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Archive-name: music/netjam-faq
Last-modified: 1994/10/17 Version: 5.5 See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge *** This is an electronic and computer music frequently-asked questions (FAQ) document, distributed by NetJam. It is probably of interest to readers of the USENET newsgroups: ucb.becmug rec.music.makers rec.music.makers.synth rec.music.synth rec.music.compose comp.music and anyone else interested in the applications of computers to music (and vice-versa). It is posted fortnightly to the above-mentioned groups, as well as news.answers. It is also available as ftp://XCF.Berkeley.EDU/pub/misc/netjam/doc/FAQ/ECMFAQ. Finally, it can be obtained by emailing NetJam-request@XCF with the subject line "request for ECM FAQ". The machine XCF.Berkeley.EDU has IP address 128.32.138.1. You may do anything you like with this document, except sell it. Please send contributions and comments to NetJam@XCF.Berkeley.EDU. For general info about NetJam, email NetJam-request@XCF.Berkeley.EDU, with the phrase "request for info" in the subject line. Thanks, -C *** --- New items are marked with a '+'. Modified existing items are marked with a '*'. Short contents: 0.0) [Meta-issues] 1.0) [Newcomer questions] 2.0) [Connectivity issues] 2.1.0) [Groups] 2.2.0) [Archives] 2.3.0) [Making CDs] 3.0) [Software] 3.1.0) [Software by role] 3.1.1.0) ["Environments"] 3.1.1.3.0) [Max] 3.1.2.0) [Notation software] 3.1.3.0) [Composition software] 3.1.3.1.0) [CSound] 3.1.4.0) [Recorded music] 3.1.5.0) [Conversion software] 3.1.6.0) [Editing and mixing software] 3.1.7.0) [Sound synthesis software] 3.2.0) [Software by platform] 3.2.3.0) [NeXT software] 3.2.4.0) [DOS/Windows software] 4.0) [Hardware] 4.1.0) [Multi-platform hardware] 4.2.0) [UNIX hardware] 4.3.0) [NeXT hardware] 4.4.0) [DOS/Windows hardware] 4.5.0) [Macintosh hardware] 5.0) [Reference material] Long contents: 0.0) [Meta issues] 0.1) How can I browse ftp sites and their data without using my own disk space (unless I want to keep data), and locate files on ftp sites, given pathname fragments? 0.2) What other FAQs might be of interest? 0.3) How do I ask for advice on a topic of interest from the Net? 0.4) What are the future plans for your FAQs? 1.0) [Newcomer questions] 1.1) What keyboard should I buy? 1.2) Where can I get patches for my keyboard? 1.3) What is MIDI? 1.4) What are definitions for the following things? 1.5) Where can I get price lists? 1.6) Where can I get a USA music store list? 2.0) [Connectivity issues] 2.1.0) [Groups] 2.1.1) What is Netjam? 2.1.2) How do I subscribe to EMUSIC-D and EMUSIC-L, and what other BITNET lists are of interest? 2.1.3) What are some other emailing lists relating to electronic and computer music? 2.1.4) How do I contact the editorial staff of Electronic Musician magazine? 2.1.5) Is there a group for Roland U20 and U220 synthesizer users? 2.1.6) What Yamaha synthesizer groups are there? 2.2.0) [Archives] 2.2.1) What are some other midi-file/software archives on the Internet? 2.2.2) Is there a archive for the K2000 synthesizer? 2.3.0) [Making CDs] 2.3.1) What constitutes a CD master? 2.3.2) Who and how much? 2.4) How do I transfer patches, data files, MFF files from a Mac to a PC and back? 3.0) [Software] 3.1.0) [Software by role] 3.1.1.0) ["Environments"] 3.1.1.1) What is Smallmusic? What is the MODE? 3.1.1.3.0) [Max] 3.1.1.3.1) What is Max? 3.1.1.3.2) Which glove interfaces with the Max 'glove' object? 3.1.1.4) What is DMIX and how can I get it? 3.1.2.0) [Notation software] 3.1.2.1) Is there PostScript code available for generating guitar scales? 3.1.2.2) Where can I get online guitar tablature? 3.1.2.3) What is MusicTeX, and how can I get it? 3.1.2.4) What is Finale? How can I get a demo? 3.1.2.5) What is Lime and how can I get it? 3.1.2.6) What is cmn and how can I get it? 3.1.2.7) What is Nutation and... well, you know. 3.1.3.0) [Composition software] 3.1.3.1.0) [CSound] 3.1.3.1.1) What is CSound? 3.1.3.1.2) What are the requirements of CSound? 3.1.3.1.3) Is there a tutorial on CSound? 3.1.3.2) What is Deluxe Music Construction Set (DMCS)? 3.1.4.0) [Recorded music] 3.1.4.1) Where can I get recordings of electronic music? 3.1.5.0) [Conversion software] 3.1.5.1) Are there programs to convert back and forth between human/filter-readable text and MIDI files? How do I get them? 3.1.5.2) What is Midi2TeX, and how can I get it? 3.1.5.3) What is Hyperupic, and how can I get it? 3.1.5.4) What is SoundHack and how can I get it? 3.1.5.5) What is the Copyist Companion, and how can I get it? 3.1.6.0) [Editing software] 3.1.6.1) What are tclm and xdrum, and how can I get them? 3.1.6.2) What is MixView, and how can I get it? 3.1.6.3) What is DU, and how can I get it? 3.1.6.4) What is RT, and how can I get it? 3.1.6.5) What is RTLisp, and how can I get it? 3.1.6.6) What is Cmix and how can I get it? 3.1.7.0) [Sound synthesis software] 3.1.7.1) What are Patchmix and StochGran and how can I get them? 3.2.0) [Software by platform] 3.2.1) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on multiple platforms? 3.2.2) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on UNIX platforms? 3.2.3.0) [NeXT software] 3.2.3.1) What are some currently available sound editors for the NeXT? 3.2.3.2) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on NeXT platforms? 3.2.3.3) Where can I find information about the NeXT MIDI driver? 3.3.3.4) What is the status of the Music Kit on NeXT machines? 3.2.3.5) What ear-training software is there for the NeXT? 3.2.4.0) [DOS/Windows software] 3.2.4.1) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on DOS/Windows platforms? 3.2.4.2) What are some public-domain (or nearly so) sample-editing programs for IBM-PC compatibles? 3.2.5) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on Macintosh platforms? 3.2.6) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on Amiga platforms? 4.0) [Hardware] 4.1.0) [Multi-platform hardware] 4.1.1) What are some good things with which to whack MIDI drum triggers? 4.1.2) How do I get MIDI working with my analog synth? 4.2.0) [UNIX hardware] 4.2.1) What are some MIDI interfaces for 386 UNIX boxes? 4.3.0) [NeXT hardware] 4.4.0) [DOS/Windows hardware] 4.4.1)* How do I do MIDI with my laptop PC? What is the Key Electronics Midiator? 4.4.2) I'm just starting on MIDI and want to know how to send MIDI from my SCO UNIX box (and who do I buy a card from? Are there device drivers available?) 4.4.3) How can I adapt my IBM-PC parallel port to be a MIDI interface? 4.5.0) [Macintosh hardware] 4.5.1) What's all this about problems with Macintosh Powerbooks and MIDI? 4.5.2) How can I build my own MIDI interface for the Macintosh? 5.0) [Reference Material] 5.1) Is an overview of "General MIDI" available? 5.2) What are the names and address of various gear manufacturers? 5.3) Where may I find an electronic music bibliography? 5.4) Where can I find out all about MIDI? 5.5) What are the details behind current sound formats? --- 0.0) [Meta issues] --- 0.1) How can I browse ftp sites and their data without using my own disk space (unless I want to keep data), and locate files on ftp sites, given pathname fragments? Answer: There is a set of Emacs-Lisp ("elisp") code, called "ange-ftp.el", which makes 'ftp' use transparent within GNU Emacs (GNU Emacs is available via anonymous ftp from prep.ai.mit.EDU). This package attempts to make accessing files and directories using FTP from within GNU Emacs as simple and transparent as possible. A subset of the common file-handling routines are extended to interact with FTP. Using these routines, I can read remote files as I would any local file, without having to write it locally to disk. This is is especially useful since the document is dynamic (hopefully increasingly so). The routines are available via anonymous ftp (naturally!) as ftp://tut.cis.ohio-state.EDU/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/as-is/, (incidentally, if you already had "ange-ftp.el", you could paste the above line in response to Emacs' 'copy-file', stick "/anonyous@" in front of it, and copy the file.) My current version is dated 22 October 1991. Another useful bit of elisp is "context.el". It saves the Emacs buffer list and window configuration between editing sessions. So, one can have several buffers, with several files open (as I usually do), quit and restart Emacs, and have the state preserved, cursor locations and windows included. Happily, it works well with "ange-ftp.el", so that even remote files are restored (after possibly having to prompt for passwords). "context.el" is also available via anonymous ftp from tut.cis.ohio-state.EDU, as /gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/as-is/context.el.Z. Also look for "tree-dired.el" which provides for hierarchical directory editing. Incidentally, it was very easy to produce references for the above tools, thanks to another tool called "archie", developed at McGill University. Dubbed a "resource discovery tool" by its authors, it comes in very handy when one knows what tools are needed but not their availability. Archie consists of a server for this information (basically from a database of directory trees from "all known" anonymous ftp sites, updated once per month), and a client, which may be run via 'telnet' from the server machine itself (frowned upon...), or from a standalone client available from that machine (...highly encouraged, for the considerable host load win). Some clients even perform ftp tasks based on user response to search results. There are clients available for dumb and X terminals, and, of course, Emacs. Poke around archie.mcgill.ca for a client and documentation. --- 0.2) What other FAQs might be of interest? Answer: You can get nearly every FAQ known to USENETkind from the newsgroup news.answers. I also edit two other FAQs which may be of interest: If you are interested in composing music, you may want to look at the music composition FAQ. It is posted fortnightly to the above-mentioned group, as well as to news.answers. It is also available via ftp as anonymous@XCF.Berkeley.EDU:misc/netjam/doc/FAQ/composition/\ compositionFAQ.entire, and in pieces as .../split/*. Finally, it can be obtained by emailing netjam-request@XCF with the subject line "request for composition FAQ". The machine XCF.Berkeley.EDU has IP address 128.32.138.1. If you are interested in Smalltalk programming, you may want to look at the Smalltalk FAQ, which is posted fortnightly to comp.lang.smalltalk. It is also available via ftp as anoymous@xcf.berkeley.edu:misc/smalltalk/FAQ/SmalltalkFAQ.entire. --- 0.3) How do I ask for advice on a topic of interest from others on the Net? Answer: [see also the many fine recurring articles in news.announce.newusers --crl] From: Karl Haberl (khaberl@bbn.com) Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 "The Beginner's Guide to Asking the Net Gods for [Musical] Advice" The net can be a powerful resource for information and advice, as well as being a lively and sometimes fun-filled forum for the exchange of views. One of the most common mistakes beginners make when asking for advice is that they do not put enough information in their posts to allow a more experienced "net veteran" to provide a concise, focused reply to their request. Questions like "Which keyboard is best X or Y ?" can only really be answered in the context of knowing something about the individual who is asking the question. Below are some suggestions for info that would be helpful to include in any articles requesting advice on various topics. By including this info in your post, you will be accomplishing two important things: (1) you will be explicitly demonstrating to the net community that you are not lazy, and that you have taken some time yourself to think about the subject and