robinson@star.enet.dec.com (Dave Robinson) (04/02/91)
In February I posted a request for info to refute an article in
"Electronic Musician"
that I believe damned the Amiga's Multitasking/MIDI status. I received
a number of
messages from people, many of whom were more qualified than I, and
sent the following
letter to the Magazine. First, thanks to those that responded. I
included what I could
from your information.
Summary: Although multitasking with MIDI is unfortunately not
established because
Commodore has not established a standard MIDI
library, I found more
to the current state of multitasking with MIDI on
the Amiga than this
limitation and the March "Electronic Musician"
article implies.
Here is the letter:
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Dear Electronic Musician (Rudy Trubitt):
As you may know by now, Amiga computer owners tend to be
evangelical about the superiority of their multitasking computer.
As one of the converted I looked forward to reading
final recognition of the Amiga's power in your March
1991 article "Multitasking with MIDI". I was saddened to
find that with all of the Amiga's potential and some of its
current abilities, it didn't fare well in Rudy's article.
After some investigation, I found some information that Rudy
may have overlooked. I'll try not to preach.
Although the basic statement that Commodore hasn't established
a MIDI library standard is true, the situation isn't quite as glum
as that suggests.
First of all, I can multitask and share the MIDI data stream
now without any special libraries. I believe this is because
the serial port, and consequently the MIDI port, can
be shared as part of the basic multitasking nature of the
Amiga. Now, I can't say that I have tested many different
programs together, or tried to produce glitches, but I can
run a Public Domain algorithm program or a home brew patch
loader while I edit or play sequences with Bars & Pipes.
This requires no "unprecedented cooperation between
software companies".
Even though Commodore hasn't completely established a MIDI
data sharing standard, there is at least one high quality
Public Domain MIDI library available, and at least one
professional program, Bars & Pipes, which provides (Rules for
Tools) everything a programmer needs to create a program
that shares the MIDI data with it.
But multitasking is multitasking; it doesn't stop just because
all programs aren't using the same shared library.
Here are some of the possibilities that do not require a
MIDI library standard or cooperation between software
companies.
o Deluxe Music construction set, a score based program,
can play through the MIDI out while another sequencer
picks up the midi data through the MIDI in. People use
this to create standard MIDI Files from a program that
doesn't provide it. I can also run the PD program
AlgoRhythms, and input the MIDI stream to my sequencer
running simultaneously.
o Both Bars & Pipes and MUSIC-X (maybe others) provide the
option to disconnect the program from the MIDI interface.
With Bars & Pipes, for example, I can with confidence
disable the MIDI out, switch to my patch loader,
send some patches, and switch back to Bars & Pipes with
a few key strokes and mouse clicks. This is not multitasking,
it is task switching, but it doesn't require special,
unprecedented cooperation, or two programs from
the same vendor.
o In the same vein, users with enough memory can easily
load up Music-X and Bars & Pipes simultaneously and save
and load SMFs between them, using the strengths of each
sequencer as needed. Or, since Bars & Pipes disables the
MIDI out but does not pause the program, a patch librarian
can be setting up patch banks in the background while
you do some on-screen editing in Bars & Pipes. Or a
sequence can be loading while another program uses the
MIDI port.
o In the slightly more adventurous realm, people with
multiple serial ports can have multiple (disjoint) midi streams
going. A patch librarian can be passing massive sysex
data though one MIDI out while a sequencer is playing
through another. And, Music-X and Bars & Pipes both
support multiple midi ports using the Checkpoint "Serial
Solution" card and possibly other serial cards.
o One standard that Commodore has established is AREXX,
a script language that allows information passing between
programs. Since Bars & Pipes has an AREXX in port,
nearly anyone can put together an algorithm composition
program that passes commands to Bars & Pipes. I'm not
up to date on the AREXX status of other Amiga MIDI
programs, but there are paint programs with AREXX ports,
a prospect that should tempt those leaning towards
multimedia. There are also data base programs and lots of
multimedia presentation programs with AREXX ports.
o And, in case you didn't notice that I like Bars & Pipes,
let me remind you that the program itself is internally
multitasking. This is what allows the real time, non-
destructive editing - some of which you do not find on
other computer sequencer/composition programs. And it,
of course, allows me to write this letter while I am playing
a sequence. Yeah!
o In conclusion, I'm as frustrated as anyone that full real
time MIDI data sharing isn't completely established on
the Amiga. I just wanted to say that there is more to
the current state of multitasking with MIDI on the Amiga
than Rudy Trubitt acknowledged.
Thanks for listening - I really respect and enjoy your magazine.
Dave Robinsonjol@sei.cmu.edu (DR. J) (04/02/91)
In article <21594@shlump.nac.dec.com> robinson@star.enet.dec.com (Dave Robinson) writes: > program that passes commands to Bars & Pipes. I'm not > up to date on the AREXX status of other Amiga MIDI Music-X 1.1 now has a AREXX module. ################################################################################ jol@sei.cmu.edu "Life not worth dying for // (412) 268-7602 isn't worth living for". \\ // Software Engineering Institute AMIGA \X/