oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (David Phillip Oster) (08/19/88)
I would be cautious of using any of the available MIDI drivers for the Mac
now that MIDI drivers are built into the Mac operating system.
They went in System 6.0 for the MacPlus, (or the 512KE) and have been in
the Mac II Roms all along.
They are documented in Inside Mac Vol 5. (the Sound Manager).
They require that the user connect a midi interface to the modem port
before starting the program.
and best of all: they allow multiple programs and multiple tasks to share
the midi port. You can create unix style pipelines that filter and
manipulate midi data! You can use the Mac's own sound generators as an
additional MIDI synthesizer.
I'm hoping that Apple will work with the software vendors to make Apple's
software the path of choice to MIDI. I'd sure like to write filters and
accessories that work with other peoples' sequencers and librarians.
--- 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.educzei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu (Michael S. Czeiszperger) (08/19/88)
In article <25722@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP (David Phillip Oster) writes: >I would be cautious of using any of the available MIDI drivers for the Mac >now that MIDI drivers are built into the Mac operating system. > >They went in System 6.0 for the MacPlus, (or the 512KE) and have been in >the Mac II Roms all along. > >They are documented in Inside Mac Vol 5. (the Sound Manager). > I hate to burst your bubble, but I communicated with someone from Apple's sound lab via PAN, and he said that we shouldn't count on those MIDI drivers actually working as described. Also, I've read the Inside Mac section on MIDI, and the Sound Manager is almost entirely designed for controlling internal Mac sound stuff. There is only the most vague reference to passing raw MIDI to and from the port, which is one of the things which supposedly isn't working. Well, they had good intentions... -- Michael S. Czeiszperger | "The only good composer is a dead composer" Systems Analyst | Snail: 2015 Neil Avenue (614) The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH 43210 292- ARPA:czei@accelerator.eng.ohio-state.edu PAN:CZEI 0161
nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk (Nick Rothwell) (08/22/88)
In article <25722@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP (David Phillip Oster) writes: >I would be cautious of using any of the available MIDI drivers for the Mac >now that MIDI drivers are built into the Mac operating system. > >They went in System 6.0 for the MacPlus, (or the 512KE) and have been in >the Mac II Roms all along. > >They are documented in Inside Mac Vol 5. (the Sound Manager). HOORAY! I've been worried all along about all these MIDI programs doing unpleasant things with interrupt routines and so on, mainly because of Multifinder. This is Good News. Any info about the performance of the drivers when hit hard with MIDI data? >They require that the user connect a midi interface to the modem port >before starting the program. Oh. No printer port? I thought that the two ports were supposedly identical (except interrupt priorities). I consider two input ports, and 32 output channels, pretty essential. >I'm hoping that Apple will work with the software vendors to make Apple's >software the path of choice to MIDI. I'd sure like to write filters and >accessories that work with other peoples' sequencers and librarians. Likewise. The ability to task-switch a patch editor and a sequencer, with no worries about device driving, would be great. Shame it's taken so long, though- The Atari has really caught on here in the UK, and some software vendors are getting switcher-like systems going now. (Not Atari themselves, though. Tell me: do Atari do any software support AT ALL for these machines? Hmm.) If Apple really want to dominate the music market (although it's too late here in the UK, the Atari has it.) then they should sell the Mac+ for a reasonable price. I'm lucky, I could afford a Mac+ - just (and, I also hate the Atari..), but for others, it's just no contest. >--- 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 Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick@lfcs.ed.ac.uk <Atlantic Ocean>!mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ...while the builders of the cages sleep with bullets, bars and stone, they do not see your road to freedom that you build with flesh and bone.