Ultrasound Daily Digest     Mon, 25 Jan 93       Volume 2 : Issue  22 

Today's Topics:
							  3D typo!!!
	Cakewalk and GUS (A Gravis rep, please read the last section!)
							 Franky in 3D
						Franky in 3D forgot...
						  Franky in patches
						  Franky in surround
					   How can I load patches?
					  I need some graphic artist
						  PLAYMIDI 3.50 bug

	Information about the UltraSound Daily Digest (such as
mail addresses, request servers, ftp sites, etc., etc.) can be found
at the end of the Digest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 11:15:28 +0100 (MET)
From: Andreas Henning <d2henan@dtek.chalmers.se>
Message-Id: <9301241015.AA04080@hackes.dtek.chalmers.se>
Subject: 3D typo!!!
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

>> SET ULTRASND=3D3D220,7,7,11,3
>> C:\ULTRASND\ULTRINIT
>> SET ULTRADIR=3D3DC:\ULTRASND
>> SET BLASTER=3D3DA220 I3 D1 T1

>HEY!  What's with the "3D" words in your setup!?!?  Has Gravis started
>shipping 3D cards?!?!?  Do you have any 3D demo stuff?

It's a typo!!! It looked alright on my terminal at home, but my 
emulation-program must have screwed up. I use a translation table
to get swedish characters...

Please, no flames... :-)

Andreas Henning -- d2henan@dtek.chalmers.se
Student of Computer Science at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
"Why stop now, just when I'm hating it?" - Marvin The Paranoid Android

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 12:17:07 PST
From: "Burns Fisher, VMS DECwindows  24-Jan-1993 1509" <fisher@decwin.enet.dec.com>
Message-Id: <9301242017.AA08999@enet-gw.pa.dec.com>
Subject: Cakewalk and GUS (A Gravis rep, please read the last section!)
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 16:36:00 -0600
From: captain@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Bran Muffin) said:

>Original poster said:{
>In addition, it would be EVEN BETTER if you would modify your drivers to either
>interpret a SYSEX command to load patches, or (BEST OF ALL) make the drivers 
>load a patch when it sees a patch-change request!  So what if it pauses?  It's 
>better than silence.
>}
.>
>Better for whom?!?!  Certainly not better for a professional musician on stage
>trying to play along with his sequence.  One can often cover the loss of a few
>instruments, but dissaster would ensue if the background musicians (MIDI) just
>decided to stop playing, lose time, and start up again.  Remember, not everyone
>has the same goals or desires, particularly when it comes to what to do with a
>computer.  ;-)

Better for most GUS users.  A pro musician will use a pro synthesizer.  S/he
certainly would not sit around manually loading patches for the next song.  My
point is that right now NO ONE even has the CAPABILITY to automatically load
patches unless they are programmers.  If AG made the driver pause and autoload,
you could at least use s/w that does not do caching.  Probably you would want
this mode to be an option.  Fine.  But it would be an improvement for most
people.  If there are people who don't like it, they can use the new SYSEX
calls which I also requested (:-)  to preload and avoid the pause.

Burns

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 1:03:24 EST
From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion)
Message-Id: <9301250603.AA26790@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA>
Subject: Franky in 3D
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Well, i think it's time i put my grain of salt on the 3d mania.

First of all, even if it is a bit long, i suggest to read it all. And if you
dont want to wait for a 3D driver for the GUS, dont forget to read one of my
other post in this digest with the subject: Franky in suround.

Now, on with the show:
There are several systems that are in use to get 3D sounds on recordings and
some have been around since the 50s. Now i wont go into the "how it works"
of the more recent ones, but i think this will clear up some confusion. The
first part is a "hands-on" experiment, the second is informations, including
the address and phone of the owner of the technology that is used with the
Gravis Ultrasound.

   Let's get back to the early days of stereo. One record company (i cant seem
to remember) was pushing it, while another (again, blank. anyone?) competed.
Interestingly enough, technological development was put on stereo, and not on
the first 3D system which was called "binaural recording" and it simply
consisted of two microphones placed like the ears. You can try it this way:

Go to a hat store and buy an extruded foam mannequin head. You'll then need
two microphones. Condenser will do, but you will need to power them if you
want to use them with the GUS, since it take a dynamic microphone because
it does not supply phantom power like some mixer with XLR plugs. I will post
a circuit later for Radio-shack condenser mike unit (a small element that
cost about 2$) if there is some interest. If you dont want to mess with
that, go with a cardiod dynamic element. Note that sensitive enough cardiod
will cost you a lot, so think about that. You cut holes in the ears of the
head, to insert the microphone units (dont forget to make the wires of the
elements go inside the head and out the rear (or wherever). Use glue to fill
the crack around the mic. Also, the more the ears look like real ears, the
better it will work. If you trim the foam, dont forget to use an hairdryer
to soften it (it will be more uniform). That's it. Try recording sounds, and
you'll be surprised. I was! I did the experiment with a polystyrene head 
on which i incrusted two PZM microphones.


