Something Unreal

When I first published revision 127 of Bawami about 25 minutes ago, the download included a 64-bit version of “vcut.exe” (official Vorbis splitter, used by this version of Bawami) which would not work on 32-bit Windows. A universally-compatible, 32-bit version is now included instead.

To avoid problems (OGG file export not working), I highly advise that you re-download it if you downloaded it within the past 25 minutes. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

This is essentially a whole bunch of bug fixes, including one that I really should’ve released sooner (no longer freezes at the end of exporting a WAV/OGG file under certain conditions). There aren’t really new features, which should mean that, for once, the total number of bugs has actually decreased! ^^;

Most fixes are regarding WAV/OGG file-writing, click artifacts due to release times, and a couple of visual glitches. Full details are below the page-break.

You can grab the latest version from here (7.86 MB).

EDIT: When I first published this post, the download included a 64-bit version of “vcut.exe” (official Vorbis splitter, used by this version of Bawami) which would not work on 32-bit Windows. A universally-compatible, 32-bit version is now included instead. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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This release fixes the bug where, if pan changed on a MIDI channel playing more than one note, only the panning of one note would change (bug added in revision 122). I only just noticed this, and it annoyed me a lot, so I’m releasing this version with only this change.

You can get it here (7.82 MB).

Instrument menu appears correctly again (with a circled tick to indicate category of the chosen instrument). Once again, I left this disabled while testing and forgot to re-enable it…

Usual download link is here (7.81 MB)…

Bawami now works correctly on Windows XP again! I never did test revision 122 on XP, which is where I switched to a newer version of FMOD, dedicated chorus DLL, and tested for another font being installed, none of which worked well on XP. Sorry about that. This release reverts to the older version of FMOD (but still keeps many speed improvements of r122) and brings a new chorus DLL, courtesy of Patrick Kunz of TAL, which works on XP and has more of a stereo effect with less detune. It also doesn’t make the panning sound less significant when the chorus mix is high, as the old chorus did.  There are also new command line parameters, as well as the usual helping of bug fixes and a few other improvements.

Please grab the latest version from here (7.84 MB), and see details of all changes below the page break:

Crash fixes

• Fixed crash on playback on computer with very long uptime (e.g. 70 days) (bug introduced in revision 121).
• Fixed crash when setting channel aftertouch (bug introduced in revision 122).
• If MIDI file duration is less than 1 millisecond (e.g. only contains setup messages), playback no longer loops (caused program to stop responding).

Changes prompted by failing on Windows XP

• “jsmalle.fon” font (“Small Fonts”) is no longer included or checked at startup. The check was failing on Windows XP for some reason and preventing Bawami from starting. It’s included with Windows anyway.
• Reverted to previous FMOD version (4.6.21) because version 4.8.2 (switched to in revision 122) causes errors during startup (specifically, checking ASIO support) on Windows XP. This might be slightly slower, but is still faster than revision 121.
• Chorus processor has been replaced again and now works on Windows XP (without errors). Instead of “achorus.dll” (added in revision 122), “TALChorusLX.dll” (by TAL – Patrick Kunz) is now used. Many thanks for their permission to use this, which I believe sounds even better than the previous one.

Sound improvements

• Reduced ModAutoDelay in default instrument file from 0.35 to 0.31 seconds. This results in VIBRATO DELAY messages setting the delay much closer to how the SC-88Pro does.
• When overriding release time to reduce it to “instant”, and it wasn’t originally truly instant (linear, speed 1), it is now set to “unnoticably fast” (non-linear, multiplier 0.1) instead of “truly instant” to avoid clicking artifacts on note-offs.

Miscellaneous

• Added command line parameters -ocr and -occ to override a MIDI channel’s reverb mix and chorus mix, respectively. They work in the same way as -ocv and -oce (e.g. “-ocr 2 127″ sets MIDI channel 2′s reverb mix to 127 (maximum) and locks it so that the MIDI file can’t change it).
• When using -invisible command line parameter, fractionally faster program loading and slightly lower CPU usage.
• “Override Other Controls” window now wastes a little less space.
• Fixed “being loading” typo on “Interface” tab of config window.

This update fixes a few bugs (one introduced in revision 122) and contains some (very subtle) speed improvements, actually reducing the file size by 12KB, too!

