VFXSMF Sequencer Conversion Utility This program will convert VFX-SD or SD-1 sequences to standard midi files, convert standard midi files to VFX-SD or SD-1 se- quences, and list VFX-SD, SD-1 and standard midi files on the computer screen or printer. This program DOES NOT read or write VFX-SD or SD-1 diskettes and MUST BE USED with the Ensoniq Disk Manager software (EDM) available from Giebler Enterprises. The program will allow you to filter certain controller information during the conversion to VFX-SD or SD-1 format. If the standard midi file (SMF) contains more than twelve tracks, the user can select which twelve tracks to convert to a VFX-SD sequence. Up to twenty-four tracks can be combined into a song on the VFX-SD keyboard by converting twelve different tracks into two se- quences, and then copying the tracks from one sequence into the song tracks of a song which has the other sequence as it's only step. This process is quick and easy, allowing entire orchestra- tions to be converted. Tracks without intersecting note ranges can be merged together and assigned a program with a split key- board with the proper instrument for each half. However, most standard midi files we've encountered don't contain more than twelve tracks. (But it's nice to know how to deal with them when they do occur.) NOTE: VFX-SD and SD-1 sequences are identical and interchangeable. This program uses free space on your hard disk drive to store files while converting sequences. An IBM-PC or compatible with a 3 1/2" diskette drive and a hard disk drive is required. This program is the result of several years of extensive research and programming. Giebler Enterprises has granted you a license to use this program for your own personal use. Please do not abuse this privilege. You may make one backup copy for your own protection, but you MAY NOT copy this program or distribute it to anyone else. The program remains the property of Giebler Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, duplica- tion, or distribution is strictly prohibited by federal law. HELPFUL HINTS Although the VFXSMF software can be run on a floppy disk system, best performance can be obtained by using a hard disk drive. VFXSMF is supplied only on a 3 1/2" diskette because a 3 1/2" disk drive is required to read and write Ensoniq Diskettes. If you do not have a 3 1/2" disk drive, please contact Giebler Enterprises to obtain a copy of this software on a 5 1/4" disk. WARNING: Always make copies of all of your diskettes and files. Diskettes can be easily corrupted by many hazards in our environ- ment as well as malfunctions in hardware or software both on your Ensoniq keyboard and your computer. If you have a corrupted diskette, don't reformat it or try to use it. If you absolutely must recover the files, send the disk to the above address. If the files can be recovered, we will send the recovered files back to you for a service charge of $20.00 per disk. If the files can't be recovered, there isn't any charge but the diskette won't be returned. INSTALLATION Before installing the software, use the appropriate MS-DOS commands to make a backup copy of the VFXSMF program diskette. If you have purchased the Ensoniq Disk Manager software (EDM), follow the installation instructions for EDM. EDM will automati- cally install all of the utilities including VFXSMF. HARD DISK INSTALLATION A program is included which will automatically install the software on the hard disk drive in a directory called ENSONIQ. To use the installation program, place the program diskette in the disk drive, and type A:INSTALL (B:INSTALL if using drive B) and press ENTER. Follow the simple instructions on the screen. To install the software manually, make a sub-directory on your hard disk drive for the VFXSMF program and files. Copy all of the files on the VFXSMF program diskette to the hard disk sub- directory. VFXSMF should be placed in the same directory as EDM since both programs must access the same files. NOTE: After installing the software, store the original software diskette in a safe place. Never use the original disk - always work off of a copy. STARTING THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM From the Hard Disk Drive, be sure to be in the sub-directory where you copied the program and files. At the MS-DOS prompt, type VFXSMF and press the ENTER key. The opening screen will be displayed including the serial number of the software along with a phone number for Giebler Enter- prises. Press any key to display the main menu. (If you don't press a key within 6 seconds, the main menu will be displayed anyway.) At this point, the main menu of the VFXSMF program will be displayed showing the different functions available. From this screen, press the ESC key to exit the software package. EXITING THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM From the Main Menu Screen, press the ESC key on your keyboard. The computer will ask if you wish to exit the program. Press the 'Y' key if you wish to exit to MS-DOS. Press the 'N', ESC, or ENTER key if you wish to return to the Main Menu. RETURNING TO THE MAIN MENU From any of the following functions, press the ESC key until you have returned to the Main Menu screen. If you press it too many times, the program will ask if you wish to exit the program. Press the 'N', ESC or ENTER key to return to the Main Menu. F1 LISTING VFX-SD SEQUENCES Press the F1 function key or the '1' key to list the avail- able VFX-SD files. The program will list the files stored on the hard disk and will ask you to select a file to list. Select a file by entering the file number listed to the left of the file name. If the directory contains too many files to list on one screen, use the PAGE UP (PgUp) and PAGE DOWN (PgDn) keys to move back and forth between the different