After spending countless hours experimenting with sounds on my ATARI, I finally got tired of running the cursor back and forth to make changes in pitch, distortion, loops, etc. And almost invariably when I got a sound I really liked, I found I had no way to get it back - since I had been experimenting in immediate mode and had carelessly let the sound statements scroll off the top of the screen!

I got just as tired of writing short programs for sound generation - so instead I wrote the Sound Effector, which does all the work for me - and shows me exactly what program made that terrific sound.

The program is quite straightforward. You are asked to input values for pitch, distortion, and volume. (If you intend to run any of these values through a loop, you may enter any number you wish at this point.)

You will then be asked if you want any loops. If you respond with a "Y" to any of the loops, you will he asked for "FROM" and "TO" values, as well as a "STEP" value.

The program runs the values, with loops, and if you have used more than one loop, informs you which loop is the inner one and which the outer. You should make notes of this in case you like what you hear and want to use it in another program. After each sound you will be asked if you want to hear the sound again. An "N" will allow you to see the values you used - on your screen or printer. You can then go on to the next sound (or automatically to the next loop configuration) or end the program.

I've enjoyed experimenting with the program, and have come up with some pretty interesting sounds that I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten working in my usual haphazard way!