Converting And Using General MIDI (.GMIDI) and Standard MIDI (.MIDI) Format Files With The Apple IIGS by Bruce Richter (America Online - Strat61) Many thanks to Ed Rosenblatt (AFC Eddie), AOL Graphics and Sound Forum, for letting me use and modify his original file on converting Mac MIDI for use with the GS which was incorporated in this file. Information was also received from various sources within the PC side of America Online. My thanks to those who chose to respond to my EMail requests. To those who didn't, just remember: "Someday your system will be as obsolete as you think mine is now." This is an update from my July 1992 file uploaded on America Online. The information is based on trial and error, personal observations, and information provided by other users as of October 30, 1993. Table Of Contents Part 1 - General Information Part 2 - MIDI File Primer Part 3 - General MIDI - A New Standard Part 4 - Getting Files From The Mac Side Part 5 - Getting Files From The PC-Link Side Part 6 - MIDI Files And MusicWriter Or SynthLAB Part 7 - Regarding Mac MIDI Files That Are Not Stuffed Part 8 - Importing MIDI File Problems Part 9 - Reading a MIDI file Part 1 General Information Are you one of the users of the America Online Music Forum, who always checks the New Files section to see if any new MIDI files have been uploaded recently. Are you disappointed when you find that it is often weeks between those types of uploads? Even though the GS was touted as being "The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread", reality set in and showed us that, even though it has that all powerful Ensoniq chip in it, the music industry did not take the GS seriously. A good part of that problem was caused by Apple's unwillingness, in the early years of the GS, to "give up" necessary information for music software designers, but you didn't download this file to read a socio-political commentary. What programs are there for the amateur musician or hobbyist? a. Music Construction Set was MIDI Out only. However, MCS did allow you to print out a Music Score, though the graphics did leave something to be desired and you were restricted to two instruments. b. I found Soundsmith to be an exercise in futility and, to the best of my knowledge, never did get the promised MIDI capability. c. Music Studio has severe MIDI limitations. The other problem with MS was that even though you could have multiple instruments, the printed music score was only two staves. Even two "color coded" instruments was virtually impossible to read. d. Diversitune and SynthLAB, while recognized as sequencers, are not user friendly in that they are limited to essentially real time input. e. Other programs have come (and gone) with "promises" of MIDI implementation in the future. Add to this the fact that none of the above mentioned programs allow for the creation of Standard MIDI Format Files. f. Three programs were available that do support the standard MIDI format and are geared more towards a professional quality production: (1) MasterTracks Pro (2) MasterTracks Junior (3) MusicWriter, although if you have a version of Musicwriter prior to the Version 2.0, you'll need a companion program called Pyware Midi Translator to convert MIDI files into a format Musicwriter will recognize. g. MasterTracks Pro is really the only "serious" user friendly sequencing program for the GS. The beauty of this program is the ability to import and export Standard MIDI Type Files. The problem is that MasterTracks Pro was so expensive, it was cost prohibitive to many consumers in the Apple II market and because of that, there are a limited number of people who actively use it and upload their creations. Where do you go after you've downloaded all of the MIDI files from the Apple II Graphics and Sound Forum? If you're like me, you'll head over to the Mac side of AOL, as well as the PC-Link side. There are a multitude of MIDI files available over there, but as is the case anytime you try to cross over lines, you will encounter problems. Also, the basic concepts of this file can be used on other Online services that have MIDI files in their libraries. Part 2 A Short MIDI Primer (for the hundredth time) MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It was a standard adopted by the music industry in the 1980's to help cut down the multitude of format types, as well as allowing one company's synthesizer to play another company's synth or tone generator, etc. Not only that, but aspects of the various controls were also standardized (i.e. Controller Number 7 on all synths is the Volume Control). Regarding the Controllers, you should refer to your synthesizer owner's manual for information regarding what Controllers are active with your synth. The format for MIDI files used, in this case, by computer sequencers was also standardized into 2 formats: Type 0 - All channels are merged to a single multi-channel track. Channel assignments are saved but the text and program