EnigmA Amiga Run 1996 March

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/ EnigmA Amiga Run 1996 March / EnigmA AMIGA RUN 05 (1996)(G.R. Edizioni)(IT)[!][issue 1996-03][Skylink CD IV].iso / earcd / music / prctmidi.lha / anleitung.txt next >

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Text File | 1996-01-30 | 13KB | 295 lines

Project: MIDI ------------- Version 1.01 (C) 1995, 96 by Matthias Specht 1. WHAT'S IT?? ----------- Project MIDI is a Tool to use your Amiga as a MIDI-Instrument! Load some samples from disk, assign them to the MIDI-keys, choose a MIDI-Channel for the Amiga - and your Amiga will play the samples like you tell her!! 2. WHAT DO I NEED? --------------- - The program (ProjectMIDI) [assign the directory where the program is as 'ZMIDI:'!! Example: The PRG is in the directory sdh0:soundtools -> Execute "assign ZMIDI: sdh0:soundtools" !! The best way: Put it in your Startup-Sequence] - Amiga OS 2.0 or higher!!!! - A MIDI-Interface & cables - A MIDI-Sequencer / Keyboard (Project: MIDI doesn't make any sense without it!) - Some cool samples, a digitizer in the best case! 3. HOW TO START/INSTALL IT ----------------------- [Sorry, I didn't use the easy Commodore-Installer, but it isn't hard at all, and I think that every Amiga-user should know what the Shell is - or (s)he isn't worth to use my little child...(s)he/it won't be able to zip this txt on the screen, anyway] A simple start: - Boot your (>= OS 2.0) Workbench +++++ - Open a Shell (or CLI) - Type in (without the ",<,>): "assign ZMIDI: <the directory where ProjectMIDI is>" Example: "assign ZMIDI: ram:" - Start the PRG with a DoubleClick on the Icon or from the Shell A cool install: - Make a new directory for the PRG, if you want ******* - Copy the following files to the new drawer or where the hell you wanna have it: - ProjectMIDI - ProjectMIDI.info - insert the following line in your startup-sequence: assign ZMIDI: <your drawer, where you've put the PRG> - help yourself to a beer, work done!!! 4. SHORT: THE MENU-POINTS & GADGETS -------------------------------- Menu-Points: OPEN : Opens a previously saved project SAVE (AS) : Saves the project you're working at ABOUT : Try this, and your Amiga will speak a prayer QUIT : YES! It will quit the project and you'll exit ->BE CAREFULL! START : Will start the connection to your MIDI-Sequencer. The Amiga is an instrument now! STOP : Stops the previously startet operation. You can change your Project now. The Amiga isn't an instrument anymore! She has her own mind now!! LOAD A SAMPLE : Opens a requester where you can choose a sample to load. REMOVE A SAMPLE : Removes the marked sample (if it isn't used by a key) SET SERIALPORT : Hope you won't need this. The normal BAUDRATE is 31250, and you shouldn't have any problems with it. I included this only because my old A2000(-A!!!!!) needs about 4 hours to be warm enough to work fine.... ---------> HEY! If you're a hardcore-hacker, check this out: The longer the A2000 runs, the higher is the rate she accepts as '31250'. Directly after a power-up, it is 30050. Four hours later, it is 31250...what COULD it be? I suggest that the old PAULA is retired, but I ain't sure. If you have ANY Idea, please tell me!! The SIZE OF THE BUFFER means the number of bytes which can be buffered. Perhaps you have to increase it on slow Amigas and excessive use of the serialport. SET MEM ACCESS : A window comes up, where you can switch between use of chip- memory only or chip- & fast-memory. Only samples in chip-mem can be played by the Amiga-Sound-Hardware, that means that samples in the fast-mem have to be copied th chip-mem when they are played. That means high CPU-usage, 68'000-Amigas might have troubles with the necessary speed, but it works fine on my old A500 (with the default buffer-size). -Size of Buffers in CHIP-MEM: I use 8 buffers in the chipmem (2 for every channel, double-buffering). That means that you will loose 8 * this size! If this size is to small, the Amiga has to copy an extremely high number of small datapackets. Every packet causes an overhead (CPU-time will be lost). But if you choose a size which is to large, you loose memory and the system has to copy some very big packets and this could cause timing-problems. You see, choose the size wisely...you must TRY to find the right one, it can't be calculated. -# of Bytes copied before start: Before the sample can be played, it has to be in chip-mem. Here, you can choose the number of bytes which have to be copied before the Amiga starts playing. To large = delay in the sound, To small = the Amiga plays bytes which aren't in the sample... SWITCH AUDIO FILTER: Switches the Audio Filter on / off. Watch at your Power LED... Gadgets: MIDI-Channel : Choose the MIDI-Channel under which your Amiga-Instrument should work Sound-Channel: Choose the Amiga-Sound-Channel on which the smaple should be played Play Sample : Play the sample which is marked in the "Sample List" Take Sample : Takes the marked sample, the chosen Sound-Channel and burns it into the marked key (on the keyboard in the under part) Edit Key : Opens a window where you can edit the marked key, that means you can change the Sample-Period and the Sound- Channel or even clear the key!! Click on 'DONE' or the Close-Gadget to leave, both is the same. 5. AN INTRODUCTION TO Project: MIDI ------------------------------- First, connect your Amiga to your MIDI-System in putting the MIDI-Inter- face into the Serial-Port. DO THIS WITH YOUR MACHINE TURNED