*********************************** AM/FM ***********************************     EXTRACTS FROM THE   COMP.SYS.AMIGA.AUDIO   NETWORK CONFERENCE    *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  >On the subject of B&P, has anyone got any news about the modules that >are supposed to appear? I think someone asked if the upgrade to B&P Pro >is worth it. If the modules appear, YES!!! If you have a low memory >A500, don't bother. It will run in 1 meg, but there is no workspace. You cannot compare Bars & Pipes to Protracker. The programs are 2 completely different types of programs. Bars & Pipes is made for MIDI musicians who need a professional quality tracking device (amiga!). Protracker is an AMIGA music program which happens to handle Midi at some level. There is no arguement that Protracker is well suited for Amiga music and demo type music, but I don't know of any professional musicsians who would even consider using it for a tracking program. Bars & Pipes Professional CAN handle amiga samples internal to the amiga, but its main purpose was not for that. Its simply not a DEMO music machine. *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  >Has anyone noticed any minor bugs with MED 3.20? I will start the list >with a couple: > 1. I want to save default 'scopes/volume levels' as OFF/OFF/OFF. However, You might have two default files saved. Check and see. That has caused me problems before. I'd say that is a pretty small bug though, if it exists. > 2. The one time I tried MEDPlayer 3.20, it went into an infinite loop Check out how you set up your sound. There is a warning in the synthsound doc about not using WAIT commands properly. You can cause problems thataway. I have another bug for you: I use MED to edit for NT/ST format. I saved my most recent finished work in that format, Edplayer and 3 other music editors (NT, ST, and StarTracker) all belched it out. It would load, but the samples were not played properly, i.e. the first sample, which was a distorted electric guitar, would start halfway through the middle of the 4th sample, and play 6 consecutive samples. Every instrument was different in its screw-up. Resaves did no fix for it, when I loaded it with ST, the instruments when played individually had no proper timing. To fix it, I saved all of the samples as 1,2,3.... and so on to RAM:, cleared them OUT of the song, saved the song as a MOD, loaded SoundTracker and loaded the samples out of RAM: into their proper place. That was a weirdity. NEVER had that one happen before, I tried reloading the samples into MED, it happenned the same way again. Weird. *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In article consp03@bingsunb.pod.binghamton.edu (Kriston J. Rehberg) writes: >What's the best MIDI interface out there? Also, what are the features >that constitute the "Best" MIDI interface? >Thanks.. >-- >Kriston J. Rehberg INET: consp03@bingsuns.cc.binghamton.edu Since ALL MIDI INTERFACES are VERY EASY to make (I know: I made mine !!!) and look like same, my personal advice should be, in that order : - One MIDI THRU for each MIDI IN (rather obvious huh ?) - Check the number of MIDI OUT supplied : the more you have, the less you'll be bored with MIDI IN/THRU combinations when connecting several devices - A "MIDI info" warning light is VERY useful to check when your Amiga is sending/receving (it doesn't say WHAT it R/W but it's of greatest use anyway) - Possible configuration switches, for example, to switch MIDI IN onto a MIDI OUT, select one MIDI OUT only, etc... (I added them to mine, very useful for MIDI testings) - Pass-thru of serial port while, of course, disconnecting the MIDI links from serial (I tried one time to send MIDI datas at 9600bps to an expander... well it didn't like the joke ! and locked up) - From Amiga or Separate power supply - etc... The best should always be the one you make ! P-chan. --- *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In Message-ID: <1992Feb10.083110.6025@athena.cs.uga.edu> hazen@athena.cs.uga.edu (Mark Hazen) said: >I have another bug for you: I use MED to edit for NT/ST format. I >saved my most recent finished work in that format, Edplayer and 3 >other music editors (NT, ST, and StarTracker) all belched it out. It >would load, but the samples were not played properly, i.e. the first >sample, which was a distorted electric guitar, would start halfway >through the middle of the 4th sample, and play 6 consecutive samples. >[...] >Weird. What version of MED are you using? I believe 3.00 saves modules in a buggy way, but that problem was supposed to be fixed in 3.10, 3.11, and 3.20. If you're using 3.20, then I don't know what to tell