insert-buckazoid/README.md

Roland MT-32 text display .syx generator.

# insert-buckazoid
Node script for writing text to the Roland MT-32's screen.

Ever played Space Quest 3? Insert a buckazoid your own way!

# Usage

To use insert-buckazoid, install it (`npm i -g insert-buckazoid`), and launch it (`insert-buckazoid`).

```
What text do you want to show? 
```

Type the text that should appear on the screen. (up to 20 characters, automatically sliced)

```
What text do you want to show? test
F0 41 10 16 12 20 00 00 74 65 73 74 20 F7
```

## Use as a module

insert-buckazoid can be used as a module:
```js
var insertBuckazoid = require('insert-buckazoid');

console.log(insertBuckazoid('test')); // [0xF0, 0x41, 0x10, 0x16, 0x12, 0x20, 0x00, 0x00, 0x74, 0x65, 0x73, 0x74, 0x20, 0xF7]
```

# Behind the scenes

Showing text on the Roland MT-32's screen can be achieved with a sysex message.

The example below contains this data:

* `F0` - Start of sysex message
* `41` - Roland's manufacturer ID
* `10` - device ID
* `16` - model ID
* `12` - command ID

Next, we have these three bytes to indicate that we want to display something on the screen:

```
20 00 00
```

* `74 65 73 74` - HEX Code of "test" (ASCII)
* `20` - Checksum
* `F7` - End of sysex message

## Checksum calculation

Documentation for this has been moved [here](https://github.com/moriczgergo/roland-checksum#calculation).

# Emulators

If you don't have a Roland MT-32, you can use [Munt](http://munt.sourceforge.net/), a Roland MT-32 Emulator.

You can send .syx signals to the emulator, or to the MT-32 with the [Bome SendSX](http://www.bome.com/products/sendsx). Just copy the hex that this spits out, select your MT-32 in the `Midi Out` dropdown menu, and press the send button.