resents


~ Propats 3.0 ~
(actually it's my doing - they just provide the gear!)








New in this version:

New! PatchControl   - patch integration manager for ProPats
New! Installation utility   - utility to install the complete base installation of ProPats 3.0 				         necessary for future supplemental disks and upgrades your 				         default Ultrasound MIDI patches with the appropriate 				         ProPats ones quickly and effortlessly.
Drums
	- more snares, hi-hats, and bass drums
	- some sampled with various effects
	- drum samples from a -real- drum kit
Synths
	- several patches sampled from the -cringe- SC-55
	- a couple new hits
	- more Akai AX60 patches
Keys
	- a harpsichord patch
	- a warmer grand piano patch that's good for 88 keys
	- a smaller version of the same patch that is still good
Voices
	- more grungy vocal clips in individual patch files
	- another voicedoo patch, sampled from the SC-55
Guitars
	- nylon guitar
Orchestral
	- flute patches transposed properly
	- military snare
	- SC-55 timps (cringe)
	- new strings patch (400k)
	- more misceallaneous orchestral patches
	
~ New!! ~
Loops
	- analog, digital, and acoustic loops
Basses
	- several rave-ish textures from old analog bass machines
	- several acoustic and electric basses
Effects
	- sound effects from SC-55 and TX16W
	- animals, instruments, people, machines


 --  All totalling 188 individual patch files, in a total space requirement of 20 megs. --



Welcome to Propats 3.0!

	Not like this is some big software package or something -grin-  I just had to put SOME sort of a title there. Yes, the big secret is out, this is the new version. After many days of scruffing about with samplers and dat tape and pulling my hair out over the bugs and lack of necessary editing tools in Patch Maker Lite (of which I'm still using verion 1.1 -smile-), I feel that I've done enuff work to constitute another release. You will recognize many of the original patches of 2.0 in this version - you may wonder why I am re-releasing some of the same old stuff, but it's because occaisionally I -do- do some tweaking, and it keeps everything together in a neat package. Unfortunately, the administrator at archive.orst doesn't seem to have deleted ProPats 1.0 from the /patches/files directory when he or she moved version 2.0 there. Oh well, let's hope it happens this time -grin-.
	The most important thing I can stress is that these patch files are not intended to be a complete set of GM patch files for the Ultrasound card, due to the fact that the GUS, when fully expanded, only has 1 meg for patch files. That is, obviously, an extreme limitation. hmmmm.... here, I'll put this section in BOLD!

DO NOT EXPECT ALL OF THESE PATCHES TO WORK
AS REPLACEMENTS FOR GENERAL MIDI.
THESE PATCHES HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR MUSICIANS
WHO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD A PROFESSIONAL SAMPLING WORKSTATION, OR WHOM WOULD
LIKE TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR GUS. 
YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST 768kB RAM ON YOUR 
GUS TO USE ALL THE PATCHES, AND PREFERABLY 1 MEG.

[this is not to say that none of the patches can be used as
replacements - see later on in this document for more info]

	Do you think that calling these patches "ProPats" is a bit pretentious? I think so, because the quality of them is not very professional, because of the lack of editing tools in Patch Maker Lite (like volume smoothing, truncate wavesample, and so on.. ). For instance, with the Akai patches which are very chaotic wavesamples, the loop points are quite bad, and it's pretty much impossible to get them any better without a few more tools than PMLite provides. And the GUS doesn't help the sound quality of the patches - if they were used on a card with a better D/A converter and better analog circutry (no 5532's) a lot of the patches would definitely hold up in most any professional application. Well, we can always hope for better hardware from Gravis -grin-. 

