Ultrasound Daily Digest Mon Aug 9 00:07 Volume 5: Issue 8 Today's Topics: 2nd batch update disks - I got mine! adress gravis/registerian gus/OTHER SOUNDCARDS/NEW GUS/new disks/thanks Changing chord patch - reply attempt 2 Church Organ patch on epas Dos interrupt hooked Mega-Em 1.00B012 on EPAS Patches; oups Roberto Sierra's MIDI posts Roland TR-808 percussions patches on epas SBOS and Windows Sierra//LucasArts on the Net?/?? unix .au converter? WinJammer and GUS Standard Info: - Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest. - Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 8 Aug 93 09:12:59 -0700 From: Bob Beck Subject: 2nd batch update disks - I got mine! Message-ID: <9308081612.AA22471@eng2.sequent.com> FYI - the 2nd batch of update disks reached Portland, OR on friday (8/6). - Bob (rbk@sequent.com) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 07 Aug 93 19:22:06 GMT From: thomasvk@blackhl.hacktic.nl (Thomas van Kuipers) Subject: adress gravis/registerian gus/OTHER SOUNDCARDS/NEW GUS/new disks/thanks Message-ID: Hi gusers, (ultrasound@dsd.es.com) A lot of things: - Some asked what the latest sbos was? i think 2.10b. It's loctated op epas in submit or so and called gus0034.zip. - Thanks John Smith! for arranging my registerian so fast. When i send to you you say i have to send an email to sales@gravis.com, but they never received it, because it bounched back (do you know why?). When i came home today there was a nice package from gravis ..... Very fast .. Thanks!! - To Mike Parkins about pinball dreams. I played it on 486dx-33 with 16mb with sbos 2.10 and it plays VERY good. I don't know where you are talking about. If you do have problems, email me direct with config and autoexec and hardware with interupt settings perhaps there lies a prolem (even if sbos works with most games). - I got my 2.06a disks on the post today after haing registerian problems. Someone of you where asking about the midi connector box: It's priced about $40, so that isn't bad add all. I would like to know how to order (email/order card) and how i must pay if i DON'T have credit card. I have a local bank account, so perhaps i pay them through that or is it possible to the post office? - The right adress at the moment is: US Canada/International Advanced GRAVIS Advanced GRAVIS 1790 Midway Lane 101-3750 north fraser way Bellingham, WA, USA 98226 Brunaby, BC, Canada v5j 5e9 - Did Anyone hear about the new gus coming? I heard several rumours. First someone said a GUS MAX was coming out with probably features like this: GUS with 1MB 16 bit recordering and SCSI interface. MIDI connector box So you could say a gus with every optional extension. The second i heard that the company which makes GF1 has brought out a GF2. (don't know specifications) It probably be a gus with a max of 8 Mb RAM and a lot more (but compatible?). >>>>> Please Gravis reply to what IS coming and what is CRAP! >> Watch out Gravis guys the concurence is near you. I heard some card called studio or so (i don't exact name yet) for second hand $250 (so the card is more expensive than gus) ..... You probably what about it? The main thing is that it is an SB and SB PRO and SB 16 ASP and Waveblaster and GUS and 16 bit recordering and SCSI-2 on board ALL in ONE! Some friend of mind (a bit a gus-freak is ALLREADTY going to sell the gus, because of the reason). What i didn't mention is it features: 16 bit recording and play back 32 voices wave table syntesizes 1 mb (8 mb max) of RAM on board. 4 mb ROM protious samples (like waveblaster). SCSI-2 on board (for fast scsi-cd-rom) a DSP (digital sound processor) on board!! and last but not least the ARIA chipset. This means that with aria you have hardware gus compatible. In the board sb pro is hardware(!!) compabtible and all so PAS comp. RAM and ROM is the best way combined with a thrue DSP you can get voice-regnition. I don't know more about it but it looks through my and the information as the ultimate sound card at the moment (in shop i think it cost about $400 or so if avaible), because sb pro/gus/ram/rom/dsp/scsi .... what more do you need?? >>>> gravis this is disturbing your plans .. come with something (hardware, because the software is VERY good, such as the ail, when they work .. no complaint just a hint) - Also when is the os/2 gus native mode support for mmpm/2 ready? (just a date and i wait .. until then!) Bye, A HAPPY gus owner, who just got back from the heu (hacking at the end of the universe in larserbos - holland- europe.) Thomas van Kuipers Email:thomasvk@blackhl.hacktic.nl >>> if i MUST reply the best thing is to mail me to my email adress. ------------------------------ Date: 08 Aug 93 10:19:12 EDT From: "Eric Bell, Howling Dog Systems" <71333.2166@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Changing chord patch - reply attempt 2 Message-ID: <930808141911_71333.2166_DHQ58-2@CompuServe.COM> > re - Changing Chord Rhythm Patch in PowCho (Outbox) > Brennan Stephens > Oh ye gurus hear my plea... > Is there any way to change the rythm patch in Power Chords? Can I > change it in .ini file? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1993 19:41:46 -0400 (EDT) From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) Subject: Church Organ patch on epas Message-ID: <9308082341.AA28326@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA> I uploaded church_o.arj to archive.epas.utoronto.ca. It contains a church organ patch for the Gravis Ultrasound. It is multi-sampled (2 samples) and is configured for soft playing. With multi layering i could have made it for hard and soft playing (with layer velocity control) but it is still quite nice sounding. It is totally different from the church.pat that is included with the Gravis. I cant really say if it's better or worse, cause it's different. It is more realistic compared to the organ at our local church... More to come... Ciao, -- Francois Dion ' _ _ _ CISM (_) (_) _) FM Montreal , Canada Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA (_) / . _) 10000 Watts Telephone no: (514) 343-7511 _______________________________________________________________________________ Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1993 17:38:44 -0100 From: Emanuele.Pucciarelli@p60.f511.n333.z2.fidonet.sublink.org (Emanuele Pucciarelli) Subject: Dos interrupt hooked Message-ID: <744680100.AA00819@wolf.fidonet.org> Hi Tarik! Probably you loaded some TSR after SBOS. This should be the cause of your trouble. If not, let me know! Bye bye! Emanuele (Emanuele.Pucciarelli@p60.f511.n333.z2.fidonet.sublink.org) * Origin: The Viewpoint (FidoNet 2:333/511.60) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 09:34:59 +0800 (WST) From: Jayeson Lee-Steere Subject: Mega-Em 1.00B012 on EPAS Message-ID: <199308090135.JAA10454@tartarus> Sorry this took so long. Most of the time since the last release has been spent trying to get 386MAX to tolerate Mega-Em (which has unfortunately proved unsucessfull). Look for megem12b.zip at archive.epas.utoronto.ca in the directory pub/pc/ultrasound/submit There are a lot of new features in this version. See WHATSNEW.DOC for full details. Most importantly: Much improved sound quality. Very similar performance to PLAYMIDI, with most deficiencies being attributable to the limited number of patches loaded. Most games with GM or Sound Canvas support now sound very good. Generally improved compatibility and stability with a wider range of memory managers (with the exception of 386MAX). Also some protected mode software will crash if Mega-Em is not loaded with the /NGDT switch when using QEMM. In addition 'Can not expand server GDT' errors should be a thing of the past. This is all based on the theory I haven't stepped on another processor bug. 386MAX Users: I apologise, since 386MAX support has been temporarily removed from Mega-Em, due to potentially dangerous system crashes (such as during disk access). In addition I am not particularly thrilled about people calling my software 'bugridden', so from now on if I know something doesn't work perfectly, I will remove it. This version is basically what I want for a version 1.00 release, with the exception of a few additions listed below. So if you have any problems with this version and you would like them fixed, let me know. Please don't just assume someone else will have the same problems and report them to me. Things to be added for version 1.00: * Pitch bending. If anyone knows the sensitivity of the Sound Canvas pitch bending, I would be glad to hear from you. * A few samples are not looping correcly, resulting the occasional noisy playback. Still waiting on the promised patch file document from Forte? * I'm going to get Mega-Em and 386MAX to work together if it kills me. Things planned for future versions. * Some form of .ini file system, where Mega-Em will log which instruments a program uses. From this you will be able to create a .ini file, which will allow Mega-Em to load only the patches a program needs, and also allow substitution of custom patches (such as explosions, engine noises etc.). * Sound Blaster DAC emulation. This is