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Midi Music Maker 2.21 (Atari Version) November 1992 Contents Page I. Introduction..................... 3 1.0 Description of files......... 3 1.1 Music played................. 3 1.2 Music created................ 3 1.3 Requirements................. 3 1.4 Setup........................ 3 1.5 Connections.................. 4 II. Playing a Song................... 4 2.0 Starting the Program......... 4 2.1 Displaying Names............. 4 2.2 Selecting Songs.............. 5 2.3 Starting Music............... 5 2.4 Continuous Play.............. 6 2.5 Use of Keyboard.............. 6 2.6 Mouse Cursor................. 6 2.7 Selecting With Music Playing. 6 III. Controlling the Play............. 7 3.0 How It Sounds................ 7 3.1 Tempo........................ 7 3.2 Velocity and level control... 7 3.3 Presets...................... 8 3.4 Channel Mapping.............. 9 3.5 Note Control.................10 3.6 Alternate Format.............10 3.7 Map Channel/Track............11 3.8 Time Signature...............11 IV. Other Features...................11 4.0 Analyze Song.................11 4.1 Display Words................12 4.2 Atari Speaker................12 4.3 Save and Load Select File....12 4.4 EZ-Track playing.............12 4.5 Create Standard Midi Files...13 4.6 Save and Load MT-32 Data.....13 4.7 Save and Load configuration..14 4.8 Suppress Control Messages....14 4.9 Modify Intro Music...........14 4.10 Delay Between Songs.........14 4.11 Play from Memory............14 4.12 Define Keys.................15 4.13 Specify Drum Tracks.........15 4.14 Quit........................15 4.15 Help........................15 V. Additional Information...........15 5.0 Music voice table............15 5.1 Dr. Ts ......................16 5.2 Errors.......................16 5.3 Problems.....................16 - 1 - VI. Sources of Music.................17 6.0 General......................17 6.1 Availability.................17 6.2 Midi Music System............17 6.3 Transfering other computers..17 6.4 Major On-Line services.......17 6.4.1 Delphi.....................18 6.4.2 GEnie......................18 6.4.3 CompuServe.................19 6.4.4 Q-Link.....................20 6.5 Disk Ordering................20 VII. 7.0 Screen Identification........20 VIII. 8.0 Correspondence...............21 - 2 - Midi Music Maker I. Introduction 1.0 Do you have some old music files gathering dust that you have always wanted to play through your synthesizer? Here is the answer! Midi Music Maker is the world's most comprehensive music player program capable of playing many of the thousands of music files available through public domain for several types of computers. It will control the songs and regulate the instrument presets and channels and on which the music is sent to synthesizer. 1.1 The program is distributed in either arc file format or as several separate files. These files may include: 1. MMM22.PRG ... The Midi Music Maker program. 2. MMM.MID ... The music played with the title. 3. MMM.P2 ... The title screen for medium resolution. 4. MMM.P3 ... The title screen for high resolution. 4. MMM.TXT ... The instructions for the program. 5. MMM.HLP ... Interactive help file 6. MMM.CFG ... Configuration file 7. MT32.DAT .. MT-32 configuration data 8. MMM.SET ... Select File for specific disk. Files that may be created by the MMM program include MMM.CFG, MMM.SET, and MT32.DAT. 1.2 The following fourteen basic file types can be played by Midi Music Maker: 1. Music Studio, Music Studio 88 Atari ST 2. Music Construction Set Atari ST 3. EZ-Track (single track) Atari ST 4. Standard Midi Files (format 0, format 1) all computers 5. Sid Player Music including stereo Commodore 64/128 6. Master Composer Commodore 64/128 7. Advanced Music System (I and II) 8 bit Atari 8. Antic Music Processor 8 bit Atari 9. Midi Music System 8 bit Atari 10. Orchestra-85/90 Color Computer 11. Lyra 1 and 2 Color Computer 12. Adlib IBM PC compatible 13. Cakewalk 2 and 3 IBM PC compatible 14. Deluxe Music Construction Set Amiga, Macintosh 15. Dr. Ts Atari ST, Amiga 16. Cubase (not yet implemented) Atari ST 17. Sound Blaster CMF IBM PC compatible 1.3 Midi Music Maker can also create Standard Midi File format 0 and format 1 files from any of file types listed in 1.2, even from the SMF files themselves. The files created will include the settings that you have control over with this program. 1.4 The basic requirements include an Atari ST or STe with 1 meg of memory, a midi synthesizer, and some music files. Midi Music Maker runs only in medium and high resolution. The music will play through the ST speaker but a synthesizer with full midi capability is needed for best results. Some songs may use up to 16 channels simultaneously or may put up to 8 notes on a single channel. A synthesizer capable of handling the larger number of notes and channels is required for these songs. - 3 - 1.5 Before the program is started make certain that all drives, midi equipment, monitors, computer are turned on. Midi equipment should be set to use channels 1 through the highest number available. The midi out from the computer must be connected to the midi in on the synthesizer and for FB-01s or MT-32s the midi out on the synthesizer should be connected to the midi in on the computer II. Playing a song 2.0 The files MMM.P2, and MMM.P3 should be in the folder with MMM.PRG. From the desktop double click your mouse on MMM18.PRG. The program will load and the title screen will be displayed. If a file called MMM.MID is present, music will play after the title screen appears. If a configuration file called MMM.CFG is present in the folder that configuration will be automatically loaded. 2.0.1 After the music finishes a menu bar will appear across the top of the screen. You can stop the music and display the menu bar faster by pressing the Q key (default) while the music is playing. 2.0.2 If you don't want, or want to change the title screen, the intro music or the configuration remove or replace the files MMM.P2, MMM.P3, MMM.MID, or MMM.CFG. MMM.MID is in standard midi format. 2.0.3 The C key (default) on the keyboard can be used to toggle colors, black on white display to white on black or the reverse. 2.0.4 Observe that there are several menus available. Each function in the menus can also be performed using one of the keyboard keys. To see what these settings are select Define Keys or the K key (default.) Then to exit the mapping screen press the escape key. 2.1 Displaying names: Before you can play music a list of song file names must be read and displayed. These are accessed through the Select menu. First determine which disk drive contains your music files. Insert a disk with music files into a disk drive if necessary. There are three menu options that permit file name reading. 