brsmith@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (Brian R. Smith) (01/11/90)
I'm trying to get a SparcStation 1 to speak MIDI, as part of a class project for a "Computer Music" course. I'm not likely to be able to develop anything for Sun's internal bus, so the serial ports are my only hope. Anyone know of a readily available RS232<==>MIDI black box, or of a cookbook procedure on how to build one? I've done several hours of research in the U of MN's library, but I haven't been able to find any magazine articles on interfacing MIDI with anything other than a PC or home computer of some form. (There's half a dozen ways to do it with a C64 or a BBC Micro, for all the good that does me...) Any help or references would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Brian
mayer@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM (Niels Mayer) (01/13/90)
In article <18129@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU> brsmith@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (Brian R. Smith) writes: >I'm trying to get a SparcStation 1 to speak MIDI, as part of a class >project for a "Computer Music" course. I'm not likely to be able >to develop anything for Sun's internal bus, so the serial ports >are my only hope. I'm interested in this too, although I want to hook it up to my HP9000s370 (33Mhz 68030) running HPUX... Can serial lines support midi rates? Alternately, I might just go ahead and build the interface hardware for the internal bus and write a device driver. Anybody have any references for "build your own" midi-interfaces? (schematics for the ibm pc will do, i can translate...). -- Niels "WINTERP + MIDI + DATAGLOVE == HEAVEN" Mayer.
dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) (01/14/90)
Hinton Instruments sells a device called the MIDIC. It is an
RS232 to MIDI interface that sends and receives timestamped
data, and has a 16K or 32K buffer, which is useful for non-RT
systems. It can even be powered through the RS232 cable, making
it very convenient. No kernel modes. No AC adapters.
The device costs around $550.
Unfortunately for some of us, Hinton is in the UK and has no US
distributor. I tried to get one a couple of months ago, and it seems
that our purchasing department can't deal with overseas orders,
so it's now up to me to buy it and see if I can get reimbursed.
--
David Elliott
dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce
(408)944-4073
"Baziotes! Baziotes! Getcha red hot Baziotes here!"bob@oberon.inmos.co.uk (Bob Green) (01/15/90)
In article <4642@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> mayer@hplabs.hp.com (Niels Mayer) writes: >In article <18129@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU> brsmith@umn-cs.CS.UMN.EDU (Brian R. Smith) writes: > [Stuff deleted] >Can serial lines support midi rates? Yes, usually. Your main problem will be that your uart clock will probably be the wrong frequency to divide down to provide 31.25 Baud, so you might need to change a crystal or something. >Alternately, I might just go ahead and build the interface hardware >for the internal bus and write a device driver. Anybody have any >references for "build your own" midi-interfaces? (schematics for the >ibm pc will do, i can translate...). See the June 1986 edition of BYTE (Vol 11, No 6). It contains a whole section on Midi, including circuit diagrams for a PC. >-- Niels "WINTERP + MIDI + DATAGLOVE == HEAVEN" Mayer. Bob. Bob Green Inmos Ltd, Bristol | EMail(UK) ukc!inmos!bob ---------------------------------------| or bob@inmos.co.uk The opinions above are my personal | Internet: bob@inmos.com views and do not refelect Inmos policy.| UUCP:(US) uunet!inmos.com!bob
barons@ORC.Olivetti.Com (Barry Arons) (01/16/90)
I have about 10 Hinton MIDIC boxes that we are using from Sun 3/60's
running SunOS and Olivetti M380's (intel 386) running Mach. We are
using them to control some Yamaha Mixers and Akai audio crossbar
switches. I posted a detailed message to comp.music many months ago,
but I cannot seem to find a copy to re-post. In general the boxes are
quite good, and we have not had any problesm with them. After receiving
the MIDICs, I wrote a device interface to the box and a simple
interactive X Window application to control the mixers in a day.
We ordered them direct from England, and had them Fedexed to us. They
got hung in customs for an extra while while we scrambled to fill out
paper work saying that the FCC didn't need to worry about emissions.
Note, also, that it *is* possible to MIDI direct from a Sparcstation.
There is apparently an unused high precision timer that can be poked to
tick at the correct MIDI rate using a standard serial port. It was
demoed at a show a while ago. I have a one page description of the
demos and it says that "Sun intends to make the driver available to
interested parties through users groups".
Barry Arons phone: +1 415-496-6264
Olivetti Research California fax: +1 415-496-6219
2882 Sand Hill Road, Suite 210 internet: arons@orc.olivetti.com
Menlo Park, CA 94025 uucp: {sri-unix|oliveb}!orc!arons