Beatnik Audio Engine
| Type |
Software synthesizer |
| Manufacturer |
Beatnik |
| Release date |
1991 (SoundMusicSys)
1997 (Beatnik Audio Engine) |
| Standards |
General MIDI[1] |
| Parts |
16 |
| Max polyphony |
64 |
| Normal presets |
384 (total)
128 (General MIDI)
128 (Beatnik Special)
128 (Custom) |
| Drum presets |
3 (total) |
| Effects |
Reverb, Chorus |
| miniBAE → |
Beatnik Audio Engine (BAE), previously known as SoundMusicSys and later Headspace Audio Engine, is a software synthesizer developed by Beatnik. Its soundbanks are stored in the proprietary Headspace Sound Bank (.hsb) format. It supports various formats, including Rich Music Format (.rmf, Beatnik's proprietary MIDI-based format with support for audio samples), MIDI, WAV, AIFF, MP3, SD2, and AU.[1]
The engine features 64-voice polyphony by default. Soundbanks include three banks comprising 128 instruments: Bank 0 (General MIDI), Bank 1 (Beatnik Special) features unique patches designed by Beatnik, and Bank 2 (Custom) can be used by the user for custom instruments. It also includes support for reverb and chorus effects.[1] Beatnik Editor is Beatnik's software used for authoring music with BAE.
BAE was originally developed by Steve Hales and Jim Nitchals at the video game company Halestorm in 1991, under the name SoundMusicSys. It was used in several Mac video games to play MIDIs, using their own custom samples. As it was not released standalone publicly, it does not have a built-in soundbank. Hales and Nitchals transferred the technology to Igor's Software Labs (aka IgorLabs), and a more sophisticated version of SoundMusicSys was shipped on WebTV devices in 1996 as well as BeOS. Following this, Beatnik (then known as Headspace) acquired the engine, renamed it to Headspace Audio Engine (and subsequently Beatnik Audio Engine) and launched it as a browser plug-in named Beatnik Player. It was also included in Java Runtime Environment.
During 1999-2000, an optimized version of BAE was created for devices such as mobile phones, known as miniBAE; this first shipped on the Nokia 3510, released in 2002. A rewritten version called mobileBAE was released in 2002. Instead of HSB and RMF, it uses the more standard Downloadable Sounds (.dls) format for banks, and Extensible Music Format (.xmf) respectively.
Soundbanks
There are several soundbanks used as the default soundbank of BAE, depending on the software it is included in.
WebTV
The 304 KB soundbank shipped on early WebTV devices, which runs a later version of SoundMusicSys. Many instruments were later reused in the Patches soundbanks.
Patches / Patches111 / Patches300
There are at least four versions of this bank. Patches is the default soundbank included with Beatnik Editor 2.x and Player 2.x, later versions of Java 2 Runtime Environment, and as one of three banks in later versions of BeOS. It is a compressed version of the 1.2 MB soundbank Patches111, which appears in Beatnik Editor 1.x and Player 1.x. Patches300 (also known as patchesp or Bitheadz), a 7.5 MB soundbank based on Patches111, also shipped in a later version of BeOS. A further compressed version of Patches appears on WebTV Plus, AOLTV, and MSN TV devices.
Beatnik Special sound set
The following patches are included in Bank 1 (Beatnik Special) of all versions of the soundbank. Although many of these correlate with the corresponding instruments in General MIDI, others deviate.