2.1.1 When you click on Read Directory the file names in the current active disk or folder will be read and displayed in a long vertical window along the left side of the screen. This includes all files, not necessarily only music files. This will be the same drive that you started the program from if you have not yet used Locate and Read. 2.1.2 When you click on Locate and Read with your mouse a file selector box will be displayed. This selector box is not used to choose a file, but instead to determine a new drive or folder that contains music files. To do this use your mouse in the standard way to display the contents of any drive or folder. When you are satisfied with the file names in the selector box click the mouse on OK (without a file name showing on the right) and the contents of the folder will be displayed in the window at the left side of the screen. 2.1.2.1 The standard way of choosing a directory or drive using the Atari file selector box, for those not familiar, is as follows: 2.1.2.2 To change to a folder at a lower level simply click once on the folder name. - 4 - 2.1.2.3 To back out of a folder to a higher level directory simply click once on the X in the upper left hand corner of the file selector box. 2.1.2.4 To change the drive click your mouse on the X in the upper left corner of the box until only the drive letter and wildcards show, for example A:/*.*. Use the left arrow key to move the line cursor to the right of the drive letter, press the backspace key, then type the new drive letter, the click your mouse on the horizontal bar at the top of the file selector box. 2.1.2.5 An example of how to change from drive A to a folder in drive B is as follows: Click on Locate and Read. A file selector box appears. In the file selector box click on the A: line. Type backspace until the line is erased and type B:. Click on the bar above the file names. The contents of the B drive are displayed. Click on the folder in the B drive. Click on OK. 2.1.3 The third way to select music file names is by reading a file that contains a list of predetermined names. This option is shown as Read Select File in the Select menu. This file is created as will be explained below using Save Select File. To use this click on Read Select File. A file selector box will appear. Then choose the name of the Select file, it will normally end in .SET. Click on that name, then click on OK. This causes the list of names in the file to be displayed in the window at the left side of the screen. 2.2 Selecting songs to be played: Before music files can be played the songs must first be selected. File names are shown in the box on the left side of the screen. 2.2.1 Use the up and down arrow keys to move the selection cursor to a name. If there are more names than will fit on the screen, the window will scroll when you reach the bottom or top. You can select a song using the left arrow key. A number will appear to the left of the name. The number is an indicator for the sequence of play. You can deselect a song using the right arrow key. 2.2.2 The mouse can also be used to move and select or deselect a song. Just click the left mouse button over a file name to select it and move the cursor bar. You can also scroll the window with the mouse by clicking below the bottom of the window. This can also be done while a song is playing. 2.2.3 All songs may be selected in the order that they are shown on the screen by using your mouse to click on Select All in the Files menu. If they may be deselected by clicking on Select All a second time. 2.2.4 All songs may be selected in random order by clicking on Select Random in the Files menu. Use Select all to deselect all songs as in section 2.23 and set the sequence numbers back to zero again. 2.2.5 You also have the option of showing all the song files on a full screen. To do this select Full Screen Files from the menu or use the F key (default.) The songs are then selected by clicking on the file names with the left mouse button. 2.2.5.1 Whey using the full screen display files are selected by clicking on a file name. Only the play and full screen toggle functions are active. - 5 - 2.3 Starting the music: After songs have been selected they may be played by selecting Play with the mouse in the Select menu. You can also use the P key (default) to start the music. 2.3.1 Each file selected is read. This happens even if it not a music file. If a file is not one of the recognized music files it is skipped over. If it is a recognized music type the song will begin playing. Information about the song title or song file name will show in the window at the top right side of the screen. The type of music file will show in a smaller window below it on the left. Because music type is detected automatically you can mix any type of music files together on your disk. 2.3.2 The "File Playing" box also will show the name of the file (on top) that is currently playing and the name of the file to follow (on the bottom.) This can be useful when the songs playing are from files not visible on the file select box. 2.3.3 EZ-Track files play differently. The program is set to play single track only EZ-Track music. For this reason when an EZ-Track file is read the music will not immediately start. Instead a list of the track titles is shown in the window on the left side of the screen. You then must select the track to be played and the order as in section 2.2 above. You then must select Play again to start playing the track music. 2.4 After songs begin playing they will be played in the indicated sequence, sequentially without stopping. 2.4.1 If an EZ-Track file is encountered it will stop this automatic play because the individual songs in the EZ-Track files must be chosen. To eliminate this interruption go to the Select menu and click on Skip EZ-Track. Then EZ-Track files will not be played. 2.4.2 Normally after a song has finished it's sequence number is reset to zero and it will not play again. You can modify this so that songs will be repeated over and over. Use your mouse to select Loop Play in the Options menu. Each numbered song will play in sequence, then after the highest number is reached the lowest one will begin again. 2.5 The following keyboard keys are active while the music is playing. The Q key (default) stops playing and gives you access to the menu bar, mouse and keyboard. The Delete key (default) stops the song that is playing and skips to the next one in sequence. The SPACE BAR (default) pauses the music. To resume it press the SPACE BAR a second time. Also useful for "stuck" notes are the * (default) skip song immediate (without finishing notes), and / (default) quit playing immediate. 2.6 The mouse cursor (arrow) is turned off at the start of each song. It can be used when controling the play or when making song selections as outlined below. To make it visible press one of the mouse buttons while the song is playing. It can be hidden by pressing a button a second time while it is in the upper right hand part of the screen. 