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Aug 1, 2000 12:00 PM, Roger Maycock

           
 

The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) (www.midi.org) is working on the next generation of the MIDI specification, known as XMF, which is expected to provide MIDI control from within a Web page. The MMA's goal is to create an open standard file format for assembling all media assets (and/or links to external media assets) into a single file. This file would render a MIDI note-based piece in a computer- based player with consistent audio playback across all players and platforms. XMF is intended to address interactive playback (which is not supported by Standard MIDI Files), content protection, Meta-data, and the Internet. The MMA anticipates that XMF will be "extensible," thus facilitating support for future media types... Java 2, Standard Edition (J2SE), version 1.3 for Windows (http://java.sun.com), was released May 8. New features include the Java Sound API (application programming interface), which provides low-level support for audio operations such as audio mixing, audio capture, MIDI sequencing, and MIDI synthesis. This extensible API allows developers to capture and play popular audio formats-including WAV, AIFF, AU, MIDI, and RMF-in Java applets and applications. Powering the API is the Beatnik Audio Engine, which provides MIDI synthesis; sampled-audio playback; and 64-voice stereo 16-bit mixing in one tightly coded package. Once implemented by programmers, J2SE will render Beatnik plug-ins unnecessary... AccurateSound.Net (www.accuratesound.net) has released Pristine Sounds 2000 (Pro, $199; Lite, $99), a new digital audio editor for Windows 95, 98, and NT. The application cleans up and adds effects to prerecorded music and sound in WAV, AU, SND, PCM, RAW, MPG, and MP2 formats. It also supports DirectX plug-ins; provides noise reduction, spectragraphic editing, and 3-D graphical EQ; and offers a customizable interface.