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PAGE 5 (MIDI Advised)
MED FAQ - PAGE 4
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SoundBlaster Live Banks
*From:* MED user "Nige G"
The way I'm getting my Soundblaster to change banks is by doing the
following: -
1) Load the Soundfonts into the Card
2) Setup each required MIDI instrument in MED with a different transmit
channel. (You may also need to use 'A: SB Live! MIDI Synth' for the
output port)
3) Select your first instrument and choose a track for it.
4) At the top of the track after the instrument number put '31nn00'
{where nn = bank number in hex)
5) Briefly play the track using so that the command gets executed. (This
need only take a second)
6) Type a few notes and the Soundblaster should have changed bank so
that you can edit your track using the correct sound.
7) Repeat this process on different tracks using a different instrument
on each.
I'm very much a novice at this and am still learning the ropes so there
may be a much easier method.
I occassionally get instruments which refuse to change bank which I'm
currently trying to suss out. (It sometimes helps to refresh them by
changing the preset or something). Hope this helps in some way!
*Reply to above From:* MED user Ian Chisholm
I find, when working with MIDI in MED, that a setup block is the order
of the day.
I have a default block that's set to 24 tracks wide (I haven't needed
more yet!) and it has all the first 16 instruments in the first 16
channels, and by playing that block before starting working on the rest
of the choon, I can set up all the MIDI stuff for each instrument/MIDI
channel.
This is handy because you may need to set up a slide distance that's
longer than the default 2 notes for an instrument, or activate it's low
pass filter (hurrah!) or set it's pan, yada yada yada.
Play the block once, and it's sorted for that session. Sounds like you
do this bank changing stuff in the same way, although to be honest I'll
probably stick with using just the one bank now...
I'll tell you something else I've noticed - use the CTRL I or CTRL SHIFT
I shortcut keys to insert/append a new block, and it inherits the
properties (no of tracks and command pages) of the current block. Using
the insert/append button on the block list just adds a default 1 command
page 8 channel block.
There you go. In case that was annoying you. Hence my default 24 track
setup block :)
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Using SB Live Soundfonts with MED
A user asked:
> Hey ppl...
>
> I cannot for the life of me work out how to access the .sf2 banks
> that I can load onto the card with MIDI and MED!
Here is a reply from another user on that subject
*From:* Baird McIntosh
I have gotten this to work fairly reliably, but it was not easy and
there are still "quirks."
I am using MED v1.4 and a SB Live. You may be able to adapt these
instructions
to the SB Audigy.
I have the default 4MB soundfont loaded plus several other soundfonts in
banks 11, 12, 13, etc.
Here are the steps:
1) Load soundfonts into one or more banks using "SoundFont" application
from AudioHQ app
that comes with SBLive--I presume there is something similar with the
Audigy.
2) Load MED. The following steps apply to MED.
3) Select MIDI->MIDI Patch Names
For each Soundfont:
a) click InsertNew and type in a name for this instrument (such as "Moog
soundfont"
b) select "A: SB Live MIDI Synth" for "This Device Uses Port"
c) Allocate one or more MIDI channels that you want this soundfont to
respond to.
If you want to be able to play from multiple banks on the SB card, you
will need to
save some channels for the other banks.
For example, I have the default GM soundfont using channels 1-10.
have another soundfont using channel 11, another using 12, and another
using 13 and 14.
I think you need a channel for each patch from the soundfont that you
want to be able to play
simultaneously. For example, there is an organ sound and a bass sound in
one of my soundfonts.
To play both sounds simultaneously, I need to play one on MIDI channel
13 and one on 14.
Sorry if this is obvious.
d) For the builtin GM soundfont, I select "GM Standard" for the Patch
Names.
e) For other soundfonts, select "User Defined" for the Patch Names.
Then you can type in the patch names below, but this is not strictly
necessary (and it is tedious).
4) You need to set MIDI->MIDI active to be able to play MIDI instruments
in a song.
