MIDI Support in Pocket PC 2003 Premium???
MS
Premium) using ActiveSync, then tried to open them on the PPC with Media
Player 9. I was surprised that they wouldn't open, "unrecognized file type",
etc.
Since Pocket PC seems to be increasing support for audio, WMP9, etc., I'm
surprised that it seems as if it can't handle MIDI. Is that correct, or did
I do something wrong?
MIDI actually takes much less processor strength than audio. MIDI was
actually present (although not with a built-in softsynth, of course) back in
the DOS days, x86 processors. I'm sure the current PPC processors are much
stronger than the average processor for a DOS machine in 1985!
Anyone know something about this? Is there any MIDI capability in PPC 2003?
Is there a built-in softsynth, such as the "Microsoft GS Synthesizer" in
Windows XP?
Thank you.
PLM
news:10578615...@news-1.nethere.net...
<snip>
> MIDI actually takes much less processor strength than audio. MIDI was
> actually present (although not with a built-in softsynth, of course) back
in
> the DOS days, x86 processors. I'm sure the current PPC processors are much
> stronger than the average processor for a DOS machine in 1985!
>
> Anyone know something about this? Is there any MIDI capability in PPC
2003?
I could be wrong here, but I think you've kind of answered your own
question - the reason you can't play MIDI files on PPC is that there is no
"synthesizer" ability to play the sounds called for in the midi file. In
the DOS days, as you noted, PC's had to have a sound card with a synthesizer
chip and a driver which the midi-player would use to make the sounds
necessary to render the MIDI clip.
Later, when MS started including a "softsynth" in Windows, the demand for
sound hardware was not eliminated (the softsynth still needed to have sound
hardware capable of rendering wave data), but it was simplified and more
standardized, although many people still use synth hardware and
soundcard-based synths rather than the softsynth built into Windows.
However, I don't believe there is a softsynth included with the PPC, so
there is no way for a Midi driver to use the wave-capable sound hardware in
the PPC hardware to render the Midi data. As far as I know, the PPC
hardware spec does not include a sound synthesizer.
Maybe someone will write a softsynth for the PPC, or will bring out a
hardware synthesizer CF or SD card and drivers that would suport Midi data.
It would be cool to sequence midi files with just your PPC. You could have
a whole music-composition and performing workstation in your pocket! It
would also be very cool to hook your PPC up to a midi-capable instrument and
control it with a Midi-player from the PPC...
PLM
Jason Dunn, MS-MVP/Mobile Devices
> actually present (although not with a built-in softsynth, of course) back
in
> the DOS days, x86 processors. I'm sure the current PPC processors are much
> stronger than the average processor for a DOS machine in 1985!
Other than for musicians, MIDI is an obsolete and dead technology, so I
doubt you'll see support for it from Microsoft, or even third party
commercial developers - if there was a consumer demand for it, we would have
seen a player by now. Sorry to sound negative, but IMO, MIDI was completely
eclipsed by MP3 audio because for most people, MIDI = music, and MP3 is real
music. :-)
Jason Dunn, Microsoft MVP - Mobile Devices
Pocket PC Thoughts - http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com
Daily news, views, rants and raves...
pxwtfdlrbmAThotmail
http://www.vsoftsol.com/PocketMIDI/
" MS" <m...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:10578615...@news-1.nethere.net...
Tony Clark
controller specification that allows various devices to communicate with
each other for the purposes of (mainly) playing musical instruments. MP3 and
MIDI are apples and oranges. MP3 doesn't even begin to provide the
capabilities that MIDI does with respect to instrument control and
playback. MP3 on the other hand is great as a compact digital format for
audio files.
MIDI is alive and well, it's just not being used for playing your favorite
Top 40 songs all that much. :) The problem with PPC is that I suspect that
most of the devices out there today do not have built-in synthesizer
hardware or support for emulation. There is emulation SW though I can't
speak to how well it works or sounds. As you stated MP3 is the more common
format for digital music playback.
Cheers
TC
"Jason Dunn, MS-MVP/Mobile Devices" <nos...@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
news:Oh8dTMzR...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
William
http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/~k-akixx/mimidi/
<pxwtfdlrbmAThotmail> wrote in message
news:%23URLd20...@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
MS
sequencers for Pocket PC?
