=============================================== ›0;33m MIDICOM v1.12 © 1989/90/91 - Animal Voice Production A/S Program design and development by Espen ίeranek All Rights Reserved. ›0;0m =============================================== 1. Contents 2. Installation 3. History 4. The calculator part 5. The MIDI panic button 6. The transmit/receive part 7. MIDI Filters 8. The MIDI panel part 9. Other items 10. Copyright ›0;33m1. CONTENTS ===========›0;0m This archive should contain the following files: MIDI/MIDICOM..............The MIDI utility program MIDI/MIDICOM.info.........MIDICOM's icon. MIDI/LIBS/midi.library....Library for use with MIDICOM. MIDI/LIBS/arp.library.....Library for use with MIDICOM. MIDI/FONTS/animal/8.......Fontdata for MIDICOM. MIDI/FONTS/animal.font....Fontdata for MIDICOM. MIDI/ReadMe.doc...........This file. MIDI/ReadMe.doc.info......This file's icon. If some of the files are missing, please contact Mediafoto BBS in Oslo: +47 2 17 60 56 (300-9600, 24 hours) ›0;33m2. INSTALLATION ===============›0;0m MIDICOM makes use of the midi.library (Copyright © 1987-91 Pregnant Badger Music) and the arp.library (Copyright 1987-91 ARP Authors, Microsmiths Inc.), so these files must be installed in the libs-dir of Your startup (WorkBench) disk. MIDICOM also needs the fontfiles for animal.font. Copy midi.library to libs-dir on Your WorkBench disk. Copy arp.library to libs-dir on Your WorkBench disk. Copy animal.font to fonts-dir on Your WorkBench disk. Make a directory called animal in WorkBench:fonts. Copy the file '8' from fonts/animal to WorkBench:fonts/animal. (The use of this font is to ensure MIDICOM look the way I planned it, also on a custom A-3000 WorkBench.....) You can invoke MIDICOM from both CLI and WorkBench. ›0;33m3. HISTORY ==========›0;0m MIDICOM started out as three different programming projects. The first one was a simple calculator (on my A500) written in AmigaBasic which task was to calculate the relationship between B(eats) P(er) M(inute) in a song and M(illi)S(econds) on my delays. When I started to learn to program in C, I made a small CLI calculator that would take a BPM-value as an argument and display the results to the console. Further investigation in the windowing enviroment on the Amiga, made me want to put the calculator into it's own windows (and screen). A little bit later I started fiddling with the MIDI-library from Bill Barton (the latest version of this library, as of this writing, can be obtained from Fred Fish disk 227). I made my own progs for sending and receiving MIDI-data. Then these programs where tied together to The Rythmic Calculator (with sysex utils). Another project I worked on was simply a test panel that would send any note on any MIDI channel. It also included some fixed controllers. This program was knowned as The MIDI Panel. All these programs have now joined forces and have become the MIDICOM program. MIDICOM was written in C and compiled using the SAS/C-compiler version 5.10a. The different parts of MIDICOM is: a.) The calculator part b.) The transmit/receive part c.) The MIDI panel part ›0;33m4. The Calculator part ======================›0;0m The calculator part of MIDICOM is intended to be a utility for any recording session that includes working with delays and/or sequencers. The program will calculate the delay values that correspond with the tempo of Your music. You input the tempo (BPM), and MIDICOM gives You the alternatives for Your delays. To calculate, just click under BPM, enter Your tempo and press return. Your tempo should be within the range from 25 to 300. If not, a requester will tell You what mistake You've made. Click EXIT to return to program operation. The leftmost part of the empty boxes are now displaying the different millisecond-values You can use for this tempo under 'MS' (MilliSecond). Under 'TIME' You'll see what time-value (in KCS or others with timing readouts) this delay will be like. Using these figures You might easily make a MIDI-delay by copying an instrument-track and delay it from the top of the sequence by adding the number given here. The note-values should be easy to understand, but the HEMICYCLE might be new to You. This is to explain the hemicycle: If You have a 4/4 song like Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall", the hemicycle is the delay-value similar to that on Gilmour's guitar. To explore the calculations more deeply, try connect a drum-machine to a delayunit and experiment with different tempos. To the right of BPM You'll find the letters PPQ. Just below it reads 240. PPQ stands for Pulses Pr. Quarternote. This refers to the number of pulses sent by a MIDI sequencer for every quarternote played. If it's a high value (like 240), the sequencer is working on high resolution - it counts to 240 each quarternote. When You select a new resolution, the TIME-column will change it's values of course. If you'd like to move some data in a sequence foreward or backwards in time, the actual amount of MS pr. tick according to Your tempo will be displayed as well. Also in the Messages box You'll see 'MORE HEMI-TIMES' followed by four numbers. These numbers will help You if You want to create a Hemicycle echoing effect within Your MIDI sequencer. Here's how: 1. Make four copies of the track You want to echo. 2. Delay the first clone with the first number given (360 for default). 3. Delay the second clone by the second number given (540 for default). 4. Delay the third clone with the third number given (720 for default). 5. Delay the fourth clone by the fourth number given (900 for default). 