tenah@tekig1.UUCP (Tena Hoke) (03/20/85)
----------------------------------------------- This is in response to mention of the Roland MPU-401 and a request for "experiences with MIDI". I have a Sequential Circuits six-trak, a MPU-401, and a pc ( plus a C compiler...). The sixtrak is a 6 voice multi-timbral synthesizer; i.e. you can play six voices simultaneously with the sequencer and each voice can have a separate patch. This can be done under computer control. I haven't had too much in the way of problems with the above setup so far. The sixtrak is playing away in its "multi-timbral" sense driven by the pc. This of course is via MIDI on the 401. I find the sixtrak to be a decent synthesizer. Anybody interested in more details, feel free to send mail. As for the MPU, my primary purpose has been to get a working system up and so I have been more interested in getting the synth working. I have a simple driver that works the MPU in its "dumb uart mode", basically polled i/o. There have been a few kinks in the works, but nothing serious; for example, apparently if there is MIDI input you need to service (read) the input before you can do output, which I did not discover as a documented "feature" (but more as an undocumented "surprise", I could be wrong). I would be willing to send this little driver to anyone who is interested (it's in C. I try to avoid assembler) or share 401 experiences or whatever. Jim Binkley Beaverton, Oregon net: tektronix!dadla!jrb (usenet) dadla!jrb@tektronix (csnet)