Sound, Music & MIDI Collection 2

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Text File | 1995-07-05 | 18.7 KB | 436 lines

********************************************************************** MegaMID v1.11 -+ The DOS MIDI player +- ********************************************************************** *** IMPORTANT : Setup information - read this first *** To get MegaMID working, you need to: - Place all the following files in a directory: MEGAMID.EXE NORMAL.F6T NORMAL.F4T G_MIDI.PAT MT32.PAT - Add that directory to your PATH statement. Otherwise, MegaMID will not be able to locate the files it needs. ********************************************************************** ### USAGE ### Format : MEGAMID <MIDI file> [options] or MEGAMID @<script file> [options] Where : <MIDI file> Name of the MIDI file you wish to play. If no extension is given, the extension .MID is assumed. Any valid DOS path can also be specified as part of the filename. Wildcards like * and ? can also be specified. If wildcards are used, MegaMID will play all the songs that match the wildcard specifications. EXAMPLES : MEGAMID demo0011 MEGAMID \MID\POP\* /MPU MEGAMID D:\MID\SAMPLES\DEMO0001.MID /K0 /SBMIDI <script file> This is a text file containing a list of MIDI files to play in sequential order - sort of a album file if you like. Options (given below) specific to each MIDI file can also be specified. Any valid DOS path can also be specified along with the filename. The wildcards * and ? can also be used. EXAMPLE : MEGAMID @SONGS.ALB where the text file SONGS.ALB could contain: ALMONDS /E POP\STRIVING JAZZ\NEW_YORK D:\MID\CLASSIC\* C:\WINDOWS\CANYON /E /K2 [options] The optional options :) They are - /MPU Use the Roland MPU-401 interface (default). Automatically detects whether the port address is 300h or 330h. Other port addresses not checked. /SBMIDI Use the Sound Blaster's MIDI OUT interface. Only port 220h is currently supported. /QUIET Quiet mode. Plays the songs while not playing the song... No sound devices required! /GMIDI Use the General MIDI patches (default). /MT32 Use the MT-32 patches. Good for playing MIDI files written for the Roland MT-32, LAPC-1, CM-64, CM-32L or other devices using similar patch maps. /D10 Use channel 10 as the drum channel(default). /D16 Use channel 16 as the drum channel. What MegaMID does is that it reroutes all events designated for channel 16 to channel 10, and everything meant for channel 10 to 16. This option is good for playing those MIDI files that use channel 16 for drums (like those meant for the SB FM synthesizer chip) on your General MIDI device. /G Use the General MIDI specs(default). This means that all 16 channels are active, and channel 10 is set as the drum channel. /E Uses the Extended MIDI specs. Sets channels 1 to 10 ON, and channels 11-16 OFF. Picks channel 10 as the drum channel. /B Uses the Base MIDI specs. Sets channels 1 to 10 OFF, and channels 11 to 16 ON. Picks channel 16 as the drum channel, and reroutes it to channel 10. /FAST Plays the MIDI file as fast as your computer can go. During that time, you cannot exit MegaMID until playback stops (which shouldn't take too long). This option is good for finding out the total playback time of the file, or for some really weird music. /K0 Select bar display mode. All notes played appear on the screen as colour bars (vertical lines). This is the default mode. /K1 Select keyboard display mode 1. All notes played appear as highlighted keys on keyboards. /K2 Select keyboard display mode 2. Similar to keyboard mode 1 except that only "keyboards" of active channels will be shown. /WC<BMP file> Use the specified BMP file as background, centred. BMP file may also be placed anywhere in search path. /WT<BMP file> Use the specified BMP file as background, tiled. BMP file may also be placed anywhere in search path. /PL<color> Specify set of colors used for background bitmap. The range of <color> is from 0 to 8. If not specified, a set of colors is chosen randomly. /MV<volume level> Sets the initial Master Volume level. Valid values are 0 to 127. Regularly used parameters can also now be placed in the file - MEGAMID.CFG ! Command-line parameters will have precedence over parameters specified in the configuration file. If a script file is specified, any parameters found in the script file will have precedence over all other parameters. For example, if you have /G and /K1 in MEGAMID.CFG, and specify /E in your command line, /E will have precedence over /G (since they are of the same class of parameters), but it will not affect the /K1 parameter. ********************************************************************** ### CONTROL KEYS ### While a song is playing, the following keys below can be used to perform specific functions : Up/Dn Arrow Select Channel +/- Change patch ,/. Change drum kit [/] Change tempo Bkspace Restore original patch settings and tempo M Mute/Unmute current channel S Solo - turn current channel on and mute all other channels A All channels on v/b Increase/Decrease master volume V/B Increase/Decrease master volume in fine steps P Pause/Unpause C Change background colors K Toggle bar mode/keyboard mode 1/keyboard mode 2 ENTER End current song and play next song if available ESC Quit MegaMID completely ********************************************************************** ### YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED ### (Well, some of them anyway!) *** What does MegaMID do ? *** MegaMID plays MIDI files (those with extension .MID) through whatever MIDI device you have connected to the Roland