QuickTime MIDI Player is an application which will allow you to play MIDI data through your Macintosh speakers using QuickTime 2.0 and the MIDI Manager. To use QuickTime MIDI Player, you will require both QuickTime 2.0 and the Apple MIDI Manager. This shareware version of QuickTime MIDI Player fully functional, but please send in your registration fee of $15.00 so that I may continue to write new programs and provide updates for this one.
QuickTime MIDI Player is set to run with 384k of memory (this is the default for the Symantec C++ compiler). It doesn't need that much... if you don't use very many tracks, you can set it to 200k for sure and if you only use 2 or 3 tracks, you can probably go to 150k-175k.
QuickTime MIDI Player allows you to set up the way that the instruments will sound on the Macintosh. Each different instrument is attached to a track. You can have up to 100 different tracks, although you probably won't be able to play that many instruments at once! (My IIci at home can only play four different instruments at once... but this doesn't limit you to 4 tracks, all it means is that you can't play more than 4 different tracks simultaneously.) You can assign the same instrument to more than one track. Each track also is associated to a certain MIDI channel. This is set in the "MIDI Ch." column in the track setup window. It's default channel is 1. To change it, click on the number and a popup menu will appear listing all the different MIDI channels. You can also decide whether or not you want the track to play incoming MIDI information. Just select the appropriate check box under the "Play" column. Also, it is possible that you will want the track to change instruments when it recieves program change messages. There is a check box under the column "Pr. Chg." which will allow you to change this setting. WARNING: Program change messages slow down QuickTime MIDI Player a lot! It takes time to load the different instruments on to the track. You will almost certainly hear a break in the music while it is loading. (This is all from experience on my IIci. I don't know how fast it works on other computers... Any feedback would be appreciated!) Finally, if you added a track that you don't want anymore, just select it by clicking in it's track number column (under the "#" column) and choose "Delete Selected Track" from the "Tracks" menu, or press the delete key.
Using QuickTime MIDI Player is simple:
1. Run QuickTime MIDI Player.
2. Select "New" from the File Menu to create a new track setup file.
3. Add tracks using the "Add Track" command from the Track menu. QuickTime MIDI Player currently allows you to add up to 100 tracks, although it is unlikely that you will ever be able to play that many different instrument at one.
4. To change the MIDI Channel number, click on the number under the "MIDI Ch." column. A popup menu will appear allowing you to change the MIDI Channel.
5. To select a different instrument, click on the instrument name. The standard QuickTime Instrument Picker dialog will appear, allowing you to change the selected instrument.
6. To make a channel play incoming notes, hilite the check box under the "Play" column.
7. To make a channel change instruments with MIDI Program Change messages, hilite the check box under the "Pr. Chg." column.
Once you have set up your track file, you can save it from the "File" menu. You are now ready to use QuickTime MIDI Player to play music. Open an application that can play MIDI using the Apple MIDI Manager. Join it's output ports to the newly created QuickTime Input Port. This port is actually the port that QuickTime MIDI Player uses.
In your MIDI application, get it to play music. You should now hear the sounds coming out of the Macintosh speaker! This is also useful if you are entering music into programs, since it will give you auditory feedback to what you are doing.
QuickTime MIDI Player is shareware and if you use it, please send in your registration fee of $15.00, so that you will recieve future upgrades and I will be able to contrinue supporting this program. I know that peaople cannot always afford the shareware fee (I'm a music student at the University of Alberta. We musicians don't exactly make a lot of money!), or you may not think that this program is worth $15.00. Please send in what you can. I cannot guarantee that this program will be updated if there is not enough response. Please send your registration fee to:
Terry Greeniaus
89 Lancaster Cres.
St. Albert, Alberta
Canada
T8N 2N9
QuickTime MIDI Player is distributed "as is." I make no guarantees or warranties on the quality of the product and I cannot be held liable for any problems that this software may create. This program has not been tested on any other computer but my Macintosh IIci and I will not be held responsible for any bad things that happen because it doesn't work on your computer. (Although it should work fine, since I haven't done anything unusual in this application.)
I can also be reached through e-mail at tgreen@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca
