Re: MIDI on SB Live! ? (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 18:08:45 +0000 (CDT)
From: jimd_at_siu.edu
To: Mathew Kanner <mat_at_cnd.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Re: MIDI on SB Live! ?

I have two MIDI keyboards: small, inexpensive Casiotone MT-240 that has
very nice builtin piano samples; large, moderately expensive Yamaha
PSR-210 with nice builtin brass, woodwind, and string samples. I use a
simple "midi connector" with a serial cable with two OUT's, two THRU's,
and one IN. I oftentimes use both keyboards for playback instruments along
with the Amiga builtin 4-channel sound chip.

I have Dr. T's KCS, Sonix, and DeluxeMusic Amiga S/W, all of which are
MIDI capable. I also have "Pipes" and some other Amiga music S/W,
but don't really use them. KCS is very "complete" (ie; complex) including
signal/note quantization. I don't use its exhanced features, really. I use
KCS mostly for live MIDI input recording from keyboard. Sonix and
DeluxeMusic are used for note/score generation and playback, including
MIDI output.

Yes - I have a pretty good "ear", notwithstanding tinitus. Yes - I can
test modules - I have a small 4GB SCSI HD with just enough space to
compile a kernel and relatively small modules. I have two other larger
SCSI drives that I would like to "protect". I have FBSD-5.1-BETA on the
small and one large SCSI drives, and FBSD-4.8-STABLE on the other larger
SCSI drive. Any "mangle-testing" I would like to limit to the 4GB HD.


On Sun, 18 May 2003, Mathew Kanner wrote:

> On May 15, jimd_at_siu.edu wrote:
> > I, for one, would really like to see full/complete MIDI capabilities under
> > FreeBSD. I have an Amiga-2000 system that I have been using for MIDI with
> > two MIDI keyboards (playback and input) for quite a few years, and have a
> > SoundBlaster Live! soundcard under FreeBSD.
> >
> > So far, I have not been able to find any useful music generating and MIDI
> > software available for FreeBSD (yes - I have tried/looked at just about
> > everything available from SourceForge, most of which doesn't work under
> > FreeBSD, or is too limited in capability if it works at all).
> >
> > I have tried KDE and Gnome applications, and others for those
> > environments, to no avail. The Amiga Unix Emulation works fairly well for
> > the music software, but I cannot get any MIDI functions to work, and I
> > would prefer native FreeBSD applications.
> >
> > I tried the 4Front OSS package once, but it didn't help and it caused
> > problems with some music/sound applications. I am going to try OSS again
> > under FreeBSD-5.1-BETA. I don't have much installed yet, so don't have as
> > much to lose.
> >
> > I might be willing to offer non-programming support for (EMU10K1) MIDI
> > development support, depending on what is needed.
>
> 	Hello jimd, (jimmy d?)
> 	Sorry for taking so long to respond.  Anyway, yes midi is
> lacking in FreeBSD.  I'm working on a new implementation (in
> retrospect it would have been several times easier to just patch the
> old one).
> 	Consider this a status report:
> 		raw midi access:%100
> 		mpu401's:	%100
> 		synth:		%40
> 		pseudo-midi:	%0.1
>
> 	That's over %240.  But anything under a billion is probably
> incomplete.
>
> 	A quick aside here, it occurred to me that last night that
> Apple should have a midi implementation in their Darwin kernel. The
> bad news: browsing the source isn't so easy and their licenses doesn't
> let me rip it off it.  The good news: there *is* easily accessible
> documentation on writing and using device drivers and knowledge to be
> learned from it.
>
> 	What's slowing me down is that *no-one* remembers how midi is
> even supposed to work and I haven't really heard of other people with
> external midi hardware using fbsd.  That makes it a "priority: fun"
> project.
>
> 	So onto a lack of (userland) software support.  I'm intrigued
> by your reference to "Amiga Unix Emulation", could provide a link?
> 	I've used playmidi from the ports, it compiles with some minor
> fixing.  Midimoutain works (won't build on -current) but sequencer
> input is broken.
> 	Newer applications seems to be written with alsa in mind.  It
> pains me that people are ignoring a perfectly good standard (oss on
> /dev/music) but considering how hard it is to decipher some times, I
> don't blame them.  From my limited experience Alsa apps (I've looked
> at on-line docs but haven't actually used it) link to a library and
> don't directly deal with hardware.  We could create a stub library or
> campaign to bring back the older, more compatible ways.  (I hear the
> discordian society will back us)
>
>
> 	Have you ever used midi before?  Can your ear recognize good
> timing from bad timing?  Do you have external midi hardware?  Can you
> test kernel modules that cause heart-ache and no reward.  Then you can
> help.
>
> 	--Mat
> --
> There only two things I hate, lactose intolerant societies and cows
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-current_at_freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-current
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-current-unsubscribe_at_freebsd.org"
>