MPU-401 interface or SB MIDI port - with a lot of style! MegaMID will also work if you have a daugtherboard installed - like Wave Blaster, Roland SCD, etc. MegaMID also works with the Gravis Ultrasound under Roland emulation mode (by running MEGAEM + EMUSET). It does not sound as good as the GUS native mode, of course. MegaMID will probably also work with the SB AWE32 if the AWEUTIL TSR is used. This has not been tested though... *** Why was MegaMID written ? *** I saw the GUS's DOS-base MID file player (PLAYMIDI.EXE) and fell in love with it. As far as I know, there is nothing else like it for other sound cards - I was really disappointed. I own a Sound Blaster 16 as well as a Sound Blaster Pro, and managed to get the Yamaha TG100 Tone Generator - a General MIDI device, and I wanted something just as cool (as PLAYMIDI) to play my 1000+ MIDI files. Therefore, I set out to write one... MegaMID is something like PLAYMIDI was, and more. I crammed it with just about every feature I wished PLAYMIDI had! *** What hardware do I need ? *** MegaMID should run even on a 16 Mhz 286 with 640K RAM and a VGA display. It's interrupt driven, so it will run just fine if you have 100Mhz Pentium though (and not at some breakneck speed). At this moment, MegaMID supports playback via the Sound Blaster family MIDI port. That means you must have a SB, SB Pro or SB 16 for it to work. Now, to hear something, you will need some sort of MIDI device connected to the SB MIDI port - like a tone module (eg. Roland MT-32, LAPC-1, Sound Canvas) or a MIDI keyboard. Roland MPU-401 support has now been added to MegaMID! This also means that all other devices and sound cards that emulates the Roland are also supported by MegaMID. This includes the Gravis Ultrasound under MEGAEM + EMUSET(Roland emulation) and possibly the SB AWE32 (with the AWEUTIL TSR). There is no support yet for the FM chip, but hopefully this and other devices will be supported in future releases of MegaMID. This version of MegaMID only supports the SB port address of 220H (default). If you are using another port address, please change it back to 220H or be patient and wait for the next release of MegaMID. *** Why can't I hear anything when MegaMID is playing ? *** Probably because you have a Sound Blaster and nothing else. With a Sound Blaster card, you need an external MIDI device in order to hear what MegaMID is playing. *** Why doesn't any text appear when I use MegaMID ? *** MegaMID can't find the font files (.F?T) and patch files (.PAT). The most common reason is that MegaMID was run from outside its own directory, and MegaMID can't find those files. To fix this, just add the MegaMID directory to your DOS path. ************************************************************************ ## REVISION HISTORY ## Version 1.11 29th April 1995. - Added in the ability for MegaMID to read in script or album files, along with command-line parameters specific to each file! When a script file is used, the ESC key can be used to exit MegaMID (ie. stop all songs), and the ENTER key for terminating current song (and to play the next song if it exists). - MegaMID now accepts wilcards in the MIDI filename. If wildcards are specified, MegaMID will play all the songs that match the wildcard specifications. - Added in the /QUIET mode! You can now show MegaMID off to friends without soundcards and make them wish they had one! - Also added wildcard handling for album files. - Added in ability to read in BMP files, and to tile or center them. MegaMID can currently read 4, 8 and 24-bit color formats, as well as OS/2 and Windows RGB-encoded formats. It cannot yet handle Windows RLE-encoded formats. Loaded all BMPs are converted to 64-color greyscale before they are displayed. - Added in the C key to change background colors. - Modified (OK, fixed) the way SysEx messages are handled. Think it works better now. MegaMID now also handles F7h type SysEx messages. - Added in Master Volume control - achieved using the SysEx sequence: F0 7F 7F 04 01 11 xx F7 The range of volume control is from 0 to 127, and can be achieved using keyboard with the keys v/b, or V/B for finer steps. An vertical bar on the bottom-left of the screen shows the current volume level. - Can also set initial master volume from command line using the /MV parameter. Version 1.10 17th April 1995. - Fixed a bug which causes some command line parameters to be skipped. - Added in user interaction! Users can now use the Up/Down arrow keys to select a channel (An arrow points to the channel you have selected). Then, use the following keys to : +/- Change patch ,/. Change drum kit [/] Change tempo Bkspace Restore original patch settings M Mute/Unmute current channel S Solo - turn current channel on and mute all other channels A All channels on P Pause/Unpause K Toggle bar mode/keyboard mode 1/keyboard mode 2 (see below) - Added in keyboard mode, where played notes appear as hightlighted keys on keyboards! Looks really cool, and good for picking off notes and chords, and generally seeing what the piece would look like when played on a keyboard (with 10 octaves!). This mode can be selected using command-line parameters, or toggled using the "K" key. Keyboard mode 1 shows keyboards of all 16 channels, whereas keyboard mode 2 shows keyboards of channels that are actually used (ie. notes are/have been played on that particular channel. This mode is good for making the screen less cluttered (ie. when there's just a solo piano track playing). The pitch bend indicator- marked "P", is placed on the right of the keyboard display in the