The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Hello!

I am a new arrival on this list and a relatively new AN1x owner, 
having acquired a used one from a colleague for a very good price. I 
mainly have been using it as a MIDI controller but have been 
intrigued by what little I have heard in its presets, and am 
interested in digging deeper.

My first and most important question for now is, are there any 
resources out there for editing and storing AN1x patches that work on 
Mac OS 9 or X?

I currently have Emagic SoundDiver 3.0 and the original Yamaha AN1x 
Editor (1.0 beta) that came on floppy disk with the synth; using both 
has been painful so far. I managed to get the Yamaha editor running 
long enough to upload the Demo patch banks that came on floppy with 
the synth, one by one into the AN1x, so I could move them over to 
SoundDiver. That involved running the pre-OMS Yamaha editor with a 
direct hookup between the AN1x and an old Apple 1in/1out MIDI 
interface, uploading sounds to the AN1x, unhooking the old interface 
and reattaching the AN1x to my OMS-savvy Studio5LX, running 
SoundDiver, creating a new library, downloading and saving the 
patches, rinse, repeat. Urgh.

Having moved everything over to SoundDiver I can now get rid of the 
AN1x editor, but SoundDiver has its own difficulties for me. I don't 
suppose Malte Rogacki is on this list? If so, Malte, can I pick your 
brains about this Adaptation you wrote for the AN1x?

Also, are there patch resources for the AN1x out there in any sort of 
format that SD can understand or import? I like disassembling other 
people's patches to learn how they work, and I have a lot of raw 
material to work with right now, but someday I might want to go 
further afield.

TIA

mike

-- 
"It's like a Rubik's Cube: one more twist and it will all fall into
place. You keep believing that."          (s. blakemore on koan pro)
====================================================================
Mike Metlay * ATOMIC CITY * PO Box 17083 * Boulder CO 80308-0083 USA
metlay@... *  1-800-924-ATOM  * http://www.atomiccity.com

--- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, Mike Metlay ++ Atomic City 
<metlay@a...> wrote:
> Hello!
>

Hello Mike - welcome to the AN1x-list.
 
> I am a new arrival on this list and a relatively new AN1x owner, 
> having acquired a used one from a colleague for a very good 
price. I 
> mainly have been using it as a MIDI controller but have been 
> intrigued by what little I have heard in its presets, and am 
> interested in digging deeper.
> 
> My first and most important question for now is, are there any 
> resources out there for editing and storing AN1x patches that 
work on 
> Mac OS 9 or X?
> 

Yes. An1xEdit (freeware) is available for both Wintel and Mac OS 
9. You'll find a copy for download in the Files section here at 
Yahoo! Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AN1x-list/files 
This program was commisioned by Yamaha and replaced the 
AN1x Editor 1.00b you mention in your post.

You'll need to install and configure OMS if you're not already 
running it. If you should have problems receiving a file 
transmission from your AN1x -> AN1xEdit, please review the Tips 
& Tricks directory in the Files section 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AN1x-list/files/Tips%20and%20Tr
icks/ for a write up 'AN1xEdit Will Not Receive (Macintosh)'. There 
is a minor bug in the OMS communication with AN1xEdit and this 
tip will 'wake up' the connection between the two. Works every 
time.

There are dozens of user contributed AN1x Voices for download 
in the FIles section - the common format for this list is AN1xEdit 
format (.AN1) because it's proven to be cross platform tolerant 
and most of the AN* spin-offs are also supported ;-)

There is no OS X version of AN1xEdit and the author has stated 
there will not be a port forthcoming. 

> I currently have Emagic SoundDiver 3.0 and the original 
Yamaha AN1x 
> Editor (1.0 beta) that came on floppy disk with the synth; using 
both 
> has been painful so far. I managed to get the Yamaha editor 
running 
> long enough to upload the Demo patch banks that came on 
floppy with 
> the synth, one by one into the AN1x, so I could move them over 
to 
> SoundDiver. That involved running the pre-OMS Yamaha editor 
with a 
> direct hookup between the AN1x and an old Apple 1in/1out 
MIDI 
> interface, uploading sounds to the AN1x, unhooking the old 
interface 
> and reattaching the AN1x to my OMS-savvy Studio5LX, running 
> SoundDiver, creating a new library, downloading and saving 
the 
> patches, rinse, repeat. Urgh.

Right.

> 
> Having moved everything over to SoundDiver I can now get rid 
of the 
> AN1x editor, but SoundDiver has its own difficulties for me. I 
don't 
> suppose Malte Rogacki is on this list? If so, Malte, can I pick 
your 
> brains about this Adaptation you wrote for the AN1x?

I run Logic Audio but not SoundDiver - it's been a couple of years 
since I last had a demo copy up & running. If time permits I'll try 
to reinstall it. I don't believe we've ever heard from Matte on this 
list - have you checked the SoundDiver forum here at Yahoo! 
Groups? We had a couple of SD users in the past but they've not 
been active on the list recently. Maybe if you post a specific 
question someone will step up...

> 
> Also, are there patch resources for the AN1x out there in any 
sort of 
> format that SD can understand or import? I like disassembling 
other 
> people's patches to learn how they work, and I have a lot of raw 
> material to work with right now, but someday I might want to go 
> further afield.
> 

See above - go to the Files section. BTW - AN1xEdit can 
automatically convert an .AN1 file into SysEx for use in other 
programs ;-)

> TIA
> 
> mike
> 

You might check out http://www.osxaudio.com/ for an OS X 
compatible SysEx utility. I'm not currently running OS X but I 
simply planned to use bulk dumps into Logic for my AN1x Voices 
rather than AN1xEdit - but I'm fairly comfortable navigating the 
AN1x by hand to begin with.

Hope this helps.

regards,

Jon

Jon,

I will reply in more detail to your letter later if I get a chance, but here's
a fast THANK YOU for your pointers. I should have checked the Files area at
once... I moderate a couple of Yahoo Groups and should have known better!

I am running an OS 9 machine with OMS at home, and that's where the AN1x will
mostly be used. OS X is what I use with audio software at work. So AN1xEdit
sounds like quite the ticket. I had found a reference to it on Phat And Blue
but the implication there was that it was Windows only.

I also found Malte, btw; he is indeed on the SoundDiver list. If it turns out
that AN1xEdit works well for me, I will stop using SD yet again, especially if
AN1xEdit is smart enough to open the original files in 1.0beta format.

Thanks again!

mike