BASSMIDI Driver

[RichNagel]

Hiya Folks,

First-time post in the forum. I just recently discovered this gem, quite a cool learning program and game indeed Anyhow, after reading a lot of messages here in the forum (simply for general info about the program), I had read a few refering to soundfonts, as well as MIDI sequencer/editors.

Late last year I released a custom soundfont of mine, "¥Weeds¥ General MIDI SoundFont v3.0". It has received rave reviews from most of the folks who have tried it out. Among other things, it includes one of the best grand piano, pipe organ, and harpsichord instruments in most any soundfont that you've ever heard... perfect for Synthesia

Lastly, quite a while back Twelve Tone Systems granted permission to freely distribute the full retail installation of Cakewalk Professional v3.01... yeah, it's an oldie, but an extremely capable MIDI sequencer and editor You can download the full installation from Quest Studios' web page (direct link to the ZIP is here)... and MIDI sequence, compose, and edit to your heart's content

Even as old as it is (circa 1995), AFAIK it runs fine under Windows Vista and Windows 7. I've been using that as my primary MIDI sequencer since 1995 for all of my music (de)composing <grin>, and currently run it under Windows XP Pro SP3 with no problem at all.

Anyways, just figured I'd post a "Hello", as well as a few tidbits that you might find handy for use with Synthesia


(edit) P.S. Here's an MP3 of the piano included with ¥Weeds¥ General MIDI SoundFont v3.0 in action, a little (mostly improvised) thing of mine from years ago, "Ramblings of a Non-Pianist (Op. 2)"... yeah, I know, strange song name <grin>.

[Raymond]

Welcome to the forums!

I just tried Cakewalk, It looks like it will be very useful.
There is a 'thing' with the installer, you must have the folder that the installer is in named "disk1" or it will not install. (at least for me.)

I currently use FluidR3 soundfont and am pretty happy with it. I may try yours at some point.

If you can, split-up your web page in to multiple pages so people don't have to load everything just to see the soundfont.

[RichNagel]

I just tried Cakewalk, It looks like it will be very useful.

I love the old CWP v3.01... the best all around MIDI sequencer, hands down. Been using that since I first bought it back in 1995 (US$340!), and still use it today.

BTW, folks can read my little "mini-review" of CWP301 here -> http://www.simpilot.net/~richnagel/#cakewalk

There is a 'thing' with the installer, you must have the folder that the installer is in named "disk1" or it will not install. (at least for me.)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. AFAIK the zipped installer is directly from an original installation floppy, so if one isn't installing it from a floppy drive, they'll need to create a "DISK1" directory on their hard drive. Then unzip the files to that folder, and run the installer from there.

I currently use FluidR3 soundfont and am pretty happy with it. I may try yours at some point.

I think you'll like it A lot of folks have told me that they like it better than FluidR3, and I'll think that you'll find the "grand piano" preset quite nice

If you can, split-up your web page in to multiple pages so people don't have to load everything just to see the soundfont.

Hehe, that web page is a *MESS* <grin>. One of these days I really need to clean it up quite a bit (LOT)! BTW, direct download of the ZIP is here -> http://www.un4seen.com/download.php?extra/WeedsGM3 . Ian Luck (Un4seen Developments) of the freeware media player "XMPlay" was kind enough to host it on his site for me.


(edit) P.S. Along with the grand piano MP3 that I linked to in my first post ( http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Stuff/Ri ... nist_2.mp3 ), you can hear the harpsicord in this one -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/gsleeves.mp3 .

[Raymond]

I currently use FluidR3 soundfont and am pretty happy with it. I may try yours at some point.

I think you'll like it A lot of folks have told me that they like it better than FluidR3, and I'll think that you'll find the "grand piano" preset quite nice

It definitely sounds different then FluidR3. The volumes seem to be more balanced than FluidR3.
I have it setup as my second Synth, so I'll see wich one I end up using more.

[RichNagel]

(Since it's soundfont releated...)

Over at the VOGONS message forum on the Internet ( http://vogons.zetafleet.com ), forum member "DOSFreak" had previously posted a link to this... figured I'd post it here as well

BASSMIDI Soundfont Compatible MIDI Synthesiser Driver for Windows XP/Vista/7

Announcement and discussion -> http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/ind ... opic=87639
Download -> http://kode54.foobar2000.org/stuff.php

Directly from the above "Hydrogen Audio" forums announcement and discussion message thread:

This is a new SoundFont-based usermode MIDI system driver for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. It uses the BASSMIDI library by Ian Luck, as the synthesiser.

