So what I done, right, is I downloaded BASSMIDI Driver, which creates a virtual MIDI port and renders the music using a soundfont of your choice, and I modified it to create multiple ports. So now I have more than 16 channels and everything is fantastic. I've sent my changes back to the author too, just in case.
You've really peaked my interest with this
Out of curiosity, which version of the BASSMIDI Driver did you modify? Is the compiled driver and/or source available for download anywhere?
Lastly, I'm assuming that you had contacted Mudlord about the changes... did he reply back with anything (like possibly including multiple ports in a future version of the BASSMIDi Driver)?
I think that would be a superb addition to the driver... multiple MIDI output ports
that soundfont is awesome , it's great for making videogame music. But if you're just doing piano stuff, almost anything font will do
I beg to differ <grin>. Just the Grand Piano patch/portion of my SoundFont by itself weighs in at 8MB (with NO "bloat"), and is velocity layered to boot
Anyhow @All,
Hiya Folks,
Long time, no type. Just a few heads-ups:
MudLord finally created a PERMANENT home for the BASSMIDI Driver at http[COLON]//www[DOT]mudlord[DOT]info/bassmididrv .
FYI, the driver has went through quite a bit of changes, and the latest release version is 3.1. One of the MOST EXCELLENT features of this new version is the SUPER LOW LATENCY that could be seen in v1.06 of the driver (in other words, perfect for realtime performance and sequencing)! Also, this new version supports packed/compressed SoundFonts, and includes a SoundFont packer utility
P.S. A little note about the new version 2.0 of the BASSMIDI Driver:
Mudlord and Kode54 apparently recoded the core driver, and it now uses (interfaces) with DirectX's DirectMusic. From my experimentation; due to DirectMusic, there is currently a little bit of latency with the driver (approx. 0.105 seconds), so's it might not be too useful for real-time performance or real-time MIDI sequencing.
Anyhow, if you plan on any doing real-time stuff, you might want to stick with the older version of the driver (version 1.06, which has less than 0.05 seconds of latency) -> http[COLON]//jasonwilliams400com[DOT]startlogic[DOT]com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/BASSMIDI_Driver/BASSMIDI_Driver_v1.06_Setup.exe .
FYI, Mudlord just released a new version of the BASSMIDI Driver (now officially "version 1.06"). The driver itself has been updated as well as the configuration utility (adding a master volume slider).
Version history and driver changelist is here -> http[COLON]//mudlord[DOT]emuxhaven[DOT]net/crap/audio/bassmidi_changes.txt , download URL is the same as before -> http[COLON]//mudlord[DOT]emuxhaven[DOT]net/crap/audio/bassmididrv.exe (of course, uninstall the old version before installing the newer version).
You know, like "stuff" <grin> Hehe, if you'll look at the main root of his web site, you'll see he's not really into the 'make myself a fancy web site' sort of thing LOL.
Just sent the zipped PDF your way to Scripto email HTML-ized version is here -> http[COLON]//jasonwilliams400com[DOT]startlogic[DOT]com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/XMPlay/BASSMIDI_Driver_Installation_and_Configuration[DOT]htm .
Just added some stuff to my XMPlay "advertisement/plug" page mentioning the BASSMIDI Driver... also has some helpful pics and such (which some will probably be used for the NWC/BASSMIDI tutorial PDF) -> http[COLON]//jasonwilliams400com[DOT]startlogic[DOT]com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/XMPlay/XMPlay[DOT]htm#bassmididriver
It was probably before all these "free" versions were around. I remember years ago wanting to produce a pdf and having to take the document to work to produce it.
I seem to be having a bit of a flashback: IIRC I was working on a customers business web page; this WELL before the Internet was as we know it now <grin>; and he wanted a product brochure in PDF format that his customers could download from his web site.
I had several requests from some of my customers for similar things (wanting PDF format documents), so I decided to splurge for Distiller.
Heh, I seem to remember not recapping my expenses for Distiller; due to the very few customers that I had created PDFs for <grin>.
