Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!scea!greg_labrec@interactive.sony.com From: Stan Weaver Newsgroups: scea.yaroze.programming.sound Subject: Re: MIDI Sequencer Advice (MAC) Date: Thu, 08 May 1997 11:29:14 +0000 Organization: Sony Computer Entertainment America Lines: 52 Message-ID: <3371B907.3FDF@interactive.sony.com> References: <3361C16F.6822@charlie.cns.iit.edu> <3363670d.2046667@205.149.189.29> <33647A68.EBB@handsontoys.com> <3369C121.564A@interactive.sony.com> <336A18D3.7DB0@handsontoys.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 206.41.6.40 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Macintosh; I; PPC) Jay Brewer wrote: > > Yes. When I was playing the game "Tail of the Sun" or something like > that (the game with cavemen and stuff) the music sounded very modlike > and I thought - hey that would be great!!! However mods are very CPU > intensive (at least on the mac) and this could be a bummer. > > I think just having the ability to trigger better sounding stuff than > the GM sounds would be great - but I really haven't pushed that out to > the limit either. > > Can a seq file toggle say a variety of sampled vags and then play them > in order and on key like in vision? Or is that too high end? Hi Jay, MODs are great for situations were you've got lots of different hardware configurations to consider, like on the Internet. However, in this situation all the hardware is identical, so you can optimize the sound quality, as much as memory and time will allow, by having a proprietary format. But, when considered together, the SEQ/VAB combination is like a MOD. As far as the GM sounds go, they are somewhat limited, but see what you can do with them. And, in the future, we'll be working on ways to make it easier for you to create your own sounds. You do of course realize that you can create your own sounds, right? For more info on that check out Mario Perdue’s messages in the “VAB file on the Yaroze boot CD” thread. As of right now, unfortunately, you’ll need to use a PC to create the VAB. The Mac tools are not yet available, but they will be soon. An SEQ is all the information you put into your sequence, converted to a form that the PSX understands. It does not contain any information that is a product of your sequencer's interface. That's why you have to actually place a patch change in the tracks in order to have the proper sound play. But, yes, if I understand your question correctly, you can change instruments in a track. I'm not sure why you would want to do that in most cases, but sure. In essence, you're creating the Patches or Programs using one or more VAGs, depending on note range etc. (ex.: an 88 key Grand Piano patch is probably going to use many VAGs so that it sounds natural), and formatting them into Banks (VABs). So, then when the SEQ sends a patch change message = 52, the PSX will play Program #52. Does this all make sense? Stan Weaver SCEA