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Memfis

Midi problems in Windows 7

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I moved from XP to Win7 but in some midis some instruments are missing. Any idea how I can fix this without changing to another soundfont? I tried VirtualMIDISynth but it asks for a soundfont. I don't want to use soundfonts that change everything, I want to have standard instruments.

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there's no "standard" instruments in MIDI, at least not the way you seem to mean it. there are instructions for a standardized set of instruments, but how the "standard" sounds like variues. i assume you're talking about the sound of the Microsoft synth, since that's the standard of Windows systems.

 

what MIDIs have missing instruments? what are you using to playback the MIDIs? i have noticed that the Microsoft synth screws up some MIDI files, for reasons i can't quite fathom (STRAIN Map 03, for instance).

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For example in this file I only hear drums and nothing else. I tried playing in Windows Media Player and through XWE. This wasn't a problem in Windows XP.

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Use VirtualMIDISynth with the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth soundfont. Or better yet, use a sc-55 soundfont, which is the synthesizer that the Doom midis were played on.

 

There are no "standard" instruments for midi. And yes this wasn't a problem with XP because Microsoft kind of dropped midi support.

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I installed VirtualMIDISynth, rebooted, and so far I don't hear any difference. Does that mean the problem is in something else or do I need to set it up somehow?

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If VMS is used you will see its systray icon at the bottom right. If you don't see it then it is not the default midi device or your program is not using native midi.

 

I think you need to add a soundfont in VMS, too, to hear anything. You need to download the soundfont somewhere on yoir PC and add it to VMS's configuration. And enable it, it should have a green icon I believe.

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Is there a soundfont I can download that will sound exactly like the default Windows one? Or maybe I can just find it on my PC somewhere and add it in the program? I guess it must exist somewhere on the disc...

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You can also download a recent version of GZDoom and take the soundfont from that. It comes with a soundfont called gzdoom.sf2 which is pretty much a renamed SC-55 soundfont. Once you've copied it to where you want it to reside you'll then have to open the VMS Configurator and add the soundfont.

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Hmm, gzdoom.sf2 and gm.sf2 are not really the same as the default one... For example in Requiem Map08 they add like an echo to everything, which I don't get with Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth. And they don't fix that midi. I wonder if you guys hear anything other than drums in it?

 

Only now I fully realize what a bad idea it was to move from XP...

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hmm, i have the same issue with that MIDI file you supplied, actually. playing it back normally just gives me the drums, opening it up in FL Studio makes it play like it should though.

 

as far as i know, there's nothing you can do about it. some MIDI files are just anomalies that doesn't work properly with the Microsoft synth for some reason. the best way to circumvent it is to use a soundfont for those few tracks that do get messed up.

i don't get why it still doesn't work when you use a soundfont though, usually it should play those MIDIs just fine that the Microsoft synth can't play properly (after all, it worked fine with FL Studio). only very occasionally do soundfonts not work properly at all. maybe if you import the MIDI into a MIDI editor, and then export it into a new MIDI file, it should work just fine?

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3 hours ago, Memfis said:

Hmm, gzdoom.sf2 and gm.sf2 are not really the same as the default one... For example in Requiem Map08 they add like an echo to everything, which I don't get with Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth. And they don't fix that midi. I wonder if you guys hear anything other than drums in it?

 

Only now I fully realize what a bad idea it was to move from XP...

Of course it works perfect, I just tested it with Doom Retro. I am using Scc1t2.sf2 soundfont with VirtualMIDISynth. I think you are drowning in a spoonful of water :D

Make sure you are using that soundfont (it's only about 3mb) go in the configuration of VMS under the MIDI mapper tab and set it to default if it is available there.

 

http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=500

 

And make sure you see the system tray icon of VMS, if it doesn't appear there when you play the song (through a midi player or a doom source port for example) then some other MIDI device or software synth is used.

 

Or maybe the midi player you are using is buggy. Maybe it screws up with MUS files.

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i don't think it's the MUS format that screws things up specifically. more than likely, something in these ancient MIDI editors injects something into the exported MIDI that modern MIDI playback doesn't like. what exactly it is i have no idea, but usually, it causes one of the instruments in the file to have the wrong volume settings, making it either excessively loud, or incredibly quiet.

 

re-exporting the MIDI file in these cases seems to fix it, but that can cause its own share of issues, too, since FL Studio and other modern DAWs aren't designed the same way the old MIDI editors do, which often results in file-bloat (or outright screwed up playback from other means, but i have never experienced this myself.)

 

i would not recommend going back to XP either way. remember that ransomware shit that took out what must've been hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of computers? on XP, you have absolutely no way to protect yourself against that anymore, or any future security exploits, because Microsoft dropped support for XP a while back now. it's not worth going back to for the sake of more fool-proof MIDI playback, unless you have your computer disconnected from the internet at all times.

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