change assignments are NOT saved. Loop assignments and markers are also NOT saved. Type 1 - Parallel multi-channel tracks. Channel assignments, text and program change assignments are saved. Loop assignments and markers are NOT saved. Type 1 format is the type seen and basically required in all three music forums on America Online, though you will run into Type 0. If you do download a Type 0 file, the amount of cut and pasting required to turn the file into a usable file may test your patience and will. Part 3 General MIDI - A New Standard The biggest complaint among musicians was the fact that MIDI files they received from other sources may or may not have been compatable with the "mapping system" of their synthesizer. How many hours have been wasted converting someone else's hard work over to your system. Think about the time that the "Heavy Metal Guitar" patch on the "Stairway To Heaven" MIDI file you got was actually the "Polka Glockenspeil" patch on your synth that you haven't touched since you got it. We won't EVEN talk about the times you had to shut off the percussion track because it was absolutely NOT compatable with your system. Many felt that the MIDI industry standard needed to be further developed. Finally, in 1991, a "General MIDI System, Level 1" specification was agreed upon by the International MIDI Association. This specification was designed to help manufacturers develop synthesizers that would be compatable with each other based on a specific guidelines for the sequencer information. If you create a MIDI file with a General MIDI synth, it will conform to the patch map for both sound and percussion. Thus, this file can be played "correctly" on ANY General MIDI synth with no changes. Will play right? A resounding YES! Will it sound good? A resounding IT DEPENDS! Consideration must be made regarding the fact that a file created on an expensive digitally sampled synth may sound less than perfect on a less expensive FM synth that doesn't have all the whistles and bells. To be considered a "General MIDI instrument", it must have these characteristics: 1. 24-voice polyphony which means playing multiple notes at the same time. 2. 16-channel multitimbrality meaning that the synth must be able to produce a different sound on each of the 16 MIDI channels, with each sound being independently controlled. 3. Middle C must be MIDI Note Number 60. 4. Instruments must respond to these MIDI control messages (at the very least) a. Modulation (Controller 1) b. Volume (Controller 7) c. Left/Right Pan (Controller 10) d. Expression (Controller 11) e. Sustain (Controller 64) f. Controller Reset (Controller 121) g. All Notes Off (Controller 127) h. Velocity The following is a list of patches and percussion maps of the General MIDI Standard: General MIDI Patch List (Percussion Map listed after Patch List) 0 Acoustic Grand Piano 64 Soprano Sax 1 Bright Acoustic Piano 65 Alto Sax 2 Electric Grand Piano 66 Tenor Sax 3 Honky-Tonk Piano 67 Baritone Sax 4 Rhodes Electric Piano 68 Oboe 5 Chorused Piano 69 English Horn 6 Harpsichord 70 Bassoon 7 Clavinet 71 Clarinet 8 Celesta 72 Piccolo 9 Glockenspiel 73 Flute 10 Music Box 74 Recorder 11 Vibraphone 75 Pan Flute 12 Marimba 76 Bottle Blow 13 Xylophone 77 Shakuhachi 14 Tubular Bells 78 Whistle 15 Dulcimer 79 Ocarina 16 Hammond Organ 80 Lead 1 (Square) 17 Percussive Organ 81 Lead 2 (Sawtooth) 18 Rock Organ 82 Lead 3 (Calliope) 19 Church Organ 83 Lead 4 (Chiff) 20 Reed Organ 84 Lead 5 (Charang) 21 Accordion 85 Lead 6 (Voice) 22 Harmonica 86 Lead 7 (Fifths) 23 Tango Accordion 87 Lead 8 (Bass + Lead) 24 Nylon Guitar 88 Pad 1 (New Age) 25 Acoustic Guitar 89 Pad 2 (Warm) 26 Jazz Guitar 90 Pad 3 (Polysynth) 27 Electric Guitar 91 Pad 4 (Choir) 28 Muted Guitar 92 Pad 5 (Bowed) 29 Overdriven Guitar 93 Pad 6 (Metallic) 30 Distorted Guitar 94 Pad 7 (Halo) 31 Guitar Harmonics 95 Pad 8 (Sweep) 32 Acoustic Bass 96 Rain 33 Fingered Electric Bass 97 Soundtrack 34 Picked Electric Bass 98 Crystal 35 Fretless Bass 99 Atmosphere 36 Slap Bass 1 100 Brightness 37 Slap Bass 2 101 Goblins 38 Synth Bass 1 102 Echoes 39 Synth Bass 2 103 Sci-Fi 40 Violin 104 Sitar 41 Viola 105 Banjo 42 Cello 106 Shamisen 43 Contrabass 107 Koto 44 Tremolo Strings 108 Kalimba 45 Pizzicato Strings 109 Bagpipes 46 Concert Harp 110 Fiddle 47 Timpani 111 Shanai 48 Ensemble Strings 1 112 Tinkle Bell 49 Ensemble Strings 2 113 Agogo 50 Synth Strings 1 114 Steel Drums 51 Synth Strings 2 115 Wood Block 52 Choir "Ahhh" 116 Taiko 53 Voice "Oooh" 117 Melodic Tom 54 Synth Voice 118 Synth Drum 55 Orchestra Hit 119 Reverse Cymbal 56 Trumpet 120 Guitar Fret Noise 57 Trombone 121 Breath Noise 58 Tuba 122 Seashore 59 Muted Trumpet 123 Bird Tweet 60 French Horn 124 Telephone 61 Brass Section 125 Helicopter 62 Synth Brass 1 126 Applause 63 Synth Brass 2 127 Gunshot General MIDI Percussion Map *C4 = Middle C = MIDI Note #60 Pitch MIDI Note # Description ================Octave 1======================= B 35 Acoustic Bass Drum ================Octave 