Please if you like and use this program, send me $10 (cash or check)
If you are a student or too poor, just send me a postcard !
My postal address is:
Arnaud Masson
22 route d'Epinal
88600 Grandvillers
FRANCE
Known bugs
• Conflict with Connectix RAMDoubler that either causes Netscape to force quit or one's computer to crash when one loads a page with an embedded MIDI file
What's new ?
• 2.0b
First 'serious' version of AMP (it is now a $10 shareware and postcardware for students).
The engine itself hasn't been modified very much since v1.5, but the user interface is very different:
- the main window is nicer and pitch bend are clickable
- new control panel palette (like a CD player)
- new channel setup palettes (to see and change programs and controllers)
- new song catalog window which supports drag&drop from the Finder (to start a song, just double-click a name in the list)
AMP still works with either the MIDI Manager or QuickTime Instruments.
- When it uses QuickTime, AMP is now controller and pitch-bend aware.
- There is a new option for external devices that don't know the volume controller (#7); this can be simulated with the note velocity.
- Program changes in the drum channel can be disabled at startup by checking an option in the preference dialog.
• 2.0.1b
- with QT, the instrument selected is the one displayed (no more n-1 offset)
- the right border of the hilite frame of the song list is drawn
- new 'Rnd' (random play) button
- improved song window drawing
- launching the application with documents doesn't make it crash anymore
- a "Reset all controllers" message is sent a the beginning of each song
- menu commands for Play, Stop, Pause, Forward, Next, Previous, Random
• 2.0.2b
- internal change (a segment is locked)
* 2.0.2b1
- try to fix the bug that makes AMP crash on MacIIci (and probably other Mac). It seems that's caused by the Floating Point Unit (PowerPC haven't that problem because AMP is not PPC native and they don't emulate the MC6888x even if they have their own FPU). Now the player doesn't use floating numbers anymore.
- the player takes less time during background tasks, so it is faster.
* 2.0.2b2
- fix another bug about FPU. This version works with 68k FPU ! Thanks to Joseph ;-)
• 2.1.0b
- New Tracks window
- The tempo control is working again (it did nothing in 2.0.2bX)
- Fix the bug that made a bad tempo with some files in v2.0.2bX
- the files of the 'Songs' window are saved in a pref file when the application quits and they are automatically loaded at the next startup
- nicer buttons in the 'Panel' window
• 2.1.1b
- with QuickTime, notes are played on the 16 channels (not only the first ones)
- minor interface changes
- best display of the program names in the main window
- it is now possible to drag a song name from the song catalog onto the main window to play it
- new finder icon
• 2.2b
- note names are displayed only when the cursor is on the visible part of the main window
- improved program changes with QuickTime (especially with format-1 midi files)
- I have added a MIDI Manager-to-QuickTime converter. It is not needed to use Arnold's MIDI Player itself !!!
It's just to use with other MIDI programs that don't know QuickTime and use only the Midi Manager(if you don't have any external MIDI device)
- better error handling with bad MIDI files
- fix a bug that may make AMP forget files in the 'songs' window list and make it crash
- AMP has not been tested with QuickTime 2.1. It seems that this new version of QT has a control panel that allows the user to choose between several device to play notes. That enables you to use an external GM device connected on a serial port with QuickTime. Also I was told that there is now an n+1 offset with the program numbers ! (cf supra)
- change the WDEF of the floating windows (I am not sure they are working with system prior to 7.5)
• 2.3b
- new 'Karaoke' window. Useful only with files that have a special karaoke lyric track
- counter for each track in the 'Tracks' window
- menu command 'Play…'
- menu command 'Set file creator to AMP' (works on the current loaded file). AMP will be launched when this file will be later double-clicked
- menu command 'Add file in the song list' (useful only when a file is dragged from the Finder onto the main window)
• 2.3.1b
- fix some bugs with 'Notes Off'
- slight changes in QuickTime interface
- improved karaoke display
- change file type 'MIDI' to 'Midi'
- new '√' button and new behaviour for the Play '>' button. '>' tries to play the current loaded song, which means that it only restarts after a 'Stop' or a 'Pause'. '√' checks all the hilited files in the song list and start to play this selection
- fix a bug that may make memory crashes
- some users have problems when they try to switch AMP to the background but I am currently writting these words in SimpleText and AMP plays "Stairway to Heaven" in the background, so it seems to work (?)
