MiniTrax 1.54 is the latest version of a 16 track sequencer written in Microsoft QuickBasic, using Altech Systems' MidiBasic 3.5 MIDI command library. It is offered in its compiled version as a public domain release, and the source code is included with Midi Basic 3.5 as an example program.
We hope MiniTrax will be useful to Mac MIDI newcomers who have not yet purchased a $500 sequencing program. Since MiniTrax is Standard MIDI File compatible, work done with MiniTrax will be transferrable to that big expensive sequencer once you scrape up enough money to buy it.
Programmers who purchase the MidiBasic 3.5 library can use MiniTrax as a template for sequence-related programming efforts. There are innumerable cool ways to process sequence data with only a few lines of Basic, but writing user interface, recording, playback, and file support functions can take weeks. MiniTrax may serve as a good platform on which to build.
Memory Requirements
MiniTrax will work under MultiFinder, but you might find that it works better under Finder, since QuickBasic is not especially MultiFinder friendly.
If you have at least 2 megs of memory, you should never have any difficulty running MiniTrax. MiniTrax should run on all Macs with at least 1 Meg of memory, with the exception of the Mac IIfx, which is Midi-hostile even for Midi Manager as of the date of this manual.
MiniTrax 1.54 runs on a 1 meg Mac plus, but I had to disable Adobe Type Manager and turn off the Ram buffer (via the Control Panel DA). MiniTrax requires about 600K, so in worst case on a 1 meg machine you might have to use a special boot disk with only the System and Finder installed, removing all DAs and unnecessary fonts.
MiniTrax Specifications
MiniTrax 1.54 records 20,000 MIDI events (two events per note), using up to 16 channels. It will load and save sequences in Standard Midi File format, either type 0 or type 1. Timing resolution is 192 ticks per quarter note, and tempo can be set from 7 beats per minute to in excess of 400 BPM.
Using MidiBasic's timestamp routines, recording and playback is extremely accurate within QuickBasic's ability to maintain the MIDI buffers. Accurate playback exceeds 450 bytes per second on a Mac Plus. Performance will approach the full MIDI bandwidth on faster Macs. Using new commands added to the MidiBasic 3.5 library, performance is now so good that even a Mac plus can maintain tastelessly busy tracks at ridiculously fast tempos.
For Beginners Only
If you are a novice with Midi and Sequencers, pay close attention to this section.
Turn the Mac off and install your interface on either the printer or modem port, with the modem port preferred. You might want to get a switch box so you can switch between your Modem and Midi Interface without constantly re-patching cables.
Midi sends/receives on up to 16 channels. If a synthesizer is set Omni on, it will attempt to play every received note, regardless of channel. If Omni is off, a synth will receive only on its base channel. Many synthesizers today feature Multi modes, in which a synthesizer behaves like it is several omni-off synthesizers in the same box, each one receiving on a different channel and playing a different sound.
You will normally do Midi recording to your Mac using one master keyboard controller, which will connect to the Mac Midi In jack. All your synthesizers, drum machines, light controllers, effects devices, Midi mixers, etc., will be connected to the Mac Midi Outputs. If you run out of outputs (most Mac interfaces have at least three parallel outs) then you can daisy-chain some of the synths together using the Midi thru connections on the back of each synth. Or you can get a Midi Patcher device, which is a very wise investment once you have more than two or three Midi devices.
You normally do sequencing with your keyboard in Local Control off mode. Most keyboard synthesizers have a front-panel control (or at least Midi control) to turn Local Control off. With Local Control off, notes played on the keys go out Midi but they do not trigger the synth's own sound generators. However, Midi notes which arrive at the synth's Midi input will sound. With Local Control off, you could control your synth's sound generator by hooking a Midi cable between its Midi In and Midi Out.
When sequencing, you are effectively putting the Mac in the loop between your main synthesizer's keyboard and sound generator. MiniTrax starts up with thru on, all channels selected. This means whatever keys you play on your controller will be echoed by the Mac and received by the controller's sound generators and any other devices connected to the Mac Midi Out.
