Yamaha Embraces DLS by Providing Game Developers Access to its Vast Sound LibrariesBUENA PARK, CA-In a landmark move designed to allay fears of copyright and trademark infringement, Yamaha Corporation of America has announced two aggressive programs that enable game developers to sample the output of Yamaha electronic musical instruments and to use a Yamaha developed DLS sound set for legitimate development and implementation of their games.
The two new Yamaha programs apply to game developers who adhere to the Microsoft DirectMusic implementation of Downloadable Sounds or other DLS implementations authorized by the MIDI Manufacturers Association and Yamaha. DLS is a new specification that provides a way for game developers and composers to add their own sounds, rather than having to rely on the fixed "General MIDI" or "XG" sound set provided with most PCs today. These MIDI formats are used in PC games for generating music scores, and are also very popular with professional musicians and hobbyists who use MIDI for composing or simply learning about music.
With DLS, custom sounds can be created and existing instrument sounds can be augmented with special effects by simply downloading a new sample bank. As the soundtrack component of top computer games becomes increasingly important, DLS affords developers a powerful compositional tool that takes their craft-and the game-playing experience-to an entirely new level.
However, widespread adoption of DLS by game developers has been greatly hampered in recent months by confusion surrounding the practice of sampling the output of an electronic musical instrument. Just as Rap artists met legal challenges when they sampled portions of copyrighted material and included these snippets in their own music, game developers are fearful that musical instrument manufacturers will file copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits against them, in an effort to maintain control of their unique instrument sounds.
"Yamaha believes that DLS technology can contribute to a quantum leap in quality of computer-based game music," says Michael G. DÚAmore, Strategic Business Development Manager, Multi-Media Business R&D Division, Yamaha Corporation of America. "Our program can help insure the broad implementation of this technology, in that it takes the roadblocks out of developers' way and gives them the freedom to sample our equipment without fear of retribution."
D'Amore notes that under the DLS by XG program, Yamaha retains the Intellectual Property rights to the ROM sounds of its products; game developers are granted a license, and must sign a contract that outlines the rights reserved by Yamaha, and the obligations of the game developer.
To further fuel Direct Music/DLS development, Yamaha is providing Game Developers with the company's DLS by XGLite, a professionally-designed DLS sound set that features a ready-made set of high-quality downloadable sounds, that is upward compatible with Yamaha XG hardware and software synthesizers.
Implemented in popular Yamaha Internet products such as MIDPLUG and SYG20 Soft Synthesizer, DLS by XGLite allows developers to choose just how much of the sound set they wish to distribute-i.e., a single octave of a piano sound-which saves a significant amount of disk space and/or download time for games that are sent over the Internet.
Game Developers wanting more information about the new Yamaha program can contact Michael G. D'Amore, Strategic Business Development Manager, Multi-Media Business R&D Division, Yamaha Corporation of America, 6600 Orangethorpe Ave., Buena Park, CA. 90620, call (714) 522-9330, fax (714) 522-9380 or email xgdev@yamaha.com
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