I was surprised when you said you used the distiller. Not many individuals do. It's usually a company thing, and, as I remember, not without its little foibles.
I bought Distiller eons ago, I can't even remember originally why. The only thing I DO remember is that is was when I had more spare $$... I remember it being extremely expensive back in the day.
If you want to install the old program, that's your choice, but PDFCreator.exe is a quick free download from Sourceforge.net
Thanks for the heads-up That's what I'll prolly be doing (no telling what incompatibilities that I'd run into running my old version of Distiller under Windows XP Pro SP3).
In actuality, I have an older version CD of Adobe Distiller... used to use it for all sorts of things in years past, prolly time to install it on my current PC
G'day Rich, format would be up to Richard Woodroffe. The couple of things I've submitted I sent in as PDFs. There is an installable device driver called PDFCreator that is free and has worked well for me. Acts as a printer device. Otherwise, I've also used OpenOffice which will output directly to PDF.
Strikes me that this would be easier than going to the effort of a html page...
A-OK I'll wait till there's more of a "final" version of the driver, and then create a PDF file with instructions
I reckon it'd be a good idea to develop these instructions a little, perhaps with some screen shots, and submit to the Scripto. You'd get a wider audience too.
Yeah, I could do that
I think it may be best to wait a bit for the new versions to "settle down" a bit though... he's been releasing updates almost on a daily basis that may (or may not) fix some of the little buglets that folks have been having with the driver.
BTW, what format would you want it in? Easiest thing for me would be simple HTML, and then if you (or someone else) wanted to PDF-ify it to upload to the Scripto, that would be fine
In actuality, I've been thinking of adding a web page over at my web site with a blurb about the BASSMIDI driver... sort of similar to my "advertisement"/plug for the freeware "XMPlay" and it's MIDI Plugin (which is basically the same thing as the BASSMIDI driver, although not an actual driver) -> http[COLON]//jasonwilliams400com[DOT]startlogic[DOT]com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/XMPlay/XMPlay[DOT]htm
Just a little linkage update, it appears that there's more "official" discussion about the BASSMIDI driver over at the VGMusic forums here -> http[COLON]//www[DOT]vgmusic[DOT]com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=13967 .
Wow! Maybe that's the time I switch to a SW synth (versus the HW E-mu of kX Driver that seems almost abandoned with all its bugs). Thank you, Rich!
Yer welcome! I myself have an SBLive running under Windows XP Pro SP3 with the latest Creative Labs drivers for the card and WXP, so's I really don't need a software alternative... but I'm always 'looking out' for others who do
Could you talk me (us) through how you would set this up to be used from NWC?
Sure 'nuff
1) First, you'll need to download a decent SoundFont file to use with the driver. Hehe (shameless plug follows <grin>), my own custom SoundFont sounds great with the driver... scroll up to my first post in this thread
2) Download the latest version (he's already made two updates to the driver in the past day <grin>) from http[COLON]//mudlord[DOT]emuxhaven[DOT]net/crap/bassmididrv.exe .
3) If you've previously installed an older version of the driver, uninstall it first (look in your Windows start menu for "BASSMIDI System Synth/Uninstall").
4) Reboot your computer (prolly not required, but always a good idea when installing/uninstalling drivers and such).
5) Install the new version that you downloaded (run "bassmididrv.exe").
6) Again, reboot your computer (as above... prolly not required, but always a good idea when installing/uninstalling drivers and such).
7) Run the BASSMIDI driver configuration utility (look in your Windows start menu for "BASSMIDI System Synth/Configure Driver").
Click "Add", select the SoundFont file that you downloaded, and then click the "Apply" button.
9) Select the "BASSMIDI Driver" from the "Default MIDI Synth" dropdown box, and then click "Apply" (*).
10) After closing the BASSMIDI driver configuration utility, start NoteWorthy Composer.
11) Click "Tools/Options" and then the "MIDI" tab.
