ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

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 °²Û °²Û °²Û °²Û       °²Û   °²Û °²Û   °²Û °²Û °²Û °²Û °²Û °²Û   °²Û  
 °²Û °²Û °²Û °²²²²²²²Û °²²²²²²²Û °²Û   °²Û °²Û °²Û °²Û °²Û °²²²²²²Û 
                                                               
                       -+ The DOS MIDI player +-
                              Version 1.66
                             28th June 1997

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CONTENTS

*1*  Introduction
*2*  Getting Started
*3*  Summary of Features
*4*  What's New
*5*  Command-Line Usage
*6*  Control Keys
*7*  Display Features
*8*  MegaMID FAQ
*9*  Revision History
*10* Disclaimers and Other Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
*11* Contacting the Author

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*1*  INTRODUCTION

MegaMID is a feature-packed MIDI file player for DOS. It supports the
Roland MPU-401, Sound Blaster MIDI port and serial port. 

Below is a summary of what the following chapters are all about:

GETTING STARTED        How to get MegaMID up and running
SUMMARY OF FEATURES    A brief summary of MegaMID's features     
WHAT'S NEW             New features in MegaMID 1.61 (vs. MegaMID 1.45)
COMMAND-LINE USAGE     All MegaMID command-line features
CONTROL KEYS           Keys usable during MIDI file playback
DISPLAY FEATURES       Explains the screen display
MEGAMID FAQ            Answers Frequently-Asked-Questions
REVISION HISTORY       Revision history of MegaMID
DISCLAIMERS AND OTHER  If anything goes wrong, don't blame me!
 LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO
CONTACTING THE AUTHOR  How you can contact me about bugs, or
                       to tell me what you think about the program

MegaMID is CardWare for non-commercial purposes. Please send me a nice
postcard if you like this program and use it a lot. It'll make me feel
that my work was worthwhile and appreciated, and encourage me to do more. 
Besides, it'll be a chance for you share with me what your part of the 
world looks like!

Please see details at the end of this document for where to send your
card to.

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*2*  GETTING STARTED

MegaMID requires the following files to work:

        MEGAMID.EXE     MegaMID executable
        NORMAL.F4T
        NORMAL.F6T
        NORMAL.F8T
        G_MIDI.PAT
        MT32.PAT
        GS.PAT
        XG.PAT
        XGDRUMS.PAT
        GM.MAP
        GS.MAP
        XG.MAP
        MEGA.MAP
        MID.MAP
	OPTIONS.CXT
        SIG.CXT
        VESACORE.HDR
        VGACORE.HDR
        STANDARD.FLB    Foreground Palette settings - Instructions Inside
        STANDARD.PLB    Background Palette settings - Instructions Inside
	
Here are some additional utilities that come with MegaMID

        MX.EXE          External shell for MegaMID
        BMP2GBM.EXE     Converts BMP files to GBM format
        BMP2CBM.EXE     Converts BMP files to CBM format
        BMVIEW.EXE      Views GBM and CBM formats

Please ensure that they are all in the same directory.

NOTE:
- Unlike older versions, MegaMID now works without requiring its
  directory to be in the DOS PATH statement.

To play a MIDI file, just type:

        MEGAMID <filename>

... where <filename> is the name of the MIDI file. The '.MID' extension
is optional. Wildcards such as * and ? can also be used.
This is just the 'tip of iceberg'! Please read the rest of this document
to find out about all the cool features of MegaMID.

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*3*  SUMMARY OF FEATURES

Below is a SHORT summary of MegaMID's features (at a glance sort of thing):

* PLATFORM SUPPORT
  - Designed to run under DOS, but will run from Windows 95 MS-DOS prompt
    (heck, it'll run from a MS-DOS Window if you have a fast machine with
    nothing much else going on!)
  - It can run from OS/2 if you set the HW_TIMER option of the DOS
    session to ON.
* HARDWARE SUPPORT
  - ROLAND MPU-401 STANDARD: Which means that it'll support JUST
    ABOUT ALL the wave-table devices out there... it's too long to
    list here (see the rest of the MEGAMID.TXT file).
  - SOUND BLASTER MIDI PORT: Yes, even Sound Blaster v1.00.
  - SERIAL PORT: The whole lot - COM1/COM2/COM3/COM4.
  - QUIET: For those without a wave-table device :)
* COMMAND-LINE FEATURES
  - Plays lots of MIDI files at one go with wildcards * and ?.
  - Lots of command-line parameters.
  - Regularly used command-line parameters can be placed in the
    text file MEGAMID.CFG.
  - Can play multiple files from a text file containing a list of
    MIDI files.
  - Can execute SysEx messages from .SYX type (raw MIDI data) files before
    playback.
  - MegaMID XTern, a menu-driven shell for MegaMID which makes selecting
    MIDI files easier, is included with MegaMID.
* MIDI FORMAT SUPPORT
  - Type-0 (single track) and Type-1 (multi-track), up to 256 tracks.
  - Special support for karaoke (.KAR), Tune 1000 and generic karaoke files.
  - Supports Key On/Key Off, Control Change, Program Change, Pitch Bend,
    Channel Aftertouch, Polyphonic Aftertouch and SysEx messages;
    effectively supports and transmits all MIDI events!
  - Supports Basic/Extended/General MIDI specifications.
  - Supports GM/MT-32/GS/XG/SC-88 patch and drum sets.
  - Drum channel can be mapped from channel 16 to channel 10.
* DISPLAY
  - Uses VGA 320x200 256-color display, VESA 640x480 256-color display
    or text mode.
  - Shows: Notes played (bar or keyboard style), key velocity,
    patch names, pitch bending, controller settings (pan, reverb,
    chorus, sustain, modulation, volume, portamento, expression),
    tempo, song title/text, song time, beat indicator, GM/GS/XG logo,
    current polyphony bar (with peak-hold), max. polyphony (numerical),
    drum set, key (e.g. C Major), file size, MIDI format, number of tracks,
    time division.
  - Displays GS specific stuff: Reverb,chorus.
  - Displays XG specific stuff: Reverb,chorus,variation effect and
    effect controller settings.
  - Multichannel velocity display.
  - With karaoke files, get to see the lyrics highlighted together with a
    ball bouncing over the top!
  - See GS embedded bitmaps displayed on a little 'monitor' on-screen!
  - Can load GBM (Gray-scale bitmap) format files as wallpaper.
  - Can also load CBM (Color bitmap) format for 64-color wallpaper!
  - Sound Blaster users get to display a scope showing the MIDI output
    waveform, with variable gain!
* INTERACTIVE
  - Change these on-the-fly : channel program/patch, channel volume,
    master volume, tempo, color scheme, wall-paper palette scheme,
    note display, drum set, instrument banks.
  - Change Reverb (GS/XG), Chorus (GS/XG) and Variation Effect (XG) settings!
  - Do a screen shot and save it as a BMP file!
  - Transpose up/down.
  - Mute specific channels, solo a channel, or turn all channels on.
  - Play/Fast Forward, Pause.
  - Help screen available.
  - Scrollable text window.