This setting will be saved when MED saves your song.
5) Now to set up an instrument:
a) pick an instrument slot in MED and make it a MIDI instrument
(Instrument Type = MIDI)
b) set Device to one of your soundfont devices.
They are listed by the names you gave them in step 3 and have a channel
number
in parentheses after the name (for multi-channel devices)
c) set the output port to "A: SB Live MIDI Synth"
d) set bank 0
e) set a suitable Preset (soundfont patch number)
f) set the Transmit Ch to one of the channels you assigned to this
device in step 3 above.
6) Finally, I use a setup block at the start of a song to set the
soundfont bank
used by a given instrument "on the fly". This seems to be the only way
to get it to work.
My startup measure looks like this for a single track:
C-5 6310D00
--- 00FFF00
The first line says play a C-5 (need to play a note I guess) using
instrument 6
(which we set up as a MIDI instrument).
Send command 31 which by default is configured to affect controller 00
(which selects the SB Live soundfont bank).
The 0D is hexadecimal for the decimal number 13. 13 is one of my
soundfont banks.
That should do it.
Now you can play the currently selected patch/preset from soundfont bank
13 using MED instrument 6.
You might be able to change patches/presets within bank 13 using MIDI
commands
(read up on the Song->Controller Commands menu item).
I haven't tried that. I just set the patch to one number in the
Instrument slot
configuration and leave it at that.
You will probably have some trouble getting it to work, but the above
seems to work for me.
I did NOT get MIDI input from my MIDI keyboard to work, but the
documentation and FAQs
imply that other people have noticed this doesn't work in v1.4.
The next v2.0 is greatly improved, and look forward to seeing
it.
Hope this helps.
Baird
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Software-synthesizer, midi (in
multi-mode) and Soundfonts
Hendrik says:
After hours of searching, downloading and experimenting EVERYTHING
works!
* First install DirectX8.0a or higher (this may self-evident for most
people - for me it wasn't...)
now you can choose the DirectX driver for your software-synth and MED
will share his voice
with him (didn't work work with DirectX7.0!)
* Download Hubi's MIDI LoopBack and his MIDI TransformatoR
(http://members.magnet.at/hubwin/midi.html)
* read the txt file of LoopBack and intstall LB1 and LB2
* start two times HWMDCABL.EXE and press the right mouse button on one
of it
* now check for example [SB Live! MIDI In] and [LB1]
* select the other HWMDCABL.EXE and select [LB2] and [SB Live! MIDI Out]
* LB1 can be used from any application as MIDI In and LB2 as MIDI Out
* Now you can start MED and in the MIDI-Settings choose LB1 as Input
(don't
check THRU it only sends MIDI-channel 1 back)
* In the MIDI Patch Setup choose the channels you want to control and
[This Device Uses Port:] LB2 (MIDI-Out)
[you can make a link for the setup with a command line]
* choose the Instrument-Box and MIDI - on the device list you can choose
the channel you want
** Now you can start as many virtual-synth (like VAZ) as your cpu can
handle
and sequence them on different MIDI-channel via MED [select LB2 for
Input
in your soft-synth!].
Not enough: during this you are able to edit your Hardware-Synth with a
special Software-Editor and change/edit the sound or setup while MED is
running a sequence, so you can here the changes!! (It's great - before
HUBI I had
to use two computers! - AMIGA running MED and the PC running the
K4-Editor.)
** You can control a SF2-Bank Prg. like Vienna as well.While MED is
sequencing you can change the SF2-Sounds!
For MED-users who make use of hardware synth in MULTI-mode and
discovered
problems with the MIDI-THRU function, the Tranformator will help you!
It's a
little bit of a hassle to get it to work so if you mail me privatley at:
LangeH@stud.wirt.fh-hannover.de and I can send you a setup (med.trf).