you. I have had a problem saving a song in 'song' format, but that was a one time thing. I was able to edit the file using disk editor to fix my problem, but your bug doesn't sound like that at all. | Baird McIntosh | c503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu <-or-> c503719@umcvmb.bitnet | | "If we could get the *recession* to invade and annex a country in the | | Middle East, President Bush would know what to do." | *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  I suppose merging samples depends on exactly what samples you are using. It also depends on what tracker etc. your using. When I said that split samples were crap, I was referring to OctaMED in particular (try positioning tracks so that a drum track will be merged with a melody track for proof). Obviously it would be bloody stupid to do this, but this is just to prove the point. As for Protracker, again I could probably have phrased it better. My comment was written after several weeks of intensive B&Ping, and this did affect my judgement. Protracker is the best tracker for Amiga-only music. I guess I'm just getting too serious about my music. I still use Protracker extensively, and to prove the point, we are putting together an Amiga music disk using only Protracker (I also got a load of shit from my Protracker supportive friends). It'll be around the main PD libraries sometime soon under a name we haven't yet decided on. I'll post further info when we have it. AN. Please note, the above endorsement for Protracker is only my personal view, but you had better believe it. Also, this was written under the watchful eyes of a group of Protracker lovers who are bigger than me. *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  > Is there a program to convert a mod to a med? I want to use med 3.20 > and the med library to manipulate the music from my C program. I have > mods that I want to play and can't find many meds that are suitable. > > Pete Well, the answer is quite simple! MED 3.2 (and also earlier versions) *CAN* load mod. files (use the st-mod gadget in the file requester). Then, all you have to do is save the module again as MED module. There is only one problem: MED is not fully compatible with the latest trackers (like PT1.2) so some of the newer modules won't play correctly. Elad. *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  mjbrown@lonestar.utsa.edu (Marc J. Brown) writes: >When will they install 8-digitized-voice support? Anyone with 50 Mhz should be >able to have a halfway decent output... the only problem is that it'll either >be EXTREMELY quiet (some IBM modplayers are) or HORRIBLY clipped (the rest of >'em). Let's just wait until they can get 4-voices working properly (haha). I am so pissed at the IBM. It will never sound as good as an Amiga simply because the hardware is not there. The IBM has to skip bytes to change the playback rate of a sample, and I'm sure the Amiga does it some other way. The sound is just crisper and cleaner on the Amiga. Especially quiet samples (when you set the volume down low) sound real fuzzy on the IBM. Argh. Time to get a 2000! *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In article <920208.193521.CST.C503719@UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU>, C503719@UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU (Baird McIntosh) writes: > Has anyone noticed any minor bugs with MED 3.20? I will start the list > with a couple: > > 1. I want to save default 'scopes/volume levels' as OFF/OFF/OFF. However, > MED 3.20 always loads with the waveform graph turned on. This is > supposed to be the most CPU-intensive display (during playback), and > I'd like to do without it. As it is, I have to maually turn it off > each time I load MED. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? The MED display has three (four) things that suck CPU... 1) The waveform monitor 2) The volume/hit monitor 3) The Note/Instrument monitor (in PAL mode) 4) The jumping pointer All of these can be set, and will remain set, WHEN you save the Med module. This cannot be set as a default option in Med, only in the modules. But of corse the manual setting isnt that bad (three clicks...whoa....) > > 2. The one time I tried MEDPlayer 3.20, it went into an infinite loop > playing the song at LIGHTSPEED tempo (like, really fast). The song > I was playing used SynthSound instruments... maybe that has something > to do with it? > Thats wierd...check that the modules plays ok in MED(the tempo is set right) > | Baird McIntosh | c503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu <-or-> c503719@umcvmb.bitnet | > | "If we could get the *recession* to invade and