[linux-audio-user] Linux midi players that don't require download of large patch or sample files??
21 Feb
2004
21 Feb
'04
9:29 a.m.
Sorry, this is probably a very newbie question, and I haven't lurked
very long or searched the archives (partly because I don't have a good
idea of keywords to search for).
I've used Linux for a few years, but sound isn't normally a concern. My
son is trying to make the switch from Windows to Linux (and has, for
some things) and now wants to play midi files.
His impression is that, on Windows, sound players use synthesizer's (and
"patches"/"samples") built into the sound card while on Linux those
patches/samples (??) have to be downloaded and he talks about 40 MB
worth of files in some cases.
Maybe the difference is that we also changed computers, and his current
computer has an on-board SiS 7018 sound thingie while his previous
computer (IIRC) had a separate sound card, possibly with something like
the Yamaha OPL xxx on it.
Any light anybody can shed on this would be appreciated. (I did skim
through a Linux Sound HOWTO (that was actually a little bit more like an
FAQ), and saw some hints, but I really don't know how to interpret
them.)
Keywords to use to search the archives or Google, or pointers to simple
documentation that focuses on this subject could also be helpful.
No doubt what ever I learn will end up on a WikiLearn page
(http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Wikilearn/WebChanges).
thanks,
Randy Kramer
21 Feb
21 Feb
10:11 a.m.
Hi Randy:
I'm not totally sure about how things work in Windows (is anyone?) but
the likelihood is that your soundcard was installed along with a set of
patches ready to go. AFAIK no soundcard comes with a pre-programmed
hardware synth on-board, though I may be wrong about that. So your old
card probably needed the patches or soundfonts too, but in typical
Windows fashion they were loaded and you never had to consider them
(which is a pretty good way to do things for a normal user, IMO).
Your consideration now is actually a few considerations:
Does the SiS support a real on-board hardware synth ?
Does the SiS really only support a software synthesizer ?
If it does support a synth, what sound sources does it require (i.e.
soundfonts, GUS patches, WAV, whatever) ?
Does ALSA and/or OSS/Free provide native Linux support for the SiS ?
Does the driver support all the features of the SiS chipset ?
You should start your explorations here:
http://www.alsa-project.org
Look over the Soundcard Matrix to see if your soundcard/chipset is
supported. Click on the Details for more information about the depth of
support provided by the available driver.
Btw, soundfonts can vary wildly in size. My SBLive came with a disc
that included General MIDI soundfonts, in 2, 4, and 8 MB sizes. For a
comparison, I also utilize the Fluid soundfont with the TiMidity++
software synthesizer. That soundfont (FluidR3) is almost 150 MB, much
too large for my SBLive's standard memory but it works great with the
softsynth.
Also btw: Look at the TiMidity++ and playmidi for lightweight players
for your MIDI files. Check here for more information :
http://linux-sound.org/midi.html
Best regards,
dp
Ruth A. Kramer wrote:
Sorry, this is probably a very newbie question, and I
haven't lurked
very long or searched the archives (partly because I don't have a good
idea of keywords to search for).
I've used Linux for a few years, but sound isn't normally a concern. My
son is trying to make the switch from Windows to Linux (and has, for
some things) and now wants to play midi files.
His impression is that, on Windows, sound players use synthesizer's (and
"patches"/"samples") built into the sound card while on Linux those
patches/samples (??) have to be downloaded and he talks about 40 MB
worth of files in some cases.
Maybe the difference is that we also changed computers, and his current
computer has an on-board SiS 7018 sound thingie while his previous
computer (IIRC) had a separate sound card, possibly with something like
the Yamaha OPL xxx on it.
Any light anybody can shed on this would be appreciated. (I did skim
through a Linux Sound HOWTO (that was actually a little bit more like an
FAQ), and saw some hints, but I really don't know how to interpret
them.)
Keywords to use to search the archives or Google, or pointers to simple
documentation that focuses on this subject could also be helpful.
