have spent many months adding 100% rips, fixing SID credits,
and deleting repeated SIDs. NemeSIDs, formerly maintained by Nemesis1, has
not received an update since June 1996. In addition, NemeSIDs required the
user to manually update the collection. With HVSC, updates are automated.
If you doubt what we say, then please, by all means, go download HVSC and
compare it to NemeSIDs yourself. We are confident that if you do such, you
will end up keeping HVSC.
[6] Why aren't there any Compute Gazette SIDPlayer tunes in HVSC?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mainly, because on average they do not sound as good as non-SIDPlayer tunes.
SIDPlayer was a public domain SID composer and player available in the early
'80s on the C64. The tool was predominately used by Americans and has a
strong following among the public domain audience. SIDPlayer tunes are
usually follow by a ".mus" and can be found on some C64 ftp sites.
(note: do not confuse SIDPlayer with SIDPlay. SIDPlay is a SID emulator
where as SIDPlayer is a SID player for the C64. Confusion is easy when there
is SIDPlay, PLAYSID (Amiga), SIDPlayer (C64), Real SIDPlay (C64), etc.)
[7] What is the SID Tune Information List (STIL)?
-------------------------------------------------
The STIL is basically a text file which contains general information about
the SIDs in HVSC. Such information includes the original composer's name,
defects in certain tunes, interesting trivia, etc. Consult the STIL FAQ
for more information. Hopefully your SID emulator has the option to
display the STIL information for the current playing SID tune.
[8] Why doesn't HVSC support MSDOS's 8.3 filename convention?
-------------------------------------------------------------
We have racked our brains trying to figure out an easy solution to support
short filename OSes. Every solution we came up with required much work
from our end. Since the maintainers of HVSC organize the collection as
a hobby, we cannot spend a great amount of time catering to such a small
audience. We have concluded that support for short filename based OSes
will have to come from a devoted user of such an OSes. Keep in mind that
the long filenames do not prevent 8.3 OSes from playing the music files.
Only the Update tool won't work and the filenames will likely be cluttered
with those nasty tildes (~).
[9] When will the next update be released?
------------------------------------------
There is no fixed time schedule as to when each update is released. Each
update is dependent on two factors: available time and available SIDs. Once
enough SIDs have been sent in to equal around 1.44 MBs (compressed) and the
HVSC crew has time enough to properly sort the SIDs, the next update will
be released. At present, it takes on average two months to put together a
new update. However, you should note that with the amount of SIDs already
present in HVSC, it does become harder to compile updates full of new tunes.
[10] Do I have to download all of HVSC after each update?
---------------------------------------------------------
No. The update comes with a tool that automatically updates HVSC to the
next version. Instructions are provided in each update and within the
tool. In particular, do NOT run the update tool more than once.
[11] Why isn't the update tool available for my system?
-------------------------------------------------------
The update tool was made in mind to be portable. The code at present
could use some cleaning up, but one does not have to port the code to his
system. One could instead code the program from scratch. The update tool
is only available for Win95, AmigaOS, OS/2, and Unix systems. Plans are
underway to port the tool to other OSes, but we have no timetable as to
when these will be completed (if ever). If you would like the source code
to the tool and information about the format of the HVS data file, email
The Shark <shark@dhp.com>, who programmed the tool.
[12] Why do the updates sometimes add SIDs that HVSC already had?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
We often replace SIDs in HVSC with better versions. Reason for replacing
SIDs could be (1) more sub-tunes (2) 100% rip (3) significantly smaller
(4) merger of several SIDs. A "100% rip" would include fixed tunes,
Real SID Play compatible tunes, Full Bank Switching tunes, etc. Thus,
there is a chance that a new version of a tune could sound identical to
the current version in HVSC. The new rip, however, has some internal
changes that does in fact make it superior. Note that occasionally we do
mistakenly add repeated tunes (and please tell us if you spot them.)
[13] After I ran the Update, I can no longer find some SIDs.
Where did they go?