identify the precise areas where you need help, and (2) you will be providing essential background info that will help focus and tailor any responses to your particular problem. Here, then are the categories (feel free to augment these with any other information that you think might be appropriate): (1) EXPERIENCE LEVEL - Indicate how much experience you have that is appropriate for the subject. This will help focus advice at the right level of detail. "I've played classical piano for twelve years, never touched a synth." "I've been using Vision for two years now, and while I would not call myself a power user, I think I am quite competent with basic operations." (2) INFORMATION SOURCES ALREADY EXPLORED - Asking basic questions without indicating what kind of reading or other investigations you may have already done yourself is likely to cause one of two things to happen: either the reader will skip over your message completely, or will fire off a response like "pick up Keyboard and Electronic Musician, and get a copy of Mix Bookshelf." Tell the net what sources of info you have tried - this gives a baseline for giving advice and/or suggesting further sources of info. "I read the Buyer's Guide issue of Keyboard." "I have Anderton's recording book, but I still don't understand reverb." "I've only talked to my local salesman about this, he says ..." (3) CURRENT EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATION - With equipment-related questions, it is helpful for the respondent to know how any suggested new equipment will complement an existing setup. "I own two rusty cans and 100 yds of twine." "I own a JX-3P, M1, and D70 for synths, and a Tascam PortaPotty 4-track." (4) WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH - Defining what your particular goals are is *critical* for any respondent to give personalized advice. Besides, goal-definition also happens to be the most critical activity that *you* can do to focus your search through the the maze of information and equipment that is out there. "I want to just have fun in my basement studio, writing pop tunes for my own enjoyment and distributing them to my friends." "I want to write soundtracks for local TV productions." "I want to produce demo tapes of my band and send them to record companies." "I want to optimize my rig for live performance of industrial music." (5) BUDGET - For most of the people on this planet, budget is a key constraint. If you have a precise figure in mind, give it. If you're trying to get a more general sense of what things cost versus their capabilities, that's O.K. too, but you should still be able to provide a *range* of $$ figures that you would be willing to consider. Obviously, defining your budget goal will help respondents restrict the range of products considered and discussed. And if you're close to a boundary, they will often say "of course, with just $X more you could step up to a ..." "I have between $300-500 bucks to spend on a reverb unit." "I am willing to spend up to $2000 on a new keyboard if it will allow me to do X,Y, and Z; but I'd prefer to keep it under $1500." --- 0.4) What are the future plans for your FAQs? Answer: I'm working on a FAQ generator in Smalltalk which manages hierarchical groups of questions and answers, and generates FAQs in flat text (like this one) and hypertext (e.g., HTML). Volunteers welcome. --- 1.0) [Newcomer questions] --- 1.1) What keyboard should I buy? Answer: From: xrjdm@calvin.gsfc.nasa.gov (Joseph D. McMahon) Subject: Re: That zany FAQ thing Date: Mon, 10 Aug 92 11:01:10 EDT The most frequently asked question on EMUSIC-L and on rec.music.synth is probably "What keyboard should I buy?" Before you do anything else, indulge in some self-analysis of what you want to do, how committed you are to doing it, and how much money you have to spend on it. If you plan just to play your keyboard every once in a while for fun, you will have a different set of requirements from someone who is looking for the first piece of equipment along the road to establishing a professional set of gear as the nucleus of a studio. Persons who are going to be performing contemporary popular music or who wish to imitate traditional instruments will probably find any number of keyboards which will fit their needs. Experimentalists, or persons wishing to do sonic exploration, with the sound being the primary concern, will have a harder time. In general, keyboard which feature extensive modulation sources and routings (such as the Oberheim Xpander, Kurzweil K2000, or Ensoniq SD-1) will be more useful for synthesis than less complex machines. Set your musical priorities: must-have, highly-desirable, nice, don't care, etc. Acoustic sounds? Synth sounds? Multi-timbral? Built-in sequencer? Built-in effects (reverb, etc)? After-touch? # of keys? You'll probably need to get more familiar with the terminology before you can make any decisions here. A few terms for those new to this: a) Multi-timbrality means that the keyboard can produce more than one sound at a time. For most people who will be purchasing only one synth the first time out, this is very important. A monotimbral (one-sound-at-a-time) machine will require the use of multi-track tape to simulate multi-timbrality. Commonly available used synths which are mono-timbral are the Yamaha DX7 and the Roland D50. You will not be able to make these keyboards sound like more than one thing at once. b) A built-in sequencer (on modern machines) means that the keyboard has the equivalent of a built-in multi-track tape machine; it records the events that occur and allows you to play them back. It is *not* an audio device; it simply records the actions you take to produce a piece of music and then plays them back again, like a player-piano. If you have a computer, you may want to purchase a MIDI (see below) interface and a software sequencer instead. d) Most synthetic sounds are more pleasing with at least a little bit of effects (echo, reverberation, etc.). Some keyboards have built-in effects; others require external ones. Note that built-in effects usually require that all voices go through the same effect; if there is an alternative, it is usually "no effects". This means that is you have a distorted guitar, an organ with a rotating speaker effect, and a lead with just a touch of reverb, you are going to have to choose which two of the three effects you are going to be able to live without, because only one will be available at a time. e) After-touch is a means of controlling the sound after you've pressed the key. For most keyboards, pressing on any one key while holding a chord will cause all of the sounding notes to act as if they too had been pressed harder; this is called "channel aftertouch". Other let you control this individually for each key; this is called "key aftertouch and is not seen as often. f) The number of keys varies. In general, most have 61 keys (5 octaves), but others have more, all the way up to a full 88. People who already play the piano will probably be more comfortable on a larger keyboard. The feel also varies, from weighted actions which feel very piano-like, through mushy, unweighted ones are more common. f) MIDI is short for "musical instrument digital interface". It is an international standard, and almost all machines built after the Yamaha DX7 have it. (Nit-picky note: some built before to,, but the DX7 is a good reference point.) You can buy a MIDI interface for your home computer and run software to control your keyboards from there. MIDI is often used to build a studio in much the same way that you can build a stereo system: by choosing individual components and combining them into a whole. A good basic checklist for "pro-quality" keyboards: - Sound quality. If it sounds lousy at the store, it'll sound bad at home. If you're having trouble hearing because of the 57 guitar heroes flailing Strats nearby, see if you can take it "on approval". Most dealers are willing to work with you on such things. If all else fails, rent one. Spending $40 to find out that the $2500 you were going to spend would have been a waste is a good investment. - Usability. If the interface confuses you, if you don't like the layout of the modulators, if you really hate that joystick and want a wheel instead, or you think the operating system really sucks, don't commit to such a keyboard unless you're willing to deal with this. Small dissatisfactions can turn what you thought was "okay" into "unusable" after repeated fighting with them. Software that locks up or crashes falls into this category. - Feel. If you're already a keyboard player, you probably have an ideal "good keyboard" feel in your "muscle memory". Try playing something you already know on the keyboard to see if it suits you. Keyboard feel ranges from organ-like, mushier feels to weighted, piano-like actions. If the keyboard has aftertouch, try it out and see if it's intuitive enough for you. Try out the modulation controllers (joystick, mod wheel, pedals, what have you) and see if they feel sturdy enough to stand up to some abuse. Try the buttons and sliders (and knobs and switches, if the keyboard has them) to make sure that they feel solid and dependable. If you're buying a used keyboard, check buttons to make sure they all work, and check sliders and knobs to make sure they track evenly through their full range. - Price. I waited to mention this here because if you hate the way it sounds, or can't stand to use it, it doesn't matter how much how much you saved. Don't talk yourself into a keyboard that doesn't satisfy you purely on monetary grounds. If you have to, wait. - Quality of manuals. Be sure to inquire if there are third-party books on programming or using the keyboard. You may want to buy a copy of the keyboard's documentation to review at home before making your final decision. - Number of voices and multitimbrality. This is essentially the number of simultaneous noises that your keyboard can make. In the case of a keyboard, polyphony (as interpreted by the marketing department) means "the number of different waveforms which can be produced at once". This is an important distinction to remember; many current keyboards will actually use more than one waveform simultaneously to produce the sound (usually called a "patch", referring to how older synthesizers were programmed with "patch cords"), which you hear when a single key is struck. For instance, if a keyboard has 32-voice polyphony and uses four simultaneous waveforms to produce a single note, the effective polyphony (in the first sense, "more than one note at once") is now only eight (eight notes * 4 waveforms/voice = 32 waveforms). This problem can be even worse for a multitimbral keyboard; these are commonly touted as being a complete composing and performing solution in a single box. However, attempting to produce an entire arrangement of a piece at once may very well exceed the effective polyphony very quickly. Multitimbral synths may be able to play several patches at once, but each note being played on a patch reduces the number of waveforms left to produce another note on any of the patches. For example, a standard drum track will typically use at least four (and possibly more) waveforms at some point: bass drum, snare, hi-hat, and ride cymbal. Remember that even if they all only come together at one sixteenth note, all of the voices will be required at once. Add in piano and several other voices, and you will be getting close to or exceeding the effective polyphony very quickly. When you exceed the number of waveforms that can be produced simultaneously, the keyboard will do one of two things: old (already-sounding) voices will have to be silenced to get waveforms for the new ones (this is called "voice stealing"), or the new notes simply won't sound