Setup for working with MIDI

This section explains some system setup for working with MIDI. It is recommended you go through the setup now even if you don't expect to work with MIDI immediately.

Files and folder setup

If you expect to use samples to play MIDI, you need to copy some files into folders that ARIA creates the first time it launches successfully.

To move the files and folders, go through these steps:

In the /remote folder, locate the following folders which ARIA has created:
- /remote/ARIA/Instruments
- /remote/ARIA/Samples
- /remote/ARIA/MIDI
Drag the contents of the ARIA MIDI Examples folder into the new MIDI folder.
Drag any samples from the Toolkit CD-ROM that you expect to use to the Samples folder.

How ARIA uses the folders

When ARIA compiles patches, it creates files it places in the Instruments folder. ARIA also places a file there each time you save a patch as a Macintosh document. You can open the Macintosh document for further work with ARIA but have to use the file in the Instruments folder to play on the 3DO Station.

Required files for real-time MIDI

If you intend to use ARIA to create patch documents for making sound effects or to play back standard MIDI files from disk, the folder structure described above is sufficient.

If you want to create music using ARIA's real-time MIDI capabilities, you also need the following:

Apple MIDI manager, including PatchBay, and the Apple MIDI driver, if it is needed by the sequencer. Apple MIDI manager is available from the Apple Developer's Association (1-800-282-2732).
A MIDI sequencer compatible with MIDI Manager, as described in Creating MIDI Projects with ARIA.
A MIDI keyboard.

Setting up for MIDI

For real-time MIDI playback from a sequencer, or to play a patch from a MIDI keyboard, you will need the following:

Apple MIDI Driver in your System folder.
Apple MIDI Manager in your Extensions folder.
PatchBay application. Consider placing it in your Apple Menu Items folder for easy access.

These programs are available separately and are usually bundled with sequencer applications.

Figure 1 below shows the PatchBay window set up for all possible uses with ARIA.

The individual connections have the following effect:

Serial port to sequencer-used for composing with your sequencer.
Sequencer to ARIA-real-time playback from sequencer.
Serial port to ARIA-playback of patches from MIDI keyboard.

Figure 1: PatchBay setup for working with ARIA.

Warning: If you are using all three of these connections, consider turning off the keyboard "tru" option in the sequencer to avoid "note bounce."