Rachel-Emma Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I was wondering if there was any Music Production Software for the 8-Bit. I had a look on Best Electronics yesterday and really wanted to purchase the MIDIMax Interface. I was informed they were completely sold out and extremely hard to get hold of. Are there any alternatives to the MidiMax interface - maybe a midi interface that has "THRU" as well as Midi In and Out ??? I was also looking for some VST plugins for windows that emulate the sound chip of the 8 Bit but couldn't find much there either. Rachel x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSprinter Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Closest I know of (if you're willing to pony up the cash for the license to unlock the demo) is ChipSounds. It's about $90US and covers more than just the POKEY. Does the AY-3-8910/YM2149 (the latter on the ST), both versions of the SID, NES APU, the chip from the Coleco and Master System, Gameboy/SuperGameBoy, Atari 2600 TIA, and quite a few more I'd definitely try the demo first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 Closest I know of (if you're willing to pony up the cash for the license to unlock the demo) is ChipSounds. It's about $90US and covers more than just the POKEY. Does the AY-3-8910/YM2149 (the latter on the ST), both versions of the SID, NES APU, the chip from the Coleco and Master System, Gameboy/SuperGameBoy, Atari 2600 TIA, and quite a few more I'd definitely try the demo first. Thanks for that - i'll have a look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Hello Rachel Somebody from the ABBUC is working on a three port MIDI-interface. I just asked him, if he's willing to ship oversees. Maybe you should come to the Fujiama 2011 meeting. I guess it's Bunsen who planned a round of MIDI Mate using this interface and maybe some MIDI Track interfaces. Sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irgendwer Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I was wondering if there was any Music Production Software for the 8-Bit. I owned an unit of those: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 370479852140 IMHO 'Hybrid Arts' was the most active company for more or less 'professional' production software on the small Ataris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 I was wondering if there was any Music Production Software for the 8-Bit. I owned an unit of those: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 370479852140 IMHO 'Hybrid Arts' was the most active company for more or less 'professional' production software on the small Ataris. Wow that is well out of my price range in all honesty but it looks mint. That's exactly the sort of thing I am after. I wonder if "flashcatjazz" would be able to make such an interface He seems to be good at everything else he lays his hands on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 Hello Rachel Somebody from the ABBUC is working on a three port MIDI-interface. I just asked him, if he's willing to ship oversees. Mathy Hello Mathy Can you let me know when you find more information out about this three port MIDI-interface? I'm hoping this device can be shipped overseas and that it's reasonably priced. I'm well excited with this news I wonder also if you can record audio through this interface I would love to be able to record my Moog sounds through the 8-Bit Atari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irgendwer Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I owned an unit of those: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 370479852140 Sorry, this information was wrong. I still have the interface! I browsed through my old collection and found it. But even I have the instruction book for MidiTrack III I only have the MidiTrack II software (for 64k Ataris) and the interface itself is without housing: I transplanted the board into a larger case together with the machine. Willing to take offers via PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a8isa1 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) I was wondering if there was any Music Production Software for the 8-Bit. I had a look on Best Electronics yesterday and really wanted to purchase the MIDIMax Interface. I was informed they were completely sold out and extremely hard to get hold of. Are there any alternatives to the MidiMax interface - maybe a midi interface that has "THRU" as well as Midi In and Out ??? I was also looking for some VST plugins for windows that emulate the sound chip of the 8 Bit but couldn't find much there either. Rachel x A few years ago I built the simpler of the two MIDI interfaces here. Actually I didn't so much build the interface as I appended it to the biggest of my SIO2PC interfaces. I never did much more with it beyond verifying that it works. I believe the two programs didn't recognize the Wizztronics memory upgrade I had at the time. At least I got to hear something (small songs). Not too long ago Atarionline.pl had a round up of MIDI offerings for A8 (translation link is available). I hope some of what you find there can help. This has been the extent of my dabbling into A8 MIDI. Edited June 25, 2011 by a8isa1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Wow that is well out of my price range in all honesty but it looks mint. That's exactly the sort of thing I am after. That is ridiculously overpriced, by about 10 times. I wouldn't call the Midimate "common" but it's not a rarity to that magnitude. Keep watching Ebay and you'll see one go for 1/6 to 1/10 that price, in time. Like similar such listings, I suppose the seller is just looking for a fool (money>brains) but it seems quite silly. Ebay doesn't charge enough for ridiculously-overpriced items that never generate any final sale fee. