floppy disc player

Subject: floppy disc player
From: PLONKER
Date: 26 Aug 01 - 03:18 PM

Is there a way of down loading midi files to a floppy then playing them through an amp as a karioke

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Aug 01 - 04:12 PM

If you connect your amp to a midi player that takes floppy discs, then, errr, yes!

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Aug 01 - 06:21 PM

There are electronic keyboards that will play MIDI files sequenced onto a floppy disk. Many music stores have them. I went to a funeral once, where the singer had his tunes programmed onto his keyboard. Sounded a lot better than you think it might.
I suppose you can patch the earphone or "line out" jack of a laptop to an amplifier, and play MIDIs from your computer. Easy to do - but some people might think it tacky. Hmmmm. I wonder if you can play Digital Tradition tunes from a Palm Pilot....
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 27 Aug 01 - 01:58 PM

Better maybe to get a decent MP3 player... most will also play midi files, or the conversion is easy enough to do... download yer stuff to that, and run it's line out to the amp...

Yer not planning on doing this at a gig are you Joe?!?! If so, 'tacky' is too soft a word...

I've been giving some thought to getting a "Nomad" or such so that when I'm playing a gig, I can also control the music that goes on during my breaks... I believe that with a Nomad you might also have the ability to record as well, but I could be wrong there...

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 27 Aug 01 - 02:07 PM

sorry, Joe... I got copnfused there for a sec... that indignation should have been tossed at Plonker... but he's admitted to the tacky factor by invoking the Asian word for "Tone-deaf"...

;-)

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: pavane
Date: 27 Aug 01 - 02:36 PM

There are MIDI file players which will play MIDI files from floppy through a PA (expensive, ours cost UK600) - but I am not sure about Karaoke. Yes, it is possible to add Karaoke words to a MIDI file - I have written software to do it, but I don't know about dedicated hardware to play them. It is possible to use a laptop and some free software (given away on a magazine cover disk) but you may be limited by the sound facilities of the PC.

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: Bernard
Date: 27 Aug 01 - 06:44 PM

Yeah, CH - it's amusing when you realise that 'Karaoke' literally translates as 'empty orchestra'... it's not only the orchestra that's empty...

There is a website - Dana Pannell's Beatles Karaoke - which may just be of interest!

Your best bet is a keyboard which accepts floppies, as you are more likely to get a good one cheap. Yamaha do a grand piano which reads MIDI files from floppies - all you need is a suitably large truck, and half a dozen roadies with big muscles...

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: pavane
Date: 28 Aug 01 - 03:45 AM

Don't forget that all hardware MIDI file players seem to use Double Density disks, (720Kb) NOT high density (1.4mb). These are getting difficult to find now, but I have previously posted the address of a supplier in the UK.

Another method is to play the MIDI files from a laptop into the MIDI IN port of one of these instruments. The instruments or players usually have much better instrument sounds than the typical sound card (or used to - maybe the newest ones are better).

My wife uses MIDI files for backing tracks (pop, not folk) because it is so easy to transpose, change the tempo, or mute selected instruments.

Subject: RE: floppy disc player
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 28 Aug 01 - 09:10 AM

G'day,

Clinton Hammond: I just enquired with the local reps of Creative Labs, about the 'recording ability' of a Nomad Jukebox ... apparently it can record WAV files to its 6 Gb disk but only if they come in as WAVs from your computer. I see that the new Nomad has a 20 Gb disk ... but this version won't appear in Australia until 2004?!?). Do you know how many MP3 tracks you can fit on 20 Gb ... about 6000 tracks at an average just above 3 minutes!

There is no function for the Nomad to work a a prime recorder ... damn! I was hoping to use one as a substitute for a DAT recorder in field recording ... and edit the results straight to CD for transfer to the National Library collection.

Regards,

Bob Bolton