Sound, Music & MIDI Collection 2

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GUS Musician's Digest Thu, 27 Oct 94 12:31 PST Volume 9: Issue 21 Today's Topics: can't find propats on archive.orst.edu and what is ppats2_* GUS Musician's Digest V9 #20 Looking for help on SysEx MIDI Cable (SB) on GUS Midi Cabling (2 msgs) Midi Events Re : Midi Cabling Soundblaster MIDI cable Windows MIDI Sequencers and Bank Addressing Standard Info: - Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest. - Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 26 Oct 94 14:07:14 -0700 From: Fred Handloser <fredh@hpcvusd.cv.hp.com> Subject: can't find propats on archive.orst.edu and what is ppats2_* >Propats are a collection of large (very large) patches that can >be used in place of the ones that are supplied with the GUS. I looked at archive.orst.edu. The top level ls-lR file listed propats in sounds/patches/files but that dir only has about 8 files. I also see ppats2* listed. What are these. Does anybody know of a listing of the description of all the files at the archives ? Thanks for any info, Fred Handloser ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 13:55:44 -0500 (CDT) From: Everett Garnett <eblue@bga.com> Subject: Re: GUS Musician's Digest V9 #20 > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 15:33:17 -0500 > From: "Kent Williams" <cadsi.com!kent@elvis.cadsi.com> > Subject: MIDI Cabling > > GUS Tech support told me that you could use a GUS MIDI cable on a Sound Blaster, > but you couldn't use a Soundblaster MIDI cable on a GUS Max, because "we adhere > to the standard, and they don't." > > Is it me or does this sound like a load of malarkey? In the first place, > has ANYONE besides Creative Labs defined a standard for connecting a MIDI > In/Out pair to a game port? And how could they be wiring a cable that connects > to 5 pins on the game port such that the GUS cable could work both places, > but the Soundblaster only work on the Soundblaster? > > Has anyone tried using the Soundblaster Cable? Does it work? > > OK, I'm done with my Andy Rooney imitation. I'm using a SoundBlaster MIDI interface with my GUS and it works fine. Actually I haven't used the MIDI OUT though. I only use the MIDI In to use the GUS as a sound module. I don't see any reason why the OUT wouldn't work. Also I spoke with the people at Gravis and they told me the exact OPPOSITE they told you...weird huh? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 05:43:03 +0100 From: A.PAUW@ELSEVIER.nl Subject: Looking for help on SysEx Hello there, since I am using my GUS for making music (aren't we all?) and my Roland E16 (they call it `Intelligent Synthesizer', well whatever) is connected to it, I might as well ask you guys if you could help me with it. The E16 is a nice intrument with a touch sensitive response. It has 24 voices, but is `multitimbral' for only 6 channels (1-5) and 10, and 216 sounds which are excellent. The E36, it's big brother, has the same technical setup (24 voice ...) but is really multitimbral and listens to all 16 channels. I think that's the only reason why the E36 is called GM/GS compliant, the bank switching is EXACTLY the same, my E16 is not GM/GS compliant. So what's the problem? Well, on the midi implem. chart of my E16 an obscure `GM/GS enter/exit' sysex is mentioned by name. It is the only one my E16 will recognise. I know from an older model (E35) that it also only listens to a few channels, but if you switch it on with the midi button pressed it switches to GM/GS mode, listening to all channels. The keyboard doesn't work, but you can use it as a sound module! The idea is that this sysex for my E16 will do the same trick, note that my E16 doesn't have a midi button. But what is this `GM/GS enter/exit' sysex, does anybody know? I asked Roland, but somehow I get the feeling costumer service is not common anymore: I had no reply whatsoever. And my dealer can't help me either. Can anyone help me, please? Thanks, Albert Pauw a.pauw@elsevier.nl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 16:12:53 CST From: "David L. Britton" <FISHEAD@unocdc.unomaha.edu> Subject: Re: MIDI Cable (SB) on GUS >Has anyone tried using the Soundblaster Cable? Does it work? Yep, using it right now. I haven't had a lick of problems.... Strange that they'd say that you can't use it. My guess is, they want you to buy their cable (go figure). -- David L. Britton Data Communications Specialist University of Nebraska at Omaha fishead@unocdc.unomaha.