Have you ever found a MID file on the Web and wondered why it sounds like a dog's breakfast on your Sound Blaster or Yamaha synthesizer? Well, it was probably written for playback on a Roland GS Sound Canvas sound module such as the SC-55, SCC-1, SC-88 or M-GS64. This is not a commercial for Roland BUT their sound modules are probably the most flexible that you can purchase today.

Now, we all know how various musicians can tweak the sound of the module with Continuous Controllers and other effects. Any decent sequencer, such as Cakewalk or Power Tracks Pro, has what is called an "Events View" of the MIDI information in which you can view this information. What has been missing to date is the ability to decode System Exclusive (SYSEX) data that is generated with such excellent PC products as Canvasman, SCEDIT, WinSYSEX or SC-Pro.

I am a member of the Sound Canvas User's Group (SCUG). When this topic came up, I volunteered to write a SYSEX decoder and was swamped with requests and ideas for the program. So, here it is. It has come a long way from it's humble beginnings. Now, you may say "What good is this program to me - I don't own a Sound Canvas". Actually, this program is just as useful to you as it now allows you to see what the composer intended and this in turn allows you to set up your synth so that it plays equivalent sounds.

Highlights of the program are:

• All messages for the Sound Canvas family of sound modules are decoded. This includes SC-55, SC-88 and RAP-10.
• VBSYX will read MID, WRK, SEQ and SYX files and find SYSEX messages in ALL of them.
• Encoding as well as decoding is supported. You will never have to calculate checksums again.
• You can play the MID file and send SYSEX messages in real time. That way you know exactly what effect the SYSEX message will have in your composition.
• VBSYX supports Cut and Paste of individual messages between itself and sequencers such as Cakewalk
• Sound Canvas Bulk Dumps are supported too! Yes, Roland don't tell you what the bulk dumps mean but someone had to figure it out.
• VBSYX supports Show All/Extract All to quickly decode all messages in a file - no HEX stuff! The resultant summary can be written to a file, sent to your printer or kept for later use.
• A complete set of SYSEX messages are included for you to decode/alter/include in your MID files.
• VBSYX is an invaluable teaching tool and will help you to understand what SYSEX messages are all about.

Basically, if you want to do something to SYSEX data, this program will do it or I'll eat my Internet connection.

VBSYX is written in Visual Basic 3. It requires the VB run time time library VBRUN300.DLL. You can download it from my home page if you do not have a copy of this module in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

What's New in this Release?

In Version 1.1, code was added to decode SC-88 SYSEX data. This also applies to the M-GS64, which uses the same command set. Thanks are due to Roland Corporation, Australia and Dean Brewer of SCUG for providing the necessary documentation.

In Version 1.2, the interface was redesigned to add a toolbar and to fix some bugs.

In Version 1.3, support was added to decode SC-55 Bulk Patch Dumps, Global Bulk Dumps and Bulk Drum Dumps. SC-88 bulk dumps decode as well. However, certain SC-88 specific bytes may not be decoded as I do not have a SC-88 to practice on. Everything else for a SC-55, SC-88 etc should decode perfectly.

In Version 1.4, support was added for RAP-10 SYSEX data. Also added was the option to omit the show/extract of default SYSEX messages. Finally, the option to allow backward scrolling in MID/WRK files was added by popular request as well as the ability to "Go To" a message by clicking in the Summary View.

In Version 1.4i, a GS MIDI Jukebox which plays all MID files in a nominated directory (VBMMSYS.EXE) and a little application to do a GS RESET on demand (VBSYXSEN.EXE) were also included.

Sample SYX files included in the package

These are some sample .SYX files used (a) for my testing and (b) for you to display/edit and use in your sequences as required. They are supplied as SYX.ZIP in the installation package.

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