No doubt what ever I learn will end up on a WikiLearn page
(http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Wikilearn/WebChanges).
thanks,
Randy Kramer
2:19 p.m.
Dave Phillips wrote:
Hi Randy:
---< good stuff snipped >---
Dave,
Thanks very much for your reply, it gives me a place to start from!!
I have started a very rough page on WikiLearn, all I've done so far is
post a copy of your reply (partially so I can access your clues from
other computers as I find time to search).
regards,
Randy Kramer
2:21 p.m.
Randy Kramer wrote:
I have started a very rough page on WikiLearn, all
I've done so far is
post a copy of your reply (partially so I can access your clues from
other computers as I find time to search).
Oops, clicked send too quick, meant to include the link:
http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Wikilearn/MidiInLinux
Randy Kramer
4 p.m.
New subject: [linux-audio-user] Linux midi players that don't require download of large patch or sample files??
On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 13:11:55 -0500
"Ruth A. Kramer" <rhkramer(a)fast.net> wrote:
Randy Kramer wrote:
Also have a look at the wiki page:
http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php?page=AlsaMidi
--
signature :)
I have started a very rough page on WikiLearn,
all I've done so far
is post a copy of your reply (partially so I can access your clues
from other computers as I find time to search).
Oops, clicked send too quick, meant to include the link:
http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Wikilearn/MidiInLinux
Randy Kramer
4:48 p.m.
If the 7018 is similar to the 7012 in my laptop it only supports
external midi. That means there is no way around the big downloads ^^
If you just want to play back midi files I'd recommend to go with
timidity and best of all, it isn't that hard to set up ^^.
just download it from www.timidity.jp and compile/install as usual or
get it from your favourite binary repository
this is my "configure line" it adds the X and gtk interface ... warning
the CFLAGS are optional and highly machine dependent
./configure --prefix=/usr/ --sysconfdir=/etc/ --disable-more-warnings
--disable-debug CFLAGS=' -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -march=athlon-tbird -
m3dnow' LDFLAGS=' -O3 -s ' --enable-gtk --enable-xaw --enable-
spectrogram
Go to http://dodo.nurs.or.jp/~iz/guspat/tim-patches.html (japanese) and
download all the guspat-* files. According to the fish are aq to aw
optional. Then extract them to <prefix-of-timidity-install>/share/ so
in my case /usr/share/
test timidity with :
timidity <midifile>
add -ia/-ig to get a nice X/gtk interface
hope that was of help :)
Am 21.02.2004 13:47:33 schrieb(en) Ruth A. Kramer:
Sorry, this is probably a very newbie question, and I
haven't lurked
very long or searched the archives (partly because I don't have a
good
idea of keywords to search for).
I've used Linux for a few years, but sound isn't normally a concern.
My
son is trying to make the switch from Windows to Linux (and has, for
some things) and now wants to play midi files.
His impression is that, on Windows, sound players use synthesizer's
(and
"patches"/"samples") built into the sound card while on Linux those
patches/samples (??) have to be downloaded and he talks about 40 MB
worth of files in some cases.
Maybe the difference is that we also changed computers, and his
current
computer has an on-board SiS 7018 sound thingie while his previous
computer (IIRC) had a separate sound card, possibly with something
like
the Yamaha OPL xxx on it.
Any light anybody can shed on this would be appreciated. (I did skim
through a Linux Sound HOWTO (that was actually a little bit more like
an
FAQ), and saw some hints, but I really don't know how to interpret
them.)
Keywords to use to search the archives or Google, or pointers to
simple
documentation that focuses on this subject could also be helpful.
No doubt what ever I learn will end up on a WikiLearn page
(http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Wikilearn/WebChanges).
thanks,
Randy Kramer
7583
days inactive
7583
days old
linux-audio-user@lists.linuxaudio.org
5 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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Dave Phillips -
Florian Schmidt -
Ruth A. Kramer -
Stefan Scheffler