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[Noyemi K]

Hey people! A lot of people have asked me elsewhere about help and resources on MML (Music Macro Languages) for creating chiptunes, particularly as a friendly and useful alternative to trackers and, if you're dedicated, the only way to get hardware-ready sound on some less ubiquitous chips (such as the really nice ones used in Japanese PCs and arcade machines in the 80s and early 90s).

So, I'm here to answer any questions you have about working with MMLs, or you can talk about them or tell me about some other ones as well!

I'm familiar with:
+the MCK family (multi-chip)
+SiON (multi-chip but not hardware-targeted or compiled)
+NRTDRV (Sharp X1 FM boards)
+PMD (multi-FM chip for Japanese PCs)
+KOLIN2 (Akikaz & Takeshi Abo's MML for PC-98 with OPNA FM boards)

KOLIN2, PMD, and NRTDRV do not currently have English documentation so much of the information that exists for PMD in English was written by me, including a quick-start guide for getting ready to compile and a work-in-progress English version of the PMD guide with newbie-friendly instructions on every aspect and not just a commands list. KOLIN2 is not currently usable with windows because of its relative obscurity even in Japanese circles, but I am considering looking further into it to get some tools made for people who wish to use that over PMD. But who knows, right?

I have a guide specifically for PMD MML up on my website!

[Oats]

I didn't know what MML was so I went on a googling spree, it seems really cool, I'm glad I found this cause now I can start learning music stuff without leaving my computer! For a while I thought I might have to go into the real world  . (or try an intimidating/expensive synthesiser)

Are MML still in common use? The wiki page only mentioned it being used on legacy machines and the link you dropped only seems to cover compiling files for use on hardware. Is there any way to learn this on a modern machine without resorting to emulators? The wiki mentioned something called mml2mp3 which from context sounded like an online mml thing, but googling it only came up with a lot of tweets in Japanese. Do you know any modern resources for running mml or converting them to .wav or .mp3 or whatever? (I don't think I'd be picky which mml language)

[Noyemi K]

Unfortunately, the only place it really has even marginal popularity is in Japan. In the west they preferred the tracker format to MMLs, so they never evolved here.

I think I'm one of the only people who can really help you out with it, so ask away! There's a format called SiON which is powered by flash. You can use it in a browser on the VisualMML site. It doesn't output hardware-ready formats at all, but it does export WAV files and emulates multiple chips.

[Oats]

holy shit the visualMML thing is really fun, and surprisingly easy to make things sound good, even with someone like me who has absolutely no idea about music. I think I will play around with it in my next project, thank you for sharing this.

[Comptroller]

Registering my interest!    I'm particularly keen on learning more about writing for OPNA / YM2608.

That quick start guide is really helpful, thanks. Is your work-in-progress PMD guide available anywhere online? I've done some MML work before, but I expect there are particular differences for PMD.

[Noyemi K]

Not yet, but I think I'll put up a repository with some choice MML files and my guide as a WIP. At least, after I'm finished with enough of it for people to get up and running.

[Noyemi K]

I've finished the first section of my PMD guide! It's everything you need to know to get started writing a basic PMD program.

[Sik]

Huh wow, it took me a while to realize that "SSG channels" was actually referring to the AY-like channels (I was thinking on the "SSG-EG" register that each FM operator has)

[Jon]

Awesome! Definitely following this thread. Side question: how different are MMLs from trackers, and why do you prefer one over the other?

[Noyemi K]

MMLs involve directly programming the sound, still "computer-y" but it's a different way to represent a score sheet and combine that kind of viewpoint with programming.

I prefer MML to trackers because I could never actually get into using trackers. I can do stuff with them, but I vastly prefer MML as it's easier for me to edit or change large parts of a song and I don't have to deal with memorizing keyboard layout. It's all code, so any IDE you like can be used to write MML.

For those less technically inclined, trackers are a good way to do some hardware-ready stuff, but generally only for very popular or well-known systems to the West, as they're distinctly a western phenomenon.

[Comptroller]

I've finished the first section of my PMD guide! It's everything you need to know to get started writing a basic PMD program.

Excellent, thanks for this! 

Found some sample PMD MML files too, so that's enough to get started with. I look forward to rest of the guide appearing!

[Noyemi K]

I'll be re-hosting the guide with some samples of my own MMLs at some point, but I need to make sure I cover some basic tone data and envelope programming in the guide since that's 90% of the work that isn't spent scoring.

[Noyemi K]

I've added a new section on programming the SSG channels! Later, I'll add FM tone creation to the guide (but it will assume that you've dabbled in FM before—I don't really have the kind of space here to make a big FM guide)

[Comptroller]

I've added a new section on programming the SSG channels! Later, I'll add FM tone creation to the guide (but it will assume that you've dabbled in FM before—I don't really have the kind of space here to make a big FM guide)

Glad you're still working on this! Very helpful, thanks.

[Noyemi K]

I now have a repository for some of my KOLIN2 work. Documentation of the KOLIN2 driver will follow soon, but you can follow along with the example MMLs to see how the driver works if you'd like!

[Noyemi K]

I have updated my PMD guide to include basic FM patch programming! It's probably what you've all been waiting for, since that's the bulk of most OPN series chips and the knowledge is transferrable to other FM sound generators.