PLAY

PLAY is a statement that plays notes of sound through the sound card in QB64 using a command STRING.

Syntax

PLAY commandstring$

Parameters

The commandstring can be any literal or variable STRING consisting of the following uppercase or lowercase commands:

On - Sets the current octave (from 0 to 6). Example: PLAY "O3"
< - Down one octave (cannot be below zero). Example: PLAY "<<" 'goes down two octaves.
> - Up one octave (cannot be above 6). Example: PLAY ">>" ' goes up two octaves.
A, B, C, D, E, F or G are the notes in the current octave. Can use the following suffixes:

+ or # for a sharp note. Example: PLAY "C#"
- for a flat note. Example: PLAY "C-"

Nn - Plays a note n by number(n can be between 0 to 84 in the 7 octaves, where 0 is a rest). Example: PLAY "N42"
Ln - Sets length of a note (n can be 1 to 64 where 1 is a whole note and 4 is a quarter of a note etc.). Example: PLAY "L4"

MS - Each note plays 3/4 of length set by L (staccato)
MN - Each note plays 7/8 of length set by L (normal)
ML - Each note plays full length set by L (legato)
Pn - Pause in the duration of n quarternotes (n can be 1 to 64) corresponding to L, Example: PLAY "P32"
Tn - Tempo sets number of L4 quarter notes per minute (n can be 32 to 255 where 120 is the default). Example: PLAY "T180"

. - period after a note plays 1½ times the note length determined by L * T.
.. - two periods plays 1-3/4 times the note length determined by L * T.

, - commas in QB64 stop play advancement to allow more than one note to be played simultaneously. Example: PLAY "C,E,G,"
Vn - Volume in QB64 only can be any volume from 0(none) to 100(full). The default level is 50 when n is not specified.
MF - Play music in the foreground (each note must be completed before another can start).
MB - Play music in the background while program code execution continues (QB64 has no note buffer limits).
X + VARPTR$(string-expression) - executes a command string variable. MUST be used with variables!.

Usage:

MB will allow music to play while program code progresses. MF will wait for code to continue playing notes.
Command string values are not case sensitive and spacing is ignored. Use upper or lower case as desired.
NOTE: In QB64, PLAY may NOT delay program progress! Use _DELAY and END to allow music completion.

Example 1: Plays a sound with the volume and note varying from 0 to 50. Maximum note can only be 84.

PLAY "mll64" DO FOR x = 1 TO 50 a$ = a$ + "v" + LTRIM$(STR$(x)) + "n" + LTRIM$(STR$(x)) NEXT FOR x = 50 TO 1 STEP -1 a$ = a$ + "v" + LTRIM$(STR$(x)) + "n" + LTRIM$(STR$(x)) NEXT PLAY a$ a$ = "" LOOP UNTIL INKEY$ <> "" PLAY "v10l1c,l4egl2o5c,o4l4eg"

Code by Galleon

Example 2: Plays "Frosty the snowman". The lyric printing is not delayed by PLAY in QB64.

CLS : PRINT "Frosty the Snow Man" FOR X = 1 TO 2 PRINT IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "Fros-ty the Snow man was a jolly happy soul," IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "Fros-ty the Snow man knew the sun was hot that day" PLAY "t140o2p4g2e4.f8g4o3c2o2b8o3c8d4c4o2b4a8g2." 'MB removed to print song one line at a time IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "with a corn cob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal." IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "so he said Let's run and we'll have some fun now before I melt away." PLAY "o2b8o3c8d4c4o2b4a8a8g8o3c4o2e8e4g8a8g4f4e4f4g2." IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "Fros-ty the Snow Man is a fair-y tale, they say," IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "Down to the vil-lage, with a broom-stick in his hand," PLAY "g2e4.f8g4o3c2o2b8o3c8d4c4o2b4a8g2." IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "He was made of snow but the chil-dren knew how he come to life one day." IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "run-ning here and there all a-round the square, say-in' catch me if you can." PLAY "o2b8o3c8d4c4o2b4a8a8g8o3c4o2e8e4g8a8g4f4e4d4c2." IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found." IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "He led them down the streets of town right to the traffic cop." PLAY "c4a4a4o3c4c4o2b4a4g4e4f4a4g4f4e2." IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "For when they placed it on his head he be-gan to dance a round." IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "And he on-ly paused a moment when he heard him hol-ler Stop!" PLAY "e8e8d4d4g4g4b4b4o3d4d8o2b8o3d4c4o2b4a4g4p4" IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "Oh, Fros-ty the Snow Man was a-live as he could be," IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "For, Fros-ty the Snow Man had to hur-ry on his way" PLAY "g2g2e4.f8g4o3c2o2b8o3c8d4c4o2b4a8g8g2." IF X = 1 THEN PRINT "and the chil-dren say he could laugh and play just the same as you and me." IF X = 2 THEN PRINT "but he waved good-bye say-in' Don't you cry, I'll be back a-gain some day." PLAY "o2b8o3c8d4c4o2b4a8a8g8o3c4o2e8e4g8a8g4f4e4d4c2.p4" NEXT X PRINT : PRINT "Thump-et-y thump thump, thump-et-y thump thump, look at Fros-ty go." PLAY "t180g8g8g4g4g4a8g8g4g4g4a4g4e4g4d1" PRINT "Thump-et-y thump thump, thump-et-y thump thump, ov-er the hills of snow." PLAY "t180g8g8g4g4g4a8g8g4g4g4g8g8g4a4b4o3c2c4p1" END

