Canyon.mid

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Retro hardware authenticity

  • Debate over whether the desk photo is period-correct: Zip drive feels “Windows 95 era” to some, even though it technically overlaps late Windows 3.1.
  • The Tandy 1000 RSX in the picture is described as a “borderline between eras”: 386SX CPU, VGA, late-model Tandy that could barely run Windows 95 if heavily upgraded.
  • Speakers and peripherals look more mid/late‑90s than early‑90s; some see the setup as someone keeping an older machine alive with newer add‑ons.
  • Minor tangent on whether the photo was shot with film vs a 90s digital camera.
  • Several people note that in practice OS and hardware generations overlapped heavily; Windows 3.1 machines were still common well into the Windows 95/98 era.

Canyon.mid, MIDI, and sound hardware

  • Canyon.mid shipped with Windows 3.1 and thus predates Zip drives; it’s strongly associated with that era’s media player.
  • Many recall it (and other bundled tracks like clouds.mid, onestop.mid, Sound Blaster demos) as formative audio experiences.
  • Strong nostalgia both for PC‑speaker “raw” sound (e.g. Monkey Island on the internal beeper) and for the jump to AdLib/Sound Blaster FM and later wavetable cards.
  • Technical discussion:
    • PC speaker: single‑voice square waves; clever tricks (PWM, “1‑bit DAC”) enabled crude digitized audio in some games.
    • MIDI: just note/tempo/control data; timbre depends on the synth (OPL2/3, MT‑32, Sound Canvas, AWE64, etc.).
    • Disagreement over whether there’s a “correct” sound: some say no; others argue specific pieces (including canyon.mid) were arranged for particular devices/standards.
    • General MIDI vs vendor extensions (GS, XG) and device‑specific arrangements in DOS games.

MIDI then vs now

  • Windows and macOS still ship basic, low‑quality Roland‑derived GM synths; they’re “better than nothing” but inferior to old dedicated hardware.
  • Linux MIDI playback is seen as awkward: choosing soundfonts/softsynths and wiring them up is work compared to “just press play” on 90s Windows.
  • Modern hardware no longer has built‑in synthesis; high‑fidelity PCM plus emulation or soundfonts is the norm, but decent GM playback often relies on old ROMs, plugins, or niche tools.

UI, volume, and web experience

  • Several complain about the site’s embedded YouTube: disabled controls, loud autoplay, and YouTube “sign in to confirm you’re not a bot.”
  • Long subthread on audio volume:
    • One side argues app‑level volume is conceptually wrong and degrades signal; others note 24‑bit mixing and dithering make losses negligible, and per‑app sliders are highly practical.
    • Discussion of OS‑level mixers, tools like EarTrumpet/BackgroundMusic, replaygain, compressors, and dynamic range management.

Nostalgia, minimalism, and software progress

  • Many express affection for the Windows 3.1 UI: simple, fast, and “enough.”
  • Debate over why we “killed minimalism”:
    • Some blame capitalism, feature arms races, and cheap high‑bandwidth updates leading to “eternal beta” software.
    • Others counter that software is vastly more capable and generally more stable than in the 90s; crashes and reinstalls were worse then.
  • Broader reflections on how games, media, and tools have improved (e.g., Ultima VII on a phone, thousands of indie games on Steam) while also becoming more bloated and dopamine‑tuned.
  • Several note that nostalgia is powerful but not universal; some cherish old systems yet prefer modern hardware, UIs, and creative possibilities.