2.7 Songs can be selected using the mouse in the manner indicated above while a song is playing. They can be selected, deselected, and the song file menu can be scrolled by clicking with the mouse cursor below the bottom of the file name window. This is only possible when there is a relatively long "break" in the notes so MMM may not immediately respond to your mouse action, keep trying. - 6 - III. Controling the play. 3.0 The way a song plays on your synthesizer is determined by the contents of the music file, other settings in Midi Music Maker, and the settings and capabilities of your synthesizer. 3.1 Tempo: The tempo is normally set according to the music file. The current tempo value is displayed in a small box at the right side of the screen below the large song title window. The tempo displayed in this box will change when a change occurs in the music. 3.1.1 It is possible for you to modify the tempo while the song is playing. To do this click a mouse button if the mouse arrow is not visible. Move it to the tempo box and use the left mouse button to increase the tempo or the right button to decrease it. You can also use the keyboard keys - (default) to decrease the displayed value and + (default) to increase the displayed value. This feature has been disabled for SID music since it can put voices out of sync. Changes in tempo in the song will modify your setting. 3.1.1.2 The numbers you set in the tempo box may not immediately affect the tempo of the song. This depends on the state of the tempo box. It must have a red border for immediate setting. When the box has a blue outline (no box in monochrome) the box is inactive. To activate or deactivate the box, use the T key (default.) This feature is used when you desire to make an abrupt change in tempo rather than a gradual change. 3.1.2 A more permanent way to change the tempo is to use the tempo multiplier. This is the number shown two spaces below the tempo. It is initially shown as 1.00. This number is multiplied by the song tempo and so will modify the tempo through out the song and for all songs until you change it. The tempo multiplier must be set before you start playing music. Use the mouse as with the tempo above to change the tempo multiplier digits. 3.2 Velocity: There are two basic ways that MMM gives you control over the loudness of the music. The first alters of the dynamic range of loudness for all channels, a master level control. The second alters the loudness range for channel each separately. This section does not apply to certain synthesizers that are not velocity sensitive. 3.2.1 Velocity Control: The volume or velocity is usually set according to information in each music file. This value may change throughout the music. You can to expand or compress the dynamic range between the loudest and softest parts of the music. 3.2.1.1 To do this you locate the Vol C. window. It initially shows a value of 100 and is located to the left of the tempo multiplier window. Like the tempo, you can use your mouse to modify the numbers shown in the box. This must be done when a song is not playing. 3.2.1.2 The value of 100 means that the volume of the music is "normal" or 100 percent of that set by the file. Settings of less than 100 mean quieter music and less variation in loudness with the velocities reduced by the percentage shown. For example, if the music file velocity is 64, a setting of 50 would decrease the number output to the synthesizer to 32. The actual volume depends on how the synthesizer uses the 32. - 7 - 3.2.1.3 Settings of more than 100 mean louder music but there may be somewhat less variation in dynamic range depending on how much the setting is increased. The greatest boost is to the low velocities in the file with those at 127 (the maximum allowable) remaining the same. For instance with a setting of 120 a file velocity near zero is increased to 25, one at 64 is increased to 78, while one at 127 remains the same. 3.2.1.4 You can control the level sent to the Atari internal speaker only by using the number in the Volume Control box. 3.2.2 Fixing Channel Levels: You also have the option to individually control the velocity or the level of each of the midi channels. The initial default control values are 100 meaning 100 percent of those in the music file, or normal volume. They perform the same way as with the master volume control as explained above. 3.2.2.1 To adjust the levels of each channel you must use your mouse to Select Levels from the menu. When this is done numbers will appear in the horizontal box below the channel map box at the lower part of the screen. Use your left mouse button clicking on the digits to increase them, or the right mouse button to decrease them. You can also use the space bar to position the cursor and arrow keys to do the same thing. 3.2.2.2 The numbers range from 200, maximum loudness, to zero, maximum softness (no sound). The midi channels that are affected by the settings correspond to the numbers shown in red at the bottom of the screen directly below. You can use your mouse to change these level settings while the music is playing. If you are creating a SMF file your setting changes will go into the SMF file. 3.2.2.3 The individual channel settings can be used in combination with the master volume control setting. 3.3 Presets: The preset window is the long box at the bottom of the screen. This window will appear blank when preset data is not sent by the MMM program to the synthesizer. When not blank there are 16 groups of three digit numbers. These groups correspond to the preset settings for each of the 16 midi channels. The midi channel numbers for each setting are the red numbers located directly below the preset values. 3.3.1 The numbers displayed for the presets depends on the type of synthesizer you use. If you have a Yamaha FB-01 the numbers will initially appear 301 301 301 301... etc. For this type of synthesizer this means voice bank 3, preset 1 for each of the channels. Voice banks may be set from 3 through 7 using the mouse. For other synthesizers numbers initially appear as 000 000 000 000... etc which means instrument preset 0 on each channel. You can force the synthesizer type (detected automatically with both midi cables connected) by selecting Synthesizer Type in the menu. If you use an FB-01 and force the type to non FB-01 then bank 1 (RAM bank) presets will be used (but you can't define other banks.) 3.3.2 You can control how the presets are used. Select Use Presets in the Options menu. You have three choices for setting instrument presets on your synthesizer. The choices include NONE (the presets currently set on the synthesizer will be maintained), MMM (the synthesizer will be set to the preset values shown in the preset window before the music starts), and FILE (the presets as specified in the file, if any, will be used and these values will be displayed in the preset window.) - 8 - 3.3.3 The values in the preset window can be modified when a song is not playing using the keys or mouse. To changes these values use the space bar to move the cursor to this window box, then use the left and right arrow keys to move to a preset number group. Use the up and down arrow keys to increase or decrease numbers in the settings. You can also use the mouse to increase or decrease the number in each preset. Move the mouse pointer to a preset digit and press the left button to increase it or the right button to decrease it. 3.3.4 It is also possible change presets on the fly while a song is playing using the mouse only. This feature is provided to make it easier to try different presets without having to restart a song. You first have to select MMM as the source of the presets in the options menu. The mouse cursor is made visible by clicking a button while a song is playing. The presets are changed as explained in 3.3.3. 