annex a country in the | > | Middle East, President Bush would know what to do." | -- +----------------------__--__----__----_____-_____----__--__---------------+ | / |/ | / | / \ | \| \ | | G / |=/---|H \_____ +\-- T| \ S | +-------------------/___/|___|-| |- ______/--\____-|___|\___\------------+ | Mike Neylon AKA The Thermodynamics GOD CSE0076@UOFT02.UTOLEDO.EDU | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In article <17497@castle.ed.ac.uk> andrewn@castle.ed.ac.uk (Andrew Nicol) writes: >Okay, I admit that with a decent setup, it is possible to get good >results from split samples, but only in situations that chords are >involved. If a given result can apply to chords (which are a waste if you use extra voices to perform them), why wouldn't it work for less similar samples? >If you have to split yer samples, OctaMED isn't the way to go about it. >Despite what everyone says, OctaMED is pretty crap, and unfortunately >even Protracker is beginning to lose it's appeal. True about OktaMED... ProTracker needs an update, and it's not coming, but that doesn't mean the version that's out now has suddenly become worse. >Well, perhaps not. I got hold of B&P Pro recently and have been >converted. I guess Protracker is still the best for Amiga only music. There is still no music program out there which provides the degree of functionality (?) that ProTracker provides. Many people think ProTracker has limits, but truthfully there's virtually nothing you can't do with it if you know how to time things correctly. >AN. - -Maruku Buranu (Marc Brown) mjbrown@lonestar.utsa.edu *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  I somehow managed to get a PAL ProTracker display on my NTSC Amiga (KS 2.04). Now... I forgot what I did, but there are only two possibilities: 1) I simply used the preferences to get a PAL display and that also made ProTracker open up a PAL display. 2) I used a program called AmigaToPAL (it's counterpart is AmigaToNTSC). The program makes your Amiga believe its PAL (or NTSC). 3) I might have also used both 1) and 2) at the same time... :-) So... it is possible somehow... Stefan -- *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  > So... it is possible somehow... If you have the 1MB Agnus, it sure is. I just use 'MakePal' to pop it into PAL mode, run ProTracker, walla. When I'm done, I throw it back into NTSC. Makepal should be on AB20. It's a simple, non-rebooting (unless you have 1.3) PAL maker. "makepal -p" for PAL, "makepal -n" to return to NTSC. Real handy if you don't need to reboot the computer, in which case you need something like Degrader if you're using WB 2.04. --- Via UCI v0.7 Beta (C-Net Amiga) ............................................................................. : kessner.denver.co.us!burner!bmaple : God saves sinners.. And redeems _ : : Bob Maple/The Brazilian : them for valuable cash prizes! _ // : ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.................................\\/..: *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  Kevin Darling said: >Harv@cup.portal.com (Harv R Laser) writes: >> Warner New Media has released their first (I dunno if it's "the" first) >> CD+MIDI disc: [...] >> At any rate, if you wanna buy the disc and can't find it anywhere >> you can order it direct from WMN by dialing 1-800-621-4WNM. It's >> catalog number WNM 13001. (and for the .advocacy fans... the >> Music and Graphics on the disc will work on a CD-I but the MIDI >> features won't since CD-I has no MIDI ports as CDTV does ;-) > >;-) I kinda doubt that they decided to make a CD+MIDI disc just for the >few CDTV owners. Warner is a CD-I backer, and an inexpensive MIDI adapter >was shown last fall for those players. > >But it's great that those with MIDI gear and CDTV players can use them >right away! > >regards - kevin Well when one peruses the disc's long box one sees: "What you need for the sound demo: A compact Disc Player or Compact Disc+Graphics player such as the NEC TurboGrafx Game Machine or Commodore CDTV" (i.e.: no mention of CD-I by name) "What you need for the hands-on MIDI demo: A MIDI compatable Compact Disc player such as the Commodore CDTV and a MIDI sound generator such as the Roland SoundCanvas or the Yamaha Disklavier" CD-I is mentioned nowhere by name on the outside of the box. The same info is printed on the insert on the back of the disc's jewel box. Opening the box, one finds a a small booklet that explains a bit about both CD+G and CD+MIDI, describes how the disc's tracks work, and additionally there's a jewel-box-sized separate "card" entitled "How to play this CD-MIDI disc on Commodore's CDTV" with a picture of the CDTV CDplayer