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*4*  WHAT'S NEW

This section lists the improvements and modifications made since
MegaMID v1.61; this will be of interest to MegaMID users of previous
versions.

(v1.66)                                                     28th June 1997.
- Changed the velocity display width from two pixels back to one pixel.
- Fixed bug that causes MegaMID to crash when playing karaoke files in text
  mode.
(v1.66á)                                                     25th May 1997.
- Removed VGA core from MegaMID (about 10k of code)
- Added support for MPU ports 332h, 334h and 336h that the Roland SCC-1 can
  use.
- Fixed the /NOSCROLL bug which causes MegaMID to refresh the text window
  even if text is not scrolled
- Fixed bug with XG drum channel 10 which can cause it to display voices
  instead of drum sets when Bank MSB is not set to 127.
(v1.65)							     10th May 1997.
- Fixed the /MV parameter so that it works now even after the MIDI device
  has been reset. All master volume changes done by the MIDI file will also
  be scaled according to the value set in that parameter. Good thing to
  do if your card saturates the player at maximum volume...
- Background palette colors now stored externally in the STANDARD.PLB
  file; it's a simple text file that is user-editable, and supports
  1 to 16 different background palette schemes for GBM files! But then,
  you may not even use it, because...
- MegaMID now supports color bitmap files! Introducing the 64-color
  CBM (Color BitMap) format! MegaMID now comes with the BMP2CBM utility
  to convert your BMP files to this new format for use with MegaMID, and
  a new BMVIEW graphics viewer to view your GBM and CBM files.
- Foreground palette colors now also stored externally - in the STANDARD.FLB;
  you can now modify MegaMID to use your personal color schemes!
- MegaMID now supports Tune 1000 as well as other generic MIDI files with
  embedded lyrics.
- Instrument bank changes are now possible with the CTRL-LEFT and RIGHT
  arrow keys! These keys will switch the Bank LSB for XG files and Bank MSB
  for GS and everything else.
- MegaMID can now do screen shots, and save them as BMP files! Press the
  '~' key during playback to freeze the screen, followed by the '!' key
  to take a snap and save it as SCRxxxxx.BMP in your MegaMID directory,
  or any other key to unfreeze and continue. It will automatically renumber
  each file it saves so that you don't overwrite your earlier screen shots.
- Added the /NOSCROLL parameter. This stops the text display from
  automatically scrolling every time new text is detected. Prevents hiccups
  in the music if the MIDI file comes with large quantities of text. You
  can still use the PGUP/PGDN/HOME/END keys to scroll through all the text.
- Got rid of the "LYRICS: " thing when playing karaoke files. MegaMID can
  now display more lyrics at one go!  
- Some cosmetic changes.
- Improved recognition for SC-88 patches; less ????????'s and xxx.xxx's!
- Minor bug fixes for karaoke playback.

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*5*  COMMAND-LINE USAGE

This section contains details of the features and options available
when running MegaMID from the command-line. You may also wish to try
out MegaMID Xtern (MX.EXE), a menu-driven shell for MegaMID.

You can also place regularly-used options in the file MEGAMID.CFG. This
saves you from having to type them every time.


Command-line format :

                MEGAMID <MIDI file> [options]
                            or
                MEGAMID @<script file> [options]

Where :

<MIDI file>
        Name of the MIDI file you wish to play. If no extension is
        given, the extension .MID is assumed. Any valid DOS path
        can also be specified as part of the filename. Wildcards like
        * and ? can also be specified. If wildcards are used, MegaMID
        will play all the songs that match the wildcard specifications.
        
<script file>
        This is a text file containing a list of MIDI files to play
        in sequential order - sort of a album file if you like. Options
        (given below) specific to each MIDI file can also be specified.
        Any valid DOS path can also be specified along with the filename. 
        The wildcards * and ? can also be used.

        EXAMPLE :
            MEGAMID @SONGS.ALB

        ... where the text file SONGS.ALB could contain:
            
            ALMONDS /E
            POP\STRIVING
            JAZZ\NEW_YORK 
            D:\MID\CLASSIC\*
            C:\WINDOWS\CANYON /E /K2