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 18:43:58 -0500 (EST) From: efinkler@sun1.iusb.indiana.edu (Big Daddy Ed) Subject: Re: Midi Cabling > Has anyone tried using the Soundblaster Cable? Does it work? I use the one I had from my old SoundBlaster Pro, and I've never had a problem with it. -Ed Arts Industria ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Oct 94 10:09 GMT From: Clarke Brunt <CLARKE@lsl.co.uk> Subject: Re: MIDI cabling >GUS Tech support told me that you could use a GUS MIDI cable on a Sound Blaster, >but you couldn't use a Soundblaster MIDI cable on a GUS Max, because "we adhere >to the standard, and they don't." >Is it me or does this sound like a load of malarkey? A friend got an SB AWE32 and a SoundBlaster MIDI cable. The supplier said it would work with a GUS. I've tried it on mine, and it DOES. Remember though that there are electronics in these cables as well as just wires, to convert the voltage signals on the game port pins to the current loop required by MIDI - the bits must be hidden in the connector of the SB cable - I made my own from the instructions in the FAQ so I have a more chunky box. The only possible difference I can think of is the voltage/current specifications of the MIDI in/out pins on the game port. A long while ago, I seem to remember someone saying that you could make a GUS adapter out of the SB one by changing some resistor or other (I don't even know where you would find the resistor in the SB cable I mentioned). Clarke Brunt ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Oct 94 12:56:33 CDT From: cowles@hydra.convex.com (John Cowles) Subject: Midi Events Recently, Matthew M. Norden, George!!!, and James Andrews have been wondering about midi controllers. Here is a list (almost comprehensive) that I put together for the Cakewalk list a couple of weeks ago. As has already been noted, the GUS supports a small subset of these. If you find errors here, PLEASE let me know so that I can fix them! Thanks! Specifically, for pitchbend sensitivity, the General Midi spec says that the sensitivity defaults to 2 semitones (1 semitone up and 1 semitone down). The GUS can be changed from 0 to 24 semitones (12 semitones up and 12 semitones down). Method: 1. Set 0 in controllers 101 and 100 (Registered Parameter 0 is pitchbend depth) 2. Set the number of semitones of sensitivity in controller 6 (controller 6 is the LSB [least sensitive bits] of 'data entry'). The GUS does not look at controller 38 (the MSB [most sensitive bits] of 'data entry'). You should separate the controller events by 1 or 2 ticks to make sure your sequencer handles them correctly. Remember that you must now set the sensitivity back, so that the next song (which may expect the GM default of 2 semitones) will play correctly. As far as I can see, the pitchbend depth only reinitializes when the Windows driver starts up. [PHAT - Does the GM reset sysex work yet?] John -- John Cowles cowles@hydra.convex.com CompuServe: 72074,451 Convex Computer Corp. 214 497 4375 3000 Waterview Pkwy Richardson, Tx. 75080 Howdy Folks! I have put together a list of midi events which can occur in a standard midi file (note that some midi events do NOT occur in SMF's). Undoubtedly I have made many errors, so if you find one, please let me know and I'll update my list! With only one or two exceptions I have used decimal numbers throughout my list. (F0 and F7 are well-known as the beginning and end of system exclusive messages, for instance, whereas 240 and 247 will probably not be recognized as readily.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Midi events in a Standard Midi File Note that all events (except meta events) have a time associated with them. Note also that some numeric values use a 7-bit encoding scheme, where the high-order bit of every byte except the last is set to show continuation. (So don't expect to use the debugger to EASILY recognize the following events!) 