Napalmtree Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 Just curious if anyone's tried programming a 36 op mode application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flake- Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 maybe it doesnt be very very difficult there is complete doc for the opl3 chip I would like to contrib when I know about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napalmtree Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~john/computer/opledit/tech/opl3.txt ah, I meant 18 channel mode. that is 18 2-op instruments. I suppose that is a lot less useful than 36 ops in a single instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauraen Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) Yes, I have. In my build, every parameter of the OPL3--except CSW and NoteSel--is modulatable. You can even modulate whether a voice is 2-operator or 4-operator, and whether the OPL3 is in percussion mode or not, in addition to obvious things like operator volume and pitch. I've written the drivers for it (LPC17 core) but not built the OPL3 module yet, because I've been busy with other parts of the synth. So I really don't know what it's going to sound like yet. Why do you ask? By the way, it's not possible to make the OPL3 have one 36-operator voice, at least not with all the operators modulating each other. Only 4-op, 2-op, and 1-op (some of the percussion) are supported. Edited January 1, 2013 by Sauraen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napalmtree Posted January 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 I was curious after looking up the data sheet on opl3 and think 18-channels would be amazing for using with dosbox or adlib tracker II. Since MIDI is only 16 channels though I wonder if you could do 2 4ops and 12 2ops for 14 channels or 1 4op 14 2op and drums for all 16. After playing with yamaha 2op keyboards from the 80's I realized even 2ops can do a lot and using the General Midi compatibility in dosbox gives game soundtracks a crazy new spin as i've played around with on the sammichFM. Will have to try the LPC17 build someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauraen Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Yeah, I can't wait to hear my MIDI collection played on an OPL3 either! One minor problem with this: the drums take up 3 two-op channels, and you get five separate sounds: bass drum is two-op, while snare, tom, hi-hat, and cymbal are one. So there's only 15 two-op channels left; each MIDI channel would get one. The thing is that MIDIs often have polyphony within one channel, and the OPL3 doesn't natively support this; its driver would have to distribute the voices appropriately. Someday I'd like to build a synth with 2 or 3 OPL3s (or maybe 5--you can get them cheap in bulk on eBay) that just uses the 4-op channels and gives lots of polyphony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napalmtree Posted July 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2013 well 15 plus drums makes it perfect for midi's 16 channels anyhow right? Have any links to your project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauraen Posted July 29, 2013 Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 Of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napalmtree Posted November 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2013 Yeah, I can't wait to hear my MIDI collection played on an OPL3 either! One minor problem with this: the drums take up 3 two-op channels, and you get five separate sounds: bass drum is two-op, while snare, tom, hi-hat, and cymbal are one. So there's only 15 two-op channels left; each MIDI channel would get one. The thing is that MIDIs often have polyphony within one channel, and the OPL3 doesn't natively support this; its driver would have to distribute the voices appropriately. Someday I'd like to build a synth with 2 or 3 OPL3s (or maybe 5--you can get them cheap in bulk on eBay) that just uses the 4-op channels and gives lots of polyphony. Interesting, the midibox FM did a fine job at making it 6 voices then. Playing with adlib tracker 2 I noticed this MIDI issue with the MPU-401 cable. If i played the notes with a normal computer keyboard It had no problem keeping up, in 18 channel 2 op mode I'm pretty sure i heard every channel. Midi mode was channel to channel. I wonder what they did to make the computer keyboard perfect at polyphony in preview modes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauraen Posted November 15, 2013 Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 If i played the notes with a normal computer keyboard It had no problem keeping up, in 18 channel 2 op mode I'm pretty sure i heard every channel. Midi mode was channel to channel. I don't quite know what you're talking about, playing notes into an OPL3 with a computer keyboard. And there's 16 channels in MIDI versus 18 in an OPL3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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