
        *****************************************************
        *               ฎPro Patches Lite v1.60ฏ            *
        *          by Eero Rsnen (Email: cseera@uta.fi)   *
        *****************************************************


NOTE: THE NAME OF VERSIONS 1.00 AND v1.10 OF THIS PACKAGE WAS "ProPats Lite".
      I HAD TO CHANGE IT BECAUSE IT GOT CONFUSED WITH TOM ROSCOE'S
      "ProPats" PATCH SET. SO, NOW IT IS CALLED "Pro Patches Lite".
                                                        ====

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What is it ?
============

   Pro Patches Lite is an another upgrade for GUS patch set.  It has 248
   replacements for UltraSound patch set. Many of the patches are smaller
   versions of the large ones also available through the internet
   (french horn,brass section, pianos, flutes, basses and many more ... ).
   This one really sounds GOOD !!! Pro Patches Lite also includes handy
   "patmenu" program to manage custom patch sets ( like in ProPats III
   package, only a lot better ! ). Different versions for DOS and Windows.


   Version 1.60 provides: Adds 7 GS compatible drum kits to PPLT !
                          Fully automated installation program (install.exe) !
                          A few new patches and some bug fixes.
                          


   INSTALLATION: READ THE "INSTALLATION" SECTION IN THIS FILE AND PROCEED
                 WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Some sources for the patches:
=============================

       ftp: src.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/packages/ultrasound/sound/patches/files
            archive.epas.utoronto.ca/pub/pc/ultrasound/submit
            bach.nevada.edu/k2000/sounds
            ftp.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/kurzweil/sounds
            ...at least these...
            
  packages: Pro Patches I, II and III
            GusPro
            Maxpats
            }gm_set
            GusPerc
            Roland*.zip files
            Proteus*.zip files

    synths: Roland SCC-1
            TB Multisound Proteus 1/XR
            EPS 16+
            Kurzweil K2000
            Yamaha TX16W
            EMU Emax
            Kawai XD5 drum machine
            Roland TR-x0x drum machines
            Akai XR-10 drum machime           
            ...Could be also some other...

    All patches are edited by me...


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Requirements
============

        * A GUS/MAX/ACE with 1 MB of memory. Well, it could work also with
          512 KB. At least with patch cacheing applications.
        * Your original patches must be in the "midi" directory under your
          ultrasound directory.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Features
========

        * 248 better sounding patches. About 80% of the whole patch set.
          Includes: 100 melodic patches of all cathegories and almost all drum
                   patches ( 148 ) with 7 additional GS compatible drum banks.
        * THE SIZE OF THE PATCH SET IS 120 KB SMALLER THAN THE ORIGINAL !!!
        * Easy-to-use "Patmenu" program for managing the patch set.
        * Won't overwrite any of the original patches. Makes backups.
          If there is a reason to use the original patches, it can be done
          without touching installation disks.        
        * Mega-Em 2.xx compatible - no warnings at all when loading patches.
        * Includes a rebuilded 1MB patch set for Mega-Em 3.06b and later..
          Also has a special mode for building Mega-Em 3.04b patch set.
          This mode only works with 1024 kB bank.
        * With "loadpats" from 32 bit AIL drivers, GUS can load 82 patches
          with Pro Patches Lite.
          ( With original patches GUS can load 83 patches. Not much more... )
        * Works with Ultramid's "preload patch set" feature.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What's new ?
============

   This info is moved to file "whatsnew.txt".


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Disclaimer
==========

   This package is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or
   implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular use.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Installation
============


   NOTE: DON'T JUST UNCOMPRESS THE FILES UNDER YOUR \ULTRASND\MIDI DIRECTORY !
         =====
         IT WON'T WORK !!! YOU MUST READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS !!!
                               ====


   1. Uncompress the pplt_*.a* files to some other directory.
      Remember this is the directory where the patches really are going
      to be in ! So DO NOT uncompress the files into some temporary directory.

      For example: md c:\patches
                   cd c:\patches
                   arj x -y -v c:\pplt_*.arj
   
   2. Make sure you are in the directory you just created.

   3. Type "Install" and press enter. Press key "y" when the program
      asks whether to continue installation or exit to dos.

   4. Try to play some midi files.

   5. Be amazed.


   If you had some problems during the installation process, read
   the next section.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Manual Installation
===================

  ***************************************************************
  * IN CASE THE FANCY INSTALLATION PROGRAM DON'T WORK FOR YOU ! *
  ***************************************************************


   1. Uncompress the pplt_*.a* files to some directory.
      For example: md c:\patches
                   cd c:\patches
                   arj x -y -v c:\pplt_*.arj

(!)2. Make an environment variable called "propats" to point to the directory
      you just created. To do this put a line "set propats=<directory>" in
      your "c:\autoexec.bat" file. It could be the first line in the
      autoexec.bat file. In this case the autoexec.bat would look like this
      (the essential line is marked with an arrow) :

   ออออออออออออออออออออออ Autoexec.bat อออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออ
      @REM ===== Gravis initialization =====
       .
       .
       .
      @REM ===== Gravis initialization ends =====
      @echo off
 ->   SET PROPATS=C:\PATCHES
      path C:\windows;C:\dos;c:\bat;....etc...
      goto %config%                                                     
       .                                                                
       .                                                                
       .
   อออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออ

   3. Boot your machine to update environment variables.

   4. Go to the directory you recently created and enter a command
      "PATMENU\PATMENU.EXE S". This should start a process
      for copying the new patches and backuping the old ones.

