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<title>5. Playback — Animalese</title>
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<nav class="crumb"><a href="index.html">Animalese pipeline</a> / 5. Playback</nav>
<h1>5. Playback</h1>
<p class="lede">A phoneme code becomes an instrument number, written into a port on a
looping JAudio2 sequence. Everything expressive happens through two float multipliers.</p>
<h2>Punctuation, applied at play time</h2>
<p>By the time the rule engine finishes, punctuation codes are still in <code>a</code>.
The <code>sou_voice_mode</code> switch (<code>game64.c_inc:2810</code>) resolves them, and
splits on whether this is the player's voice:</p>
<h3>Specs 5 and 6 — the player</h3>
<pre>switch (a) {
case 0x81: case 0x84: case 0x85: case 0x86:
Na_SysTrgStart(NA_SE_BEBE); a = 0; break;
}</pre>
<p>Every punctuation code clicks. <code>?</code> and <code>!</code> fall through unmodified
into the phoneme path — the pitch and volume bumps below never apply to the player.</p>
<h3>All other specs</h3>
<table>
<tr><th>Code</th><th>Char</th><th>Effect</th></tr>
<tr><td><code>0x86</code></td><td>click</td><td><code>NA_SE_BEBE</code>, then mute</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>0x81</code> <code>0x84</code> <code>0x85</code></td><td>space, newline, mute</td><td>mute</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>0x82</code></td><td><code>?</code></td><td>mute, and pitch × 1.24 / 1.30 / 1.13 for <code>sou_now_voice_seq</code> 1 / 2 / 3 — the small index <code>Na_SpecChange</code> sets alongside sequence 243 / 244 / 245, not the sequence number itself</td></tr>
<tr><td><code>0x83</code></td><td><code>!</code></td><td>mute, and volume × 1.15</td></tr>
<tr><td>anything else</td><td></td><td>plays; sets <code>sou_now_boin</code> (dead, see <a href="quirks.html">quirks</a>)</td></tr>
</table>
<p>Both multipliers are applied to the spec's <em>base</em> value, which was just reset at
the top of the call, so they last exactly one utterance. The pitch factor differing per
sequence is a per-bank tuning correction, not an expressive choice.</p>
<h2>The emotion LFO</h2>
<p>Six emotion states are set by text control codes and stored in
<code>sou_message_status</code>:</p>
<table>
<tr><th>Control code</th><th>Value</th><th>State</th></tr>
<tr><td><code>SET_MESSAGE_CONTENTS_NORMAL</code></td><td>75</td><td><code>VOICE_STATUS_NORMAL</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>SET_MESSAGE_CONTENTS_ANGRY</code></td><td>76</td><td><code>VOICE_STATUS_ANGRY</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>SET_MESSAGE_CONTENTS_SAD</code></td><td>77</td><td><code>VOICE_STATUS_SAD</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>SET_MESSAGE_CONTENTS_FUN</code></td><td>78</td><td><code>VOICE_STATUS_FUN</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>SET_MESSAGE_CONTENTS_SLEEPY</code></td><td>79</td><td><code>VOICE_STATUS_SLEEPY</code></td></tr>
<tr><td><code>SET_MESSAGE_CONTENTS_GLOOMY</code></td><td>97</td><td><code>VOICE_STATUS_GLOOMY</code></td></tr>
</table>
<p>Each drives a short random-period modulation of <code>_18</code> (pitch multiplier) and
<code>_0C</code> (volume multiplier), recomputed per utterance
(<code>game64.c_inc:2880</code>). It is skipped for punctuation
(<code>r29 > 0x77</code>) and for specs 5 and 6, in which case the previous values
persist.</p>
