File Format

This is an overview of the file storage format. There’s quite a few moving pieces here so be sure to look at the other sections in the table of contents.

In general, section terminators are defined by 0xFF. This means the total count of some things is 127 not 128. Pattern numbers start at 1 and not 0. This is becuase patterns are stored in BRAM and page 0 is for the kernal. This means we can use ‘0’ to denote when we are done reading patterns.

This is current a very basic, and arguably wasteful, format.

VERSION: 1 byte
MISC: 8k (page)
  Contains song title, composer, starting speed, order list, 
  sorted order list, sample names, and sample metadata
ENVELOPES: 8k (page)
VERA_INSTRUMENTS: 8k (page, though in reality instruments are currently less)
FM_INSTRUMENTS: 8k (page, though in reality instruments are currently less)

PATTERNS:
  Pattern #: (1 byte)
  Pattern Data: 8k (page)
  ...
Patterns End Marker: $00 (1 byte)

SAMPLES:
  Sample #: (1 byte)
  Sample Data: 8k (page)
  ...
Samples End Marker: $FF (1 byte)