screens. After entering the file number, the program will ask if you want to send the listing to the printer. If so, make sure the printer is selected (on- line), powered and ready to print. Press the 'Y' key to send the listing to the printer. Press the 'N' key if you wish to send the listing to the screen. To exit back to the main menu, press the ESC key at any time. If you send the listing to the screen, the display will pause after each screen full. NOTE: If you are listing to the screen, you can continue non- stop to the next track by pressing the 'N' key. F2 LISTING STANDARD MIDI FILE SEQUENCES Press the F2 function key or the '2' key to list the avail- able standard midi files. The program will list the files stored on the hard disk and will ask you to select a file to list. Select a file by entering the file number listed to the left of the file name. If the directory contains too many files to list on one screen, use the PAGE UP (PgUp) and PAGE DOWN (PgDn) keys to move back and forth between the different screens. After entering the file number, the program will ask if you want to send the listing to the printer. If so, make sure the printer is selected (online), powered and ready to print. Press the 'Y' key to send the listing to the printer. Press the 'N' key if you wish to send the listing to the screen. To exit back to the directory listing, press the ESC key at any time. If you send the listing to the screen, the display will pause after each screen full. NOTE: If you are listing to the screen, you can continue non- stop to the next track by pressing the 'N' key. F3 CONVERTING VFX-SD SEQUENCES TO STANDARD MIDI FILES Press the F3 function key or the '3' key to convert VFX-SD sequences to standard midi files. The program will list the available VFX-SD files stored on the hard disk and will ask you to select a file to convert. Select a file by entering the file number listed to the left of the file name. If the directory contains too many files to list on one screen, use the PAGE UP (PgUp) and PAGE DOWN (PgDn) keys to move back and forth between the different screens. The program will use the same name for the standard midi file as the original file name. The extension will be 'MID' instead of 'EFV'. If you wish to use a different name, type the desired name when the program requests the file name. If a file already on the hard disk is named the same as the file being created, the software will ask if you wish to delete the existing file. Press the 'Y' key to overwrite the existing file. Pressing the 'N' or ESC key will return you to the directory listing without converting the file. The program will ask you to enter a description for each track. If you don't want to enter a description, just press the ENTER key. Other- wise, enter a brief description of the track and press ENTER. After the file is converted, press any key and the program will return to the directory listing. Press the ESC key to exit to the main menu. F4 CONVERTING STANDARD MIDI FILES TO VFX-SD SEQUENCES Press the F4 function key or the '4' key to convert standard midi file sequences to VFX-SD Sequences. The program will list the available standard midi files stored on the hard disk and will ask you to select a file to convert. Select a file by entering the file number listed to the left of the file name. If the directory contains too many files to list on one screen, use the PAGE UP (PgUp) and PAGE DOWN (PgDn) keys to move back and forth between the different screens. The program will use the same name for the VFX-SD file as the original file name. The extension will be 'EFV' instead of 'MID'. If you wish to use a different name, type the desired name when the program requests the file name. If a file already on the hard disk is named the same as the file being created, the software will ask if you wish to delete the existing file. Press the 'Y' key to overwrite the existing file. Pressing the 'N' or ESC key will return you to the directory listing without converting the file. After select- ing the file to convert, the program will scan the file listing the track descriptions (if any) along with the number of notes. If the file contains program changes and program changes are not filtered, the software will ask if you want to convert program changes. This feature would allow you to convert all of the program changes in a file to match your equipment. If you had a general midi SMF and your sound modules didn't support general midi, you could use this feature to convert the program numbers to match your sounds. If you don't want to convert program changes, press the N or ENTER key. To convert program changes, press the Y key. The software will ask for the pro- gram conversion file name. Enter the name of an existing program conversion file you wish to use (see Setup Patch Conversion Files below). If program changes are filtered or the file doesn't contain program changes, some of our programs will assign default program numbers to the tracks. Usually a piano sound is assigned which makes it easy to determine what notes each track contains. If you want to set up your own defaults, create a configuration file containing the desired track, midi, and patch assignments. These default settings will be used for all of your conversions. (see Create Configuration File below). Next, the program will ask if you want to convert the drum note assignments. This feature allows you to remap drum note assignments to match your drum machine. Press the N or ENTER key if you don't want to convert drum notes. Press the Y key to convert drum notes. The program will ask for the midi channel number for the drum track(s). If you want to convert all tracks assigned to a particular midi channel, (drums quite often occupy more than one track), enter the midi channel