Does PowerBook G4 have built in MIDI GM?

chrigil

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Can anyone help me as to whether or not my Powerbook G4 1Ghz (Titanium Jan 03 Model) has any built in midi capabilities?

I'm trying to use Cubase SX to do some basic midi stuff which doesn't require really good sounds (hence the reason I'm using my sound-card and not any external hardware) but I can't get any of my sounds to trigger. I can play .mid files in Safari so surely this means I have some sort of MIDI capabilities.

Any advice is appreciated,

Chris Gilbert
 
Sure, OS X, especially since OS X 10.3 (Panther) has a lot of built-in software support for different MIDI adapters. Your Powerbook can use most any USB to MIDI, or FireWire to MIDI adapters. You just have to find out if the major software that you use. Upgrade to the latest version of CubaseSX (version 3.0.2.622)
 
Sorry maybe i didn't explain clearly. In my PC, my soundcard has GM sound built into it which means i can program simple (but not particularly good due to the sound qualities) stuff without any extra USB/Sampler/Sound Module etc.

Is this possible on the Mac or does my soundcard not have the sounds built in?

Thanks in advance

Chris
 
I don't think there is hardware support but that is a good thing. The reason hardware was important is that it took the load off the processor for calculating the waveforms. That is all done by Quicktime and is how Safari plays your midi file. Now it sounds like you are trying to play a midi file with custom patches or samples right? I cannot help you there but it must be possible. Just remember when you are doing your searches don't get hung up on the hardware aspect of things.

(In my PC days I always found that a purely software approach like Timidity sounded 1000x better than the cards built in midi support.)
 
I'm not trying to use any special sounds or anything. I just want the basic drums and sounds used by Quicktime Midi to be triggered by the arrangement in Cubase SX. At the moment nothing is triggered except the tempo click thing.

Like you say it must be possible.
 
I run Logic so I don't know about Cubase.
But QuickTime contains a full GM implementation that can be used from other programs. You just have to find where in Cubase you can assign a channel to the QuickTime soft synth.
 
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