midi file default patch - wildmidi failing

[Mike Scott]

I've a problem that's surfaced with the wildmidi program. It seems to
need an explicit patch change at the start of a midi file, otherwise it
just renders silence. The timidity program on the other hand seems happy
to render a file even without an explicit patch change, presumably some
sort of default.

What's the correct (approved??) behaviour please? I'm wondering whether
to log this as a bug with wildmidi (although it rather looks as though
it's not maintained, it's nevertheless still used by the totem media player)

Has anyone else met this?


TIA

--
Mike Scott (unet2 <at> [deletethis] scottsonline.org.uk)
Harlow Essex England

[Clemens Ladisch]

Mike Scott wrote:
> I've a problem that's surfaced with the wildmidi program. It seems to
> need an explicit patch change at the start of a midi file, otherwise
> it just renders silence. The timidity program on the other hand seems
> happy to render a file even without an explicit patch change,
> presumably some sort of default.
>
> What's the correct (approved??) behaviour please?

It is very common for the default program to be the first instrument
(which would be Piano in GM).

However, if you'd play a file without an explicit patch change to some
hardware synthesizer, you'd get whatever instrument was used last by the
previous file. So I'd blame the file, not the player.


Regards,
Clemens

[Pete]

In article <kjc4sj$5n0$1...@dont-email.me>,

Mike Scott <usen...@scottsonline.org.uk.invalid> wrote:
>I've a problem that's surfaced with the wildmidi program. It seems to
>need an explicit patch change at the start of a midi file, otherwise it
>just renders silence. The timidity program on the other hand seems happy
>to render a file even without an explicit patch change, presumably some
>sort of default.
>
>What's the correct (approved??) behaviour please? I'm wondering whether
>to log this as a bug with wildmidi (although it rather looks as though
>it's not maintained, it's nevertheless still used by the totem media player)
>

Not sure if there's a defined 'correct' behaviour, but certainly the
'courteous' one would be to provide a default. (:-/)

On everything i've used I think there has always been a default.
Fluidsynth just seems to assign the first 16 patches to the corresponding
channel (except ch 10 -- which gets default percussion). I'd think that's
a sensible standard. My old hardware MidiMan module defaults to Program 1
(piano) on all channels. My Privia piano has a different program for each
channel at switch-on, but they seem to be unique to the unit (some at least
held in registration Memory, I guess).

Can you just play a 'setup.mid' file -- that would contain suitable
default program settings only -- before the file that doesn't have a
setting? Or does it reset for each file?

Probably worth submitting a bug anyway. I see it hasn't been updated
for a couple of years, but I'm sure the author is still around.

Cheers,
-- Pete --

[Mike Scott]

Thanks to you and CL for replying. Sort-of confirms my uneducated view.

Rather than send in bug reports, I thought I'd take a quick look at the
code. I wish I hadn't..... the coding style is, well, let's just say it
looks to me unmaintainable. Shame. Double shame that totem as shipped is
relying on this rather than timidity.

I might take another look and see if it can be patched to use a default
midi program; but not Real Soon.

Thanks again.