** with this setup for transformator you can select the MIDI-channel of
your
MULTI-mode you want to hear! Because of a PC-MED Prg. error this isn't
possible from within MED; select the MIDI-Instrument you want to input
in
MED and activate the channel in the Tranformator - you can hear the
right
instrument, while playing on your keyboard...
At last I'm (and perhaps you are) able to make music with MED as
imagined!
Happy experimenting!
Hendrik
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Command 29
*From:* MED user 'Reallooker'
Why use Command 29?
- Automatically time-sync sample loops to a bar regardless of tempo.
- Produce 'live' pitch/time compression/stretch effects.
- Instant loop auditioning through the instrument pool.
Command Format:
C#3 290000
The first part of the command is the "sample offset"
The second part of the command is the "divisor of sample length"
Similar in function to Command 19, Command 29 can be used for a variety
of effects that utilise playing from offset points within the sample.
But! whereas Command 19 jumps to any part of a given sample based on the
number you supply in the data part of the command, Command 29 sets an
offset calculated from both the number you supply and the length of the
sample. This makes the programming of offset effects such as loop
synchronising and live time-pitch compression very easy.
Loop syncing using Command 29:
This tutorial shows you how to synchronise a loop sample so that you can
freely change it's pitch and / or the song tempo during playback without
the loop going out of time sync with the rest of your song... Sound
useful? You're damn right it's useful......when you get used to this one
you'll wonder how you ever coped without it if you like your loops :) It
assumes you are familiar with MED Sound Studio and not a complete
beginner...
1. Load up a normal 4/4 drum loop sample. By normal I mean make sure it
has no 'dead' silence before and after the actual loop... also check
that it loops seamlessly (when looped with the regular sample loop
option).
Hopefully you should have a sample that starts on the downbeat ie the
beat loop starts at the beginning of the sample and not half-way
through. As you can see all I'm asking is that you load up a normal drum
loop and not some nasty freaky sample that will be a recipe for
problems. Let's try not to mess up my demonstration :P
2. Choose the pitch you want for this drum loop place down the same
chosen note on each line of the track for as long as one bar of your
tune runs (typically 16 lines). If your drum loop is more than one bar
long then carry on placing notes for as many bars as there are in your
drum loop. Most of mine are either 1 or 2 bar drum loops so I place
notes from 0-15 or 0-31 respectively on my track. So you get something
that looks like this:-
0000: F#6
0001: F#6
0002: F#6
0003: F#6
0004: F#6
0005: F#6
0006: F#6
0007: F#6
0008: F#6
0009: F#6
0010: F#6
0011: F#6
0012: F#6
0013: F#6
0014: F#6
0015: F#6
0016: F#6
3. Select these lines and choose Tools -> Generate
Slides, and select code 29.
4. In the top right box enter the line number of the last note you
placed on the drum track (probably either 15 or 31).
5. If your drum loop is a 1-bar sample press the generate slide button
otherwise put 20 in both of the bottom boxes and then press the generate
slide button.
6. This has now time-synced the drum loop to one or two bars of your
tune, copy this completed section to the rest of the empty track as
appropriate so you have a complete looping block of drums.
7. If you let the rest of your tune play along side this drum track it
should be synced perfectly to the tempo of your song, regardless of the
drum loop's original speed. Now here comes the crazy bit :-) You can
adjust the speed of your track up and down with the tempo slider or
tempo commands and the beat will automatically stay in sync - you can
even transpose the pitch of the entire drum track and again it will all
stay in sync. (if you stray wildly away from either the original pitch
of your drum-loop or you choose a tempo much slower than the original
you may get echo-like effects introduced but thats the nature of
time-pitch compression.. That said, some people like this 'crazy
side-effect'...
If you have a library of beats ready to loop (this is great this :) you
can follow steps 1-7 and then while your block is playing through you
can switch in and out different beat loops from your sample library by
double-clicking different loops from the instrument pool to overwrite
the beat you originally synced. The 29 commands you placed earlier will
guarantee that whichever beat you load up it is instantly synced to the
tune while it continues playing!
