The Best of Select: Multimedia 5

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Asc2Com (MorganSoft) | 1994-10-01 | 28.4 KB | 560 lines

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MIDIOLA MIDI MUSIC PLAYER -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Copyright (c) 1993-94 Melvin Douglas All Rights Reserved A Single-Track, Multi-Track MIDI and CMF Music Player for Adlib, Sound Blaster and Compatible Sound Cards Shareware Version 1.0S January 1994 FAX (516)-538-2633 Shareware ----------- WHAT IS IT? ----------- Welcome to Midiola... Midiola is a General Midi, MT-32 and CMF music player for DOS which is easy to use as well as entertaining. An enhanced version with additional features and more than 500 music files will be sent to anyone who registers this version. ----------- LEGAL STUFF: ----------- Users of MIDIOLA must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "MIDIOLA IS SUPPLIED AS IS. THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND OF FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. THE AUTHOR ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OF MIDIOLA." MIDIOLA IS A "SHAREWARE PROGRAM" AND IS PROVIDED AT NO CHARGE TO THE USER FOR EVALUATION. FEEL FREE TO SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS, BUT PLEASE DO NOT GIVE IT AWAY ALTERED OR AS PART OF ANOTHER SYSTEM. THE ESSENCE OF "USER-SUPPORTED" SOFTWARE IS TO PROVIDE PERSONAL COMPUTER USERS WITH QUALITY SOFTWARE WITHOUT HIGH PRICES, AND YET TO PROVIDE INCENTIVE FOR PROGRAMMERS TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP NEW PRODUCTS. IF YOU FIND THIS PROGRAM USEFUL AND FIND THAT YOU ARE USING MIDIOLA AND CONTINUE TO USE MIDIOLA AFTER A 21 DAY TRIAL PERIOD, YOU MUST MAKE A REGISTRATION PAYMENT OF $25.00 U.S DOLLARS. To register this copy, print and complete the REGISTER.FRM file and send it along with the registration fee of $25 directly to: Melvin Douglas Post Office Box 141 Uniondale, New York 11553-0141 Registered users will receive Midiola's registered version and more than 450 music files in various categories including Jazz, Pop, Rock, Classical, Ragtime and more. Midiola was created in a virus free environment. Adlib is a registered trademark of Adlib inc. or it's current owners. Sound Blaster is a registered trademark of Creative Labs Inc. Quickbasic is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. WORDSTAR is a registered trademark of Wordstar International Corp. PKZIP and PKUNZIP are registered trademarks of PKWARE inc. MT-32 is a registered trademark of Roland, inc. PROGRAM FILES: ------------- README.1ST - Important program information MIDI.EXE - MIDIOLA program MIDIDOC.COM - MIDIOLA documentation MIDIOLA.ICO - Optional program ICON REGISTER.FRM - Registration form ROL2MIDI.EXE - Optional Conversion utility program STANDARD.BNK - Instrument file (needed for .ROL conversion) *.ROL - Optional "Practice" .ROL files *.MID - General Midi Music files *.CMF - Creative Music Files FILE_ID.DIZ - BBS file description text VENDOR.DOC - Vendor distribution agreement You DO NOT have to convert TO or FROM any music formats to use MIDIOLA. ROL, MID and CMF files are included with registration, and thousands of others are readily available from many sources nationwide. Conversions from ROL format to MIDI are completely optional and is supported here for those who have a large collection of ROL files and wish to use them with MIDIOLA. "Saved sessions" (*.SAV) and music files which were created with a program named * "CALLIOPE MUSIC VISION" may be used directly with MIDIOLA without any changes or editing. *(CALLIOPE MUSIC VISION is a music player for single track Midi music) --------------------- HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: --------------------- o 286 or better PC DOS 3.x or later. o 640K System Memory. o CGA/EGA/VGA Video Adaptor. o Use of a mouse is optional. o One floppy disk drive and a hard drive is recommended. o An Adlib, Sound Blaster or compatible sound card. You do not have to load any "Drivers" before using MIDIOLA. ----------- Terminology: ----------- Some brief definitions: (You don't have to know this stuff) MIDI: Musical Instrument Digital Interface, is the standard format for recording, storing and playing digital music. PATCH: A set of tone-generating parameters that determines one of the instrument sounds (such as flute or jazz guitar) produced by a synthesizer. STANDARD MIDI FILE: A generic sequence data file format (.MID), which comes in three types. The most