OFF!!!!! Second, start the program. (Start/Install see above, point 3) Then, load the samples you wanna use in your song. YEAH! Now, you can see them in the 'Sample List'!!! Click on one of them. It's marked now. Click on 'Play Sample' - and listen to your stereo... Now to something completely different: The Keyboard below. One key is allways marked, and you can read the informations about it in the upper left corner. Another component of your new world is the "Informations:" field, where you can read some errors, messages and other shit. If you have problems - look at it!! Ouh, yes, you have loaded your samples (if the PRG wasn't able to load them see point 6 - problems). Now, click on one of the keys on the key- board - it is marked now. Click on 'Take Sample'. Watch now at the key- information-field - and you will read something. That means that the sample is now assigned to the key - abstract: if you press the key of your new Amiga-instrument, she'll play the sample!! Hope you understood the principle - you aren't new to the MIDI-Stuff, are you? O.K. - The next gadget ist the MIDI-Channel-field. Hope you know what a MIDI-Channel is. Choose the channel on which your Amiga will be active. If you wanna change the parameters of a key, click on 'Edit Key'. There you can change the sampling-rate and the sound-channel...OOOOH! THE SOUND-CHANNEL: As you know, the Amiga has four sound-channels. For every key you can/must choose a channel on which the sample will be played. ATTENTION: If a key is 'pressed' which startes a sample on a channel on which another sample is already running at this time, the running sam- ple will be abortet and the new will be started immediately! You see: Choose the channel carefully! If you have chosen all your samples & keys, I suggest you to save the configuration. Pick easily 'SAVE AS' out of the menu and all the NAMES of the samples and the configuration of the keyboard will be saved. Note that the sample-datas aren't saved, so the file is much shorter but Project: MIDI needs the directories/disks where the samples are again when you load the project!! Now, let the party begin. Choose START out of the OPERATION-Menu. Your Amiga is an instrument now. (STOP! Your Amiga is a multitasking ma- chine, and I've programmed this PRG with respect to it, but we won't go to far in this small text, will we?) The only thing you can do in Project: MIDI now is to pick STOP out of the OPERATION-Menu. But you can play on her with your MIDI-Sequencer!! And watch the keyboard: It's played by a ghost... Hope you understood. Or do you have the courage to call me up under the address below? 5.5 NEWS in this version ---- - Bug in 'remove a sample' detected & killed. - Error in sample-reader which caused 'blips' (noise at the start of a sample) removed. - In Version <= 1.00 were some errors in recieving the MIDI-commands. Is O.K. now. - Audio-Filter switch. - The bigest bug was that samples >128 kb haven't been played right - but now it's ok! - You can use FAST-MEMORY!!! If you have only chip-memory : Turn the use of fast-mem of, you'll have more memory to use! (If fast-mem is installed: aumatically switched on, of no fast-mem: automatically switched off) - Memory-control: A new little field shows the free mem and the largest free blocks. - Some bugs removed. - Errors will come up in a requester and other small beautyfull tricks!! 6. PROBLEMS (which will never occur!!! (??)) -------- - You wanted to load a sample - Error in the IFF-Structure reported: Save your samples as IFF-FILES! And DON'T COMPRESS them!! Sorry, but I was to lazy to include a superb IFF-Reader and to check out how the IFFParse.Library works - so, I have to say that there might be problems. If you can't load uncompressed IFF-Samples, try this: Load them into another Sound-PRG (not the same in which you have saved them the last time) and sav'em again. Perhaps Project: MIDI can read this versions...(Try it with AUDIOMASTER!!!) - You can't see the entire screen (the keyboard is cutted): You're working on an NTSC-Amiga. Put it in Pal-Mode. If you can't but REALLY wanna have this PRG, contact me. If it is needed, I'll make a NTSC-Version. - Other problems / Bug-report: See address below. 7. COPYRIGHT --------- This program is in the public domain. It may be copied as often as possible, but *only* WITH THIS TEXTFILE inluded, WITHOUT ANY CHANGES at the files and for NO MONEY!!!! (Money for copying and for a disk is o.k., but only $2 or so!!!) PD-Series/CD-Compilations: I would like to see my child on sth. like that! See restrictions above and PLEASE inform me where & when you put it! 8. HOW TO CATCH ME --------------- I'm: Matthias Specht (Who told that I'm Zarros of Z-The Revenge???) Höhenstrasse 43 CH-9230 Flawil Switzerland Or am I this guy? : mspecht@iiic.ethz.ch I would like you to contact me! I would like you even more to send me money, a cool CD, your old damaged or your new fast Amiga, a thrilling book, a good wine or something else! 9. I SAW ELVIS! ------------ Stop eating meat. Stop hating. Stop killing. START THINKING! Don't believe everything some authorities say. THINK! 10. WHERE? ------ Do you know the Misfits? - If yes, listen to Mommy... Do you know Head Like A Hole? - If no, go watch'em! Have you coded a DEMO/INTRO? - Please send me!!! (I'll take even some boring system-oriented PRGs like P.:M. Main thing: you have done it yourself) Get Z-REVENGE from Aminet/demos/euro! Are you down? Listen the song 'Another Perfect Day' of the holy Lemmy & co.!