News

MIDI Tools 1.7.0 for OS X and Windows released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Thu, 2015-03-05 11:35

MIDI Tools 1.7.0 for OS X and Windows was released today.

To download the program, please visit the MIDI Tools page at this site.

This version contains many internal improvements to MIDI input and output communication, and the user interface has been enhanced in several ways. See the MIDI Tools page for details.

The OS X edition:

The OS X edition of MIDI Tools 1.7.0 is the first Mountain Utilities release for OS X ever - a truly momentous event in the life of a humble programmer!
I won’t bore you by going into any technical details of the tortuous road to this release. Let me just say that the whole process has cost me perhaps 1,000 hours, spread across several years, and that despair was always an option: as recently as yesterday I seriously considered abandoning the whole project, after spending about fifty hours fruitlessly trying to fix a particularly nasty, crucial bug - but then, luckily, I saw the light...

If you have access to a Mac, please test this version and report back any problems. This will help me iron out the wrinkles as soon as possible, and thereby ease the release of other applications for OS X, notably BC Manager with its large user base.
On my own Mavericks system the program seems stable and fully functional (apart from a few graphical things that don’t work, as already mentioned in the manual), but perhaps other configurations may show up problems.

Brief impressions can be put in the comments below. (Naturally I'm hoping for 'it works!' rather than reports of trouble...)
However, bugs and feature requests are best reported in the MIDI Tools forum at this site.
Thank you in advance!

XG Manager 1.3.0 released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Mon, 2014-02-10 20:56

XG Manager 1.3.0 was released today.

In this version the extension of XG setup files has changed from 'bin' to 'xg'.

This version also has a new help window listing the computer keyboard and mouse actions that you can apply to parameter knobs, and there are minor changes to the user interface.

Finally, this version uses the new Mountain Utilities web site in its links and update mechanism.

For more information, please visit the XG page at this site.

BC Manager 2.5.0 released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Wed, 2014-02-05 20:43

BC Manager 2.5.0 was released today.

Features of this version:

1. New: a window in which you can perform MIDI data byte conversions.

2. SysEx model definition files can now contain labeled parameter sections, which can be nested up to any depth. The 'Insert SysEx parameter' dialog box displays these sections in an expandable tree.
(Authors of existing SysEx model definition files are encouraged to convert these files to the new format.
To create a parameter section you only have to insert an opening brace, a description and a closing brace.)

3. Keyboard shortcuts to numerical edit boxes with up and down arrows work again. (This was broken in version 2.4.2.)

4. Big changes to the manual: many screenshots of windows and dialog boxes, new sections dedicated to particular windows, a tutorial on working with presets, and many small improvements.

For more information, please visit the BC Manager page at this site.

BCN44 Manager 1.2.2 released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Wed, 2014-02-05 20:08

BCN44 Manager 1.2.2 was released today.
It contains a few minor but nice new features, such as a window in which you can perform MIDI data byte conversions and a window listing the computer keyboard and mouse actions that can be applied to parameter knobs.
This version also uses the new Mountain Utilities web site in its links and update mechanism.

For more information, please visit the BCN44 page at this site.

MIDI Tools 1.6.0 released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Sat, 2014-02-01 12:57

MIDI Tools 1.6.0 was released today.
This version features a window in which you can perform MIDI data byte conversions.
Moreover, the manual has been 'pimped' by lots of screenshots of windows and dialog boxes.
Last but not least, this version uses the new Mountain Utilities web site in its links and update mechanism.

For more information, please visit the MIDI Tools page at this site.

BC Manager 2.4.2 released

Submitted by Mark van den Berg on Thu, 2013-11-21 12:02

BC Manager 2.4.2 was released today.
This version features a slight extension of the SysEx model definition file format.
There is also a small addition to the user interface of parameter knobs, and they are now documented directly in the Help pull-down menu of the main window.
Last but not least, this version uses the new Mountain Utilities web site in its links and update mechanism.