Installing ProPats 3.0 on your Hard Drive (strongly reccommended)
	ProPats 3.0 comes with a utility to installl the patch files in their appropriate directories off of your \ultrasnd\midi directory. If you install the base installation, you can then much more easily use PatchControl to switch your patches between the Ultrasound ones and the ProPats ones. For those of you who do not have enough space to devote to the patch files, you can operate PatchControl from floppy, but it is much slower and there is a -lot- more disk flipping. 
	The installation utility is really quite easy to use and self-explanatory, so I won't go into the details on how to use it in this document, but be aware of a bug in the main menu: when you click on "Perform auto-backup of Ultrasound Patches", sometimes it gets two clicks instead of one (for some reason) and so the check-mark disappears, and then re-appears in a couple seconds (!?!?). Anyway, other than that the program -should- be error and bug free, but the usual legal mumbo-jumbo applies to this thing - if you lose any data cuz of me, it's not my problem! -grin- ..... I love simplifying things. But don't worry - I've been using this thing repeatedly on my machine (installed ProPats on 2 machines about 12 times -smile-). 
	With the installation program you have two ways you can install ProPats: from hard disk, for those of you who have really big hard disks, prefer speed, and don't mind unzipping the files to a temporary directory. For those of you who'd like a more permanent version, who don't have 42 megs free to install via the hard disk method, or who'd not like to install ProPats at all but just want to use PatchControl, floppies are the other medium you can choose. You will need 19 floppies (obviously) for all 19 zips. MAKE SURE YOU LABEL THEM PROPERLY AS YOU UNZIP THE ZIPS TO THE FLOPPIES - and also make sure that you insert the right disk into the floppy drive during the install procedure, otherwise you'll end up with a bunch of "file not found" errors, and the program won't give you another try (yeah, I know - junky programming, but I spent enuff time on the patch files alone, thank you very much -grin-). 
	To those of you who are complaining cuz I used QBasic 4.5 for these utilities, yes, I know it is probably the worst choice (next to Turing). But I have Borland C++ 4.0 and it's the most gluttonous language I have and it might as well have zero DOS support - it doesn't even have a DOS editor anymore. QB is faster and easier for this stuff.

How to use certain ProPats 3.0 patches 
  as replacements for the General Midi Patch Set - PatchControl

	Certain patches in ProPats can be used as replacements for the patches that came with your Ultrasound card (if you don't want to use the bank manager). All you need to do is copy one of the following ProPats patch files overtop of the corresponding Ultrasound one, changing the name of the ProPats one to match the target Ultrasound patch. ProPats 3.0 comes with a utility called PatchControl which enables you to do the above (and also back up your Ultrasound patches in case of problems) by simply pressing a key, making the process a lot simpler, and the ProPats installation utility also has an option where you can quickly upgrade your appropriate Ultrasound patches to their respective ProPats ones. Below is a list of the ProPats patches that can be used as replacements for Ultrasound ones, if you choose not to use the installation program or PatchControl. If a replacement file has a * beside it, that means that the replacement patch is really not a marked improvement over the Ultrasound one, and so to avoid possible memory problems, you might not want to use the patch (unless you prefer the sound of the propats one, which is a subjective thing).


**Note: for the pianos, the DEFAULT.CFG file uses the file ACPIANO for both patches 1 and 2 which are supposed to be two separate textures of piano. We reccommend that you rename the acpiano by patch number 1 in your DEFAULT.CFG file to SMALLPNO or something of that sort. Therefore, your DEFAULT.CFG would look something like this:

[before changes]

# Optionally, a volume number from 1 to 100 may follow,
# and then a detune number in semitones.
#
0 acpiano
1 acpiano
2 britepno
3 synpiano
4 honky

[after changes]

# Optionally, a volume number from 1 to 100 may follow,
# and then a detune number in semitones.
#
0 acpiano
1 smallpno
2 britepno
3 synpiano
4 honky

Replacement listing:
	