------------------------------------------------------------
To find out more details as to where SIDs were moved, why they were
deleted, why they were replaced, etc., view the /DOCUMENTS/UpdateXX.hvs
file for the current update. The "XX" in the path mentioned in the
previous sentence represents the current update number. So if after
running Update #7 you can no longer find a favorite SID, check
/DOCUMENTS/Update07.hvs and search the file for the location where that
SID was manipulated. The UpdateXX.hvs file serves as a data file for the
UPDATE tool but is also readable by humanoids and does contain some
comments. The best way to find the section of the file that contains the
information you seek is to do a string search on the old SID or the path
where the SID resided.
[14] How can I tell what version of HVSC I have?
------------------------------------------------
Look at /DOCUMENTS/hv_sids.txt. The first few lines will tell you what
version you have.
[15] Why should I get HVSC when I can just load up the game/demo and hear
the music on a real C64?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
You likely fall in the category "I don't need no stinkin' emulator!"
First off, remember that HVSC isn't just for emulator users. In fact,
the tunes in HVSC are still in raw C64 code only prepended by some header
information. To handle this, a tool on the C64 called "Real SID Play"
(RSP) is available to play HVSC tunes on the C64. It plays approximately
96% of the tunes in HVSC. Of the tunes that do not play in RSP, they
could be bad rips, tunes that have overlapping memory with RSP, or tunes
that have samples. Tunes with samples require some non-C64-compatible
modifications in order to be playable in some SID emulators. Another
reason C64 users may enjoy HVSC is that it is the largest SID collection
on Earth. It is unlikely that you have all of the programs from where the
SIDs in HVSC originated. Plus, with HVSC, you can select any level tune at
any time. As a final note, it is true that the SID emulators do not sound
as splendid as a real SID. To quote Zardax, "With SID emulators, the soul
of the SID is lost." Of course Zardax has only heard PlaySID which does
not emulate SID filters. Nevertheless, his statement is partially true.
SID emulators, however, are getting better all the time. And for people
who no longer own a C64, SID emulators are a _dream_. Imagine how many C64
disks you would need to store the whole HVSC on!
[16] Why do some tunes sound different compared to how I remember them on
the C64?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SID emulators are very good, but not perfect. Although SID emulation is
not perfect, the actual rip of the SID tune may be corrupt. There is also
the chance that your memory is not 100% accurate. If you believe you
have found a corrupt tune, it would be best if you load up the old tune on
a C64/128 and compare it to the HVSC version. If you then notice a problem
with the HVSC version, by all means, let us know. We strongly recommend
that you do not compare the HVSC tune to a tune played in a C64 emulator.
Most C64 emulators which emulate the SID are no where as good as the pure
SID emulators. You might also want to check out the STIL which documents
any known problems with the SIDs found in HVSC.
[17] How do I rip SID tunes from games/demos?
---------------------------------------------
Consult http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/5147/
Also, SIDPlay comes with technical information about converting SIDs to
PSID format. The conversion process is surprisingly easy.
[18] Why isn't tune X in HVSC?
------------------------------
Of course, not every SID ever made on the C64 is in HVSC. We feel that
99% of the most requested tunes are in HVSC. This does not mean we feel
that 99% of _all_ C64 tunes are in HVSC. The HVSC crew is always busy
ripping new SIDs and always receiving more SIDs. In fact, the crew is
extremely back logged with SIDs to rip. The best thing you can do if you
would like to hear a certain tune in HVSC is to check out the HVSC Request
web page which can be reached from the main HVSC web site.
[19] I can't find tune Y in HVSC which was used in an old intro/demo.
Can you tell me where it is?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Haha! Unfortunately, many intro coders and programmers failed to properly
give credit to the music they used in their work. HVSC, thankfully, is very
accurate in the credits it gives. We have worked for months contacting the
original composers of tunes to help verify SID credits in HVSC. I don't
think you are going to like what I am leading up to. C64 musicians have
long been ignored on the C64. Many people will say, "Do you have the music
to Commando?" not knowing who made the music. The time has come that you
too should learn these composers' names. Basically, what I am telling you
is that there is a chance that you will have to roll up your sleeves and dig
through HVSC searching for your old favorite tunes. Before you do this,
though, you should check out the HVSC search engine at the HVSC web site.