until the old ones are released (this is less common). Some keyboards allow you to assign "priorities" to voices to determine which ones can be stolen from first. Others simply take the oldest voice and give its waveforms to the new note. You will have to determine the effective polyphony to decide whether a given keyboard has enough voices for you. This can be somewhat difficult. It is essential that you check this out hands-on. Play the sounds available in the store with as many fingers on the keys as you will use in normal playing for those sounds. If you like fat two-handed minor 11ths, you'll need a lot more polyphony than players who only play one or two notes at a time. If your playing isn't quite up to the challenge, try choosing a patch and paying a number of notes with the sustain pedal held down. See how the keyboard handles it when the polyphony is exceeded. Another good test is to hit a high note and then see how many low notes you can play before the high note disappears. - Many newer synths include built-in effects processing. See if it's possible to turn this off, or to route the signals so that they aren't processed. You may want to be able to process the sounds differently at a later date, so being able to not process them internally is useful. Try out the different effects and see if you like what they do. Again, remember that multitimbral keyboards will usually force you to choose a single effect (or none at all) for all of the voices. - Built-in sequencer. If you don't have a computer at home, or you'd prefer to spend more money on the keyboard and less on other things, consider a keyboard with a built-in sequencer. You should sit down and actually try to use it before springing for a keyboard on this basis; some are very difficult to use and fairly limited in function. - Availability of additional sounds. This may or may not be important to you. If you want to make your own sounds, look into the keyboard's voice architecture and programming. Get the salesperson to demonstrate if possible. If you find it confusing, you may find it difficult to program. If you want to purchase third-party sounds, talk to the dealer about what's available, and check out the ads in Keyboard magazine. You should never buy any keyboard without trying it. Ways to do this: talk to friends who own keyboards and get them to let you try them. Ask as many questions as you can think of. If a local junior or community college has a music lab, see what they've got and take some classes. Or go to a local dealer. It's better to at least see a keyboard once before asking about it on the discussion groups (SYNTH-L or rec.music.synth), simply because there are a lot of personal decisions to get out of the way first. Certainly, the music store is a good place to at least try keyboards. Try to hit the store when fewer people are likely to be there, like late afternoon around dinnertime, or early in the morning. A good salesperson won't be afraid to tell you that they don't have what you need, and won't push something on you as "really hot" without justification. He or she will also spend time talking to you about what you want to do and help steer you toward features on different machines that will be useful to you. Never let yourself be stampeded into buying X as soon as you walk in. If it's a legitimate deal, you will be able to come back later after you check with the competition. For this reason, it's usually not a good idea to buy a synth at a clearance sale or a "one-day-only" special unless you're already sure that it's what you want. Don't buy what it'll do "real soon now". Manufacturers are famous for advertising upgrades, new patches, and lots of other things that you can get right now that will "make it the most powerful synth available". Always treat any keyboard purchase as if the company were going to vanish tomorrow. You can only count on getting what you bought today (Metlay's Law). Sometimes you can't even count on that (Rothwell's Observation on Metlay's Law). There are lots of variations on the "promise", some more subtle than others. "Famous person X uses this," implying that you'll sound like X. Another one is the inflated specs game: "16-bit sounds!" "32-voice polyphony!". None of this makes the slightest bit of difference. If the sounds (or the potential) of this keyboard right here, right now, don't make you want to sit down and start writing music, the keyboard is worthless for you. If your committment to keyboard playing is low, you may want to either get a used keyboard, or to get a "consumer" multi-feature keyboard with built-in accompaniment, etc. If you're unsure as to whether you'll want to keep playing or not, you might want to consider purchasing a keyboard which has been on the market for a year or so, but which is still very popular. This will give you the chance to unload it used without taking a complete bath on the money you spent. If you are highly committed and motivated, and are planning to build a studio over a period of time, you should carefully review *all* of the synths available before making a choice. You may decide that a keyboard which you can't currently afford would be a better long-term choice than a different keyboard which doesn't meet your needs as well. Don't be afraid to wait and save up some money; if for no other reason than the heavy dependence on the music industry on them, electronic keyboards are not likely to suddenly disappear like video games did in the '80's. Once you've done the basic groundwork, and have narrowed the field a bit, post a message to one of the discussion groups and ask for experiences, and read reviews in Keyboard or Electronic Musician. Keyboard's reviews tend to gloss over problems less. In many cases, you will get conflicting recommendations; you will have to weigh these and your own experiences to come to a final decision. The final arbiter of your decision should always be you. You're the one who'll be spending a significant piece of cash and a lot of your time on this machine; it's to your advantage to find out as much as possible and to make sure that the machine you're buying is really one that you want and enjoy playing. (Thanks to Bob Crispen, Ross C., Kraig Eno, and Alan W. Kerr for suggestions.) --- Joe M. (xrjdm@twinpeaks.gsfc.nasa.gov) --- 1.2) Where can I get patches for my keyboard? Answer: Use anonymous ftp to ucsd.EDU -- /midi/patches (current offerings include the Roland D10, D5, D50, D70, U20 Yamaha DX7, FB01, TX81Z, SY22, SY55, SY77, Ensoniq ESQ1, SQ1, Kawai K1, K4, K5, Korg M1, T3, WS, Casio CZ-1, CZ-2) louie.udel.EDU -- /pub/midi/patches (has patches for most of the above and several more, including E-mu Proteus, Korg 01/W, Ensoniq VFX, etc.) --- 1.3) What is MIDI? Answer: (adapted from xrjdm@twinpeaks.gsfc.nasa.gov (Joseph D. McMahon)): MIDI stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface". It is an international standard which allows electronic keyboards, sound modules, effects boxes, and other equipment to send information to one another. Possibly the simplest use of the feature is when the MIDI OUT jack of one synthesizer is connected to the MIDI IN jack of another, allowing you to play both at the same time using just one keyboard. MIDI can carry much more than just notes, however; most MIDI-capable equipment will produce and respond to a variety of messages on the MIDI bus. Also, the proper interface hardware will allow a computer to control the musical equipment (see "EDITOR/LIBRARIAN" and "SEQUENCER"). MIDI is often used to build a studio in much the same way that you can build a stereo system: by choosing individual components and combining them into a whole. The standard was instituted in 1982, and most keyboards after the Yamaha DX7 have it. (Nit-picky note: some built before do, too, but the DX7 is a good reference point.) It includes both a hardware standard (it's a 5 mA current loop carried on 3 wires, with 5-pin DIN connectors) and a serial communications protocol based on byte-oriented message packets running at 31.25 Kbaud. [for a more complete treatment of MIDI, see the item "Where can I find out all about MIDI?" -- Craig] --- 1.4) What are definitions for the following things? - aftertouch, envelope, FM, LFO, module, multitimbral, polyphony, pressure, sampler, sequencer, synthesizer, velocity Answer: "AFTERTOUCH" -- same as "pressure" "ENVELOPE" Date: Thu, 17 Jun 93 15:42:55 +0200 From: styri@balder.nta.no A set of parameters to shape (envelope) the sound with reference to key press and key release, or rather note on and note off. Envelopes have a varying number of parameters, and they may be used for different purposes like volume or filter control. There are many different implementations of envelopes, but most of them will have the following 4 properties: Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. At "note on" the control signal described by the envelope will grow at a specified rate. This is the `attack' and it's usually limited by a time frame. At this instance the signal will `decay' at a specified rate (it may, however, continue to grow though we still call it decay). When the decay stops, eg. specified by another time frame, the signal will be `sustained' until "note off". At this instance the control signal will decrease at a specified rate. --- Haakon Styri styri@nta.no "FM" -- frequency modulation "LAYERING" -- see "MULTITIMBRAL" "LFO" -- Low-Frequency Oscillator "MIDI" -- Musical Instrument Digital Interface An international standard which allows communication between electronic music and lighting equipment from various manufacturers. "MODULE" "MULTITIMBRAL" -- capable of playing two or more timbres simultaneously From: awkerr@zia.aoc.nrao.EDU (Alan Kerr) (edited by K. Eno) Date: 5 Aug 92 It means that there are multiple *timbres* on the machine: more than one different sound can play simultaneously. A machine that is mulitimbral *usually* will let you play those different sounds on different MIDI channels. "Layering" causes the synth to produce more than one sound when you press a single key. A "keyboard split" (or just "split") allows you to play one patch (a piano, perhaps) on one range of keys while you play a different sound (the bass) on another part of the keyboard. A "velocity split" allows you to play different patches at different velocities. For example, you could have "mellow brass" at low velocities, "brass" at medium velocities and "screaming brass" at high velocities played on the same keys. "POLYPHONY" -- number of simultaneously playable voices From: crispen <crispen@EFFTOO.BOEING.COM> Date: 4 Aug 92 - Polyphony and multi-timbrality. The "polyphony" of a keyboard is the number of simultaneous notes that it can play. However, the polyphony advertised by the manufacturer is usually greater than the polyphony you'll actually get, especially with multi-timbral keyboards. Imagine that you have a 16-note polyphonic multi-timbral synth. If you have a multi-timbral sound that has two "raw" voices that sound simultaneously, you're down to 8 different notes that can sound at the same time (16 notes of polyphony divided by two voices). This is true even if the two voices are the same raw voice, but doubled to give a thicker sound. If you have four voices in the multi-timbral sound, you're down to four notes that can sound at once. The real question, then, is how many voices (on the average) this keyboard requires to make up a multi-voice sound that's useful. This will vary from one to four or more. A sampler, for example, may only require one voice to produce exactly the sound you want, while some kinds of synthesizer will take three or more voices before the sound is halfway decent. When you exceed the polyphony limit (and the rule is that you never have as much as you want) different keyboards handle