[options]
        The optional options :)  They are -
        /MPU:<port>
                Use the Roland MPU-401 interface (default). Valid values
                for port are 300, 310, 320, 330 and 340. If '/MPU' is 
                specified with no parameter, or no sound device is 
                specified, MPU-401 port 0x330 is used by default.
        /SBMIDI
                Use the Sound Blaster's MIDI OUT interface. The port
                address is determined from the BLASTER environment
                string, so make sure it is set properly.
        /COM:x
                Use the serial port - 38400 baud, no parity, 8 data bits,
                1 stop bit. MegaMID will try and automatically sense if
                it should use the CTS line. 'x' specifies the COM port -
                either 1, 2, 3 or 4. It will determine the correct address
                settings from the PC's BIOS.
        /QUIET
                Quiet mode. Plays the songs while not playing the song...
                No sound devices required, though it may make you get
                one :)
        /GMIDI
                Use the General MIDI patches (default).
        /MT32
                Use the MT-32 patches. Good for playing MIDI files
                written for the Roland MT-32, LAPC-1, CM-64, CM-32L
                or other devices using similar patch maps.
        /D10
                Use channel 10 as the drum channel(default). 
        /D16    
                Use channel 16 as the drum channel. What MegaMID does
                is that it reroutes all events designated for channel
                16 to channel 10, and everything meant for channel 10
                to 16. This option is good for playing those MIDI files
                that use channel 16 for drums (like those meant for the
                SB FM synthesizer chip) on your General MIDI device.
        /G
                Use the General MIDI specs(default). This means that
                all 16 channels are active, and channel 10 is set
                as the drum channel. 
        /E      
                Uses the Extended MIDI specs. Sets channels 1 to 10
                ON, and channels 11-16 OFF. Picks channel 10 as the
                drum channel.
        /B      
                Uses the Basic MIDI specs. Sets channels 1 to 10 OFF,
                and channels 12 to 16 ON. Picks channel 16 as the
                drum channel, and reroutes it to channel 10.
        /SCOPE:<gain>
                MegaMID will automatically detect for a Sound Blaster
                (if it finds a BLASTER environment string), and activate
                the scope if it finds one. The scope will be turned off
                by default, but can be activated using the 'O' key during
                song playback. This parameter simply turns the scope on.
                '/SCOPE' sets Gain=x2 by default. This parameter has no
                effect for non-Sound Blaster owners. The gain setting
                has range of 0-4, corresponding to a gain setting of
                OFF/x1/x2/x3/x4.
        /BAR
                Select bar display mode. All notes played appear on the
                screen as colour bars (vertical lines). This is the
                default mode.
        /KEY     
                Select keyboard display mode 1. All notes played appear as
                highlighted keys on keyboards. Only "keyboards" of active
                channels will be shown.
        /WC:<GBM file>
                Use the specified GBM file as background, centred. GBM file
                must be in the same directory as MegaMID. If no file
                extension is given, the extension .GBM is assumed.
        /WT:<GBM file>
                Use the specified GBM file as background, tiled. GBM file
                must be in the same directory as MegaMID. If no file
                extension is given, the extension .GBM is assumed.
        /MV:<volume level>
                Sets the initial Master Volume level. Valid values are
                0 to 127.
        /GM
                Sets the instrument to General MIDI mode by sending a
                GM Reset SysEx.
        /GS
                Sets the instrument to GS mode by sending a GS Reset
                SysEx. Activates GS Reverb and Chorus Effect controls.
        /XG
                Sets the instrument to XG mode by sending a XG Reset
                SysEx. Activates XG Reverb, Chorus and Variation Effect
                controls.
        /SX:<filename>
                Specifies the file containing raw MIDI SysEx data to be
                sent to the MIDI device before playback of MIDI file begins.
                Useful for sending reset and/or effects SysExs. The '.SYX'
                files are of this format. For example, to send a GS Reset
                Sys Ex, use the parameter '/SX:GS-ON.SYX'. The file
                'GS-ON.SYX' is included with MegaMID. Now that there are
                /GM, /GS and /XG parameters (see above), this SYX parameter
                is only useful for resetting other types of MIDI devices
                or for setting operational parameters.
        /SC:<color>
                Select a color scheme used for the note display.
                The range of <color> is from 0 to whatever number of schemes
                implemented in STANDARD.FLB minus one. Default scheme is 0.
        /PL:<color>
                Specify set of colors used for background greyscale bitmap. 
                The range of <color> is from 0 to the number of entries in
                STANDARD.PBL minus one. If not specified, a scheme is
                chosen randomly.
        /VESA
                Selects 640x480 256-color SVGA mode. Requires VESA VBE 1.0+.
                This mode is selected by default if a VESA driver is detected.
        /VGA
                Selects 320x200 256-color VGA mode.
        /TEXT
                Selects text mode.
        /NOSCROLL
                Stops the MIDI text display from scrolling automatically
                when new text is added. Prevents slow-down caused by
                the text display scrolling when a whole heap of text is
                encountered all at once in the MIDI file.

        EXAMPLES :
            MEGAMID demo0011
            MEGAMID \MID\POP\*  /MPU              
            MEGAMID D:\MID\SAMPLES\DEMO0001.MID  /K0 /SBMIDI

NOTE:
- Remember, you can put commonly used parameters in MEGAMID.CFG - saves
  you from typing it in every time!
- The /GM, /GS and /XG only resets the device to an initial state.
  This is followed by SysEx messages (if any) sent using the /SX parameter.
  After that, the MIDI file can reset the device again if it comes with
  Reset SysEx messages.
- Have a look at the FAQ section below for tips on how to make the best
  use of the /GM, /GS and /XG switches.

Command-line parameters will have precedence over parameters specified
in the configuration file. If a script file is specified, any parameters
found in the script file will have precedence over all other parameters.
For example, if you have /G and /K1 in MEGAMID.CFG, and specify /E in your
command line, /E will have precedence over /G (since they are of the same 
class of parameters), but it will not affect the /K1 parameter.

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*6*  CONTROL KEYS

While a song is playing, the following keys below can be used to
perform specific functions :

  H or F1               Help
  UP or DOWN ARROW      Select channel
  LEFT or RIGHT ARROW   Change patch
  CTRL-LEFT/RIGHT ARROW Change bank
  - or +                Change channel volume
  , or .                Change drum kit
  [ or ]                Change tempo
  BACKSPACE             Restore original patch settings, volume and tempo
  M                     Mute/Unmute current channel
  S                     Solo - turn current channel on and mute all other
                        channels
  A                     Turn all channels on
  v or b                Increase/Decrease master volume
  V or B                Increase/Decrease master volume in fine steps
  T or Y                Transpose up/down
  F                     Toggle play/fast forward
  P                     Toggle pause/unpause
  c                     Change background colors (doesn't work for CBM files)
  C                     Change color scheme
  r or R                Change reverb setting (GS/XG)
  u or U                Change chorus setting (GS/XG)
  n or N                Change variation setting (XG)
  K                     Toggle bar mode/keyboard mode
  O                     Toggle scope off/x1/x2/x3/x4
  PgUp or PgDn          Scroll the text in the text window up/down
  Home                  Scroll to top of the text list
  End                   Scroll to the bottom of the text list
  ENTER                 End current song and play next song if available
  ESC                   Quit MegaMID completely
  ~ (!)                 Press the '~' key to freeze the screen; press
                        the '!' key to save this screen as a BMP file
                        (as SCRxxxxx.BMP in your MegaMID directory)
                        or any other key to continue

NOTE:
- All patch/tempo/volume etc. changes made during playback are not stored;
  the original MIDI file will not be modified in any way.
- A box will appear around the selected channel if any of the channel-
  specific keys are hit. This box will hide itself (!) after 2 seconds of
  inactivity! This makes the display look nicer...

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*7*  DISPLAY FEATURES

This section provides a detailed explanation of the screen display.

PATCHES
- MegaMID displays patch (aka. program or instrument) names for each
  channel.
- The drum channel(s) has a darker background, and actually shows the
  name of the drum set instead of an instrument name!
- The following patch sets are supported:
  * General MIDI (128 voices)
  * MT-32 (128 voices) - enabled using the /MT32 parameter
  * SC-88/TG100B/GS (579++ voices) - they all share the same patch map
  * XG (480++ voices) - everything on the DB50XG and MU-80 (I think)
  * GS/XG/SC-88 drum sets
  * XG SFX voices
- GS and XG patches are shown with a different colored background -
  so you'll notice that they are there :)
- Patch changes during playback are shown.
- The patches can also be changed using the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys.
  Just use the BACKSPACE key if you wish to undo the damage :)
- Drum sets can be switched directly using the ',' and '.' keys.