12) Select the "BASSMIDI Driver" from the "Available Play Devices" dialog box, and then click the "--->" button to add the driver to the "Devices Used By Playback" dialog box (note that you'll prolly want to remove any other devices listed within the "Devices Used By Playback" dialog box when using the BASSMIDI Driver).
13) Click "OK", and that's it!
(*) - If you have any problems with selecting the BASSMIDI Driver as the Windows MIDI plaback device, I posted this over at another forum on the Internet:
I noticed (at least on my PC, Windows XP Pro SP3) that I had to change the active MIDI device from within the Sounds and Audio Devices control panel (Start/Control Panel/Sounds and Audio Devices/Audio/MIDI Music Playback Device) in order for it to "stick". Didn't seem to wanna stay "set" if I set the MIDI device from within the BASSMIDI driver configuration utilitiy itself.
The problem that I had with picking the MIDI device in Windows XP, I figured was due to the way that BASSMIDI selected the device (which I assumed was prolly done like that as a workaround for that issue with W7).
If you're having problems selecting the BASSMIDI Driver when running under Windows Vista or Windows 7, this utility should do the trick -> http[COLON]//software[DOT]bootblock[DOT]co[DOT]uk/?id=vistamidipicker
Anyhow, although all of this may seem complicated (or like a daunting task at first), it's by far easier than setting up other alternatives; such as Timidity+++, or the various other VSTi options that are available; and sounds better to boot
Anyhow, I posted a message over at Hydrogen Audio forums, and the author said that he would see if he could fix the MIDI Yoke problem with the driver
Problem fixed!
Download the new version here (*Note: Uninstall the old version before installing this newer one) -> www[dot]hydrogenaudio[dot]org/forums/index[dot]php?showtopic=87639 , from the "Binary (mirror)" link in that message thread.
Directly from the above "Hydrogen Audio" forums announcement and discussion message thread:
Quote
This is a new SoundFont-based usermode MIDI system driver for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. It uses the BASSMIDI library by Ian Luck, as the synthesiser.
Features:
* Dynamic sample caching * Unlimited polyphony * SoundFont chaining/stacking * Works on Windows Vista and Windows 7, including 64-bit versions. * Support for the following controllers & events:
MIDI note events. MIDI program events. Channel pressure. Pitch wheel. Bank change MSB. (CC#0) Modulation. (CC#1) Portamento. (CC#65 / CC#84 / CC#5) Volume. (CC#7) Panning. (CC#10) Expression. (CC#11) Sustain pedal. (CC#64) Soft pedal. (CC#67) Low-pass filter resonance. (CC#71 or NRPN 121h) Release time. (CC#72 or NRPN 166h) Attack time. (CC#73 or NRPN 163h) Low-pass filter cut-off. (CC#74 or NRPN 120h) Reverb send level. (CC#91) Chorus send level. (CC#93) Stop all sounds. (CC#120) Reset all controllers. (CC#121) Release all keys. (CC#123) Mono/poly mode. (CC#126 and CC#127, respectively.) Pitch wheel range. (RPN 0) Fine tuning. (RPN 1) Coarse tuning. (RPN 2)
It also supports GM, GS, and XG reset System Exclusive messages, and the drum channel enabling features of GS and XG when switched into those modes. It also supports GS and possibly XG reverb preset control messages for adjusting reverb time, delay, low-pass cut-off, high-pass cut-off, and level. And chrorus delay, depth, rate, feedback, level, and chorus to reverb send level. It also supports the master volume level message.
Kode54 should be thanked for making this possible. I wrote the installer and configuration app.
This looks EXTREMELY interesting... been saying to/nagging Ian Luck (the author of XMPlay, the XMPlay soundfont compatible MIDI Plugin, and the BASS audio libraries) for quite sometime that he should create a 'global' WinDoze MIDI driver of sorts using the MIDI plugin for XMPlay (the BASSMIDI Synth is essentially that)
I installed the BASSMIDI MIDI Synthesiser... and it works GREAT!