Ultrasound Patch File                        ProPats 3.0 replacement (s)
ACPIANO.PAT			MINIGRND.PAT 
				SOLOGRND.PAT
SMALLPNO.PAT		MELOPNO.PAT
BRITEPNO.PAT			GRANDPNO.PAT
SYNPIANO.PAT		RHODES.PAT
EPIANO1.PAT			EPIANO1.PAT
EPIANO2.PAT			EPIANO2.PAT
HRPSCHRD.PAT		HRPSCHRD.PAT
MUSICBOX.PAT		BELL.PAT
				BELLLITE.PAT
				BELLS.PAT
XYLOPHON.PAT		RVRBXYLO.PAT
HOMEORG.PAT			AX60ORGN.PAT
ROCKORG.PAT			HAMMOND.PAT
CHURCH.PAT		                PIPES.PAT *
NYGUITAR.PAT		NYLONGTR.PAT
ACGUITAR.PAT		STEELSTR.PAT
CLEANGTR.PAT		CLEANGTR.PAT
				CLNGTR2.PAT
MUTEGTR.PAT			FUNKGTR.PAT
ODGUITAR.PAT		WAHGTR.PAT
DISTGTR.PAT			DISTGTR.PAT
				FLANGGTR.PAT
				JIMIGTR.PAT
				WAHGTR.PAT
				PHASEGTR.PAT
ACBASS.PAT			ACBASS.PAT
FNGRBASS.PAT		FNGRBASS.PAT
PICKBASS.PAT			PICKED1.PAT
FRETLESS.PAT			FRETLESS.PAT
SYNBASS1.PAT			NEUTRON.PAT
				BASS3.PAT
SYNBASS2.PAT			ELECTRON.PAT
				BASS12.PAT
TIMPANI.PAT			TIMPANI.PAT
				TIMPANI2.PAT
MARCATO.PAT			STRINGS.PAT *
				ORCHSTR.PAT
DOO.PAT			VOICEDOO.PAT
				DOO.PAT
VOICES.PAT			DOO.PAT
ORCHHIT.PAT			ORCHHIT.PAT
				DEMOHITS.PAT
				SMASHHIT.PAT
				HIT.PAT
FLUTE.PAT			FLUTE.PAT
				FLUTE2.PAT
				FLUTE3.PAT
WOODFLUT.PAT		AIRPIPE.PAT
BOTTLE.PAT			BOTTLEIT.PAT
				AIRPIPE.PAT
CALLIOPE.PAT			LCALLIOPE.PAT
VOXLEAD.PAT			SYNVOICE1.PAT
FANTASIA.PAT			BELLPAD.PAT
POLYSYN.PAT			OB8.PAT
CRYSTAL.PAT			BRITENSS.PAT
ECHOVOX.PAT			SPCTBELL.PAT
STEELDRM.PAT		STEELDRM.PAT
FX-FRET.PAT			FRETNOYZ.PAT
SEASHORE.PAT		SEAGULLS.PAT
				WHALES.PAT
JUNGLE.PAT			JUNGLE.PAT
TELEPHON.PAT		DIGITEL.PAT
RINGWHSL.PAT		GUNSHOT.PAT
[drums]
STICKRIM.PAT			H-RIM.PAT
KICK1.PAT			KICK1.PAT
				PUNCHYBD.PAT
				GATEDBD.PAT
KICK2.PAT			H-BD.PAT
				808BD1.PAT
				808BD2.PAT
SNARE1.PAT			SNARE1.PAT
				H-SNARE.PAT
				SNAREHIT.PAT
				GATEDSD.PAT
				808SD1.PAT
SNARE2.PAT			SNARE2.PAT
				REVERSSD.PAT
				FLANGESD.PAT
				808SD2.PAT
CLAPS.PAT			808CLAP2.PAT
				808CLAP1.PAT
TOMLO1.PAT			TOMLO1.PAT
TOMLO2.PAT			TOMLO2.PAT
				H-TOMLO2.PAT
TOMMID1.PAT			TOMMID1.PAT
TOMMID2.PAT			TOMMID2.PAT
				H-TOMMD2.PAT
TOMHI1.PAT			TOMHI1.PAT
TOMHI2.PAT			TOMHI2.PAT
				H-TOMHI1.PAT
HIHATCL.PAT			H-HIHATP.PAT
HIHATOP.PAT			H-HIHATO.PAT
CYMCRSH1.PAT		CYMCRSH1.PAT
				H-CRASH.PAT
CYMCRSH2.PAT		H-CRASH.PAT
CYMSPLSH.PAT		H-SPLASH.PAT
CYMRIDE1.PAT		CYMRIDE1.PAT
CYMRIDE2.PAT		H-RIDE.PAT
TAMBORIN.PAT		TAMBORIN.PAT
BONGOHI.PAT			BONGOHI.PAT
BONGOLO.PAT			BONGOLO.PAT

	Other than that, there's not much I have to explain about PatchControl - it's again fairly self-explanatory. But one thing - if you didn't go through the installation procedure with the install utility, you will have to press F4 to configure such things as paths, whether or not you'll be copying the patches from floppy, and which floppy drive you'll be using as the source drive for PatchControl. 
	Also if you did the installation procedure but didn't do the automatic GM upgrade option (Replace specific Ultrasound patches with reccommended ProPats ones), you will only be able to access two out of the three pages of PatchControl options. This is because the \ultrasnd\midi\backup directory wasn't created from the GM upgrade option, and so the third page, which has the options for reverting to the backed up Ultrasound patches, will not be displayed. So, if you want to be able to revert back to your old patches, you have to press F4 and re-config PatchControl, and it will automatically create the directory ( I think -grin- ) .