6. Decrease the overall velocity in clone 1 by e.g. 10 7. Decrease the overall velocity in clone 2 by (10+10)=20 8. Decrease the overall velocity in clone 3 by (10+10+10)=30 9. Decrease the overall velocity in clone 4 by (10+10+10+10)=40 There's Your echo! The PPQ value defaults to 240, but You can change it the same way You input BPMs; click under the letters PPQ, delete the numbers present, and enter Your new PPQ value. Another hint: If You're working with the Korg Wavestation, it might be of interrest to know that the internal default tempo of the WS is approx. 105 BPM....... ›0;33m5. The MIDI Panic Button ========================›0;0m In case of serious MIDI-hangs, stuck notes etc, there's a panic button located on the lower left part of the Claculator window. This is handy if 'All Notes Off' in the Panel window won't work. This might be true for some older synths, as well as those whose 'notes off'-function must be activated first. Pressing this button will send MIDICOM into a heavy reset procedure that will take a while to execute. Here's what MIDICOM actually does after You've clicked on the panic button; 1. Sends NOTE OFF message to all 127 MIDI notes on all 16 channels. 2. Sends a value of OFF (0x00) to all continuous controllers on all 16 channels. 3. Centers Pitchbends/wheels on all 16 channels. 4. Turns all AfterTouch (channel) OFF on all 16 channels. 5. Sends RESET ALL CONTROLLERS on all 16 channels. 6. Sets MIDI-Volume to full (0x7f) on all 16 channels. All the actions are displayed in the Messages area, and the MIDI filter is set to 'ALL' during panic. Afterwards, filter is set to default. ›0;33m6. The transmit/receive part ============================›0;0m The TRANSMIT and RECEIVE gadgets are the door to these functions. (They are duplicated by 'Load' and 'Save' in the menus as well as keys 'l' and 's') Clicking on either gadget will bring up the (ARP) file-requester. If You chose TRANSMIT, You simply click on the filename desired. If You chose RECEIVE, You may enter a filename in the requester. Click OK to enter the operations. In case of RECEIVE; If You haven't got a MIDI connection to Your Amiga, MIDICOM will wait until it receives a *BREAK. You can send such a *BREAK by clicking in the little window on the WorkBench called MIDICOM followed by pressing CTRL-C. The kind of data MIDICOM will wait for depends on the MIDI filter settings. See below for details. ›0;33m7. MIDI-FILTERS ===============›0;0m You have the option to deside what kind of MIDI data MIDICOM will receive. You set this from the menu named MIDI Filters. The item You select will be the only type of data MIDICOM will recognize. The default setting will recognize these datatypes: ›0;33m - Channel Messages - Note On Messages - Note Off Messages - Polyphonic Pressure - Control Messages - Program Change - Channel Pressure - Pitchbend Messages - Mode Messages - System Exclusive Messages ›0;0m ALL will add System Common and System Realtime to this list. The other items will exclude all others but itself (hence the mark in the menu). ›0;33m8. The MIDI panel part ======================›0;0m Clicking on Panel, select from menu or pressing 'p' brings You to the MIDI control panel page. All the gadgets in The MIDI-Panel should be easy to understand. They send their labeled information through the Amiga's MIDI OUT. Sending a note requires an octave and a MIDI channel. Use the sliders and number keys 0-9. (Don't press 'p' while in the panel part unless You want to make the Amiga hang.......) The middle slider has no label. You can input any number between 0 and 127, and this will be the controller number assigned to this slider. If You choose 7 for controller, the slider will act as a MIDI-volume slider. Entering 1 will duplicate the VIBRATO button (MOD WHEEL CONTROLLER), but now You can adjust the amount of vibrato with the slider. Experiment for Yourself. The status-gadgets as well as the notes-gadets are all toggle switches. This does not apply to ALL NOTES OFF and RESET CTRL. If Your MIDI equipment does not support all the functions of the Panel, they will have no effect. Look through the MIDI specification that came with Your gear. MIDI-Panel also has some functions for the KORG M/T-Series synths. They're kind of remote controls located on the Amiga. Remember to enable SysEx on Your synth. ›0;33m9. Other items ==============›0;0m If You feel that the 'Messages' area is messed up, click Clear, press 'c' or select Clear from the menu. If You'd like lighter background for Your interactions with MIDICOM, You can enter the 'DayLight Mode' by pressing 'x'. Pressing 'z' brings You back into 'Late Night Mode'. To quit MIDICOM click 'EXIT MIDICOM' or select 'Quit' from the menu. If You press 'ESC', the 'Are You Sure?' requester will not appear, and MIDICOM exits right away..... ›0;33m10. COPYRIGHT NOTICE ====================›0;0m MIDICOM is not Public Domain! MIDICOM is Copyright © 1989-91 Animal Voice Production A/S. All rights reserved. The MIDICOM program is freely distributable as long as no commercial benefit is made on it. Contact: MediaFoto BBS, Oslo +47 2 17 60 56 The MIDI Conference The MIDI Library is Copyright (c) 1987, 1988, Pregnant Badger Music. All rights reserved. The MIDI Library may be used in and included with commercial products with the following provisos: 1. Pregnant Badger Music should be kept informed of your intent to release products that make use of the MIDI Library so that we may keep you informed of changes, updates, etc. 2. The above copyright notice should be included somewhere in the documentation accompanying any such commercial products. Bill Barton Pregnant Badger Music 1111 El Sur Way Sacramento, CA 95864 (916) 487-9472 Bix: peabody PLink: peabody Arp library Copyright 1987-91 ARP Authors (Microsmiths Inc.) ARP Support c/o Microsmiths, Inc PO Box 561 Cambridge, MA 02140 Bix: cheath PLink: cheath CIS: 76004, 1766 All files in this archive must be distributed together as is!!!! ******* End of ReadMe.doc ************************************************