ittyMIDI Turns Palm PDA into a MIDI Player

MicroTools LLC announced the release of an improved version of the company's software for the Palm OS platform - ittyMIDI Player 2.1.

ittyMIDI Player converts a Palm OS compatible hand held into a full featured MIDI player, capable of controlling any MIDI-enabled musical instrument. Connecting via the communications port, ittyMIDI Player combines the portability of a hardware MIDI player with the ease of use of a software player. It has been designed to function as either a practice tool or an accompaniment tool, suitable for both professional and amateur musicians.

ittyMIDI Player provides complete control of MIDI files and instruments, including on-the-fly, non-destructive editing of channel volume and muting, as well as tempo and pitch. The volume on each channel can be independently controlled and/or muted with a simple on-screen mixer. ittyMIDI Player's Non-GM Mapping, Channel Mapping and Suppress GM Enable features support playing GM files on non-GM synths. Instrument mapping can also be done on a per song basis. Tempo can be controlled from -99% to +127%. Pitch can be transposed +/- 24 semitones, on any channel. All changes are stored non-destructively in "playlists", making multiple variations of the same song possible.

Using the Windows SongLoader application, ittyMIDI Player users can manage a library of hundreds of MIDI files on their desktop and on their handheld. These files can be assembled into any number of automatic or custom playlists that can even be beamed to other users.

IttyMIDI Player also features MIDI THRU, Count In Measures, Disabling of Palm Alarms, Tuning, Practice Loops, and different play modes including Play One mode which plays the current song and queues the next song with a single tap. It even allows you to change what song is queued while the current song is playing.

Version 2.1 of ittyMIDI Player adds a number of key new features. PalmOS 5.0 support allows ittyMIDI Player 2.1 to run on the new family of ARM Processor powered handhelds such as the Palm Tungsten|T. ittyMIDI Player 2.1 also adds support for the internal Polyphonic synthesizers built into many of Sony's PalmOS handhelds, as well as the BeatPlus SpringBoard module for HandSpring's PalmOS handhelds. This allows musicians to edit, organize and preview their playlists with no connection to an external synthesizer. ittyMIDI Player 2.1 also sports color support and improved timing accuracy on loops.

IttyMIDI Player is available on CD-ROM or as a download. Retail Price: $29.99.