With just a fragment of information, you can perhaps find the tune. Also,
note that the professional composers (i.e., ones who received money for their
work) are at the root of HVSC. Some of the lesser known composers and
composers from post-1992 are in the "VARIOUS" directory. Knowing this
information should help reduce your search time.
[20] Why do some of the tunes in HVSC not play?
-----------------------------------------------
More than likely, a silent tune is a PSID-only tune or the tune doesn't
bank-switch properly. Assuming you are using SIDPlay, you can change the
settings and play the tune in PSID environment as well as Transparent ROM
mode. Our goal is to replace all these tunes with versions that will work
in Full Bank-Switching mode.
[21] Why are there some incorrect or ugly-looking credits in HVSC?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Slowly but surely we are taking care of this. With each update, we make
at least 200 credit fixes. So please be patient and if you notice any
incorrect credits, email us and we'll try to fix them for the next update.
Note also that any documented proof you have of the credit fix will help.
[22] Why does HVSC take up so much space on my hard drive?
----------------------------------------------------------
This is the infamous cluster problem predominately found on Microsoft OSs.
Basically, due to a lack of foresight on Microsoft's end, the cluster size
for hard drives grows larger as the hard drives grow larger. (In fact, if
the hard drive gets large enough, you actually have to partition it.) This
is a problem since any data written of size less than a cluster size
consumes at least the size of a cluster. For example, if you were to
create a one byte file, that file would take up at least the size of one
cluster on the hard drive. Common cluster sizes are 16 & 32 KBs. Perhaps
now you see the problem? Many SIDs are around 4 KBs which is 4-8 times
less than the most common cluster sizes. This problem affects many people
besides HVSC users. The good news is that Microsoft is using FAT32, their
file system for Windows 98, which will fix this. Further, newer PCs are
sold with a revised version of Win95 which includes Microsoft's FAT32 file
system. Windows 98 also has a conversion tool if your drive has the old FAT16
file system to convert easily to FAT32 (note: at your own choice/risk).
If the size of HVSC is a problem for you, there are some space-saving
ways to store HVSC. One method is to keep the collection zipped. If your
uncompressing tool has the capability, you can double click the SID of your
choice while in the uncompressing tool and the SID will play. This assumes
that you have associated ".sid" files with a SID emulator. If you decide
to keep HVSC zipped, you may want to create one large zip file instead of
having many.
Another popular technique is to use DriveSpace, which is an included tool
with Win95. DriveSpace allows you to compress partial or entire hard
drives, but treats the compressed drive like a normal drive. Using
DriveSpace should reduce the amount of space consumed by HVSC by at least
half. Further, we have noticed no slow down when playing SIDs that reside
on a compressed drive. Consult the on-line DriveSpace help for more
information.
[23] Can I just download the individual tunes I want?
-----------------------------------------------------
Yes. HVSC is available unzipped at a few web and ftp sites. A listing of
these sites can be found at the HVSC web page.
[24] How is it determined which composers go under the /VARIOUS dir?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The current rule is:
(1) If the artist has no tunes made in 1992 or earlier, go to step #4
(2) If the artist has game tunes (3 must be made in 1992 or earlier),
above Various... else go to step #3
(3) If the artist was a famous demo composer in 1992 or earlier, above
Various...else go to step #4
(4) Below Various
Note: Rule (2) above has slightly changed. This is in order that an
artist who may have produced only one game tune for a magazine covermount
prior to 1992 does not make it above VARIOUS.
[25] Do you offer HVSC on CD?
