Extracting midi sounds from lucas games

[parazythum]

Hello,

I couldn't find anywhere the MT-32 MIDI soundtracks for Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max, so I decided to try to extract them directly from the data files, using the utility SCUMMRev. I have a problem, though.

I could extract a file that looks like a sysex, didn't verify yet. The player from the MIDI-Ox utility doesn't even want to load the MIDI files ("bad format"). They seem strange though, and sound strange when played with WinAMP or Windows Media Player. I couldn't convert them with any MIDI utility (some of them load the file but nothing more).

I don't have much technical knowledge about MIDI files. Could that be that they are in a custom format, very close to MIDI ? Did anyone try to extract the data directly from the files ?

[Zemus]

The MIDI files are in MIDI format 2 which has all the instrumets on one track, instead of the ordinary format 1 files which has one instrument per track. Not all players like these files.
The cues that end, start, or are used to change melodies are typically also saved in those same MIDI files, so if you get to play them, you'll typically hear 6-10 different melodies at once.

I use a program called GNMIDIFMT to convert the MIDI files to format 1. It also saves those cues in separate files. You can find the program here: http://www.gnmidi.com/

Sam & Max doesn't have a separate MT-32 soundtrack by the way, only General MIDI. It sends the MT-32 a sysex which makes it emulate a GM device when you start the game.

[parazythum]

Hi, didn't know about GNMIDIFMT, thank you. I'll let you know if it works.

[Edit]
OK I could convert the files from type 2 to type 1. I also d/l a midi sequencer to verify : the resulting type 1 file seems correct ?
I can't find a way to extract the sysex data directly from the game data files, so the midi files sound wrong.

[Edit 2]
Oh. I didn't realize how wrong I was, the explanation lies in the ScummRev help files. The MIDI file extracted with ScummRev is not really wrong, it's the way the SCUMM interpreter plays the sounds that is strange. The instrument sequences all all messed in fact, put on several tracks. Some "cues" are mixed at the same time by the game, so to recover a correct midi file you have to reorder them.
Now I understand that the best way to record a MT-32 version for these games is to capture the midi data directly. Now, I have to learn how to use midi-ox