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Max Horn
73 lines
3.3 KiB
HTML
73 lines
3.3 KiB
HTML
<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<TITLE>MIDI files</TITLE>
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<META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document">
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<FONT SIZE="+2" FACE="Arial">
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<B>MIDI files</B>
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</FONT><P>
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<FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE="-1">
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From Monkey Island 2 and until Sam & Max Hit the Road, LEC used
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MIDI files for the music in the adventure games (with a few
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exceptions), because the <I>i</I>MUSE system that was developed
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for Monkey Island 2 used this format.<P>
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Each game usually has the MIDIs saved in different versions for
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different types of sound devices: PC speaker, Adlib, Roland MT-32
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etc. Each of these versions had their own block type:<P>
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<A HREF="specSPK.html">SPK</A> for the PC speaker.<BR>
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<A HREF="specADL.html">ADL</A> for Adlib MIDI files.<BR>
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<A HREF="specROL.html">ROL</A> for Roland MT-32 files.<BR>
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<A HREF="specAMI.html">AMI</A> for Amiga MIDI files.<BR>
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<A HREF="specGMD.html">GMD</A> and <A HREF="specMIDI.html">MIDI</A>
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for General MIDI files.
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<P>
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If you can find a MIDI or GMD version of a piece of music, as a rule
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of thumb, that will be the most detailed version. If not, try to find
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a ROL version. Sometimes this varies, though. Land composed the Monkey
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Island 2 theme for the Adlib, later converting it to MT-32 for the
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game, while the rest of the game's music was composed for MT-32 (as
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most of the MI music is).<P>
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When listening to this music, you will find some things that may seem
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odd to you:<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>On ADL and SPK tracks, the music only plays back with piano
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and drums (or some other weird instruments)! This is because the ADL,
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SPK and SPK MIDIs don't have any instrument info embedded. You may add
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your own in a sequencing program, of course.
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<LI>On ROL, the instruments sound all wrong! This is because the Roland MT-32
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uses a different set of instruments than the General MIDI standard.
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This means that when a file made for MT-32 tells the MIDI device to
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change to instrument 27, for example, it means that it wants the
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instrument known as Synth Brass 3 - but in General MIDI instrument 27
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is a Jazz Guitar! If you know your patch maps, you can make a relatively
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good General MIDI version of a Roland MIDI. If you don't, do not ask me
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how to do it! Go find converted MIDIs on the web instead, at HighLand
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Productions or Quest Studios.
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(Or, go buy an MT-32 :) Don't ask me how to do it. I won't tell you.
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<LI>On AMI tracks, the instruments sound all wrong too! This is because the
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Amiga games most likely had a software sequencer. The instruments are stored
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elsewhere. As with the ROL MIDIs, you may be able to make a relatively good
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General MIDI version of an Amiga MIDI.
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<LI>On many cues, the music sounds mixed up completely! This is due to
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the way <I>i</I>MUSE works. One MIDI file contains many different cues
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to be mixed together by <I>i</I>MUSE. These are stored "on top of eachother",
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in the Standard MIDI format 2, which means that each track contains a
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different cue. Obviously, when all these different cues are played at the
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same time, the result is not necessarily nice :) So, if you want listenable
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files from these, you'll have to load them into a sequencer, split the
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tracks apart, and mix them like iMUSE does. Do not ask me how to do this
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either! The MIDIs found at HighLand Productions or Quest Studios will be
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mixed correctly.
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</FONT>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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