instrument sounds windows 98 v. XP

2012-09-03 03:12 pm

Help anyone, How do I get the instruments sounds that I am used to , have grown up with, and love, when I run Note Worthy in another computer running windows XP instead of my old reliable Windows 98. This problem is driving me crazy. My apologies if this question has been explored in great detail already, could some kind soul please point me to THE WAY. Desperate ANGELO

Re: instrument sounds windows 98 v. XP

Reply #1 – 2012-09-03 10:04 pm

G'day Angelo,
this is one of those questions that ends up being a can of worms...

Firstly, the sounds are not generated by NoteWorthy, rather they are a product of your MIDI synthesizer. Not knowing what synth you had installed in your '98 box makes things a littler harder. The standard synth in '98 and XP is actually a sound set Microsoft licenced from Roland about a million years ago. If your '98 had better sounds then you probably had a sound card with a built in synth (like one of the Creative Sound Blaster range).

So the first thing to determine is if you have additional (to the standard) MIDI synths available - easiest way: launch NoteWorthy then:

Click Tools (menu)
Click Options
Select Midi (tab)
Tell us what is listed in "Available play devices" and "Devices used by play back"

If you only have:
Microsoft GS Wavetable...
and
Microsoft MIDI Mapper
then you don't have any alternative synths available and will need to install something. These days a softsynth is probably the way to go unless you can find an old Creative Sound Blaster that can take "Sound Fonts".

If you do have something else available then try it. Remove the current entry from "Devices used by play back" and add the untried device.

Note that "Microsoft MIDI Mapper" refers to whatever device is set as your default MIDI synth in control panel and usually points to "Microsoft GS Wavetable".

Following that, you could do a search of the forum for softsynths and soundfonts and settle down to some reading... You might also explore the world of VST (Virtual Synthesizer Technology) - I have a "dummies guide" available on the Scripto, linked to from here:
https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=6528.0
The document is a little out of date these days and there are other solutions that are easier to use than those I demonstrated, but the underlying information is good and will help you to understand the technology.

I might add it seems interesting that you've only just moved to XP...

Re: instrument sounds windows 98 v. XP

Reply #2 – 2012-09-04 03:03 am

Hey Lawrie,
Thanks for the post! Following your instructions I have discovered that I do have only Microsoft GS Wavetable...
and Microsoft MIDI Mapper available and so I will be heading for town tomorrow and see if the tech guys can help me put this right.I have been using windows 98 until recently because it seems to work fine and we happen to live in an area where we are still unable to get high speed internet so there seems to be no rush to upgrade. Thanks again cheers Angelo

Re: instrument sounds windows 98 v. XP

Reply #3 – 2012-09-04 05:31 am

Happy to help Angelo,
hopefully the tech guys you know can help you without having to spend a small fortune...