MIDI recording

[Zack]

Anyone know of a good MIDI-composing utility, friendly to beginners, free?

[SJ Zero]

meet me on irc.blarc.ca in the #rpg-dev chatroom. I think I have one you can use on my drive, but I wouldn't know where to find it on-line.

[Zack]

I don't have IRC.

[Rhiannon]

Download mIRC at www.mirc.com , install it and then type /server irc.blarg.ca and then #rpg-dev. As an alternative you can go to www.basicnetwork.net , click on chat and then click on #rpg-dev.

[na_th_an]

I use Music MasterWorks. It runs fine, is easy to use, simple and not very "whistley". You can download the demo for free. If you want to get rid of the demo limitations, PM me.

This proggie is so cool, you sing and it detects the notes... (well, most )

Here: http://www.musicmasterworks.com/

[Zack]

I'll try it out, Nath - SJ Zero sent me a good one, but I don't really know how to use it. If I can't figure it out, I'll move to your suggestion.
BTW is Qmidi a good QB Midi lib?

[na_th_an]

AFAIK, that lib is the only one that's really usable. It's small, runs fast on slow PCs, and doesn't take much memory.

The only hassle you'll have is configuring SBMIDI and SBSIM, the two drivers which have to be present. You have to activate them before your program starts (thru' a .BAT file) and shut'em down after it ends (in the same .BAT). Another thing to take in account is that you need to know if the sound card will play MIDI with a wavetable (most likely with nowadays standards) or with the ol' FM chip, 'cause you'll have to run "SBMIDI" with different parameters for each. I always put a configuration utility that creates the correct BAT in the fly upon the user's choice (a simple program that asks "Does your soundcard has wavetable (AWE32, PNP64, 128PCI, LIVE, etc)? (y/n)" and depending on the choice it creates the BAT file (with OPEN "GAME.BAT" FOR OUTPUT AS #1 and stuff) with the correct parameters.

Here is a quick reference about how to use QMIDI once the drivers are loaded: http://faq.qbasicnews.com/?blast=QmidiQuickReference

[Zack]

I'll look into it.
Bleh, I just realized how little I know about MIDIs - I can't figure this thing out. :o

[Zack]

Haha, the MIDI recorded that SJ Zero gave me is the same as the link you provided me with, Nath. :lol:
Now...how do I use it?

[na_th_an]

Well, you first go to the "HELP" menu and select "Tutorial". It provides a easy to follow quick startup. Go for it, and ask any questions you have.

The basics: you have channels, each one with a different "voice" or instrument. Basicly you put notes in each channel. With this program, you can enter the notes on a stave in musical notation or you can go for the "piano roll" view, which is more comfortable (at least for me).