======================================================================== README.TXT Musicware Piano DEMO SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: A 386/486/Pentium PC running Windows 3.1 or higher equipped with a soundcard with the soundcard's Windows MIDI and Synth drivers installed. If you are unsure about this portion, consult your soundcard's user's manual or contact their technical support line. A MIDI adapter cable is not needed to run the demo, but is required (along with a MIDI keyboard) to demonstrate MIDI input for the exercises. INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLATION: If you acquired this demo by means of a DEMO DISK: Place the demo disk in drive a:. From Program Manager in Windows, select "File", "Run" and type a:\setup then press enter. If you acquired this demo by downloading if from a BBS or INTERNET: Unzip the contents of the file to a high density floppy and follow the steps described above for floppy disk installation. TO "UN-INSTALL" THE DEMO: Simply delete all files in the directory to which you installed the DEMO (usually C:\MWARE\DEMOS). SETUP does not install files in the \WINDOWS or the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. You will have to manually delete the "Musicware DEMOs" Program Group from your Program Manager. OBTAINING TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THIS DEMO: Telephone technical support can be obtained by calling 1-206-881-1419. Technical support is also offered through CompuServe. Musicware's CompuServe ID# is 73122,3137. In the subject line, please put "DEMO tech support." Please DO NOT CALL THE 800 number for technical support. This number is for sales only and is answered by sales people who will be unable to help you with technical problems. OPERATION OF THE DEMO: The demo is self running, but will allow you the user to interact with it. Should the program be left unattended for a period of time, it will automatically advance to the next screen. This period of time defaults to 12.5 seconds. It can be adjusted by changing the "demoInterval" setting in the MPIANO.INI file located in the installation directory [normally, c:\mware\demos] on your hard disk. The setting is in units of milliseconds and can be set as high as 60 seconds (setting of 60000) but not lower than 5 seconds (setting of 5000). If the setting is made less than 5000, it is ignored and defaults to 5000, except if it is zero, then the self-running feature is disabled. ======================================================================== README.TXT Musicware Piano 1.0.4 The information contained in this file is current as of May 16th, 1994. It contains the latest information on this version of Musicware Piano. Consequently, the information in this document may supersede information presented in the printed User's Guide. ======================================================================== FEATURE INFORMATION Sustain Pedal can be used as "GO ON" If your MIDI keyboard supports a sustain pedal, you can now use it to issue the "GO ON" command in Musicware Piano. Extra INI settings "offerKeyboardTranspose" INI setting (0 = disabled, -1 = enabled)- By setting this to "-1" the Keyboard Transpose setting will be added to your Advanced Midi Setup options. This option will increase or decrease the notes you enter by one full octave. This allows you to play at different positions on the keyboard, or, in case you have a keyboard with a different octave layout. "offerDeviceVolume" INI setting (0 = disabled, -1 = enabled)- By setting this to "-1" the Device Volume setting will be added to your Advanced Midi Setup options. This will adjust the overall volume of your sound device. In the same fashion as turning the volume knob on your keyboard. NOTE: Some MIDI devices do not support this feature. HARDWARE INFORMATION Aztech Boards Aztech Boards with a DSP 31 chip have a problem with midi-in. Their Tech support is aware of this and will give an RMA number so people can return their cards to get a DSP 38 chip on the card. The Windows drivers below 2.41 also have some problems with Midi-in. Aztech's tech line: (510) 623-8988 Reveal Sound Cards This sound card does not set up the DMA address and IRQ in Windows. You need to run their test program at DOS in the Utility sub-directory which is a under their main directory. The name of this test is usually SG2, SG3, SG4, or SG5. It will test midi-in and midi-out at the DOS level and also tell you the IRQ and Address. Then set Windows to the same IRQ and DMA address for the sound card in the Control Panel-Drivers. Media Vision Pro-Audio Line These sound cards appear to require