The principles here apply to any sort of loop - I picked drums because
they will accompany most tracks without the need for tuning. You can of
course use command 29 to time-sync other musical loops such as guitar
riffs etc - if you do pick a non-percussion sample expect to have to
tune it with the transpose tools although the timing and rhythm of the
sample will be synced as with the drum-loop example above.
To Summarise:
The last part of the 29 command can be thought of as the
number of track lines your sample will span (in hex)
The the first part should correspond to how far through the sample (or
which piece) you want to play (also in hex). Leaving the last section as
00 makes it default to 10 hex or 16 (the most command choice).
So this sequence
:
0012: F#6 11290007
0013: F#6 11290107
0014: F#6 11290207
0015: F#6 11290307
0016: F#6 11290407
0017: F#6 11290507
0018: F#6 11290607
..forces my instrument 11 to play (from the start of the
sample to the end) at pitch F#6 over exactly 7 lines starting on line
12.
Cheeky drum programming & rejigging loops:
One absolute bonus of Command 29 is the easy way it lets you rejig a
drum-loop or a sample loop. Cos the "action" in this loops tends to lie
on 16th divisions within the sample you can easily have your loop play
alternative arrangements and variations by simply shuffling the play
order of each sample slice. In a nutshell if you do the following with a
loop:
0000: F#6 11290000
0001: F#6 11290100
0002: F#6 11290200
0003: F#6 11290300
0004: F#6 11290400
0005: F#6 11290500
0006: F#6 11290750
0007: F#6 11290700
0008: F#6 11290800
0009: F#6 11290900
0010: F#6 11290A00
0011: F#6 11290B00
0012: F#6 11290C00
0013: F#6 11290D00
0014: F#6 11290E00
0015: F#6 11290F00
...(I use the above arrangement a lot by the way to
force any 1-bar breakbeat to always span 16 lines) - you can rejig the
rhythm very easily by changing the order of the blue numbers; because of
the way command 29 works this is a convenient and simple way of doing
jazzy variations on any breakbeat or loop - because of the way command
29 works each number 0-F in the blue section above represents the major
"beat" points in your loops regardless of its original tempo or pitch.
For example (more often than not) 290400 represents the snare in many
drum loops - 290000 usually the kick...
Have a play with this command it is an absolute beauty when you get to
grips with it :)
- Rick
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Preventing Stutters in Med
*From:* MED user 'Darkside'
This tip wont affect everyone, just the few like me who have a pc that has to be different !
On some pc's (generally pentium 4's but it also affects some AMD based machines)
you might find Med doesn't want to play ball. It may stutter when playing or it may slow down to a halt for no apparent reason
ALL IS NOT LOST!
The reason this happens is a hard one to explain but easy to fix. Its not a bug in med as such and its not a bug in your hardware.
Its just an irritation which i happen to have a solution for
1. The first thing to look at is the 23 24 & 25 command (These control the filter in med) look through the med file and see if there are any.
If you find these commands then more than likely the command will be repeated (a good example is the 23 and 24 commands being used for filter sweeps).
If for instance there's a filter sweep in the med file using command 23 which is repeated later in the file on the same channel then the first 23 command needs to be reset before it hits the second
(insert another 23 command and enter the value as zero to reset)
2. The second thing to look for is weird and only happens on certain med files. If your composing or playing a med file and you get the jitters (not you literally, im talking about your pc)
then check to see if you have repeated any blocks in meds playing sequence, I.E your playing sequence goes something like 1.2.3.4.5.5.5.6.7.8.9 .. etc. If this is the case then
try composing your med file without repeating any blocks ie : 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10 .. etc. (If you need a block repeated then copy it and paste it to a new block)
I hope thats of some help, as i said it doesnt effect everyone but for those it does it can be a right pain . (the above advice should fix this though)
All the best
Patrick
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