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Micro-Music

Sharp MZ-80K — the Melody Micro

Article from Electronics & Music Maker, March 1981



Many of the latest generation of microcomputers can be adapted to play electronic music with the addition of a few components. Some micros have built-in speakers and one, the Sharp MZ-80K, has particularly appealed to musicians interested in playing and composing melodies on a computer. Musical notes can be programmed on the Sharp using both Machine Code and Basic language, and the graphics can be used to display a keyboard on the screen.

Let us examine the musical commands available from the Sharp Basic in detail. Seven tempos can be assigned from very slow to fast using Tempos 1-7. Notes are assigned according to their pitch (octave and scale) and the duration can be selected from a semibreve note to a demi-semi quaver. Similar durations can also be assigned to rests when no sound is heard.

Playing a musical scale on the Sharp MZ-80K is simplicity itself - enter MUSIC "CDEFGABX" to hear the scale of C Major. The length of note is assigned by adding a number to the pitch designation with the numbers 0 to 9 giving a full range of durations including dotted notes.

When a series of notes are to be played which have the same duration the number only needs to be assigned after the first note. For example MUSIC "C5DEFGABX" plays the C Major scale in crotchets. The same scale can be played at different speeds by selecting Tempos 1 to 7.

Any notes can be sharpened by prefixing with a # sign, thereby allowing music to be programmed in any key. Thus the scale of D Major would be programmed as MUSIC "D3E#FGAB¯#C¯D" and when played will be in quavers. With a little practice it is soon possible for anyone with a little musical knowledge to adapt music to a Sharp program. The example listing the program to play 'The Entertainer' shows just how easy it is to write music in Sharp Basic.

Many tunes have repeating or recurring passages which would be tedious to program. In the second example the program plays an Etude which changes in tempo and goes from a major to a minor key. Although the program is quite short the tune plays for a considerable time - program space is saved by assigning the repeating passages to string variables.

The music contained in lines 5,6, and 7, defined as strings J1$, J2$ and J3$, is the major section of the melody.

Line 8 defines the Tempo and also selects the number of times the first three lines of music are to be played.

Similarly lines 9, 10 and 11 are musical strings which are called by line 12.

(Click image for higher resolution version)


It is also possible to use the Sharp Basic 'Poke' commands to write machine code programs which can vary the pitch at high speed and over a very wide range. Examples are given of programs to reproduce various sound effects which can be used to greatly enhance games like Space Invaders and Startrek. The variety of sounds produced are limited only by the ingenuity of the programmer but the examples of police sirens, trim-phones, wolf whistles etc show what can be achieved using POKE, STEP and USR instructions.

Many schools are already using the Sharp MZ-80K in their physics and mathematics departments for a whole variety of microcomputer applications. Some of these schools are now beginning to realise the potential of the Sharp in assisting with the teaching of music. For music teaching the Sharp can display a keyboard, with notes played from the computer keys. It is also easy to program a stave with musical notation on the screen with appropriate notes lighting up as a tune is played.

Although the built-in VDU makes the Sharp compact, it is often useful to be able to display the information on your own television. The circuitry shown enables a standard TV to be used via its aerial input and is easy to construct and set up.

Circuit diagram for connecting external TV to MZ-80K


The UHF modulator add-on unit contains very few components and it can easily be constructed on a small piece of Vero board. The modulator itself is of the type commonly used in TV games and these are relatively inexpensive but reliable devices, the output is around Ch36 and can be tuned in on an ordinary UHF TV set. Although the Sharp MZ-80K is a 525 line unit with 60Hz vertical syncs this does not present any problem on a standard British 625 line TV set. The vertical hold will need to be reset and the height (frame amplitude) control adjusted - no further adjustments will be needed to the set. The levels of sync and video signals can be adjusted with the two potentiometers to give a good picture on the external TV set.

The four leads going to the MZ-80K main circuit board are simply connected to pins 2 (sync), 3 (video), 5 (ground) and 6 (+12v) on connector CN2. There are six pins to this connector and pin 1 is marked clearly nearest the centre of the board.


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Using Microprocessors

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Basically BASIC


Publisher: Electronics & Music Maker - Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing.

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Electronics & Music Maker - Mar 1981

Topic:

Computing

Electronics / Build


Gear in this article:

Computer > Sharp > MZ-80K

Side B Tracklisting:

01:27 - Sharp MZ-80K music/sound effects.
02:30 - Sharp FX [2]
02:45 - Sharp FX [3]
02:51 - Sharp FX [4]
03:24 - Sharp FX [5]


E&MM Cassette #1 provided by Pete Shales, digitised by Mike Gorman.

Feature by Graham Knight

Previous article in this issue:

> Using Microprocessors

Next article in this issue:

> Basically BASIC


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