• 2.3.2b
- window positions and visibilities are saved in the pref file
- for the files that don't have a tempo track, the default tempo is set to 120 beats/min
- the GM Reset message ($F0 $7E $7F $09 $01 $F7) is sent every time that a song is about to start
- fix a bug about karaoke/song synchro
- improved karaoke display ([next words…])
- changes in pitch bend message processing (for QuickTime & PSS)
• 2.4b
- new window called 'Score' which gives a piano-roll style visualization. Since AMP needs to parse a MIDI file before drawing the window (which is sometime long), this visualization is not done automatically. Once a file has been loaded. you can parse a file by clicking on the button in the top left corner of the Score window.
- when there is a click at the bottom of the song list, it is now impossible to drag an 'empty cell'
- new Karoke window layout
- faster dialog box for 'Play…'. The files shown are the ones of type 'MIDI'/'midi'/'Midi' or ended with '.mid'/'.MID'/'.kar'/'.KAR'
• 2.4.1b (23/12/95)
- Fix the bug that disable application switching when AMP is playing with old system 7.x
- Nicer controllers
- Changes in pitch bend sensitivity message handling
- Open Music System support (thanks to Axel Boel). The OMS software is available at http://www.opcode.com
- You can use QuickTime Music through OMS. It seems faster than the 'native' AMP mechanism but in fact it is only because the prog changes are delayed
- If OMS is used, AMP tries to use the device which was set in the control panel called 'OMS Preferred Device', otherwise a dialog box is displayed
- Resizable karaoke window and a new small/big font button.
• 2.5b (28/1/96)
- You can drag and drop files directly onto the Score window (they are automatically parsed)
- You can now play from anywhere in the song. Just click in the Score window(you must parse the file before by draging it onto the Score window). You can also click in the progress-bar in the Player palette (when the file has been analyzed, the bar is red insted of gray)
- MIDIShare (partial) support. The MIDIShare package is available at http://www.grame.fr
- Fix the bug that makes AMP crash with some MIDI files (I think these are strange files!)
- Nicer about box, new Player palette, Synth menu and other GUI changes
- When the user drags several files onto the main window, only the first one starts to play
- Fix a bug in the Add Song dialog (all folders must be visible now)
- AMP Web page is http://www.planete.net/~amasson/amp.html
• 2.5.1b
- Faster parsing of MIDI files (also really faster than other shareware or commercial programs !)
- Multi-list Songs window
- If the user clicks the progress bar and if the file has not been parsed yet, then the file is parsed and the player goes at the position that has been clicked.
- There is now a Netscape Navigator Plugin version of AMP called MidiPlugin (see my Web page).
• 2.5.2b
- Interface modifications (Karaoke window, Player palette…)
- "Set File Type To AMP" now changes the current file type to 'Midi' (not 'MIDI').
- The scrollbar in the "Songs" window now works when clicked.
- New "Save Lyrics" button in the Karaoke window
• 2.6b (28/4/96)
- Supports type-0 Karaoke file
- Pitch Transposition controls
- [Measure:Beat:Tick] counter in the Player palette
- "Spectrum" or "keyboards" display (2 new commands in the Synthesizer menu)
Things to do…
- Equalizer and global volume control
- Display in real time the name of the chords that are played (Am, A7…)
- Better support of the QuickTime Music Architecture, OMS and MidiShare
- Support of FreeMidi (as soon as the SDK will be available...)
- Midi event list
- Record button and edition commands (Paste, Copy…), Save command
- Take care of small screens (less than 14")
- Enable the user to add lyrics to midi files without a karaoke track
- Build-in ZIP expander
• Look at my new WEB page : http://www.planete.net/~amasson
• Comments & bug reports : amasson@planete.net
• Try the Netscape Navigator Plugin version of Arnold's MIDI Player: MIDIPlugin
• Please support shareware, send me $10. I am doing my national service and the army gives me only food+bed+$100 per month.
