Sony S-SMP (SNES)

[Kautenja]

Several modules can be made from the S-SMP emulations for different uses:

• [x] S-SMP(Echo): echo effect + FIR filter
• [x] S-SMP(ADSR): ADSR Envelope generator
• [x] S-SMP(Gauss): Guassian filter + low-pass gate
• [ ] S-SMP(Sampler/WTO): A 32KHz, BRR-based sampler engine & wavetable oscillator based on looped single-cycle BRR waveforms
• [x] S-SMP(BRR): distortion effect (downsampler / bitcrusher) based on BRR encoding / decoding (w/ filtering)
• [ ] S-SMP the full S-SMP chip as a semi-modular synthesizer with BRR sample/WTO engine, envelope /w gain, gaussian filter, echo, FIR filter, etc., for more authentic emulation than the individual modules will provide

Links:

• FullSNES
• Anomie's
• SPC700 Reference
• APU Manual
• FIR Filter Design
• FIR Parameters
• BRR Samples

[xandramax]

The C700 VST from osoumen is capable of extracting BRR samples from SPC files (which are plentiful). It can also be used for writing SPC files, including both sample and sequence data. I haven't looked too closely into its code to see how the extraction is implemented, or how easily it could be applied to the Potato Chips S-SMP, but it may be helpful.

[Kautenja]

o sick. This should be super useful

[xandramax]

The S-SMP has a little-known and little-used (?) feature, which I believe is officially termed "pitch modulation". In practice, as I understand it, it's essentially sample-to-sample FM. I think that perhaps the most famous use is the "Kefka laugh" sound effect from Final Fantasy 6, which is apparently made with an electric piano sample that is pitch-modulated by a low-pitched noise sample:

https://twitter.com/tssf/status/1271639575224414208

I'm not sure if this functionality is currently present in the Potato Chips S-SMP module or Sampler/WTO module.

Dare I say it, it might be possible to use the WTO module with a "pitch mod" input as a sort-of "SNES operator module" companion to Mini Boss? I don't know much about how the SNES pitch mod functionality behaves in its native implementation, let alone if it were opened up for arbitrary algorithms and used for traditional FM synthesis. Might be cool, or maybe just a ton of noise.

[Kautenja]

Eazily! This functionality is in there right now already. I had taken a step back from the SNES stuff to try to think of how to make this WTO unique and worthwhile – since I ripped out all the effects and filters into independent modules. Now I see the angle to make it fun and interesting! I like the sound of this idea fuzed with a wavetable editor like from Name Corp Octal Wave Generator. I'll be messing around with some UI designs tonight 🎨