How actually do instruments work?

[chirinea]

I've just started using Furnace this month and I'm having lots of fun. It's my first time using a chiptune tracker, so there's something I don't quite understand about instruments in trackers: how well do they translate to real hardware? For instance, I'm programming Master System music, and I see I can add macros for volume. When a note is played, it follows that pattern I did in the macro, but shouldn't I make it directly on the "timeline" of the tracker? I'm asking it because it seems I can make a tremolo effect with a macro, for instance, which happens much faster than altering the volume one time per row, and I don't know if the chip would be capable of doing that IRL. Am I missing something here? How crazy can I go with instruments and still keep faithful to the original hardware?

[IceDragonDee]

The speed of the macros is dependent on the tick rate that you set. so if you have it set to 60 Hz, that's how fast your macros can be. I'm not 100% sure on most consoles, but since they run at 50 or 60 Hz by default, you should be fine... However it's common for, say C64 music to be made at 2x speed, which in Europe and PAL regions would be 100 Hz. By and large, you shouldn't have to worry too much in general, Macros are more than doable on hardware.

[chirinea]

Humm, so if I change the music tempo I also change this. Another thing: not every macro that appears on the screen is usable by the chip I'm using, correct? For instance, I can't change phase or duty in SN76489, so I should just ignore those macros, right? If that is the case, it would be interesting for the program to only show the macros that are actually usable for every given chip.

[MarisaKirisame7]

Bro, i guess the duty is for noise channel, not the square for some reason

[lunathir]

Duty cycle is only available in noise channels due to the fact that the SN7 can only output 50% pulse waves without doing any wonky trickery.

[IceDragonDee]

That, I think adjusts the noise, depending on what mode you are using. I'm not the most well versed with that chip, so maybe someone could give better insight.