   5. Copy the *.pat files from the XXXXdrum directories to your
      \ultrasnd\midi directory.


   That's it...


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Using Pro Patches Lite (READ!!)
===============================


   Important Notes
   --------------
   
     - I have nothing to do with any other patch sets available !!!
       The name of this package is "Pro Patches Lite"  , not "ProPats"
       nor "Pro Patches". 
       I must admit that the names are quite alike, but I hope this note and
       the change in the name corrects the mistake.

     - If you have 512 GUS, you'll have at least problems with MegaEm 2.xx
       and Games that preload the patch set. I have noticed that many PPLT
       patches just can't be loaded as 8-bit 22KHz and this is what 512 KB
       GUS often does !


   Patmenu
   -------

     - You can copy the Patmenu.exe file to some other directory, as long
       as the .ini files stay in the "patmenu" directory. A good place
       is some directory in your path.

     - Before playing games you can enter a command "patmenu p". This reduces
       the size of the patch set. After playing, you must enter
       command "patmenu s" to use all the Pro Patches Lite patches again.
       Note that you don't have to do this for every game ! Do it only when
       you feel that some of the instruments are missing in the game musics.
       Especially games that have different music in every level need this
       mode. For example, a batch file for DOOM would look like this:
       ----------------------------------
         @echo off
         c:\patches\patmenu\patmenu p
         doom.exe
         c:\patches\patmenu\patmenu s
       ----------------------------------

     - When started the first time Patmenu creates a directory called "backup"
       under your \ultrasnd\midi directory. Patmenu uses this directory to
       backup the original patches which are replaced by PPLT patches.
       DON'T EVER remove this directory !!!

     - Read the "patmenu.txt" for more information about the Patmenu program.

   Load1024.mid file
   -----------------

     - If you need to preload midi patches with this file, do it with
       the "PPLT: Standard Drum Kit".


   Ultramid
   --------

     - How to use Pro Patches Lite with ultramid and "-c" parameter:
        * Copy "ppatlite.ini" file to your "\ultrasnd\midi" directory
        * Before loading ultramid enter command "patmenu p".
        * Enter command "Ultramid -nppatlite.ini -c".
       If you get error "Error loading patch", try again.


   Megaem 3.xx
   -----------

     - How to use Pro Patches Lite with MegaEm 3.xx :

        *  If you have version 3.06b or later just copy the "large.bnk" file
           to the same directory with MegaEm. No renaming needed.

        *  If you have version 3.04b or earlier copy the "large.bnk" file
           from your Pro Patches Lite directory to your Ultrasound
           directory and rename it to "1024.bnk".


     - If you're having problems, when using PPLT bank file with MegaEm 3.xx
       (i.e. lock ups), try rebuilding the bank file with megaem 3.04b
       or ealier. Here is the procedure:
        *  First, delete the old MEGAEM 3 patch set (if exists) in your
           ultrasound directory ( file 1024.bnk ).
        *  Second, enter command "patmenu q".
        *  Then load megaem 3.xx - it should now build a new patch set.
        *  Enter command "patmenu s" to reinstall all of the Pro Patches Lite
           patches.


   MegaEm 2.xx
   -----------

     - The original GUS tom drums must have some unknown magic in them,
       because PPLT toms can't be heard with MegaEm 2.xx emulation.
       So, use the "MegaEm Compability mode" also with MegaEm 2.xx. That
       should fix the problem.


   GS Drum kits
   ------------

      - Pro Patches Lite v1.6 and later provides 7 additional GS drum banks.

      - In windows these banks are used automatically if the midi
        player/sequencer program supports GS bank changes and the midi files
        uses one of the following drum kits:

        Room kit (8),  Power kit (16), Electronic kit (24), 808 kit (25),
        Jazz kit (32), Brush kit (40), Orchestral kit (48)

      - If a midi file don't use one of these banks or the midi player
        program does not care about the drum bank changes you can still
        change the the drum bank with PatchManager. At least media player
        in Windows 95 doesn't seem to care about the drum bank changes :( ...

      - If you are going to use GS drum banks in your own compositions, you
        must remember that PatchManager "lies" the numbers of the GS drum
        banks one higher than the actually are. For example, the bank number
        of Power kit is stated to be "17" in PatchManager and a midi file
        should use bank number "16" to play with the Power drums.

      - In dos, at least Playmidi does not care about the drum bank changes.
        In dos, you can change the drum bank with Patmenu. With Patmenu you
        can set one of the GS drum banks to be the standard drum bank. This
        means you'll hear the GS drum bank everywhere where drums are played.
        So, you'll have to use the Patmenu again when you want the standard
        drum bank back...
        

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Future plans
============

   -Making the patch set even better.

   -Developing Patmenu.

   -.INI editor included in the Patmenu for Windows.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The end
=======

   This package is free sofware. It means that you can use the patches for
   whatever purposes you want to.

   If you have something to ask, comment or suggest my E-mail address
   is "cseera@uta.fi". I really would like to know your opinion about this
   patch set.

   Especially, if you have some patches/wavs or whatever sounds,
   better than ones in PPLT, I would appreciate if you e-mailed them to me
   or pointed where I can find them. Don't mind about size of the patches,
   many big patches sound still good when they are squeezed smaller.
   Especially patches which are used with professional synths are often
   unnecessarily big and can easily be edited smaller.

   And thanks to everyone who already have done that ! Keep the mail coming.

   If you have only 512kB GUS, this package would make the 1 MB upgrade to
   be a profitable investement !


                        *  * *** HAVE FUN !!! *** *  *

                                    E-)