From what I could tell, ZERO latency, and it sounds just like XMPlay's MIDI plugin Running on a P4 2.666Ghz CPU with 768MB RAM, output was smooth with no glitches or stutters.
One problem though, it seems to completely knock out/disable Jamie O'Connell's "MIDI Yoke" patch driver ("Out To MIDI Yoke: #", "In From MIDI Yoke: #", etc...). I use that driver for various things when composing MIDI music. Note though that you won't require any sort of MIDI "patch cable" driver when using the BASSMIDI Synth driver with NWC
Anyhow, I posted a message over at Hydrogen Audio forums, and the author said that he would see if he could fix the MIDI Yoke problem with the driver
P.S. Of course, like the XMPlay MIDI Plugin, it sounds GREAT using my "¥Weeds¥ General MIDI SoundFont v3.0"
P.P.S. Oh, and of course this MIDI driver can be used with NWC as well
If you've already installed MIDIYoke; something that may be a bit simplier than using VSTHost and VSTSynthFont is Cakewalk's free "SFZ Player", and Herman Seib's (same author for the VSTHost utility) "SAVIHost".
The SFZ Player works fairly nice, is a small download, clean installation, and free from Cakealk.
Herman Seib's SAVIHost is a LOT less complicated than his fancier VSTHost, and can be run in "standalone" mode as well... simple rename the "savihost.exe" file to the filename of the VST DLL that you're using.
In the case of the SFZ Player (SFZ.dll), rename "savihost.exe" to "SFZ.exe" in the same installation directory on your hard drive, and it'll automatically load the SFZ Player VST (SFZ.dll).
Note that the SFZ Player comes with it's own launcher EXE, but you need ASIO drivers installed to use it... Seib's SAVIHost is a lot easier (and worked better on my PC as well, than the ASIO4ALL driver that I downloaded and installed).
Anyhow, then it's simply a matter of setting up SAVIHost to accept MIDI input from the "In to MIDI Yoke 1", and NWC to output to "Out to MIDI Yoke 1".
Anyways, I found Seib's VSTHost to be rather complicated to set up and use... his SAVIHost is a LOT easier amd less complicated
P.S. Google for "SAVIHost" and "SFZ Player", top results in the searches.
PMFJI (as I don't post here too often, but lurk a lot <grin>);
If you decide to go the soundfont route, my own custom soundfont has an extremely respectable grand piano included with it (the samples for the grand piano make up 8 megabytes of the entire soundfont).
Anyhow, here's a message thread that I started here in the forums last year with more info about the soundfont:
my.noteworthysoftware.com/?topic=7563.0
...and here is the grand piano included in the soundfont in action (a little composition of mine from eons ago; mostly improvised, at the time):
(P.S. Sorry about the "[dot]"s, I couldn't post the link)
If all else fails, simply Google for "weeds general midi soundfont v3.0"... you'll find it all over the Internet, as well as folks discussing it. In any case, the piano preset is suberb IMHO
I assume you're an NWC2 user, so why not upgrade your membership? that way you should be able to post links instead of the rigamarole you currently need to use.
Thanks for the info, but I still only have the old version 1.75c. I originally purchased version 1.x, but it was so long ago I forget exactly what ".x" version that it was.
Yeah, unfortunately that is what I was thinking about the NWC file format specs, that they hadn't been publicly published/released.
Anyhow, XMPlay is strictly an audio media player (it doesn't support videos of any kind). It does support most audio formats though (MP3/MP4/WMA/etc... just to name a few), including where it got it's roots from: XM "Tracker" module format music (as well as most of it's variants; MOD/S3M/IT/etc...). Many other formats are supported as well using extra audio input plugins.
A few years back Ian Luck created a MIDI plugin of sorts for XMPlay. The MIDI Plugin for XMPlay uses soundfonts for it's MIDI music playback. In other words, it's a soundfont compatable software synthesizer... and an exceptionally nice sounding one at that IMHO; the closest that I personally have heard to real soundfont MIDI hardware (e.g. AWE32/AWE64/SBLive/etc...).
