drvmidi(1)

NAME

drvmidi - AWE32 MIDI player

SYNOPSIS

drvmidi [options] midifile[.gz]..

DESCRIPTION

drvmidi is a MIDI player program which supports AWE32 sound driver by Takashi Iwai. Before using this program, you have to load sound samples onto the driver (see sfxload(1)).

You can give the compressed or gzipped files on command line. These files are expanded automatically inside the program. The new drvmidi accepts not only normal MIDI files, but also RIFF combined MIDI files and CMF files.

If drvmidi finds a file which has the same file name with the extension ".id", drvmidi reads this file as an option file. You can specify its own settings without the command line options. See "option file format" section for the syntax of the option file. The option file is editable via File/Edit Options menu in tkmidi(1).

Ver.0.4.3 can emulate XG MIDI with GS soundfont samples. You need to load XG SFX and drum maps for this emulation together with --xgmap option to play properly XG sounds.

DYNAMIC SOUNDFONT LOADING

The dynamic soundfont loading is helpful for users who have only limited DRAM on the soundcard. If the dynamic loading is enabled, drvmidi loads the specified soundfont or virtual bank file automatically when it receives each MIDI file. Since only necessary samples are loaded, the required memory size of soundcard is reduced. For example, 2MB GS font can be used on 512KB RAM in most of MIDI files.

In the case of XG midi file, specify the font file via --xgload option. The specified file should contain proper XG mappings, and GS font file as default font. Usually, this option should be used together with --xgmap option. In other cases, the font file specified in --dynamic option is used as the dynamic font file. In both cases, the specified file can be a soundfont file or a virtual bank file. The virtual bank file can define each preset from various soundfont files, and preset mappings. See the description in awesfx utility for more details.

OPTIONS

-i, --interface=type

Specify the user interface mode. k for Tcl/Tk interface, and d for dumb interface. n means ncurses interface. The default is Tcl/Tk interface.

-D, --drum=channel

Change drum channels. If channel is a positive value, this channel is treated as a drum channel. If a negavive value, minus of this value is treated as a normal channel. For example,

% drvmidi --drum=-10 --drum=16 foo.mid

will set channel 10 as a normal channel, and channel 16 as a drum one. As default, drvmidi uses only channel 10 (and 26) as drum channels.

--drumflag=val

Set all drum channels as 32bit flags. For example, the argument 0x02008200 will set channel 10, 16, and 26 as drum channels.

-c, --chorus=mode

Specify the chorus mode. The AWE32 card has eight chorus modes as default. The other modes can be defined via setfx(1) utility program. The system default modes are:

0: chorus 1
1: chorus 2
2: chorus 3
3: chorus 4
4: feedback
5: flanger
6: short delay
7: short delay 2

On Tcl/Tk interface, these values can be changed from menu even during playing samples. The chorus/reverb mode specified in this option may be changed by sysex control in MIDI file.

-r, --reverb=mode

Specify the reverb mode. The AWE32 card has eight reverb modes as default. The other modes can be defined via setfx(1) utility program. The systetm default modes are:

0: room 1
1: room 2
2: room 3
3: hall 1
4: hall 2
5: plate
6: delay
7: panning delay

On Tcl/Tk interface, these values can be changed from menu even during playing samples. The chorus/reverb mode specified in this option may be changed by sysex control in MIDI file.

-V, --volume=percent

Set the master volume in percent unit. Default is 100.

-S, --volscale=percent

Set volume scaling factor. The argument is in percent. It still accepts a float number from 0 to 5.0 for compatibility with older version. For example, if a number 0.8 is given, the MIDI volume will be output in 80% of the normal scale. Default factor is 100.

-O, --aceptall[=bool]

Toggle to accpept or ignore all notes off and all sounds off events. Some MIDI file contains these events. Either of "on", "off", "yes", "no", "true", or "false", "0" or "1" can be specified as an optional boolean argument. Default is ON.

-P, --realpan[=bool]

Toggle to enable or disable realtime panning change. Emu8000 chip often causes a click noise when changing the panning position in real time during playing a voice. Default is ON.

--multipart[=bool]

Toggle to enable or disable multi MIDI parts. If this option is enabled, the the tracks later than the given track number are treates as MIDI part B. Note that even if this option is disabled, multi mode is activated when GS multi mode sysex is received (see SYSEX MACROS section). Default is OFF.