You can set the Mac to echo (and record) on any one of the 16 Midi channels, regardless of the base channel of your controller. If all your synths are in omni off mode and set to unique channels, you can select and play any of the synths from your master keyboard by selecting the proper Midi echo channel from MiniTrax' Input Channel menu.
MiniTrax has 16 tracks, similar to a 16 track tape machine. Each track can hold one or more Midi Channels. For instance notes on Midi Channels 5 thru 14 might be recorded onto MiniTrax' track 5. MiniTrax doesn't care.
Assuming Piano is on channel 1, Bass on channel 2, and Drums on channel 10, this is how to record a rhythm track:
1 - Turn Metronome on and Countoff on under Sequencer Menu.
2 - Click on one of the 16 track buttons.
3 - Select "1" from the Input Channel Menu
4 - Hit Record, wait for countoff, and play the piano part, stop when done.
5 - Select a new, empty track.
6 - Select "2" from the Input Channel Menu
7 - Hit Record, play the bass part along with the piano part, stop when done.
8 - Select a new, empty track.
9 - Select "10" from the Input Channel Menu
10 - Hit Record and play the drum part along with the previously recorded piano and bass parts.
11 - It is wise to make some notes about your tracks in the SMF comments window.
That is the essence of the recording process with MiniTrax. With practice, you will develop methods which will fit your individual needs. For instance, there is no rule that you have to start with piano, or that you have to use countoff or metronome, although most people find that helpful up to the time that they lay down a drum part.
After the drums are in, you can turn the metronome off without getting lost in the song. My best argument for recording some instruments before the drum track is that a drum track should usually be simple and tasteful, which merely "plugs holes" left by other instruments. If you lay the drums first, the song is more likely to sound stiff, artificial, or too busy by the time all the tracks are down.
File Menu
Save -- Save sequences either as Standard MIDI File type 0 or type 1. An SMF type 0 has all Midi information on a single track. A type 1 file holds each track independently, and any track can have any combination of Midi channels in it.
Save type 0 lumps all your tracks into one big track. One useful feature of this is that muted tracks are not saved, so you can easily make play-along versions of your sequences by muting tracks you plan to play live.
Save type 1 saves your work as-is; files saved with this option load back in exactly the way they were when last saved.
Unmerge to type 1 assigns notes on Midi Channel 1 to track 1, Channel 2 to track 2, etc. If you need to edit a type 0 Midi file, un-merge it to disk, then load the un-merged copy back into your computer. Un-merge can also be used to "tidy things up." For instance, if you have eight tracks of channel 10 drum information, and you are confident they no longer require tweaking, un-merge will place all these tracks on track 10, more efficiently than MiniTrax' track merge feature.
The Standard Midi File spec recomends that type 0 files be supported as a least-common-denominator. When uploading sequences to computer bulletin boards, etc., you may gain a larger audience by using type 0 files, although type 1 files are now supported by most sequencer programs. Use the SMF Comments field to save copyright notices and other song data. Text handling varies widely among sequencer programs, so users of other programs may or may not be able to read your SMF comments. MiniTrax also saves Tempo and time signature information. On Macintosh, SMFs have a filetype of 'Midi'. MFF format is another common name for Standard Midi Files.
Caution: For QuickBasic to perform at optimum speed and compactness, programs must be compiled with error checking turned off. Consequently, if you save to a full disk, the program will give an error message and quit, so try to make sure in advance that your data disks are not nearly full.
Open -- MiniTrax automatically identifies SMF type, and will abort if confronted with a type-2 SMF or a non-SMF file. MiniTrax also will not load SMPTE time code SMFs. The Load File dialog shows all filetypes of 'Midi' and 'TEXT'. Files downloaded from non-Mac computer systems should be downloaded with MacBinary off, and they usually appear on your desktop as type 'TEXT'. MiniTrax offers more convenience here than most major Mac sequencers, which refuse to load any file type except 'Midi'.
MiniTrax automatically converts an SMF to 192 ticks per quarter note. It recovers tempo information, but since MiniTrax does not have a tempo track, the last tempo event encountered becomes the default tempo of an imported sequence (until you change it, anyway).
SMF text events, copyright notices, sequence/track name, and instrument names appear in the SMF comments box. The comments box does not scroll in this version of MiniTrax, so you may miss some comments from verbose composers. You can use a disk utility such as SUM TOOLS to search for text events in Standard MIDI Files.