Anyways, 'twould be real handy and nice to be able to play NWC format files from within XMPlay; using it's soundfont compatable MIDI plugin. Maybe the NWC authors could possibly update their NWC WinAmp plugin as Ian described. Note that I really don't know what that would entail, or if it's even possible in the first place.
BTW, more info on XMPlay here (sort of my own "biased" plug for it <grin>) -> www*cmoo*com/snor/weeds/SoundFonts/XMPlay/XMPlay.htm .
P.S. Sorry about the asterisks (* = .), like my soundfont thread here in the forum, I can't post links.
Over in my "SoundFont" thread here in the forum there was a little discussion about the NWC WinAmp plugin not working with XMPlay (it supports *some* WinAmp plugins). When attempting to run XMPlay with the NWC WinAmp plugin installed, the following error message is displayed:
Quote
--------------------------- Unsupported Plugin --------------------------- in_nwc.dll "NWC File Player (2.0)"
This plugin is not supported by XMPlay because it uses it's own output.
I had asked Ian Luck (the author of XMPlay) about this, and he posted the following over in his XMPlay forums:
Quote from: Ian @ un4seen
Winamp input plugins can work in 1 of 2 ways: send the sample data to Winamp (or XMPlay) to be played via the usual output channels, or output the data themselves. XMPlay only supports the former, and the latter results in the message above.
Does this particular plugin depend on special hardware? If not, there is probably no need for it to output the data itself and doing so just limits its use, eg. no DSP can be applied.
Perhaps the plugin could be updated to use Winamp's output instead?
I also asked him about native support for playback of NWC format files using his own SoundFont compatable MIDI Plugin for XMPlay, and he stated (of course) that he would need the specs for the various NWC file formats (but would be happy to add NWC support for XMPlay if he had them).
So my questions to the NWC authors:
Are the NWC file format specs available anywhere and/or is there any chance of updating the NWC WinAmp plugin as Ian described above?
I just got a reply from Ian Luck (the creator of XMPlay) over in his forums:
Quote from: Ian @ un4seen
Winamp input plugins can work in 1 of 2 ways: send the sample data to Winamp (or XMPlay) to be played via the usual output channels, or output the data themselves. XMPlay only supports the former, and the latter results in the message above.
Does this particular plugin depend on special hardware? If not, there is probably no need for it to output the data itself and doing so just limits its use, eg. no DSP can be applied.
Perhaps the plugin could be updated to use Winamp's output instead?
Possibly the NWC authors could update the NWC WinAmp plugin as Ian explained?
I had posted a message over in the XMPlay forums (back in January), but had never received any replies. I just bumped that thread over there, hopefully someone can come up with something to possibly get it working
I've been an NWC user since version 1.x (I honestly forget which ".x" version, it's been so long, currently I have installed and use version 1.75). Anyhow, throughout the year(s) I've noticed a bit of discussion about soundfonts.
Back in March I released a custom soundfont of mine, "¥Weeds¥ General MIDI SoundFont v3.0", and had posted several announcements around the Internet about it. I just realized that I hadn't posted anything here about it (or had posted any other messages here at all, for that matter).
Anyways, a full description is here -> richnagel*net/#soundfonts . Downloads (hosted at Ian Luck's web site; he's the creator of the freeware media player "XMPlay", as well as the "Bass" sound programming libraries) here -> un4seen*com/download*php?extra/WeedsGM3 .
Hope y'all like it, and it proves useful to someone
Rich
(Edit) Apparently I didn't have the proper membership level to post URLs, I've substituted asterisks (* = .) so's I could post the links. Sorry about that, I hope the admins/moderators don't mind.
, it's great for making videogame music. But if you're just doing piano stuff, almost anything font will do
?
Click "Add", select the SoundFont file that you downloaded, and then click the "Apply" button.