Notes on PatchControl
- before making changes to your patch installation with PatchControl, you should always 
   "revert" first to the previous Ultrasound patches. This is because PatchControl makes 
   backup copies of the patch files in the ultrasnd\midi directory to \ultrasnd\midi\backup, 
   and so for instance if you have already changed your orchestral patches to the 'large 
   propats orchestral' setup, and now want to change them to the 'small propats orchestral' 
   setup, PatchControl will back up the 'large propats orchestral' patches (already in your 
   ultrasnd\midi directory) overtop of the original Ultrasound patches in 
   \ultrasnd\midi\backup, making it so you will not be able to revert to your original 
   Ultrasound patch files in case of memory or incompatibility problems.
- the control.ini file must be in the same directory as control.exe for PatchControl to work.

Notes on getting around the 1 meg barrier on the GUS when using ProPats patch files with games
There was a post to netnews a while ago with some very useful information to those of you who have more powerful machines. I haven't taken the time to check this suggestion out, because I don't have much time to play games, but it probably works, since the poster had tried it out, with the Ultrasound patch files as well as older ProPats patch files. (sorry to the person who posted the original information - I just cut-and-pasted a couple sentences from the post and didn't get the poster [oops...hehehe]).

If you are simply using your Ultrasound patches, you need to create a 6 meg ramdisk and copy -all- of the Ultrasound patches into the ramdisk including the default.cfg and ultramid.ini files. If you are using several ProPats files, you need to make a much larger ramdisk, probably around 13 or 14 megs, and copy all the patches into the ramdisk the same way.

Then you load ultramid as follows:
ultramid -16 -di:\
where i:\ is the drive letter for the ramdrive.


Future Plans for ProPats
	This comprises the 'base' release of ProPats, upon which future releases will grow. In other words, everyone should install this on their hard disks, and then future disks will add to the ones in 3.0 - but future releases will not have the same patches - the patches have been refined as far as they can really go with the tools in Patch Maker Lite and with the time I have at my hands. Really the patches are not that bad. Future releases will be single disks of sounds, for instance "acoustic drum loops" and "sound effects - animals" and "sound effects - mechanical and man-made", as well as more percussions and a better acoustic kit (Patch Maker Lite needs to have a wavesample mix function where we can mix the levels of the multi-samples). In other words, there is not going to be a "ProPats 4.0" per se.. but simply new sounds that won't be updated. Anyway, those will be coming...

Electronic Mail Communication / Support
	There are two addresses which you can use to contact my brother or I about ProPats:

	Me (reccommended, but only good 'til end of august!):
				002111M@DRAGON.ACADIAU.CA
	James Roscoe (a great alternative, and the one to use in September and 				   onward until I get established at McGill):
				911499R@AXE.ACADIAU.CA

Email with any suggestions, questions, complaints, or ideas for patches, or if you are using these patches for serious use. We want to be supporting the musicians out there as best we can!


Acknowledgement Notes on ProPats 3.0
Thanks to David Hines for technical assistance with percussion, James Roscoe for his technical support and assistance in general, and all those who have supported this package. 


Technical Information                                                            

Sources used for wavesamples:
- Akai AX-60
- Audio-Technica AT-853 condenser microphones
- Emu Emax 1 and 2
- Ensoniq ASR-10
- Ensoniq EPS 16+
- Rhodes Model 760
- Roland W-30
- Roland SC-55
- Roland DP-7
- Sony DTC-75ES DAT deck
Other sources:
- Future Music Sampling CD
- TX16W Wavesample Archive
midi directory to \ultrasnd\midi\backup, 
   and so for iw