NOTES
- There are two display modes:
  * Bar : Each note played is represented as a vertical bar on a
    chromatic scale. Nice to look at, especially with pitch-bending !!!
  * Keyboard : Shows the notes played as keys highlighted on a keyboard.
    Very useful for picking off notes and chords. 
- The display mode can be changed using the 'K' key.
- The brightness of each note shows how hard it has been hit (key
  velocity). A dark note means that is had been hit softly, and a
  bright note vice-versa.
- The octave scale is shown at the top, with markers at every 'C' note
  interval.
- The notes actually have a range of 10.666.. octaves, more than the
  displayed range. Notes playing outside the displayed range (rarely
  happens) will start mucking up other parts of the screen, but this
  is harmless...

PITCHBENDING
- If the bar display is used and pitchbending occurs, you'll actually
  see the notes 'bend' to reflect the pitch change!!! This looks
  extremely cool; if you have seen the GUS PLAYMIDI program do it,
  you'll know what I mean...
- It is not feasible to make the keyboard display bend, so pitchbending
  is shown as a bar under the 'P' column just to the right of the
  keyboard.

CONTROLLERS
- Controller settings for Reverb (91), Chorus (93), Modulation (1),
  Portamento (65), Sustain (64), Expression (11) and Volume (7) are
  shown as vertical bars under the  columns 'R', 'C', 'M', 'P', 'S',
  'E' and 'V' respectively.
- Also displays the Variation Effect controller (94) under the column
  'N' if XG mode is detected.
- Pan (10) is shown as a horizontal bar, with a red center marker.
  It is on the column under the 'Stereo' symbol.
- These controllers change real-time to reflect actual controller
  changes in the MIDI file.
- The Volume can be changed using the '-' and '+' keys. Use BACKSPACE
  to undo the damage.

EFFECTS
- Reverb (GS/XG), Chorus (GS/XG) and Variation (XG) Effects are displayed.
- They can be changed using the 'r'/'R', 'u'/'U' and 'n'/'N' keys.

TEMPO
- The current tempo is displayed at the bottom of the screen, in
  Beats Per Minute.
- Tempo changes in the MIDI file are shown real-time.
- The tempo can also be altered using the '[' and ']' keys.
  Use BACKSPACE to undo the damage.

GM/GS/XG LOGO
- If MegaMID encounters the GM, GS or XG System Exclusive Reset
  messages (often used in proper/professionally done MIDI files),
  it will display the relevant GM/GS/XG logo. It helps identify
  the type of hardware that the MIDI file was intended for.
- This will at least tell you:
  * If you have a GS/XG device, that your device has been reset
    properly before the MIDI file is played.
  * If you don't, why it didn't sound quite right, and gives you
    an excuse to upgrade to something that will :)

KEY
- If the key (eg. C# Major, F Minor) information is stored in the
  MIDI file, MegaMID will display it.
- Don't rely on the key especially if it says C Major. Many sequencers
  will set this as the default, and most people don't change it.

TIME
- This shows the current playing time of the song - and it WILL speed
  up to accurately reflect the actual time of the song when you Fast
  Forward. Very useful sometimes.

TRANSPOSE
- Transposing will only affect the sound, but not the key nor the note
  display.
- Use the 't' and 'y' keys to transpose, up to a maximum of +/-24 semitones
  (+/- 2 octaves).
- Transpose feature added to facilitate karaoke. Transpose done using RPN
  controller (MSB:00 LSB:02 Coarse Tuning), and would not work if your
  MIDI device does not support it. Use the keys 'T' and 'Y' to transpose.

BEAT INDICATOR
- This looks like one of those LED blips on keyboards (the music kind)
  to give beat timing. Will dynamically change to reflect the actual
  number of Beats Per Measure during playback.
- This display will only make sense if the creator of the MIDI file
  played according to the tempo while recording.

TEXT
- MegaMID displays text that it encounters in the MIDI file. This could
  include song title, copyright notices, channel text, song lyrics
  etc. The text are colour-coded according to their category.
- You can use the PgUp and PgDn keys to scroll through the text messages.
- The Home and End keys can be used to go to the top and bottom of the text
  message list quickly.

POLYPHONY
- The red bar at the bottom left indicates the current note polyphony
  ie. the number of notes played simultaneously, with peak-hold -
  the yellow bar.
- The 'MAXPOLY' display indicates numerically what the maximum polyphony
  was at that point in time. This is useful because all MIDI devices
  have a maximum note polyphony that it can handle before it starts
  puking all over (typically 28 or 32). This lets you know if MIDI files
  are pushing your card over, and that its time to upgrade :)

MASTER VOLUME
- The Master Volume controls the overall volume of the entire MIDI file,
  and is displayed as a purple bar on the bottom left corner of the
  screen.
- It uses the Universal Realtime Message (F0 7F 7F 04 01 ss tt F7) to
  adjust the volume, and will not work if your MIDI device does not
  support it.
- It can be adjusted using the 'v' and 'b' keys. Use 'V' and 'B' (capital)
  keys to adjust the volume in finer increments.
- Master Volume changes done by the MIDI file are reflected real-time.
- Its default startup value can be set using the /MVxxx parameter.
- The default startup value will be re-applied if GM/GS/XG SysEx Reset
  messages are encountered in the MIDI file.

GS BITMAP
- If the file contains GS bitmaps, the bitmaps will be displayed at where the
  the MegaMID logo normally sits. These bitmaps normally appear only on the
  LCD screen of the SC-55 family, so unless you had one of those, you
  would probably not have seen them (or even know that they exist) until
  now!

SCOPE
- Sound Blaster owners have the luxury of having an oscilloscope display
  of the MIDI output waveform!
- MegaMID does it by sampling the recording input of the Sound Blaster.
  This means that if you're using an external MIDI device connected to
  the MIDI port, you will need to pump the audio output of that MIDI
  device into the Sound Blaster's Line-In.
- Make sure the MIDI or LINE-IN recording input (to the ADC) is turned
  on. If you can hear the MIDI file being played, it does NOT imply that
  the relevant recording input is on. Use the Sound Blaster SB16SET.EXE
  to check if you're not sure.
- The scope is OFF by default, but can be toggled using the 'O' key.
  It will cycle through the different gain (magnification) settings
  x1/x2/x3/x4 before turning OFF again.
- The scope can be set to ON (x2) by default using the /SCOPE parameter.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

*8*  MEGAMID FAQ

This section tries to answer some of the Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)
that you may have.



-- WHAT SOUND HARDWARE DOES MEGAMID SUPPORT ? --

It supports the Roland MPU-401, Sound Blaster MIDI port and the serial port.

