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#MIDI programs
3 messages in this thread
Russ, I meant to imply that a serious or useful MIDI program takes so much more
effort in software than worrying about the presence of a built-in MIDI port.
In fact, I think a good MIDI implementation requires a bit of smart hardware,
like an MPU-401, or one of the new Yamaha chips. Otherwise, you have to do a
lot of smart stuff in software, in your MIDI interrupt driver, and it comes to
a lot of overhead. I am one of the authors of Sight & Sound Music Software's
MIDI music editor, called Ensemble, for the IBM-PC and Roland MPU-401. From
what I've heard, there isn't a whole lot of MIDI software out for the Atari ST.
If you've seen some, please tell me more about it.
You're right in that the OS doesn't have a lavish MIDI handler in it. That's
the domain of the program itself. However, the port _is_ built in, and it's
possible to write simple programs (there's one in the ST SIG written in BASIC
that records/plays back one channel) with the system as provided. A couple of
firms are hard at work on MIDI programs, including Hybrid Arts, who sells a
highly regarded version for Atari's 8-bit machines.
I just didn't want anyone getting the opinion that the port or the OS' handling
of it was a smokescreen. (Personally, I use the MIDI port for debugging
purposes, hooked to another terminal.)
[ Russ ]
You're right in that the OS doesn't have a lavish MIDI handler in it. That's
the domain of the program itself. However, the port _is_ built in, and it's
possible to write simple programs (there's one in the ST SIG written in BASIC
that records/plays back one channel) with the system as provided. A couple of
firms are hard at work on MIDI programs, including Hybrid Arts, who sells a
highly regarded version for Atari's 8-bit machines.
I just didn't want anyone getting the opinion that the port or the OS' handling
of it was a smokescreen. (Personally, I use the MIDI port for debugging
purposes, hooked to another terminal.)
[ Russ ]