3.3.5 Each song file can have individual preset values. If you want to use the same presets for all songs there are two ways to do it. The first way is to set them with one song and then to select NONE under Use Presets in the Options menu. The presets in the synthesizer will not be changed by any following songs. The second way is to set the presets for one music file. Then with these numbers showing in the preset window use Equalize Preset Maps in the Options menu. This will make the instrument preset values for all songs the same without having to retype them for each song. 3.4 Remapping voices: In the music files a voice or channel may range from 1 through 16 and may include multiple notes on one channel. Normally channel 1 or voice 1 in the music file is sent to channel 1 in the synthesizer, 2 to 2 etc. These values are displayed in the third window from the bottom of the screen. The numbers that are shown in this box indicate the output synthesizer channel that a music channel is mapped to. The 16 groups of numbers correspond to the 16 channels of the music which are referenced by the red numbers at the bottom of the screen directly below. This differs from their use for presets and levels. 3.4.1 Music for synthesizers that are restricted to fewer than 16 channels may be remapped so that the higher channel notes in the music file can be played on lower channels on the synthesizer. Use the space bar to move the cursor to the channel window. The left and right arrow keys will then move the cursor to the desired music channel. The up and down arrow keys will increase or decrease the value of the synthesizer channel. The mouse can also be used by positioning the mouse cursor over a digit in a channel number and pressing the left button to increase it or the right button to decrease it. 3.4.2 Each song file has an individual channel map. That means each must be changed from the default values when you want a change. You can save time and make all the remaps for all the songs the same without having to type in values for each one. To do this set the desired values in the channel window. Then select Equalize Channel Maps in the Options menu. 3.4.3 An example of using mapping would be to take a multiple voice monophonic song and convert it to a single channel polyphonic song. By setting all the numbers in the channel window to 1 you would cause all music notes in the song file to be played on synthesizer channel 1. - 9 - 3.4.4 To turn off a channel set the the synthesizer channel displayed in the box to 00. 3.4.5 Music Studio files include a built in file channel map. You can cause the input music channels to be mapped by this internal map instead of the numbers indicated in the channel window. To do this select Map Track/Channel in the Options menu. 3.4.6 Remapping is most often necessary for the following type of song files: Music Studio, Standard Midi Files, Midi Music System Files and possibly EZ-Track. Remapping will also affect the ST internal speaker. 3.5 Note control: Settings in the note control window that may be altered include note range, note or octave transposition, and music inversion. The values can be changed using your mouse whether the music is playing or not. 3.5.1 The highest and lowest allowable notes sent to the synthesizer can be set. The reason for doing this is that some models, for instance certain Casios, have a note range limit of 36 to 96. Notes above or below this range produce incorrect tones causing the music to sound bad. 3.5.2 To set the lower note limit move the mouse cursor to the number below the LL in the note control window. Press the left button to increase the number or the right button to decrease it. When set notes below this value will be unheard. Similarly you can change the upper note limit by setting the number below the UL. 3.5.3 You can also translate the music up or down in steps of single notes or whole octaves. To do this, move the mouse cursor to the note control window. Point it at the numbers below Octave or Note and use the left mouse button to increase number or the right mouse button to decrease them. Values of 0 and 0 indicate normal song play. Certain combinations of Octave and Note translation give music in the same key. For instance octave -1 and note plus 6 is the same as octave 0 and note -6. The music translation affects all songs and cannot be set differently for different songs without stopping the music. 3.5.4 The music notes can be modified in another way. The modification is called note inversion. To select this click the mouse on the N or I below the word Inversion. The N indicates normal play, the I indicates inverted play. What inversion does is to take all the high notes above middle C and make them low while taking the notes below middle C and making them high. For instance a note 5 above middle C (F) in the same octave becomes 5 note below middle C (G) in the octave below. There is really no practical application for this, it is included for experimentation only. 3.6 Alternate Format: Alternate Format in the Options menu currently applies only to Music Studio, SID, SMF, and Cakewalk songs. 3.6.1 In Cakewalk and SMF, if alternate format is on each music track is sent to a channel corresponding to the track number. Track numbers above 16 wrap around to 1. If off music goes to the the channel specified in the track data. - 10 - 3.6.2 With Music Studio selecting Alternate Format forces higher channel tracks to the lowest channels and splits multiple notes on a channel to single notes on separate channels. This enables more of the music to be played on through the ST speaker or on synthesizers with a limited number of channels. The disadvantage of doing this is that the music voices will not necessarily remain on the same synthesizer channel thus possibly causing a change in instruments for a note series. 3.6.3 With SID music Alternate Format is used to select the a second file containing stereo data. To do this click on Alternate Format in the options menu. Then select a SID file that has a second stereo file. The convention for naming must be followed for this to work. The stereo file must be the same as that for the original music file with the extender changed to .STR. Then when you play a song with the .STR file present the 3 voices in the stereo will be played through channels 4 through 6. When Alternate Format is not selected SID files are played normally and the .STR files are ignored (but can be played by them selves also.) 3.7 Map Channel/Track is used to force midi channels to conform to instrument changes in the file. This is used with DMCS and Music Studio only. 3.7.1 To play Music Studio songs exactly the same way that the Music Studio program does do the following: Select use Map Channel/Track and Use Presets - FILE in the Options menu. If these are not selected you will get different effects. 