Let's start with the Roland MPU-401. This is a standard that just
about all wave-table devices follow, or can emulate. The list below
show the more common ones, but is by no means (by a long shot)
exhaustive:
* Roland
  LAPC-1, SCC-1, CM32/64, MT-32
* External MIDI Device (Connected to an MPU-401 compatible card)
  SC-55MkII, SC-88, JV-1080, TG100, TG300, MU5, MU50, MU80
  (basically ANY MIDI device - keyboards, drum machines, tone modules,
  organs etc. etc.)
* Turtle Beach
  Multisound, Tropez, Montereley, Rio, Maui
* Daughterboards
  CL WaveBlaster, Roland SCD-10 & SCD-15, Yamaha Waveforce DB50XG,
  Ensoniq Soundscape DB
* Ensoniq
  Soundscape, Soundscape Elite
* Creative Labs
  Sound Blaster 32, Sound Blaster AWE32/64 (all versions)
  NOTE: You'll need to use the AWEUTIL TSR with the /EM:GS parameter
        if running from DOS, or the latest AWE32/64 drivers with MPU
        emulation active if running from a Win95 DOS box.
* Gravis
  Ultrasound, Ultrasound Max, Ace
  NOTE: You'll need to run MEGAEM & EMUSET to emulate the Roland. This
        will result in lower quality patches, but at least they can be
        changed on the fly.
... and much,much more.
IN A NUTSHELL: If you have a wave-table device, it will probably work!

MegaMID can also work if you have an external MIDI device connected to
the MIDI/joystick port of a Sound Blaster (yes, ANY Sound Blaster).
You'll need to specify the /SBMIDI parameter when you run MegaMID in
this case.

MegaMID also supports certain MIDI devices connected to the PC's serial
port. It transmits at 38400 baud, using the 8/N/1 configuration.
It is designed to work with devices with a serial interface (TO HOST).
Most have a (HOST SELECT) MIDI/PC-1/PC-2/MAC switch; be sure to set it
to PC2. Tone Modules/Generators such as the Yamaha MU and TG series, and
the Roland SC series have them.



-- HOW DO I MAKE MY OWN .CBM FILES? WHY ONLY 64 COLORS AND NOT 256? --

First of all, MegaMID uses a graphics mode that can only display 256 colors
simultaneously. Out of the 256 colors, 192 have already been 'reserved' for
use by MegaMID to display all the normal stuff you see on the screen. Only
64-colors are kept for the wallpaper. In the past, this was more than
sufficient to display grey-scale bitmaps - so it's a lot more trickier now to
make a full-color picture look now with just 64 colors.

To make your own 64-color .CBM, you will need some graphics utility, such as
Paint Shop Pro (http://www.jasc.com)or Corel PhotoPaint - anything that can 
allow you to convert a picture to an arbitary number of colors.

Next, you'll have to find suitable pictures. Not all pictures will survive the
64-color conversion process well; you'll just have to experiment. Then, use a
graphics utility to "convert" the picture to 64-colors. What will happen is
that the graphics utility will still store the picture as a 256-color picture,
but will only use colors in the first 64 entries in the 256-color palette to
form the picture. The remainder of the palette entries should ideally be set
to black. 

There is a quirk in the way Paint Shop Pro (PSP) works - if you convert a
picture to 64 colors, and the picture itself contains the 'totally black'
color, PSP will actually use the 65th 'totally black' palette entry instead
of creating another 'totally black' color in the first 64-color palette
slot. This means that the picture will actually be using 65 colors!!!
MegaMID has been designed to work with that, so your pictures can actually
have 65 colors and still work properly, as long as the last entry (the 65th
palette entry) is black.

As a tip, you'll usually get better results if you turn the 'dithering' option on
when converting your pictures.

Once your picture has been converted to your satisfaction, save it as a
256-color BMP file. Then use the BMP2CBM utility in your MegaMID directory
to convert that BMP file to CBM format. If your MIDI file is, say MYCAT.BMP,
just type

    BMP2CBM MYCAT

... and it you'll get MYCAT.CBM! It's that easy. Of course, your BMP file will
be left untouched.

After that you'll probably want to put the display parameter in MEGAMID.CFG
file to get MegaMID to use your CBM file, like /WC:MYCAT (center your cat) or 
/WT:MYCAT (tile your cat). Note that if you already have a MYCAT.GBM, it will
use that instead, so either erase your old MYCAT.GBM, or type the extension
(i.e. /WC:MYCAT.CBM or /WT:MYCAT.CBM).



-- I PLAYED SONG A - THEN SONG B - AND SONG A AGAIN, BUT IT NOW SOUNDS FUNNY! --

Looks like your MIDI device was not reset properly after the second song,
and some of the settings from song B is causing song A to sound different -
OK, usually worse. Read the next part...



-- HOW SHOULD I RESET MY MIDI DEVICE? *** USEFUL TIP FOR USERS *** --

If you are using a GS-compatible device (some Roland product), then place
the /GS parameter in your MEGAMID.CFG file. It resets your MIDI device
before every song is played, so that it sounds the way it's meant to be.

IF you have a XG device, it is recommended that you use the /GS parameter
as well, since a large majority of MIDI files available are GM/GS. Your
XG device will automatically switch to XG mode anyway when it encounters
an XG file, so you will be able to play just about all MIDI files properly
without having to manually change the mode of the XG device. Isn't that
wonderful?

If you are using some other GM device, you would probably want to use the
/GM switch to reset your device.


                                
-- MEGAMID DOESN'T WORK ON MY CREATIVE LABS AWE32! --

Some AWE32 owners seem to be having problems getting MegaMID to work with
their card. If it doesn't work for you, try removing EMM386.EXE from the
CONFIG.SYS file - it worked for someone.

If you're running AWE32 from plain DOS, don't forget to run AWEUTIL /EM:GS,
and check your mixer settings.

Someone suggested placing AWEUTIL /S in the AUTOEXEC.BAT

If you have Windows95, run MegaMID from a Windows95 DOS BOX instead! Get the 
latest AWE32/64 drivers from Creative Labs - these drivers can emulate 
the MPU-401, and hence you won't need to use the AWEUTIL TSR at all!



-- WHY DOESN'T MEGAMID WORK THROUGH MY SERIAL PORT? --

If it doesn't work with your serial port, check that your Tone Module's 
selector switch (it's usually at the back of the unit) has been set
to the PC-2 position (the positions available are MIDI/PC-1/PC-2/MAC).
This allows the unit to talk to your PC via serial at 38,400bps @ 8/N/1.

Also, check that you're using the right port - have the /COM:x parameter
in your MEGAMID.CFG file where 'x' is your COM port number (i.e. 1, 2, 3
or 4).

Someone had success by preventing his mouse driver from loading. Once the
mouse driver has loaded, and even though the mouse is using a different port, 
MEegaMID refused to work through the serial port. It still didn't work
after the driver was unloaded from memory. So comment off your mouse driver
from your AUTOEXEC.BAT to prevent it from loading at all.



