ROL Files There are hundreds of ROL files in the MUS_ROL directory. These files require a sound card with FM synthesizer chips, such as the Pro Audio Spectrum, Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, etc. Also required is software for playing ROL files. Unfortunately (since there are a huge number of ROL files available), there are not any completely reliable programs for playing them except for the programs from Ad Lib, which was out of business the last we heard. The program PLAYROL is about as good as there is, and it just works in DOS and cannot properly handle some files, especially large, complex ones. (Note: PLAYROL requires you to run SOUND.COM first.) The best situation is if you can get a copy of Ad Lib's old Visual Composer software. Not only can it play any ROL files, but you can modify them and even write your own. As far as we know, the only way to get a copy is to find a friend with a copy. The second-best situation is to get a copy of Ad Lib's old Jukebox program for playing ROL files, although even it cannot handle some very large ROL files and it is cumbersome for just playing one or two files. It would be nice if someone would write a good ROL file player - especially one for Windows. [BACH_ORG] Bach's Organ Works (Childs, Roy V.; $0) is a huge selection of Bach Organ Works in .ROL format. The files in this ZIP will unarchive to TWELVE 360k disks! [BRAHAMS1, BRAHAMS2] Brahams, Mendelsshon & Schumann (Childs, Roy V.; $0) contains the organ works of these composers in AdLib ROL format. Instrument files are included to help simulate the sound of a pipe organ. [BUXTEHUD] Buxtehude Organ Music (Childs, Roy V.; $0) is the music of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) in ROL file format for Ad Lib compatible sound cards. [FRANCK] Franck Organ Music (Childs, Roy V.; $0) is a large collection of organ music in ROL format. [PACHELBL] Pachelbel Keyboard Works (Childs, Roy V.; $0) contains many classical keyboard works of Johann Pachelbel. Instrument files are also included, and the documentation contains some interesting historical information. [STRAUSS] Strauss: Waltzes (Childs, Roy V.; $0) contains eight waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr. in Ad Lib ROL format. [SWEELIN1, SWEELIN2, SWEELIN3, SWEELIN4, SWEELIN5, SWEELIN6] Keyboard Works of Sweelinck (Childs, Roy V.; $0) is a collection of 70 pieces of music from Baroque composer, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. This is a beautifully done set of organ arrangements. Instrument files are included. [NF_K614] NF K.614 is Mozart's String Quintet in E-flat Major, K.614, Part 1. -----ROL File Utilities [ACCUMUSC] ACCU Music System 3.4 (Fischer, Kevin ASP; $23) lets you create music on your PC. AMS has many features which Ad Lib's Visual Composer does not, with some pro's and con's to them. In AMS, you can only see/edit/print one voice (series of notes) at a time, so to enter a chord, for example, you have to bring up the window for each voice (note) in the chord. Also, unlike VB, you cannot hear the notes as you enter them. This combo makes AMS less suitable for use in composing music. For transcribing from sheet music to the computer, you should find AMS easier to use. You enter notes in a window in text format (eg: CN is C natural) and they appear on the staff above the window. Other features AMS has over VB are the ability to print, to transcribe, and to play through the PC's speaker if you do not have a sound card, although you can only play one voice through the speaker and up to 11 at once through a sound card. AMS can convert between Ad Lib ROL files and its own format. [ADMENU] AdLib ZIP Menu 3.0 (Ledbetter, Keith ASP; $0) is a menu program that allows you to ZIP all of your ROL files into one ZIP file, yet still play them easily and painlessly. Features include adding ZIP comments to allow more useful titles for each song (up to 25 chars); the ability to search for partial text in the song names; and the ability to sort song names. Requires PKUNZIP and PlayROL. [ADMUSE] AdMuse 3.0 (Calbridge, Bob; $10) will convert music files created with a text editor into Ad Lib playable ROL files. This method of entering music could be easier for people who are not great at reading music and want to transcribe sheet music into Ad Lib files. The 90+k documentation file even gives instructions on how to read music. [BANKFMT] Bank File Format (Ad Lib; $0) details the format of the .BNK files. [MENU_PM] Menu_PM (McGowan, Patrick; $0) is a music file menu and playing programs for Ad Lib and Sound Blaster. [MIDI2ROL] MIDI to AdLib Conversions (Patch Panel Software; $0) is a collection of 49 music files that have been converted from MIDI to ROL files. The set is almost entirely classical with some Christmas music. The arrangements are pretty extensive, for the most part, but the piano was the only instrument used and no volume variations are included, so if you have Ad Lib's Visual Composer, you may want to fix these up. [MOREINS] MoreIns is a collection of 250 different instrument files for Ad Lib. [MUSICN1] Musician I (DigiMus Ky; $?) allows you to write music for/with a sound card using a graphical notes-on-a-staff approach from either the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard or from a graphical keyboard that appears in a corner of the screen. The program's features are very impressive, but the documentation is sketchy and the author can no longer be reached. Also, the data files are not compatible with Ad Lib ROL format, so the two cannot be interchanged. [PLAYZIP] PlayZip (McKee, Rob & Livingston, David; $15) lets you keep ROL, CMS and CMF files compressed into Zip files and play them without having to manually dearchive them first. [PLAYROL] PlayROL (Harton, Tracy) plays ROL files from DOS, BATch files, etc. [PLAYMNU] PlayMenu (Beeler, Bill; $0) is a menuing utility to be used in conjunction with PLAYROL. [SBANK] Sbank 1.06 (JO'Connell, Jamie; $10) manages SoundBlaster and Adlib instrument files and sound banks. It will translate between .INS, .SBI, .BNK, and .IBK files. It will also report instrument names stored in bank files and display musical parameters contained in the instrument definitions.