defMON wiki — release history 2008–2020, creations, links

The dated release list of defmon with frantic's named releases and per-release notes, plus the wiki's list of music and demos made with the program. Version numbers "are essentially just date stamps that reflect the day when the program was compiled" — shown in the status bar at startup.

Key claims#

Release history (newest first, with frantic's release names)#

• 2020-10-08 — "Nudge Nudge!": defSYNC returns — two C64s running defMON, connected with a standard serial disk-drive cable (directly, or through a drive; an Ultimate64's built-in drive also works), start playing at the same time via CTRL+F1/F3 ("tells the C64 to wait until someone presses PLAY on the second C64"). Originally removed because it didn't fit in RAM. New: nudge the playing song one tick back/forward with CTRL+F5/F7, to align defMON with other gear running at the same speed. Releases now ship as two .d64 files, one with demo worktunes by Goto80, Ilkke and F7sus4. Bug fix: wrong sequences shown for SID2 in follow mode when the two SIDs played from different song positions.
• 2020-09-18 — "Perfect Vision": fix for mute-display in 2SID mode (muting VOC0 on SID1 wrongly blanked the VOC0 label for SID2 too).
• 2020-06-01 — "Packman": packer fix (following sidtab jumps could corrupt packed tunes); loop-jump command in the sequence list now initialized properly on restart; SHIFT+U no longer misreads jump-command parameters (FF XX XX) as used sequence numbers.
• 2018-11-01 — "Filter falter flamboyee": fixed a code-corruption bug that had broken filter sweeps/settings on the 8580 SID; testing thanks to F7sus4 at chipmusic.org.
• 2018-10-27 — "No more inflatable worktunes": fixed oversized saved worktunes (present since ~2017-10-24).
• 2018-02-11 — "defMON goes overseas": experimental NTSC-only build — changed frequency table and NTSC timing for the once-per-frame timer interrupts; untested beyond starting in vice in NTSC mode.
• 2017-10-26 — "SHIFT+N vs SHIFT+U": SHIFT+N (copy current sequence to next empty sequence) re-enabled and fixed; SHIFT+U (copy to next sequence unused in the sequence list, "no matter if this sequence is actually empty or not!") now also scans the second SID's sequence list in stereo mode.
• 2017-10-24 — "Data Healing": filter state now displayed correctly in the sequence edit screen, including per-SID in 2SID mode; fixed pattern breaks in unused sequences being lost on save/load — loading an afflicted tune into this version restores them.
• 2014-11-08 — "Enter the defMON Sync Galaxy": support for Scannerboy's defMON sync interface (user port): DIN-sync, MIDI sync, Game Boy sync (lsdj and Nanoloop), modular synths. Sync always on in this version; starts on play (F1/F3), stops on F7. DIN Sync delay parameter via CTRL+SHIFT+DOT/COMMA — default $00, "$04 may be recommended", Goto80 reported $05 optimal against a TR-808; the delay is saved with the tune. Timing constraint: 6 ticks per two sequence steps — use speed 2 (= 3 ticks) per step, or alternate 4 and 2; change overall tempo via the C=(+SHIFT)+F1..F7 player-call settings instead (see s-defmon-wiki-sync-and-stereo).
• 2014-07-11 — "San Diego": stereo fixes (muting/stop on SID2; pack as RAW restored).
• 2014-06-15 — "Stereo SID Returns": the stereo SID feature set — CTRL+← switches between the two sequence lists; CTRL+SHIFT+← toggles mono/stereo (mono is default); CTRL+UPARROW cycles the second SID's base address between $D4xx, $D5xx, $DExx, $DFxx; CTRL+C=+UPARROW steps the low byte in $20 increments; the config is saved in the worktune. No stereo export — packing includes only SID 1 data. Also: multispeed toggling while playing no longer drifts out of sync; disk menu handles >1 screen of files; the FF 00 03 segment-loop (jump back to position 00 three times, then continue — segment plays 4 times in total) moved from a separate "deluxe" build into the standard program.
• 2014-06-12 — "Export Expert": export tune to an executable — SHIFT+P in the disk menu, Y, then E; no return to the editor after packing; doesn't work with stereo tunes; crunch with start address $080D to shrink it.
• 2013-08-03 — "Cracked by Hackers": "The first publicly available version of defMON was the one that was 'cracked' by Genesis Project in 2013" (on CSDb); it "differs in some ways from the 'ordinary' versions used by people like Goto80, Ilkke, and others."
• Prehistoric versions: "The first versions of defMON that were actually useable appeared around spring 2008", not public, "mainly used by Goto80 and a few others"; a zip preserves four pre-2009 builds (one April 2008, one from a disk labelled October 2008). "Many of those old versions are lost in time."

Creations#

• Worktunes downloadable from the wiki: Lola by Scannerboy; Experiments and more worktunes plus defMON SIDs by Martin Demsky.
• Packed defMON tunes are in the HVSC collection (hvsc), playable via a defMON player-search on the Deepsid site.
• C64 productions with defMON music: My Beauty — "The first released production to contain defMON music"; In Memory of — a Hollowman demo with goto80 music; the goto80 music disk ＿|￣|○; NGC 1277 — a Samar Productions demo with music by F7sus4.
• DUBCRT — "A hardware cartridge released as a GOTO80 album on Datadoor, where defMON was used to create the music."
• YouTube: a defMON playlist; Goto80 ＿|￣|○ on real SID; Goto80 and the Uwe Schenk Band — Ponky Fonky Ferret; F7sus4 — Timewarp Spheres; Zabutom — Macho Machine; I Just Cannot Find the Exit (Sarofer Zertaga) live.

Links#

• defMON relocator by Don Kichote/Samar (CSDb release 240101).
• The defMON discussion thread at chipmusic.org (topic
  1. — the de facto support channel.
• SID programming info on Codebase64; JCH's "Comparison of C64 Music Editors" at chordian.net includes defMON.

Practical takeaways#

• Date stamp = version: check the status bar at startup and compare with this list; anything older than 2018-11-01 has the 8580 filter bug, older than 2020-06-01 the packer-jump bug.
• Stereo tunes cannot be exported — only SID 1 survives packing, so 2SID work stays editor/live material.
• For an executable release: save first, then SHIFT+P → Y → E, and crunch with start address $080D.
• SHIFT+N vs SHIFT+U (copy to next empty vs next unused sequence) is the fast way to build variations in the seqLIST.

Notable quotes#

• "I remember when Goto80 tried defMON for the first time, and exclaimed 'Man.. I gotta quit my job!'. :D" (frantic, on the 2008 prehistoric versions)
• "Many of the older versions are lost." (download page)

Relevance to the wiki#

The dated backbone for the defmon entity (history section, absolute dates), for frantic (his release names and voice), for goto80 (first user, DUBCRT, demo tunes) and for the defMON angle on sync, multispeed and stereo sid.

Pages touched#

defmon, frantic, goto80, sync, multispeed, sid, hvsc, chipmusic-org, vice, orderlist