<h3>Angry (1)</h3>
<pre>if (counter == 0) counter = (rand() >> 6) + 10; // 10–13
else counter--;
switch (counter) {
case 0: case 1: case 2: pitch = 1.25, vol = 1.25; break;
case 3: case 4: pitch = 1.20, vol = 1.20; break;
case 9: case 10: pitch = 1.25, vol = 1.25; break;
default: pitch = 0.90, vol = 1.05; break;
}</pre>
<p>Mostly flat and slightly quiet, with two bursts near the top and bottom of each
10–13 syllable cycle — a jagged, shouty contour.</p>
<h3>Sad (2), Sleepy (4), Gloomy (5)</h3>
<pre>if (counter == 0) { effect = (rand() >> 6) + 14; counter = 1; } // 14–17
else if (counter == effect) { counter = 0; sad_toguru ^= 1; }
else counter++;
pitch = (sad_toguru ? 1.1 : 1.0) - counter * 0.022;
vol = (sad_toguru ? 1.1 : 1.0) - counter * 0.025;</pre>
<p>A sawtooth: pitch and volume slide down over 14–17 syllables, then jump back up,
alternating between two baselines. The three states share the code exactly — they
differ only in what the writers chose to tag.</p>
<h3>Fun (3)</h3>
<pre>if (counter == 0) counter = (rand() >> 6) + 10;
else counter--;
switch (counter) {
case 0: case 1: pitch = 1.05, vol = 1.05; break;
case 2: pitch = 0.90, vol = 1.15; break;
default: pitch = 1.15, vol = 1.05; break;
}</pre>
<p>Consistently bright with a dip at the end of each cycle.</p>
<h3>Normal (0)</h3>
<pre>pitch = 1.0; vol = 1.0;</pre>
<h2>Reaching the DSP</h2>
<p>Two subtracks in <code>NA_GROUP4</code> alternate, toggled by
<code>sou_voice_se_toguru</code> on every call, so consecutive syllables can overlap
rather than cutting each other off:</p>
<pre>void Sou_VoiceStart(u8 subtrack, u8 b) {
NA_COMMAND_AUDIO_SUBTRACK_SET_PORT(VOICE_GROUP, subtrack, 0, b);
}</pre>
<p>The guard before it is <code>if (a != 0 && a <= 0x77)</code> — code 0 never plays,
which is why <code>h</code> is silent. The call is also skipped entirely when the raw
code was space, newline or mute (<code>r29 != 0x85 && r29 != 0x81 &&
r29 != 0x84</code>).</p>
<h3>The sequence side</h3>
<p>Each voice sequence's subtrack sits in a spin loop:</p>
<pre>loop: delay 1 tick
MACRO_SET 1 ; publish "I am sequence 1/2/3" …
PORT1_WRITE_MACRO_REG ; … to port 1 (the load-race handshake)
MACRO_READ_PORT0 ; value ← port 0, port 0 ← -1
branch loop if value < 0 ; port empty
SET_DYNTBL 0x0026
DYNTBL_CALL ; call routine dyntbl[phoneme code]
branch loop</pre>
<p>The dynamic table has 128 entries pointing at routines of the shape
<code>C1 <instrument> / 88 <layer addr> / FF</code>, where the note layer holds the
actual note, delay and velocity. Entry <em>v</em> selects instrument
<strong><em>v</em> − 1</strong>; entry 0 is an immediate <code>FF</code> — nothing. The
full annotated disassembly, the per-code note/delay/velocity map, and the tick math are
on <a href="disc.html">the disc page</a>. Two headlines from it: dialogue phonemes play
at semitone 44 / 41 / 39 (sequences 243 / 244 / 245) against a pitch table with unity at
48, so each bank is pitched down 4–9 semitones from its recordings; and port reads are
destructive (the port resets to −1), which is why one <code>Sou_VoiceStart</code> write
triggers exactly one syllable.</p>
<h3>Per-frame parameter push</h3>
<p><code>Sou_VoiceMake</code> (<code>game64.c_inc:1174</code>) runs for both subtracks once
per game frame, inside <code>Na_GameFrame</code>:</p>
<pre>volumeScale = _08 * _0C; // spec base × emotion volume
frequencyScale = _14 * _18; // spec base × emotion pitch
