--------------------------------------- Timidity PPC/68k notes --------------------------------------- If you have a 68060 I suggest you to use the 68k and not the PPC version, because the PPC lacks some of the features of the 68k one, but on the other hand the 68k one is slow, too slow also on my 040@33. On a 060 it runs very well though. Also, the 68k version has a nice MUI GUI, and sounds very well via AHI. Too bad that the author lost all the sources. The PPC version needs the ixemul.library in the PPC version, so don't forget to add a big stack (I use at least 300000) or you will get crashes. The PPC version works perfectly under ppc.library emulation under the WarpOS system, but has also a nasty bug, it can't be stopped, with break or control-c, so you always have to wait for the end of the file. Also it seems not to like too much AHI, I often get distorted sound, it doesn't happen while outputting to file. Anyway, to hear something with AHI you have to add the "8" switch to the -O parameter, or you will not hear anything. I think that the best way to use TimidityPPC is to use it as MIDI2WAV converter, as it is really fast, and can convert to ram in few seconds. When I want to listen to a MIDI, I convert it in wav to ram: with the ppc version and then play it with SongPlayer or Play16. If you have a 060 you can play in realtime without the conversion step. The two tools you find are provided to give a fast way to do the conversion without messing too much with the shell. They are simple AmigaDOS scripts, assuming that you have the RequestFile and RequestChoice files in C: as with the standard installation. --------------------- Timidity or GMPlay ? --------------------- Actually there are 2 MIDI players for Amiga that don't need additional hardware. For a lot of time I used GMPlay, and think that it's a great software too, so here is a little comparison between the 2: GMPlay is faster than Timidity, If you have a 030 or a 040 you should use it. Timidity68k is way too slow for real time playing unless you have a 060. The samples used in the distribution of GMPlay are not of a great quality, except for the drums. Timidity comes with no patches, but now you have downloaded this archive, so it doesn't matter :-) There are some new tone banks on Aminet, but the quality is still too low, and the sound never gets realistic.Timidity covers almost every MIDI instrument and the banks (except for some drums, that are downloadable separately anyway, maybe I'll do another release), and with this set of patches the quality is great. GMPlay seems to be no more developed. Both can be used to play MIDI files on Internet, but the PPC version distorts the sound, I really hope to see a new version... Timidity is open sourced: if you are a good programmer, you could port the newer versions. Final notes: Timidity is under GNU Public License. 68k Porting done by Philipp Grosswiler PPC Porting done by Holger Jakob EAW Patches by Eric A. Welsh
Alek_NGI