3.7.2 To play DMCS with similar instruments on your synthesizer do the following: First play the song using analyze. This will show the names of the instruments with a number preceding each. Then set presets using the MMM preset box. For preset channel 1 select a preset similar to the instrument listed as 1. Do the rest of the other instruments and channels. Then select the Map Channel/Track option. Play the music and the channels will change when instrument changes are made in the music so that you will hear the correct instruments. Try "Dances_Montage" (available on GEnie) as an example of this. 3.8 The time signature of the music is displayed for some of the music types. If available, it will be displayed in the box to the left of the tempo. The value displayed is not changeable. IV. Other Features. 4.0 Analyze song: In order to know how you want to remap the channels you must first know which voice numbers are being used in the music. Select Analyze Music in the Options menu. Then play the song. Sixteen numbers are shown in the words/channel window below the song type box. These correspond to the 16 possible channels in the song file. 4.0.1 When the music plays the channels that are being used are shown and the number of notes on each channel is displayed as well. A blank shows no note has ever played on that channel. A 0 shows a note has played but is not currently playing. Any other number shows the number of notes currently playing on the channel. This information can be used to help you make the proper decision on how to remap the channels. Instrument names may be shown for some music types. - 11 - 4.0.2 It is not advisable to use Analyze Song to listen to music since it could degrade the music for fast tempo, short duration note songs. It will also interfere with the words display. 4.1 Lyrics: Words can be displayed if included in Music Studio files, in Antic Music files, or if a .WDS files exists for a SID file. In order to activate the word display use the mouse to select Display Lyrics in The Options menu. Words will show as the music plays in the same box used for analyze voices. Don't try to show the words when you are analyzing a song. 4.2 ST speaker: The ST speaker can be turned on or off by selecting Internal Speaker with your mouse in the options menu. The output level will be controlled by velocity changes in the music. You are limited to three channels and if there is more than one note per channel note interruption will occur. Also, if a key is pressed while the music is playing it will disturb the set up of the sound chip for playing music. 4.3 Save Select File: After you have read a disk or folder directory and it is displayed in the left window you can choose songs, set presets for each, and remap channels then save these values as a file on the disk. This enables recall at a later time and saves retyping the values. 4.3.1 To do this first select only the song file names that you want to be listed later with the arrow keys or mouse. They must not show a zero to the left of the name to be selected. They will be written in the order of selection. Also make any preset settings or remapping of channels that you want for each song. Next select a disk to write the select file to. It is a good idea too put it on the same one as the music it will play. Then go to the Select menu and select Save Select File. A file selector box will be displayed and you must choose a name for the file. It should normally end in .SET. After you save it you may then recall it using Read Select File. Upon reading it should restore the settings in the windows to the values before saving. 4.4 EZ-Track Files: This program plays only single track EZ-Track files. That is if a file has part of the music on different tracks it all cannot be played at one time. But fortunately there are many EZ- track files that contain all channels mixed into one track. Because these tracks can only be played singly, you have to use the mouse or arrow keys selecting process to specify which ones and the order of play. So this means a double selection. First you read the current directory. Second you select the file. If it is EZ-Track it is read from the disk and then the individual tracks in the EZ-Track file are shown in the left window. You then select songs, presets, etc. This works fine but if you have EZ-Track and other types of music on the same disk it will interrupt the normal sequence of play when an EZ- Track file appears. If you want to avoid this interruption and want continuous music select Skip EZ-Track in the Select menu before playing begins. - 12 - 4.5 Creating standard midi files: You have the option of playing and listening to the different types of files Midi Music Maker plays OR playing and writing the output to a format 0 or format 1 standard midi file which is saved to the disk. This works for all playable file types including standard midi files in formats 0 and 1. The advantage of converting a standard midi file to itself is that initial, presets, channels, and tempo can be different in the output file. The standard midi files you make can also be used with other programs and with other types of computers. 4.5.1 To make a format 0 file, the procedure requires selecting Convert to SMF Format 0 in the Options menu. Then make any settings such as presets, mapping channels, etc. the same way you would before you played the song for listening. Then select Play or press the P key (default). The song will be played (but not heard) and the output written to a file. The name of this file is made automatically and will be the same as that of the original file with the extender changed to .MID. If a .MID file of that name already exists a different extender will be used. Extenders used are .MIE, .MIF, .MIG, etc through .MIZ. 4.5.2 The conversion process always occurs faster than the music will play through your synthesizer. However, you can slow it down and monitor it as it converts by selecting the Atari speaker in the options menu. The advantage in doing this is that you can make an abbreviated SMF output file and stop at any desired place in the music. Press the delete file to stop the conversion and close the file. 4.5.3 If Convert to SMF 1 is selected, the same description in 4.5.1 and 4.5.2 applies however each voice (or synthesizer channel) is written to a separate track. It will not necessarily correspond to the same track data for certain types of music files, for instance SMF 1 and Cakewalk, where individual tracks may contain multiple channel data. Track identity may be retained for original SMF 1 files by selecting Map Channel/Track in the options menu before conversion is started. 