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fres Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I have a MIDI Mate interface (tested AND working) that I'd unload for about $35+shipping. No software, though. Looks just like the one pictured. I'd hate to sell it, but I never use it, and don't really have room near my Atari stuff to put together a proper MIDI setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+David_P Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 B&C Computervisions (http://www.myatari.com) has the foillowing listed on their Atari 8-bit hardware page: Hybrid Arts MIDI Music interface ACA086 MIDIMATE INTERFACE NO SOF 49.95 ACA037 MIDITRACK II 800/800XL 69.95 ACA038 MIDITRACK III 130XE 69.95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel-Emma Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 B&C Computervisions (http://www.myatari.com) has the foillowing listed on their Atari 8-bit hardware page: Hybrid Arts MIDI Music interface ACA086 MIDIMATE INTERFACE NO SOF 49.95 ACA037 MIDITRACK II 800/800XL 69.95 ACA038 MIDITRACK III 130XE 69.95 Nice one, any software that you know of for this interface ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) Hello Rachel ACA037 and ACA038 is the software, ACA086 is the hardware. sincerely Mathy (who hasn't heard anything from the MIDI guy yet) Edited June 25, 2011 by Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Hello Rachel He's not selling abroad. Sorry. You'll have to come to the Fujiama 2011 meeting if you want one. sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+skr Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 He's not selling abroad. Sorry. You'll have to come to the Fujiama 2011 meeting if you want one. Or ask someone to buy it for you and send it to you. I would do. And in autumn I hope to be a few days in Britain again personally for a conference in Liverpool. Lots of options. Tell me what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcamp48 Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 I am extensively into MIDI for the 8 Bit Atari but I am looking for a better player than MIDIPLAY 1.3, does anyone here have anything better? Preferably something that will work with MyPicodos 4.06 and sub-directories. The current version loads but will not display any of the files in the sub-directories. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 I'm not aware of anything better unfortunately. I wonder if the source to the existing player is out there so development could continue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 (edited) I would love to see something like @flashjazzcat's PDM player that was created for the U1MB and SIDE/XF-CF hardware, only able to play MIDI files instead. Especially if it could recognize ling file names like the PDM player did, because as I'm sure many of you with existing MIDI hardware and players know, it kinda sucks to have to to shorten the file names down to 8 characters. With long file name support you can simply drop existing MIDI downloads directly to a memory card, retaining the song name, artist, album, and year like so many are presently identified. Many moons ago I did send Jon a MIDI S2 Synthesizer and a small carrier board for it that could be installed in his 1088XEL, with the hope that a new player might be born. Hopefully he still has it Edited June 28, 2022 by mytek 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 Oh, I've still got it. Unfortunately I've been working on SIDE3 stuff 100 per cent of the time for the past two and a half years, with no end in sight. I do intend to build support for 'external' file handlers into SIDE3 (so that anyone could write a player module for any file type they like), but there's no code space for such things in the SIDE2/XEL Loaders. And I don't have time - even with the noblest of intentions - to create and maintain a separate stand-alone player for multiple hardware platforms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 13 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: Oh, I've still got it. Unfortunately I've been working on SIDE3 stuff 100 per cent of the time for the past two and a half years, with no end in sight. I'm glad to hear you still have the MIDI hardware I sent you. Did you ever build that MIDI XEL board and get it installed? Although I understand you veered off into the SIDE3 development, it would likely only take an hour of your time to have MIDI support on your XEL with that board installed, and that might be useful for the future SIDE3 player support development as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, mytek said: Did you ever build that MIDI XEL board and get it installed? Although I understand you veered off into the SIDE3 development, it would likely only take an hour of your time to have MIDI support on your XEL with that board installed, and that might