1. Meta events Some of these events are track-specific, and some are sequence-specific. MThd - Midifile header (This is a literal text string). The header contains a header length (always 6), a midifile type (0,1,or 2), the number of tracks, a byte for the number of frames(clocks)/sec, and a byte for the number of ticks per frame. MTrk - Track header (This is a literal text string). This is followed by a track length. Note that there is no concept of 'track number' except by relative position within the file. 0 - Sequence number - value Used in (rare) type2 midifiles with multiple sequences. 1 - Text - text string This can occur anywhere. 2 - Copyright - text string In a type1 midifile, the first track is usually used for non-performance information, including copyright, tempo, SMPTE offset, markers, cue points, and time and key signatures. This track is often called the 'tempo' track or the 'commander' track and is not usually visible from software sequencers. 3 - Sequence/Track name - text string When on the 'commander' track (in a type1 midifile) it is a sequence name, when on any other track, it is the track name. 4 - Instrument name - text string This is often referred to as 'Name 2'. 5 - Lyric - text string This can occur anywhere, and allows 'sing-along' displays. 6 - Marker - text string Markers occur at a 'relative' point in the sequence - if data is inserted before the marker, the marker will move. If the tempo is changed, the time of the marker will change. A 'cue-point' looks like a marker, but it stays at a specific point in time. 7 - Cue point (Time-locked marker) - text string 32 - Channel prefix - value I don't know about this event. Not normally used. 33 - Output port - value This is used by software sequencers to specify where output midi data for the track on which it occurs should be sent. For instance, if this occurs on track 7 and the value is 3, all data from track 7 should be sent to midi output port 3. 47 - End of Track 81 - Tempo - value (microseconds/quarter note) Note that software sequencers normally calculate quarter notes per minute from this information. 84 - SMPTE offset - value (hr,min,sec,frame,fractional fr) The SMPTE time at which the sequence should begin playing. 88 - Time signature - value (sig, midi clocks, 32nd notes) This is four values. The time signature itself consists of a numerator and denominator. The numerator is the actual value, but the denominator is a power of 2; thus 4/4 would be 4 2 and 6/8 would be 6 3. 'Midi clocks' is the number of midi clocks per second (usually taken from the midifile header), and is almost always 24. The last number is for people who wish to rewrite the normal rules of music, and is the number of 32nd notes per quarter note. I have never seen it other than 8. 89 - Key signature - value (sig,majmin) A minus value indicates that many flats; a plus value indicates the number of sharps; a 0 indicates the key of C (or Am). The second value is 0 for major and 1 for minor. 127 - Sequencer specific data - byte count plus values This is for hardware sequencers. 2. Channel events (16 values each: 1 for each channel) 80-95 - Note on plus note number and velocity 96-111 - Note off plus note number and velocity Often 'note off' is replaced by a 'note on' with a zero velocity. Even where 'note off' IS used, 'note off velocity' is RARE! 112-127 - Polyphonic aftertouch for a particular note 128-143 - Control change plus controller and value (see below) 144-159 - Program (patch) change plus new program 160-175 - Channel aftertouch for all notes in a channel 176-191 - Pitch wheel change plus value 0-16383 (-8192 - 8191) 3. System Exclusive Events 240 - Begin system exclusive 247 - End or continue system exclusive Normal short message sysex's consist of 'F0'h, instrument id bytes, data length, data, [check-sum], and 'F7'h. If the last value is NOT 'F7'h, the NEXT value should be, followed by a data length and the next sysex chunk until the last bye is 'F7'h. 4. Midi controllers Originally, the idea was to have three groups of controllers: 'continuous controllers' whose values would change between 0-127, on/off controllers whose significant values