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- M I D I S T U F F
- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
-
- Release 1.0 - - - MIDIstuff part I - - - Date: 16 Aug 1990
-
- Ok, so this is my little MIDI tool package. It's the first
- release, it's my first Amiga release anyway. :-)
- Introducing: This package contains 4 little tools that use the
- MIDI.library so that they can use MIDI at the same time and can
- easily be combined in a modular way.
-
- MIDIkeys V1.0 "Virtual MIDI Keyboard"
- ~~~~~~~~
- Simulates a MIDI keyboard by painting a 10-octave (!) (full MIDI note range)
- into a window, all incoming MIDI notes (kinda OMNI ON) are displayed by
- highlighting the keys, the colours change depending on the velocity, when
- the window is activated a piano keyboard is simulated on the Amiga keyboard
- which is converted into outgoing MIDI events. Input and output streams are
- by default sent to the MIDI interface.
-
- SYNOPSYS: [run] MIDIkeys [-i <Input>] [-o <Output>] [-t] [<Name>]
- ~~~~~~~~
- With the <i> and <o> options MIDI input & output streams can be redirected,
- if a stream doesn't exist then the keyboard simply won't have it, e.g.
- "MIDIkeys -i none" will cause MIDIkeys to not have any input to show.
- The <t> enables an additional "thru" route between the input and output.
- The <Name> is by default "Keyboard", it is the name used in the public MIDI
- routing lists, you can use an other if you use more than one keyboard, the
- new name will appear in the titlebar of the window.
-
- For other notifications the screen titlebar is used. MIDIkeys has a few
- special keys: Right-Amiga-[`] toggles MIDI thru, also F10 does.
- F2 and F1 respectively increment and decrement the channel the keyboard
- sends on, which by default is 1.
- And there also is a silly surprise key hidden somewhere...
-
- MIDIdump V1.0 "Simple MIDI SysX Dumper"
- ~~~~~~~~
- Receives & Sends MIDI "System Exclusive" data, (sysx, patch data for
- synthesizers etc.). Data can be stored and retrieved from DOS.
-
- SYNOPSYS: [run] MIDIdump
- ~~~~~~~~
- This tool always connects directly to the MIDI ports. It allocates 50000
- bytes of buffer space for sysx data at startup. It opens a text window
- and displays the list of commands, it uses the ARP FileRequester for
- data storage. The program is self-explicatory (I hope!).
-
- MIDIrec V1.0 "Little MIDI Recorder"
- ~~~~~~~
- Records or plays back note data from the musical instrument digital
- interface (MIDI) using MIDI realtime information as timing clock.
- Sequential music data can be stored and retrieved from DOS.
-
- SYNOPSYS: [run] MIDIrec [-i <Input>] [-o <Output>] [-t] [<Name>]
- ~~~~~~~~
- Arguments and options are identical to those of MIDIkeys, but, if a MIDI
- socket doesn't exist the program complains.
-
- You'll be surprised when you run it, it has no "PLAY" or "STOP" keys,
- in fact it expects START and STOP events to come from MIDI along with the
- timing information, so the only key there needs to be is the "RECORD"
- gadget which toggles recording and playback, when pressed it automatically
- 'rewinds' so that recording or playback can be started immediately without
- even stopping the clock, unless you have a drum machine or sequencer
- attached, which would get out of sync. When activating the "RECORD" gadget
- the buffer is automatically deleted, no "tape merging" can be done!
- A MIDI-start-event rewinds the tape too, so the "REWIND" gadget isn't
- usually needed. For notifications the screen titlebar is used.
- Further functions can be obtains by picking menu items or pressing the
- equivalent keys. The functions and keys are:
-
- Load (right-amiga-"l") Choose a file to load.
- Save As (right-amiga-"s") Choose a filename to save music to.
- Re-Read (right-amiga-"r") Load that file again.
- Write (right-amiga-"w") Save it again.
- Help (right-amiga-".") Give info about "tape".
- Thru (right-amiga-"`") Toggle the thru function.
-
- MIDIclock V1.0 "MIDI Clock Generator"
- ~~~~~~~~~
- Should be a reliable source of MIDI realtime clock information, but it
- isn't. I warn you, this program generates a lot of load, too. It is better
- to avoid using it, rather have clock events come in from the real MIDI.
- But if you have no other choice...
-
- SYNOPSYS: [run] MIDIclock [-o <Output>] [<Name>]
- ~~~~~~~~
- Redirect the output as usual, use <Name> if you want more then one
- (bleargh!) MIDI clock in your system! (to generate MIDI coughs etc..)
-
- The MIDIclock is called by the timer.device 96 times per quarter note, it
- then outputs a clock event to its MIDI port, which can be redirected
- into the recorder or anywhere else. It has 3 buttons, START, STOP and
- CONTINUE, which do what they're supposed to, a proportional gadget
- changes the speed, which by default is set to 120 b/m.
-
- BUGS: Amiga may halt when too much overhead is generated.
- ~~~~
- This happens all too easy, for example when doing lots of multi-tasking
- like running a mouse accelerator or other load. It also can happen when
- you use the speed gadget while the clock is running, so always stop it
- when changing output speed, better not change it at all, it does strange
- things sometimes! The MIDIclock has a little overhead detecting routine,
- it will toggle the power-LED when overhead is detected. If the flashing
- rapidly increases you better click the MIDIclock away and start a new one.
-
- List of files the binaries package should include:
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- README
- MIDIclock The executables
- MIDIdump
- MIDIkeys
- MIDIrec
- EXEC.ME A script to run a typical configuration
-
- Libs The libraries used by the executables
- Libs/ARP.Library I'm not sure if they are the latest releases.
- Libs/MIDI.Library Put them in libs: if you don't have them.
-
- SeQuences Data files that can be played by MIDIrec.
- SeQuences/Bass & Tubes [Lynx'86] One channel, non-dynamic.
- SeQuences/Castagna Groove [Lynx'89] Dynamic, multi-channel.
-
- SysX Data files for MIDIdump
- SysX/CasioRequest.x A sysx data dump request for Casio CZ synths.
-
- COPYRIGHT NOTICE
- The binaries package is placed into public domain, this also includes the
- music files. Spread this data in whatever way you want, but leave my name
- in it, please. The package is provided "as is". I don't guarantee the
- functionality of any data provided with this package.
- Source-code and binaries are in seperated packages, the source is available
- but not in public domain, read the copyright notice provided with the
- source package.
-
- Follow-up MIDIstuff packages may contain more efficient versions of
- these programs, but also new MIDI modules like a MIDI-to-Amiga-Audio
- interface, enhanced recording software like a MIDI sequencer, a
- screen-sharing interface for all modules, REXX interfaces, etc...
-
- CONCLUDING...
- Hope this helps you MIDIaners out there, enjoy music, enjoy MIDIstuff! :-)
- Btw, none of the executables can be made resident.
-
- Material encouragements to:
-
- ~~~ Carl "Lynx" v. Loesch
- $ $ Georgenstr. 142
- v D - 8 Muenchen 40
- \_/ ~~~~~~~~ "West" Germany...
-
- Virtual encouragements and suggestions to:
-
- loesch @ informatik.tu-muenchen.de
- (valid till october'90 i hope)
- lynx % suttner @ uniol.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de
- (if the mailers manage to get through to this machine)
- gebhart @ informatik.tu-muenchen.de
- (if the above doesn't works; a dear friend of mine)
-