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 2 Chamber Project
Notice: Miditzer now has a samper of nearly unlimited polyphony and the reason behind the article no longer exists.
The Wurlitzer Style 216 was originally was installed in two pipe chambers in theatres, Solo and Main. This Wurlitzer had the sound evenly divided into two pipe chambers on each side of the stage. We will be doing something similar with two SoundBlaster soundcards to recreate the chamber analysis and maximize polyphony for use with Miditzer.
One of the hidden treasures of the SoundBlaster Live/Audigy series of soundcards is the sampling capability of the EMU10K audio processor. This powerful processor is an exceptional value and is more powerful than most hardware based keyboards and samplers. We will be using the SoundBlasters to host the Cinema SoundFont digital samples.
The goal of this tutorial is to double the polyphony of your system for use with Miditzer. We will be installing two SoundBlaster Live soundcards into a Windows XP system. Each SoundBlaster Live is capable of 64 voices of polyphony, and with two our system will have 128 voices.
For questions and help go to the Miditzer Forums
System Requirements: I should point out that we are going to assume that the reason you need more polyphony is because you are using 2 MIDI Keyboards (Solo and Accomp.) and MIDI Pedals. Getting MIDI into your computer is not part of this tutorial, but I do recommend the MidiSport from M-Audio. You can get the MidiSport-2x2 for two inputs or the 4x4 for 4 inputs. On my system I’m using the MidiSport 2x2 for the keyboards and the SoundBlaster Live for the Pedals. (yes mine has a MIDI in) To setup your MIDI Input devices go to the MIDI Input tab in the Miditzer Settings panel. Home | Wurlitzer Pipe Organs | Miditzer Virtual Organ | Miditzer Music | Downloads | Links | Site Map | Miditzer Marketplace™ |
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Installing 2 SoundBlasters
First you’ll need to be sure you have room in your PC for the two SoundBlasters, I suggest keeping them close if you can. Start by installing the first card and the Drivers from Creative Labs. Once you have that card installed, speakers connected and working properly turn your system off and install the second card. You only need to install the Drivers once, do not reinstall drivers for the second SoundBlaster. Now when you start your system Windows will find the second SoundBlaster and install the Drivers automatically.
If you need drivers you can get them from www.soundblaster.com. Home | Wurlitzer Pipe Organs | Miditzer Virtual Organ | Miditzer Music | Downloads | Links | Site Map | Miditzer Marketplace™ |
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Main SoundBlaster Settings
#1 SoundBlaster (Main Chamber)
Now we need to make some changes for the 1st (Main) SoundBlaster. From the AudioHQ Select the 1st (Main) SoundBlaster. Then double click the SurroundMixer. Set the Line In volume to 50%. This should equalize the volume of both samplers, based on the previous settings described.
 I suggest running the Treble and Bass as high as you can. If you find the Bass is over driving or distorting you should adjust it here , not on the other (2nd) SoundBlaster. If you have SurroundSpeakers connected select 4.1 Speakers. Note: There is no need for 5.1 or 7.1 since were doing this for a musical instrument, not a movie.
 How do you like your coffee? Click the EAX tab and choose the Surround Effects of your choice. I prefer Cathedral for a real large room, others may find they prefer Concert Hall or Auditorium. Hopefully you can take advantage of the 4 speakers and a subwoofer for a big theatre sound. Position the front Left and Right speakers facing you and the rear Left and Right at your back, and you'll be amazed how it sounds like you're at the Theatre.
Home | Wurlitzer Pipe Organs | Miditzer Virtual Organ | Miditzer Music | Downloads | Links | Site Map | Miditzer Marketplace™ |
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We only need to install the SoundFont once for each soundcard. Make sure to select in "Synth A" for each card, not "Synth B". (You will repeat this process for the other soundcard too)
You may need to allocate more memory, just increase the SoundFont Cache.
With 2 SoundBlasters you will have 4 choices here. We want to use Synth A
of each card, not SynthB.
Then install the Cinema SoundFont into Bank 25. From the "Configure Bank" tab pull down the Bank list and scroll to Bank 25. Then click the Load button to locate where you have installed the Cinema SoundFont on your computer. I have mine installed at C:\Windows\System32\corg_m110.sf2, this the the default location SoundBlaster looks for SoundFont files when the system boots up.
Load the CInema Sound Font in Bank 25
Now do the same for the second SoundBlaster, by selecting the other SoundBlaster in the Options tab. Then install the Cinema Sound Font to "Synth A" of the other soundcard following the instructions above. Check the Options tab to be sure you installing to the correct soundcard.
Home | Wurlitzer Pipe Organs | Miditzer Virtual Organ | Miditzer Music | Downloads | Links | Site Map | Miditzer Marketplace™
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MIDI Output
Now comes the fun part: In order for Miditzer to access the two SoundBlasters we have to select the MIDI output devices (soundcards) for each rank. Each of the soundcards has a unique identification number. On this example system they are labeled as: Soundcard #1: SB Live! Synth A [A400] Soundcard #2: SB Live! Synth A [AC00] Look for the unique ID’s in the brackets. [A400] & [AC00] Your system may have different ID numbers for these two soundcards. How to Select MIDI Output to both SoundBlasters: Let’s save a little time by selecting from the “Set all MIDI output devices” pull-down list the soundcard we’ll use for the Solo Chamber, [AC400].
You’ll then notice all MIDI output devices are the same [AC400]. Next we'll assign the Main Chamber... Home | Wurlitzer Pipe Organs | Miditzer Virtual Organ | Miditzer Music | Downloads | Links | Site Map | Miditzer Marketplace™ |
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