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 commands:
  • Command string values are not case sensitive and spacing is ignored. Use upper or lower case as desired.

• 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 - Specifies a pause (1 - 64). P1 is a whole-note pause, P2 is a half-note pause, etc. (The pause is 1/n notes in length.) 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$(string-expression) - executes a command string variable. MUST be used with variables!.
• @n - Select waveform in QB64-PE only can be (1 for square waveform, 2 for sawtooth waveform, 3 for triangle waveform (default), 4 for sine waveform or 5 for white noise)
• Qn - Volume ramp in QB64-PE only can be any duration (ms) from 0 to 100.
• Numeric values "n" listed above can also be fetched from numeric variables using "=" + VARPTR$(numeric_variable).

Availability

• 

  v0.610

• 

  all

• 
• 

  yes

• 

  yes

• 

  yes

• Complete X + VARPTR$(string-expression) support was added in QB64-PE v3.8.0. Earlier versions of QB64-PE and QB64 only had = + VARPTR$(numeric_variable) support.
• Support for @n and Qn was added in QB64-PE v3.8.0.

Examples

Example 1

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

PLAY "q0mll64" 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

Code by Greg Rismoen

---

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 PRINT x$ = x$ + " o3 l4 t 0120c ml<f1 ,a 1, " x$ = x$ + " >c 1, mnf .e 8f am l< e1 ,g " x$ = x$ + " 1, >c 1, mn g. f8 ga 8g 8m l< " x$ = x$ + " f2.,a2., >c 2. ,m nf .f 8a ml<f " x$ = x$ + " ,a,>c,mn >cd2.,<f2 .,d2 .,<b -2 " x$ = x$ + " .m lb -,>d,f,mn>d ml <c 1, " x$ = x$ + " <a 1, f1 ,m n> >c .< " x$ = x$ + " a8 af ml c1 ,< e1 ,g " x$ = x$ + " " x$ = x$ + " 1,m n> g.f8ga8g8m l< f1 " x$ = x$ + " ,d1, <b -1 ,m n> " x$ = x$ + " >f .d 8d c< f2 ., " x$ = x$ + " a2 ., c2 .,>f2. ml < b- " x$ = x$ + " ,> d, f, mn>dml <c 1,< a1 " x$ = x$ + " ,f 1, mn >> c. <a 8a fm " x$ = x$ + " lc 2.,< e2 .,g2 .,mn " x$ = x$ + " >g .f8 gml<b-,>d, f, mn " x$ = x$ + " " x$ = x$ + ">d ml <<f2.,a2., > c2.,m n> c." x$ = x$ + " <a 8a ml <e, g, >c ,m n>" x$ = x$ + " cm l< <b -2 ., >d 2. ,f 2." x$ = x$ + " ,mn> d2.ml< <b -, >d ,f ,m n>" x$ = x$ + " dm l<<f1, a1,>c1,mn >c.<a 8a fm" x$ = x$ + " lc 1, <e1,g1,mn>g .f 8g a8 g8" x$ = x$ + " ml << b- 1, >d 1, " x$ = x$ + " f1 ,mn>f.d8dc l1 ml f, c, <a ,f" PRINT x$; PLAY x$

Code by Luke

---

Example 6

Demonstrates usage of VARPTR$ with PLAY.

'Play scale in 7 different octaves scale$ = "CDEFGAB" play$ = "L16O=" + VARPTR$(i%) + "X" + VARPTR$(scale$) FOR i% = 0 TO 6 PLAY play$ NEXT

See also

• PLAY (function)
• SOUND, DRAW
• _SNDRAW
• _SNDOPEN

---

Navigation: Main Page with Articles and Tutorials Keyword Reference - Alphabetical Keyword Reference - By usage Report a broken link