Synthia
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To compile and install synthia, type:
su
./make install
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Usage: synthia [options] <midifile>
Options: -n No graphics
-v # Number of voices (default 6)
-t <list> Play specific tracks only
-i <alist> Assign instruments
-b # Set beat time (default .5 seconds)
Synthia is a midi synthesizer. It plays the specified midi file,
using synthesized instrument sounds. While it is playing the
song, it illustrates the notes being played using a graphical
keyboard display. Synthia automatically searches the directory
"files" (or the directory specified in the environment variable
SYNTHIA_MIDI_PATH) for the midi file, so a full pathname is not
required.
The keyboard display includes a volume control slider and
instrument select buttons. The volume control affects the
amplitude of the values sent by synthia to the audio output. It
is distinct from the apanel volume control, which affects how
these values are interpreted.
The instrument buttons are an array of 16 buttons, one for each
instrument. The instruments are numbered - 15, with the front
left button corresponding to instrument 0, and the back right
button corresponding to instrument 15.
Environment variables:
----------------------
Synthia respects the following environment variables:
SYNTHIA_MIDI_PATH - Directory which contains MIDI files
SYNTHIA_SOUND_PATH - Directory which contains synthia sound files
(which are processed instrument samples)
SYNTHIA_IMAGE_PATH - Directory which contains images for
texturing the keyboard
Command line options:
---------------------
The -n option disables the graphical keyboard display. This is
useful if you want to run synthia in the background, or from a
script, and continue to do useful work. Synthia runs at a
raised (non-degrading) priority, so that its sound shouldn't
break up even if you are doing other compute intensive tasks.
The -v option controls the number of voices. Some songs require
more voices that the computer can generate in real time. If
this happens, then synthia falls behind in generating samples,
and cutouts occur in the output (it sounds like it is breaking
up). If this happens, you can reduce the number of voices using
this option, until synthia can successfully play the song.
You can also use -v to increase the number of voices. Whether
or not you have problems keeping up depends on the individual
midi file.
When the number of voices used in the midi file exceeds the
number of voices that synthia has, the extra voices are just
ignored. For complex midi files with many voices, the result is
a small subset of the melody. If you have access to more than
one machine, you can use the -t option to fix this problem.
The -t option allows you to play a single track, or a set of
tracks. You can use this to split up a midi file between
several machines. For example, machine 1 could play tracks 1-5,
and machine 2 could play tracks 6-10. Synthia prints out
information about the midi file when it is played, which
includes the number of tracks in the file and the number of
voices (fingers) on each track.
A list for the -t options consists of a comma separated list of
tracks or track ranges. Here are some legal track lists:
-t 1
-t 3,7,4
-t 2-5
-t 0,2-5,7,10-15
The track list must contain only commas, hyphens, and decimal
digits. No spaces are allowed.
The -i option allows you to assign individual instruments to
specific tracks. Synthia supports a total of 16 instruments,
numbered 0-15. The default assignment is that track gets
instrument 0, track 1 gets instrument 1, etc.
An assignment list for the -i option consists of a comma
separated list of assignments, where each assignment assigns a
particular track to a particular instrument. Here are some
legal assignment lists:
-i 1=0 # Assign track 1 to instrument
-i 2=3,4=3 # Assign tracks 2 and 4 to instrument 3
The -b option controls the speed at which synthia plays. The
default value is 0.5 seconds for one beat. To slow down
synthia, set a larger value. For example, some of the fugues
sound best played with a beat time of 0.75 seconds.
Synthia sound generation
------------------------
Synthia generates sounds using one of five waveforms and one of
three amplitude envelopes. The waveforms are obtained from the
directory "sounds" (or the directory specified in the
environment variable SYNTHIA_SOUND_PATH). These five waveforms
are called 0.ssf, 1.ssf, 2.ssf, 3.ssf, and 4.ssf. If they
aren't present, synthia will substitute its own synthetic
waveforms.
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