be useful for the future SIDE3 player support development as well. I didn't, no. I kind of soured to the whole thing after I damaged my populated 1088XLD board by powering it up with the 5 and 12V regulators swapped, and I've had no opportunity or inclination to invest more time in trying to fix that yet. XEL is still working like a champ, though, so perhaps I'll get around to fitting the board one of these days. There are a lot of things which on their face would only take an hour of my time (such as setting up my FujiNet, for example) but which would inevitably spawn many hours of off-shoot tinkering. I have to thank you for reminding me about the file handler API I wanted to build into the SIDE3, though, since I'd all but forgotten about that. After a year of my working on the big SIDE3 loader rewrite, Candle is waiting for some more new firmware related to future hardware revisions, but I've had to put that on hold while I get the beta released, otherwise (if I start adding the things he wants to the beta before I release it) nothing will ever get released. I spent the past two weeks writing the user manual, meanwhile (currently 75 pages and being proof-read by a professional technical writer who kindly offered his services not only free of charge but after sending a donation), and some of the content is almost obsolete before it's even been released, since I'll have to start making significant changes to the software immediately after releasing the first beta. Trying to put together a video about the loader in the meantime. Edited June 28, 2022 by flashjazzcat 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivop Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 (edited) A new MIDI player core is not that hard. You just run a timer, and if the time is right, you send the event to the MIDI device and process the next event until EOF. One would write a simple command line player in a day. It's just load bytes from one device and send it timed to another device. Now a GUI/TUI is a lot more work. I once started at a TUI generator in C on Linux that produced 6502 assembly which was very fast. I got demotivated at around the time I started with the file selector @flashjazzcat at some point in the past you considered releasing your TUI library as open source in the future. Do you still plan on that? And if so, when? Otherwise, a CLI player it will be. Edited June 28, 2022 by ivop weird AA that did not render the smileys as images 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 (edited) 15 minutes ago, ivop said: Do you still plan on that? And if so, when? 'Yes, absolutely', and 'Don't know'. The idea of the API in the SIDE3 loader is to allow players to utilise long-filenames without having to implement a) the file system drivers, and b) their own file selector (they need simply play the data by following the cluster chain handed to them, so need contain nothing more than some low-level IO code and a bare-bones UI). Where short filenames aren't a deal-breaker, though, SIDE3 will imminently provide a read/write FAT DOS such that any player launched from the loader will have R/W access to the FAT volume using standard DOS 2.x/SpartaDOS CIO calls (so, one could write a player for DOS and see it work when launched straight from the SIDE3 loader). Edited June 28, 2022 by flashjazzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivop Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 (edited) 35 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: 'Yes, absolutely', and 'Don't know'. I understand. You have enough on your plate already Quote The idea of the API in the SIDE3 loader is to allow players to utilise long-filenames without having to implement a) the file system drivers, and b) their own file selector (they need simply play the data by following the cluster chain handed to them, so need contain nothing more than some low-level IO code and a bare-bones UI). Where short filenames aren't a deal-breaker, though, SIDE3 will imminently provide a read/write FAT DOS such that any player launched from the loader will have R/W access to the FAT volume using standard DOS 2.x/SpartaDOS CIO calls (so, one could write a player for DOS and see it work when launched straight from the SIDE3 loader). That sounds pretty cool I was thinking, once there's a proper CLI player, a TUI could easily put on top of that. Even load the player after the file is selected. Does SpartaDOS X Commander support launching commands based on the extension of a file? In that case, you already have your file selector. Just the CLI player has to be done --- As for MIDI support in Altirra, it is only half finished. There's only MIDI OUT, no MIDI IN. So, no MidiTrack III for you!! (soup-nazi voice) Then there's Wine, which also has a half baked implementation of MIDI, but most of the time I manage to bridge the Alsa MIDI THROUGH to JACK and use FluidSynth or real hardware from there. Getting MIDI IN to work with Wine is a nightmare IMHO, so for Windows MIDI programs, I would use VirtualBox (downloading WinDev2204Eval.VirtualBox.zip from Microsoft as we speak, because of reasons that'll soon be clear in another post ). Edited June 28, 2022 by ivop not sure if tacked on top was proper dunglish ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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