2======================= C 36 Bass Drum 1 C# 37 Side Stick D 38 Acoustic Snare D# 39 Hand Clap E 40 Electric Snare F 41 Low Floor Tom F# 42 Closed Hi Hat G 43 Hi Floor Tom G# 44 Pedal Hi Hat A 45 Low Tom A# 46 Open Hi Hat B 47 Low-Mid Tom ================Octave 3======================= C 48 High-Mid Tom C# 49 Crash Cymbal 1 D 50 High Tom D# 51 Ride Cymbal 1 E 52 Chinese Cymbal F 53 Ride Bell F# 54 Tambourine G 55 Splash Cymbal G# 56 Cowbell A 57 Crash Cymbal 2 A# 58 Vibraslap B 59 Ride Cymbal 2 ================Octave 4======================= *C 60 High Bongo C# 61 Low Bongo D 62 Muted High Conga D# 63 Open High Conga E 64 Low Conga F 65 High Timbale F# 66 Low Timbale G 67 High Agogo G# 68 Low Agogo A 69 Cabase A# 70 Maracas B 71 Short Whistle ================Octave 5======================= C 72 Long Whistle C# 73 Short Guiro D 74 Long Guiro D# 75 Claves E 76 High Wood Block F 77 Low Wood Block F# 78 Muted Cuica G 79 Open Cuica G# 80 Muted Triangle A 81 Open Triangle For those of you using a word processing program such as AppleWorks or if you are using TEACH, I would suggest highlighting the patch list and percussion map, copy it over as a New File and print it out so you have the information available to you outside of this document. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- You must remember that if you ever decide you want to upload one of your musical creations and you want to use the General MIDI standard, your file must conform to the above standards. If your synth is not a General MIDI you can still create a General MIDI file by simply assigning the appropriate General MIDI program changes for the instruments you want used. SUGGESTION: If you don't have a General MIDI synthesizer, load your file, make the changes to conform to the General MIDI standard, use the "Save As" function and save the file using the .GMIDI suffix. This will allow you to still have your original file which plays fine on your synthesizer, but you'll have the .GMIDI file to upload and share. Part 4 Converting Mac MIDI files to GS MIDI files. If you visit the Mac Music and Sound Area of AOL (keyword MMS), you'll find another entire MIDI library with a wide variety of songs and music available. These files are usable by the GS, but not without some changes. 1. Go to the MMS area and see the MIDI files which have been uploaded there, both in the MIDI section and in the New Files section. Like AMS, MIDI files in the New Files section will often be listed as: MY.ORIG.SONG (MIDI) 2. Select a file you like and download it in the usual way. Remember, you are looking for files that are identified as Standard MIDI or General MIDI format. Under the Requirements section it should say something to the effect of "Needs any sequencer" instead of naming a specific program like "MasterTracks" or "CakeWalk". The downloader should be cautioned that Mac files can use spaces, more than 15 letters, as well as punctuation other than periods (.). An example of the actual file name might look like this: My Original Song Thats Great.sit You will need to reduce the number of letters to 15 or less, as well as removing the spaces. You might do that by naming the file: MyOrigSong.sit 3. You will notice that most files available in the Mac area have been compressed with StuffIt, sort of the Mac equivalent of ShrinkIt. Files compressed in that way usually bear the suffix ".sit" but don't worry because the GS version of ShrinkIt, as well as Nupak GS, another un-compressing utility (both available on AOL!), can "unstuff" these files! So, you should use one of these programs to de-compress the downloaded MIDI file. If the file indicates it is "stuffed" (compressed), and you have to rename the file to download, leave the ".sit" suffix to remind you that the file is compressed. --------------------------------------------------------- WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING --------------------------------------------------------- America Online now utilizes StuffIt Deluxe for compressing Mac files and as time goes on, more and more users will compress their files with this program. I have received information that GS ShrinkIt and NuPak may or may not recognize these types of files. Again, it's important to read all of the requirements before downloading a file. Experiment with small files that won't use up precious online time. To date, I have found that most of the recently uploaded Mac files in the Music MIDI section are requiring the use of StuffIt Expander. StuffIt Expander (A Mac Program) is used to uncompress a number of compression programs for the Mac. Files that have been uploaded requiring the use of StuffIt Expander apparently will work (uncompress) with GSHK or NuPak (at least so far). ----------------------------------------------------- 4. Once it is uncompressed, the file should appear on your disk as a binary file - still not usable by your software. All you have to do is use a file-type changing utility to