interface and a description of which controller buttons to use to navigate the disc. Again, CD-I is mentioned nowhere by name on the booklet or the card. So this disc may very well be playable and output MIDI signals on a CD-I after installing some kind of thingamajig whozit whatchamacallit doohickey, but CDTV has it all built in - just plug in your MIDI synth and go, and if, as you say, Warner is a CD-I backer, for some reason they made a decision NOT to mention CD-I anywhere on or in this disc's package. But CDTV is mentioned all over it. Regards, Harv *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In article <53384@cup.portal.com> Harv@cup.portal.com (Harv R Laser) writes: >Warner New Media has released their first (I dunno if it's "the" first) >CD+MIDI disc: "Presenting CD+MIDI Featuring Music from George >Gerswin's Rhapsody in Blue" Performed by the Hambro Quartet. The In an old Keyboard magazine I found an article on converting piano-roll's to MIDI. I don't remember if it was scott joplin or george gerswin but QRS was using an Amiga 1000 and a C64 to convert all of the piano roll's made by one of those muscians to MIDI files. Pretty neat huh??? Actually, what they were doing was converting the MIDI files to sheet music which could be sold to the public. Imagine being able to read notes from scores which were made my the fingers of the original musician. I don't know how to read scores fast enough, but I know a bunch of people who would really like that capability. The information age is here. Yep!! *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  I got the ProTracker1.2... There was no text which informed me of any improvements... But I loaded up a mod and tried it out. Before long I had discovered the most significant (my opinion) improvement: Removal of the annoying sample-interruption click!! I'm impressed! I can't fathom how they did it, unless maybe they spliced the last few bytes of the interrupted sample with the first few bytes of the cut-in sample in realtime... At any rate, GET THIS VERSION! :) -- -Maruku Buranu (Marc Brown) mjbrown@lonestar.utsa.edu *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  >Oh come now, normally we are mad because IBM users put down amiga, but now >some are praising its Sound Tracker music. Plus I imagine alot of the people > >I would encourage exchange of ideas between the two user bases and this is an >appropriate group if the ideas pertain to an amiga musical format. >Byron Interesting happening yesterday. A friend of mine who has a 386-33 came over last night, and was drooling over the AMiga demos. He had just bought the SB-Pro, and has been trying to create a machine out of an IBM for making animated art, or computer demos. He was a little perturbed, because he saw what he had been dreaming of doing in action on the Amiga.... he has now resolved to get himself an Amiga. Heheheh. I like the IBMonsters for some things... they are good for application software such as statistical analysis, and frankly the word processors on them are usually of a better quality than Ami ones (Note: I said usually, not ALWAYS). But for what I use a computer for, I'd be dumb to buy anything else. *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  For those of you who want a tracker player that works 100% on A3000's and 2.04, try SkyTracker (2.x ONLY). SkyTracker supports Protracker x.x Noisetracker x.x Soundtracker x.x Digital SuperJAM (soon) StarTracker x.x GVP-DSS Med x.x (bugs at the moment) OctaMed x.x (bugs at the moment) Sonic Aranger Master Tracker 1.7 Audio Master sequenced files (soon) (more to come) Multi-tasks very well. SkyTracker uses only .3 % of cpu time on an A3000 and unlike all other tracker players does not crash after 5 minutes of use. It also works fine on an A500 under 2.04. You can run it from CLI or Workbench. You can play whole dir's in random sequence with random mod types in the dir. SkyTracker is currently Shareware, Australia $20, US $12. Maybe a commerical version available soon for about $60. I still have a few small bugs to work out and I will then upload the demo to ab20 incoming/amiga (hope by this weekend or next). P.S. does anyone know how ProTracker does the Qudra Scope? *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  >> That's a reasonable number. It fits in one byte :-) >> What are you going to do with instrument number 0 ? In most trackers >> this this means "use the last instrument". > Well, if it's in most, it'll probably be in this one also.. Also note that in Protracker, you can do nice "staccato" effects by just setting the instrument number without playing a note. This will reset the volume for