already planned out, and hopefully won't take too long to develop. As a side note, Roland emulation compatiblity has not been improved yet, because the needed routines must be able to share resources with the Sound Blaster emulation. Hence the new routines and Sound Blaster emulation will be developed together. * The ability to use the Ultrasound MIDI port to emulate a MPU-401. Just as soon as I have the funds to purchase the required hardware. Due to popular demand the registration fee has dropped. See REGISTER.DOC for full details. The $10-$15 figure some people suggested is unfeasable. You may be supprised to find cheque conversion and postage do incurr significant expenses. The fee is US$25, which covers future versions of Mega-Em. Users who wish to register now are encouraged to do so. This will ensure you receive your registration before the 1.00 release, and also allow me to replace a rapidly dying hard drive and purchase other needed development hardware. You've heard the speech before, but future development requires your support. Jayeson Lee-Steere leesteer@tartarus.uwa.edu.au ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 01:34:59 -0400 (EDT) From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) Subject: Patches; oups Message-ID: <9308090534.AA07024@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA> Yikes, i already found 1 enveloppe error and 1 root note error in my patches, caused by patchgod... I will upload during the day 808add1.arj, an addendum. I would put it now, but you never know... i may find other errors... If any of you do find errors today, tell me. BTW, i know that the congas and the claves are not at the same frequency as the real mccoy... I will also put modified versions in the addendum, so people can choose between the real thing or the version in 808drums, which i tought were better for small speakers, but lacked the bass of the originals. (I simply put 44KHz as playback frequency instead of 32075 or 22050 in some case). Real errors: bad enveloppe in 808ho.pat and bad root note in cowbell.pat. Anybody wants to beta test some patches? That means playing with them, but also trying them in a song if possible. Stuart? Chris? Jack? Anybody? That way i'll catch my errors before they get out on the net... Ciao, -- Francois Dion ' _ _ _ CISM (_) (_) _) FM Montreal , Canada Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA (_) / . _) 10000 Watts Telephone no: (514) 343-7511 _______________________________________________________________________________ Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Aug 93 23:27:25 GMT From: mike@batpad.org (Mike Batchelor) Subject: Roberto Sierra's MIDI posts Message-ID: In alt.binaries.sounds.music, Roberto Sierra (bert@netcom.com) has posted a collection of what he feels are the best of the best in MIDI files from the net. Some of the selections include the complete Tocatta & Fugue in Dm, all four movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, and selections like the Axel Foley theme from "Beverly Hills Cop II". They are all Type 2 MIDI files, though some have Type 1 versions posted as well. Most of them will exercise your MIDI gear strenuously. The 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th has 23 tracks going simultaneously at one point. Problem: they all use what appear to be custom instrument mappings (bear with me, my terminology is probably whacked). If you play them with Playmidi, all the tracks come through, but they are all either acoustic piano, or some inappropriate percussion instrument. Tocatta & Fugue suffers the most, with scratchers and high hats playing at the silliest of times. The 4th movement of Ludwig's 5th sounds like a two-piano arrangement. Second problem: they won't play at all under Windows with the Media Player. I have performed both pupdate and have copied the midimap.cfg to \windows\system. Canyon.mid plays, but beet5m4.mid is silent, as are all the others. I have an idea of the concept behind what I am hearing: Roberto's MIDI files need to have the right instrument mapped to the right track. I have been able to do this in some primitive fashion by editing default.cfg and using Playmidi to hear the results of my reassignments. But this can't be the correct way to do it. The MIDI Mapper is confusing, I don't know what I am doing, but nothing I do there seems to affect how they (don't) play in Windows with Media Player. Same thing for PatchMan - I've fiddled with it just to see if I can change how they (don't) sound, but no luck so far. Roberto included