common and practical file is Type 1 (.MID), which stores different musical "voices" on separate tracks. Type 0 stores all music on a single track (.MDI); it cannot accommodate tempo changes or certain other kinds of events. These two formats are supported by the both versions of MIDIOLA. The rarely used Type 2 format stores music as blocks, with instructions for ordering and repeating the blocks. CHANNEL: An individual transmission "line" that can carry the sound of a separate instrument i.e., a 4 track (multi-track) midi file. CMF FILE: The Creative Music File format (.CMF) introduced by Creative Labs. MT-32: Midi files with an extension of ".MID" which were created or enhanced with a ROLAND MT-32 Sequencer. These files are generally not distinguishable from regular MID files. In some instances, the author (or the person who modified the music) will include a "32" in the filename ie., "MYSONG32.MID". This helps to identify it as a MT-32 file, otherwise there's no way to tell. Often these files will not play correctly unless MT-32 mode is activated. You may select the MT-32 patch map option for those files. If your MT-32 file does not play correctly (or at all) then play the same file in normal (General Midi) mode before you delete it. It may not be an MT-32 file or even a valid music file. The popularity of MT-32 and the massive number of music files created or enhanced with it is growing daily. Midiola's MT-32 support ensures that you will always be able to play these files while extending the programs value and usefulness. ---------------- PROGRAM FEATURES: ---------------- - Select and Play up to 50 songs - Randomize your selections before playing them. - Saves and retrieve your favorite sessions to a disk file. - Lets you view up to the 9th song title in the selection queue. - Supports Single-Track (.MDI), Multi-Track (MID) and CMF music files. - Supports your MT-32 sequenced files. In addition to the above, the *REGISTERED VERSION also supports: (* Select and play up to 300 songs non-stop. ) (* AUTOMATIC Play Mode - Just start the program..it does the rest. ) (* Plays music from a COMPRESSED (ZIP) file saving valuable disk space) ( and making it very easy to categorize and play music groups. ) (* Supports two methods of playing selected music CONTINUOUSLY for as ) ( long as desired. Play continuously from a SAV file or a ZIP file. ) (* Scratch a file from the active playlist (before it's heard). ) (* Adjust the relative volume. ) (* DOS Shell option for access to DOS....and more. ) File Selection Via a Popup scrolling window, plus: -------------------------------------------------- - Sort files by Name, Extension, Size, Date or Time. - Reverse Sort with above options. - Tag or un-tag single files or ALL files. - Supports 50 tagged files but displays approx 1000 to choose from. Active Play Controls are as follows: ----------------------------------- - Pause the music and record the duration of the Pause. - Continue music from a paused state. - Advance the queue to the next song. - Quick or delayed replay of the current song. - View the names of the next 9 selections. - Shuffle the order-of-play if desired (prior to music start). If you have a collection of ROL files that you wish to convert into Midi files, see the section below entitled "CONVERTING ROL FILES TO MIDI FILES". If you already have MID or CMF files, then you can use them with Midiola immediately. ----------------- MIDIOLA COMMANDS: ----------------- Most of MIDIOLA's commands are single key commands. Almost all of these key commands have a mouse counterpart. MIDIOLA will support a 2 button or 3 button mouse. In the case of a 3 button mouse, the middle button is ignored. The LEFT BUTTON is used to select and execute a command. At some points, the RIGHT BUTTON may be used to DESELECT a command (i.e Tag or Un-tag a file). -------------------- COMMAND LINE OPTIONS: (Switch commands) -------------------- A command line switch command is executed by typing the program name at the DOS prompt followed by one space and ONE of the following "switches": (An example would be -> MIDI /D0 ...then press ENTER. Note the "slash" in front of the letter D). /? = Display a list of command line options. /H = Same as above. /D0 = Activate Non-percussive Midi channels 0 - 9. /MT = Activate MT-32 patch map. MIDI Filename.EXT = Where EXT is "MID" or "MDI" or "CMF" (will play a single song from the command line). (There are additional switches in the registered version) --------------- (F)iles Command: - Select Music Files: --------------- If you notice constant "file load" programs, reduce the number of song files in the current directory to no more than 375 files. Make sure that the maximum amount of conventional memory is available before starting MIDIOLA. NOTE: YOU MUST "TAG" A FILE IN ORDER TO PLAY IT. IF NO FILES ARE TAGGED IN THE FILE SELECTION WINDOW, PRESSING ENTER OR ESCAPE WILL RETURN TO THE MAIN PROGRAM SCREEN WITH NO MUSIC SELECTED. To tag a selection, simply use the LEFT ARROW key (or LEFT MOUSE BUTTON). If you change your mind just use the LEFT ARROW key again (or LEFT MOUSE BUTTON). The LEFT ARROW or LEFT BUTTON both act as a toggle. If desired, you may also use the SPACEBAR to toggle select/deselect. Pressing RETURN or the RIGHT BUTTON after selecting files will immediately begin music play. If you press ESCape after making a selection(s), the selected file(s) will be abandoned and you will be returned to the main menu. For old PC addicts (like me), WORDSTAR commands are also supported as follows: Ctrl-F = TAG a file. Ctrl-R = Page Up Ctrl-Right Arrow = TAG all files. Ctrl-C = Page Down Ctrl-Left Arrow = UnTAG all files. END = Move to Bottom Ctrl-E = Move Up HOME = Move to Top Ctrl-X = Move Down Sorting is easy, just pick a number (as follows): 1 = Sort by file Name. 2 = Sort by file Extension. 3 = Sort by file Size. 4 = Sort by file Date. 5 = Sort by file Time. You may press ALT-R to allow the above keys to perform a REVERSE sort. Press ALT-R and then use any of the above sort keys (1 thru 5). ------------------------- Create an (A)lbum Command: - Create a personal music album. ------------------------- Pressing "A" will toggle this command ON or OFF and it may be toggled while music is playing. The resulting file (album) may be replayed at any time. You may toggle "A" to ON or OFF as often as desired. The default is OFF. After selecting music from the File Selection Window, MIDIOLA will ask you if you wish to save the music to disk so that you may replay them later. If the above command is "ON", and you respond by pressing "Y" (for YES) when asked to save your session, a file will be created in the current directory with a name of your choice. This file will hold the names of all of the currently selected songs plus a count of the total number of songs in the file. If the file already exists, you will be notified and given the opportunity to select a new name. The Save option described above will activate AFTER the current selections have finished playing (assuming that you have the SAVE option turned ON). If you do not wish to save the current session, you may press "N" (NO), or simply press the ENTER key since "NO" is the default choice. In the registered version, if you name your Session File "MIDIOLA", it will play continuously whenever it is retrieved with the (L)oad command. ------------------------ (L)oad an Album Command: - Load a SAVed album from disk ------------------------ To play a saved session, press "L" (when NOT playing music). Midiola will search the current directory for any previously saved sessions and present a window with the session (albums) displayed.If no files are found you will be notified. You may scroll the file list up or down with the Arrow Keys. To select a session name, highlight it and then press ENTER. Midiola will begin the music immediately. CAUTION: IF ANY OF THE FILES ARE MISSING, MIDIOLA SHOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE PROBLEM AND CONTINUE. HOWEVER ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, SO IF THE PROGRAM STALLS, CHECK FOR MISSING FILES. IF MIDIOLA IS ABLE TO HANDLE THE FILENAME ERROR ,OBVIOUSLY YOU WILL NOT HEAR THE MISSING SELECTION(S), BUT THE STATUS WINDOW WILL DISPLAY A "FILENAME MISSING" MESSAGE AND PLAY WILL CONTINUE WITH THE NEXT SELECTION IN THE QUEUE IF ANY. (The error message will give you the name of the missing file so that you may take corrective action). Note: In the registered version, the LOAD command allows you to select a ZIP file in addition to a SAV file. ---------------------- Shuffle (Y)es or (N)o : - Randomize the order of play. ---------------------- If you wish, Midiola will change (scramble) the order of play when there are more than three selections. This serves to break the monotony when you find that you have memorized the order in which certain groups of music are presented. Turn it ON or OFF as desired by pressing (Y)es or (N)o. After you have made your music selections, Midiola will "shuffle" the file names