I have an old yamaha C1 computer that will not boot. I used to run Voyetra Sequencer Plus software, which saved songs in a proprietory format with a .sng extension. I have some songs on floppy with this format that I would like to reclaim. The Voyetra program would also save to midi file format which I did not do. Voyetra/Turtle Beach was unwilling to help. I was wondering if there is anyone out there that might have an old working machine with this software that would be willing to convert these files. (only a few songs) My email is: lizardfolk@cox.net

I was wondering if there is anyone out there that might have an old working machine with this software that would be willing to convert these files.

Hi, I have Voyetra installed in my machine. But the machine is not old. I don't understand why an old machine is required for this purpose. Voyetra can not save in .sng format but it can read .sng and can save in .mid format.

But the problem is I am from the other side of the globe - Kolkata, India.
How can I help you ? Considering the download time, I am interested to know how big are the files ?

You can download Sequencer Plus for free from http://www.voyetra.com/site/kb_ftp/340ftp.asp
It's a DOS program; (it might work if you 'boot to command prompt' when starting a Windows XP box, if that's what you have. You'll also need to download the appropriate driver pack for whatever MIDI interface card you can scrounge (same page, also free). Luckily, it seems Voyetra supported various Creative cards -- it's hard to find an MPU-401 these days!

Frankly, the safest way to get your songs back is
- find an older machine in somebody's basement
- Put DOS on it
- find an old soundblaster card
- install the soundblaster and drivers (free from Voyetra Turtle/Beach)
- install seqplus gold ...

That way, you don't risk your current PC by trying to install / run antique software/hardware in it.

Unfortunately, I don't have a machine set up to run SeqPlus (I haven't used it in at least 15 years ....)

Good luck,

-Jim

Sen , Jim, Thanks for the replys. The files all fit on one floppy disk. I guess an old machine is not required, I just didn't think anyone would have a program that would read sng. files installed on a modern machine. Sen, If you would allow, I could send the songs as email attachments, which you could load into your voyetra software and resave as a midi file and then return as attachments in reply. the largest song is 184 Kb, six songs totaling less than 500 kb for all. Jim , you went to a lot more trouble to help than Voyetra tech support was willing to do. Would I need to install midi interface drivers just to load and convert to midi file format ? I have an older Win 98 machine collecting dust that I might attempt to utilize for this purpose if Sen is unwilling or unable to help. The process seems frought with peril for technically obtuse guy like me. Again, thanks so much for responding.

Oh Man! How I miss Voyetra SPG... In my mind, it's still the best midi editor... Cutting and pasting bars was a snap and quantizing actually worked like a charm... I've always wanted to put together a legacy box to keep around just for Voyetra SPG... Best wishes, Joe

ORIGINAL: Platano

Oh Man! How I miss Voyetra SPG... In my mind, it's still the best midi editor... Cutting and pasting bars was a snap and quantizing actually worked like a charm... I've always wanted to put together a legacy box to keep around just for Voyetra SPG... Best wishes, Joe

I feel the same way about 64-Track PC

Hi bbach, You may attach the .sng files and send a mail to me. I shall be glad to give it a try. My email id is kishorescenter-studio@yahoo.co.in

if Sen is unwilling or unable to help,,,,,,,,,,,,

he he he

ORIGINAL: bbach
...Jim , you went to a lot more trouble to help than Voyetra tech support was willing to do. Would I need to install midi interface drivers just to load and convert to midi file format ? I have an older Win 98 machine collecting dust that I might attempt to utilize for this purpose if Sen is unwilling or unable to help. The process seems frought with peril for technically obtuse guy like me. Again, thanks so much for responding.

bbach -- If Sen can help you out (thanks, Sen!), it'll be the easiest way to get your songs exported to MIDI.

Otherwise -- It's been a long time but I think you can run SPG without a MIDI interface installed (in demo mode), and probably load/save files. (I actually co-wrote SP, along with Bruce Frazier and Hugh Steele, but left Voyetra when it was still Octave-Plateau, at the end of 1985. SP still owns a piece of my heart .... ). A Win98 machine would be ideal, since it actually runs DOS under the covers -- just boot to command line and run SPG from the DOS prompt.

If it turns out you do need a MIDI interface, then it seems you can get by with a SoundBlaster 16 or a later Soundblaster (AWE32) -- SB-compatible cards used to sell for $10 or so, when I last checked Actually .... any on-board soundchip probably looks enough like a SoundBlaster to fool the Voyetra drivers.

From the FTP site, it looks like Voyetra did make drivers for a ton of Creative cards, so you can probably find a way to make it work.

Good luck,

Jim

Hi Joe-

Oh Man! How I miss Voyetra SPG

Me too, for the ease of MIDI editing, and IIRC you could set loop points for individual tracks and still record through the entire sequence on another track. I haven't really seen that since.

-Susan

Gotta agree Sequencer Plus was a heckuva program for it's day. And what I learned from it still guides me today. But do you realize how long ago that was (especially in techno terms) I mean, Mike Dell was just thinking about marketing custom built computers and there was this other fellow named Gates...