============================================================================== Sonic QX Voice Exchange Tutorial April 09, 2004 ============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Exchanging Voices ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One of the great things about Sonic QX is that it allows you to exchange voice data. In other words, you don't have to use a huge 50 voice bank that only has 2 or 3 voices that you actually need. The Voice Manager can make things right so that you have the exact voices you need. Let's use the S2B-81.YMX bank that comes with the Sonic QX software. The bank wasn't actually intended to be loaded with a song, but many people don't know that unfortunately. It was provided as a voice backup. It's useful for making your own YMX banks using a variety of Sonic 2's voice selections. Let's make a 3 voice bank of our own using voices from S2B-81.YMX. Load the S2B-81.YMX bank. Select a level that uses at least 3 or more voices. Then select "81 - 3" from the list of YMX voices. Import this to "Voice 1" in the ROM's voice bank. Now select "82 - 9" from the list of YMX voices. Import that to "Voice 2" in the ROM's voice bank. Finally, let's put "88 - 2" into "Voice 3" of the ROM's voice bank. Now click the "New Bank" button. You will have a YMX bank that has no voices in it. Select "Voice 1" from the ROM's voice bank and click the "Export" button between the two lists. Sonic QX will ask for a name. Let's name it "My Voice 1" and click "OK". The voice will show up in the YMX voice list. Export "Voice 2" and name it "My Voice 2". Do the same with "Voice 3". Then click on the "Save Bank" button and name your bank "Sample.ymx". Click "OK" and you're done! Now you can use the 3 voice YMX bank you just created with a song that you wish to import. That way, the song will use only the voices that it needs. This will save space in the ROM, and it will also allow you to use any voices outside the existing banks that you have. And of course, you can also create your very own voices by replacing one of the existing voices in the ROM and then maybe even export your voice to a YMX bank to use it in other songs and/or to pass around on the internet. The Voice Manager is one of the most useful tools in Sonic QX. Learn to make it a part of your regular Sonic QX use. Have fun! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Misc Information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sonic QX is a music editor for the beta version of the Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive Sonic 2 ROM. It can be downloaded from http://sonicology.fateback.com/ and is still currently in development. The software makes use of it's own voice bank format (YMX) to make exchanging voices a far easier process than ever before. The current Sonic QX version is 0.31 beta (build 14). - Saxman (please don't send me any questions about this)