keyboard modes. I wasn't going to make those keyboards `bend' ! - Fixed a problem that causes certain MID files to crash the computer and/or shift the polyphony display around! It is caused by the MIDI stream having a velocity v=0 note-on (equivalent to note-off) without having played that note earlier. At this stage, me thinks all fatal bugs have been squashed! - Added in configuration file option ! MegaMID will read in parameters from the file MEGAMID.CFG, if it exists. Saves you from typing those regularly used parameters! - Keyboard is active when song is paused! This means that song tempo, patch assignments, channel muting etc. can be performed while song is stopped. Just press P again to unpause. Version 1.02 6th April 1995. - Finally fixed this problem that causes some songs to hang. It's not the fault of my player, really, but the quirkiness of the songs - a NOTE OFF (0x80) is sometimes received before a NOTE ON (0x90) for a note with duration of zero ! - Fixed a bug which causes MegaMID to report 'Unknown Type : ...'. This is caused by my mistake in assuming that (0xFF) event message size formats is ONE BYTE wheras it is actually in the format identical to the one used for time-stamping the events... - The text window now actually scrolls the old text up to accommodate new ones when they are received. Version 1.01 29th March 1995. - Added support for the MPU-401, thanks to programming info from Martin Biribauer and Bernie Maier. Tested MPU-401 support on the GUS, courtesy of Wong Sui Jye. - Minor display changes. - Added the key display. Not many MIDI files seem to specify the key of the song, so it's not being used much. I might take it out in later versions... Version 1.00 12th March 1995. First release? Features : - Handles Type 0 (single track) and Type 1 (multi-track) MIDI formats. - Handles files with up to 256 tracks. - Maximum MIDI file size that can be loaded is limited only by amount of free conventional memory (I've loaded a 300K+ file before!). - Uses the VGA 320x200 256-color mode. - Displays the name of the instrument selected for each channel! - Has General MIDI as well as MT-32 instrument patch names. - Displays Roland GS drum kits selected for the drum channel. - Able to remap channel 16 to channel 10 as the active drum channel! - Supports mapping of Base or Extended MIDI to General MIDI. - Transmits all Program Change, Channel Aftertouch, Controllers, Pitch Bend, Note On, Note Off, Key Aftertouch and SysEx messages. - All notes currently played on each 16 channels appear as vertical bars on the screen on a 9-octave range (any note above that range ie. >112 mucks up the screen but does no damage). - The brightness of each individual note displayed corresponds to the velocity of the note; the darker or brighter the note is, the softer or harder it was hit. - Notes actually "bend" when the pitch-bender is used - looks really cool! (people who have seen the GUS PLAYMIDI program will know what I mean) - Displays the TEMPO; good for tracking tempo changes. - Able to handle up to 150 notes polyphony without crashing. Why so many, you ask? STRIVING.MID tried to play 109 notes simultaneously (it's right at the end...) and fried MegaMID. Anyway, it'll start mucking up the screen if it's more than about 40 notes. No damage though... - Displays current polyphony as a dynamic bar, with peak polyphony hold. - Gives the numerical value of the maximum polyphony as well. Pretty good to know if the MIDI file is actually pushing your MIDI hardware to the limit. - Displays text from the MIDI file (4 lines max.) - stuff like song title, copyright messages, markers etc. - Displays time elapsed in HH:MM:SS format. - Displays a multi-segment LED type beat indicator; tracks beats per measure as well as the tempo. - Displays as vertical bars the status of the following controllers : Reverb (R) Modulation (M) Sustain (S) Volume/Expression (V) - Displays Pan Position status, as centered vertical bars (as they should be). - /FAST option; good for finding out the playing time of the MIDI file. ************************************************************************ ### DISCLAIMERS AND OTHER LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO ### For non-commercial use, this version is cardware. If you like this program and continue to use it, please send the Author a postcard. This helps motivate him to keep improving this program. This program may be freely distributed on the conditions that it is distributed as all whole with all accompanying files (including this one), and that it is not sold for profit. Please contact the Author if this program is to be used for commercial purposes. This program is supplied as it is. Use it at your own risk. I will not be responsible for any injuries or death, computer or hard disk crashes, loss of data, or any other disaster as a consequence, directly or otherwise, of the usage of this program. This program is copyrighted material. You may use it on the condition that it is not to be altered, hacked or reverse-engineered in any way. ************************************************************************ ### CONTACTING THE AUTHOR ### MegaMID was created by FONG Chee Keat, in the year 1995. Please send all comments, complaints, suggestions and bug-reports (or anything else you want) to: INTERNET rocfong@halls1.cc.monash.edu.au CURRENT ADDRESS Roberts Hall Monash Uni Wellington Rd. Clayton VIC 3168 AUSTRALIA. HOME ADDRESS 254 Jln. Sultan Azlan Shah Selatan Taman Beauty 30250 Ipoh Perak MALAYSIA ************************************************************************