before playing them. Personally, I like knowing what comes next. This command must be executed PRIOR to selecting music files. --------------------- (C)ount and (E)lapsed: File Count and Elapsed Time Check. --------------------- Pressing "C" or "E" (or optionally moving the mouse anywhere on the top row or the bottom row and clicking the Left Button) will display additional program information as follows: TOP ROW: Displays a count of all Music files and Saved Sessions. BUTTON ROW: Displays the elapsed time since the program started. The (C) and (E) commands may be toggled "ON" or "OFF" at any time, even while music is being played. --------------- e(X)it Midiola: (or you may use ESC - from main menu) --------------- Pressing ESCape from the main menu will terminate MIDIOLA and return you to the DOS prompt. You will be given the opportunity to cancel your request. During Music Play, the following commands are available: ======================================================= The (G)ROUP SAVE command may be toggled ON or OFF while the music is playing. --------------- (P)ause Command: (Toggle On or Off) --------------- Pressing "P" will temporarily PAUSE the current music. To restart the music press the "P" command again. While PAUSE is in effect, the elapsed time for the current song will be frozen and the elapsed time for PAUSE will begin. The accumulated PAUSEed time for the entire session is deducted from the TOTAL elapsed time displayed when the program is terminated or when you press (E)lapsed. ------------------- (N)ext Song Command: (Play the next song NOW) ------------------- Pressing "N" will terminate the current music and will play the NEXT music in the queue immediately. You may also use this command to move to the next song if the current song gets "stuck" or just stops playing (probably a corrupt file). You may also press the SPACEBAR with the same results. ------------------------- Replay ON or OFF Command: - Quick or Delayed replay of the current song ------------------------- Press "O" (ON) to activate a REPLAY request while music is playing. When the song currently playing has finished, it will play again if "O" (ON) is still in effect. You may wait for the current song to end and then play again, or if you wish to hear it quickly, use the (N)ext command to force it to REPLAY immediately. Pressing "F" (OFF) will reverse a REPLAY request. --------------------- KEYS 4 thru 9 command: - Peeking deeper into the selection list --------------------- While the music is playing, the next three songs in the Queue will be displayed in the Queue window. If you have selected more that three songs, then you may press NUMBER KEYS Four through Nine (4-9) to view the name of the song which currently occupies THAT position in the queue, up to the 9th selection. The song in position ONE will be heard next. -------------- (S)top Command: - Stop the music. -------------- Pressing "S" will shut down MIDIOLA's music Play Mode and return you to the main menu. On the other hand, when the last song has been played, MIDIOLA will exit the Play Mode and return you to the main menu. ---------------------------------- CONVERTING ROL FILES TO MIDI FILES: ---------------------------------- A music file with the extension ".ROL" is an Adlib format sound file. ROL music files were one of the first music files to appear when sound cards were first introduced. Midiola extends the life of these files by allowing you to convert them into Midi files and play them on today's sound boards. ".ROL" files may be found on almost any Bulletin Board system or may be obtained from many of the shareware distributors. "ROL" files are usually accompanied by a BANK file (i.e., STANDARD.BNK). Bank files hold the data for the various instruments used by the ROL file. A BANK file will be required (included) in order to perform conversions from ROL to MDI format. Once you have converted to MDI format, the BANK file is no longer required. Your newly converted file will be a Single-Track Midi file ready to be played. If you wish to convert a ROL file into a single-track Midi file, please use the utility program ROL2MIDI.EXE which is included with this package. Remember that this procedure is NOT REQUIRED in order to use Midiola with other type music files. ----------------------- .ROL TO MIDI CONVERSION ----------------------- To convert a .ROL file to MIDI format you will need the following: 1 - The .ROL file(s) to be converted into MDI format. 