___                                    ___   ___
  ______/  /____________________________________\  \__\  \_______________
 /  ___/     /  -__/  -__/__ --/  -__|  ___\  \  \   __\   __\  -__\    _\
/_____/__/__/_____/_____/_____/______|______\_____\_____\_____\_____\___\/
\_____\__\__\_____\_____\_____\______|______/_____/_____/_____/_____/___/
      

Downloads

The 0 series

Latest version: 0.5.1 (6-12-2011)

Windows	Might work with 64 bit CPUs as well.
Debian package	For x86/32 architecture. Only 0.5.0.
Source code
Worktunes	A pack of worktunes from a few prominent composers who uses/used JCH's editor.
NP20.G4 depacker	A quick hack made for generating the pack above. Only depacks .sid files.

This is the JCH Editor compatible version. Some documentation can be found in the packages.

The 2 series

Latest version: 2.3.2 (29-3-2012)

Beta. Some semi-essential features missing.

Windows
Linux binary
Source code	You need to have the gdc (D version 1 compiler), gcc & g++ installed for compiling to succeed. SDL libraries are needed if you actually want to use the program.

Latest changes: See here the detailed list of changes.

Contact me for issues/ideas: abad.flt at gmail.com

About

CheeseCutter is a tracker program for composing music for the SID chip. It uses the reSID engine for SID emulation. The packed files can be played on a real C64.

It originally started as a little experiment to write a 6502 opcode emulator to learn the basics of D language. Soon after that I found myself developing a full editor. What I thought would take 3 months to finish grew up into over 2 year (albeit uncontinous) project as the ambitions rose past of what was originally planned.

The first release, what I now call the "0-series" was aiming for JCH Editor compatibility. Most JCH Editor files are compatible with this editor, so there was a large stock of music already composed "for" it, which may have helped to attract experienced users.

The new "2-series", although similar on the surface, is a totally different beast. Nearly all parts of the program have been overhauled. JCH compatibility is gone. Featurewise it's now pretty close to top of the line SID music editors such as GoatTracker 2 and Sid Duzz' It.

Summary of Differences between CheeseCutter 0.x and 2.x

• Support for up to 32 subtunes, 48 instruments and 128 sequences.
• Additional support for 1024x768 resolution. Well, it's there but totally unfinished.
• Multispeed support.
• Instruments can have descriptions (try 'Enter' in the instrument table).
• Separate wrap marker and start marker.
• Sequences have 3 columns instead of 2. This means you can have an instrument setting and a command on the same sequence row. "Tie note" is no longer a command ('***' as it used to be) but is entered in the note column by pressing the note key shifted. Tied notes are displayed in purple background color in the sequencer.
• By default, when you enter a note, the corresponding instrument value is also set in the second column. The active instrument can be selected with Keypad + and Keypad -. The selected instrument can be seen highlighted in the instrument table. You can toggle this feature on and off with the semicolon key.
• More sophisticated player/editor integration - closer to SID Factory (though still lacking in features).
• F3 starts playing the song from wherever the cursor happens to be in the sequencer; previously it was only possible to play from the beginning of the tune or the beginning of the sequence.
• Track transposing now uses signed values so you can transpose both in negative and positive direction, with A0 being the center value; this works similarily to SDI. Transpose value 80 uses whatever value was previously set in the track.
• No JCH's editor-style +++ / --- in note column to indicate the gate bit status - uses the modern way of toggling the gate value with separate commands in the note column. Works mostly like in GT2. Pressing '1' in the note column enters the gate off command; '!' or 'a' enters the gate on command.
• Ctrl-T in the sequencer allows you to toggle between displaying and editing the notes independent of transpose value, like in JCH's editor, or relative to current transpose value, like in SDI.
• Ctrl-R in the sequencer allows you to display/hide the individual row counters for sequences.
• The currently used SID model and filter preset (if resid-FP is used) are saved in the song header and restored when you load the tune.
• Song data is packed and with a new recommended file extension (.ct), though not enforced in the program.

Summary of features in the new player

• Has almost all the features of NP21.B6 (the B stands for booty, by the way), which was based on Laxity's NP21.G5, and dozens more. The downside of this is yet additional memory and rastertime use. To save a couple of bytes and scanlines, you can easily flag out any unused effect code if you're willing to assemble your final tune from a source dump. A tool to pack and dump your worktunes to source code is included in the distribution.
• Many commands accessible directly from a sequence so the Command Table (or Super Table as it's called in JCH's editor) is not used nearly as much as it used to be. This reduces the amount of extra tinkering.
• The command table is 3 bytes wide instead of 2, with the 1st byte simply denoting the command to be used. (Note that only 4 lowest bits are displayed, e.g. 0-F)
• All filter settings can only be controlled from the filter table. This allows more flexibility but also slightly more work on the user's part.
• As it used to be, the first 2 bytes in the Command Table are the hard restart values. (the first "value bytes" in the command table that is...). Chord program 0 is used as a swing tempo program when it has been enabled by setting the song speed to 0 or 1.
• Unfortunately it is not possible to change the wave table pointer from a sequence or the command table. However, the newly added chord table diminishes the need for such feature.

See the reference documentation for detailed description of the player.

Known bugs & missing features (v2)

• File selector still has no drive selection.
• Possibility to define table configurations from the C64 player itself a la SID Factory, to allow great flexibility in writing customised players. Will add this if the need arises.
• Some features depend on the numeric keypad. Bad for laptop users. Mac users too.
• Multispeed playback doesn't work well past 4x. Will be fixed soon.
• Changing speed during playback confuses the followplay.
• Some crashes related to unicode handling. Avoid using non-ascii characters.
• Sometimes when starting the playback the player gets confused. Not a big problem, just restart the playback again.

Credits

Programmed by abaddon (abad.flt at gmail.com) in 2009-2012.

reSID engine by Dag Lem & Antti Lankila.

Some parts of the reSID interface taken from GoatTracker by Cadaver / CovertBitops.

Music player based on NP21.G4 by Laxity / Vibrants / MoN.

Ascii logo by iLKke / pm.

Licensed under GNU General Public License.

Special thanks to Cadaver for authoring GoatTracker, Geir & GRG of Shape for authoring SDI, Laxity and JCH for their editors which were the main sources of inspiration for this program.

Contact me for issues/ideas: abad.flt at gmail.com