The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso/m/mtracker.zip/MTRACKER.DOC

Text File | 1991-09-29 | 12KB | 250 lines

                      M I D I T R A C K E R  Version 0.9
                       Made in Finland by Patrick Aalto

      First words

        Once upon a time, I happened to come across a program called
      ScreamTracker. It is a program that plays four-channel music,
      using 8-bit sampled waveforms, on a PC. In other words, it plays
      much the same kind of music Amiga is very famous of. It can play
      Amiga NoiseTracker modules, too. It sounds quite good if you have
      a SoundBlaster card.

        As it happened, I did not have a SoundBlaster, so I had to listen
      these modules using the PC internal speaker. I did that for a while,
      until one day I got an idea. Actually, I was just playing something
      with Scream Tracker, when I suddenly thought: 'Hey, wait a minute!
      What the hell am I doing? I'm playing music thru the PC internal
      speaker, although I have a MIDI-card in my PC, and I have a sampler
      sitting idle on my desk! This must be really stupid!' So, I started
      thinking how I could play these modules thru MIDI, and specifically,
      using my Akai X-7000 sampler.

        After a long time of coding and improving the program, which I
      named 'MidiTracker', I finally was able to play ScreamTracker
      modules using my sampler. Then I thought that perhaps someone
      else has the same problem, but as it would be a very strange
      coincidence if that someone would happen to have an Akai sampler
      too, I started to change MidiTracker so it could be used with
      just about any synth. I also added the option to play original
      Amiga modules, although this option is still quite buggy..
      Well, anyways, this program is what I came out with.


      Registration

        There isn't such a thing. This is a free program. I have the
      copyright for this program, but you are free to use and copy it
      any way you like. I programmed it mainly for my personal use,
      so I am just glad (and surprised) if someone else can use it.


      Disclaimer

        I assume no responsibility for damages or loss of busines arising
      out of the use or incorrect use of this program on your machine
      or machines.


      Requirements

        Well, now we got to the hard part. MidiTracker is a pretty
      strange program, as I originally did not intend to make it public.
      Basically, you will need to have these things to get it to work:

        - MPU-compatible MIDI card (or Roland LAPC-I, which is basically
          the same thing).
        - VGA display. MidiTracker uses the 80x50 text mode, which
          exists only on VGA cards. Sorry about this, but, as I said,
          I made it for my personal use..
        - Microsoft or Mouse Systems compatible mouse. Actually,
          MidiTracker would not require you to have a keyboard at all,
          as it NEVER reads ANYTHING from a keyboard! Everything is
          done using a mouse. True 'point and shoot'!


      How to Start MidiTracker

        What do you expect? Just write the name of the program, and
      it starts. Simple, huh?


      The program

        Well, as I said earlier, everything is done with a mouse.
      At the startup, MidiTracker (I'll write it just MT from now on)
      will reset MPU to a so-called 'dumb UART mode'. Then it tries to
      initialize Akai sampler, and gives an error if it doesn't respond.
      Don't mind this error, it is just informative.

        The next thing you should do, is move around with the mouse,
      and see how the short help text at the bottom left side of the
      screen changes. The text tells what happens if you click the
      left mouse button at the current position.

        If you have any MTM (Midi Tracker Module) or MTS (Midi Tracker
      Song) files in the current directory, their names will show in
      the module window. You can load a module by clicking on it's
      name. I have included a couple of songs with this program. I
      hope 'u4ia' doesn't mind that two of them are his works. I really
      like the stuff this guy does, by the way. Of the ten best modules
      I have, about five are from him. I only hope he will get his hands
      on some serious synth stuff, because he really has talent! The
      included modules are set up for Roland MT-32 (or LAPC-I) synth.


      The Commands

        These are the thingys you can do with MT, in a bizarre order:

      1. Change the current drive. Move the mouse into the 'DIRECTORY'
         window, on the drive letter. Click, and select the new drive
         from the pop-up window.

      2. Load a module. Click on a module name in 'MODULES' window to
         load it. Note, that MOD loader is a bit buggy, so all modules
         will not be loaded correctly. Some will, however. :-) You can
         select the type of modules to handle from the ' MTM STM BPM
         MOD D ' list which is under the 'MODULES' window. The file
         types are as follows:
           - MTM / MTS = MidiTracker module / song.
           - STM / STS = ScreamTracker module / song.
           - BPM       = B's ProTracker module (you've never heard of
                         BPT, I know, so never mind about this).
           - MOD       = All sorts of Amiga-originated modules.
           - D         = Not a file type, clicking on it will let you
                         change the current directory. When you have
                         reached the directory that has some modules,
                         click on module type to get a list of all the
                         modules in this directory.

