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

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector) wrote:

>In article gavp@gis.net writes...
>
>>Is there a MIDI player for Apple 2 GS ?
>
>    No, not really. There are however a handful of programs which
>will convert MIDI files into a native Apple IIgs music format and
>then attempt to play them back. The most feasible music format for
>that job is called "MIDIsynth"--a toolset included with System 6.
>Anyone who's used Apple's synthLAB program is familar with it.

Then what do you call Music Composer?  It simply LOADS
the MIDI (.mid) file, allows you to play it, even edit it, and
allows you to save back as a .mid file playable on a Windows
PC unit.

If THAT's not the definition of a MIDI player/editor, what is?

>    MIDISurgeon (formerly available from EGO Systems) is the best
>option, IMO. It loads in MIDI sequences and after you've assigned
>each track a suitable instrument (and any other tweaking need be)
>you can listen to it or save it to disk as a MIDIsynth sequence.

I agree.  It is an excellent program.  I've used it a couple of
times and uploaded some songs that I thought were pretty
good.

>    MIDIsynth is rather limited though, even though it is using
>wavetable synthesis. It can only handle up to 7 voices (lots of
>MIDI's have up to 32 or more) and there is only 64K of space in
>TOTAL for instrument patch sets. Forget about support for GM/GS 
>MIDI. Some people have used alternatives to MIDIsynth, but it 

Well actually I've converted songs with many more than
seven voices.  The 4 oscillator voices of MIDI synth are
real overkill.  You can have more than 7 voices easily, it
is just that MIDIsynth will steal time from each 4 oscillator
unit to generate the "over 7" voices.

This is really not much of a problem if you have about
14-16 voices, I've found.

>often sounds much worse (e.g. Diversi-Tune, which is similar to 
>FM-synthesis or Soundsmith, which is a 14-track MOD player). The 

Diversi-Tune supports 32 voices and sounds GREAT!
It is nothing like FM-synthesis.  It is just that the waveforms
are defined rather than loaded as a separate wavebank
file.

I actually like the sound better than my OPL3 equipped
PC sound card AND MIDIsynth.  The only reason I
don't use it more is because MIDIsynth is more of the
standard.  This is a real shame...DiversiTune is great!

>7 voice limit of MIDIsynth is the real crippling though, so much 
>so, I've found a crummy OPL3 (FM based) card in my PC can do a 
>better job at supporting MIDI playback. At least it has 20 voices
>and can simulate very decent bass and bell-like instruments.

I wouldn't go this far.  I've done conversions with songs
having 14-16 voices.  The results, played with MIDIsynth,
still sound significantly better than the original .mid files
played through my FM (OPL3) sound card.  But that's
to be expected...my PC sound card costs less than $20 USD.