Features:

* Dynamic sample caching
* Unlimited polyphony
* SoundFont chaining/stacking
* Works on Windows Vista and Windows 7, including 64-bit versions.
* Support for the following controllers & events:

MIDI note events.
MIDI program events.
Channel pressure.
Pitch wheel.
Bank change MSB. (CC#0)
Modulation. (CC#1)
Portamento. (CC#65 / CC#84 / CC#5)
Volume. (CC#7)
Panning. (CC#10)
Expression. (CC#11)
Sustain pedal. (CC#64)
Soft pedal. (CC#67)
Low-pass filter resonance. (CC#71 or NRPN 121h)
Release time. (CC#72 or NRPN 166h)
Attack time. (CC#73 or NRPN 163h)
Low-pass filter cut-off. (CC#74 or NRPN 120h)
Reverb send level. (CC#91)
Chorus send level. (CC#93)
Stop all sounds. (CC#120)
Reset all controllers. (CC#121)
Release all keys. (CC#123)
Mono/poly mode. (CC#126 and CC#127, respectively.)
Pitch wheel range. (RPN 0)
Fine tuning. (RPN 1)
Coarse tuning. (RPN 2)

And presumably if GS/GM2 mode is activated:
Drum key low-pass filter cut-off. (NRPN 14knh)
Drum key low-pass filter resonance. (NRPN 15knh)
Drum key coarse tune. (NRPN 18knh)
Drum key fine tune. (NRPN 19knh)
Drum key volume level. (NRPN 1Aknh)
Drum key panning. (NRPN 1Cknh)
Drum key reverb send level. (NRPN 1Dknh)
Drum key chorus send level. (NRPN 1Eknh)

It also supports GM, GS, and XG reset System Exclusive messages, and the drum channel enabling features of GS and XG when switched into those modes. It also supports GS and possibly XG reverb preset control messages for adjusting reverb time, delay, low-pass cut-off, high-pass cut-off, and level. And chrorus delay, depth, rate, feedback, level, and chorus to reverb send level. It also supports the master volume level message.

Kode54 should be thanked for making this possible. I wrote the installer and configuration app.

...and cut 'n' pastes of what I posted over at VOGONS:

I haven't tried it yet, but that looks EXTREMELY interesting... been saying to/nagging Ian Luck (the author of XMPlay, the XMPlay soundfont compatible MIDI Plugin, and the BASS audio libraries) for quite sometime that he should create a 'global' WinDoze MIDI driver of sorts using the MIDI plugin for XMPlay (the BASSMIDI Synth is essentially that)

OK, I installed the BASSMIDI MIDI Synthesiser... and it works GREAT!

From what I could tell, ZERO latency, and it sounds just like XMPlay's MIDI plugin Running on a P4 2.666Ghz CPU with 768MB RAM, output was smooth with no glitches or stutters.

One problem though, it seems to completely knock out/disable Jamie O'Connell's "MIDI Yoke" patch driver ("Out To MIDI Yoke: #", "In From MIDI Yoke: #", etc...). I use that driver for various things when composing MIDI music.

(Update) I posted a message over at Hydrogen Audio forums ( http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/ind ... opic=87639 ), and the author said that he would see if he could fix the MIDI Yoke problem with the driver


P.S. Of course, like the XMPlay MIDI Plugin, it sounds GREAT using my "¥Weeds¥ General MIDI SoundFont v3.0" -> http://www.richnagel.net/#soundfonts <grin>

P.P.S. Oh, and of course this MIDI driver can be used with Synthesia as well

[Nicholas]

That sounds great. I'll have to try this out. The nearest alternative driver we've found has been TiMidity++, something that hasn't been maintained since 2004'ish and still has a lot of latency.

After that MIDI Yoke fix, if it's an easy to use solution that provides low latency I'll probably put it in the official FAQ page on the main part of the site. Heck, I'll even offer to host the file if he'd like.

EDIT: Wow, alright, so that was really easy to set up. And ¥Weeds¥ does sound really good.

[DC64]

Is the ¥Weeds¥ supposed be an output?
(how do i download it?)

