STEREO EDITOR WORDS FILE EDITOR Words Edit
There is more to music than melodies and harmonies; the right words can add an extra dimension to a song. As the Sidplayer system grew in popularity, it became desirable to be able to display the words to a song as one listened to it. Therefore, Sidplayers began to support this feature. It's a clever concept that allows song lyrics to be synchronized precisely with the music by using the special FLG command. Clearly, not all songs are best represented in this manner, even if they were originally sung; but there are many instances (particularly novelty sids) where lyrics are essential.
When a ".WDS" file is included with a sid, it is a Singalong song. These files were most often created using SpeedScript or EasyScript, then converted to standard .WDS file format using a special program provided on the original Enhanced Sidplayer disk. This was a rather tedious process, particularly when minute changes were necessary in the words to keep things synchronized correctly. Stereo Editor provides a specialized, sophisticated words file editor that greatly speeds up the task of creating and debugging Singalong SID music files.
A words file is a collection of lines of text, each of which must not be in excess of 38 characters. The first line of text is displayed when the SID is first played, and to advance a line in the text, one must insert a FLG command with the value 1 (by convention) into the SID at each place it is needed. These FLGs should be put in a single voice only, and MUST be somewhere in voices 1-3 (never 4-6). In addition, two FLG commands must be separated by at least one note or rest (not a command or absolute duration) in order to be recognized.
The Words File Editor functions very much like the Title Block editor, but on a bigger scale. You can use any color and reverse text combinations you want on each line, and they will be remembered automatically. The following special editing keys are available:
F1 - Delete the line that the cursor is on and close up the space.
F2 - Insert a blank line at the current cursor position.
F3 - Center the current line.
F4 - Invert the current line.
F5 - Return to the main editor.
F6 - Move to the last character on the current line.
F7 - Paint the current line in the current cursor color.
F8 - Invert AND paint the current line.
The ".WDS" file is saved and loaded automatically with the ".MUS" and ".STR" portion of a SID file.
[Stereo Editor Documentation]
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