the midi cable made by Media Vision which is called the Midi-Mate. You can purchase the Midi-Mate at your local computer store or contact Media Vision at 1-800-684-6699. We have found in our testing that boards which were released prior to mid 1992 and earlier seem to run ok with most any midi cable and do not require the Midi-Mate. We have no exact cut-off date for this as we are still unsure of what exactly changed on the board to require a special midi cable. We do see the occasional dropped or hung note with this card even with a Midi-Mate. Information obtained from Media Vision's forum on Compuserv stated that they have a problem with the MVD101 chip on the Pro Audio family and will be fixing this in the ProSonic, Memphis, and XL line. CREATIVE LABS Older 8-bit Sound Blaster boards with a DSP chip of less than 2.0 will not support MIDI. These cards must be upgraded to DSP 2.0 or better. They utilize the Sound Blaster 1.0 drivers in Windows, these drivers will not support MIDI. To check the DSP version run the test for the board in the sub directory where sound card information is installed. This test will show the version number for the DSP chip. If less than version 2.0 call Creative Labs at 1-800-998-1000 and ask for the new DSP 2.0 version chip and updated Windows drivers for the board. LOGITECH SOUNDMAN This card will need a special midi cable which is called the Midi-Mate. Contact Logitech at (510)795-8100 for more information. GRAVIS ULTRASOUND This card will need a special midi cable, the Gravis Midi adapter cable, which is made by Advanced Gravis. ======================================================================== README NOTES FOR PIANO 1.0 - OCTOBER 12, 1993 ======================================================================== DIRECTING SOUND THROUGH SOUNDCARD SPEAKERS (SOUND BLASTER AND COMPATIBLE SOUND BOARD USERS) All Sound Blasters and nearly all Sound Blaster compatible boards come with Voyetra Technologies' Super SAPI FM Synth driver. This essentially turns your sound board into a MIDI synthesizer complete with 128 voices. These sounds may be used in place of your keyboard's sounds, and will direct sound through speakers attached to your sound card. Here are the steps to configure Musicware Piano to use those voices: 1. Run Musicware Piano 2. From the Student List Screen, pull down the MIDI Options menu and select 'Setup...'. 3. On the right hand side of the Midi Setup screen is the section for output devices. Select the "Voyetra Super SAPI FM Synth". 4. On the left hand side of the Midi Setup Screen is the section for input devices. At the bottom of this section select the "MIDI Thru" check box. 5. Click the OK Button. You should now hear sound from your sound board's speakers as you play the MIDI keyboard. If you do not, check to following: 1. The speakers are plugged into the proper jack on the back of the sound card (usually called 'line out'). 2. The "Line Out" levels of your sound board are up (some cards actually have a volume control on the back or control their volume by a "mixer" program supplied with the sound board). 3. The MIDI connections are as described in the Users Guide of Musicware Piano. For questions about 1 and 2 refer to your sound card's users guide. NOTE: Musicware Piano will not select Voyetra Super SAPI FM Synth for MIDI out by default, unless it is the only MIDI out device installed in Windows. Sound Blaster 16 W/WAVE BLASTER USERS If you wish to use the on-board sound capabilities of the Wave Blaster, the Wave Blaster control panel (supplied with the Wave Blaster from Creative Labs) must be running and Voices uploaded to the Wave Blaster board prior to running Musicware Piano. REGULAR Sound Blaster AND COMPATIBLE BOARDS In order to use the on-board sound capabilities of the sound card, you will have to purchase a "Patch Manager" for your sound card. This patch manager generally needs to be run and have sounds loaded before Musicware Piano is run. These patch managers may be supplied by your sound card manufacturer. There are also third-party makers of patch managers such as those from Voyetra Technologies. If you want the sound to play through speakers attached to your sound card, see the instructions above titled "DIRECTING SOUND THROUGH SOUNDCARD SPEAKERS". SHOULD MUSICWARE PIANO STOP RESPONDING TO PIANO KEYBOARD INPUT Try pressing the escape key. Some Sound Cards have been known to occasionally drop MIDI information coming in from the MIDI keyboard. This will sometimes cause Musicware Piano to "wait" and look for particular MIDI information. Pressing the escape key will reset Musicware Piano back to the Student Activity Screen.