I want to get back to this, I discovered I was still using an older version. And I discovered why:
This version (12) has the channels swap about every second.
I am using the utility to experiment with solving an issue with Might & Magic III. The game install allows you to select Roland+Blaster or some such. I select this and start the game. I cannot hear music, but the external devices indicate that they are receiving midi data. There is a digitized speech in the intro, and it plays, but quietly. I check my SB AWE32 mixer after exiting the game and see that MM3 lowered FM volume and reduced Line-In volume to zero, which is why I couldn't hear Roiland music (as I go from an audio switch with an MT-32 and an SC-55, to the Line-In on my AWE32.) I tried using this utility with the /lock switch and started MM3. The music was playing, but then the digitized speech could only barely be heard if I turned the volume up all of the way. It seems that this utility gives hope for getting around this bug, but I don't know what MM3 is doing to the mixer when the game starts. I'll keep playing around with it.
I have a small system with no sound card installed, just an original MPU-401 card. Hanging off the MPU are both an MT-32, and a Yamaha FB-01 (FM synth). I had this wild idea of using MIDIto to redirect FM to the MIDI port and see what happened. I know not to expect correct FM results even if this worked, but even disasters are fun to try. I tried:
midito -fm=a330
I get "Cannot init FM redirection since SB Pro compatible mixer was not found."
I thought setting up the BLASTER variable might fool it, but no 😁 Is there a way to make this work?
[edit] You can fool it actually, by setting BLASTER then adding "x" for no mixer support:
midito -fm=a330x
But no sound output. I'm sure it's not technically viable because MIDI=/=FM instructions.
Pierre32 wrote on 2022-10-30, 03:48:But no sound output. I'm sure it's not technically viable because MIDI=/=FM instructions.
It's absolutely not technically viable by just redirecting data. FM instructions are on a lower level than MIDI instructions. Many MIDI synthesizers don't do FM synthesis (which is absolutely great for synth-pop style music, but quite mediocre at emulating physical music instruments), but play back recorded samples of physical music instruments. Your normal MIDI synthesizer thus is technically unable to generate the sound as it is described to a FM-Synthesizer. It looks approxmately like this for 2-OP FM:
wrote:The current instrument is to be generated by taking a sine wave, ramping up the volume to -10dB full scale within 10 milliseconds, ramping it down to -20dB full scale within 100 milliseconds, keeping the sound at that level until the tone is declared to be over, then ramp it down to zero withing 150 milliseconds. Also, the phase of the first sine wave is to be modulated by a second sine wave at twice the frequency of the first one. This sine wave ramps up to full modulation depth within 40 milliseconds, ramps down to 8% modulation depth within 400 milliseconds and then ramps down to zero within 2 seconds, no matter how long the sound is intended to play.
Now, play a note of that instrument at 440Hz. 5 seconds later: stop that note.
Compared to General MIDI data:
wrote:Please emulate a church organ.
Now, play an "A" at "forte" intensity. 5 seconds later: stop that note
Actually, the MIDI protocol doesn't say "church organ", but "instrument #20". That's what the General MIDI standard is about: They defined a mapping for 128 numbers to instrument names. instrument 20 is defined to be the church organ. Most MIDI-Synthesizers today support the General MIDI instrument numbers by default, but e.g. the MT32 is older than the General MIDI standard and uses different numbers as well as not having all of the 128 "General MIDI" instruments at all, using its default configuration.
Appreciate the detail. I'm reasonably well acquainted with GM, but had never given any real thought to how FM did its thing. In hindsight it was a silly thought. But fun for a minute.