descriptions of what instruments he used on which channels, and what MIDI gear he used to do it (D-70 and a Proteus something-or-other). So, how do I go about assigning instruments, and more importantly, how do I save the results to a new MIDI file (a GUS arrangememt, as it were)? On-line help is not helpful at all for the tools I have. Do I need something not included on the disks? -- Mike Batchelor | Windows : DESQview/X :: Solitaire : Network BlaqJaq mike@batpad.org | Mar Vista, California | This space for rent ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1993 16:24:30 -0400 (EDT) From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) Subject: Roland TR-808 percussions patches on epas Message-ID: <9308082024.AA23553@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA> Hiya all! I just put on archive.epas.utoronto.ca in pub/pc/ultrasound/submit a set of: 30 percussions from the Roland TR-808! About 500Kb in all. The file is called 808DRUMS.ARJ Cowbell, hand claps, claves, congas, cymbals, hihats, kicks, maracas, rim shots, snare drums, toms plus 2 melodic percussions derived from TR808 sounds. TR909 (i still need some good kick drums, in any format: EPS, Kurzweil, Sysex, AIFF, WAV, Korg, Akai, Peavey etc... 16 bit a plus) and TR-727 and possibly TR-606, good Steel drums, EMU and others are comming, so check epas... The next tutorial (#2) is under way too so people can do percussive patches. Tutorial #3 will cover enveloppes and loop points and multisamples. Ciao, -- Francois Dion ' _ _ _ CISM (_) (_) _) FM Montreal , Canada Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA (_) / . _) 10000 Watts Telephone no: (514) 343-7511 _______________________________________________________________________________ Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1993 17:39:46 -0100 From: Emanuele.Pucciarelli@p60.f511.n333.z2.fidonet.sublink.org (Emanuele Pucciarelli) Subject: SBOS and Windows Message-ID: <744680101.AA00822@wolf.fidonet.org> When I load SBOS before Windows, running DOS applications causes strange errors, like 'Error on load of SBOS library' or 'Interrupt time out'. The worst thing is that any Windows applications using the Ultrasound stops playing, and I must reload Windows to get them work. Can you help me? Bye! Emanuele (Emanuele.Pucciarelli@p60.f511.n333.z2.fidonet.sublink.org) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Aug 93 00:26:18 +0300 From: tjakobs@mswe.dnet.ms.philips.nl (THEO_JAKOBS TEL.62667) Subject: Sierra//LucasArts on the Net?/?? Message-ID: <9308082126.AA23393@muxgw1.ms.philips.nl> hi.... I wan't to know if there are some programmers, or musicians of Sierra On Line, or LucasArt on the InterNet..... Andre Jakobs.. MicroBrain Technologies Inc. The Netherlands ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Aug 93 18:24:50 EDT From: Matthew Spewak Subject: unix .au converter? Message-ID: <9308082224.AA00348@lambada.oit.unc.edu> Can someone tell me where (ftp sites?) I can find a program that will convert .AU sound files to either .WAV or .SND? I have head of one, but forgot the name. Also, correct me if I am wrong, but isn't GUS MAX just a regular GUS with 1 meg and more bundled stuff? I visited Gravis at PC EXPO and saw the box for the GUS MAX, and all it was was a 1 meg GUS with the Gravis Joypad, and like three games +utils. I don't think it is a new or different card. -MS ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1993 17:38:08 -0100 From: Emanuele.Pucciarelli@p60.f511.n333.z2.fidonet.sublink.org (Emanuele Pucciarelli) Subject: WinJammer and GUS Message-ID: <744680100.AA00818@wolf.fidonet.org> Hi Robert! It's simple, WinJammer version 2.1 does not support patch caching, so you must use the Patch Manager to load the patches. With this, it works fine. Bye bye! Emanuele (Emanuele.Pucciarelli@p60.f511.n333.z2.fidonet.sublink.org) ------------------------------ Date: (null) From: (null) Tried to post this once but it got cut off. Hope this gets to you. Course if you are reading this, it did. Eric ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V5 #8 ************************************ To post to tomorrow's digest: To (un)subscribe or get help: To contact a human (last resort): FTP sites: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/msdos/ultrasound archive.orst.edu pub/packages/gravis FTP mail server: mail-server@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de Hints: - Get the FAQ from the FTP sites or the request server. - Mail to for info about other GUS related mailing lists (UNIX, OS/2, GUS-MIDI, etc.)