JoyTracker 1.0 - PSG tracker with DIN sync

A first public release of JoyTracker, an MSX PSG tracker that can be synced using DIN sync through a Joystick port has been unveiled. MRC member Kanarie has had an NMS8250 since 1986 - and in 2015 it is still sitting on his desk, surrounded by a couple of drum machines and synths from the eighties.

A couple of years ago he started experimenting with Z80 assembly, with the aim of integrating the PSG sound in his 'musical' endeavours. JoyTracker 1.0 is the result so far. It's a PSG tracker which can be synced using DIN sync through a Joystick port (hence the name). The link below points to a ZIP file containing a DSK with the program and a manual.

Relevant link: JoyTracker 1.0

Commentaires (28)

Par syn

Prophet (2133)

29-12-2015, 01:39

Interesting. Ill give it a go tomorrow
Too bad I dont have a tb303 or tr909 laying around to test the DIN sync functionality

Par ro

Scribe (5056)

29-12-2015, 08:16

aaah, trackers. I love them. Nice addition to the family.

Par Grauw

Ascended (10818)

31-12-2015, 15:43

Very nice project!

Par AxelF

Champion (398)

31-12-2015, 16:26

I really like this Kanari song Kanari - Msx PSG-acid

Par syn

Prophet (2133)

31-12-2015, 16:47

Already 4 years in development!

Very nice songs btw

Par Kanarie

Rookie (21)

31-12-2015, 19:02

Thanks for your compliments guys! Really appreciate it.

Of course my little beginners project is nothing compared to the stuff happening here.
I'm grateful for this community and the large database of documentation and random asm snippets, I couldn't (and wouldn't) have started without it.

I wrote version zero 4 years ago, in a couple of weeks time. The project has been in the fridge for 3 years and i did a major rewrite last March. And finally some finetuning and bugfixing last week. I just thought it would be a waste not to share it. Now hopefully this DIN Sync thingie will be incorporated in other MSX trackers!

If memory serves me well i did end up writing a little patch for PT3 replayer that actually made it syncable. But this was 4 years ago. If anyone's interested i could try to dig it up somewhere.

Par hit9918

Prophet (2932)

01-01-2016, 06:19

funky track
The program counters disappear so often, I'd like to always see them.

Par giuseve

Paladin (809)

01-01-2016, 08:24

Cool. Is psg acid available in msx format? Is a great track !

Par poke-1,170

Paragon (1783)

08-01-2016, 18:56

Shit these are some very decent acid tracks ! Reminds me of ceephax acid crew actually, always a good thing !. PSG seems to lend itself perfectly for acid <3

Par Sander

Founder (1872)

08-01-2016, 22:57

Amazing and amazing tracks!

Par Kanarie

Rookie (21)

10-01-2016, 13:39

hit9918 wrote:

funky track
The program counters disappear so often, I'd like to always see them.

When the counter is on a different page it disappears. My video routines are not fast enough to switch pages between ticks.. Might be improved in a future version though (if I find out how to do it).

giuseve wrote:

Cool. Is psg acid available in msx format? Is a great track !

It was done in an older version of JoyTracker, not worthy of publishing. The track was a 'live' improvisation, I recorded a 30 minute session, the last 3 minutes became the track I'm sure it can be recreated in version 1.0, I might give that a try someday.

poke-1,170 wrote:

Shit these are some very decent acid tracks ! Reminds me of ceephax acid crew actually, always a good thing !. PSG seems to lend itself perfectly for acid <3

I'm a big fan of the Phax, nice that you heard it! Yep, the PSG screams ACID

Sander wrote:

Amazing and amazing tracks!

Thanks to all for your compliments again!

Par poke-1,170

Paragon (1783)

11-01-2016, 21:39

Kanarie]
[quote=poke-1,170 wrote:

Shit these are some very decent acid tracks ! Reminds me of ceephax acid crew actually, always a good thing !. PSG seems to lend itself perfectly for acid <3

I'm a big fan of the Phax, nice that you heard it! Yep, the PSG screams ACID

Sander wrote:

Amazing and amazing tracks!

Nice I've hung out with him a couple of times , very laidback guy.
Have you considered playing at eindbaas ? it's this chip music thing in utrecht which is always sold out.
I've veejayed for that event on various occasions.

Par Grauw

Ascended (10818)

11-01-2016, 21:55

Really? I went there a couple of months ago, was a lot of fun.

Par syn

Prophet (2133)

11-01-2016, 22:02

I wanna visit eindbaas sometimes..

cant seem to convince friends to join me though...

