[comp.windows.ms.programmer] Music-Routines for MSW?

tremmel@ira.uka.de (Wolfgang Tremmel) (11/05/90)

Hi!
Has anybody already developed sound or music - routines for MSW?
Has he/she defined a standard for a "music resource"?
If yes, please post it.
If no, I think it would quite useful, to define some standards;
perhaps something like a metafile.

Another question: Are there some other sound drivers, e.g. one for AdLib?

Wolfgang Tremmel

aaron@jessica.stanford.edu (Aaron Wallace) (11/06/90)

In article <90.309.12:27:42@ira.uka.de> tremmel@ira.uka.de (Wolfgang Tremmel) writes:
>
>
>Hi!
>Has anybody already developed sound or music - routines for MSW?
>Has he/she defined a standard for a "music resource"?
>If yes, please post it.
>If no, I think it would quite useful, to define some standards;
>perhaps something like a metafile.

I've been hacking a digitalized sound driver for Windows for awhile (it uses
the regular PC speaker).  I also proposed an ad-hoc resource and sound file
format.  See the file SOUNDER.ZIP on cica.cica (129.79.20.22) in
/pub/pc/win3/util, I think, for details.  I'd appreciate any comments,
especially how to get it to work under Enhanced mode...  Anyone know
how to grant better I/O provledges to a code segment, perhaps using DPMI?

Aaron Wallace

risto@tuura.UUCP (Risto Lankinen) (11/06/90)

tremmel@ira.uka.de (Wolfgang Tremmel) writes:



>Hi!
>Has anybody already developed sound or music - routines for MSW?
>Has he/she defined a standard for a "music resource"?
>If yes, please post it.
>If no, I think it would quite useful, to define some standards;
>perhaps something like a metafile.

>Another question: Are there some other sound drivers, e.g. one for AdLib?

Hi!

The Windows' sound capabilities are limited to the functions of the SOUND.DRV
and the function MessageBeep() (=USER.104) .  It is definitely needed, to have
a more sophisticated sound & music resource interface for Windows than that.

I'm currently writing a Windows device driver for the Roland MIDI card MPU-
401 .  When I started, I called the Microsoft reps at Kista, Sweden, to ask
whether there will be a 'standard' function-level interface for MIDI in near
future.  They said there will not be one, at least by Microsoft.

It is obvious, to me at least, that for the Windows' internal representation
of sound & music data, the existing MIDI standard will do just fine with maybe
a few additions to enhance MIDI's (originally poor!) timing resolution.  A
new HMIDI handle datatype will be necessary to address the sound device.  The
device will not have to be a MIDI, as the requests can be converted to other
devices' protocols in the driver once the common function interface has been
agreed.  The possibility of synthesizer being used as an input device should
also be considered.

Terveisin: Risto Lankinen
-- 
Risto Lankinen / product specialist ***************************************
Nokia Data Systems, Technology Dept *  2                              2   *
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK * 2 -1 is PRIME!  Now working on 2 +1 *
replies: risto@yj.data.nokia.fi     ***************************************

spolsky-joel@cs.yale.edu (Joel Spolsky) (11/06/90)

In article <825@tuura.UUCP> risto@tuura.UUCP (Risto Lankinen) writes:
>I'm currently writing a Windows device driver for the Roland MIDI card MPU-
>401 .  When I started, I called the Microsoft reps at Kista, Sweden, to ask
>whether there will be a 'standard' function-level interface for MIDI in near
>future.  They said there will not be one, at least by Microsoft.

This is not true. The Microsoft Multimedia Development Kit will
probably define an API for MIDI that will probably grow to be fairly
standard. Microsoft's Multimedia product is to be announced this month
in San Jose.

Joel Spolsky
Speaking for Nobody
spolsky@cs.yale.edu                                     Silence = Death