-- WHY DOESN'T MEGAMID WORK WITH MY SOUNDCARD ? --

MegaMID does NOT support the FM chip (OPL2/OPL3) found on the Sound
Blaster 16 and many other low-end soundcards on the market. If you
do not have a wavetable or external MIDI device, it will not work.
If you don't know what a wavetable or external MIDI device is, you
probably don't have it :)
If you have anything that should work but doesn't, please e-mail me
and let me know.



-- WHERE DID MY WALLPAPER GO? --

Displaying a high-resolution wallpaper takes up a lot of memory;
MegaMID currently only uses conventional memory, which is not much,
so when it runs out of memory - from loading a large MID file, for example
- it will not load the wallpaper.



-- I'VE GOT A SOUND BLASTER PRO/16 AND I DON'T HEAR ANYTHING! --

Of course! The plain vanilla SB Pro/16 you buy off the shelf only has a
FM chip (Yamaha OPL-2 or OPL-3) for making music, and MegaMID does not
support that. To get any sound out of your SB Pro/16, you'll need to
either :
* Connect some sort of external MIDI equipment via your SB's joystick port,
  like a music keyboard or synthesizer (with MIDI)
* If you have a SB 16 with a WaveBlaster connector, you can get a wavetable
  daughterboard card
* Buy a new sound card



-- WILL THERE BE SUPPORT FOR THE FM CHIP ? --

Probably not.

I've tried... it's too much trouble and it sounds pretty bad.
With wavetable cards getting more popular and old FM-based cards
getting obsolete, it's probably not worth the trouble to do it.
People with FM cards who are serious about their music should upgrade
to a wavetable card.



-- WHY WAS MEGAMID WRITTEN ? --

I saw the GUS's DOS-base MID file player (PLAYMIDI.EXE) and fell 
in love with it. As far as I know, there was nothing else like it for other 
sound cards - I was really disappointed. I own a Sound Blaster 16 as
well as a Sound Blaster Pro, and managed to get the Yamaha TG100 Tone
Generator - a General MIDI device, and I wanted something just as cool
(as PLAYMIDI) to play my 1000+ MIDI files. Therefore, I set out to 
write one...
MegaMID is something like PLAYMIDI was, and more. I crammed it
with just about every feature I wished PLAYMIDI had! 
Now that I have acquired a DB50XG (it's great!), I was motivated
to enhance MegaMID even more by including ALL of the DB50XG's patches.
Many people have always asked for a high-resolution version of MegaMID
since its VGA days - well, MegaMID's moved to SVGA at last, with resolution
to match that of GUS's PLAYMIDI, and with greater color depth!

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

*9*  REVISION HISTORY

(v1.61)                                                6th November 1996.
- Fixed bug which messes up the screen when SYSEX messages are loaded.
- MegaMID now recognises .KAR extensions.

(v1.60)                                                31st October 1996.
- It's what you have been waiting for - SVGA mode! Uses 640x480 at 256
  colors.
- Text mode: a static display good for slow machines and for playing
  background music in a MS-DOS window under Windows 3.11/95.
- MegaMID will autodetect the presence of a VESA SVGA card, and default
  to VESA mode if it can find one. Otherwise, it will use VGA mode.
  Modes can be forced using /VESA, /VGA and /TEXT switches.
- Added different color schemes! Use 'C' (Capital c) to switch schemes.
  You can also start up with your favourite scheme using the /SC:<scheme>
  parameter.
- Scope (/SCOPE) parameter now accepts extra options.
- Extra colour palettes.
- Home and End keys now allow jumps to the top and bottom of text list.
- Added extra information on MIDI files: File size, format, number of
  tracks and time division. Only available in SVGA mode; there simply
  isn't enough room left in VGA mode!
- Added in file progress indicator.
- Now displays Reverb and Chorus Effect settings in GS and XG modes,
  and Variation Effect and controller ('N') settings in XG mode.
  The effects can be altered on-the-fly using the 'r'/'R', 'u'/'U' and
  'n'/'N' keys.
- Scraped Channel Aftertouch controller from 1.50à and 1.50á.
- Added /GM, /GS and /XG switches to set modes.
- Added channel velocity display in SVGA mode. Nice to look at, and lets
  you know if a key has been hit - even ever so briefly. Scraped multi-
  polyphony display in 1.50à and 1.50á.
- MegaMID now uses the GBM (Gray-scale Bitmap) format (home-brewed) for
  its wallpapers. The BMP format is no longer supported directly.
  The utility BMP2GBM.EXE which convert BMP files to GBM files has been
  included. 
  Another a GBM format viewer utility, GBMVIEW.EXE, has also been included.
  This program runs at 256-color 640x480 mode, and requires VESA VBE 1.0+
  to work.
- Fixed GS drum channel identification. It used to miss a few...
- Bug which causes MPU ports 300h and 310h to fail has been fixed.
- Serial port addresses are now obtained from BIOS tables rather than
  being assumed. If MegaMID failed to work through your serial port in the
  past, it may work now...
- MegaMID XTern (MX.EXE) has also been spruced up. Please see MX.DOC for
  details.

(v1.50á)                                                26th October 1996.
- Completed SVGA mode; now has the lot, including background wallpaper.
  MegaMID will autodetect the presence of a VESA SVGA card, and default
  to VESA mode if it can find one. Otherwise, it will use VGA mode.
  Modes can still be forced using /VESA, /VGA and /TEXT switches.
- MegaMID now uses the GBM (Gray-scale Bitmap) format (home-brewed) for
  its wallpapers.
  The utility BMP2GBM.EXE which convert BMP files to GBM files has been
  included. At this stage, file extensions must be specified for this
  program to work.
  Another a GBM format viewer utility, GBMVIEW.EXE, has also been included.
  This program runs at 256-color 640x480 mode, and requires VESA VBE 1.0+
  to work.
- Bug which causes MPU ports 300h and 310h to fail has been fixed.
- Serial port addresses are now obtained from BIOS tables rather than
  being assumed. If MegaMID failed to work through your serial port in the
  past, it may work now...
- MegaMID displays Channel Aftertouch (Under the column 'A') under VESA mode.
  Still haven't seen a single MIDI file that uses it though... if you have,
  let me know.
- VESA mode also has multi-channel polyphony display. It's those little lines
  you see on top of the MegaMID logo. Just testing to see if it's worth
  putting in...

(v1.50à)                                                21st September 1996.
- Added SVGA mode. Use the /VESA switch to activate. Requires VESA VBE 1.0+.
- Added Text mode. Should work on any machine! Use /TEXT to activate.
- VGA mode is set by default. Use /VGA switch to force.