the overflow differently; most turn off the "oldest" voice first; some allow you to set the way overflow is handled. Some quiet down the voice that's been turned off very subtly; others are noisy. Many newer keyboards have "dynamic voice allocation" (DVA) which allows you to guarantee a certain number of notes on each raw voice; when you exceed the polyphony limit, the keyboard will steal from other voices with lower guarantee numbers so that you get more notes, but each note sounds a little thinner because not all the voices are sounding. You *must* check this out hands-on. Play the multi-timbral sounds in the store with as many fingers on the keys as you will use in normal playing for those sounds. If you like fat two-handed minor 11ths, you'll need a lot more polyphony than players who only play one or two notes at a time. "PRESSURE" -- keyboard feature for sensing continuous key pressure Keyboards which are pressure-sensitive (or have "aftertouch", which is the same thing) can detect the amount of pressure on a key AFTER it has reached the end of its initial travel; this data can be used to vary the loudness or other characteristic of the sound, and usually sent as MIDI continuous controller messages as well. MONO pressure, also called "channel" pressure, detects the key that's pressed hardest; POLY pressure senses the individual amount for each separate key. "SAMPLER" -- a device for recording and playing back digitally recorded sounds (I know, I know, the Mellotron) "SEQUENCER" -- a musical event recorder "SPLIT" -- see "MULTITIMBRAL" "SYNTHESIZER" -- device for producing sound through analog or algorithmic means As generally used, a musical instrument which produces a sound signal by means of either analog electronics or real-time, algorithmic generation of a digital waveform. A variety of techniques are used: Additive synthesis Subtractive synthesis Ring Modulation synthesis Frequency Modulation synthesis Phase Distortion synthesis (But is a pipe organ a synthesizer? How about "real" instruments"?) "VELOCITY" -- keyboard feature for sensing how hard you initially play a note Velocity-sensitive keyboards detect how hard you play. Usually they do this by measuring how FAST a note is played -- that is, by measuring the delay between the initial strike and the time the key reaches the end of its travel. The information is usually used to determine the loudness of the note, but can also cause effects such as a faster attack or a shorter overall envelope, depending on the internal architecture of the sound generator. --- 1.5) Where can I get price lists? Answer: Ken Shirriff (shirriff@sprite.Berkeley.EDU) posts a price list every two weeks in rec.music.synth. It is also available by anonymous ftp to sprite.Berkeley.EDU in the file synth_prices. --- 1.6) Where can I get a USA music store list? Answer: William J. Sequeira (pixel@ihlpe.att.com) posts such a list monthly to rec.music.synth. --crl --- 2.0) [Connectivity issues] --- 2.1.0) [Groups] --- 2.1.1) What is Netjam? Answer: Netjam provides a means for people to collaborate on musical compositions, by sending Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) and other files (such as MAX patchers and notated scores) to each other, mucking about with them, and resending them. All those with MIDI-compatible (and other interesting) equipment, access to emailing and compression facilities and to the Internet (send mail as below for details), and who are interested in making music are encouraged to participate. All participant and composition information is documented, and the most actions, such as subscription, submission, translation, and information distribution, are automated. Netjam is platform-independent, so users of Macintoshes, PCs, Amigas, Ataris, and machines running UNIX-variants may all communicate with each other. There are currently 134 participants, from all over the world. Netjam has branched out from its initial incarnation to support {soft/hard}ware other than sequencers. For example, many participants have access to several interesting sound synthesis programs, like CSound for the NeXT. In addition, Netjam archives sampler and MAX patcher data. Any data relating to art and music is fair game. Most Netjam activity takes place via email, in which participants collaborate at their own pace on works. Recently, however, a Wide-Area MIDI Network was implemented, so real-time interaction is now possible. Submissions, participant info, and other data is archived on XCF.Berkeley.EDU (128.32.138.1), where it is available via anonymous ftp. To receive the document from which this blurb is extracted (and which explains Netjam at length) send mail to netjam-request@XCF, with a subject line containing "request for info". Articles about Netjam have also appeared in the Computer Music Journal (15/3), and the Leonardo Music Journal (1/1). We look forward to hearing from you. Craig Latta musician and moderator latta@XCF.Berkeley.EDU --- 2.1.2) How do I subscribe to EMUSIC-D and EMUSIC-L, and what other BITNET lists are of interest? Answer: Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 12:00:09 +0200 From: Martin Roth <roth@ips.id.ethz.ch> Organization: ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) You send a mail to listserv@auvm.bitnet (NOT to emusic-l!!) containing the line: SUB EMUSIC-L <Your real name> That's all. In a few days (this seems to be done manually, so be patient!), you will get an intro mail and then all the discussion mails. To contribute, you can send a mail to emusic-l@auvm.bitnet, which is then automatically sent to all the subscribed people. To get removed from the list, again, do not send to the list, but to listserv@auvm.bitnet UNSUB EMUSIC-L Again, allow up to one week processing time (this is also done manually). By the way, your mail address is taken automatically from the return address of your mail, so be sure you don't have any fancy format there (user@machine.org.dom or something in that form will do well). If you want to know more, just ask listserv@auvm.bitnet (send mail): HELP Simple. Just try. EMUSIC-D should be similar, I suppose... listserv serves lot of other lists, too. Ah, yes, and you can get a list of the lists by sending a simple LIST in a mail, guess where... YES! to listserv@auvm.bitnet ! -Martin _______________________________________________________________________ _ Martin Roth Martin Roth ETHZ, ips, RZ F16 |\ /|_) Mail: roth@ips.id.ethz.ch Sandacker 14 g 01/256 55 68 | \/ | \ (Student of Computer CH-8154 Oberglatt p 01/850 32 75 Science / Engineering) Switzerland (F-)emails welcome! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- 2.1.3) What are some other emailing lists relating to electronic and computer music? Answer: The nextmusic list discusses NeXT-related topics, contact nextmusic-request@wri.com for subscription information. There are the EMUSIC-L and EMUSIC-D lists; unfortunately, I've forgotten their subscription info. All I know is I'm subscribed... don't you hate that? I just know I would embarrass myself in front of millions of BITNETters if I tried to ask... --crl --- 2.1.4) How do I contact the editorial staff of Electronic Musician magazine? Answer: Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1991 09:28:35 EST From: Brian Adamson <adamson%ITD.NRL.NAVY.MIL@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: contacting Electronic Musician magazine To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM> The Jan 1992 issue of Electronic Musician magazine tells how to submit questions to the magazine via e-mail from Internet. (These questions are sometimes published in their letters to the editor column). Simply e-mail to: EMEDITORIAL@PAN.COM (their address on PAN) -- Brian Adamson NRL Code 5523 adamson@itd.nrl.navy.mil --- 2.1.5) Is there a group for Roland U20 and U220 synthesizer users? Answer: Yes. James Choi has started one. Everything is handled by phantom@nwu.EDU --- 2.1.6) What Yamaha synthesizer groups are there? Answer: Here's one: From: doug.ramsay@his.com (Doug Ramsay) Subject: YAMAHA Users Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 16:18:02 All you Yamaha synth users, theres a mailing list you can subscribe to: The YAMAHA Synthesizer Mailing List. Send your administrative requests (additions, deletions and gripes) to sy-request@chorus.fr (send SUBSCRIBE <your name> in the body of the msg) Send your contributions to sy-list@chorus.fr Cheers! --- --- 2.2.0) Archives --- 2.2.1) What are some other midi-file/software archives on the Internet? Answer: Piet van Oostrum (piet@cs.ruu.nl) keeps a list of Internet MIDI-related archives, available via ftp as anonymous@ftp.cs.ruu.nl:MIDI/DOC/archives, and via a mail-server - send mail to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl with the following contents: BEGIN PATH <a valid mail address to you> HELP send MIDI/INDEX END Note: specify a correct address (e.g. user@host.univ.EDU or user@host.BITNET) --- 2.2.2) Is there a archive for the K2000 synthesizer? Answer: Why, yes! From: S. Patel <spatel@hpclbis.cup.hp.com> Date: Thu, 15 Jul 93 10:13:46 PDT You can ftp the following site: ftp.uwp.edu The K2000 archives is listed under the directory /pub/music/lists/kurzweil. Shailesh --- 2.3.0) Making CDs --- 2.3.1) What constitutes a CD master? From: kls30@cd.amdahl.com (Kent L. Shephard) Newsgroups: comp.music,rec.audio.pro,rec.music.synth Subject: Re: Questions about CD mastering Date: 17 Nov 92 16:54:20 GMT Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA In article <1e9i9uINN4g7@calvin.usc.EDU>, alves@calvin.usc.EDU (William Alves) writes: > I would like to talk to anyone who has had some experience > mastering and pressing a CD. I assume that one sends the company that > does the pressing a DAT, but what are the other details? I assume each > track is marked by a DAT id that corresponds to the track number, but > what about the time between tracks? First, how much time is usually > put between tracks? > > Second, I have seen that CDs have a countdown time between the > end of a track and the start of another - how is this represented on > the DAT? Finally, does anyone have the names of and experiences with > CD manufacturers? What are some typical costs and how easy are they to > deal with? Thanks for any info. > > Bill Typical time between tracks varies from about 2-4 seconds. A DAT is sent to the pressing house. With the DAT you also need to send a play sheet that lists the absolute start time and length of each song. You need 15 seconds at the beginning and end of the date that is completely blank. You need no test tones on the tape since the transfer will be digital. Your DAT will need to be "level corrected" either before you send it to the pressing house or after. Before is better since they charge lots of cash for mastering. The level correction is actually called normalization. All this does is make the peak of every song the same level so a person doesn't have to play with the volume on their stereo for each song. Also make sure you record at 44.1KHz vs 48KHz since sample rate conversion would have to be done or an analog step would be needed to get the sample rate to 44.1KHz. The pressing plant will charge a slight amount to convert from DAT to Sony 1630 format which the disk is cut from. The more you do on your end as far as prep goes the less you will wind up paying. I do all my mastering and mastering for other folks on a NeXT and they take the tape with the times and length of songs to the pressing plant they use. There are quite a few pressing plants. Disc Makers in Pittsburg,Pa. and New York have a policy of satisfaction or they refund your money. They als have a 1 week turn around for cassette. -- /* What me, speak for Amdahl? Get real. These opinions and statements */ /* belong to me and me only. If something I said offends you, it's */ /* either you got a thin skin or that I'm just offensive. Who cares. */ /* */ /* kls30@cd.amdahl.com - Don't send NeXTmail!! */ --- 2.3.2) Who and how much? Answer: From: sklower@diva.