[rec.music.synth] Public Domain MIDI drivers available?

viking@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Jon W. Backstrom) (10/07/88)

I'm just beginning to explore writing MIDI software for the Mac using
either Lightspeed C or Lightspeed Pascal.  Are there any low-level
MIDI libraries available to start me communicating through a MIDI
interface?  Would anyone be willing to share routines in return for
the results of my efforts?  (I'm working on a *clearly understandable*
D-50 editor to start with.)

If not, what commercial MIDI libraries for the Mac are best?  I seem
to remember someone selling a library for Lightspeed Pascal a few years
ago, but I can't remember who.

Thanks for any and all information (as always).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon W. Backstrom             "Yah sure...we gonna have fun, you bet!"
Computer Science Department
Indiana University           ARPA: viking@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
Bloomington, IN  47405       UUCP: {ames,att,pur-ee,rutgers}!iuvax!viking
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

csz@well.UUCP (Carter Scholz) (10/10/88)

Kirk Austin published public domain MIDI drivers for the Mac in two
issue of MacTutor in 1987.  The routines are available from Austin
Development in San Rafael, CA.  They are also on many Mac BBSes;
try BMUG (Berkeley Macintosh Users Group) in Berkeley, CA.

chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (10/10/88)

>Kirk Austin published public domain MIDI drivers for the Mac in two
>issue of MacTutor in 1987.  The routines are available from Austin
>Development in San Rafael, CA.  They are also on many Mac BBSes;
>try BMUG (Berkeley Macintosh Users Group) in Berkeley, CA.

There is a hypercard stack available on compuserve called HyperMIDI. It
implements a pretty complete MIDI driver as a set of XCMDS that you can use
as a toolbox to build up HC applications to do just about anything you want.

chuq


Chuq Von Rospach			chuq@sun.COM		Delphi: CHUQ
Editor/Publisher, OtherRealms

sage@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (David Martosko '91) (10/11/88)

>Kirk Austin published public domain MIDI drivers for the Mac in two
>issue of MacTutor in 1987.  The routines are available from Austin
>Development in San Rafael, CA.  They are also on many Mac BBSes;
>try BMUG (Berkeley Macintosh Users Group) in Berkeley, CA.

>There is a hypercard stack available on compuserve called HyperMIDI. It
>implements a pretty complete MIDI driver as a set of XCMDS that you can use
>as a toolbox to build up HC applications to do just about anything you want.

Once you get HyperMIDI, you may want to look into BENSON, a PD stack
which makes a very elegant universal patch librarian.  It is available
from GEnie (I don't know about CI$), but I will gladly mail it to any who
request it.  I use BENSON for DX-series synths, an ESQ-1, and a D-50;
no editing capability, but a nice thing to have as PD software nonetheless.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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  David Martosko                         E-mail:sage@eleazar.dartmouth.EDU
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dbb@tc.fluke.COM (Dave Bartley) (10/11/88)

In article <72254@sun.uucp> chuq@sun.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) writes:
>There is a hypercard stack available on compuserve called HyperMIDI.

OK, here's an embarrassingly naive question...  How does one get on
Compuserve and use it?  Do they have a local phone number in each major
city or some 800 number or some long distance number?  I've got a Mac,
terminal software, and a modem.  I mean, I checked the yellow pages (the
physical ones, not the NFS ones! :-)) and they're not there.

If you're reading this in comp.sys.mac, please reply by mail.

Thanks much,
		Dave
-- 
Dave Bartley / John Fluke Mfg. / Box C-9090 / Everett, WA  +1 206 356 5781
Internet: dbb@tc.fluke.COM   UUCP: ...!{uw-beaver,sun,microsoft}!fluke!dbb

csz@well.UUCP (Carter Scholz) (10/12/88)

>There is a hypercard stack available on compuserve called HyperMIDI. It
>implements a pretty complete MIDI driver as a set of XCMDS that you can use
>as a toolbox to build up HC applications to do just about anything you want.

The problem with HyperMIDI is the problem with HyperCard: far too
slow.  Hypercard is MIDI-capable *only* for non-real-time
applications like voice librarian/editors.  For playing and
recording music you need the performance of a compiled or
threaded language.

Addendum: the Austin MIDI drivers I mentioned earlier are 68000
assembler, designed to work with Lightspeed Pascal.

Carter Scholz          csz@well.uucp

oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (David Phillip Oster) (10/14/88)

Once you get hypermidi, the XCMD interface is well documented, just write
your program in C or pascal, and call it to do the actual MIDI processing.
This gives you the speed of a compiled language, but also insulates you
from the grimy work of writing your own midi interface.  It also means
that if you want to change your program to support the new sound manager's
interface to MIDI, all you'll need to do is paste in someone else's
revised MIDI XCMD.

--- David Phillip Oster            --When you asked me to live in sin with you
Arpa: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu --I didn't know you meant sloth.
Uucp: {uwvax,decvax,ihnp4}!ucbvax!oster%dewey.soe.berkeley.edu

tom@iconsys.UUCP (Tom Kimpton) (10/19/88)

In article <13632@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> viking@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (Jon W. Backstrom) writes:
>I'm just beginning to explore writing MIDI software for the Mac using
>either Lightspeed C or Lightspeed Pascal.  Are there any low-level
>MIDI libraries available to start me communicating through a MIDI
>interface?
> ...
>
>If not, what commercial MIDI libraries for the Mac are best?  I seem
>to remember someone selling a library for Lightspeed Pascal a few years
>ago, but I can't remember who.

	Opcode Systems
	444 Ramona St
	Palo Alto, CA 94301
	(415) 321-8977

has a source code library for MIDI communications.  They sell for ~$20.
I believe they include versions for Lightspeed C and Pascal, MPW C,
MDS assembler, and possibly one other C compiler.  All the versions
are included on one disk.

I used these routines in a Yamaha FB-01 voice editor I wrote.  They
weren't terribly well documented, though I was able to finally figure
things out, and am pleased with their performance.  The documentation
does not say anything (that I remember) about commercial liscensing
of the libraries, though.  You might want to contact them if you
want to sell your code.

Have fun!
-- 
Tom Kimpton                    UUCP: {uunet,caeco,nrc-ut}!iconsys!tom
Software Development Engineer  ARPANET: icon%byuadam.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu
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