(v1.45)							11th August 1996.
- Messages in the text window are now colour-coded and scrollable using 
  the PgUp/PgDn keys.
- Empty patch name boxes are no longer displayed; you can now see more
  of your wallpaper if you're using one!
- Fixed a problem identifying some karaoke files. Now plays more .KAR
  files (properly) than before.
- Fixed limitation with tempo; tempo used to be limited to a maximum of
  255. Turns out that there are pieces that have tempos beyond that.
  Now, tempo has a range of 0 to 65535, with a settable range of 1 to
  400.
- Now supports MPU ports: 310, 320 and 340 (there are actually people
  using them :-) )
- Other minor bug fixes. 

(v1.40)                                                 21st June 1996.
- Proper support for the .KAR karaoke format! MegaMID will now switch to
  a special karaoke mode when .KAR format files are encountered. This
  includes highlighting the active words/syllables, and comes with the
  AMAZING bouncing ball!
- Transpose feature added to facilitate karaoke. Transpose done using RPN
  controller (MSB:00 LSB:02 Coarse Tuning), and would not work if your
  MIDI device does not support it. Use the keys 'T' and 'Y' to transpose.
- MegaMID can now display embedded GS 16x16 bitmap graphics! Check the file
  'DEMO0001.MID' out to see what it's all about.
- Help screen added! Press the 'F1' or 'H' key to see it during playback.
- Argument parsing routines have been improved. As a result, all parameters
  requiring some sort of data (/MV,/WT,/WC,/PL) now require a ':' to separate
  the parameter and its data eg. use '/MV:90' instead '/MV90'.
- MegaMID can now send custom SysEx messages (such as resets) before
  playback of MIDI file begins. Specify the file containing the SysEx using
  the '/SX:<filename>' parameter. The file is in a raw binary format (such
  as the .SYX files), and has to be in the MegaMID directory.
- Now includes complete SC-88 patch map! The names could be a bit off though,
  since they were based on the TG300B patch names. Also has better patch
  name handling - identifies more patches (correctly) than before!
- MegaMID no longer tries to auto-detect the port address of the MPU-401.
  This gave problems to people who had devices attached to port 0x330.
  The user can now specify the MPU-401 port address. If none is specified
  the default value of 0x330 is assumed.
- Now supports the serial port MIDI interface! It assumes that a
  38400 baud N/8/1 configuration is used. This are the settings used
  with the PC2 switch found on Roland, Yamaha and other tone modules.
- Master Volume changes via SysEx messages in the MIDI file are now
  detected, and the Master Volume display updated.
- Portamento and Expression controllers added.
- The MEGAMID.EXE file was shrunk to below 100K.
- Proper detection of GS and XG drum channel activation across all
  channels.
- Got rid of Keyboard Mode 1 (Show keyboard on all channels). I don't
  use it, and I think no one else would either. The parameters to set
  the keyboard mode has been changed to /BAR (bar mode) and /KEY (keyboard)
  mode.
- Better detection of GM/GS/XG SysEx message types. It now ignores the device
  number in the SysEx message whereas it previously assume that it was 0
  (which was not always true).

(v1.30)                                                 6th June 1996.
- MegaMID can now automatically detect its path and find all its files
  without requiring the MegaMID directory to be in the PATH statement.
  This means that you can now call MegaMID from a batch (.BAT) file
  instead!
- MegaMID now recognises XG and TG100B/GS patch names!
- MegaMID will now also auto-detect GM/GS/XG SysEx reset messages,
  and display the relevant GM/GS/XG logo!
- The timing routines MegaMID uses have been overhauled, and is
  now about as good as it can possibly be! Before that, MegaMID
  uses Interrupt 8 for timing, which is rather accurate but messy.
  Ever wonder why your computer clock keeps running slower?
  This won't happen any more! New timing routines allow microsecond
  accuracy without relying on interrupts. As a result, MegaMID can
  now also run properly in Windows 95 - the previous version couldn't.
- Muting routines enhanced. The volume of the channel is now actually
  muted instead of just stopping notes from being played.
- Chorus (Controller no. 93) indicator added.
- The arrow for selecting channels doesn't exist any more! No channel
  indicator on-screen? Don't panic... press any channel-specific key,
  and a box highlighting the current channel will appear. After 2
  second of inactivity, it will hide itself again. Is that cool or what?
- Sound Blaster can now use the SB MIDI ports 220h,240h,260h and 280h,
  (Did I miss out any?) instead of just port 220h. It will auto-detect
  the port from the BLASTER environment string.
- Fast Forward control added! Because of this, the /FAST parameter
  (did anyone ever try it?) has been removed, since it is no longer
  relevant... just Fast Forward the song!
- Play, Fast Foward and Pause indicators have also been added.
- A cool Oscilloscope feature is now available! And you thought you'll
  only see ever that in MOD players... it requires a Sound Blaster card
  though - which MegaMID will try detecting for from the BLASTER
  environment string. The gain of the scope can be changed with the 'O'
  key.
- Patch changes are no longer done using the '+' and '-' keys. Use the
  Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys instead. This is because...
- The '+' and '-' keys are now used to change the volume of the current
  channel!
- Other internal changes and minor bug fixes.

(v1.11b)                                                    22nd July 1995.
- Modified to communicate with MegaMID XTern, MegaMID's cool new external
  shell program!

(v1.11a)                                                     10th July 1995.
- Patched MegaMID so that it works for Roland SCC-1 owners.

(v1.11)                                                     29th April 1995.
- Added in the ability for MegaMID to read in script or album files,
  along with command-line parameters specific to each file!
  When a script file is used, the ESC key can be used to exit MegaMID
  (ie. stop all songs), and the ENTER key for terminating current song
  (and to play the next song if it exists).
- MegaMID now accepts wilcards in the MIDI filename. If wildcards are
  specified, MegaMID will play all the songs that match the wildcard
  specifications.
- Added in the /QUIET mode! You can now show MegaMID off to friends 
  without soundcards and make them wish they had one!
- Also added wildcard handling for album files.
- Added in ability to read in BMP files, and to tile or center them.
  MegaMID can currently read 4, 8 and 24-bit color formats, as well
  as OS/2 and Windows RGB-encoded formats. It cannot yet handle Windows
  RLE-encoded formats. Loaded all BMPs are converted to 64-color greyscale
  before they are displayed.
- Added in the C key to change background colors.
- Modified (OK, fixed) the way SysEx messages are handled. Think it works
  better now. MegaMID now also handles F7h type SysEx messages.
- Added in Master Volume control - achieved using the SysEx sequence:
    F0 7F 7F 04 01 11 xx F7
  The range of volume control is from 0 to 127, and can be achieved using
  keyboard with the keys v/b, or V/B for finer steps. An vertical bar on
  the bottom-left of the screen shows the current volume level.
- Can also set initial master volume from command line using the /MV 
  parameter.