number (1 - 16) and press the ENTER key. If you want to specify only one drum track, simply press the ENTER key to retain the default of zero (0), and the program will ask for the track number. Enter the track number of the drums and press the ENTER key. If you entered a midi channel or a track number, the program will ask for the drum conversion file name. Enter the name of an existing drum conversion file you wish to use (see function 7 below). After the file is converted, press any key and the program will return to the directory listing. Press the ESC key to exit to the main menu. IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING CONVERTING SEQUENCES During the conversion to VFX-SD sequences, if the standard midi file doesn't contain program changes, or if program changes are filtered out, all tracks will be assigned to a piano sound. The user can determine the type of sound and replace the sounds on the VFX-SD. Occasionally, during the conversion to VFX-SD sequences, you may here a series of beeps from the computer. This usually indicates that a note exists twice in the sequence at the same location. This can occur if you merge two tracks together or merge a track with itself. The beep indicates the program ignored the first occurrence of the note and kept the second. This usually doesn't affect the sound of the sequence since only one occurrence of a note can be heard at a time. Some standard midi files, VFX-SD, or SD-1 sequences created with early versions of the sequencer software may contain errors which might prevent them from being converted properly. If you suspect that there is a problem with a sequence file, list the file using VFXSMF, and examine the events in the file. Usually, the problem can be found using this method. If you can't deter- mine the source of the problem, send a printout of the problem along with a copy of the file and a copy of the sequencer's original file to Giebler Enterprises so that we can examine the file to determine if there is a problem with our software. F5 & F6 RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE F7 SETUP SYSTEM OPTIONS Press the F7 function key or the 7 key to setup any of the system options. This includes setting the midi filters, the drum note conversion files, the patch (program) conversion files, the configuration file, and the default directories. Choose the desired function by pressing the appropriate function or number key. Please note that some options are not available in some of our programs. Press the ESC key to exit this section. 1 SETTING MIDI FILTERS The midi filters are quite useful for eliminating certain types of midi information from the VFX-SD sequences. These filters have no effect on conversions to standard midi files. Standard midi files contain all midi information included in the original VFX-SD sequences. Enter the number of the type of information you wish to filter and press the ENTER key. Each of the types of midi information will toggle between ALLOWED and FILTERED. If you wish to allow a type of information that is being filtered, enter the number of the type and press the ENTER key. The type will toggle back to ALLOWED. Press the ESC key when you are done setting the filters. The program will save the settings and return to the setup menu. The filter settings will remain in effect until the next time you change them. When converting files, controllers which are allowed will be displayed in high intensity, and filtered controllers will be displayed in low intensity. This feature will help remind you which types of information are being filtered. 2 SETUP DRUM NOTE CONVERSION FILES The drum note conversion files can be used to convert drum note assignments in a track to the format required by the VFX-SD, SD-1 or an external drum machine. Each of the 128 midi notes can be converted to any value. In fact, several different notes can be combined into the same note. The program uses the files to convert the drum tracks during the conversion from standard midi files. When entering the drum note setup, the program will ask for the name of the drum note file. If you had already saved a file, you could enter the name here and the program would load the file. If you don't enter a file name, the program will initial- ize the drum note table with no conversions. Enter a file name or just press the ENTER key without entering a name. The program will list the drum notes as well as the notes they will convert to. Use the arrow keys and the tab keys to move around the screen. As you move around the screen, the note you are currently positioned on will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Enter note numbers for the notes you want converted. Notes which are set to be converted will be highlighted. When you have finished, press the ESC key. The program will ask if you wish to save the table in a file. If so, press the Y key and enter a filename to store the table in. Notice that if you entered a filename when you first entered this section, the program will display the file name as a default. If you wish to store the new data in the same file, just press the ENTER key. If not, enter the filename you wish to use. The program will ask for a description of the file - this description will be dis- played when converting drum track notes. Enter a description and press the ENTER key. If you don't want to save the table in a file, just press the N or ESC key when the program asks if you want to save the note table. 