Piano
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 1 |
Soft Piano
|
| 2 |
Reflection Piano
|
| 3 |
Flange Piano
|
| 4 |
Octopus Piano
|
| 5 |
Flange Electric Piano
|
| 6 |
Tremolo Electric Piano
|
| 7 |
Chorus Harpsichord
|
| 8 |
Ondioline
|
Chromatic Percussion
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 9 |
Curious Chime
|
| 10 |
Swirly Bell
|
| 11 |
Echo Bell
|
| 12 |
Vibraphone 2
|
| 13 |
Soft Marimba
|
| 14 |
Percolator
|
| 15 |
Reverse Bell
|
| 16 |
Percussive Piano
|
Organ
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 17 |
Rot. Speaker Organ 1
|
| 18 |
Bright Perc Organ
|
| 19 |
Growl Organ
|
| 20 |
Chorus Church Organ
|
| 21 |
Sawteeth
|
| 22 |
Expressive Accordion
|
| 23 |
Corny Harmonica
|
| 24 |
Squeeze Box
|
Guitar
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 25 |
Acoustic Bass Gtr
|
| 26 |
Mute Guitar 2
|
| 27 |
Chorus Jazz Guitar
|
| 28 |
Tremolo Guitar
|
| 29 |
Echo Mute Bass
|
| 30 |
Grungey Guitar
|
| 31 |
Flange Guitar
|
| 32 |
Flange Guitar Stab
|
Bass
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 33 |
Dark Syn Bass
|
| 34 |
Jungle Bass
|
| 35 |
Jungle Bass 2
|
| 36 |
Chorus Bass
|
| 37 |
Synth Slap Bass
|
| 38 |
Lowrider
|
| 39 |
OB Bass
|
| 40 |
OB Bass 2
|
Strings
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 41 |
Synth Violin
|
| 42 |
Robot Threat
|
| 43 |
Formula 1
|
| 44 |
Deep Bass Stab
|
| 45 |
Trill Strings
|
| 46 |
Cello Stroke
|
| 47 |
VibHarp
|
| 48 |
Tuned Drum
|
Ensemble
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 49 |
sfz Strings
|
| 50 |
Moving Strings
|
| 51 |
Heads of Space
|
| 52 |
Slow Synth Strings
|
| 53 |
Slow Choir Aahs
|
| 54 |
Pulsing Voices
|
| 55 |
Cloudscapes
|
| 56 |
Hype Orch Hit
|
Brass
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 57 |
Accent Trumpet
|
| 58 |
Accent Trombone
|
| 59 |
Mellow Trombone
|
| 60 |
Muted Trumpet 2
|
| 61 |
French Horn Swell
|
| 62 |
Brass Section 2
|
| 63 |
Syn Brass 3
|
| 64 |
Syn Brass 4
|
Reed
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 65 |
Lyrical Sax
|
| 66 |
Accent Sax
|
| 67 |
Slow Sax
|
| 68 |
Staccato Sax
|
| 69 |
Lyrical Oboe
|
| 70 |
Soft Lead Synth
|
| 71 |
Staccato Bassoon
|
| 72 |
Smooth Clarinet
|
Pipe
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 73 |
Accent Piccolo
|
| 74 |
Lyrical Flute
|
| 75 |
Mello Breath
|
| 76 |
Peruvian
|
| 77 |
Breath Echoes
|
| 78 |
Apparition
|
| 79 |
Humorous Whistle
|
| 80 |
Strobes
|
Synth Lead
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 81 |
Teletronic
|
| 82 |
5th Pulse
|
| 83 |
Moon Jelly
|
| 84 |
Ricochet Pad
|
| 85 |
Rock Radiation
|
| 86 |
Solo Vox 2
|
| 87 |
5th Saw Drone
|
| 88 |
Lead Synth 2
|
Synth Pad
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 89 |
Fantasy Bells
|
| 90 |
Slow Warm Pad
|
| 91 |
Polysynth 2
|
| 92 |
50's Sci-Fi
|
| 93 |
Watery Glass
|
| 94 |
UFOs
|
| 95 |
Soprano
|
| 96 |
Refractions
|
Synth Effects
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 97 |
Comet Tails
|
| 98 |
Soundtrack 2
|
| 99 |
Friendly Data
|
| 100 |
Analog Sequence
|
| 101 |
Luminous Voice
|
| 102 |
Goblins 2
|
| 103 |
Tick Blok
|
| 104 |
Droplet
|
Ethnic
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 105 |
Droplet 2
|
| 106 |
Video Game 1
|
| 107 |
Video Game 2
|
| 108 |
Digi-Dodo
|
| 109 |
Fairy Godmother
|
| 110 |
Alarm
|
| 111 |
Hoverbug
|
| 112 |
Crickets
|
Percussive
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 113 |
Beatnik
|
| 114 |
Teletype
|
| 115 |
Carriage Return
|
| 116 |
Typewriter Key
|
| 117 |
