MIDPLAY

Matthew Bacon and Shiuming Lai explore Falcon music territory

There are no prizes for correctly guessing the purpose of this
program, but before you turn the page here's the clever bit. Not
only does MIDPLAY play a MIDI file, it can also generate the final
output internally, with up to 16 voices and 24 note polyphony. The
idea isn't new, it was done a while ago on the STe/TT with EPSS,
from the makers of Zero-X, but a Falcon-enhanced implementation
which takes advantage of the DSP-assisted audio system has been a
long time coming. We almost witnessed a commercial realisation of
this seemingly obvious Falcon application in 1995, with The
Digital Sound Module from System Solutions, but it was a pleasant
surprise to come across MIDPLAY. As a stable mate of Digital
Tracker (refer to the Softjee feature on page 23) it was certainly
something to get excited about - over to Matthew.

MIDPLAY is supplied over four high density disks complete with a
custom installation program which installs all the relevant files
to your selected hard drive partition resulting in over 17Mb of
data in total!

Similar to most modern sound modules and expensive synth
keyboards, MIDPLAY conforms to a most of the General MIDI
specifications including note on/off, dynamic voice allocation,
pitch bend and after touch instructions. This makes it highly
compatible with the vast majority of MIDI files available
commercially or in the public domain.
With great anticipation, I delved into the interesting selection
of MIDI files provided. Although most files performed perfectly a
few weren't, which was a surprise, and prompted me to experiment
with some of my own Cubase Score MIDI creations.

I found the interface initially difficult to master but with the
help of the brief manual and perseverance I was able to find my
way around MIDPLAY's features - however my initial impressions
remain. For example, the OPTION button is hard to spot among all
the information parameters and its not the only one. At least the
majority of features are available directly from the main window
including the general track transport controls.

MIDPLAY offers good control over individual channels. You can
select a different voice/sample to the one selected by MIDPLAY
(when the track is loaded), the sample base note - from which
other notes are defined relative to and the ability to solo or
mute channels in real time - which kept me amused for some time.
However, I would also have liked global and per channel control
over the velocity and volume levels.

I found the detailed track information of beats per minute (BPM),
bar and time position very helpful indeed. Although MIDPLAY does
not currently offer controls such as pan or chorus, typically
found on external sound modules, it does provide relatively good
control over the tracks ambience. For example, it is possible to
set the speed at which a velocity message is handled when a note
ends (quickly, moderately or slowly).

How does it sound?

The sample bank is currently limited to 8-bit resolution so I
won't be selling my trusty KORG module yet, but if you tinker with
electronic music and cannot justify the expense of a full synth
take a closer look.
 
 
 
 
Product name
MIDPLAY

Publisher
SOFTJEE

Contact
Mail: SOFTJEE, F-47200 LONGUEVILLE, France
Tel/Fax: + 33 (0)5 53 83 64 67
Email: softjee@hol.fr
URL: http://www.perso.hol.fr/~softjee/

Cost
290 FF (around £29) + 20 FF (£2) P&P
Payment by cash, Eurocheque or bank account transfer

Requires
Falcon, 640x200 resolution (ST medium or higher), 4Mb memory, hard 
drive

Pros
Works well for a first release, unique, works as a desk accessory, 
value for money

Cons
Slightly awkward interface

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