Version 1.10        17th April 1995.
- Fixed a bug which causes some command line parameters to be skipped.
- Added in user interaction! Users can now use the Up/Down arrow keys
  to select a channel (An arrow points to the channel you have selected).
  Then, use the following keys to :        
  +/-       Change patch
  ,/.       Change drum kit
  [/]       Change tempo
  Bkspace   Restore original patch settings
  M         Mute/Unmute current channel
  S         Solo - turn current channel on and mute all other channels
  A         All channels on
  P         Pause/Unpause
  K         Toggle bar mode/keyboard mode 1/keyboard mode 2 (see below)
- Added in keyboard mode, where played notes appear as hightlighted
  keys on keyboards! Looks really cool, and good for picking off notes
  and chords, and generally seeing what the piece would look like when 
  played on a keyboard (with 10 octaves!). This mode can be selected using 
  command-line parameters, or toggled using the "K" key. Keyboard mode 1 
  shows keyboards of all 16 channels, whereas keyboard mode 2 shows keyboards
  of channels that are actually used (ie. notes are/have been played
  on that particular channel. This mode is good for making the screen
  less cluttered (ie. when there's just a solo piano track playing).
  The pitch bend indicator- marked "P", is placed on the right of the
  keyboard display in the keyboard modes. I wasn't going to make those
  keyboards `bend' !
- Fixed a problem that causes certain MID files to crash the computer
  and/or shift the polyphony display around! It is caused by the MIDI
  stream having a velocity v=0 note-on (equivalent to note-off) without
  having played that note earlier. At this stage, me thinks all fatal
  bugs have been squashed!
- Added in configuration file option ! MegaMID will read in parameters
  from the file MEGAMID.CFG, if it exists. Saves you from typing those
  regularly used parameters!
- Keyboard is active when song is paused! This means that song tempo,
  patch assignments, channel muting etc. can be performed while song
  is stopped. Just press P again to unpause.

Version 1.02        6th April 1995.
- Finally fixed this problem that causes some songs to hang. It's not the 
  fault of my player, really, but the quirkiness of the songs - a NOTE OFF 
  (0x80) is sometimes received before a NOTE ON (0x90) for a note with
  duration of zero !
- Fixed a bug which causes MegaMID to report 'Unknown Type : ...'. This is
  caused by my mistake in assuming that (0xFF) event message size formats
  is ONE BYTE wheras it is actually in the format identical to the one
  used for time-stamping the events...
- The text window now actually scrolls the old text up to accommodate new
  ones when they are received.


Version 1.01        29th March 1995.
- Added support for the MPU-401, thanks to programming info from Martin 
  Biribauer and Bernie Maier. Tested MPU-401 support on the GUS, courtesy 
  of Wong Sui Jye.
- Minor display changes.
- Added the key display. Not many MIDI files seem to specify the key
  of the song, so it's not being used much. I might take it out in
  later versions...


Version 1.00        12th March 1995.

First release?

Features :

- Handles Type 0 (single track) and Type 1 (multi-track) MIDI formats.
- Handles files with up to 256 tracks.
- Maximum MIDI file size that can be loaded is limited only by amount
  of free conventional memory (I've loaded a 300K+ file before!).
- Uses the VGA 320x200 256-color mode.
- Displays the name of the instrument selected for each channel!
- Has General MIDI as well as MT-32 instrument patch names.
- Displays Roland GS drum kits selected for the drum channel.
- Able to remap channel 16 to channel 10 as the active drum channel!
- Supports mapping of Base or Extended MIDI to General MIDI.
- Transmits all Program Change, Channel Aftertouch, Controllers,
  Pitch Bend, Note On, Note Off, Key Aftertouch and SysEx messages.
- All notes currently played on each 16 channels appear as vertical
  bars on the screen on a 9-octave range (any note above that range 
  ie. >112  mucks up the screen but does no damage).
- The brightness of each individual note displayed corresponds to the
  velocity of the note; the darker or brighter the note is, the softer
  or harder it was hit.
- Notes actually "bend" when the pitch-bender is used - looks really
  cool! (people who have seen the GUS PLAYMIDI program will know what I
  mean)
- Displays the TEMPO; good for tracking tempo changes.
- Able to handle up to 150 notes polyphony without crashing. Why so many,
  you ask? STRIVING.MID tried to play 109 notes simultaneously (it's right
  at the end...) and fried MegaMID. Anyway, it'll start mucking up the  
  screen if it's more than about 40 notes. No damage though...
- Displays current polyphony as a dynamic bar, with peak polyphony hold.
- Gives the numerical value of the maximum polyphony as well. Pretty good
  to know if the MIDI file is actually pushing your MIDI hardware to the
  limit.
- Displays text from the MIDI file (4 lines max.) - stuff like song title,
  copyright messages, markers etc.
- Displays time elapsed in HH:MM:SS format.
- Displays a multi-segment LED type beat indicator; tracks beats per
  measure as well as the tempo.
- Displays as vertical bars the status of the following controllers :
  Reverb (R)
  Modulation (M)
  Sustain (S)
  Volume/Expression (V)
- Displays Pan Position status, as centered vertical bars (as they should
  be).
- /FAST option; good for finding out the playing time of the MIDI file.

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*10* DISCLAIMERS AND OTHER LEGAL MUMBO-JUMBO

     For non-commercial use, this version is CardWare. If you like this 
program and continue to use it, please send the Author a postcard. This     
makes him feel that his work is appreciated and helps motivate him to
keep improving this program.
     This program may be freely distributed on the conditions that it is
distributed as a whole with all accompanying files (including this one),
and that it is not sold for profit.   
    Please contact the Author if this program is to be used for commercial
purposes.
    All trademarks used in this document are acknowledged.
    This program is supplied as it is. Use it at your own risk.
I will not be responsible for any injuries or death, computer or hard disk
crashes, loss of data, or any other disaster as a consequence, directly
or otherwise, of the usage of this program.
     This program is copyrighted material. You may use it on the
condition that it is not to be altered, hacked or reverse-engineered in
any way.

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*11* CONTACTING THE AUTHOR

MegaMID was created by FONG Chee Keat, in early 1995.

The latest version can be obtained at the WWW site:
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~cheekeat/megamid/

Please send all comments, complaints, suggestions and bug-reports
(or anything else you want) to:

INTERNET

cheekeat@mbox2.singnet.com.sg

CURRENT ADDRESS

Blk. 685 Race Course Road
#05-328
Singapore 210685

HOME ADDRESS

254 Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah Selatan
Taman Beauty
30250 Ipoh
Perak
MALAYSIA

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