134 lines
7.7 KiB
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134 lines
7.7 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<title>Linux and MIDI Issue 15</title>
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#FF0000" VLINK="#FF00FF" ALINK="#0000EE">
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center>
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<h2>Linux and MIDI: In the beginning...</h2>
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<H4>By Dave Phillips,
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<a href="mailto:diphilp@mail.bright.net">diphilp@mail.bright.net</a></H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR><P>
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"<i>The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) protocol has been variously
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described as an interconnection scheme between instruments and computers, a set of
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guidelines for transferring data from one instrument to another, and a language for
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transmitting musical scores between computers and synthesizers. All these definitions
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capture an aspect of MIDI.</i>"
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<Roads, Curtis. 1995.
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<a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/mitp/recent-books/comp/roads.html">
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Computer Music Tutorial</a>. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. p. 972>
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<br>
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<p>
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Greetings! This article will hopefully be the first in a series covering various
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aspects of <a href="http://www.midi-classics.com/whatmidi.htm">MIDI</a> and sound with Linux. The series will be far from exhaustive, and
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I sincerely hope to hear from anyone currently using and/or developing MIDI and
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audio software for use under Linux.<p>
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Perhaps most Linux users know about MIDI as a soundcard interface option, or as
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a standalone interface option during kernel configuration for sound. As usual, some
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preparatory considerations must be made in order to optimally set up your Linux
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MIDI music machine. Be sure to read the kernel configuration notes included in
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/usr/src/linux/Documentation: you will find basic information about setting up your
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soundcard and/or interface, and you will also find notes regarding changes and
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additions to the sound driver software.<p>
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Common soundcards such as the <a href="http://www.creativelabs.com/">SoundBlaster16</a> or the MediaVision
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<a href="http://www.mediavis.com/mainmenu.htm">PAS16</a> require
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a separate MIDI connector kit to provide the MIDI In/Out ports, while standalone
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interface cards such as the <a href="http://www.rolandcorp.com">Roland MPU-401</a> and
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<a href="http://www.opcode.com">Music Quest MQX32M</a> have the ports
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built-in. Dedicated MIDI interface cards don't usually have synthesis chips (such
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as the <a href="http://www.yamaha.com">Yamaha</a> OPL3 FM synthesizer) on-board, but they often provide services not usually
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found on the soundcards, such as MTC or SMPTE time code and multi-port systems (for
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expanding available channels past the original limit of 16).<p>
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Having successfully installed your card and kernel (or module) support, you will
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still need a decent audio system and a MIDI input device. If you use a soundcard for
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MIDI record/play via the internal chip, you will also need a software mixer; if you
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record your MIDI output to tape, and then record your tape to your hard-disk, you
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will also want a soundfile editor.<p>
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When the essential hardware and software is properly configured, it's time to look
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at the available software for making music with MIDI and Linux. Please note that in this
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article I will only supply links and very brief descriptions, while further articles
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will delve deeper into the software and its uses.<p>
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Nathan Laredo's <a href="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/sound/midi/">playmidi</a> is a simple command-line utility for MIDI playback and
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recording which can also be compiled for ncurses and X interfaces.
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<a href="http://rokke.grm.hia.no/per/jazz.html">JAZZ</a> is an excellent sequencer which has some unique MIDI-processing features and
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an
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interface which will feel quite familiar to users of Macintosh and Windows sequencers.
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<a href="http://www.calband.berkeley.edu/~gmeeker/vivace/">Vivace</a>
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and <a href="http://www.bath.ac.uk/~masjpf/rose.html">Rosegarden</a> are notation packages which provide score playback, but each with a
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difference: Rosegarden accesses your MIDI configuration, while Vivace "renders"
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the score. <a href="http://www.clinet.fi/~toivonen/timidity/">tiMiDity</a> is a rendering program which compiles a MIDI file into
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a soundfile, using patch sets or WAV files as sound sources. Ruediger Borrmann's
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<a href="http://www.inx.de/%7Erubo/songlab/midi2cs/csound.html#top">MIDI2CS</a> is also a
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rendering program, but it acts as a translator from a MIDI file to a
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<a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Man/c_front.html">Csound </a> score file.
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Mike Durian's <a href="http://jagger.me.berkeley.edu/~greg/tclmidi.html">tclmidi</a> and
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<a href="http://jagger.me.berkeley.edu/~greg/tclmidi.html">tkseq </a>provide a powerful MIDI programming
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environment, and Tim Thompson has recently announced the availability of his
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<a href="http://www.nosuch.com/keykit/index.html">KeyKit</a>,
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a very interesting GUI for algorithmic MIDI composition.<p>
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4-track recording to hard disk can be realized using Boris Nagels'
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<a href="http://rulhmpc38.leidenuniv.nl/private/multitrack/multitrack.html">Multitrack</a>, but
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Linux has yet to see an integrated MIDI/audio sequencer such as Opcode's
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<a href="http://www.opcode.com">Studio Vision</a> for the Mac
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or Voyetra's <a href="http://www.voyetra.coma/">Digital Orchestrator Plus</a> for Windows. Linux also lacks device support for the
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digital I/O cards such as the <a href="http://www.zefiro.comi"/>Zefiro</a> or
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DAL's <a href="http://www.digitalaudio.com/">Digital-only</a>.<p>
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If you use the tiMiDity package or MIDI2CS you will want to edit your
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sample
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libraries.
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Available soundfile editors include the remarkable <a href="http://www.ccmrc.ucsb.edu/~doug/htmls/MixViews.html">MiXViews</a>, the Ceres <a href="http://www.ceressoft.com>SoundStudio</a>,
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and Paul Sharpe's tk-based <a
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href="http://www.elec-eng.leeds.alc.uk/staff/een6njb/Software/Studio/screens.html">
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Studio</a>.<p>
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The excellent <a href="http://www.digiserve.com/ar/linux-snd/">Linux MIDI & Sound Pages</a> are the best starting point in your search
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for software, and be sure to check the <a href="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/Incoming">Incoming</a> directory at
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<a href="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/">sunsite</a>. Newsgroups
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dedicated to MIDI include <a href="news:comp.music.midi">comp.music.midi</a> and
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<a href="news:alt.binaries.sounds.midi">alt.binaries.sounds.midi</a>; please write to me if you know what
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mail-lists are available, I'll list them in a later article.<p>
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Feel free to write concerning corrections, addenda, or comments to this article.
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Linux has great potential as a sound-production platform, and we can all contribute
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to its development. I look forward to hearing from you!
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<p>
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<hr>
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<i>Special thanks to Hannu Savolainen (for maintaining sound support for the Linux kernel) and to Arne Di Russo (for the Linux MIDI & Sound Pages).</i>
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<hr>
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<p>
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<center>Dave Phillips</center>
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<br>
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<center>
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<a href="mailto:dlphilp@bright.net">dlphilp@bright.net</a></center><p>
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<center>
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<a href="http://www.bright.net/~dlphilp/index.html">DLP's Home Page</a></center>
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<p>
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<hr>
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<p>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1997, Dave Phillips <BR>
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Published in Issue 15 of the Linux Gazette, March 1997</H5></center>
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