Mod Archive Forums
Music Production => Tracking => Topic started by: 8bitcomputerkid on May 14, 2015, 07:09:31
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BeRo who wrote BeRoTracker was lazy and forgot to add other tracker formats and you can only save the proprietary brt format, OpenMPT's timing sucks, and MIDI2XM is wayyyy tooooo oooolllddd to run on our tech. Halp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ??? ??? ???
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Don't do it. It's genreally frowned upon. Listen to your MIDIs as MIDI files, and to your modules as module files.
There's a way to interoprate between the tools you mentioned but since I don't support people doing MIDI conversions, I won't tell you.
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u r selfish :(
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We do not accept plain MIDI conversions into ModArchive anyway, I'm just saving you and me some time.
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Unless you write the MIDI file in the way specifically to convert to XM, it won't be very good. This won't be General MIDI, therefore whatever software/hardware used to create such a MIDI file need to add whatever special commands into the MIDI file to use for XM operation (effect column commands, instruments, samples, etc). OpenMPT assumes the input is General MIDI (and has some other problems with MIDI import too), so this won't do.
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This doesn't make any sense. General MIDI is a command extension and a fixed set of instruments. OpenMPT supports a few General MIDI sysex messages, and by default uses a General MIDI instrument set, but the instrument set can be exchanged if you want. So no, OpenMPT does not "assume" the input file to be GM-compatible or anything. One of the many problems is simply that MIDI works very differently from modules in general, and more specifically channel allocation, volume and tempo / timing are very different between the world of MIDI and modules.
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But, General MIDI is the polyphonic kind of MIDI. If you used the monotonic kind of MIDI then the channel allocation is work OK. Instrument/samples can be loaded by defining system exclusive messages to upload it with. The controls can be define as the one supported in the command column of XM format so that it is the compatible way. Timing is still the problem, unless you calculate all of the timings and figure out what speed/tempo is needed or if you specify the timing as part of the conversion or if you use the MIDI frame timing commands.
Such thing is probably not very useful in most cases, but might be useful if you want to use a external MIDI device (it could be like a organ with multiple manuals for different group of channels) to enter the music and controls and then you can add the instruments afterward with another MIDI editor, and then use a conversion program. Nevertheless, it doesn't quite make it impossible.
None of this implies that OpenMPT needs to be changed or that such files need to be put into this MOD archive; my answering is the independent question. (Nor does it necessarily do what 8bitcomputerkid wants, but, they didn't quite specify.)
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But, General MIDI is the polyphonic kind of MIDI.
This has absolutely nothing to do with General MIDI. MIDI doesn't inherently have a polyphonic / monophonic behaviour, and MIDI hardware was polyphonic well before General MIDI was even standardized in the late 80s. Heck, even General MIDI has a monphonic mode if you want.
Instrument/samples can be loaded by defining system exclusive messages to upload it with.
This is device-specific and not General MIDI.
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This has absolutely nothing to do with General MIDI. MIDI doesn't inherently have a polyphonic / monophonic behaviour, and MIDI hardware was polyphonic well before General MIDI was even standardized in the late 80s. Heck, even General MIDI has a monphonic mode if you want.
I know all that. Still, using the monophonic mode of General MIDI doesn't solve the problems of using MIDI in the way to convert to XM. What I am saying is that if you wanted to use MIDI (not General MIDI, but just MIDI in general (is this confusing yet???)) to write music and then convert to XM, you would use one that is monophonic per channel (as well as a lot of other stuff, much of which is not compatible with General MIDI at all). (Such a kind of MIDI can also be used to convert XM to MIDI too, such as if you want to play it through a sequencer rather than directly. However, the main thing I was thinking is to use a sequencer and then record to a MIDI file and convert to XM. Some people prefer writing music "live", and this can be one way to do such a thing through a MIDI sequencer.)
This is device-specific and not General MIDI.
That's what I said; i.e. it is not General MIDI. (But it can be software-specific too, if you use software or hardware it doesn't make this a difference.)