that particular instrument, and you can use the "A" command to fade the volume at the same time. This effect is often used in modules. But although may sound nice, I'd call it a bug. Another thing you _have_ to think about is how to store blank space. You could store notes as usual, and use a special code to signify: "here comes n blank spaces". A better way would probably be to store the start time of each note (and maybe it's length). Then you wouldn't have to care about blank space at all. Have you ever studied the format of standard MIDI files? They store all notes (and other effects) together with something called Delta-Time. It is simply the number of ticks before the next event comes. Time signatures and resolution is also a problem, but I guess it can be solved pretty easily if you adopt something like the MIDI file format. >> How do you intend to do this? Assign each instrument to a channel? >> Then why limit it to 16 channels? There are multi channel MIDI interfaces >> out there, and this is going to be a "universal" format isn't it? >> 256 channels! > Got er. I really don't see why not.. 4 more bits is no problem. As for >assigning instruments to a channel, I'm not sure what it is doing there.. >There will definitely be a balance control.. (For output..) Ok, so how are we going to do it. You have already said that you will use 255 instruments, but what information needs to be stored with an instrument? - Volume of course. Linear 0-100(00...) can be used (or maybe dB). The volume is probably also stored in the AIFF header, but this setting should override that. MIDI uses 0-127 (controller 7) as volume. The current Amiga hardware has a 0-64 range, but that will probably change. - Balance/panning. Balance is for stereo samples only (you have to support them I think, cause no one else does). Panning lets you place a mono sample anywhere between left and right. You can use two values, one for left, and one for right, or a single one for L/R placement. Maybe 0=left, 128=middle, 255=right would be ok? Just remember not to use for the right speaker, and 1- for the right. The amplitude should follow a sine curve, with -3 dB attenuation at the middle position. On a standard Amiga you need to use two channels for stereo, and then there's only two left. Hmm. How about front/back/up/down positioning? Something like the Roland Sound Space system for 3D placement would be nice. 0-360 degrees L/R and up/down. - Transpose, finetune and tuning. Transpose should be the number of halfnotes positive or negative to do coarse tuning of the sample. Even if you know the sample rate, you don't anything about the real pitch of the sample. Finetune has to be be in cents (1/100 of a halfnote). +/- 50 is normal. Maybe you could have an option to change the tuning to something other than 12 steps per octave, or maybe select Just tuning, Gamelan scales etc. - MIDI channel. >>> -Synth and 'hybrid' sounds so MED and all the gross little SID type >>> formats can fit in. >> This will be VERY difficult. There's no standard way to create synth >> sounds. Some use wave sequencing, some change the waveform they're playing >> back, and there's lots of wierd modulation effects etc. > Well, I'll read some books on synthesized sounds, find the one I like, >and use it.. Convert the rest..(Hopefully.) One of the most effective synth sound effects is Pulse Width Modulation. Almost every program can do it. Combine it with vibrato + arpeggio and you have a typical synthetic sound. > Well, I don't see the problem in just using AIFF, instead of 8svx.. 8 >bit sound is gone soon, in my opinion. Ok, let's use AIFF. But 8 bit sound is not dead yet (yes, I know the sound quality is terrible, but 8 bit is all I've got). >> Pardon me, but what has a notation system got to do with all this? > Meaning people who write future versions of GMM will have characters >to add for different effects.. Future expanability, as the EA IFF specs put >it.. With notation I thought you meant a staff with note symbols etc. >> How about effect commands? Slides, vibrato, tremolo, sample offset, >> volume changes, etc. How are you going to chain tracks/patterns to form a >> song? > Here was my idea on these: First of all, find out exactly what the >different effects are doing; I know that echoes are different on different >trackers. Then basically type them all and put them in. My other idea was >just to choose the 'best' echo or vibrato or whatever, but that would screw >some modules and I'd rather not do that. No tracker that I know has a "echo" effect (you can add echo to a sample in Protracker, but that's not the same thing). PT has these commands: arpeggio, portamento/pitch