3 SETUP PATCH CONVERSION FILES The patch (program) conversion files can be used to convert patch assignments in a standard midi file to the configuration required by the VFX-SD or SD-1 synthesizer. Each of the 128 program numbers can be converted to any value. In fact, several different program numbers can be converted into the same number. The program uses the conversion files to convert the program numbers during the conversion between types of standard midi files. Since the VFX-SD or SD-1 doesn't support general midi, you can use this feature to convert program assignments into a format compatible with your keyboard. When entering the patch setup, the program will ask for the name of the patch conversion file. If you had already saved a file, you could enter the name here and the program would load the file. If you don't enter a file name, the program will initialize the patch conversion table with no conversions. Enter a file name or just press the ENTER key without entering a name. The program will list the patch numbers as well as the numbers they will convert to. Use the arrow keys and the tab keys to move around the screen. As you move around the screen, the general midi name for the program you are currently posi- tioned on will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Enter numbers for the patches you want converted. Patches which are set to be converted will be highlighted. When you have finished, press the ESC key. The program will ask if you wish to save the table in a file. If so, press the Y key and enter a filename to store the table in. Notice that if you entered a filename when you first entered this section, the program will display the file name as a default. If you wish to store the new data in the same file, just press the ENTER key. If not, enter the filename you wish to use. The program will ask for a description of the file - this description will be displayed when converting program assignments during file conversions. Enter a description and press the ENTER key. If you don't want to save the table in a file, just press the N or ESC key when the program asks if you want to save the conversion table. 4 CREATE CONFIGURATION FILE If you want the program to use a standard configuration or template for assigning all track parameters, use this function to create a configuration file. This function copies all track parameters from an existing sequencer file into a special config- uration file. When files are converted from standard midi files, the program checks to see if a configuration file exists. If it does, all track parameters are copied from the configuration file instead of the settings in the standard midi file. If you want to edit a sequence from your keyboard on your computer and then return the sequence back to your keyboard with all of the correct track parameters, use this function to copy the sequence into the configuration file before you convert it to a standard midi file. When you convert the sequence back, the program will copy all of the track parameters back into the sequence from the configuration file. 5 SETUP DIRECTORIES This function allows you to change where files are stored on the hard disk. You can specify a directory for the standard midi files, a directory for the drum and patch conversion files, and the file extension for the standard midi files. The program will display the current settings and ask if they are correct. If so, press the Y or ENTER key. If you wish to change the set- tings, press the N key. For each of the directory names, enter a valid MS-DOS path name. The directory must already exist on the hard disk. VFXSMF doesn't create the directory. For each of the directory names, if the line is left blank, files will be stored in (and read from) the current directory. To erase the line, press and hold the CTRL key, and then press the BACK- SPACE key. Use the arrow keys to move back up to the previous line to correct any mistakes. Most commercially available programs assign an extension of MID to standard midi files. However, other extensions such as MFF and SMF have been used. VFXSMF allows you to change the extension to match your sequencer software. After making the necessary changes, the program will ask if the settings are correct. Press the Y or ENTER key to return to the setup menu. F8 ENSONIQ DISK MANAGER If the Ensoniq Disk Manager software (EDM) is located in the same directory as the VFXSMF Utility, you can use the F8 (or '8') function key to immediately run the EDM software. This shortcut allows you to quickly read or write a VFX-SD file from the disk- ette directly from the VFXSMF Utility. We don't recommend using the copy disk features of the EDM software while this Utility is running - less memory is available for the copy buffers. If the program displays an error message when you select this function, there probably isn't enough memory to run both programs. Exit this utility and run EDM directly from the MS-DOS command line. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS Most of the programs have command line options which change the way the programs work. These options have been created to help eliminate some incompatibility problems with certain comput- ers. If all of the features of the programs are working proper- ly, you shouldn't use these options. Please contact Giebler Enterprises to discuss any problems you may experience before you attempt to use these options. CS+ Enable Snow Checking on Video CS- Disable Snow Checking DV+ Use Direct Video accesses (faster) DV- Process all video calls through the BIOS Sequencer Conversion Programs Command Line Options PF[filename] Use 'filename' for the Patch Conversion File DF[filename] Use 'filename' for the Drum Conversion File DT[xx] Convert Drum notes in track xx DC[xx] Convert Drum notes in midi channel xx CM Convert all standard midi files (SMF's) in directory To convert all standard midi files in the directory into VFX-SD sequences using a drum note conversion file named FROM-GM to convert drum notes on midi channel 10, type the following at the DOS prompt: VFXSMF CM DF[FROM-GM] DC[10] The program