Re: Is there a MIDI player for Apple 2 GS ?

[Dave Tribby <tribby@cup.hp.com>]

Supertimer wrote about MIDI conversion:

> The other, MIDI Surgeon, converts from MIDI to
> synthLAB format.

There's also MIDI Surgeon's "little brother," midi2gs.  It's a
shell-based program (requires the ORCA or GNO shell in order to run)
that uses the same code as MIDI Surgeon to do the MIDI to MIDISynth
conversion. It doesn't do the surgery, assignment of instruments to
tracks, or playing. Version 1.0 is available at

  ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/apple2/music/synthlab/midi2gs1.0.shk

After installation, you convert the file named "inputfile.mid" to a
MIDISynth file called "outputfile.seq" with

   midi2gs inputfile.mid outputfile.seq

You can use synthlab to modify instrument assignments or use a 
different instrument bank. (midi2gs converts using MIDI.BNK,
available in the same caltech ftp directory.)

You can also pick up the shell-based MIDISynth player synthfile:

  ftp://apple2.caltech.edu/apple2/music/synthlab/synthfile15.shk

If you don't have a shell program, GNO is now available for free.
Check it out at
   http://www.gno.org/

> MIDI Surgeon is an excellent program.  I've done some
> great conversions with it.  However, the publisher has
> now gone out of business, so I don't know where you
> would go about finding a copy of it.  The author of the
> program drops in to read csa2 once in a while.

Apple II Investigative Journalist Max Jones ("Juiced.GS," at
http://www.wbwip.com/juiced.gs/ ) reported on the sale of the GS+
library of programs, including MIDI Surgeon, several months ago.
I haven't heard of any decisions on what the new owner wants to do
with them.

The author of the program checks things out on csa2, Delphi, and
Genie a couple of time per week, but keeps a low profile unless 
there's a specific question he can contribute to.


> I'm not parting with MY copy.  ;-)
> (The program does not make sense and is unusable
> without the documentation in the accompanying GS+
> Magazine article anyway.)

Doesn't make sense?  It may be complicated...but...unusable???
I found it almost intuitive. ;-)

-- Dave "the author" Tribby