Sorry. Forgot the bat file.
midi_dump dynamix sx.ovl > ___log-sx.txt
midi_dump dynamix tim2.sx 2 > ___log.txt
Does the music sound bad if you use the original TIM2.SX file?
Thanks for that, the problematic files are as follows:
1003.SND | Offset = F124
1010.SND | Offset = 3C43C
1012.SND | Offset = 4FED6
1013.SND | Offset = 597CE
1017.SND | Offset = 6DB4C
1020.SND | Offset = 7BF82
Included the offsets in case it helps =)
Sorry for the late reply, had problems with DosBox so I couldn't have checked.
And the problem is still there with the untouched game ^^
Sorry for the double post but I also wanted to ask if it's possible to use that extractor with other games (from other companies than Dynamix or Sierra)
You can try this midi dumper package:
download/file.php?id=12557
Only covers a few other companies as each one is specialized.
And I'm not sure how to fix the MIDI yet.
I'll check the TIM2 thing tonight and see if I can figure it out.
Sorry guys, craziest week of the year for me. Will work on this ASAP.
country.snd (the only one that has a instrument panning weirdly, a feature not present in the GM set) blazooes.snd (this and all […]
country.snd (the only one that has a instrument panning weirdly, a feature not present in the GM set)
blazooes.snd (this and all the other ones have that ugly distorted instrument that doesn't sound right and sounds like the pitch is bent wrongly)
keeptryn.snd
withagun.snd
fifties.snd
hueydewy.snd
OK, finally.
Country = plays fine. Not sure what your comment about panning weirdly and not present in GM means.
Blazooes = plays lead guitar at wrong pitch bend
Keeptryn = plays lead guitar at wrong pitch bend
Withagun = plays lead guitar at wrong pitch bend
Fifties = plays lead sax at wrong pitch bend (only shows a little)
Hueydewy = seems like it plays fine. I would think the lead synth would bend wrong but both in game and the MIDI's seem fine..
Basically, what it is is that the MT-32 standard bend range is +2, and General MIDI's is +12. So given that the soundtrack is a GM soundtrack, some of the instruments that bend are going to sound wrong on the MT-32. I don't think there's a way of fixing that for the MT-32, short of changing the pitch bend data in the MIDI's themselves and replacing the resources.
Maybe I'm wrong? 😀
wrote:Basically, what it is is that the MT-32 standard bend range is +2, and General MIDI's is +12. So given that the soundtrack is a GM soundtrack, some of the instruments that bend are going to sound wrong on the MT-32. I don't think there's a way of fixing that for the MT-32, short of changing the pitch bend data in the MIDI's themselves and replacing the resources.
Maybe I'm wrong? 😀
Thanks for checking that up. Any suggestions how to change the pitch bend range in Cakewalk?
Maybe I'm wrong?
Very much so. Default pitch bend range on MT-32 is 12, on General MIDI is 2. Sierra sets to 12 on General MIDI using RPN in 4.PAT, so that both are the same.
I only checked "Keep Trying" in TIM2, and it sounds wrong both in MT-32 and General MIDI configurations. Therefore it has nothing to do with General MIDI versus MT-32. (It does sound correct on AdLib.) Since it affects only some songs, the correct way is indeed to change the pitch bend events (divide by 6) in the .SND files themselves, but ONLY in General MIDI/MT-32 tracks, as AdLib tracks are correct, and rebuild TIM2.SX.
Again, how to do that? 🤣
If you need to ask, you can't do it. I'll do it myself later.
Thanks, NRS. Do some MT-32 games use +2 as bend range? I seem to remember when converting most Sierra MIDI's to GM from MT-32, it required using a Data MSB value of +2 instead of +12.
I just wanted to post that the pitch bend range 12 actually make *some* songs sound better. I tried with the GM set of the game, and the songs I mentioned earlier sound bad too in the GM set with that pitch bend. So if it would be possible to selectively change the pitch bend for each song, it would be wonderful ^^
Of course setting bend range to 12 makes most songs sound better, because that's what 4.PAT sets it to. It's only those four songs where the song data itself is wrong.
I was trying to fix this by building upon tikalat's TIM2.SX to keep his fix of music playing on channels other than 2-10. Unfortunately his rebuilt TIM2.SX seems to be corrupt, as my utility - which works perfectly with the original TIM2.SX - has trouble extracting it. I will need to either reapply the channel fix myself on the original file, or figure out what's wrong with tikalat's TIM2.SX. Apparently there's some garbage data between the last DAT: and the TAG: chunk.
wrote:Do some MT-32 games use +2 as bend range?
LSL5 does. For other games, it seems to apply only for some instruments.
No doubt I did something wrong. Tag chunk probably inserted incorrectly or something else brilliantly stupid. Rookie blues~.
Extracted files with index #s (no tag names)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/etuupy
One quick question: did you change the MIDI channels by hand using a hex editor, or did you convert to standard MIDI format, then change the channels using a MIDI sequencer, then convert back to .SND?
Hex editor + hand only. Didn't realize I could do the other way.
Try this, then. Put TIM2.SX in the game's directory.
Thanks NRS for the fix, now those tracks that sounded awful are listenable for the first time 🤣
I'll fix my set of it and post it on my site (when it comes back up) with the approrpiate credits =)
Greatness. Added NewRisingSun's fixed driver to TIM2 package.
And updated Freddy Pharkas Tandy driver (thanks Cloudschatze).
- Re: Sierra/Dynamix sound driver hacking