slide, tone portamento, vibrato, tone portamento + volume slide, vibrato + volume slide, tremolo, sample offset, volume slide, position jump, set volume, pattern break, audio filter on/off, fine slide up/down, glissando control, vibrato waveform, pattern loop, tremolo waveform, retrig note, fine volume slide, note cut, note delay, pattern delay, set speed/tempo. The volume commands are easy to convert, but most of the slides are based on the period value in the hardware registers. This should be changed to something a little more portable. Maybe cents, cause I don't think Hertz is the most useful could use here. PT covers all commands from soundtracker and noisetracker, so that shouldn't be a problem. I don't know about MED. I know MED has some commands that send MIDI pitch bends and stuff, and commands to control the length of a note. You should take a look yourself. >> Of course. But tempo should be stored as BPM (Beats Per Minute), and >> perhaps with a couple of decimal points (please?). >> In programs that play back the modules you need both the CIA timing >> for notes, plus another one (at a fixed speed) for effect speeds, >> vibrato, and envelopes. >> Volume and pitch envelopes would really be nice. > Ok, this whole message and all others are being captured. When I go to >the UofS to read up I'll look up some of these obscure points I don't >understand, not to mention the mechanics of them. CIA timing is needed to select whatever tempo you might like, but only the tempo should change, not the vibrato rate etc. This is a problem with Protracker, but as most people only use VBlank you don't notice it. Read some books about synthesisers and learn about envelopes. Something a little more complicated than Attack-Decay-Sustain-Release is needed. >> One possible way (non-lossy), is Delta-Huffman coding which I have >> seen used on the Macintosh (DCOM files, I think it was ?). It's quick >> and easy to do. > You have an algorithim for that? Perhaps even some source? (C or asm) C, assembler and Basic, in fact. The C code is only decompression I believe. > Great! I can use the help, especially from the author of the best >tracker ever. The best tracker ever... Thank you :-) -- larsha@sofus.dhhalden.no Lars Hamre / Amiga Freelancers *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  >A3000, I discovered a very simple way to reduce the phenomenon of Note Lossage... > run >NIL: PT1.1b (or some other tracker/player) In Protracker there's a screen called Setup 2 where you can adjust the DMA wait time so that all notes play back correctly. I know DMA wait is a stupid way to play notes, but that's the way I did it in PT1.1b. Set the DMA wait to about 1800 on an A3000 (25MHz). If you want to experiment with lower values, load a sample with a fast attack, turn on key repeat (caps-lock), and play C-1 continously. If you lose any notes, increase the DMA wait time. | Lars Hamre/Amiga Freelancers | | larsha@sofus.dhhalden.no | *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  >/Gateways/Usenet/comp/sys/amiga/audio/The Miracle Keyboard: Good or bad??? >17261.3.952.1 The Miracle Keyboard: Good or bad??? >1/17/92 13:01 6/330 jerryr@milton.u.washington.edu (Jerry Russell) > I am interested in learning how to play the piano on my own time, and I >was wondering if anyone had any information on the Miracle Keyboard/Midi >system which as been available for Nintendo, and is now available for the >Amiga. Any information would be appreciated... >Jerry Russell Jerry: I got a Miracle for my Amiga for Christmas and I'm having the time of my life with it. After all these years, I'm finally really learning to play the piano! The system isn't perfect -- sometimes the metronome hangs and causes you to lose count, and they start you off on the metronome almost at the start, but if you get frustrated inside the actual lesson, you can quit and go into the Practice Room and set things ups to learn at your own pace. The keyboard itself isn't the best-made one I ever saw, but it works fine, has velocity-sensitive keys for real-piano feel, and is a full-function MIDI keyboard, to boot. (It has only four octaves, though, so don't count on learning any Rachmaninoff.) It has a LOT of tunes to learn on the way, which is great, but you generally only learn the first verse of a tune, which isn't so great. I hope they have a great success with this product, and keep improving it, and come out with Intermediate and Advanced Lessons later on. All in all, I recommend it. You'll have fun. Frank |*************************|People won't let you live the way you want to,| | Frank Swilling |but if you're strong enough or quick