Q76868: Authoring Device-Independent MIDI Files

Article: Q76868
Product(s): Miscellaneous Windows Products
Version(s): 1.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 05-NOV-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows with Multimedia Extensions, version 1.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

MIDI files authored using the high-end data alone do not produce sound on a
low-end MIDI device. For example, if a MIDI file was created that used only
channels 2 through 5, a low-end device would not receive the MIDI data. Because
there is no low-end version of the data, nothing is sent through the mapper to
the low-end (for example, AdLib) device.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The 16 MIDI channels are organized as follows:

  Channel   Use
  -------   ---

     1      high-end (highest priority)
     2      high-end
     3      high-end
     4      high-end
     5      high-end
     6      high-end
     7      high-end
     8      high-end
     9      high-end (lowest priority)
    10      high-end percussive
    11      RESERVED
    12      RESERVED
    13      low-end (highest priority)
    14      low-end
    15      low-end (lowest priority)
    16      low-end percussive

MIDI data is authored concurrently, with high-end and low-end data. The mapper
masks off data that is inappropriate for the device on which the sound is
played. (The mapper also transforms the sound according to the maps.)

In the case above, to hear the MIDI data, it would be necessary to create a map
that passes the data on channels 2 through 5 to the AdLib, or to modify the file
to use channels 13 through 16.

Additional query words: 3.00 1.00 MMWIN

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbWinMultiXSearch kbWinMultiX100
Version           : :1.0

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