-----------------------------
Plans are being made to offer HVSC on CD. No profit will be made on the CD
and HVSC will still be freely available on the Internet. The people who
plan to burn the CD are not part of the HVSC crew. We will, however,
assist them as best as we can. Further, we will only recommend CDs that
we feel are a fair deal.
Some of the HVSC team have noted that certain public domain libraries
have placed the HVSC on CD. They are not officially authorised or
sanctioned HVSC releases and furthermore will not be supported by the
HVSC crew. If you are a public domain library and wish to include HVSC
on a CD-ROM then please email Warren Pilkington <wazzaw@globalnet.co.uk>
for permission.
[26] Is the High Voltage SID Collection related to the High Voltage CDs?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. They are two separate collections. HVSC specializes in SID music where
as HV CDs specialize in C64 games, demos, and music all in emulator format.
Due to an early agreement between HVSC and HV CDs, HVSC uses the same name
as HV CDs. HV CD #1 contains a partial NemeSIDs collection where HV CD #2
contains HVSC 1.1. HVSC has changed much since the HV CDs were put together.
Therefore, we strongly recommend that you get the newest version HVSC from
our web site.
[27] Did you know that my virus checker reports some SIDs as having viruses?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let me guess. You are using Norton Anti-Virus (NAV)? Apparently Norton
Anti-Virus's method for searching for viruses seems to be somewhat abnormal
or inefficient compared to other virus checkers. No other virus checker that
we know of has flagged any SIDs in HVSC as having a virus besides NAV. More
than likely, you should consider NAV's warning a false indication of a virus.
Even if NAV was correct about a virus being present in a SID, the virus would
be harmless since the SIDs are not an executable or macro. Infected data
files, however, can be an indication that your system does have a virus
lurking somewhere.
[28] When will HVSC be completed?
---------------------------------
In all likelihood, never. Far too many tunes were made on the C64 to
reasonably expect that every SID will be collected. In addition, people
are still composing music on the C64 to this day. Consider HVSC a living
collection.
[29] I find myself listening to SID music all the time. Am I normal?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
No, you are a SID-aholic. But we consider this a good thing. ;)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Do you have more questions? Have you also checked:
(1) The documentation for the SID emulator/player you are using
(2) /DOCUMENTS/hv_sids.txt (describes HVSC in more detail)
(3) /DOCUMENTS/STIL.txt & /DOCUMENTS/STIL.faq (discusses some tunes in HVSC)
(4) readme.1st (information about updating; comes with each update)
If you have checked those documents and have not found the answers you seek,
by all means, please email Warren Pilkington <wazzaw@globalnet.co.uk> at any
time. Note that if you think your problem is related to the emulator/player
you are using, we suggest you email the party responsible.
</verb></tscreen>
<sect>SID Tune Information List (STIL) FAQ<p>
<tscreen><verb>
STIL v2.6 FAQ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SID Tune Information List
~ ~ ~ ~
STIL Administrator
------------------
LaLa <LaLa@InterAccess.com>
HTML version of STIL by:
------------------------
Laust Brock-Nannestad <laustbn@diku.dk>
The HTML version of the STIL is available at:
http://hafnium.prg.dtu.dk/~theis/stil/
(Constantly updated!)
STIL Heroes
===========
The number in parentheses before a name is the number of STIL
additions/modifications submitted by that person.