Now that you understand how 3D recording is nothing like stereo recording,
we'll see what is accesible presently.

First, the gadget we just built in the previous section exist commercially,
and is called "Mikey" and is made by Spherical Sound. It's the only system
commercialised where the microphones are placed in a head.

Another system is made by Virtual Audio and claims to enhance stereo depth,
but is not labeled 3D audio. I dont have much more info on it, but from the
description it looks like the same thing as the "mikey".

Two other systems use less restraining microphones situation and can also be
used on any signal because a DSP simulate a 3D signal from parameters
entered on the machine.  QSound (no hyphen) was developped in Quebec, and
the inventor sold the concept to another company (Archer it seems). It is
not that good even with electrostatic headphones, and is pretty bad if you
are listening to it thru speakers and you are not in the soft spot. And for
trivia: Madonna, Sting, Wilson Phillips and Paula Abdul to name a few have
used the QSound on their latest recordings. Another trivia: The Q logo is very
very close to Hydro-Quebec logo... QSound cost around 18K$ and is not midi
controllable.

The other variant with a DSP is Roland RSS (Roland Sound Space). It is a bit
better (depending on how it is used) than QSound with headphones, but suffers
the same faith as QSound when you are listening with speakers. Just move a bit
from the soft spot, and suddenly what was in front left is now back left. RSS
was used on Suzanne Cianni _Hotel Luna_ album. RSS cost around 40K$ and is
midi controllable.

Another system on which i have zero information is called Audio Cybernetics.

The last technology is called Focal Point 3D Audio. It was developped by Bo
Gehring and first used on the Macintosh computers with a modified
Audiomedia (Digidesign). It cost around 1400$ in this configuration. But,
Gravis saw that (Focal Point is from Seattle) and it is the system that we
will be getting. At a much better price. The system produce the sounds with
these parameters: direction, elevation and distance. I am pretty sure that
Gravis will have to develop a SYSEX command set. We already need it badly,
but with 3D, i will shoot myself if i cant control it thru sysex.   

Hope i've entertained you...

Ciao,
-- 
Francois Dion
	'  _   _   _ 
 CISM (_) (_)  _) FM       Montreal , Canada       Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA
	  (_)  / . _)             10000 Watts          Telephone no: (514) 343-7511
_______________________________________________________________________________
Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-...

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 1:06:29 EST
From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion)
Message-Id: <9301250606.AA26886@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA>
Subject: Franky in 3D forgot...
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

I forgot:
Focal Point(tm) 3D audio
1402 Pine av., #127
Niagara Falls, NY 14301
Voice/fax: 1-416-963-9188

Ciao,
-- 
Francois Dion
	'  _   _   _ 
 CISM (_) (_)  _) FM       Montreal , Canada       Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA
	  (_)  / . _)             10000 Watts          Telephone no: (514) 343-7511
_______________________________________________________________________________
Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-...

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 1:45:56 EST
From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion)
Message-Id: <9301250645.AA27186@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA>
Subject: Franky in patches
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

A request. I am doing fairly well with my project of patch editor, but i need
a bullet proof RAW to WAV conversion function in C or ASM (or even a program
that will do it).

What i mean by bullet proof is that 16 bit RAW to WAV doesn't work correctly
with TRIXWAVE, SOX, Soundtool, etc...

So if you have that, or would like to write such a thing, please email me.

Also, today, you will probably see some 8 bit patches, and maybe some
16 bit ones also, depending how fast i get my routine ( i need to edit
my samples with WAVE for windows, so i need them in wav format).

Argh, if it wasn't for that, you would all have TR808 percussions and some
killer analog synth bass (2 of them).

Ken: i may have found your Oberheim sound...

Ciao,
-- 
Francois Dion
	'  _   _   _ 
 CISM (_) (_)  _) FM       Montreal , Canada       Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA
	  (_)  / . _)             10000 Watts          Telephone no: (514) 343-7511
_______________________________________________________________________________
Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-...

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 1:39:20 EST
From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion)
Message-Id: <9301250639.AA27136@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA>
Subject: Franky in surround
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Ok, you have read the 3D thing, and you cant wait. You want big sound. The
only possibility for now is surround. Now surround cost a lot of money,
and it will not be useable anymore once you get the 3D driver. Wrong.

Now, i hope you have an amplifier, cause if you dont, you cant use this little
hack to get surrounding sound. WARNING: i am not responsible for any
damage resulting from the use or misuse or anything else related to this
circuit. Check that your - posts are connected to ground and not the +. If it's
the case reverse the connections to the amplifier.