change its type to MIDI. Utilities that will do this include "The File Manager NDA" (Shareware which is available on AOL), Disk Access from Seven Hills Software, and others. These utilities require you to specify a file type code and an aux type code. To change the file type to MIDI, you enter: File Type "D7", Aux Type "0000" (the aux type for binary files is also 0000, so you won't have to change that anyway). NOTE: You will also find MIDI files that lists "User #7" as the file type. You want to make sure that the file is not a compressed file that you missed, since Stuffed files, as well as many other file Mac file types are identified as "User #7" on an Apple II. Change it to "D7" as you would a binary file. CAUTION: The "User #7" files seem to be usable by MasterTracks less than 50% of the time, but there is no way of telling ahead of time what Mac File Type a file is. 5. You now have a MIDI file that Mastertracks or Musicwriter should recognize! Run your program, import the MIDI file, and you're on your way. Refer to Part 8 - Importing MIDI File Problems at the end of this file for further information regarding files that won't convert. Part 5 Converting PC MIDI files to GS MIDI files. As in the Mac Forum, you can also download files from PC-Link. Using Keyword PMU, you can access the PC MIDI Libraries in the same way you access AMS and MMS. The advantage of the PC section is that the philosophy has been to upload all MIDI files without being compressed so that users from the Mac and Apple side can also enjoy them. Because of this, I would estimate that over 90 percent of the MIDI files are not "Zipped" (which is the PC version of ShrinkIt). 1. Find a file that you want and download it in the same way that you would in AMS. Make sure that the file name is compatible to the ProDOS system (15 letters or less, no spaces, etc.) 2. After downloading, you will need to use your file-type changing utility. This time, the file will appear as an ASCII text file (Type "04") or a Permanent Initialization File (Type "B6"). Change the file type to "D7" and ensure that the Aux Type is "0000". NOTE: A PC-Link MIDI file that shows an ASCII File Type (Type "04") also shows an Aux Type of "0004". This must be changed because MasterTracks will not recognize the file if the Aux Type is not changed. 3. You now have a MIDI file that your Mastertracks or Musicwriter should recognize! Run your program, import the MIDI file, and you're on your way. Again, refer to Part 8 of this file regarding importing problems. ------------------------------------------------------------ ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** ------------------------------------------------------------ There are a few MIDI files in PC-Link that are compressed. As noted, they are called "Zipped" files. These files can be used. There is an "Un-Zipping" shareware program called (coincidentally) "UNZIP ver. 2.0", which can be located in the Apple Utilities Forum (Keyword AUT). The program looks and works very much like GS ShrinkIt. With UNZIP, you have the advantage of being able to change the file types without changing programs or going to an NDA. ------------------------------------------------------------ ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** ------------------------------------------------------------ While visiting the PC-Link side of AOL, your computer might suddenly "burp" and the screen goes beserk. What happens is the various menu screens suddenly change to garbage. DON'T PANIC Simply press OA-K and use keyword PMU to get back into the music forum. You'll have to start over again in the library to get back to your original location when this happened. Once you see the background screens start exhibiting garbage, it is important that you do the OA-K quickly. If you are downloading a file, as soon as the file transfer is complete, press OA-K. Wait too long and you will be bumped offline. Part 6 MIDI Files And MusicWriter Or SynthLAB Talking to other users that are taking advantage of the MAC and PC Music Forums, I have heard complaints about many MIDI files not being compatable with MusicWriter or MIDIMate, the conversion program for changing MIDI files to SynthLAB files. Here are a few steps to take prior to trying to use a MIDI file with these programs: 1. Make sure that the file is not "stuffed" or "zipped". If so, use the appropriate utility to uncompress the file. Even if there is no .zip or .sit suffix on the end of the file, I would suggest you run it through GSHK, UnPak, or UNZIP just to be sure. The extra minute or so checking can save you a lot of frustration when you're trying to figure out why that MIDI file that you just had to have isn't working. SUGGESTION: To avoid the problem of "Is this MIDI file an Apple II, Mac, or PC file", I would suggest creating a folder called MIDI. Inside of that folder, create three folders called Apple.MIDI, Mac.MIDI, and PC.MIDI. From there, you use the appropriate unpacking program for each of the computer platforms. 