diff --git a/content/blog/blog-aerations.md b/content/blog/blog-aerations.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e52f25d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/blog-aerations.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +---js +const title = "Aerations - Hacking Furnace to do stuff"; +const description = "Some ramblings about timers"; +const date = "2025-09-17"; +const tags = ["atari st", "timer fx", "timers", "demoscene"]; +const draft = true; +--- + +[comment]: # (god the depresso is getting to me i'm going to write something to soothe the nerves, but well this is a hidden comment you're not supposed to see this in the final post - 09/17/2025 @ 8:57 pm) + +back in July this year, we released "Aerations" at the Sommarhack 2025 demoparty. with it, we +demonstrated the ability to compose Atari ST music, with classic timer effects like PWM and +SyncBuzzer, and the ability to export it under a format usable on real hardware (thanks Natt!) + +developing the tech required for it was a real pain in the arse... it turns out that the ST is +janky, and therefore also has janky audio, and we needed to emulate this jankness in the tracker + +# timer effects: what? +generally speaking, a timer is a mechanism that lets an action be done at a preset time. on +computers, it lets the CPU do things periodically, and if it is able to interrupt the CPU, allows +actions to be executed automatically at regular, periodic intervals. + +on every Atari ST ever made is a chip called the *MC68901: Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP)*, +and this chip provides an USART, an interrupt controller, and most notably, 4 timers. these +timers are at the heart of *timer effects* (hereby called *timer FX*). + +what is *timer FX*? on the Atari ST, it means any effect that messes with the YM2149 sound registers. +this means it can be used to write to a register at regular intervals, producing +audible effects (like frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, etc...). although there are a +variety of effects that can be done with this, for Aerations in particular, we only used 2: +- PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) +- SyncBuzzer