MiniTrax ignores any non-channel Midi information, such as sysex or timing clock. Events enabled in the Input filter menu are also ignored. If someone sends you a file with lots of unnecessary controller information or program changes, just set the Input Filter appropriately and the offending data will not be loaded.
Note: MiniTrax has been very well-behaved in loading "legal" Standard Midi Files exported from other systems. However, error checking must be turned off to get optimum performance from QuickBasic. If an end-of-file is encountered prematurely, MiniTrax will put up an error message and quit. In this case, you may have to re-boot your system. The only files I have yet encountered that do this are a few downloaded files named "XXXXXXXX.mid" . I do not know what system generated these files. Download files named "XXXXXXXX.mff" have been very reliable, as have test files generated by MasterTracks, Finale, Vision and DMCS. I will try to find time to write a Midi File Checker program sometime which will preview and fix faulty files. If you know someone with Vision or MasterTracks, you can fix faulty files by loading then resaving them on your friend's system.
MIDI Port Menu
Use the MIDI Port menu to select the frequency of your inteface and preferred Mac port. The default is 1 Mhz interface connected to the Modem Port.
All Notes Off -- Send individual note off messages for every note on every Midi channel; zero out channel pressure, poly pressure, pitch bend and modulation; set Midi volume to max on all tracks. This option takes a few seconds, and is a "panic switch" in case you get stuck notes, which are rare in this version of MiniTrax.
Local Control Off -- Send Local Control Off message on all channels, which is a convenient way of preparing your synthesizers for use with a computer sequencer.
Sequencer Menu
Erase Sequence -- Erase entire sequence from memory.
Countoff on -- Toggle the Countoff function. If Countoff is on, the selected Metronome note is transmitted for a countoff measure before sequencing begins.
Metronome on -- Toggle the Metronome function. When on, the metronome sends a user-selectable metronome MIDI note on either quarter- or eighth-note centers. For 6/8 time, set Quarters Per Measure to 3 and Metro Clicks/Quarter to 2.
Adjust Metronome -- Set the channel, MIDI note, velocity, and duration of your preferred metronome note. Default channel is 10 (a commonly used channel for drum machines); the default note plays closed high-hat on most drum machines. Other popular metronome sounds are Rim Shot and Sticks. Drum machines usually work fine with a duration of 1, but many synths will require a duration of at least 6 or 12 before the metronome will sound.
Send MIDI Clocks -- When this item is checked, MiniTrax transmits MIDI clock messages at 24 per quarter note, so external sequencers, drum machines, or synchronizers can be driven. If Send MIDI Clocks is on, Start, Stop, and Continue events are also transmitted.
Note: Send MIDI Clocks and Receive MIDI Clocks cannot both be on at the same time!!
Receive MIDI Clocks -- Each received MIDI clock will advance MiniTrax eight ticks, syncing measure-for-measure with 24 ticks per quarter note MIDI clock sources, including most drum machines, sequencers, and synchronizers such as J.L. Cooper PPS-1.
Note: If Receive MIDI Clocks is on, MiniTrax will not play or record without an external sync source.
MiniTrax does not currently send or receive song position pointer, so when synching MiniTrax to tape via Midi Synchronizer, you must always start at the head of your song.
Track Menu
Quantize -- Quantize operates on the track selected by the row of Record radio buttons on the main screen. Quantize amount defaults to 48 ticks, which equals a sixteenth note at MiniTrax' 192 ticks per beat resolution. The half-quantize check box, when enabled, will move each note half-way toward the closest quantize point, and can be used to "tighten up" a track without completely removing its feel.
I sometimes "loosen up" a track which is excessively quantized by half-quantizing to a small, odd numerical value. For instance, half-quantizing by 11 will semi-randomly move notes somewhere between one and five ticks (less than a 128th note!). The general "center" of the feel will remain on the money, but each note will no longer be mechanically exact. As another example, half-quantizing baroque pieces at 24 or 48 ticks can yield a lilting "swing" feel which some scholars believe to be the authentic playing style of this music.