2. Ensure that the File Type is "D7" and that the Aux Type is "0000" (four zeros). 3. Refer to Part 8 of this text for further information, explanation, and theory, regarding "junk" in MIDI files. 4. If you have MasterTracks, I STRONGLY SUGGEST importing the MIDI file into MasterTracks and then exporting a new MIDI file which you can use with MIDIMate to convert to SynthLAB. MasterTracks seems more forgiving and once you've created a MIDI file with MasterTracks, simply export back as a MIDI file. This removes a lot of the junk. A MIDI file created using the Apple II version of MasterTracks is compatable with MusicWriter and MIDIMate. Refer to Part 9 for information on how you can actually "read" what is in a MIDI file. Remember, MIDIMate will only convert files that are less than 32K in size. Part 7 Regarding MIDI Files That Are Not Stuffed There are a few MIDI files in the Mac Libraries that are not compressed. When downloading these files, there is a "header" put on these files by AOL. You will need to use a short program called "Stripper" which is available in the Apple Utilities Forum Library (Keyword AUT). If there is a AOL header on the file, this program will remove it. Files that were compressed with StuffIt, uploaded, downloaded, and then unstuffed using GS ShrinkIt or NuPak do not have to be checked by Stripper. The header has already been removed. Part 8 Importing MIDI File Problems Since I originally wrote this primer, my success rate with using converted Mac files has plummetted. The majority of the files I have downloaded recently end up being User #7 files and my success rate on them lately has been about 10%. Part of this problem may lie in the Mac side using StuffIt Deluxe. I now urge EXTREME caution when downloading Mac MIDI files. My success rate in the PC area has also taken a sharp drop thanks to America Online for Windows. There is a glitch in any file uploaded to the PC side using the Windows version of AOL. The main system will not allow these files to be downloaded, citing "Not enough roon on disk" (even on a hard drive with over 20 megs empty), or "Invalid paramenter or pointer" messages. The word on the street is there will be NO fix for this problem with Windows. The only way to get those files is to have them downloaded by a PC and then EMailed to you using the DOS version of PC America Online. Windows version also will not let EMail files be sent. My advice here is to look at the older Mac and PC Midi files if you are new to these areas. You should have a higher success rate with those. Some files are not recognized by MTPro at all and will not even try to load. These are not a problem since, you simply click OK on the warning note and go on to the next file. The biggest problem is when MTPro will start to import the MIDI file and then hang up. MIDI conversions of large files take a very, very long time. Don't automatically reboot just because 10 or 15 minutes have gone by. The key is to watch the lights on your hard drive if you can see them or disk drive. As long as you can see the system "accessing" (light blinking on occasion) the file is being converted. If you see no lights blinking and some time has gone by, then you probably have a file that is not going to load. The only remedy for this is rebooting the system. My theory on why this happens is that, even though the MIDI format is "Standard", there are still bits and bytes unique to the various computer formats, as well as the software formats. I believe that MasterTracks converts the file until it gets to one of these points, says, "Uh, oh! Now what?" and then freezes. I believe the same is happening in MusicWriter and I know that MIDIMate doesn't like certain bytes of information. I have not been able to identify what the problem bytes might be, but I am still working with a block editor and reading "good" MIDI files and "bad" ones to ascertain what the problem might be. I still haven't uncovered anything that I can point a finger at and say that is the problem. One of the problem areas may lie in "marker or track" assignments. Some of the sequencer programs such as MasterTracks Pro 5 for the Mac or Cakewalk for the PC export MIDI files with some of this data intact, even though the "Standard MIDI" format does not call for it. NOTE: If you have encountered a problem that I haven't discussed or if you have discovered a solution, please EMail the information to me. I will continually update this file when needed. Part 9 Reading a MIDI file or, "How do I know what instruments?" When importing MIDI files from MAC and PC platforms, the Track Assignment Sheet in MasterTracks often does not show the basic sequence information: what instruments were listed, what tracks they were assigned, channels, etc. For a while, I simply thought that that information had been removed from the file prior to upload since other files did show that information when imported. In most cases, the information