If you would like to withhold your name or email address for security or
personal reasons, let me know ASAP!!! (Oops, too late. :)
(149) Petri Keränen <keebo@mbnet.fi> (aka "STIL SuperHero" :-)
************************************
( 53) Teppo Lehtonen <lehto@sci.fi>
( 27) Salmijarvi Janne <jhsa@cs.tut.fi>
( 25) King Fisher/Triad aka Linus Walleij <triad@df.lth.se>
( 23) Jacob Gunness <gunness@dorit.ihi.ku.dk>
( 23) MAD <mad@mipool.uni-jena.de>
( 20) Jeremy Smith <jeremyasmith@geocities.com>
( 16) Jürgen Oppermann <juergen.oppermann@tcpip-gmbh.de>
( 11) Scott Jones <localh@hotmail.com>
( 11) Pasi Karppinen <karppinen.uddevalla@swipnet.se>
( 11) Miron Schmidt <miron@comports.com>
( 10) Daniel Adolfsson <sensei@whoever.com>
------ The rest below are STIL Hero Wannabes... ------
( 7) Aaron Solomon <solomon@spiretech.com>
( 6) Scott <dg3carrols@wombat.admin.bhtafe.edu.au>
( 4) Per Bolmstedt <tomten@koolex.net>
( 4) Joe Forster/STA <sta@ludens.elte.hu>
( 4) Oliver Hermanni <o_hermanni@hotmail.com> (aka Wintermute)
( 4) Evert-Jan Slypen <jazz@lobster.demon.nl>
( 3) Len Pitre <Email address is withheld by request>
( 2) Dominik Deobald <magician@sunshine.domino.de>
( 2) Ulf Harnhammar <Ulf.Harnhammar@abc.se>
( 1) Zoltan Bolla <bolla@mail.matav.hu>
( 1) Kai Spitzley <heechee@mindless.com>
ABOUT STIL
==========
The SID Tune Information List (STIL) contains information about the SID
tunes in the HVSC besides the standard TITLE, AUTHOR, and COPYRIGHT
information. STIL goes a little deeper listing SID tune information that only a
true SID freak would enjoy. Such information listed in STIL includes cover
information, interesting facts, useless trivia, comments on the tunes by the
composers themselves, etc. STIL is limited to factual data and does not try to
provide an encyclopedia about every original artist.
Regardless of a cover or remix, proper credits are given to the *original*
composers. This means that even if a given tune was made popular by a different
person or band, STIL still contains information about the original composer(s),
whoever that might be.
Why was STIL created?
---------------------
The High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC) Crew sincerely believes in creating
the most accurate and comprehensive SID collection possible. We also believe in
giving proper credit to all composers regardless if they ever composed on the
Commodore 64. How many times have you asked yourself, "Where have I heard this
tune before?!" STIL helps to ease some of those questions.
STIL is also extremely valuable for the future of SID music collections.
Imagine years ahead when the HVSC maintainers are no longer available for input
for whatever reasons. Wouldn't it be a shame if someone began to alter the
credit fields of the tunes in HVSC based on incorrect data?
Another feature of STIL is that it contains information and/or quotes about
certain tunes that the creators of the SID tunes provided themselves. We strive
to include such information in STIL whenever possible, which we believe
enhances the value of HVSC and gives a more historical sense to this great
archive. If you are a SID composer and your SID tunes are in HVSC and you wish
to provide comments on some of them, don't hesitate to contact any of us!
And finally, perhaps someday a new SID tune file format will emerge allowing
relevant SID tune information to be available when the tune is played? If so,
STIL will be there to fill in the blanks.
NOTE: Although initially STIL did list bugs that were present in certain
tunes within HVSC, the current HVSC administration team felt that it is better
to provide a separate list of them. Since the list's creation, more and more
bugged SIDs got fixed. If you think you can help (either listing bugs or
providing bugfixed SID files), please refer to BUGlist.txt in the DOCUMENTS
directory of HVSC. However, if a SID sounds bugged and the original released
game or demo that the SID was extracted from was also bugged (for example:
/Ouwehand_Reyn/Last_Ninja_3.sid subtune #3), STIL in this case would notify you
of this as technically it is not a bug caused by a bad rip.
We need your help!
------------------
STIL is a living document about SID tunes, changing and growing with each
subsequent HVSC Update pack. We attempted to make it as accurate as possible,
but there can be mistakes and missing information here and there.
If we have missed any information about the tunes in HVSC, of if you want to
provide correction to any of the information contained in STIL, please send an
email to the STIL Administrator (see email address on top). Please, read the
section below about the format of the STIL before sending any entries, though!
