Midi files wont play

Any suggestions why Midi sound files suddenly wont play...they used to play
and I am not sure what Ive done. Every other type of sound file works as
normal.

General Information
Device Name : SB Live! Audio [C000]
Manufacturer : Microsoft
Version : 5.10
Product ID : 101 / 1

Specific Wave Information
Maximum Standard Sampling Bits : 16-bit
Maximum Standard Sampling Rate : 44.1kHz
Channels : 65535

Using XP Pro.

> Any suggestions why Midi sound files suddenly wont play...they used to
play
> and I am not sure what Ive done.

Off the top of my head:

* Open the Creative sound mixer and check the MIDI volume control is not
muted/turned way down.
* Open control panel/multimedia applet and check the SB Live hardware synth
is set as default MIDI device
* Open Creative Soundfont applet and check you have a soundfont loaded (and
if not, load one, or else you'll hear no notes being played )

Thanks Lenny after a long time trying I finally found the answer.
I went through "Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices Properties" and on
the Audio tab changed the MIDI music playback default device to Microsoft GS
Wavetable SW Synth. For some reason it was set to SB Live! Synth A (C000). I
have no idea what these devices are but all seems to be working good again.
Thanks for the help.

> I went through "Control Panel>Sounds and Audio Devices Properties" and on
> the Audio tab changed the MIDI music playback default device to Microsoft
GS
> Wavetable SW Synth. For some reason it was set to SB Live! Synth A (C000).

The MS synth is a software emulation synth meant for PCs with cheap sound
hardware that has no default MIDI support. It has very poor instrument
quality, you should definitely use the SB Live synth instead. You'll get
much better sound that way even with the default soundfont (provided it is
loaded, heh), and especially if you download a better soundfont from the
internet.

I double checked and the soundfont was loaded and on your advice I changed
the default device back to SB Live! Synth A and confusingly it works
perfectly now. Very strange. Thanks again.

"Lenny" <> wrote in message
news:cykuc.93768$...

> The MS synth is a software emulation synth meant for PCs with cheap sound
> hardware that has no default MIDI support. It has very poor instrument
> quality, you should definitely use the SB Live synth instead. You'll get
> much better sound that way even with the default soundfont (provided it is
> loaded, heh), and especially if you download a better soundfont from the
> internet.

> and confusingly it works
> perfectly now. Very strange. Thanks again.

Great!

Glad to have been of help. You may want to scour the internet a bit for new,
better soundfonts, you'll find a bunch here for example:
http://www.personalcopy.com/

Remember to bump up the static caching setting before attempting to load a
large soundfont. Don't be afraid to set it to max (typically limited to half
your installed memory); even though it says "static"; it won't actually use
more memory than the soundfont needs.

"Lenny" <> wrote in message news:<AQCuc.816$>...

>
> Glad to have been of help. You may want to scour the internet a bit for new,
> better soundfonts, you'll find a bunch here for example:
> http://www.personalcopy.com/

Also, you can explorer making your own, which is one of the great
things about the SF2 protocol the Soundblaster cards use. *Anything*
that you can record you can make a soundfont out of. The only
limitations are you recording gear/skills and the RAM limitations of
the Live card - no such limit on the Audigy.

With the Live card you can use up to half you system RAM to store midi
patches, but can only access 32 megs.

> With the Live card you can use up to half you system RAM to store midi
> patches, but can only access 32 megs.

Well, actually the Live CAN access more than 32 megs, but things can start
to go a bit screwy after a (long) while with notes disappearing etc. I've
used a soundfont that was 40+ megs in size on my live cards with no
problems, but then I'm not a musician. Now I have Audigy2 ZS and use a
soundfont that is 57 megs, hehe. Works great!

"Lenny" <> wrote in message news:<Yv%vc.94592$>...
> > With the Live card you can use up to half you system RAM to store midi
> > patches, but can only access 32 megs.
>
> Well, actually the Live CAN access more than 32 megs, but things can start
> to go a bit screwy after a (long) while with notes disappearing etc. I've
> used a soundfont that was 40+ megs in size on my live cards with no
> problems, but then I'm not a musician. Now I have Audigy2 ZS and use a
> soundfont that is 57 megs, hehe. Works great!


Nope, 32 megs and you're done. You can load much larger SF's depending
on how much RAM you have - official party line is up to half system
RAM though there are reg-tweakers that allow you more, but what's the
point? You can't use more than 32 megs. Once you've reached the magic
number, exactly what you've observed happens. Notes quit playing.

The Audigy has neither the 32 meg or 1/2 system ram limits. Got 3 gigs
of RAM? You can use whatever the system isn't using for Soundfonts,
though probably not prudent to cut it too close.

I forgot to include sample libraries in the available arsenal for
making SF's. You can make superb orchestral SF's with sample libraries
and an Audigy and lots of RAM.

> You can't use more than 32 megs. Once you've reached the magic
> number, exactly what you've observed happens. Notes quit playing.

Dude, have you actually tried this or not? Like I said, I have, and my Live
played larger soundfonts FINE. All instruments worked. I left a MIDI looping
overnight, and then I had no MIDI sound at all when I woke up the following
morning, but that was like the only way to make it stop; leave it playing a
really long time. So it's not a matter of "more than 32 megs = no sound",
this simple demonstration shows it's something else going on.