would be 0 and 127 (for off and on), and special-purpose controllers. This has been adhered to pretty well, but not strictly, as can be seen. 0 - Bank select MSB Due to the fact the the Most Significant Bits (MSB) of continuous controllers 0-31 have lower numbers than the Least Significant Bits (LSB) of the same controllers, a great deal of confusion and many different interpretations are used for bank select. While some companies used both controllers in tandem ( 0 and 32), some of them reversed the sense of MSB-LSB. Other companies discard one or the other of these controllers. For instance, the original Roland SC-55 used JUST controller 0. The new SC-88 uses both controllers, but with 32 as MSB and 0 as LSB. Some of the current Korg instruments use only controller 32. Some companies do bank selection in other ways: sysex, or multiple patches. To my knowledge, only bank select and data entry use these pairings. 1 - Modulation wheel MSB 2 - Breath controller MSB 3 - Continuous controller #3 (unassigned) MSB 4 - Foot controller MSB 5 - Portamento time MSB This works in conjunction with controller 65 which turns the feature off or on. 6 - Data entry MSB Controller 6 and controller 38 are used together as data values for RPN and NRPN settings. (see below) 7 - Main volume MSB 8 - Balance controller MSB 9 - Continuous controller #9 (unassigned) MSB 10 - Pan controller MSB 11 - Expression controller MSB 12 - Effect Control 1 MSB 13 - Effect Control 2 MSB 14-15 - Continuous controllers #14-15 (unassigned) MSB 16-19 - General purpose controllers #1-4 MSB These controllers are supposed to be used for strobe lights, engines to raise and lower curtains (in a theater), etc. Note that these controllers are paired with controllers 48-51, but that general purpose controllers #5-8 are single controllers only. 20-31 - Continuous controllers #20-31 (unassigned) MSB 32-63 - Least significant bytes for #0-31 LSB 64 - Damper pedal on/off (Sustain) - 0=off - 127=on 65 - Portamento on/off - 0=off - 127=on 66 - Sustenuto on/off - 0=off - 127=on 67 - Soft pedal on/off - 0=off - 127=on 68 - Legato footswitch on/off - 0=off - 127=on 69 - Hold2 on/off - 0=off - 127=on 70-79 - Sound controllers #1-10 These controllers are meant to control external effects processors. 80-83 - General purpose controllers #5-8 84-90 - Unassigned 91 - External effects depth (reverb) 92 - Tremolo depth 93 - Chorus depth 94 - Celeste (detune) depth 95 - Phaser depth 96 - Data entry +1 - 127 97 - Data entry -1 - 127 98 - Non-registered parameter number LSB 99 - Non-registered parameter number MSB Non-registered parameters are parameters that are specific to a particular company or synth. On the Roland Sound Canvas series, for instance, they are used to control how the sound envelope changes as the modulation controller (and other controllers) change. They are used in conjunction with the data entry controllers. 100 - Registered parameter number LSB 101 - Registered parameter number MSB As far as I know, there are currently 3 registered parameters: Pitch bend depth (from 0 to 24 semitones), coarse tuning, and fine tuning. These controllers are used in conjunction with the data entry controllers. 102-119 - Unassigned 120 - All sounds off - 0 122 - Local control on/off - 0=off 127=on 123 - All notes off - 0 124 - Omni mode off (includes all notes off) - 0 125 - Omni mode on (includes all notes off) - 0 126 - Mono mode on/off(includes all notes off) - 0-15 127 - Poly mode on(incl mono=off&all notes off) - 0 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 13:13:13 +0800 (WST) From: Bruce Wilson <brucew@cs.curtin.edu.au> Subject: Re : Midi Cabling > > GUS Tech support told me that you could use a GUS MIDI cable on a Sound Blaster, > but you couldn't use a Soundblaster MIDI cable on a GUS Max, because "we adhere > to the standard, and they don't." > > Is it me or does this sound like a load of malarkey? In the first place, > has ANYONE besides Creative Labs defined a standard for connecting a MIDI > In/Out pair to a game port? And how could they be wiring a cable that connects > to 5 pins on the game port such that the GUS cable could work both places, > but the Soundblaster only work on the