2 - The BANK file (instrument file, i.e., STARDARD.BNK, BIGBANK.BNK, etc.) Then do the following from the DOS prompt: C>ROL2MIDI filename /Bbankfile /Onewfile for example, to convert ROCKNROL.ROL to ROCKNROL.MDI using the STANDARD instrument bankfile: (.ROL files require Instrument bank files) C>ROL2MIDI rocknrol.rol /Bstandard.bnk /Orocknrol.mdi Note: Case is sensitive. The resulting file will be in one of the formats that MIDIOLA can recognize and play. MDI files do not require Bank (.BNK) or instrument files once they have been converted from their .ROL format into single track Midi's. All of the musical information is self contained in a single compact file. ----------- Other Stuff: ----------- When Saving a Session, do not attempt to add an extension to the filename, Midiola will automatically append ".SAV" to the name you select. You will be advised if the file already exists. Remember that you can easily categorize you songs even though they are all mixed up on your disk. Simply turn (G)roup save ON, then select all of the songs that fit a specific category. When you save them, give the file a descriptive category name. Midiola will always "Find" them when you (L)oad your saved sessions. But make sure you do not delete or move the individual files or else the SESSION load procedure will not work properly when it the missing file "tries to load". ------ ERRORS: ------ Problem: Error message : <<Filename load fail>> <<Too many load failures...>> If the Status Window displays "Filename.xxx load fail", then THAT selection could not be found (or loaded into memory), and as a result was skipped over. This could happen if you erase or rename one or more song files from your MIDIOLA Directory and subsequently LOAD a "Saved" session. When MIDIOLA looks for the (missing?) file to load and play..Oops.., but MIDIOLA is smart enough to simply continue on with the next selection, if any. The Status Window will advise you of the name of file that caused the error in case your curious or want to take corrective action later. If a file appears to have loaded without mishap, but just does not play (and Midiola does nothing), try pressing the "N" (NEXT SONG) key. If 5 files fail to load, then MIDIOLA will quit trying and return to the main menu (with an error message). Another possible mishap is if a file CANNOT be loaded. Again, you will be notified of the name of the file. MIDIOLA will not be able to determine why a file did not load. Perhaps is was NOT an actual music file, or it may be a corrupt file. In addition, a file may not load if it is a "MID" file and you are in the "MT-32 Patch Map" mode or vice-versa. Try both modes before you delete the file. Note that in both of the above situations, you may simply be "OUT OF MEMORY". Problem: After picking selections the program stops: If Midiola fails after you have SELECTED and DESELECTED numerous files (with many deselects and reselects), then restart Midiola and return to the file selection window. Select ALL FILES by pressing Ctrl-Right Arrow. Having done that you then DESELECT the files that you DON'T WANT from top to bottom by using the LEFT ARROW key. When you're finished deselecting files, press ENTER to play all of the remaining "pre-selected" files. Some important notes: o All graphics are text based and therefore do not require a VGA monitor. This program was created on a 486-33 with a SVGA monitor and a Sound Galaxy NX-PRO 16 sound board. o Sometimes when a music file suddenly stops playing, it may be corrupt. Reconvert it from your original .ROL file if it was a ROL and try again. If was one of the other formats, recopy it from your original source and try to play it again. o Programming language : QuickBasic version 4.5 Version History Shareware Version 1.0S = January 1994 Registered Version 1.1R = January 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Questions or problems? My direct FAX number is (516) 538-2633. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The latest version of MIDI may be found on the following bulletin boards: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 - The Executive Network BBS, New York 914-667-4684 all baud speeds ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 - Computer Connection, Washington, D.C. 202-547-2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 - Vernon Buerg's BBS, Calif. 707-778-8944 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 - Long Island Computer Association 516-561-6590 ------------------------------------------------------------------------