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+--- Thread: Retro midi machine! (/showthread.php?tid=138)
RE: Retro midi machine! - Mattias Westlund - 04-01-2017
Updated.
RE: Retro midi machine! - Mattias Westlund - 04-01-2017
(04-01-2017, 02:30 PM)Nayrb Wrote: Pretty soon Sam will turn up with one of these...
![[Image: 5c711fa2919212515bbc0aa8bf09d64e.jpg]](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/5c/71/1f/5c711fa2919212515bbc0aa8bf09d64e.jpg)
That computer looks like one of these... is it just a prop or could you actually use them for music somehow?
RE: Retro midi machine! - sinaptica - 04-01-2017
It looks like a 70s/80s terminal indeed.
If that's the case, then it has no computational power whatsoever, it's just a mean to interact with a mainframe. In other words, it's not a computer and something strange to have in a music studio.
RE: Retro midi machine! - Nayrb - 04-02-2017
(04-01-2017, 03:55 PM)Mattias Westlund Wrote:More than likely prop. It's just an old photo of Klaus Schulze. I'm sure a lot of it is just done up for effect. Except, of course, that helmet(04-01-2017, 02:30 PM)Nayrb Wrote: Pretty soon Sam will turn up with one of these...
That computer looks like one of these... is it just a prop or could you actually use them for music somehow?
RE: Retro midi machine! - kneedeep - 04-02-2017
(03-31-2017, 05:39 PM)Mattias Westlund Wrote: The problem here is of course that this is an ISA card, which means you'll need a computer old enough to have ISA slots. I doubt you could get Ubuntu or some other modern distro running well on such an old machine.
The Linux kernel started development in 1991, of course it supports ISA motherboards, ATA harddrives and Pentium processors. It's usually the most recent hardware that takes a while to get a working Linux driver. Old working drivers don't get ripped out as new stuff appears :-p In this way, the Linux kernel is a bit of a vintage hardware driver library and because of that, pretty well suited to tinkerer projects like this.
But I'll stop talking about Linux now, I don't want to be stereotyped as a Linux fanboy... I was honestly trying to help since Windows 9x, as per your own description, is probably shittier to deal with than Linux. But for a nostalgia project maybe Windows 9x is The Real Thing, at least when you grew up with it.
RE: Retro midi machine! - Mattias Westlund - 04-02-2017
Kernel and drivers is one thing. Programs and the rest of the OS (window managers etc) is quite another, and I know for a fact that Ubuntu and probably other modern distros as well does NOT run well on old hardware. Yeah, sure, it will run but it will be slower than molasses in January.
And yeah, this is seriously not the place for discussing the ups and downs of Linux. Looks like we need a "Linux Appreaciation/Complaints" thread on the forum, doesn't it?
RE: Retro midi machine! - Mattias Westlund - 04-02-2017
Anyway, back on topic.
I have finally figured out how to use both A and B synths on the E-MU APS card. I've tried loading sf2 banks into synth B, but despite setting the correct bank number (the manual says to use 1-127) synth B stubbornly plays the same patches as synth A. As it turns out, the manual is incorrect! Synth B needs to be set to bank 128, which I discovered purely by accident. So now I have 32 separate midi channels from the APS alone, which gives me a total of 96 different channels/patches. That's a whole friggin' lot for a system like this.
Since I got the APS figured out I've also started experimenting with using the various orchestral soundfont banks that came with the card. It's not exactly a bountiful selection by modern standards, but it does have all the meat and potatoes. Some of it is kind of crap I guess, but here's the nice thing: in addition to those 32 channels I have four separate GM/GS synths that I can use to augment the APS patches where necessary. This project is just getting more and more fascinating, and has far more potential than one might assume.
RE: Retro midi machine! - Mattias Westlund - 04-02-2017
On a related note:
Aside from maybe the Soundscape and the APS, nothing of this is rare and expensive old hardware. Sound Blasters and other ISA/PCI sound cards can usually be found at thrift shops for next to nothing. Computers that will let you run them are not exactly uncommon either, and I'm sure you could get a Pentium I/II/III for free if you ask around a bit. So if you happen to have a nostalgic connection to the GM soundtrack days of yore, I definitely recommend doing something similar. Just like sinaptica said I wouldn't be surprised if this era will get a revival before long, just like the SID and SNES stuff, and having a machine handy that will let you run the real deal rather than a virtual emulation might not be a bad idea.
RE: Retro midi machine! - Samulis - 04-03-2017
I agree, Mattias. I already see a lot of interest in 80's and 90's computing (e.g. The 8-Bit Guy). It's only a matter of time until people start putting soundblaster cards in little boxes with MIDI ports and selling them on boutique Ebay stores for $100.
RE: Retro midi machine! - sinaptica - 04-03-2017
I'm so JEALOUS!
I'm going to buy an old card and give and give it a go using this (or something similar) with my laptop.In addition to the GM stuff It's going to be great to have an OPL chip again.
This will have to wait a couple months till I get back home, but could be interesting/fun to see how one of these cards performs on a 2016 laptop.