Cash Register
|
| 118 |
Thru Phone Chirp
|
| 119 |
Whipped
|
| 120 |
Pop Click
|
Sound Effects
| Prog #
|
Instrument
|
| 121 |
Metal Chirp
|
| 122 |
Poing
|
| 123 |
Metal Spray
|
| 124 |
FlyBy 1
|
| 125 |
FlyBy 2
|
| 126 |
Cosmic Ray
|
| 127 |
SampHold
|
| 128 |
SampHold 2
|
Beatnik Special percussion map
Like General MIDI, Beatnik Special reserves channel 10 for key-based percussion and defines a set of percussion sounds that can be played with Note On/Note Off messages. Starting from Note 46, the entire set is repeated. The sounds are as follows:[1]
| Note |
Note # |
Drum sound
|
| C-1 | 0 | tablaesque_lo |
| C♯-1 | 1 | tablaesque_hi |
| D-1 | 2 | nine_inch_kick |
| D♯-1 | 3 | hippishake |
| E-1 | 4 | ScienceTom |
| F-1 | 5 | click |
| F♯-1 | 6 | rvs cymb pan long |
| G-1 | 7 | rvs cymb pan med |
| G♯-1 | 8 | rvs cymb pan short |
| A-1 | 9 | woodstick |
| A♯-1 | 10 | electrobrite |
| B-1 | 11 | Slo Laser |
| C0 | 12 | Ufo-by |
| C♯0 | 13 | air snare |
| D0 | 14 | weird snare |
| D♯0 | 15 | flange snare |
| E0 | 16 | ping drum |
| F0 | 17 | itchy-scratch |
| F♯0 | 18 | itchy-scratch 2 |
| G0 | 19 | hi_metallic_snare |
| G♯0 | 20 | noise echo |
| A0 | 21 | buzzy hit |
| A♯0 | 22 | rez hat |
| B0 | 23 | bucket hit |
| C1 | 24 | icecube |
| C♯1 | 25 | explosive kick |
| D1 | 26 | mutant cowbell |
| D♯1 | 27 | Temple Bell |
| E1 | 28 | Hi Temple Gong |
| F1 | 29 | Thuddy Kick |
| F♯1 | 30 | LoBell |
| G1 | 31 | sinechirp |
| G♯1 | 32 | hollow_metal_hit |
| A1 | 33 | woodblock |
| A♯1 | 34 | reverse cymbal |
| B1 | 35 | tablaesque_slap |
| C2 | 36 | sonarblip |
| C♯2 | 37 | sinehit |
| D2 | 38 | sineblock |
| D♯2 | 39 | Krelltone |
| E2 | 40 | sine_kick |
| F2 | 41 | hi-tone* |
| F♯2 | 42 | hi-click |
| G2 | 43 | Gate-tone |
| G♯2 | 44 | chem-tone |
| A2 | 45 | dub_kick |
| A♯2 | 46 | tablaesque_lo |
| B2 | 47 | tablaesque_hi |
| C3 | 48 | nine_inch_kick |
| C♯3 | 49 | hippishake |
| D3 | 50 | ScienceTom |
| D♯3 | 51 | click |
| E3 | 52 | rvs cymb pan long |
| F3 | 53 | rvs cymb pan med |
| F♯3 | 54 | rvs cymb pan short |
| G3 | 55 | woodstick |
| G♯3 | 56 | electrobrite |
| A3 | 57 | Slo Laser |
| A♯3 | 58 | Ufo-by |
| B3 | 59 | air snare |
| C4 | 60 | weird snare |
| C♯4 | 61 | flange snare |
| D4 | 62 | ping drum |
| D♯4 | 63 | itchy-scratch |
| E4 | 64 | itchy-scratch 2 |
| F4 | 65 | hi_metallic_snare |
| F♯4 | 66 | noise echo |
| G4 | 67 | buzzy hit |
| G♯4 | 68 | rez hat |
| A4 | 69 | bucket hit |
| A♯4 | 70 | icecube |
| B4 | 71 | explosive kick |
| C5 | 72 | mutant cowbell |
| C♯5 | 73 | Temple Bell |
| D5 | 74 | Hi Temple Gong |
| D♯5 | 75 | Thuddy Kick |
| E5 | 76 | LoBell |
| F5 | 77 | sinechirp |
| F♯5 | 78 | hollow_metal_hit |
| G5 | 79 | woodblock |
| G♯5 | 80 | reverse cymbal |
| A5 | 81 | tablaesque_slap |
| A♯5 | 82 | sonarblip |
| B5 | 83 | sinehit |
| C6 | 84 | sineblock |
| C♯6 | 85 | Krelltone |
| D6 | 86 | sine_kick |
| D♯6 | 87 | hi-tone* |
| E6 | 88 | hi-click |
| F6 | 89 | Gate-tone |
| F♯6 | 90 | chem-tone |
| G6 | 91 | dub_kick
|
big_synth / soundbank-min / soundbank-mid
In 1996, Be Inc. released a MIDI player for BeOS, using SoundMusicSys.[2] This included a 5 MB soundbank named big_synth.sy. Java 2 Runtime Environment later offered this as an optional downloadable bank, renamed to soundbank-deluxe.gm. soundbank-mid.gm is the default soundbank of Java 2 SDK versions 1.2 and 1.2.1, while soundbank-min.gm is the default soundbank of version 1.2.2 and later.[3] It was replaced with Patches at a later point.
External links
References