Greg Rismoen 12/09/84

Example 3: Clicking on the grid enables various notes to be played simultaneously.

DIM SHARED grid(16, 16), grid2(16, 16), cur CONST maxx = 512 CONST maxy = 512 SCREEN _NEWIMAGE(maxx, maxy, 32) _TITLE "MusicGrid" cleargrid DO IF TIMER - t# > 1 / 8 THEN cur = (cur + 1) AND 15: t# = TIMER IF cur <> oldcur THEN figuregrid drawgrid playgrid oldcur = cur END IF domousestuff in$ = INKEY$ IF in$ = "C" OR in$ = "c" THEN cleargrid LOOP UNTIL in$ = CHR$(27) SUB drawgrid scale! = maxx / 16 scale2 = maxx \ 16 - 2 FOR y = 0 TO 15 y1 = y * scale! FOR x = 0 TO 15 x1 = x * scale! c& = _RGB32(grid2(x, y) * 64 + 64, 0, 0) LINE (x1, y1)-(x1 + scale2, y1 + scale2), c&, BF NEXT x NEXT y END SUB SUB figuregrid FOR y = 0 TO 15 FOR x = 0 TO 15 grid2(x, y) = grid(x, y) NEXT x NEXT y FOR y = 1 TO 14 FOR x = 1 TO 14 IF grid(x, y) = 1 AND cur = x THEN grid2(x, y) = 2 IF grid(x - 1, y) = 0 THEN grid2(x - 1, y) = 1 IF grid(x + 1, y) = 0 THEN grid2(x + 1, y) = 1 IF grid(x, y - 1) = 0 THEN grid2(x, y - 1) = 1 IF grid(x, y + 1) = 0 THEN grid2(x, y + 1) = 1 END IF NEXT x NEXT y END SUB SUB domousestuff DO WHILE _MOUSEINPUT IF _MOUSEBUTTON(1) THEN x = _MOUSEX \ (maxx \ 16) y = _MOUSEY \ (maxy \ 16) grid(x, y) = 1 - grid(x, y) END IF LOOP END SUB SUB playgrid n$ = "L16 " 'scale$ = "O1CO1DO1EO1FO1GO1AO1BO2CO2DO2EO2FO2GO2AO2BO3CO3D" scale$ = "o1fo1go1ao2co2do2fo2go2ao3co3do3fo3go3ao4co4do4fo" FOR y = 15 TO 0 STEP -1 IF grid(cur, y) = 1 THEN note$ = MID$(scale$, 1 + (15 - y) * 3, 3) n$ = n$ + note$ + "," 'comma plays 2 or more column notes simultaneously END IF NEXT y n$ = LEFT$(n$, LEN(n$) - 1) PLAY n$ END SUB SUB cleargrid FOR y = 0 TO 15 FOR x = 0 TO 15 grid(x, y) = 0 NEXT x NEXT y END SUB

Code by JP

Example 4: Play strings starting with MB allow program code to run while music plays in background.

