SoundMaker is a Windows application for creating sound data to be used in the NintendoWare sound development environment.
In the NintendoWare sound development environment, sound data is normally handled as a single binary file called a sound archive.
Sound data used as resources for the sound archive are created using a wave editor tool or the sequencer of your choice. SoundMaker creates a sound archive from said sound data so that it may be used by the runtime library of the NintendoWare sound development environment.
SoundMaker supports Viewer and MCS. SoundMaker can be used to check sounds on an actual hardware that has been connected to a computer. In addition, some sounds being created can be checked on a computer using emulation.
SoundMaker's playback on actual hardware can also be done using the special sound program called SoundPlayer.
The main features and characteristics of SoundMaker are described below.
Projects in SoundMaker are called Sound Projects. More than one collection of sounds, called a sound set, can be created for reference by a Sound Project. A single Sound Project corresponds to a single sound archive. Sound Projects are saved in files having the extension .cspj (indicated hereafter as sound project files), while sound sets are saved in files having the extension .csst (indicated hereafter as sound set files).
Sequence sounds are created using a sound set. The waveform files that serve as the resources should be prepared as AIFF or WAV files using an existing waveform editing application or DAW software.
Stereo or monaural sound (16-bit or 8-bit), and any sampling rate can be selected for wave data. Stream sounds are played back (using snd library) while reading the minimum amount of data necessary from disk.
Sequence sounds are created using a sound set. A group called a wave sound set is created and wave sounds are created for each wave sound set. The wave data used as a wave sound resource is the same data that is used for stream sounds.
When playing wave sounds using snd library, you must first load waveform data once into memory at the wave sound set level.
Sequence sounds are created using a sound set. Sequence data to be used as a resource can be either a standard MIDI file or a text sequence file (extension .cseq) written in plain text.
Be sure to prepare standard MIDI files using your sequencer and text sequence files using your text editor. Control changes supported in each file type and how to code text sequence files called sequence commands are described in the separately provided Sequence Data Manual.
Create banks using sound sets. Specify a bank for each sequence sound that has been created. The bank functions as a tone when playing a sequence sound.
Bank data to be used as a resource supports special bank files (extension .cbnk).
Bank files are edited in the Bank tab. The Bank tab is a special pane inside the main window for editing bank files, which are the material of banks. More than one voice, called an instrument, can be created for a bank file. Such instruments are placed on a list called the Instrument list. The program number corresponding to the MIDI program change is defined. Instruments reference waveform files as resources. The waveform data used as resources for bank files is the same as that used with stream sounds or wave sounds.
When playing banks using snd library, you must first load waveform data once into memory at the instrument level, just as with a wave sound.
3D sounds are created using a sound set. Operations when playing a sound using 3D sound are set for each sound.
Create a Player using the sound set. Specify a Player for each sound.
Create a group using a sound set. Register each sound with the created group as an item.
snd library loads the playback data and waveform data required to play each sound into memory at the group level.
DLS files and effect sound definition files with the extension .stxt (hereafter ".stxt files") are imported into the sound project.
An .stxt file is the name of an effect sound definition file used by the sysdolphin audio library. This library is used as the development environment for the Nintendo GameCube. This feature is used when taking game projects created using sysdolphin and porting them to the CTR.
A sound archive is created from a Sound Project. All files referenced use a special converter.
SoundMaker supports the playback of instruments using PC emulation. This allows you to check sounds to a certain degree even without the development hardware (PARTNER-CTR Debugger).
PC emulation can also be used to play MIDI signals connected to the computer.
Sound archives created with SoundMaker can be checked by starting SoundPlayer from inside the tool.
You can check sounds by sending sound archives created with SoundMaker to Viewer.
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