"William" <willi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:u4$HhE3RD...@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
MS
Are there any directions and info on this program in English?
"William" <willi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:u4$HhE3RD...@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
pxwtfdlrbmAThotmail
It needs about 5MEG of storage however you can copy it to your CF/SD memory.
First install it into main memory, then copy the 5MEG folder into your CF/SD
memory and configure the following file (timidity.cfg).
############################################################################
##
#
# Instrument configuration file for timidity
#
# Specify library directory: dir <directory>
#
# - Multiple library directories may be given. The ones given last will be
# searched first so you can override them in later configuration files.
# Extra configuration files and MIDI files will also be searched in these
# directories.
#
# Set tone bank or drum set to modify: bank <number>
# drumset <number>
#
# Map program number to patch map: <program number> <patch name>
#
# - If the patch can't be found in the library directories, TiMidity will
# search again with ".pat" appended to the name.
# Programs without a loaded patch will be silent, except that for
# banks/drumsets >0, the corresponding patch in bank/drumset 0 will
# be used (if one exists).
#
# Read another configuration file: source <file name>
#
############################################################################
##
# If you've moved things around since compiling, uncomment and edit this to
# point to the library directory:
#
dir \Storage_Card\timidity
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<--------------------------- NOTE:
playlist \My_Documents\songs.txt
#
############################################################################
##
# This sets up the default patches in the TiMidity support package
# "timidity-lib-0.1.tar.gz":
dir \Storage_Card\newpats
<<<<<<<<<<<-------------------------------NOTE:
source \Storage_Card\newpats\default.cfg
<<<<<<<<<<<-------------------------------NOTE:
#bank 0
# 0 acpiano.pat
# 24 \windows\start menu\.pat
############################################################################
##
# If you have Dustin McCartney's "wowpats" patches, you can source the
# config file to set them up for TiMidity:
#
# (Note that later entries in config files always override earlier ones)
#
#source wowpats.cfg
#
############################################################################
##
# If you have Dustin McCartney's GS drum sets, you can source the config
# file to set them up for TiMidity:
#
#source gsdrum.cfg
#
############################################################################
##
# If you have the GUS General MIDI patch set, uncomment the following lines
# and edit the "dir" statement to point to your GUS patch directory.
#
#dir \Storage Card\eawpats
#source gravis.cfg
#source gsdrums.cfg
#source gssfx.cfg
#source xgmap2.cfg
#source proteus2.cfg
#source mt-32.cfg
#source sndfont.cfg
#####
# you don't usually need sustain.cfg anymore, use the -m option instead
#source sustain.cfg
#
############################################################################
##
# If you have the Midia patch set, you can source midia.cfg to set them up.
# Note that midia.cfg sources gravis.cfg in turn, since the filenames are
# almost identical.
#
#source midia.cfg
#
############################################################################
##
# End of configuration file
" MS" <m...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:10579458...@news-1.nethere.net...
MS
"PLM" <nos...@zarkware.com> wrote in message
news:bekjsm$68ra1$1...@ID-125024.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Maybe someone will write a softsynth for the PPC, or will bring out a
> hardware synthesizer CF or SD card and drivers that would suport Midi
data.
> It would be cool to sequence midi files with just your PPC. You could
have
> a whole music-composition and performing workstation in your pocket! It
> would also be very cool to hook your PPC up to a midi-capable instrument
and
> control it with a Midi-player from the PPC...
>
> PLM
Also, how about a program like "Band-in-a-Box"? I wonder if we could
convince PG Music to make a Pocket PC version, "Band-In-Your-Pocket". It
would be great to be able to turn your PDA into an accompaniment machine for
music practice.
Is there any audio software for the PPC that could do at least some simple
audio editing, which WMP seems to not do at all? For instance, to loop a
particular section of an audio file, to slow it down or speed it up, change
key, etc. That would be great for music practice as well.
Peter da Silva
PLM <nos...@zarkware.com> wrote:
> I could be wrong here, but I think you've kind of answered your own
> question - the reason you can't play MIDI files on PPC is that there is no
> "synthesizer" ability to play the sounds called for in the midi file.
That's just a matter of programming. Really.
Apart from a few exceptions (Gravis Ultrasound, for example) none of the
PC sound cards has a MIDI synth that's worth recycling as a doorbell.