4.5.4 There is an additional feature available for creating SMF files that is not available when only playing music. That is to specify the interval between the ending of one note and the starting of the next. In versions of MMM before 2.21 this was zero. You can now specify a clock value between 0 and 9 using the Duration Interval control box, labeled "Int" in the help window identification. Increasing this number may improve the performance when playing the created SMF files on some synthesizers. 4.6 If you have a Roland MT-32 sound module there are two features in the options menu that can be used. These are Save MT-32 data, and Load MT-32 data. To use this you must have both the midi in and midi out cables connected. 4.6.1 When the save feature is selected the system settings and patch temp settings of the MT-32 are saved in a file called MT32.DAT. The file is saved in the current working directory and the disk must not be write protected. The parameters saved include master tune, and volume, fine tune and output level for each of the 8 channels, reverb settings, bender, keyshift, timbre number, timbre group etc. The partial parameters of the timbres (i.e. waveforms, envelopes etc.) are not saved. - 13 - 4.6.2 When the load MT-32 data is selected you must have the MT32.DAT file present in the current working directory. The file will be read and the parameters will be reset in the MT-32 module. This enables previous settings to be quickly restored after you power up your MT-32 (since, unfortunately, they did not provide a battery back up to save them on board the MT-32.) 4.7 The configuration that you have set in Midi Music Maker by selecting options, specifying channels, presets, volumes, tempo multiplier, volume multiplier, octave and note alteration, and note limits can be saved in a file. 4.7.1 When Save Configuration is selected the current settings will be saved in a file, usually called MMM.CFG on the current disk. Only settings of Channel Maps, Preset Maps, and Volume Maps are saved for the first file in the list. So if you want to preserve these make sure that they are correct for the first listed file. Most of the rest of the options in the pull down menus are also saved as well as most of the parameters that are changed by the mouse. 4.7.2 When Load Configuration is selected, usually from the MMM.CFG file, settings in the program are restored such that Midi Music Maker is configured to the originally saved values. If you choose a file other than a previously saved configuration file the program will likely crash. 4.8 The setting of synthesizer controls may be altered by the music that is being played. These settings include such things as modulation wheel, foot controller, portamento, main volume, balance, pan, key pressur pressur pressur pressur pressurc since it could degrade the music for fast tempo, short duration note songs. It will also interfere with the words display. 4.1 Lyrics: Words can be displayed if included in Music Studio files, in Antic Music files, or if a .WDS files exists for a SID file. In order to activate the word display use the mouse to select Display Lyrics in The Options menu. Words will show as the music plays in the same box used for analyze voices. Don't try to show the words when you are analyzing a song. 4.2 ST speaker: The ST speaker can be turned on or off by selecting Internal Speaker with your mouse in the options menu. The output level will be controlled by velocity changes in the music. You are limited to three channels and if there is more than one note per channel note interruption will occur. Also, if a key is pressed while the music is playing it will disturb the set up of the sound chip for playing music. 4.3 Save Select File: After you have read a disk or folder directory and it is displayed in the left window you can choose songs, set presets for each, and remap channels then save these values as a file on the disk. This enables recall at a later time and saves retyping the values. 4.3.1 To do this first select only the song file names that you want to be listed later with the arrow keys or mouse. They must not show a zero to the left of the name to be selected. They will be written in the order of selection. Also make any preset settings or remapping of channels that you want for each song. Next select a disk to write the select file to. It is a good idea too put it on the same one as the music it will play. Then go to the Select menu and select Save Select File. A file selector box will be displayed and you must choose a name for the file. It should normally end in .SET. After you save it you may then recall it using Read Select File. Upon reading it should restore the settings in the windows to the values before saving. 4.4 EZ-Track Files: This program plays only single track EZ-Track files. That is if a file has part of the music on different tracks it all cannot be played at one time. But fortunately there are many EZ- track files that contain all channels mixed into one track. Because these tracks can only be played singly, you have to use the mouse or arrow keys selecting process to specify which ones and the order of play. So this means a double selection. First you read the current directory. Second you select the file. If it is EZ-Track it is read from the disk and then the individual tracks in the EZ-Track file are shown in the left window. You then select songs, presets, etc. This works fine but if you have EZ-Track and other types of music on the same disk it will interrupt the normal sequence of play when an EZ- Track file appears. If you want to avoid this interruption and want continuous music select Skip EZ-Track in the Select menu before playing begins. - 12 - 4.5 Creating standard midi files: You have the option of playing and listening to the different types of files Midi Music Maker plays OR playing and writing the output to a format 0 or format 1 standard midi file which is saved to the disk. This works for all playable file types including standard midi files in formats 0 and 1. The advantage of converting a standard midi file to itself is that initial, presets, channels, and tempo can be different in the output file. The standard midi files you make can also be used with other programs and with other types of computers. 4.5.1 To make a format 0 file, the procedure requires selecting Convert to SMF Format 0 in the Options menu. Then make any settings such as presets, mapping channels, etc. the same way you would before you played the song for listening. Then select Play or press the P key (default). The song will be played (but not heard) and the output written to a file. The name of this file is made automatically and will be the same as that of the original file with the extender changed to .MID. If a .MID file of that name already exists a different extender will be used. Extenders used are .MIE, .MIF, .MIG, etc through .MIZ. 4.5.2 The conversion process always occurs faster than the music will play through your synthesizer. However, you can slow it down and monitor it as it converts by selecting the Atari speaker in the options menu. The advantage in doing this is that you can (C64) 3 1,2,3 No Advanced Music System (Atari XE) 4 1,2,3,4 No Antic Music Processor (Atari XE) 4 1,2,3,4 Yes Orchestra-85/90 (Color Comp) 5 1,2,3,4,5 No SID Player with stereo (C64) 6 1,2,3,4,5,6 Yes Lyra (Color Comp) 8 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 No Music Construction Set (Atari ST) 3 1,2,3 No Music Studio (Atari ST) 15* Set by music file Yes EZ-Track (Atari ST) 16* Set by music file No Standard Midi File (All) 16* Set by music file No Midi Music System (Atari XE) 16* Set by music file No Cakewalk (IBM PC) 16* Set by music file No Adlib (IBM PC) 11 1,2,3,4,5,6... 