Par Bastiaan

Champion (333)

12-01-2016, 12:36

nice stuff on soundcloud Kanarie!

Par poke-1,170

Paragon (1783)

12-01-2016, 18:13

Grauw wrote:

Really? I went there a couple of months ago, was a lot of fun.

nice, any idea who was playing then ?
I've been there a couple of times, mostly to veejay My guess is you've been to the one with ctrix ? (from australia)

Par Grauw

Ascended (10818)

12-01-2016, 18:44

Yeah cTrix was there and really great (some nice mega drive fm tracks), also IAYD, Danimal Cannon and minusbaby. Warmup DJ was Oliotronix.

Par poke-1,170

Paragon (1783)

12-01-2016, 19:48

ah yes I was there too haha. (albeit shortly). I borrowed ctrix by amiga 1200's and raquel meyers (c64 vj) my videomixer.
Pity we didn't run into eachother :/

Par pseen

Resident (62)

18-01-2016, 15:00

Awesome!

Par Grauw

Ascended (10818)

18-01-2016, 18:04

A shame! Next time . Btw I also really liked the VJing.

Par Kanarie

Rookie (21)

18-01-2016, 21:19

poke-1,170 wrote:

Eindbaas and 030303 events, yeah those are absolutely great! Awesome visuals as well.. I might have met you without knowing it.. I should get myself an msx shirt
Not ready for live sets though, I don't feel like dragging my whole studio across town. A laptop set might be feasible after a couple of months of preparation .. or maybe just the VG8020 and the 606.. Hmm, i'll give it some thought..

Thanks to all again for your feedback! My soundcloud is going berserk

Par st1mpy

Paladin (945)

28-12-2020, 11:37

The link to Joytracker is broken.
And if its supposed to be in MRC Downloads section, its not there...

Par ToriHino

Paladin (925)

28-12-2020, 11:48

The link works fine here, I just have to use right button and 'Save link as..' and then 'keep' the file since the browser doesn't like unsecure zip files.

Par st1mpy

Paladin (945)

28-12-2020, 12:27

Thanks that worked (I was clicking it on my phone's browser and it was giving a blank screen).

Par st1mpy

Paladin (945)

02-01-2021, 02:08

is there any updates to this tracker?

I've built the sync signal input device connected to the joystick port (used two 6n138 instead of the p521). It works nicely with Arturia Keystep, you can start, stop (even pause and continue), play and adjust tempo by pressing the buttons/turning the knob on the Keystep and MSX responds nicely.

The thing is when trying to sync with other devices, I could not quite get the expected result. The example track changes timing during the track, so to test I just made a simple 16 step pattern that plays at constant speed. Then I attached a Keystep that outputs sync 24 clock. (JoyTracker is sync24 right? not 48). And also built someone else's clock divider design to make that into 2ppqn for Volcas and Pocket Operators to sync with MSX. but I couldn't get all to sync, just not sure where the fault is.

notes/review of the tracker:
some bugs: muting the middle channel (2) doesn't work. Clear (x) don't work, and not sure how to properly start with a blank project.
documentation: the command for the sequence column starting with 4 is not explained in the doc but is used in the example track. And the various ways of controlling the speed (F2, F3 in Track, and 2ppp in sequence is confusing).

Par st1mpy

Paladin (945)

02-01-2021, 03:50

I got it to sync now, master sync24 clock from Keystep to an arduino clock divider (one feeding the clock to a Pocket Operator, and the sync24 through clock to MSX JoyTracker). For a 16 step length pattern sequence:

Track commands:
F108 (just repeats)
F200 (clock events per tick, not sure why/how this works)
F306 (ticks per pattern row)
F410 (sequence length, 16)

Sequence commands:
2111 (ticks per row)
0000

Then, Pattern 0 for each channel with 16 steps.

Par st1mpy

Paladin (945)

17-02-2021, 21:11

The track mute for 2nd track bug doesn't seem to be a problem on some msx. It works on sx1 mini+ but not on wx. On bluemsx, generally, japanese machines have this bug. (Keys to mute are, Shift + 1, 2 or 3)

Par treblig

Resident (58)

14-06-2022, 02:34

I just discovered this tracker. The instruments that one can make with the PSG chip and this tracker are simply amazing. I want to learn the tracker. Is there any recent activity? Any updates? Or is the 20151227 release still the latest version?

To Kanarie, did you decide on releasing the code?

JoyTracker 1.0 - PSG tracker with DIN sync

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