-T, --tracks=num

Specify the track number of multi part. For example, to deal with tracks from 0 to 16 as part A, and from 17 to 32 as part B, specify "--tracks=16". The value -1 means to disable multi MIDI parts (equivalent with --multipart=off). The default value is 16.

-M, --mt32=mode

Set MT32 program mode. The argument must be from 0 to 2. When mode is 0, no conversion is done (GM/GS mode). When 1 is given, bank number 127 is automatically set. If you have a proper MT-32 set, you should specify 1. Otherwise, when the argument is 2, each preset number is converted internally to the corresponding GM preset number. Default is 0.

-C, --samecsec[=bool]

Toggle to enable or disable the note-off event check. The sequencer device can handle events only in 1/100 sec unit, so often both the note on and off events occur at the same time. To prevent this problem, drvmidi checks the time of each note off event, and send it after 1/100 sec later if necessary. Default is ON.

-G, --gsmacro[=bool]

Toggle to enable or disable GS sysex controls. When GS part check is on, drvmidi accepts chorus mode, reverb mode, and GS part change messages. Default is ON.

-X, --xgmacro[=bool]

Toggle to enable or disable XG bank controls. Default is ON.

-N, --increment[=bool]

Load the fonts incrementally. This option enables the sample sharing on awedrv-0.4.3, and reduces the loading time. If you're using 12MB fonts on 8MB DRAM, it's better to set this option. If you have 512k DRAM, better to disable this option. Default is ON.

--xgmap=bool

Control XG SFX and drum mapping. If this option is enabled, bank #64 and #126 are used for XG SFX sounds. XG drumsets are shifted from #64 to #126 to avoid conflicts with GS sounds. To support this mapping, you need to load XG map file on AWE drvier. The --xgload option below is helpful for dynamic loading of this map file.

--xgload=file

Set the font file to load automatically when drvmidi receives a XG midi file. This just behaves as --dynamic option, but invoked only when the MIDI file is XG. If "none" is specified as the argument, this function is suppressed.

-s, --autoskip[=bool]

Toggle auto skip mode. If this option is enabled, drvmidi skips to the first note on event immediately after starting. Default is OFF.

--chnprior[=bool]

Enable or disable MIDI channel proprity mode. If this is enabled, the drum channels have the highest priority, and the lower channels have higher priority. A new voice is allocated from the channel with lower priority. This mechanism is available only on GS or XG mode. Default is OFF.

-L, --dynamic=fontfile

Load the specified soundfont file automatically. If this option is enabled, drvmidi invokes sfxload(1) program to load soundfont (or virtual bank) file on the driver. If "none" is specified as the argument, this function is suppressed.

-v, --verbose[=level]

Increase or set the verbosity level.

--parsetitle[=bool]

Toggle to enable or disable to display the first text event as a title. Default is ON.

-m, --mode=modifiers

Set playing mode. Some modes are valid only on Tcl/Tk interface. The following mode identifiers may be available:

t

Turn tracing mode on. It shows realtime bar graph and program number of each channel in the trace window.

s

Shuffle play mode. The order of the playing songs is shuffled and selected randomly.

n

Normal play mode. The songs are played in the order of specified command line arguments.

p

Start play automatically.

q

Exit drvmidi automatically after finishing all songs.

r

Loop the playing song.

-t, --trace

Turn tracing mode on. Equivalent with -mt.

-d, --display=xdisp

Set window display. Valid only on Tcl/Tk interface.

-g, --geometry=xgeom

Set window geometry. Valid only on Tcl/Tk interface.

--newvolume[=file]

Use the new volume calculation which is compatible with Win/DOS drivers. Default is ON.

--effect=file

Set user defined chorus/reverb configurations. Valid only on Tcl/Tk interface.

--convert=ext/converter

Define new file conversion rule for the specified file extension. The argument gives both file extension and the converter program separated by slash letter. The converter program must read the source file from stdin and output a MIDI format to stdout. For example, to convert .rcp file to midi format via rcptomid program automatically, set the option as follows: --convert=rcp/rcptomid Also, to accept the gzipped file, too, define the following with addition to the above one: --convert="rcp.gz/zcat %s | rcptomid" The %s is replaced with the corresponding source file name.