Most are *really* cheap FM synths, AY38910 class *at best*. Even if you
want that sound you can generate samples that will produce the same effect
algorithmically in real time on just about any processor you can find
in a handheld today... you could probably even do it in the 16 MHz 68000
in the Zire.
Apple's Quicktime Player has used software synths for MIDI for years, on
systems slower than anything that runs the Pocket PC OS, and pretty much
every competant audio player will do the same.
No, there's no technical reason a PPC couldn't play MIDI, it's just the
programmer's decision not to provide that capability.
> However, I don't believe there is a softsynth included with the PPC,
What the heck does that mean? A software synthesizer is something you'd
expect high school kids to show off at a science fair.
--
I've seen things you people can't imagine. Chimneysweeps on fire over the roofs
of London. I've watched kite-strings glitter in the sun at Hyde Park Gate. All
these things will be lost in time, like chalk-paintings in the rain. `-_-'
Time for your nap. | Peter da Silva | Har du kramat din varg, idag? 'U`
MS
"Peter da Silva" <pe...@abbnm.com> wrote in message
news:beuvah$4pq$1...@jeeves.eng.abbnm.com...
> > However, I don't believe there is a softsynth included with the PPC,
>
> What the heck does that mean? A software synthesizer is something you'd
> expect high school kids to show off at a science fair.
I don't understand your reaction. It means what it says, which you confirmed
to be the case. Regular Windows comes with a softsynth (and there are
numerous add-on ones you could purchase), Macs do (as you wrote, in
Quicktime), so why not PPCs? As you wrote, someone made a decision to leave
it off the OS, which to me is unfortunate.
Helge Tefs
> Besides MIDI playback, how about MIDI sequencing, etc.? Any good MIDI
> sequencers for Pocket PC?
Look at this page:
http://www.devbuzz.com/pg/Music.asp?pageno=1
and the following and maybe You will find, what You need...
Greetings, Helge
Ray
that MIDI is dead. Is that wishful thinking (because Microsoft can't control
it) or just a lack of knowledge?
-Ray
Jason Dunn, MS-MVP/Mobile Devices wrote in message ...
Vance Green
He's likely not a musician, just a music file collector/consumer.
His response is in that context. Apples and oranges, as the
saying goes.
He may not know the true power of MIDI as it
relates to the COMPOSITION of music ;-)
PS-MVP's don't necessarily work for MS, they just took a buncha
coursework and got "certified" by them...
"Ray" <ray...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:bf7kua$tug$1...@slb4.atl.mindspring.net...
Jason Dunn, MS-MVP/Mobile Devices
> that MIDI is dead.
I said: "Other than for musicians, MIDI is an obsolete and dead technology."
I'm NOT saying that MIDI as a technology is dead - I know it's alive and
well in the music world. I play bass myself, so I don't use MIDI, but I know
a lot of keyboard players. ;-)
If you ask the average non-musician consumer today what MIDI is/means, they
won't have a clue. To me, that means it's dead in the consumer marketplace.
It was never really designed for what it became to consumers - the first
"music" on a computer - so it was destined to be replaced by something that
was designed for what they really wanted: MP3.
I don't work for Microsoft - the MVP title is a voluntary position:
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Jason Dunn, MS-MVP/Mobile Devices
I am a musician, but MIDI isn't part of my "bag". :-)
> His response is in that context. Apples and oranges, as the
> saying goes.
My response is in the context of knowing the consumer market, and knowing
MIDI has no place there - it never should have in the first place, but
people just loved hearing "Axel F" on their Web pages. ;-)
> He may not know the true power of MIDI as it
> relates to the COMPOSITION of music ;-)
I do, but the average consumer do not.
> PS-MVP's don't necessarily work for MS, they just took a buncha
> coursework and got "certified" by them...
No MVP *can* work for Microsoft and still be an MVP at the same time. We are
given the voluntary title for our work in helping others in the newsgroups
with the knowledge we have, not from taking coursework.
Vance Green
>
> No MVP *can* work for Microsoft and still be an MVP at the same time. We
are
> given the voluntary title for our work in helping others in the newsgroups
> with the knowledge we have, not from taking coursework.
>
My mistake, I am confusing MCSE's with MVP's.
Sorry about that.
Damn all these acronyms anyway...