11 No Deluxe Music Construct (Amiga) 8* 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Yes Cubase (Atari ST) 16* Set by music file No Sound Blaster CMF (IBM PC) 16* Set by music file No *This is the number of channels, the actual number of notes playing may exceed this. Midi Music Maker has a limit of 20 to the number of tracks that it will play using Standard Midi Files format 1 and with the Midi Music System. Multiple tracks will not play simultaneously using EZ-track. All 16 synthesizer channels can be used for any music type. 5.1 Dr. Ts: There appears to be an unresolvable problem relating to the tempo of Dr. Ts. I was not able to find a ticks per beat or other timing value in the files. So if the tempo is not correct as the song plays you will have to change it using the tempo multiplier. The values that will usually correct it are 4.0 or 0.25. If you do this the displayed tempo values will not be correct, but, the actual tempo of the song may be. Also the atari files I tested displayed garbage in the text window. 5.2 Errors: The program has been tested thoroughly. Error messages are very infrequent. Any error message that might occur would likely occur because of corrupted music files. Corrupted music files could also result in long pauses in the song and seemingly random notes. In most cases these files would also not play correctly for the program for which they were made. 5.3 Problems: There are certain limitations that may cause music to play incorrectly on your synthesizer. 1. AMS, Orchestra 90, Master Composer and SID files have data in the files that controls the sound chip hardware. The internal sound chips can be made to simulate certain instruments or can produce sounds with specific tonal qualities. It is not possible to reproduce the same sounds through midi. Instead synthesizers have their own instrument presets which you may have to experiment with to find the most pleasing sound. 2. Some synthesizers are not velocity sensitive. That is, the notes that are played play only at one volume level as controlled by the computer. Some of the file types that can be played do use volume variations in the song and some channels may a different volume setting that others. For the best effect your synthesizer must be capable of playing each channel at a different level. - 16 - 3. Your synthesizer must be set at the correct polyphonic or monophonic mode. Songs may have multiple notes on a single channel, single notes on multiple channels, or a mixture of multiple or single notes on multiple channels. Your synthesizer must be capable of playing the maximum number of notes on the channels that have music. Use the feature "Analyze Music" to help you determine the correct settings. You can, of course, remap the music channels to adapt to your synthesizer. 4. All music files are not perfect. I have noticed music that does not sound quite right, for instance has a flat that should have had a sharp. That is just the way the person who transcribed the music did it. In most cases it cannot be changed without the program that originally created the music file. 5. It is possible for a music file to have corrupted data that will either cause the playing to hang, that will give an error message, sound weird, or combination of these. If so get rid of the file. 6. Finally, it is always possible that I over looked something in the programming. I would appreciate hearing from you if you have persistent problems with more than one file. VI. Sources of Music. 6.0 There are thousands of music files that Midi Music Maker will play available in public domain. Sources of these include computer user groups; major telecommunication networks such as GEnie, Delphi and CompuServe; private BBS systems; and certain mail order distributors. 6.1 In general the greatest variety of music can be found with the most available music types. There is probably more SID music available in public domain than all the other types of music put together at this time. Orchestra 85/90, Music Studio and Advanced Music System files are also widely available and have the next best selection. EZ-Track is quite as easy to find. Some of the music has been converted from other file types such as Advanced Music System. The Standard Midi File format is relatively new and the number of available files in this format will probably increase as software for music programs on other computers is developed to handle it. 6.2 Some of the best music comes from Midi Music System files. The music is often 8 to 16 note pieces and sounds great on a synthesizer that has the capability to handle the larger number of notes. Unfortunately this music is not as easy to obtain through public domain channels. It can be purchased for a reasonable charge from: M and D Enterprises 7700 N.E. 120th Avenue Vancouver, WA 98682-4129 6.3 Much of the music is available on other computers. The disks are not interchangeable with the ST. When this music is downloaded from a BBS there is usually no problem. When music is on different disks two methods of transferring song files between the ST and other computer include running communication programs on each and connecting together through two modems, or connecting the computers using a null modem cable and using appropriate software. 6.4 Here is information on music files available on the major on-line computer services. - 17 - 6.4.1 Delphi. 6.4.1.1 The Orchestra 85/90 files selection on Delphi is good but they are mixed in with other types of music files for the Color Computer so if you are interested in these you have to check each to find out if it is an Orchestra file. 6.4.1.2 The Lyra files are listed with the other music files. They is a selection but it is not very large. 6.4.1.3 There is a very good selection of SID files including some with words. They are found in two different directories. The main problem is that if you do not have a Commodore computer some of these are compacted in such a way that you need one. Those with extensions .SAL (words plus SID music), SDA (self dissolving archive), MSW (SID plus stereo channel), PIL (SID with picture), ARC (not compatible with ST ARC) require a Commodore computer to break down these files into those that you actually play. Look for the extenders .MUS and .WDS. 6.4.1.4 The selection of Master Composer files is adequate. They are mixed in with the SID files and tend to be older. 