      3. Initialize the synth. Click on ' INIT ' in the 'COMMAND' window
         to upload program and volume data (and to upload samples to
         Akai sampler, if you have one) to your synth. It is a good
         habit to always click on ' INIT ' before starting the play.
         You cannot init while playing, so if you change program change
         data on the fly, pause the song before initting.

      4. Exit from MT. Click on ' EXIT ' to exit. Pretty logical, don't
         you think? Remember to save the module first if you have made
         changes you wish to keep.

      5. Play the song. Click on the play symbol in the tape-deck button
         area to start playing. I would suggest you do not try to start
         playing if you have not loaded a module. And remember to init
         MIDI-channels and all such before playing.

      6. Stop the playing. Click on ' STOP ' to stop the play and rewind
         the song to the beginning. Always stop the song before exiting.
         (Background playing? What's that?)

      7. Select a MIDI channel for an instrument. Click on the 'Ch'
         column to select a MIDI channel from a pop-up window for this
         instrument. Note that many instruments can have the same MIDI
         channel assigned to them, but they will all use the same MIDI
         program/sample data. If an instrument does not have a channel
         assigned, it will be totally ignored.

      8. Select a fixed or transposed note. Click on the 'Not' column
         to select a note for this instrument. You will usually have
         to transpose bass sounds an octave or two down (one octave
         down = -12) to make them sound right while playing thru a
         synth. Also, if you have a synth that has drum sounds assigned
         to certain keys (as in Roland MT-32), you can select them here.
         In this case this instrument will always be played at this one
         fixed note, no matter what it says in the song data.

      9. Select a MIDI program (or sample) number for instrument. Click
         on the 'P/S' column, and select a patch (1..128) or Akai sample
         number from the pop-up window. The patch change will take effect
         only after you click on ' INIT '.

     10. Select looping mode. Click on ' LOOP ' to toggle between looping
         and non-looping mode (the face will change color depending on
         the state of the switch). Note that some modules loop back to
         start from the end automagically.

     11. Click on tape-deck pause symbol to pause the song. This is just
         like 'STOP', nut it will not rewind the song. Resume playing
         from this position by clicking on the play symbol.

     12. Click on 'Bytes'/'Hz'/'LoopS'/'LoopE' -column to toggle between
         the two display modes. The display shows either the length of
         each sample and the sampling frequency, or the loop start and
         end points if this is a looped sample. It is a good idea to
         check whether a sample is looped when deciding what program
         number to use. Looped samples are rarely drums, for example. :-)

     13. Scroll links. 'LINK'-window shows the order in which the various
         patterns are played. You can scroll the list by clicking on the
         up-arrow and down-arrow symbols. You can even do this while the
         song is playing, to cause various interesting effects.

     14. Search rows within a pattern. Click on tape-deck rewind/fast-
         forward symbols to scroll the pattern row. This can also be done
         while the song is playing, to cause some even more interesting
         effects.

     15. Save the module. Click on ' SAVE ' to save the MIDI-specific
         data you may have entered. Note that the module will be saved
         with the original name, but with a '.MTS' or '.MTM' extension.
         You can save the module even while playing it, though I don't
         know why you would want to do that.

     16. Scroll the module window. If you have more modules than fit
         within the window, you can scroll them by clicking on the
         up-arrow and down-arrow symbols at the right border.

     17. Toggle 'Volume Mode'. Click on ' VOLS ' to do this. If the
         'Volume Mode' is on, then all volume data will be sent to
         the synth as controller-7 values. If 'Volume Mode' is off,
         note velocity values will be used. Normally note velocity
         is better, but using it the volume of the note can not
         change while it is playing. Always click on ' INIT ' after
         you have toggled the 'Volume Mode' on or off.


        Well, thats basically it. Let me know what you think about
      this program.


      Missing features:

          - Volume and Pan Position handling.
          - Some way to preview the samples, so one can decide on the
            program/patch to use.
          - If the sample is not looped, but MIDI program is, there
            should be automatic note off when tha sample should have
            ended. Tracker modules usually trust the sample to end
            sometimes if it is not looped.
          - Bug-free handling of Amiga modules.
          - Handling of various special commands in note data. It
            currently handles only timebase (tempo) and pattern
            change commands.
          - Support for Standard Midifiles, and conversion between
            midifiles and modules.


      Thanks to Kim Heino (SysOp of BCG-Box) for help with Amiga
      module handling, etc.


      All trademarks (Roland, Akai, Creative Labs etc) acknowledged.


      Methods for getting in touch with me:

      1. Send e-mail to: [e-mail]

      2. Call BCG-Box ([phone]) and leave a message to 'Patrick
         Aalto'.

      3. Use oldfashioned mail:

         Patrick Aalto
         Hiekkapohjan koulu
         40270 Palokka
         FINLAND