--usefx=bool

Enable or disable effect controls. This feature is still experimental. When this option is enabled, drvmidi emulates SC88 NRPN (TVF/EG parameters) and AWE32 NRPN controls in GM/GS mode, and accepts hermonic (cc#71), brightness (cc#74), attack and release time (cc#72 and #73) in XG mode.

--fx_cutoff=int

Change TVF cut-off parameter sensitivity. Valid only when usefx option is set. Default value is 170.

--fx_resonance=int

Change TVF resonance parameter sensitivity. Valid only when usefx option is set. Default value is 6.

--fx_attack=int

Change EG attack time sensitivity. Valid only when usefx option is set. Default value is 50.

--fx_release=int

Change EG release time sensitivity. Valid only when usefx option is set. Default value is 50.

--fx_vibrate=int

Change vibrato rate sensitivity. Valid only when usefx option is set. Default value is 30.

--fx_vibdeepth=int

Change vibrato depth sensitivity. Valid only when usefx options is set. Default value is 4.

--fx_vibdelay=int

Change vibrato delay sensitivity. Valid only when usefx options is set. Default value is 1500.

--seqbuf=bool

Enable or disable the buffered output to sequencer device. See event handling section for more details. Default is ON.

--seqecho=bool

Enable or disable the timer synchronization via echo back from sequencer device. See event handling section for more details. Default is ON.

OPTION FILE FORMAT

title string

Set title of this midi file. Displayed on behalf of the file name.

parsetitle bool

Enable or suppress to parse the title string from MIDI file automatically.

chorus mode

Set chorus mode. The argument is identical with the option --chorus.

reverb mode

Set reverb mode. The argument is identical with the option --reverb.

chorusdepth value

Set default chorus depth. The argument is identical with the option --chorousdepth.

reverbdepth value

Set default reverb depth. The argument is identical with the option --reverbdepth.

volume percent

Total volume in percent unit (see --volume option).

drum channel

Set drum a channel status. Equivalent with --drum option.

drumflag bits

Set drum channels. The argument is a digit number indicating drum channels (see --drumflag option).

acceptall bool

Accpet or disable all notes/sounds off events (see --acceptall option).

multipart bool

Enable or suppress the multi MIDI part (see --multipart option).

tracks num

Set track number of multi part (see --tracks option).

samecsec bool

Enable or suppress the note off event check (see --samecsec option).

gsmacro bool

Enable or suppress the GS part change check (see --gsmacro option).

xgmacro bool

Enable or suppress the XG bank controls (see --xgmacro option).

xgmap bool

Enable or suppress the XG SFX & drum mapping (see --xgmap option).

xgload fontfile

Use the specified file for XG dynamic loading (see --xgload option).

subsf arguments..

Load optional SoundFont file automatically. The arguments are passed to sfxload(1) internally together with "-x -b1" options. For example, to load sfx.sf2 for sample.mid, set "subsf sfx.sf2" in sample.id file.
Note that this commmand will not work together with dynamic loading.

volscale scale

Set volume scaling parameter (see --volscale option).

mt32 mode

Set MT32 program mode. The argument is from 0 to 2. See --mt32 option for each meaning.

dynamic fontfile

Use the specified font file for dynamic loading (see --dynamic option).

chnprior bool

Enable or disable MIDI channel proprity mode (see --chnprior option).

chnvolume channel scale

Set volume scale for each specified channel. The scale factor is given as same way as in volscale command.

offset value

Change the base key. The argument is an integer number. If the number -1 is given, all notes (except drums) will be played in one semitone lower, and if 12 is given, the sounds become one octave higher than normal output.

newvolume bool

Equivalent with --newvolume option.

usefx bool

Enable or disable effect change controls. Equivalent with --usefx option. Note that this feature is still experimental.

fx_* value

Set effect change parameters. See the corresponding command line option. Valid only when usefx option is enabled.

SYSTEM RESOURCE FILE

You can set default option arguments in the system resource file. There are two files loaded as default. $HOME/.drvmidirc
/etc/drvmidirc

The syntax is as follows: default options.. The first argument is arbitrary so far, but should be "default" for future extensions. The remaining arguments are identical with command line options described above.

The resource file can be changed via File/Edit Options menu in tkmidi(1). Althogh drvmidi accepts both short and long options in the resource file, tkmidi can edit only long options.