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Sklower) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,rec.audio.pro,rec.music.cd,rec.music.makers.synth Subject: Re: Cost of producing music CD's Date: 6 Feb 93 00:44:28 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley In article <1krfvbINNpvg@rave.larc.nasa.gov> kludge@grissom.larc.nasa.gov (Scott Dorsey) writes: }In article <C1wsF4.53B@irvine.com> billy@irvine.com (*** Bouncer **) writes: }> }>Does anyone know the name of a manufacturer of music CD's, and and what would }>be the minimum production costs for say 200-500 CDs? } }I recommend Nimbus. Expect to pay about $2500 for a thousand CDs, including }mastering costs from an analogue or DAT master. If you get the PCM 630 }transfer done elsewhere, you can save some money. } }Lots of places are cheaper than Nimbus, but I like their service and their }sound quality. }--scott Well, Scott, says Keith spoiling for a bit of a flame fest, do you believe that the same 1630 master tape sent to different CD factories will result in CD's that sound different under careful test conditions? Lest I be accused of favoritism, here is a list of other manufacturers (or reps): Discovery Systems, Dublin Ohio Digital Audio Disc Corporation (SONY), Terre Haute Indiana Optical Media International, Los Gatos CA Compact Disc Services (Rick Goldman) (818) 241 9103 You can obtain the other missing phone numbers for the ones I listed by calling up directory assistance in the cities mentioned; I don't have them handy with me. When I talked to Nimbus, they wouldn't deal with me directly, they wanted me to go through a representative. The most favorable pricing I've found is through Sony or CDS. Both of them will accept CD-WORM media in lieu of a 1630 tape, and you can find people listed in EQ or MIX or Electronic Musician who will do a DAT->CD-WORM transfer for $100. Fantasy Studios (in Berkeley CA) will charge $350 for a DAT->1630 transfer. Discovery Systems will do 350 disks for about $1100, but you have to send them a 1630 tape; however, they were much friendlier to me than the Nimbus people were over the phone. Sony will do 500 disks for $1225 (including mastering charges) or 1000+ disks for $1.25 a disk (mastering charges waived if you order at least 1000; this is **not** true of data CD-ROMs !). Sony charges $.35 for a jewel case and shrink wrapping. Sony will accept graphics for the silk-screening on the CD itself on a Mac floppy in several formats (e.g. adobe illustrator, MacDraw II,....) (So, if you really only wanted 200, you have to order 500 disks, but only 200 jewel cases, running you $1295, + shipping). CDS charges a little less per disk but a little more for the jewel case so the total is the same. They also will do custom graphics for you for the inserts, and take care of getting it printed, etc, for a fee. Rick is also a really nice guy, and the quality of his life would be improved more by your business than that of the Sony stockholders ;-). You should also include in your cost estimate royalties to be paid to ASCAP. (Call up directory information in manhattan to obtain the phone number of the Harry Fox Agency, call them up and ask for the ``mechanicals'' department) The formula was somewhat complicated ($.065 minimum for a song + $00125 for each minute over 5), but worked out in the two cases I know of about $.80/60 minute disk. From: kludge@grissom.larc.nasa.gov (Scott Dorsey) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,rec.audio.pro,rec.music.cd,rec.music.makers.synth Subject: Re: Cost of producing music CD's Date: 6 Feb 1993 03:14:34 GMT Organization: NASA Langley Research Center and Reptile Farm NNTP-Posting-Host: grissom.larc.nasa.gov In article <45151@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> sklower@diva.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Sklower) writes: >}Lots of places are cheaper than Nimbus, but I like their service and their >}sound quality. >}--scott > >Well, Scott, says Keith spoiling for a bit of a flame fest, do you believe >that the same 1630 master tape sent to different CD factories will result >in CD's that sound different under careful test conditions? Yup. One of the CDs will have some tracks missing, while another one will never be made because they will "lose" your master tape. Another one won't sound like anything at all, because the company will go out of business shortly after receiving your tape. I have seen all three of these things happen and I don't want to see them happen again. In the mastering process to make the 1630 tape, though, all kinds of things can go wrong. If you send them a DAT that has to be resampled, quality can be lost in the resampling process (and some outfits just have a DAT analogue output connected to the analogue input...). If you send them an analogue tape, you are putting yourself in even more danger, since so many of the outfits don't deal with analogue source material much and don't know how to treat it. I have heard altogether too many CDs with obvious sounds of azimuth error, and there is no excuse in the world for this. What you want from a pressing plant is good service. What you want from a mastering lab is good service and good sound quality. I recommend getting the mastering and pressing done by the same outfit (unless you happen to have a 1630 in your back room and can do it yourself). It just makes for a lot less coordination on your part, and when things go wrong there won't be the finger pointing. --scott >Lest I be accused of favoritism, here is a list of other manufacturers >(or reps): > >Discovery Systems, Dublin Ohio >Digital Audio Disc Corporation (SONY), Terre Haute Indiana >Optical Media International, Los Gatos CA >Compact Disc Services (Rick Goldman) (818) 241 9103 Discovery does a rotten mastering job from analogue media, and I can say the same of Sony. Beyond that I haven't much experience with the outfits. --- 2.4) How do I transfer patches, data files, MFF files from a Mac to a PC and back? Answer: Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1993 12:56:39 -0400 (EDT) From: idealord <idealord@dorsai.dorsai.org> This works for any data files - of course it will not work for executables. IBM->Mac Process the file, (unzip, unlharc it), download it and then use Apple File Transfer in the binary mode (not text mode) to "translate" it to the Mac. Mac files have a processing fork which is added to the front end of any file; it tells the Mac what application the file was designed for. Apple File Transfer (it should be in your System or Utilities folder) adds this to the front of the file. Now - you have to use ResEdit to add the appropriate file header info. For MFF files you change the "File Type" to MIDI - make sure to use caps - some apps won't accept "midi." Now you should be able to load it into Performer, whatever, as a MIDI file. If it is a sysex dump or other kind of data file -> take a look at the file type of a previously saved data file created by the program with which you wish to use the IBM data file with ResEdit. The file type is always 4 letters, be sure you use the appropriate cap or small letter combination and change the type of the IBM data file from "text" (Apple File Transfer changes all of its files to the "text" file type) to the type expected by your application of choice. Mac->IBM Process the file (unsit, etc.) and use Apple File Transfer in the binary mode (not text mode) to translate it to IBM format. Apple File Transfer will allow you to format IBM disks, too. The process from Mac->IBM is basically stripping the Mac header off of the data file. There is no further processing. Of course, be sure you've de-archived the data file appropriately - although there are un-stuffit programs available for the IBM - they don't seem to be very reliable. I've used these processes to transfer MFF files, EPS files and other kinds of files successfully between Macs and IBM's. Jeff Harrington idealord@dorsai.dorsai.org --- 3.0) [Software] --- 3.1.0) [Software by role] --- 3.1.1.0) ["Environments"] --- 3.1.1.1) What is Smallmusic? What is the MODE? Answer: Smallmusic is an abstract, object-oriented music representation. An environment implementing it, called the Music Object Development Environment (MODE) is available. It features several novel and portable interfaces to musical structures and hardware. It is written in ParcPlace Smalltalk, and is thus portable between many platforms, including Suns, DECstations, HPs, IBM PCs, and Macintoshes. It was designed and written by Stephen Pope (stp@ccrma.stanford.EDU) and several others. You can obtain the MODE via ftp as anonymous@ccrma-ftp.stanford.EDU:pub/st80/MODE/. A work group has formed to discuss and develop this object-oriented software system for music. The email address for the group is smallmusic@XCF.Berkeley.EDU. If you are interested in joining the discussion, email smallmusic-request@XCF.Berkeley.EDU, with the subject line "add me". Thanks, Craig Latta latta@XCF.Berkeley.EDU *** Smallmusic abstract This document describes an abstract object-oriented representation for musical parameters, events and structures known as the MODE music representation. In object-oriented software terms, the representation is described in terms of software class hierarchies of objects that share state and behavior and implement the description language as their protocol. The author (and his collaborators by implication) believe this representation, and its proposed linear ASCII description in Smalltalk-80 syntax, to be well-suited as a basis for concrete description languages in other syntaces, specially- designed binary storage and interchange formats, and use within and between interactive multi-media, hyper-media applications in several possible domains. --- 3.1.1.3.0) [Max] --- 3.1.1.3.1) What is Max? Answer: (in progress) --- 3.1.1.3.2) Which glove interfaces with the Max 'glove' object? Answer: Date: Thu, 20 Feb 92 16:03:49 CST From: James McCartney <james@astro.as.utexas.EDU> To: max@dcs.edinburgh.ac.uk Subject: power glove The glove object uses the Gold Brick ADB interface from Transfinite Systems. (617) 969-9570 The cost is $169 for a user system or $245 for the developer model which provides LEDs for monitoring ADB activity and other stuff. More about the powerGlove... Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1993 08:08:51 -0500 (EST) From: SHRINER@Butler.EDU Subject: Re: From netjam-max: Nintendo Power Glove. Can it still be got? I got my powerglove -manual and all- for $50.00 from Fringeware. Here's the info. Tell Paco Charles from Mr. Presto says hello. I'm also including some info concerning interfaces. Enjoy......... ______________________________________________________________________ charles shriner Music Composition ccps@mindvox.phantom.com & VOX:317.254.0739 Sound Design Studio FAX:317.283.9930 ATT Woodruff Indpls., IN ______________________________________________________________________ fringeware@wixer.cactus.org FringeWare Inc. PO Box 49921 Austin, TX 78765 Attention : Paco Xander Nathan ***************************************************************************** ........a company called Transfinite Systems (TS) has introduced a little ADB device called Gold Brick, which provides translations between a Mac or Apple IIgs and various Nintendo-compatible controller devices. (Luckily, Transfinite Systems sent us the Gold Brick manual, because the concept of a controller interface is not one that is inherently obvious.) Nintendo-controller compatibility is an interesting ability, because some Nintendo games support 2D and 3D motion using a number of different controllers............I haven't seen any of these devices, but Gold Brick can translate controller input from the Broderbund UForce, the Nintendo Power Pad, the Enteractive Roll&Rocker and the Mattel Power Glove. (Game companies are very serious about trademarks, as you can tell.) Of these, the only one I know anything about is the Power Glove, because it is a commercial version of the Data Glove used in the virtual reality experiments. With the Data Glove (or presumably the Power Glove), you can move virtual objects around in a virtual space (viewed through a head-mounted display system). Transfinite Systems has chosen an interesting method of marketing Gold Brick. By designing it to work with inexpensive and commercially available controllers, Transfinite is using an existing market to create a potentially new one. The first applications of Gold Brick will no doubt be ports of Nintendo games or even communications between the game deck and the Mac through Gold Brick. However, after some games have broken the ground, we expect that drivers for the 3D graphics applications like Swivel 3D and Super 3D will be written. Rotating a 3D solid with a Power Glove should be a lot easier than doing the same thing with the mouse. After that, our imagination is the limit for new methods of controlling virtual objects. Gold Brick's sub-title is "The Cyberspace Interface," which hints at the cyberspace environment of William Gibson's "Neuromancer" and "Mona Lisa Overdrive." For standard applications of today, though, the user can specify 2D motions or keystrokes for the Gold Brick translations, allowing people to explore and design alternate forms of interface manipulators. One way or another, Gold Brick sounds like it might help introduce the next generation of controllers. Transfinite Systems * 617-969-9570 TidBITS#64/03-Jun-91 Way back when in September of 1990 (i.e. the good old days :-)), I wrote about a controller interface device called the Gold Brick. The Gold Brick is an interesting idea - it acts as an interface between the Mac's ADB and a variety of 2-D and 3-D controllers made for Nintendo games. Back then, the Gold Brick was relative vapor, but it now appears that Transfinite Systems is shipping an upgraded version of the Gold Brick along with a cheaper interface for users, called the Nugget. The Gold Brick sells for $245 and the Nugget for $169, and although you could buy the Nintendo controllers from the company, they encourage users to look for cheaper prices in toy and electronics stores. The main upgrade to the Gold Brick is the ability to accept more in the way of 3-D input, so the device can now accept 3-D forward and backward signals, as well as roll controls. Needless to say, such ability greatly increases the controller's utility for interactive use with simulated 3-D objects. The other upgrade to the Gold Brick is the ability to work with the Nintendo Power Pad, which I've never seen, but which I gather is kind of like a game of Twister with electronic sensors built in. Such a device would be extremely useful for architects and engineers working with programs like Virtus WalkThrough, although you might need a lot of processing power to take advantage of the combination. The main Nintendo device that I would like to try with the Gold Brick is the Power Glove. It's a slightly scaled down version of the glove used by the virtual reality people, but is definitely a step in the right direction as far as computer controls go. I suspect that it wouldn't even be all that hard to combine the Power Glove technology with the Infogrip's chord keyboard technology so you could type on a virtual keyboard. I suppose that would produce a whole slew of hypochondriacs complaining of virtual repetitive strain injuries. :-) As much as the Gold Brick is impressive, Vivid Effects of Toronto has an even better idea. In Mandala, they've made the controller itself virtual by using a video camera attached to an Amiga and some custom hardware. The camera films you and can insert you into an animation from a paint program or into a laserdisc, at which point you can interact with the other entities in the reality to the extent the software allows. Currently, Vivid Effects has two versions, a high-end version that interfaces with a laserdisc and a low-end version that only requires a video camera and a digitizing board and is much cheaper, but can't work with the laserdisc. Using the virtual controller gives Mandala a number of advantages over current controller schemes. You don't have to wear goggles or a body suit or a glove or anything like that, and other people can join in the same reality with ease. In addition, the Mandala technology makes it easier to mix virtual controls with real ones, if for instance, you were in a cockpit simulation. Vivid Effects said that Mandala is quite popular, especially with science museums and the like because they could set up a virtual reality and let lots of visitors play with it. They expect a significant increase in popularity when they port the hardware to the Mac and the PC, since the Amiga, for all its features, is still a fairly limited market. Transfinite Systems * 617/969-9570 Vivid Effects * 416/340-9290 --- 3.1.1.4) What is DMIX and how can I get it? Answer: DMIX is a Smalltalk environment for music written by Dan Oppenheim. It's available via anonymous FTP from ccrma.stanford.edu as dmix/*. --- 3.1.2.0) [Notation software] --- 3.1.2.1) Is there PostScript code available for generating guitar scales? Answer: Yes, via ftp as: anonymous@XCF.Berkeley.EDU:misc/netjam/lib/scales.ps.mail --- 3.1.2.2) Where can I get online guitar tablature? Answer: James Bender (jamesb@nevada.EDU) maintains an ftp archive of guitar tablature, at ftp.nevada.EDU(131.216.1.11). --- 3.1.2.3) What is MusicTeX, and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 14:35:00 +0100 From: Werner Icking <Werner.Icking@gmd.de> MusicTeX is a TeX-based music typesetter. It consists of TeX-macros and special music-fonts for 300dpi printers (100dpi, 240dpi are available, too); the MetaFont-source is included. It's capable of printing scores of up to nine voices. The documentation contains a ready-to-print dvi-file musicdoc.dvi and a lot of examples, most of them by Daniel Taupin, the author of MusicTeX. MusicTeX is available at a lot of servers ('archie musictex' -- see entry on archie for details) but at most sites you will find out-of-date versions because Daniel Taupin continuously enhances MusicTeX :-). Actual versions can be found at: ftp.gmd.de [129.26.8.90]: music/musictex/musictex.zip ... musicpk.zip rsovax.ups.circe.fr [130.84.128.100]: anonymous.musictex musictex.zip ... The latter is the author's ftp-site. Good TeX-knowledge is a good basis for using MusicTeX with it's own fonts. Werner (icking@gmd.de) MusicTeX-author: taupin@frups51.bitnet Date: Tue, 27 Oct 92 15:51:55-0100 From: vanroose@esat.kuleuven.ac.be TeX (and LaTeX) is a Public Domain typesetting system written by D. Knuth, that has been implemented on `almost all' operating systems (including DOS and OS/2: namely emTeX). Refer to the FAQ posting in comp.text.tex for the necessary info for those who are not yet familiar with TeX. MusicTeX actually consists of a set of macros on top of TeX. It is written by D. Taupin (taupin@frups51.bitnet), who is a professional musician. It enables you to write music scores having a very professional look. It is available via anonymous ftp from rsovax.ups.circe.fr (130.84.128.100) [.musictex] and also from many archive sites distributing TeX. MusicTeX provides for practically all possible situations, including multiple instruments each with multiple bars, and also for transposition. TeX is definitely NOT a WYSIWYG (WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet) text processor; this also applies to MusicTeX. Consequently, typing in the music can be rather painful, especially when you are a beginner. An example: to typeset (quarter)e (eighth)c (eighth)d (bar), you have to type \Notes \qu e\cu c\cu d\enotes\barre For people having Midi, the program Midi2TeX (see Q: What is Midi2TeX) is probably very useful, because it converts Midi output files to MusicTeX syntax. To use MusicTeX, you need a TeX implementation. For DOS, this is freely available via anonymous ftp from rusinfo.rus.uni-stuttgart.de (129.69.1.12) in ./soft/tex/machines/pc/emtex and also from other ftp servers. Documentation is available in both German and English. You can also request the package from the author, Eberhard Mattes; send eMail to him (mattes@azu.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de) for more info. Finally, I should also mention the existence of MuTeX, written by Andrea Steinbach and Angelika Schofer. It is less powerful than MusicTeX. It is available via anonymous ftp from, e.g., ymir.claremont.EDU (134.173.4.23) in [anonymous.tex.music.mtex]. Hope this is of any use to the musicians on the net. Peter Vanroose Electrotechnical Department, ESAT K.U. Leuven, Belgium. VANROOSE@esat.kuleuven.ac.be tel. +32 16 220931 --- 3.1.2.4) What is Finale? How can I get a demo? Answer: From Nathan Torkington <gnat@kauri.vuw.ac.nz>: Finale is a Music Notation program for the Mac and PC, available from CODA Music Software. A demonstration system is available by anonymous FTP from a number of sites: anonymous@louie.udel.edu:/pub/midi/software/ibm/FINALEdemo.exe anonymous@ftp://toklab.ics.osaka-u.ac.jp/mac/mnt/01-06/02/ anonymous@ftp://ucsd.edu/midi/software/ibmpc/ 3.1.2.5) What is Lime and how can I get it? From Nathan Torkington <gnat@kauri.vuw.ac.nz>: Lime is a music notation program for the Macintosh. You can get a demo version of it by ftp from novamail.cerl.uiuc.edu. The demo is fully functional but pieces are limited to three pages. (The demos for Final and MusicProse could not print or save). You can also pick up the manual from here. This was invaluable in trying out the program - part of the problem with Finale and MusicProse was that it was almost impossible to figure out how to do something because there was almost no documentation included. Although I found the user interface of Lime much better, use of the manual is necessary. The manual itself is very readable; about half describes the menus and associated functions, the rest consists of examples. Sizewise, the Lime manual is about 120 pages. I believe the manuals for MusicProse and Finale are 250 and 500 respectively. Interface: Lime splits the music into pages, rather than having a continuous roll as some other programs do. One window has the page of music, the other has a little piano keyboard (for input) and a selection of note lengths, annotations such as staccato dots, accents etc. The editor works in two main modes: notes and annotations. Annotations covers almost anything you would want to put on in addition to the actual notes of the piece (dynamics, lyrics, tempo directions, rehearsal marks, titles ...). Two other modes cover lines (as in hairpins) and curves (slurs and ties). One possible complaint would be that after a change, the screen redraws very slowly. However, this is only a big problem if you really need to see the change just made before making the next edit, normally you can just continue editing other parts of the music. I used ''The Mac Sound Bible''(?) as a aid in choosing between the various packages. The section on score editing software has separate sections for each package giving details and pros and cons. At the end there are several tables comparing features. As far as number of features goes, Finale has the most. However, most users will probably never need all those special features, and I think they only serve to make the program more complicated for those people. Lime came next, then MusicProse and DMCS. I run Lime on an LC II 4/40 linked up to a