[Raymond]

No ¥Weeds¥ is a SoundFont.
Meaning if you have a Synth that supports SoundFonts, then you could change the instrument sounds of that Synth with it.
TiMidi++ can use SoundFonts and BASSMIDI.

[Nicholas]

He linked it up in his post.

The instructions are just the following (compare these to that TiMidity++ mess over here)...

1. Download bassmididrv and WeedsGM3.
2. Install bassmididrv.
3. Extract the .sfArk.exe file from the WeedsGM3 archive and then run it to unpack the sound font.
4. Run the "Configure Driver" start menu item for bassmididrv, click Add, point it at the WeedsGM3.SF2 file, and click Apply.

That's it. There will be a "BASSMIDI Driver" as an output device in Synthesia, it will be fast, and it will sound good.

[RichNagel]

Hi Nicholas,

That sounds great. I'll have to try this out. The nearest alternative driver we've found has been TiMidity++, something that hasn't been maintained since 2004'ish and still has a lot of latency.

Yeah, and the only other soundfont alternative would be a VSTi one (something like Cakewalk's "SFZ Player"), which also suffers from pretty bad latency.

After that MIDI Yoke fix, if it's an easy to use solution that provides low latency I'll probably put it in the official FAQ page on the main part of the site. Heck, I'll even offer to host the file if he'd like.

Mudlord (the author of the installer) not only replied to my post over at the Hydrogen Audio forums, but also just now in the Un4Seen forms (the forums for XMPlay and the BASS audio libraries). He's on the case as we speak, and said that he should have a fix for it within the next few days

EDIT: Wow, alright, so that was really easy to set up.

Yeah, I was quite impressed with the ease of installation and use Timidity is no where near as easy to set up, as is any of the other VSTi alternatives.

And ¥Weeds¥ does sound really good.

Thankee, sir

Like I've said before, almost all of the MP3s over at my web page (recorded from MIDI's that I've composed myself, or re-arranged) were recorded using this soundfont and my SBLive.

Although all of the instruments are quite nice sounding (and well balanced) compared to other soundfonts around the Internet (even those MUCH larger in filesize) IMHO, the piano/harpsichord/pipe organ are even nicer... perfect for Synthesia

[Raymond]

I just got around to testing BASSMIDI on the laptop, and well I just uninstalled TiMidity++.

[RichNagel]

I just got around to testing BASSMIDI on the laptop, and well I just uninstalled TiMidity++.

Hehe

[RichNagel]

I posted a message over at Hydrogen Audio forums ( http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=87639 ), and the author said that he would see if he could fix the MIDI Yoke problem with the driver

Problem fixed! Download the new version here (*Note: Uninstall the old version before installing this newer one) -> http://mudlord.emuxhaven.net/stuff/bassmididrv.exe

[RichNagel]

Just a little linkage update, it appears that there's more "official" discussion about the BASSMIDI driver over at the VGMusic forums here -> http://www.vgmusic.com/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 16&t=13967 .

[Electrode]

I tested BASSMIDI yesterday. The result is that TiMidity++ is gone from my hard drive as well. I've been looking for a decent solution to having MIDI sounds without having to use a VST instrument for ages. (I use professional audio recording sound cards that do not contain on-board MIDI sounds, so I always have to use a VST instrument, and delete all non-essential tracks before saving a MIDI file. The more MIDI files I make, the more time I waste having to delete tracks and tidy things up before exporting MIDI files. It's brilliant to be able to save that time now. )

[RichNagel]

Threw together a little page detailing all of the features of the BASSMIDI Driver here -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/SoundFon ... mididriver (there's a pic of the Synthesia 'MIDI Input and Output' configuration screen on that page), as well as full instructions for installing and configuring the driver here -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/SoundFon ... ration.htm

[Nicholas]

There, I just updated the official FAQ on the site to point to your page (and list the short instructions). I've heard a half-dozen positive reports now, so I'm happy to make the recommendation.

[DC64]

What about adding TiMidity++ to that?

[Raymond]

BASSMIDI works Much better than TiMidity++. And since they do about the same I don't see why we would need both.

[DC64]

What is wierd is that my security system is telling me that the download is unsafe for BASSMIDI in the FAQ.

"The file you are downloading has been reported to be unsafe. The download website contails links to viruses or other software that can harm your computer or reveal your personal information. For your saftey, we recommend you cancel this file download."

What do i do?