IS there, but for some reason, MasterTracks does not always convert the information. In many complicated songs, you need to know what instruments were initially used. This is why you need to extract the information for the Track Assignment sheet. Note that Program changes "imbedded" within the track are not identified in the MIDI file so if a trumpet changes to a violin in measure 35, you won't know it until you "see" your synthesizer change to a new instrument. However, to locate any program changes in MasterTracks, you simply look at the Program Change Window or just "strip" all the changes out and start with a basic sequence. The following is my recommended steps for "reading" a MIDI file. Like the General Midi information you may want to copy this section over to a "New" file to have it separately from this file. 1. You will need some sort of a program that: a. Reads Text files. (AppleWorks, TEACH, etc) b. Has the ability to "Find" certain text. c. Has Text "Editing" capabilities. (This is important if you want to prepare a listing of instuments for the song.) d. Has the ability to "Print" files, if you want hardcopy. 2. Now we're ready to go! a. Go through the proper steps to get your MIDI file, UNZip or UNStuff it, convert it to File Type D7, and import it into MasterTracks or MusicWriter. I suggest importing it first, so you will know if Track Assignments were also imported successfully, and more importantly, if the MIDI file itself could be converted. Why do extra work if the file won't load. Once you know the file will load, and the instrument information IS missing, save your file. I suggest using the suffix .mt for MasterTracks, .mw for MusicWriter and .sl for SynthLAB. By doing this, you can actually use the same "name" on five different files, and can quickly identify what type of file it is. EXAMPLE: My.Song.MIDI = Original or exported MIDI file My.Song.GMIDI = Original or exported General MIDI file My.Song.mt = MasterTracks Pro File My.Song.mw = MusicWriter File My.Song.sl = SynthLAB File b. Exit your program and load your file manager program/NDA. Now change the File Type of the ORIGINAL MIDI FILE to an ASCII text file: File Type 04 (zero four). Aux Type 0000 (zero, zero, zero, zero) Be careful not to convert a MasterTracks, MusicWriter, or SynthLAB file since they won't have the information. This is the reason why I recommend using the above suffix's. c. Run your text reading program and load the MIDI file. d. When the screen comes up, you will see 99 percent garbage (letters, numbers, highlighted questions marks, etc.). e. Using the "Find" command, look for the following: MTrk f. MTrk is the track assignment code. Right after this, you will see whatever instrument name was typed in on the track assignment sheet. There may be a few characters of garbage, but don't worry about it. If it was blank, there is usually a note that says something to the effect that nothing was assigned. EXAMPLE: wicx75490s9w98 MTrk 384Orch Strings8743jnfs08 g. After you have found MTrk, get out of the "Find" mode, make sure your pointer is under the M and press Return twice. Now it should look like this: EXAMPLE: ...wicx75490s9w98 MTrk 384Orch Strings8743jnfs08.... h. Now move your pointer over to the second "s" in Strings and press Return twice. Now you should see: EXAMPLE: ...wicx7549 s9w98 MTrk 384Orch Strings 8743jnfs08.... i. Continue throughout the file setting everything up like the above example. The reason for the double Returns was to segregate the instrument from the garbage which will make it easier to find while scrolling through the file. Once you have gone through the entire file, simply go to the beginning, add the title of the song, delete all the garbage in between the MTrk's, and you will end up with something like this: EXAMPLE: "No Son Of Mine" (Genesis) Orch Strings Fuzz Guitar Percussion Hammond Organ not assigned Melody (Voices) Please note that the listings within the MIDI file seem to be based on the order in which the tracks were assigned. This means that even though the Orch Strings in the example was the first instrument listed, the composer might have assigned them to track 3 and the Melody, which was listed last, might have been assigned to Track 1. Reading the MIDI file gives you a foundation for knowing what instruments the composer originally used and with some common sense, a good ear, and a little luck, you can set your MasterTracks or MusicWriter file up in the same way. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** NOTE ** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I am maintaining a fairly extensive file of "converted" MIDI files for MasterTracks Pro IIGS. If you are interested in swapping some files for some of yours, please EMail me with a list and I'll send you a list of what I've got. My attitude now is that if we Apple II music enthusiasts don't help each other out, no one else is going to... Bruce Richter (Strat61 - America Online) October 30, 1993