6.4.1.5 The AMS selection on Delphi is not as complete as GEnie or CompuServe. 6.4.1.6 The number of Music Studio songs is not as large as GEnie or CompuServe. Many of those I have checked on were the same as those available on the other on-line services. 6.4.1.7 The Music Construction Set files are fairly limited. 6.4.1.8 If there is a library that specializes in midi with songs in standard midi file format, I haven't been able to find it. 6.4.1.9 As I recall the selection of EZ-Track files on Delphi is poor. 6.4.2 GEnie. 6.4.2.1 Some of the Orchestra 85/90 files on GEnie are usable but there are problems with others. The ones in arced format did not dearc properly using Arc version 5.21B. Blocks of data were decoded properly but were arranged in reverse order. I had to make a program to correct the error and rewrite the files. Other files although they will play correctly with Midi Music Maker do not have the normal carriage return, line feed so although they are ascii data they will not list correctly on your screen. There is a good selection of these files but the list is not extensive. 6.4.2.2 There was only one Lyra file I was able to locate on GEnie. 6.4.2.3 The SID selection on GEnie is not quite as good as Delphi. But same problems exist about files requiring a Commodore computer to dearc. 6.4.2.4 The number of Master Composer files is relatively small on GEnie. They used to have more but some were deleted. 6.4.2.5 There is a good selection of AMS music. There are not many new songs being done in AMS. - 18 - 6.4.2.6 The Music Studio collection on GEnie is very good. Most of the songs are not arced. 6.4.2.7 Music Construction Set files are much fewer than Music Studio and the quality is not generally as good. But there are a few nice songs. 6.4.2.8 GEnie has a very good midi roundtable with an increasing number of files in standard midi format 0 and format 1. These can be found in combination with a good selection of Cakewalk files. 6.4.2.9 GEnie also has the best selection of EZ-Track files. A large number of these were made from AMS and a few from MS songs. 6.4.2.10 Genie has the largest number of Adlib files, many arced together. 6.4.2.11 I found a very complete selection of DMCS on GEnie. Most of them are LHARCed, ARCed, ZIPed, or ZOOed so be sure you have the necessary dearcing software. 6.4.3 CompuServe. 6.4.3.1 CompuServe has the largest number of Orchestra 85/90 files. These are all in ASCII format and should play without any problems using Midi Music Maker. 6.4.3.2 They have the best selection of Lyra files but it is not nearly as large as the Orchestra 85/90 section. 6.4.3.3 The SID selection is fairly large. There are SIDS in five different libraries. The problem of the .SAL, .MSW, .ARC, .PIL, as on GEnie and Delphi is here also, but there is also another problem. The Commodore files on CompuServe generally end in .BIN or .IMG and this refers to the protocol used to upload them, not to the actual file extender. The .BIN files can be downloaded using Xmodem, Ymodem, or with just about another protocol including the VIDTEX mode of Flash. The .IMG files have a 6 byte header. If you download these with anything I know of on the Atari ST you will have 6 bytes at the first of the file that are not supposed to be there. If you try the VIDTEX mode of Flash to download you will get an error message from CompuServe. They are supposed to work file with VIDTEX on a Commodore. Anyway, what I did was to make a short program that removes the first 6 bytes of each file which I run after I have downloaded the .IMG files. The only other thing is to make sure you read the descriptions of the files before you download to make certain what the file type it is. 6.4.3.4 The Master Composer selection is good but the problems of IMG files as with SIDs as mentioned above still exists. As with other song types there is repetition to some extent with files on Delphi and GEnie. 6.4.3.5 There is a good selection of AMS music. The newer Atari 8 bit music is in AMP format. Midi Music Maker cannot play it at this time. There are also a few MMS songs in the Atari 8 bit music forum. 6.4.3.6 The Music Studio selection is great. There are a lot of .ARC files with multiple songs. - 20 - 6.4.3.7 There is an adequate number of Music Construction Set files in arced format. 6.4.3.8 There is a midi forum with an increasing number of SMF and Cakewalk files. The selection is generally good. 6.4.3.9 There are some EZ-Track files, but not many compared to GEnie. 6.4.3.10 There are a handful of arced Adlib files but those contain many songs. 6.4.4 Q-Link. 6.4.4.1 This is a Commodore only on-line service. It has the largest selection of SID music available. It is not accessible with your Atari ST. It requires a C-64 and C-64 software. You then have to be able to transfer the music files from the C-64 to your Atari ST, difficult without the right combination of software and hardware. 6.5 I will make copies of any of the music disks I have. I charge $5 per disk to cover the time and trouble to do the coping and to cover the postage cost. I am not selling the music. All disks are double sided. The number of songs vary from about 50 to nearly 300 per disk depending on the file type. There are more than 100 disks available and more than 15000 songs with some duplication. Specify the file type, AMS, MS, MCS, EZ-Track, SID, Orch 90, SMF, Cakewalk, Adlib, or DMCS. This music was collected from sources mentioned above and through trading with other collectors. I will also trade music disks, one on one, for anyone interested. 7.0 Screen Identification: ____________________ ______________________________________________ | P | | | | l | | | | a | | Song Title and Information | | y File | | | | Names | | | | o | ---------------------------------------------- | r | _____________________________ ______ _______ | d | | Music Type | |T.S.| |Tempo| | e | ----------------------------- ------ ------- | r | ___________________________________________ | | | Words and Analysis | | c | ------------------------------------------- | o | __________ _______ _____ _______ _________ | l | |Note Rng| |Delay| |Int| |Vol C| |Tempo x| | . | ---------- ------- ----- ------- --------- | | ___________________________ __________________ | | | Note Control | | File Playing | -------------------- --------------------------- ------------------ _____________________________________________________________ | Channel Map | ------------------------------------------------------------- _____________________________________________________________ | Velocity Level | ------------------------------------------------------------- _____________________________________________________________ | Instrument Presets | ------------------------------------------------------------- - 20 - 8.0 This program is copyright 1992 by David M. Henry and is distributed as shareware. $15 is considered an appropriate contribution if you use it. Send correspondence to: Dave Henry 1720 Wickersham Drive Anchorage, AK 99507 tel. 907-563-7414 - 21 -