• Fixed bug where volume/expression/aftertouch/pan bars would not be redrawn after choosing a new language during playback (bug introduced in revision 122).
• Reduced memory usage of MIDI Messages view slightly.
• Playback can no longer wrongly be skipped with Ctrl+Left/Right arrow keys while rendering a WAV or OGG file.
• Fixed the first 100 event indeces being displayed as 00-990 instead of 0-99 on MIDI Messages view.
• Optimised string-handling (only slightly affects loading config, language, instruments and percussion mapping), which also reduced the file size by 12KB.

Download this version here (7.41 MB)

To anyone who has already downloaded the new version of Bawami which I released about 90 minutes ago, I have updated the Bawami EXEs in the v0.6.122 download to correct an excessive chorus (I had left the chorus’s rate high during testing by mistake). To avoid being annoyed by the chorus making things sound out-of-tune, please download the now-modified archive. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

This very big update brings Bawami up to version 0.6! The biggest changes are support for Attack/Decay/Release Time MIDI messages to override an instrument’s default sound, kick drums in non-retro mode actually sound good, 22 new instruments (GS) plus a “Synth Brass 2″ (finally), everything on the “MIDI Params” tab works (it’s been redesigned and there are more options now), and a much better-sounding stereo chorus which does not stop working after some time has passed!

Other improvements include reduced CPU usage in most situations, 8 new columns on the “Sound+MIDI channels” window (and yet lower CPU usage here, too), higher-contrast colours for Sound Canvas LCD emulation make it easier to see, and I’ve also styled the “Override Other Controls” window to look a bit more like the main window. Plus, added support for a handful of SysEx messages, and the usual dose of bug fixes.

Download link and full details are below, but please note this important information first:

• Please don’t extract this version of Bawami over an old version – I’ve renamed/removed some language and instrument files, so you will have duplicate files and instruments if you do this. If you want to keep the settings from your old version, simply copy its startup.cfg file into the new version’s folder. You can safely copy any custom skin folders and instruments you’ve made individually, too. Sorry about this inconvenience.
• If you’re using something other than Windows XP or 7, you might need to run this new version of Bawami “as administrator” for the first time so that it can install a new font (jsmalle.fon, “Small Fonts“) which is used on the “Override Other Controls” window.

You can grab the newest version from here (7.41 MB), and see the full list of changes below the page break:

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This release greatly improves PC speaker control, adds 3 more instruments, has the usual helping of bug fixes and things to avoid crashes, plus adds support for GS SysEx messages to specify how much modulation effects vibrato or tremolo. I added a new advanced command line option, and they shouldn’t cause problems with the Windows command prompt anymore. …Oh, and I added some more dodgy Japanese translations.

Not only can the PC speaker now do silky-smooth pitch-bends and vibrato (no longer sounds like scraping metal), but the cutoff volume can now take MIDI channel’s expression and volume into account. Plus, the “Arpeggio” controls, for choosing how quickly to cycle through the playing notes, are finally usable!

You can get the newest version from here (7.32 MB), and see the full list of changes below the page break:

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For people who are curious, I have made a section where you can download old versions of Bawami. There’s now a link in the top-right of the usual download page, too.

IMPORTANT: These old versions contain bugs which can sometimes make them unusable, and even make your system unstable! That’s why I released newer versions, after all. Please have a quick look through the latest change log to see what was fixed in versions after the one you choose to download, in order to get an idea of the bugs that you can expect to encounter. I will not change or support these old versions, and recommend that you always download the latest version if you want things to work with the fewest problems.　If you feel that you need to use an older version instead of the newest one for some reason, please let me know why and I’ll try to fix the newest version for you!

I’m doing this because I’ve found myself wanting old versions of various programs recently, and I’d hate Bawami to be one of those programs that’s hard to find old versions of, if only for seeing what’s changed over time. Plus, I saw in my server’s log someone trying to download old versions by guessing the URLs, so I thought I’d help them out! I can’t stress enough the importance of checking the changelog to avoid nasty surprises that I fixed in later versions, and would recommend running the old version in a virtual machine just to be safe, but please have fun! Revision 121 (which lets the PC speaker do silky-smooth pitch-bends, among other things) will be released shortly, but as it’s gone 3AM here, I’d like to sleep before I write up that blog post.