ASM question

jorge · 12 Jan 2005

Most probably it wouldnt work. SM supports only a subset of the ASM instructions, mainly SSE instructions ( no MMX at the moment for example ). Also the SM ASM instructions are slightly changed to operate on 4 simultaneous channels. The SM code component has input connectors that ASM in general doesnt, each input connector is available as if it was a variable inside the ASM but its actually four variables in one. If you have "polyin in;" you can specify the four separate channels as in[0], in[1], in[2] and in[3]. While in normal FPU asm you could use an instruction "fld dword ptr[ebp+32]" in SM it could be instead "fld in[0];" which would load into the FPU stack the value in the channel 0 of the "in" variable.

I hope that's not confusing, if it is let me know and I'll try to explain in more detail.

You dont need to worry too much about the assembler component ( if you dont want to ), it is more like an intermediate step between the high level language and the compiled code.

laserbeak43 · 12 Jan 2005

its confusing cause i dont know asm hehehe. but i see what your saying .

but i probably will need asm cause i want to learn how to emulate retro chips like the ym2413.

i have some manuals and things for this particular chip but im sttill trying to figure out how to materialise (or virtulise hehe) whhat i hae read in the form of an SM plugin

laserbeak43 · 12 Jan 2005

so how long did it take you guys to learn assembler?

amd im going to school in feb and wanted to either take electronics or computer science wich one do you reccomend i take? or take first?

my goal is to make synths and things of that nature. where should i start?

jorge · 12 Jan 2005

laserbeak43 wrote: so how long did it take you guys to learn assembler?

I started quite a long time ago with Z80 assember, at the time and it was just a hobby and a way of coding simple games. The Z80 was a lot simpler than the latest CPUs although the same simple instructions are still available. After many years of not using any assembler I got back to it recently because of SM.

laserbeak43 wrote: amd im going to school in feb and wanted to either take electronics or computer science wich one do you reccomend i take? or take first?

Well, you'll have to decide which one you like the most. From a working point of view, as you probably know, there's a much bigger employment market for computer science rather than electronics, but I do believe that long term people are much better off taking the subjects they like the most. My degree was electronics but I ended up being a programmer.

my goal is to make synths and things of that nature. where should i start?

I think you're already starting the right way, you seem to have the interest and the motivation and the internet is great for learning. There's a few applications for creating synths in a modular way, we hope SM will become the best and easiest to use. For learning about synths they're the quickest way to learn and get quick results. There are also a lot of forums around where you find a lot of info/links and you can post your own questions, we like the forum at http://www.kvraudio.com.

laserbeak43 · 12 Jan 2005

thanks for the advice im gonna have to talk to my counselor and find out what classes to get into.

i like kvr myself i've been a big fan of that site for years. i think sm has alot of potential. the synth edit community is big but personaly i think the software is kind of buggy and leaves you a bit in the dark.

i honestly plan on sticking with SM and trying to learn as much as i can from you guys and supporting in anyway that i can 🙂