enough, | | -is- |at least you don't have to live the way they | | Minotaur@cup.portal.com |want you to. | |*************************|Burke, from "Flood" by Andrew H. Vachss | *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In article <1992Jan13.145809.36904@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> cole@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: >I just picked up Music-X this weekend and seem to be having problems loading >and playing different performances. I can only get certain performance files >to work. Did I really make a stupid choice by buying this package or what? >I don't see anything about it here in this newsgroup. > >Does anyone out there use Music-X? Yes :-) and it works pretty well. It needs a fair ammount of memory though, so you may have problems with large performances if you've only got a little. I'm not quite sure of the exact requirements, (I've got a fair ammount in my machine) but I think some of the reviews mentioned that you may not be able to do a lot in a basic machine; can't remember whether the minimum requirement was 512K or 1Meg. Are you using MIDI instrument(s) or amiga samples, or both? Some of the demo performances are set up to use amiga samples, some for MIDI, and some for particular midi instruments. Depending on your setup, you may not hear anything at all, if you don't have: -Your amiga audio hooked up to an amplifier or monitor with audio; -Midi instruments connected to amplifier/speakers, AND connected correctly to your amiga MIDI interface AND set to respond to the channels that music-X is using If you are using different midi instruments from those used to record the original performances, you may need to change the patch settings to get suitable sounds. If the performance uses a drum part, then you may need to change the notes on the drum channel as well; different MIDI instruments sometimes map drum sounds to different sets of notes. If you just need to change the midi channels used for various parts, there's a music X option on one of the main screen menus that lets you redirect the output channels. None of this should be a problem if you're recording from your own equipment. About the only niggles with Music-X are the lack of a score editor - not an unreasonable omission for a performance-oriented package - and a couple of minor omissions from the librarian part (Which screw up the patch name display from one of my synths, since it orders nibble-mode transfers the other way round from the music-X protocol; it still works, you just can't read the names. And I think it makes some assumptions about null terminated names, too). -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | | Jerry Cullingford #include +44 442 230000 | ,-|-- | jc@crosfield.co.uk (was jc@cel.co.uk) or jc@cel.uucp x3203 | \_|__ +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ \___/ *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In article <1992Jan13.145809.36904@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> cole@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes: >I just picked up Music-X this weekend and seem to be having problems loading >and playing different performances. I can only get certain performance files >to work. Did I really make a stupid choice by buying this package or what? >I don't see anything about it here in this newsgroup. > >Does anyone out there use Music-X? I have been using it with a very minimal system (A1000, 512K, 2FDD's, Kickstart 1.3) for a few months now, and don't regret one dollar spent. Though I haven't tested it to its limits, I have tried out most things, including writing my own patch loading and saving protocols for a VFX. I haven't had any problems. Generally speaking, I think the program's a winner. David Fyfe Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering University of Melbourne Parkville, Victoria, Australia *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  In article <15076@awdprime.UUCP> will@vulcan.austin.ibm.com (Will Fiveash) writes: >I have heard that standard midi files <*.mid> are >in a different format that the Music-X files but there may be conversion >programs out there (if you know of one please post). Music-X comes with a utility to convert to and from Standard MIDI Files. It's called MusicX-To-MIDI. Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett -- Grad student, Department of Computer & Information Science | | University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 -- barrett@cs.umass.edu | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\///////////////////////////////////// *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************