Set Channel -- Set a selected track to the desired MIDI channel.
Transpose -- Transpose a track between -12 to +12 semitones.
Adjust Velocity -- Offers four ways to diddle the velocity of a track. Velocity factor may be any real number (though some numbers might not yield interesting results).
Compress/Expand (relative) -- Compress or expand the velocity of a track relative to the current average velocity level of the track.
Velocity Factor = -1 Velocities are equalized.
Velocity Factor = -.5 50% velocity compression
Velocity Factor = 0 No change in velocity
Velocity Factor = .5 50% velocity expansion
Velocity Factor = 1 100% velocity expansion
Velocity Factors less than -1 invert the dynamics of a track.
Scale (relative) -- Multiply each note's velocity by the Velocity Factor
Velocity Factor = 1 Velocities are unchanged
Velocity Factor = 2 Velocities are doubled
Velocity Factor = .5 Velocities are halved
Scale (absolute) -- Add the Velocity Factor to the current velocity of each note (like transposing velocity).
Randomize (relative) -- Multiply each velocity by a random amount, which can be either positive or negative.
Velocity Factor = 0 Velocities are unchanged
Velocity Factor = 1 Maximum velocity deviation of +-32
Velocity Factor = 2 Maximum velocity deviation of +-64
Erase Track -- Delete the selected track.
Duplicate Track -- Duplicate track data on the first empty track. The copy is automatically muted.
Since MiniTrax does not have an Undo feature, use this option to make a "safety copy" of a track before doing an edit which might not be what you want. Make echo and other special effects by duplicating a track then time- and velocity-shifting the copy. Double a track on two instruments by duplicating a track then setting the Midi Channel of the copy.
Time-shift Track -- Shift a track forward or backward in time. Use the dialog to set the shift amount in measures, beats, and ticks. Negative numbers shift time backwards.
In addition to echo effects mentioned earlier, time-shift can be used to extend a drum or rhythm section. For instance, to get eight choruses of a 12 bar drum pattern, you could record 12 bars, then duplicate and time-shift eight times, then either Merge tracks or Unmerge to Type 1 under the file menu to put all the patterns on one track.
Merge Tracks -- Merge two tracks into one. This command is not recomended for merging tracks longer than 1000 events or so, because it can become very, very slow on long tracks, due to an inefficient sort algorithm.
Input Channel Menu
If input channel is set to "All" then you can record several Midi channels at one time onto one track, for instance from another sequencer or from a multi-channel guitar controller. Select 1 thru 16 and MiniTrax will record and echo on the selected channel. Midi thru enables Midi echo from the Mac In to the Mac Out. This would normally be left on, but if a Midi device is put in the Mac's In/Out loop which echoes or merges Midi data, a feedback loop could occur. If this happens, disable Midi thru. My JL Cooper sync box merges data, and if it happens to be listening and transmitting to the Mac at the same time, all hell breaks loose if Thru is on.
Input Filter
Select what Midi messages the Mac will thru, record, and load from disk. Some synthesizers send excessive program change messages when you press panel buttons. Controllers such as channel pressure are frequently musically unnecessary in a track, and waste a lot of sequence space. Deal with such issues using the Input Filter Menu.
Main Program Screen
Do not attempt to change any of the menus or screen indicators while MiniTrax is playing or recording. Being a Basic program, MiniTrax cannot afford the time luxury of polling user actions and updating the screen while it is busy recording and/or playing tracks.
MiniTrax does not have a fixed song length in measures. In Record mode, MiniTrax will not automatically stop at the current end of a song. You must click the Stop button to exit Record mode. This is an advantage, as MiniTrax mimics a tape recorder. You can select unused tracks and splice on to the current end of a song without having to worry about re-adjusting sequence-length parameters.
To work on a section in the middle of a song, adjust Cue Point so you do not have to go from the song start just do do an overdub. MiniTrax does not have a "punch in" feature, so record new segments on empty tracks, then merge if you start running short of tracks.
To add program changes to a track, go into record on a spare track and press your program buttons on the controller at the appropriate times. Then merge this track with the track which holds the notes. This method is also useful for overdubbing pitch bend, volume pedal, or modulation.