If you are able to list information about 10 or more SID tunes in HVSC, you
will become a STIL Hero. This information would include any corrections,
additions, and filling in any blanks. All STIL Heroes' names will appear in
this file. Although it is *highly unlikely* that you will become a STIL Hero,
since we have already listed many of the covers and other such SID information.
(*NOTE* the previous sentence was my attempt at some basic psychology... Will
it work?)
THE FORMAT OF STIL
==================
If you do decide to email us STIL entries, please adhere to our standard so
that we can effortlessly paste your data into STIL. It is also important to
stick to the strict STIL format as the STIL is checked and processed by
programs (actually, Perl scripts), and also, some versions of SIDPlay now show
STIL entries (with the help of STIL View) when playing SID tunes. Since all of
these programs expect STIL and the STIL entries to be in a certain format,
*PLEASE*, follow the outlined standard of STIL entries if you ever decide to
send us new entries! This will make the life of the STIL Administrator easier,
because this way no entries will have to be manually processed.
One exception to this rule is when you want send us corrections or
modifications to already existing entries. In these cases, it is enough to
send just the relevant part of the STIL entry containing the corrected or
modified fields, with enough info to uniquely identify the part of the STIL
entry that should get changed. For example, if the entry looks like this:
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid
(#1)
TITLE: Title field
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
(#2)
TITLE: Title field (0:05)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
TITLE: Title field (1:05)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
it is perfectly fine to send the STIL Administrator only this:
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid
(#1)
ARTIST: The corrected artist field
Here (#1) uniquely identifies the ARTIST field that should get changed.
Another example:
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid
(#2)
TITLE: Title field (1:05)
ARTIST: The corrected artist field
COMMENT: The modified comment field.
Here the combination of (#2) and the (1:05) timestamp uniquely identifies the
fields that you think should get changed. In other words, it is no need to send
in the whole entry, just the relevant parts of it.
Thank you for your understanding of the above rules!
Here is a *complete* summary of the format of the STIL entries (see the LEGEND
following the format description for details about what things mean):
---- FOR SID FILES CONTAINING ONLY A SINGLE TUNE -----
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid
{STIL block}
---- FOR SID FILES CONTAINING MORE THAN ONE TUNE -----
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid
COMMENT: *Optional* file-global comment goes here.
(#1)
{STIL block}
(#2)
{STIL block}
(#3)
{STIL block}
.
.
.
etc.
Of course, STIL entries need to be provided only for those tunes that need it,
so the following is perfectly fine, too:
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid
COMMENT: *Optional* file-global comment goes here.
(#8)
{STIL block}
(#11)
{STIL block}
(#15)
{STIL block}
However, the STIL blocks for the subtunes must be sorted by ascending order of
the tune numbers of the subtunes.
---- {STIL block} ----
The format of the {STIL block} is:
TITLE: Title field
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
OR for multiple covers in one tune:
COMMENT: *Optional* tune-global comment goes here.
TITLE: Title field (TIMESTAMP)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
TITLE: Title field (TIMESTAMP)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
.
.
.
Please, see the LEGEND below for what TIMESTAMP stands for!
All the fields in the {STIL block} are optional, except the path and the
filename, but at least one field must be present. Eg. if only a comment is
provided for a tune that has no subtunes, the following entry is perfectly
fine:
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid.sid
COMMENT: This should be some relevant comment here.
---- {SID block} FOR TUNES THAT COVER ANOTHER C64 MUSIC'S SUBTUNE ----
TITLE: <Title of Original C64 Tune>, Tune #y
ARTIST: <Original Composer of the C64 Tune>
This means that the given tune covers the y-th subtune of the given C64 tune.
If the given C64 tune has only one subtune, "Tune #y" can be dropped.
LEGEND:
-------
Path_in_HVSC - starting with a "/", subdirs separated by "/", given as long
pathnames (with correct small and capital letters)
Full_Title.sid - The long filename as it appears in the directory
#y - Tune #y within the file
TIMESTAMP - The time the given cover starts at (based on SIDPlay
timestamps!). It can be given in one of two formats:
(X:XX) - means that the cover starts at X:XX and ends at the
next TIMESTAMP found in the same entry, or at the
end of the tune (ie. when it starts looping).
