MB>They're back. Resulting from the Amiga MODfile mania, several PC
MB>trackers have been coded. Some use the old MOD format, some use
MB>variants of it, some us a totally different format such as .S3M. With
MB>these all formats since MOD, you could manually do envelopes, by
MB>raising and lowering volume of each instrument, but that was really
MB>long to do. In the latest formats, such as .IT (Impulse Tracker) and
MB>.XM (FastTracker), there is an automatic ADSR control of volume and
MB>left-right panning. Actually, the one in the .XM format is much more
MB>sophisticated than the original ADSR.
I didn't realize that all these variosu formats existed. The fact that they 
all seem to make use of ADSR's is just a sign as to how good that original 
idea was.
Envelopes come in all kinds, too. AR and ASR are just two others. Then there 
are the ones in the Casio CZ series that have 8 steps in them. I'm not sure 
what you would call them...
Craig Anderton did a newsletter for a year back in the seventies where he 
described a system (and gave schematics) for a guitar based processing system 
that was heavily dependent on envelope generators to control things. By the 
time the series ended, he had several filters, a flanger, a phase shifter, 
and a voltage controller distortion unit included in it. It's quite a 
learning experience to follow it all the way through and see what can be done 
with voltage control.
It's a newsletter called Device, BTW, and I think PAIA has reprints 
available. Well worth the investment if you are interested in learning about 
this stuff.
Will
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