' 2012, 2013 mennonite ' license: creative commons cc0 1.0 universal ' (public domain) http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ SCREEN 12 ' the following works in other screen modes, too RANDOMIZE TIMER PLAY "mb l4cf.l8el4fag.l8fl4gl8agl4f.l8fl4a>cl2dl4dl4c.<l8al4afg.l8fl4gl8agl4f.l8dl4dcl2f>l4dc.<l8al4afg.l8fl4g>dc.<l8al4a>cl2dl4dc.<l8al4afg.l8fl4gl8agl4f.l8dl4dcl1f" DIM ccs(1 TO 9, 1 TO 2) ccs(1, 1) = 415: ccs(1, 2) = 289 ccs(2, 1) = 185: ccs(2, 2) = 128 ccs(3, 1) = 108: ccs(3, 2) = 75 ccs(4, 1) = 70: ccs(4, 2) = 48 ccs(5, 1) = 48: ccs(5, 2) = 32 ccs(6, 1) = 32: ccs(6, 2) = 20 ccs(7, 1) = 20: ccs(7, 2) = 12 ccs(8, 1) = 10: ccs(8, 2) = 6 ccs(9, 1) = 2: ccs(9, 2) = 2 FOR extra = 1 TO 23 FOR p = 1 TO 9 gcolor INT(RND * 9 + 14 - 9) _DELAY .04 CLS gscale p row = ccs(p, 1) cl = ccs(p, 2) glocate row, cl gprint "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000" glocate row + 1, cl gprint "0x00x0xxxx0xxxx0xxxx0x0x000x00x0xxxx0x000x000x0x0xxxx0xxxx0xxxx000x00" glocate row + 2, cl gprint "0x00x0x00x0x00x0x00x0x0x000xx0x0x0000x000x000x0x0x0000x00x0x00x000x00" glocate row + 3, cl gprint "0xxxx0xxxx0xxxx0xxxx0x0x000x0xx0xxx00x0x0x000x0x0xxx00xxxx0xxxx000x00" glocate row + 4, cl gprint "0x00x0x00x0x0000x00000x0000x00x0x0000x0x0x0000x00x0000x00x0x0x0000000" glocate row + 5, cl gprint "0x00x0x00x0x0000x00000x0000x00x0xxxx0xx0xx0000x00xxxx0x00x0x00x000x00" glocate row + 6, cl gprint "000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000" NEXT p SLEEP 1 IF INKEY$ = CHR$(27) THEN EXIT FOR NEXT extra END SUB gscale (s): SHARED gscalep gscalep = INT(s) END SUB SUB gcolor (c): SHARED gcolorp gcolorp = c END SUB SUB gbackcolor (c): SHARED gbackcolorp gbackcolorp = c END SUB SUB glocate (row, column): SHARED gposxp SHARED gposyp gposyp = row gposxp = column END SUB SUB gprint (p$): SHARED gscalep SHARED gposxp, gposyp SHARED gcolorp, gbackcolorp ' # means "use the foreground color here." ' . means "use the background color here." ' _ means "transparent - don't draw this block at all" (you can layer!) ' 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,a,b,c,d,e,f means "do color attribute 0 to 15." ' any letter after f: "use the foreground color here." IF gscalep < 1 THEN gscalep = 1 pcolorp = gcolorp FOR p = 1 TO LEN(p$): SELECT CASE LCASE$(MID$(p$, p, 1)) CASE "#", "g", "h", "i", "j", "k", "l", "m", "n", "o", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t", "u", "v", "w", "x", "y", "z" pcolorp = gcolorp CASE "." pcolorp = gbackcolorp CASE "_" pcolorp = -1 CASE "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f" pcolorp = INSTR("0123456789abcdef", LCASE$(MID$(p$, p, 1))) - 1 END SELECT IF NOT pcolorp = -1 THEN IF gscalep > 1 THEN LINE ((gposxp - 1) * gscalep, (gposyp - 1) * gscalep)-STEP(gscalep - 1, gscalep - 1), pcolorp, BF ELSE: PSET (gposxp, gposyp), pcolorp END IF END IF glocate gposyp, gposxp + 1 NEXT p gposxp = 1 glocate gposyp + 1, 1 'gposyp = gposyp + 1 END SUB

Code by Mennonite

Example 5: This example uses PRINT to good effect as string spacing is ignored by PLAY:

WIDTH 59, 28 title="PRINT">PRINT t 0120c ml<f1 ,a 1, " mnf .e 8f am l< e1 ,g " 1, mn g. f8 ga 8g 8m l< " >c 2. ,m nf .f 8a ml<f " >cd2.,<f2 .,d2 .,<b -2 " lb -,>d,f,mn>d ml <c 1, " ,m n> >c .< " c1 ,< e1 ,g " " n> g.f8ga8g8m l< f1 " ,d1, <b -1 ,m n> " >f .d 8d c< f2 ., " a2 ., c2 .,>f2. ml < b- " ,> d, f, mn>dml <c 1,< a1 " ,f 1, mn >> c. <a 8a fm " lc 2.,< e2 .,g2 .,mn " .f8 gml<b-,>d, f, mn " " ml <<f2.,a2., > c2.,m n> c." <e, g, >c ,m n>" -2 ., >d 2. ,f 2." d2.ml< <b -, >d ,f ,m n>" l<<f1, a1,>c1,mn >c.<a 8a fm" <e1,g1,mn>g .f 8g a8 g8" << b- 1, >d 1, " ,mn>f.d8dc l1 ml f, c, <a ,f" title="PRINT">PRINT x$; selflink">PLAY x

Code by Luke

See also:'