Windows MIDI utilizes software MIDI, not Mac

Mark Guzdial guzdial at cc.gatech.edu
Tue Feb 2 15:01:19 UTC 1999


At 2:38 PM -0800 2/1/99, Stephen Travis Pope wrote:
>> The Mac has such a software MIDI synthesizer built-in, available through
>> QuickTime.  Is it possible to be able to access it the same way that
>> Windows Squeakers can access their software synthesizer?
>
>The OMS MIDI libraries support the QuickTime MIDI instruments as another
>output, and
>can play from Squeak through the Siren primitives quite well.

And it's really fabulous quality!  But it's not as cross-platform as we'd
like for our purposes.

Our application is a cooperative radio station.  Currently, we have a Swiki
on which users can upload WAV, AIF, or MIDI files and can edit a PlayList.
We have a JukeBox process reading the playlist and playing the files
through Mac audio and an external MIDI synthesizer.  The output of the Mac
audio and the external MIDI synthesizer is piped into an FM Transmitter.
This gives us a cooperative radio.

While the FM Transmitter is the maximum power allowed without an FCC
License (under Section 15 rules), it's still pretty low-powered.  Because
of machine rooms, fire walls, and the like, we can't reach most of our
College building.  We've built an AM Transmitter (and I have the soldering
iron burns to prove it :-), but it's really hard to get as clear a signal
with AM.

So, now we're exploring putting the JukeBox process on each users' desk.
Aibek Musaev is building a Squeak JukeBox that reads the playlists and all
files off the Web, and does the MIDI synthesis from Squeak. Cross-platform
is a "must" here -- we run the whole range in this building.  But we'd like
to get higher quality than the current Squeak MIDI Synthesizer.

Maybe we could use Siren for Macs, base Squeak for Windows using the
Soundblaster/Yamaha synthesizers, and base Squeak for UNIX with sound
patches like Lex's for Linux.  But it would be easier for us if we could
just write for Squeak (or Siren) and not have to manage multiple versions.

Thanks for the suggestion!
  Mark

--------------------------
Mark Guzdial : Georgia Tech : College of Computing : Atlanta, GA 30332-0280
(404) 894-5618 : Fax (404) 894-0673 : guzdial at cc.gatech.edu
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/Faculty/Mark.Guzdial.html





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