Soundblaster? > > Has anyone tried using the Soundblaster Cable? Does it work? > Yes, I have tried the standard SB PRO midi kit cable with the GUS without and problems, I have rev 3.4 i think...And I'm sure even the manual refers to the SB cable... -- Bruce Wilson brucew@cs.curtin.edu.au ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 15:54:36 -0500 (CDT) From: Chris Bongaarts <bong0004@gold.tc.umn.edu> Subject: Soundblaster MIDI cable In the immortal words of Kent Williams: >Has anyone tried using the Soundblaster Cable? Does it work? Yes. I have a SB midi cable between my GUSMAX and an old, cheap Casio (CT-650?). Works fine for that, both in and out. Dunno if it will break if you hook up more things, or have a more "standard" keyboard than mine... ============================================ bong0004@gold.tc.umn.edu Chris Bongaarts http://reality.cs.umn.edu bong0004@mermaid.itlabs.umn.edu Univ. of Minnesota /~cbongaar/cbongaar.html cbongaar@reality.cs.umn.edu My opinions are my own, and they are right. cbongaar@nyx.cs.du.edu GeekCode2.1: GCS d-- s !g p1 a20 w+ C+++ ULS++ P+++ L+ E N+++ K+++ W M++ H !V -po+ Y-- t+ 5 R G* tv b++ D+ B- e+ u+ h! f+ r* n---- y? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 16:16:57 CST From: "David L. Britton" <FISHEAD@unocdc.unomaha.edu> Subject: Windows MIDI Sequencers and Bank Addressing What sequencers support multiple banks natively? It's great that patch manager supports it.... but I would like a little more. Also, With Cakewalk 3.0, will the blasted 256k addressability limit for GUS patches be eliminated. Just a few questions (FAQs?) David L. Britton Data Communications Specialist University of Nebraska at Omaha fishead@unocdc.unomaha.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Oct 1994 11:13:48 +0100 From: Piotr Klosowski <general@zeus.polsl.gliwice.pl> ------------------------------------------------------- Hi, Greetings from Poland. I am interested to contact with You by E-mail. I have GUS (a MAX version), and I am searching interested people GUSers. I am a student of Silesian Technical University. I am working at sound analysis and speech sinthesis. I would appreciate an early reply. Yours faitchfully Piotr <general@zeus.gliwice.edu.pl> --------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of GUS Musician's Digest V9 #21 *********************************** To post to tomorrow's digest: <gus-music@mail.orst.edu> To (un)subscribe or get help: <gus-music-request@mail.orst.edu> To contact a human (last resort): <gus-music-owner@mail.orst.edu> FTP Sites Archive Directories --------- ------------------- Main N.American Site: archive.orst.edu pub/packages/gravis wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/ibmpc/ultrasound Main Asian Site: nctuccca.edu.tw PC/ultrasound Main European Site: src.doc.ic.ac.uk packages/ultrasound Main Australian Site: ftp.mpx.com.au /ultrasound/general /ultrasound/submit South African Site: ftp.sun.ac.za /pub/packages/ultrasound Submissions: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound/submit Newly Validated Files: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound Mirrors: garbo.uwasa.fi mirror/ultrasound ftp.st.nepean.uws.edu.au pc/ultrasound ftp.luth.se pub/msdos/ultrasound Gopher Sites Menu directory ------------ -------------- Main Site: src.doc.ic.ac.uk packages/ultrasound WWW Pages --------- Main Site: http://www.cs.utah.edu/~debry/gus.html Main European Site: http://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/ultrasound/ Main Australian Site: http://ftp.mpx.com.au/archive/ultrasound/general/ http://ftp.mpx.com.au/archive/ultrasound/submit/ http://ftp.mpx.com.au/gravis.html Mirrors: http://www.st.nepean.uws.edu.au/pub/pc/ultrasound/ MailServer For Archive Access: Email to <mail-server@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de> Email to <ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk> New Submit Files Mailing List: Email to <listproc@uni-konstanz.de> with content "subscribe epas-list <your-name-here>" Hints: - Get the FAQ from the FTP sites or the request server. - Mail to <gus-music-request@mail.orst.edu> for info about other GUS related mailing lists (general use, programmers, etc.).