(X:XX-Y:YY) - means that the cover starts at X:XX and ends at
Y:YY, regardless of whether there's another
TIMESTAMP in the entry or not.
You can mix the above two timestamp formats within an entry,
just keep in mind what they refer to.
Maybe an example would be useful here, since this sounds rather complicated,
even for me. :) So, here are some examples:
TIMESTAMP EXAMPLE #1:
---------------------
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid.sid
TITLE: Title field (0:18)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
TITLE: Title field (0:35)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
The first cover starts at 0:18 and ends at 0:35, the second one starts at 0:35
and ends when the tune ends or when it starts looping (since there are no
other entries following it).
TIMESTAMP EXAMPLE #2:
---------------------
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid.sid
TITLE: Title field (0:18-0:35)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
TITLE: Title field (0:40-0:45)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
The first cover starts at 0:18 and ends at 0:35, the second one starts at 0:40
and ends at 0:45. The "missing" 5 seconds between 0:35 and 0:40 is either an
original composition, or it is an unknown cover, and the same could be said
about whatever is after 0:45.
So, this is *WRONG* for the above entry:
/Path_in_HVSC/Full_Title.sid.sid
TITLE: Title field (0:18)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
TITLE: <?> (0:35) <=== THIS IS *WRONG* !
ARTIST: <?>
TITLE: Title field (0:40)
ARTIST: Artist field
COMMENT: Comment field.
TITLE: <?> (0:45) <=== THIS IS *WRONG* !
ARTIST: <?>
This was the OLD way of doing things and resulted in a whole bunch of empty
entries (ie. entries that had only a TITLE and ARTIST field, and both
contained unknown info). Please, refrain yourself from submitting such
entries.
NOTES:
------
- Please note that there are TWO spaces before "TITLE", ONE space before
"ARTIST", and NO space before "COMMENT". This just makes STIL more readable.
- The TITLE and ARTIST fields must be at most one line (79 characters) long
(including the strings "TITLE" or "ARTIST" themselves)
- The COMMENT field has no restriction on length, but the lines in it should
be no longer than 79 characters (together with the string "COMMENT: "
itself), and additional lines should be indented so they line up with the
first COMMENT line.
- Please, place a "<?>" behind (or in place of) every information that is
doubtful (or missing)
- If a cover covers another C64 tune that is also a cover itself, please
still submit the very *ORIGINAL* TITLE/ARTIST info for the STIL entry! You
may provide a comment, though, that states that the given cover is really a
cover of another cover. (Phew, did you follow that? ;) Here are some
examples:
/VARIOUS/Scarlet/Mariah_Carey.sid
TITLE: Without You
ARTIST: Nilsson
COMMENT: This SID covers Mariah Carey's cover version.
/VARIOUS/Alien/Suspiria.sid
TITLE: Suspiria
ARTIST: Goblin
COMMENT: This SID covers Jogeir Liljedahl's MOD cover.
- Reports of bugs in SID files are handled separately in the BUGlist.txt file.
Please, refer to that file for how to report them (the format is actually
very similar to STIL's format). STIL lists bugs only if they were in the
original C64 tunes, too.
If still in doubt, consult the STIL itself for examples. If *still* in doubt,
contact the STIL Administrator for help.
Thank You!
We hope you find STIL useful!