NA_COMMAND_AUDIO_SUBTRACK_SET_VOL_SCALE (VOICE_GROUP, index, volumeScale);
NA_COMMAND_AUDIO_SUBTRACK_SET_FREQ_SCALE(VOICE_GROUP, index, frequencyScale);
NA_COMMAND_AUDIO_SUBTRACK_SET_PAN (VOICE_GROUP, index, pan);
NA_COMMAND_AUDIO_SUBTRACK_REVERB_VOLUME (VOICE_GROUP, index, reverbVolume);</pre>
<p><code>pan</code> is initialised to <code>0x3F</code> (centre) and <code>reverbVolume</code> to 0,
and neither is ever written for voice subtracks. <strong>Animalese is always centred, dry,
and unaffected by the speaker's distance from the camera</strong> — unlike every other
positional SE in the game.</p>
<p>Because both subtracks share <code>sou_voice_se[0]</code> and <code>[1]</code> which are
always written together, an in-flight syllable's volume and pitch are retroactively
changed by the next syllable's settings.</p>
<h3>Frame ordering</h3>
<p><code>graph.c</code> runs <code>game_main</code> (including the draw pass that calls
<code>Na_VoiceSe</code>) and <em>then</em> <code>sAdo_GameFrame</code>. So within one frame:</p>
<pre>game_main → mFontSentence_animal_voice_se → Na_VoiceSe (sets params, writes port)
Na_GameFrame → Sou_VoiceMake (pushes params to the DSP)
→ Sou_SpecialRoutine10 (fires any queued second syllable)</pre>
<p><code>Sou_VoiceMake</code> runs <em>before</em> <code>Sou_SpecialRoutine10</code>, so a
deferred syllable's parameters land one frame late.</p>
<h2>Banks</h2>
<p>From <code>src/static/jaudio_NES/game/audioheaders.c</code>:</p>
<table>
<tr><th>Bank</th><th>ROM addr</th><th>Size</th><th>param0</th><th>param1</th><th>Instruments</th></tr>
<tr><td>156</td><td><code>0x0005C260</code></td><td><code>0x4500</code></td><td><code>0x05FF</code></td><td><code>0x7700</code></td><td>119</td></tr>
<tr><td>157</td><td><code>0x00060760</code></td><td><code>0x3020</code></td><td><code>0x05FF</code></td><td><code>0x5300</code></td><td>83</td></tr>
<tr><td>158</td><td><code>0x00063780</code></td><td><code>0x4500</code></td><td><code>0x05FF</code></td><td><code>0x7700</code></td><td>119</td></tr>
</table>
<p><code>param1 >> 8</code> is the instrument count, <code>param0 >> 8</code> the sample
bank id (5 for all three), and all have zero drums and zero SFX. 119 instruments =
phoneme codes <code>0x01</code>–<code>0x77</code> exactly.</p>
<p>Bank 157 stopping at 83 is not an omission, and nothing is lost. The phonology
engine's maximum output is <code>0x52</code> plus <code>0x77</code>; instruments 0–81
cover <code>0x01</code>–<code>0x52</code>, and the missing
<code>0x53</code>–<code>0x76</code> range is the
<a href="editor.html">editor's letter-name block</a>, which spec 3 can never reach.
For <code>you</code> (<code>0x77</code>), sequence 244's dynamic table explicitly routes
the code to <strong>instrument 82</strong> — the bank's 83rd and last instrument, which
sits above the phonology range and is reachable by nothing else. Bank 157 carries one
extra instrument precisely to be its <code>you</code>.</p>
<p>Sample details are on <a href="disc.html">the disc page</a>: N64 VADPCM, tuning
0.689062 (22050 Hz at a 32000 Hz mixer), order 2, two predictors, no loop,
32–407 ms each (mean ≈ 190 ms).</p>
<div class="pager">
<span><a href="phonology.html">← 4. The phonology engine</a></span>
<span><a href="soundfont.html">6. The soundfont lookup →</a></span>
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