EVENT HANDLING

As default, drvmidi once writes music events on a buffer for up to two seconds forward, then sends them to the sequencer device. This prevents a pausing even when some heavy process (like garbage collection in emacs) is working unlike the previous version (ver.0.4.0 or older).

Since the events are sent to the device asynchronously, the program need to know the playing actual time by the other means. Then, drvmidi checks the system timer to know the current time and update the status like volume bars. Also, sends an echo back event once per second to the sequencer, and synchronize the internal timer when receiving the signal from sequencer device.

It is known that on some FreeBSD systems this function doesn't work correctly. In such a case, try the option --autoskip (I have no idea why this solves the bug). Also, you should try to disable --seqecho or --seqbuf option.

SUPPORTED MIDI CONTROLS

#0 bank select (MSB)
#1 modulation wheel
#6 data entry (MSB)
#7 main volume
#10 panning position
#11 expression volume
#32 bank select (LSB)
#38 data entry (LSB)
#64 sustain
#66 sostenuto
#67 soft pedal (experimental)
#71 hermonic content (XG only)
#72 attack time (XG only)
#73 release time (XG only)
#74 brightness (XG only)
#91 reverb effects send
#93 chorus effects send
#98 NRPN LSB
#99 NRPN MSB
#100 RPN LSB
#101 RPN MSB
#120 all sounds off
#121 reset controllers
#123 all notes off

SYSEX MACROS

drvmidi accepts the following system exclusive messages.

GM on

F0 7E 7F 09 01 F7

GS reset

F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 00 00 cs F7

GS reverb mode

F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 30 XX 00 F7
where XX denotes the reverb mode (from 0 to 7).

GS chorus mode

F0 41 10 42 12 40 01 38 XX 00 F7
again, XX denotes the chorus mode (from 0 to 7).

GS drum part change

F0 41 10 42 12 40 1X 15 YY ?? ?? F7
where X denotes the channel and YY denotes a drum flag.

GS master volume

F0 41 10 42 12 40 00 04 XX cs F7
where XX denotes the volume (from 0 to 7).

GS multi mode

F0 41 10 42 12 00 00 7F XX cs F7
where XX=0: double module mode, XX=1: single module mode.

XG on

F0 43 10 4C 00 00 7E 00 F7

RPN CONTROLS

drvmidi accepts the following RPN controls. The heading numbers describe the MSB/LSB RPN values in hex.

00/00

Pitch bend sensitivity (MSB/LSB). 1 semitone per 128.

00/01

Fine tuning (MSB/LSB). in 100/8192 cent unit, and no tuning when MSB/LSB=8192.

00/02

Coarse tuning (MSB/LSB). 1 semitone per 128, and no tuning when MSB/LSB=8192 .

7F/7F

Lock-in. values are ignored.

GS (SC88) NRPN Controls

The following numbers describe both NRPN MSB/LSB values for SC88 NRPN controls. In these controls, only MSB value is used as data entry (from 0 to 127). The center value is 64 in the all values.

1/8

Vibrato rate

1/9

Vibrato depth

1/10

Vibrato delay

1/32

TVF cutoff

1/33

TVF resonance

1/99

EG attak time

1/100

EG decay time

1/102

EG release time

AWE32 NRPN Controls

The following numbers describe NRPN MSB/LSB values for the AWE32 specific NRPN controls. In these controls, both MSB and LSB values are used as data entry. The center value is 8192 in the all values.

127/0

LFO1 delay

127/1

LFO1 freq

127/2

LFO2 delay

127/3

LFO2 freq

127/4

EG1 delay

127/5

EG1 attack

127/6

EG1 hold

127/7

EG1 decay

127/8

EG1 sustain

127/9

EG1 release

127/10

EG2 delay

127/11

EG2 attack

127/12

EG2 hold

127/13

EG2 decay

127/14

EG2 sustain

127/15

EG2 release

127/16

initial pitch

127/17

LFO1 pitch

127/18

LFO2 pitch

127/19

EG1 pitch

127/20

LFO1 volume

127/21

Cutoff

127/22

Resonance

127/23

LFO1 cutoff

127/24

EG1 cutoff

127/25

chorus

127/26

reverb

SEE ALSO

tkmidi(1), sfxload(1), setfx(1).

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 1996-1998 Takashi Iwai.

The AWE32 driver and utilities are free software; you can redistribute them and/or modify them under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.