will automatically convert all of the standard midi files using the drum conversion file to convert the notes on any tracks assigned to midi channel 10. Diskette Manager Command Line Options A: Use disk drive A: B: Use disk drive B: C+ Check hard disk drive size C- Don't check hard disk drive size Dn Use logical disk drive # n where n = 1, 2, 3, or 4 Fn Run Function # n where n = 1, 5, 6, or 9 H[list] Specify Hi-Density Disk drives, list = drives 1 - 4 L[list] Specify Lo-Density Disk drives, list = drives 1 - 4 Mn Force BIOS compatibility mode where n = 0 - 5 N+ Specify Non-compatible BIOS N- Use standard BIOS routines Q+ Quiet Mode enabled - no beeps (format or copy disk) Q- Quiet Mode disabled - beeps (format and copy disk) V+ Verify Format enabled - verify format sectors V- Verify Format disabled - no verify after format System defaults are shown in bold type. COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS PROBLEM: Errors reading or writing files or disks. Possible cause: Wrong type diskette or drive. Many people try to use the wrong diskette type. The following list shows which disks should be used with each product: Use Low-density (DS DD) Disks: Alesis DataDisk Ensoniq Mirage, SQ-80, EPS, EPS-16, VFX-SD, SD-1 Korg 01/W FD, DSS-1 Yamaha DOM30, QX3, SY77, SY99 Use High-Density (HD) Disks: Ensoniq ASR-10 (can also use low-density) Korg T1, T2, T3, DSM-1 When a high-density diskette is placed into a high-density drive, the drive senses the HD hole in the diskette and automatically switches to read/write the high-density diskette. Low-density disk drives don't detect the high-density disk, allowing you to use the high-density disk in your keyboard (although it is writ- ten at the low-density). When that diskette is placed in a high- density drive, the computer can't read or write to the disk correctly. If you accidentally used a high-density diskette in a low-density drive, cover the second notch or hole in the disk to fool the computer into reading it as a low-density disk. Possible Cause: Disk Cache or Data Compression Disk cache programs and hard disk Data compression programs can sometimes interfere with the operation of our Diskette Managers. These memory-resident programs intercept the programs calls to the system BIOS and can't handle the non-Dos calls which our programs must make to access many of the unusual disk formats. If you have problems running the Diskette Managers, remove any disk cache or data compression programs from your Config.Sys or Autoexec.Bat files and restart (reboot) your computer. If the problem disappears, you must run our programs with the offending program(s) disabled. Be sure to test every function in the programs. If the problem continues after changing the Config.sys and Autoexec.Bat files, please contact Giebler Enterprises for further assistance. PROBLEM: Can't find files. The files are stored on the hard disk in the current directory unless you have specified where to store the files using the directory setup function. We suggest storing standard midi files in a directory where your PC sequencing software can access them. This will save a lot of file copying on your hard disk. All of our sequencer conversion programs perform their conversions on the hard disk drive, so you must use the appropriate disk manager to copy the keyboard's sequence files to your hard disk before you can convert the files into standard midi files. PROBLEM: Tracks added, moved or missing. A standard midi file (type 1) usually contains one additional track (track 1) which contains the time signature and tempo changes for the sequence or song. Most keyboards and sequencers maintain this track internally, so the user doesn't usually see it. This can cause some confusion when converting files. Track 2 of the SMF will convert to track 1 on the keyboards. When going the other way, track 1 on the keyboard will convert to track 2, and you'll have an additional track in the SMF. Also, if a track in the SMF doesn't contain any notes or events (con- troller data), the track will be skipped (since the number of tracks on most sequencers and keyboards is limited). If you want to save the space for the track, just record any midi controller event into the track (such as pitch bend or sustain pedal). DOCUMENTATION & PROGRAM ERRORS Every effort has been taken to ensure the program and docu- mentation are free of defects or errors. However, in the event that an error is discovered, please document the conditions surrounding the error as well as any pertinent information which may help us remedy the error. Please notify Giebler Enterprises immediately in writing. We will make every effort to eliminate the defect or error in the next upgrade. Upgrades are available for a reasonable handling charge per upgrade. Registered users will be notified of the availability of each upgrade. Giebler Enterprises will not be liable for consequential, special, indi- rect, or other similar damages or claims, including loss of profits, data, use, or any other damages resulting from the use of this program. This program is the result of several years of extensive research and programming. Giebler Enterprises has granted you a license to use this program for your own personal use. Please do not abuse this privilege. You may make one backup copy for your own protection, but you MAY NOT copy this program or distribute it to anyone else. The program remains the property of Giebler Enterprises. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, duplica- tion, or distribution is strictly prohibited by federal law. COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS Please send any comments or suggestions on improvements or new features to Giebler Enterprises. Whenever possible, your suggestions will be included in future updates.