THE HVSC/STIL TEAM
==================
HOSTILE (High Official STIL Executioner) (= STIL Administrator ;)
----------------------------------------
LaLa <LaLa@InterAccess.com>
HTML version of STIL by:
------------------------
Laust Brock-Nannestad <laustbn@diku.dk>
HVSC Administrators:
-------------------
Warren Pilkington <wazzaw@globalnet.co.uk>
Jan Diabelez Arnt Harries <rambones@get2net.dk>
Main contributors:
------------------
Wilfred Bos <wbos@worldonline.nl>
Darren Hagan <darren@talent.demon.co.uk>
InGE HP <ingehp@online.no>
Kristoffer Johansson <d3johkri@dtek.chalmers.se>
Dennis Lindroos <deadman@penti.sit.fi>
Adam Lorentzon <d93-alo@nada.kth.se>
Gabriele Priarone <g.knight@iol.it>
Michael "The Mage" Schwendt <mage@online.de>
The Shark of International Network of Chaos <shark@dhp.com>
Andreas Varga <sid@skater.htu.tuwien.ac.at>
FUN STATS ABOUT STIL v2.6
=========================
Created with my FunStats Perl script. ;)
Top 15 Covered Artists:
-----------------------
<?> ....................................................................... 220
Rob Hubbard ............................................................... 102
Traditional ............................................................... 64
Jean Michel Jarre ......................................................... 59
Jeroen Tel ................................................................ 55
Martin Galway ............................................................. 51
Johann Sebastian Bach ..................................................... 38
Pet Shop Boys ............................................................. 31
John Williams ............................................................. 29
Depeche Mode .............................................................. 29
Harold Faltermeyer ........................................................ 27
Jan Hammer ................................................................ 25
Chris Hülsbeck ............................................................ 21
Kraftwerk ................................................................. 21
James Pierpont ............................................................ 20
Top 15 Covered Tunes:
----------------------
<?> ....................................................................... 120
Axel F .................................................................... 25
Jingle Bells .............................................................. 20
The Star Spangled Banner (American National Anthem) ....................... 18
Comic Bakery, Tune #1 ..................................................... 14
James Bond Theme .......................................................... 14
Toccata from Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565) ....................... 14
Crockett's Theme .......................................................... 14
Blue Monday ............................................................... 14
Popcorn ................................................................... 12
Thalamusik ................................................................ 11
Rule Britannia ............................................................ 11
Airwolf Theme ............................................................. 10
Katjusha .................................................................. 9
Crazy Comets, Tune #1 ..................................................... 9
Orpheus in the Underworld Overture ........................................ 9
Star Wars Theme ........................................................... 9
--- End of STIL FAQ ---
</verb></tscreen>
<sect>SID Filename Extensions<p>
<P>
Sidfiles usually have one of the following file name extensions:
.sid, .dat, .inf, .DAT, .SID, .INF, .c64, .prg, .C64, .PRG, .info,
.INFO, .data, .DATA
<list>
<item>".sid"<P>
Preferred default file extension for single-file sidtunes
sidtune description files in SIDPLAY INFOFILE format.
<item>".dat"<P>
Common file extension for single-file sidtunes due to SIDPLAY/DOS
displaying files *.DAT in its file selector by default.
Originally this was intended to be the extension of the raw data
file of two-file sidtunes in SIDPLAY INFOFILE format.
<item>".inf"<P>
Extension of Amiga Workbench tooltype icon info files, which
have been cut to MS-DOS file name length (8.3).
<item>""<P>
No extension for the raw data file of two-file sidtunes in
PlaySID Amiga Workbench tooltype icon info format.
<item>".DAT", ".SID", ".INF"<P>
Common upper-case file extensions from MS-DOS (unconverted).
<item>".c64", ".prg", ".C64", ".PRG"<P>
File extensions used (and created) by various C64 emulators and
related utilities. These extensions are recommended to be used as
a replacement for ".dat" in conjunction with two-file sidtunes.
<item>".info", ".INFO", ".data", ".DATA"<P>
Uncut extensions from Amiga.
</list>
<sect>Credits<p>
KSidplayer is a KDE frontend to sidplay, the command-line music player and C64 SID chip
emulator. The KDE frontend itself is based on xsidplay1.1.7.
Both sidplay and xsidplay were written by Micheal Schwendt
<htmlurl url="mailto:sidplay@geocities.com" name="sidplay@geocities.com">.
</p>
<p>
</article>
