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Platform - Computer » Atari ST (Sixteen/Thirty-two)
Atari ST is 16-bit Atari computer released in 1985.
While Atari's 8-bit home computers failed to conquer markets Atari ST did much better becoming major 16-bit generation home computer along with Commodore Amiga.
Atari ST's YM2149 sound chip is Yamaha's variant of AY-3-8910 which is designed by General Instrument. The similiar sound chips were used also in some 8-bit generation computers and consoles including Amstrad CPC, MSX 1 and ZX Spectrum 128. For various reasons however, these machines do not have exactly the same kind of sound when compared but similiarity is still obvious.
Like almost any sound chip, YM2149 can play digital samples when some programming tricks are used. However, this consumes ST's processor time and thus samples are seldom used during games.
Atari ST is equipped with an in-build MIDI-port and became popular among professional music makers as a MIDI-device (which means that computer is used for composing and directing music while sound is produced by external sources).
The king of the Atari ST composers is Jochen Hippel
The technical data of YM2149/AY-3-8910 sound chip:
-three primary sound channels
-in total sixteen 8-bit registers
-six 8-bit registers control pitches of sound channels (two for each channel: one for channel mixing, another one for controlling pseudo-random noise generator)
-maximum 12-bit wavelength value with 4096 pitches
-three registers for volume control and turning on/off additional envelope controls
-three registers for controlling times of ADSR envelope controller
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