It works surprisingly well considering the cost. Have fun!

| Amplifier |
| + -   - + |   You connect the front speakers as usual (dont mixup
 /| |   | |\    the polarities!)          _
| |_|   |_| |   FLS: Front left speaker (/_\)
| /_\   /_\ |   FRS: Front right speaker
| FLS   FRS |   R: variable pot 50 ohm. 10 watts or more (depends on
|_         _|      the amplifier) 
> |       | <
><'R     R'><    RLS: Rear left speaker (use a much smaller speaker
>           <         for rear than front. 8 ohm also.)
| RLS   RRS |    RRS: Rear right speaker (")
|  _     _  |
| \_/   \_/ |    the 2 - on front speakers are connected to the
|_/ \_._/ \_|    ground of the amplifier internally, so you dont
 +   -|-   +     have to connect them.
	  |_
	  > |
	  ><'R
	  >          Here, you do need to connect the 2 - thru R to the
	 _|_         amplifier ground.
	  -  AMP GND

Put the 3 potentiometer in a box so that you have the control in one
place, and use enough wire so you can move with it. You'll have to
experiment so that the R going to ground is a little higher than the
other 2 and once that adjusment made, the other two must be adjusted
so that the rear speakers are just adding a touch of depth (if you
turn them off, you notice that the surround is gone). Also, if you
have A-B speaker selection, plug the rear speakers on the + of B
instead of A, you will then be able to switch them off easily.
Of course, when you will use the 3D audio, it will affect the signal,
so it's better to unplug the rear section. But for your video, tape,
CD and regular GUS, you will still find it cool.

Ciao,
-- 
Francois Dion
	'  _   _   _ 
 CISM (_) (_)  _) FM       Montreal , Canada       Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA
	  (_)  / . _)             10000 Watts          Telephone no: (514) 343-7511
_______________________________________________________________________________
Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-...

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Jan 93 1:20:14 CST
From: cowles@hydra.convex.com (John Cowles)
Message-Id: <9301240720.AA20089@hydra.convex.com>
Subject: How can I load patches?
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

On Jan. 13th, Burns Fisher wrote:
> 
> Anyone out there have the MicroSoft MCI spec?  Can you tell me exactly what the command is
> that must be given to load patches on the GUS, and what the parameters are?
> 
> The reason I ask is in a Cakewalk/Windows song (.WRK) file, you can include MCI commands.
> What they want, though, is a text string.  The example they give is
> 
> <MCI command opcode>  PLAY MUMBLE.WAV
> 
> So apparently there is an MCI command named "PLAY" which takes a filename as an argument.
> My thinking is that if we knew the MCI command that loaded patches, we could make Cakewalk
> load patches to the GUS "manually".
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Burns

I'm still waiting for an answer to this question. What is the mechanism
to load patches? Winjammer does it and MediaPlayer does it. How?


	 John Cowles        cowles@hydra.convex.com
						Convex Computer Corp.  214 497 4375
						3000 Waterview Pkwy
						Richardson, Tx. 75080

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 1:50:00 EST
From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion)
Message-Id: <9301250650.AA27267@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA>
Subject: I need some graphic artist
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

I need a graphic artist to do 2 design in VGA.

If you think you are good with a paint program, email me and i will send
you a schematic of what i need.

This is not remunerated. It is for fame, pride, whatever... I do not make
money on what i do, so i cant pay you. It will be for GUSMOD if you are
wondering.

Ciao,
-- 
Francois Dion
	'  _   _   _ 
 CISM (_) (_)  _) FM       Montreal , Canada       Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA
	  (_)  / . _)             10000 Watts          Telephone no: (514) 343-7511
_______________________________________________________________________________
Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-...

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 12:56:38 -0400 (AST)
From: Shadow Of Fear <markus@Info.UMoncton.ca>
Message-Id: <Pine.3.02.9301241238.A1750-b100000@clement>
Subject: PLAYMIDI 3.50 bug
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
	  Directly from his dark office on the top of a dark Tower.....
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

To the guy who has the bug,

	I have the bug too but it hangs my computer randomly.  It can play
a file and hang my computer, but if I play it again it may hang somewhere
else in the music or play it completely.  It's totally random.  I even
tried running ULTRINIT.EXE before playing my MIDI files.  I tried running
GUS stuffs like GUSMOD, PLAY669 or DARETRO before playing a MIDI file but
the bug is still there.  
	I sent a message to Chris Yusik.  I hope he can help. 
	My system is a 286 16MHz so your problem is not from your OPTI
chip-set. 
										 ____
			  _  _  _                  / \   \ 
			/' )' )' )                |   |   |           
			  /  /  /                 | (_|__/         \   
			 /     /  __. .__    ___  |   |  __.  . .   \  .   ___ 
			/     (__(_/|__) )__/(__   \_/__(_/|__)\_)__/\__)__) <_ 

					Markus on QuartzPARADISE and AfterFive
							(506)855-4974 - Canada
+---------------------------------------------+-----------------------------+
|            markus@info.umoncton.ca          | "My son, ask for thyself    |
| For Talk:  markus@clement.info.umoncton.ca  |  another kingdom.  For that |
|---------------------------------------------+  which I leave is too small |
| When all else fails,  read the instructions |  for thee" - King Philippe  |
+---------------------------------------------+-----------------------------+

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End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V2 #22
******************************
