GEMini Atari/GEMini_Atari_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1993.iso/files/music/drtsysex/drtsysex.txt

Text File | 1993-09-01 | 4KB | 69 lines

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              Dr. T Sysex - A MIDI Data Dump Utility

        For use with Dr. T's Keyboard Controlled Sequencer

                          By Jim Johnson

As anyone who has read my work probably knows,  I have a very soft
spot in my heart for Dr. T's KCS, and since I started using the ST
version,  I've been almost completely happy with it.  The one weak
point,  I've  felt,  has been the lack of a good (or even  a  bad)
system exclusive dump feature.  While the KCS can send sysex  data
with the single byte event type,  sysex data cannot be recorded  -
it can only be typed in by hand. Ugh.

Enter  Dr.  T  Sysex.  This little program simply  records  system
exclusive dumps as they are sent to the Atari,  and then  converts
them to a .SEQ (single sequence) file for use by the KCS.

The  program was written in Megamax C,  and conforms to  the  file
format  for .SEQ files as shown in the KCS Programmer's  Reference
Guide,  which  can be obtained direct from Dr.  T's for a  nominal
charge.  Normal MIDI data such as note messages,  clocks,  and the
like  are stripped out before the file is saved,  so the  sequence
contains only valid sysex data.

To save as sysex dump as a sequence,  you must be able to initiate
a sysex dump from the front panel of your synthesizer.  This means
Casio and many Roland instruments which require handshaking  won't
work with this program. The other limitation is that dumps must be
less than 32K bytes long.  Most data dumps should fit within  this
limit;  I  may   increase  this and rerelease  the  program at
somelaterdate.

After  you  double  click on DRTSYSEX.PRG and  pay  homage  to  my
programming  skills by reading the title alert  box,  the  program
will indicate that it is ready to receive a MIDI data dump.  After
you start the dump and the synthesizer or drum machine has stopped
sending data,  click on OK if you're sure everything is that  way,
or REDO if you think you might have blown the dump.  A file select
box will appear at this point; name the sequence, and you're done.

There are a couple of tricks to using the resulting sequence  from
within  the  sequencer that I've picked up as  well.  The  program
automatically puts one time step between every ten data bytes,  so
that  the program doesn't have too much data to deal with on  each
time step.  Some sysex messages, however, are actually composed of
two or more separate messages,  and you might need to put a little
more delay between individual messages - but not too much, as most
instruments  will only wait for a certain amount of  time  between
messages before they decide that the line is dead.  As an example,
my ESQ1 won't recognize data dumps unless I put six time steps (at
60 BPM) between the SEQUENCE DUMP ALERT and the SEQUENCE DATA DUMP
messages that make up a sequence dump. Experiment, as always.

You  might  also need to disable MIDI CLOCK OUT on  the  KCS  when
sending sysex dumps. Theoretically, MIDI clocks shouldn't screw up
a  sysex message,  but they do on my ESQ1 - so why risk  confusing
the synth needlessly, hmm? (This might also be tempo dependent - I
haven't checked, though.)

I have found no problems with this program,  but you might. Please
report any bugs to me on PAN,  GEnie, or Compuserve - I'm JAMOS on
the first two and 70461,10 on Compuserve.

                          Happy Dumping!

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