Music and MultiPlayer Gaming on your Atari
MIDI on the 8-bits began in early 1983 because of a small company in Los Angeles called Hybrid Arts. They created the first SIO to MIDI bridge solution housed in a molded plastic box with a footprint about the same size as most people's present day Smart Phones. This new device was called the MIDIMATE, and consisted of two circular 5-pin DIN jacks labeled MIDI-IN and MIDI-OUT, as well as two sync jacks for multi-track synchronized tape recording. MIDIMATE enabled the Atari 8-bit computer to be the first to actively support MIDI two years before the release of the Atari ST. Hybrid Arts also produced a series of software applications meant to interact in a creative way with various MIDI instruments via this new interface (MIDITrack, MIDIPatch, DX-Editor). |
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 Early SIO to MIDI Interface
Having now arrived in the 21st century, MIDIMATEs are no longer manufactured, nor does the company Hybrid Arts still exist in the form it once was. But there's still a strong community centered around the Atari 8-bit, with people like AtariAge member ivop creating his own MIDIMATE compatible solution called MIDI Muse. In his project as discussed at AtariAge, ivop took it a step further and added built-in support for a MIDI Synthesizer Wave Table Module called the Dream Blaster S2. And although the project is presently on hold, it has been released on GitHub for those who wish to build one, or take it beyond it's present specification.
I was one of those people that decided to put my own twist on what ivop had created, and incorporated the idea into a new project started in 2018, known as the 1088XLD. But before I could actually do that, there were a lot of things for me to learn in the ways of MIDI. Through a series of experiments, and considerable help from ivop, my understanding of how MIDI works began to take shape and grow. Seeing that the serial communications baud rate for MIDI was a relatively slow 31,250 bits per second. It was decided that the glue logic which controlled the gating of the signals onto the SIO bus, could instead be accomplished as code running inside one of Microchip's 8-pin PIC micro-controller IC chips. The first experiments with this new concept were highly successful, and led to other aspects being incorporated such as generating the external MIDI clock, and then later still a method of playing a little MIDI tune upon first powering-up the system. This was all made possible by choosing to use a PIC MCU as the basis for a MIDI controller. |
The first experiments utilized a 1088XEL as the test bed due to it having an AUX-SIO header, which made it very easy to connect to the SIO port. Luckily the header specification that came out of the early stages of MIDI Muse development, had everything that was required.
A series of boards resulted from these experiments. Some of which were throwaways, and others proved to be far more useful. One of those was the MIDI XEL board that allowed the S2 module to be easily installed in the 1088XEL, bringing MIDI music in addition to the normal Pokey sound. This idea was improved upon by AtariAge member Sleepy's suggestion of adding a DB9 connection to the MIDI DIN interface, which later morphed into the MIDI XEL II board set. Because of an inquiry from AA member Brentarian, a simpler less expensive MIDI interface board was also created. It's design working well with a multi-player game of MIDI-MAZE, supporting up to 16 systems in a MIDI Ring configuration. Thus the SIO2MIDI MIDIMATE compatible board was also born. Michael St. Pierre AtariAge Member: mytek MIDI Control Firmware (All MIDI Board Versions)
File Includes:
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MIDI Hardware
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SIO2MIDI - 2 Port MIDIMATE Compatible Interface
Fully Assembled SIO2MIDI Board
Want a Built-in Synthesizer?
Check Out My Big Brother Below 
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Version 1.1
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SIO2MIDI-S2 - 2 Port MIDIMATE Compatible Interface
with the DreamBlaster S2 MIDI Synthesizer Plug-In 
Fully Assembled SIO2MIDI-S2 Board
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Version 1.1
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The SIO connection can optionally be either hard wired via a half SIO cable -or- with individual wires for installation inside the computer
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MIDI XEL II - Dream Blaster & MIDI INTFC for the 1088XEL
DB9 Version 
Fully Assembled MIDI XEL II Main Board - Top View (Click to Enlarge)
Fully Assembled MIDI XEL II Main Board - Bottom View (Click to Enlarge)
If You Want to do More Than Listen to Music on the S2
You Might Need This As Well
Fully Assembled MIDI XEL II DIN Jack Interface
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Version 1.2
Provides standard 5-pin DIN jacks for MIDI-IN, OUT, and THRU for patching into external keyboards and synths
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MIDI Software
Normalize Volume Levels in MIDI Files
Multiplayer MIDI Linked Game for up to 16 Players
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MIDI-CAR MIDI File Player (MIDI-CAR GitHub)
Auto Run MIDIMATE SIO Player (SDrive/FujiNet D1:)
Individual SIO & PBI Players (SpartaDos/SDX compatible)
MIDI SONGS
16MB SpartaDos Disk with Sample Songs (SDrive/FujiNet D2:)
MIDI NORMALIZER Volume Adjustment
This is a freeware Windows application that lets you analyze MIDI files, as well as compress, normalize, and mute channels. Making it extremely useful for modifying MIDI song files that exceed the dynamic range of the Dream Blaster S2's audio amplifier and/or the Atari audio input stage, thus rendering a distorted signal. And on song files with very low velocity settings, it can normalize those settings to increase the audio level.
Works in single or batch mode, so that multiple files can all be adjusted at once using similar parameters. Requirements: Windows XP on up. 
MIDITRACK III MIDI Recorder, ect.
Run your own multi-track recording studio using this software application created by Hybrid Arts. Originally designed to be used with their MIDIMATE instrument interface, but it will also work with any of the MIDI interface products on this page.
Requirements: System RAM 128K Minimum. 
MIDITRACK III.atr
DownLoad File 
MPE MIDI Pattern Editor
This editor is used to compose music in a pattern manner. The music consists of individual patterns and these are then played in the desired order.
Author: Radek Štěrba (RASTER) 
For more information, visit RASTER's website MIDI-MAZE MIDI Network Gaming
At one time AtariAge member Dropcheck produced an XE banked Super Cart board for a 128K EPROM that would allow MIDI-MAZE to run on a 64K Atari.
The ROM file download below can be used in the XE Super Cart, The UNO Cart, and several other alternative Cartridge formats. And for ones that need to know the banking scheme, an XEGS "car" image has also been included.
The xex version below, will allow for running it from a HardDisk, SD/CF Card, or an SIO2PC device on your memory enhanced system.
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