MIDI keyboard printing on an HP Deskwriter. Being able to input via the keyboard is very convenient; Lime seems quite good at transcribing what is played, ignoring slight deviations of tempo. Print quality on the DeskWriter is quite acceptable for most purposes. I also tried a LaserWriter; print quality was excellent (of course). Lime comes with its own fonts, but you can use other fonts if you have them, e.g. Sonata. Finally, Lime costs about 100 pounds, MusicProse 160 and Final 250 (these are very rough prices). --- 3.1.2.6) What is cmn and how can I get it? Answer: From Nathan Torkington <gnat@kauri.vuw.ac.nz>: cmn is available free via anonymous ftp at ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu as pub/cmn.tar.Z. It's a lisp-based notation package that needs either the Sonata or Petrucci fonts, Postscript, and a version of Common Lisp with CLOS. It currently runs on the NeXT and SGI machines. --- 3.1.2.7) What is Nutation and... well, you know. Answer: From: grd@cmn2.stanford.edu (glen diener) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.announce Date: 24 Feb 1993 18:57:52 -0600 Organization: CCRMA, Stanford University Version 3.0 of Nutation, a music notation program for the NeXT machine, is available via anonymous ftp from machine ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu as pub/Nu.pkg.tar. Nutation is freeware. Resource requirements . A NeXT machine . NextStep release 3.0 or higher . At least 3.8 megabytes of disk space . Adobe Sonata font installed (not provided; available commercially, ~ $100 US). . MusicKit 3.0 or higher installed (free, available via anonymous ftp from ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu) Features . Immediate playback of your inventions on the DSP . Highly interactive graphic user interface . (Fairly) extensive on-line NeXTStep-style help . Completely "customizable"...Nutation is actually a "visual programming environment" for music notation, built on top of ObjC. Programming features include rich text source code, class browsers, inspectors...in short, a complete incrementally-loading run-time development system loosely modelled after Smalltalk-80. To install Nutation: Installing Nutation takes 5-10 minutes. Obtain the file Nu.pkg.tar. This file can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from the /pub directory of ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu. Be sure to specify binary transfer mode. Unpack the contents of this file (it is a tar archive) using any convenient facility. My preference is to execute tar xf Nu.pkg.tar in a Terminal window. This will create a NeXT-style called Nu.pkg, together with installation instructions in Nu.Install.Readme.rtfd. Open Nu.Install.Readme.rtfd by clicking on its icon...it contains detailed instructions on installing and running Nutation. -glen diener grd@ccrma.stanford.edu Cody Coggins <acoggins@phoenix.princeton.edu> says, "I've used Nutation a bit myself, and I could answer some basic questions about it or provide pointers to further documentation." --- 3.1.3.0) [Composition software] --- 3.1.3.1.0) [CSound] --- 3.1.3.1.1) What is CSound? Answer: Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1992 10:36:00 LCL From: DOWRJ%VAX1.COMPUTER-CENTRE.BIRMINGHAM.AC.UK@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: csound csound is a comprehensive synthesis and processing package written by Barry Vercoe at the Media Lab, MIT. It is written in more or less portable C (although it does make use of one or two functions which are not ANSI such as open(), close()), and will certainly run well on any UNIX box i.e. SUNs, VAXen, etc. It also runs on the Macintosh under ThinkC 4.0. At the University of Birmingham we have it running on Apollo Workstations, our IBM3090 mainframe, and an old version also comes as part of York University's CDP (Composer's Desktop Project). The latest version of csound not only has the usual modules for processing and synthesis but also has those for doing FOF synthesis (cf. CHANT), and for phase vocoding. There is also the ability to take in standard MIDI files as score files, or (on speedy machines) the ability to run csound in real time, and trigger events from a MIDI stream. csound can output sound-files in AIFF format to be read by Mac type things such as Sound Designer, and also: 8-bit signed character samples, alaw samples, ulaw samples, short integers, long integers, floats, with or without IRCAM (1K) headers. It can output files for the NeXT to play too. The package is available via anonymous ftp to ems.media.mit.EDU in the /pub directory. Look at the README's for details of what you need. The manaul is available as postscript. If anyone wants a copy of the IBM3090 version, they could contact me directly. Unfortunately the modified code is in a bit of a mess at the moment as I am re-porting it for another version of C (C370), but I have a running CSOUND MODULE. At Birmingham we run CSOUND on the IBM3090 for complex CPU intensive stuff, and transfer it to an ATARI TT (30MHz) via an ethernet connection. The ATARI runs CDP, and has a soundstreamer. We are getting some more ethernet boards which will allow us to bring the files into Sound Tools running on another ATARI (this will be a massive kludge!). The transfer takes some time, but since something which took a day to compute on a normal ATARI takes 20 minutes on the IBM we're not complaining. Robert Dow, Department of Music, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK DOWRJ@uk.ac.bham.vax1 (JANET - address in uk order) Date: Fri, 4 Jun 93 11:51:07 BST From: John Fitch <jpff@maths.bath.ac.uk> Subject: Csound for PC ...the PC version [of CSound] ... is available for 286, 386 or 486 [-based machines]. It is available by FTP from ftp.bath.ac.uk:pub/jpff or from the info-server@maths.math.ac.uk with a message body request: dream topic: index ==John Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 19:16:10 -0500 From: NeXTmusic Mailing List <nextmusic@wri.com> Subject: Snd v1.2 released Reply-To: pmy@klang.music.Virginia.EDU (Pete Yadlowsky) Snd is a NeXTStep interface to an enhanced version of Vercoe's csound (v2.0). Other audio-related applications are also supported, to the effect of providing a general, integrated computer music production environment. Like its forebears, v1.2 offers on-line documentation, easy access to and management of the various file types, push-button control and execution of csound and other applications, csound output signal scaling and remote-host csound execution. Here's what's new: - inline signal limiting (csound); eliminates signal clipping without having to post-scale an entire floating-pt soundfile (linear post-scaling is still available) - internal speaker control - 'lisp' file type, knowledge of Paul Lansky's rt.driver - 'Windows' menu entry - simpler access to csound manual - various minor improvements and fixes Where: ftp://uvaarpa.acc.virginia.EDU/pub/next/Apps/Snd/ - Pete Peter M. Yadlowsky | Laden e-mail runs Academic Computing Center | Bumbling, creaking through the net University of Virginia | Sysadmins tremble. pmy@Virginia.EDU | - after Buson --- 3.1.3.1.2) What are the requirements of CSound? Answer: The requirements for CSound are somewhat flexible. I actually compiled a Mac + (MPW) version of CSound 2-3 years ago, but it took about 8 hours to make 80 seconds worth of sound! I suggest you use a system with hardware floating point and a 32-bit processor (Any Mac II with FPU, a NeXT, Indigo). As far as memory requirements, that depends on how big your gen function tables will be. The same with hard disk size. If you want to make a 10 minute stereo piece at 44.1K sample rate, you will need 106 megabytes of disk space. (10.6 Megs per stereo minute at 44.1K, 11.6 at 48K). So the answer is... use as big of a system as you can buy or borrow. --- 3.1.3.1.3) Is there a tutorial on CSound? Answer: Date: Fri, 7 Aug 92 10:41:46 GMT-0800 From: sandell@cnmat.cnmat.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Re: ... Electronic and Computer Music FAQ ... Beyond the CSound manual, there is little to help you unless you take a course in computer music (summer courses, at CCRMA, UIUC, Brooklyn College, etc.) -- Greg Sandell Research Fellow, Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) sandell@cnmat.cnmat.Berkeley.EDU or sandell@garnet.Berkeley.EDU --- 3.1.3.2) What is Deluxe Music Construction Set (DMCS)? Answer: From Nathan Torkington <gnat@kauri.vuw.ac.nz>: DMCS is available for Amiga & Macintosh and probably others. Offers an easy way to play and print simple music. It is more suited to casual users than serious composers. [more info, please -- price, distributor, features] --- 3.1.4.0) [Recorded music] --- 3.1.4.1) Where can I get recordings of electronic music? Answer: Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1991 13:37:30 EST From: The Radio Gnome <V2002A%TEMPLEVM.bitnet@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: Mail order sources for EM To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM> Hi, Below are some of the places I order/have ordered from along with some short descriptions. Any word of new releases by Georges Boutz or Thom Brennan? Alcazar Heavier emphasis on the folk/newage end of things. Box 429 South Main ST Waterbury, VT 05676 800-541-9904 Wayside Music Lots of rare/unusual stuff as well as some Box 6517 pressings on their own Cuneiform label. Wheaton, MD 20906-0517 Eurock Distribution A one person show (Archie Patterson) Box 13718 Portland, OR 97213 Lotus Records Carried a lot of rarities. Last ordered from them 23 High Street in 1985. Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire ST5 1QZ Great Britain Mirage Music Martin Reeds venture. Used to carry Mark 612 Southmead Road Shreeves early cassette only releases. Filton Also good cassettes by Ian Boddy and Steve Frost. Bristol BS12 7RF Great Britain Backroads Distribution More Newagey type stuff but extensive inventory. 417 Tamal Plaza Also carry New Albion and Erdenklang Labels. Corte Madera, CA 94925 800-825-4848 Generations Unlimited They carry David Prescotts tapes and some 199 Strathmore #5 good stuff by Jorge Thomasios Brighton, MA 02135-5210 The Music Suite Ltd Carry the complete Adrian Wagner Collection. Glanyrafon House Also check out 3 Men Underground. Cenarth - Newcastle Emyln Dyfed SA38 9JN Great Britain Perry Thompson He sent me his cassette Sleeping Giants for 70 Sproul Rd. free. Its very Burmer-esque. Malvern, PA 19355 Charles Cohen Ask about his "Darwin in Chains" cassette and Box 181 the unreleased(?) "Swizzle Stick" Riverton, NJ 08077 George Wallace c/o All three of his releases are MUSTS in Larger than Life Music any EM collection. Start with Communion. 10 Belmont Sq. Doylestown, PA 18901 Jesse Clark His latest, Locked in Heaven is his best, but 710 Eton-Adelphia Rd. earlier releases are also good, especially Freehold, NJ 07728 "CAMELIA" "She has learned that short ideas repeated massage the brain" - Robert Ashley --- 3.1.5.0) [Conversion software] --- 3.1.5.1) Are there programs to convert back and forth between human/filter-readable text and MIDI files? How do I get them? Answer: From: Piet van Oostrum <piet%CS.RUU.NL@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: Announcing MF2T/T2MF To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM> Two programs to manipulate standard midifiles. mf2t is a program that reads a standard midifile (format 0 or 1) and writes an ASCII representation of it that is both compact and easily parsable. t2mf is the companion program that reparses the text representation into a midifile. Piet van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.089, 2508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands email: piet@cs.ruu.nl ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You can do with this program what you like, but if you think it is useful I would appreciate if you send me some of your midifiles. Not ones that I can find on the Internet. Please send them uu- or btoa-encoded. Zoo and Arc archives (encoded) are also OK, Zip and Lharc may be problematic. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The text representation is chosen such that it is easily recognized and manipulated by programs like sed, awk or perl. Yet it is also humanly readable so that it can be manipulated with an ordianary text editor. In this way you can make changes to your midifiles using these powerful programs or even in Cobol :=). Or you can write algorithmic compositions using a familiar programming language. mf2t/t2mf is available via ftp at the sites returned by 'archie mf2t' (see the entry on 'archie' above). by mail-server: send the following message to mail-server@cs.ruu.nl (or uunet!mcsun!hp4nl!ruuinf!mail-server): begin path john@highbrow.EDU (PLEASE SUBSTITUTE *YOUR* ADDRESS) send MIDI/PROGRAMS/mf2t.zoo end NOTE: *** PLEASE USE VALID INTERNET ADDRESSES IF POSSIBLE. DO NOT USE ADDRESSES WITH ! and @ MIXED !!!! BITNETTERS USE USER@HOST.BITNET *** The path command can be deleted if we receive a valid from address in your message. If this is the first time you use our mail server, we suggest you first issue the request: send HELP -- Piet* van Oostrum, Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, P.O. Box 80.089, 3508 TB Utrecht, The Netherlands. Telephone: +31 30 531806 Uucp: uunet!mcsun!ruuinf!piet Telefax: +31 30 513791 Internet: piet@cs.ruu.nl (*`Pete') --- 3.1.5.2) What is Midi2TeX, and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 10:47 MET From: KUYKENS@amc.uva.nl Subject: MIDI2TeX V 1.1 uploaded Recently I have finished version 1.1 of the MIDI2TeX translator. Instead of sending it by e-mail to all users I now have uploaded the complete package (PC and ST) on ftp site obelix.icce.rug.nl directory : pub/erikjan/MIDI2TeX Download st_m2t11.arc for the ST and pc_m2t11.exe for the PC. The file m2tex11.inf contains some general information about the package. I encourage everybody to transfer the package to other (more general) ftp sites. If you do, please inform me where you uploaded it and in what directory. For those of you who do not have ftp access I am still willing to send the new version by e-mail. Please e-mail your request. It may take one or two weeks before you receive the package by e-mail. Hans Kuykens --- 3.1.5.3) What is Hyperupic, and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Thu, 17 Sep 92 11:40:08 EDT From: "Christopher Penrose" <penrose@silvertone.princeton.EDU> To: latta@XCF.Berkeley.EDU Subject: [Hyperupic released] Hyperupic is an image to sound transducer implemented on a NeXT workstation. That's right, with Hyperupic you might be able to hear Whistler's mother. I think that he did all the whistling, actually. Hyperupic is inspired by the Upic system conceived by Iannis Xenakis. Feed Hyperupic a TIFF image, and Hyperupic will convert it into a sound. Hyperupic has the facility of using color has a sonic parameter. Hyperupic is free. Give it to your friends. Show it to your mother. I won't make you feel guilty (yet) for using my software. You can even claim that you wrote Hyperupic yourself! If you do this though, you might fall through the next subway grating that you trust will hold your weight. Hyperupic has on-line infotainment, including documentation. It is available via ftp at: princeton.EDU cs.orst.EDU nova.cc.purdue.EDU or contact me: Christopher Penrose penrose@silvertone.princeton.EDU --- 3.1.5.4) What is SoundHack and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Sat, 26 Oct 1991 16:25:22 -0700 From: Tom Erbe <tom%MILLS.EDU@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: Soundfile header conversion program To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM> I just wrote a little program for the Mac that does Soundfile header conversion. It translates between IRCAM, NeXT .snd, Sound Designer II, AIFF and DSP Designer files. It will open any file as a 16-bit linear soundfile, if you want. I am making no attempt (at least not yet) to support anything other than 16-bit linear. You can also change things in the header like sample rate and number of channels. This is my first program for the Mac, so it might have bugs. If you want a copy, you can get it through ftp to "mills.EDU", it is "ccm/SoundHac.hqx". Or I could mail it to you if you don't have ftp. Please send bug reports! Tom Erbe * Technical Director * Center for Contemporary Music * Mills College tom@mills.EDU * Mills College, Oakland, CA 94613 * (510) 430-2191 Date: Tue, 1 Dec 92 10:15:21 -0800 From: tom@ella.mills.EDU (Tom Erbe) To: latta@XCF.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Re: Electronic and Computer Music Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ) Organization: Mills College, Oakland CA SoundHack now reads and writes the following formats: Sound Designer II; 8 bit linear and 16 bit linear AIFF; 8 bit linear and 16 bit linear NeXT/Sun; 8 bit linear, 16 bit linear, mulaw and 32 bit float IRCAM; 8 bit linear, 16 bit linear and 32 bit float DSP Designer; 16 bit linear Text; text formatted with a fixed point number on each line. It also has several signal processing modules added. These are: soundfile convolution, binaural spatialization, the phase vocoder, varispeed, ring modulation (part of the convolution module). Currently I am working on a spectral dynamics module and a spectral mutation processor. SoundHack runs only on Macs with FPUs. It is still available through anonymous ftp to mills.EDU (144.91.4.6), in directory ccm. -- tom erbe ccm - mills college 5000 macarthur blvd. oakland, ca 94613 tom@mills.EDU --- 3.1.5.5) What is the Copyist Companion, and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Mon, 24 Feb 92 15:29:58 -0800 From: Phil Burk <phil@mills.EDU> Subject: DMCS -> Copyist files. Many folks have asked about a conversion program that will read DMCS files and convert them to something else. The only program I know of is Copyist Companion by Nick Didkovsky. It converts DMCS files to Dr. T's Copyist compatible files. The main purpose is for printing good scores from DMCS files. Nick has talked about converting DMCS to MIDIFiles or other formats so ask him and maybe he will write it. You can order Copyist Companion from Dr T or from Nick directly. Nick is at: 72550.3313@compuserve.com This program is for the Amiga. --- 3.1.6.0) [Literal and symbolic editing software] --- 3.1.6.1) What are tclm and xdrum, and how can I get them? Answer: Date: Fri, 7 May 93 14:03:41 -0600 From: Mike Durian <durian@advtech.uswest.com> Subject: tclm-1.0 I have just sent tclm-1.0 and xdrum-1.0 to comp.sources.misc for posting. Tclm-1.0 is based of John Ousterhout's tcl but has extension for manipulating MIDI files. Tclm provides a simple languages that makes it easy to write your own MIDI programs. It should compile or just about anything UNIX. There are even well defined hooks for attaching your MIDI device to tclm. If this is done, you can then play and record MIDI files too. Currrently the only interface supplied is for the new BSD/386 midi driver, but I hear there is one in the works for Linux. It should not be too difficult to write your own either. Tclm-1.0 also comes with a few scripts. These include scripts for converting MIDI files to human readable form and back again. There is even a script that implements a simple sequencing language for creating MIDI files from other smaller MIDI files. As I mentioned above there are also scripts to play and record MIDI files that will run if you have a tclm/MIDI interfaces for your system. Xdrum-1.0 is a script that runs wishm, which in turn is John Ousterhout's wish with tclm extensions plus a new widget. The new widget is designed to facilitate creating and editing drum patterns. Wishm runs under X11 and the xdrum script provides an easy to use interface for making drum rhythms. Xdrum will run regardless of if you compiled tclm with a deivice interface, but if tclm has the ability to play MIDI files, you can play your patterns as you are working on the undex xdrum. Both tclm-1.0 and xdrum-1.0 have been posted to comp.sources.misc and should be at usenet archive sites near you. They can also be found at harbor.ecn.purdue.EDU, which is the main archive site for tcl extensions. Tcl and tk can be picked up from sprite.Berkeley.EDU. The tclm-device interface is much cleaner, the usage of midiput and midiget is a lot better, you now say what you want instead of figuring out all the bytes yourself. There are also the added scripts. I'm hoping someone takes mseq and builds a more powerful sequencer out of it. mike durian@advtech.uswest.com --- 3.1.6.2) What is MixView, and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Mon, 16 Sep 91 15:39:51 PDT From: doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.EDU (Douglas Scott) To: MixviewFans@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.EDU Subject: mixview version 3.2 now available Greetings to you all on my mixview mailing list. The newest version of mixview, my X - based soundfile editor/processor, is now available on a new anonymous ftp site where I now work: foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.EDU (128.111.92.30), as pub/mixview-v3.2.tar.Z. [Version 3.1 was withdrawn -- 3.0 was the most recent distribution]. The new version features a record command (for those of you running it on NeXTs), plus a play command that allows you to stop the play at any point. As soon as I hear that there is still interest, I will activate and debug the record command for those of you working on SparcStations. Anyone who needs the source mailed via uucp, let me know. As usual, please let me know if you wish to be removed from my mailing list. Douglas Scott (805)893-8352 Center for Computer Music Research and Composition University of California, Santa Barbara Internet: (NeXTMail ok) <doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.EDU> --- 3.1.6.3) What is DU", and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Tue, 11 Jun 91 11:05:54 PDT From: Robert_Poor@NeXT.COM To: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU Subject: DUB: Mixing and overdubbing in real time Comrades: Let's make a deal. I have written "DUB," an application that mixes together multiple sound files on the fly and overdubs (records) at the same time. It's ugly but it works but it's UGLY. I'm not proud of it. The user interface is the worst thing I've written since I quit programming in BASIC over two decades ago. The good things about DUB: It mixes together N "playlists" on the fly. A playlist is a sequence of non-overlapping sounds. The DACPlayer object is pretty clean, the DSPRecorder object (and attendant dspRecorder.asm code) knows how to drive the Ariel digital mic at different sampling rates. It records at the same time that it plays back. The bad things about DUB: There's no real user interface. The sound file names that it opens to play are hardwired in the source code. The sound file that it records into is similarly hardwired. You have to launch it from a shell (or more often a debugger) in the directory that contains the sound files "track1.snd," "track2.snd," etc. There are features that the low level code supports (dynamic gain control, setting the duration of the sounds) that the user interface doesn't exploit. DUB does useful things that many NeXT sound and music aficionados have asked about, but my pride prevents me from distributing it broadly in its current ugly state. So let's make a deal: I will give the project folder (source code, IB.proj, etc) if you agree to the following: * You must be able to receive (and send) NeXT mail attachments. (That's how we'll communicate.) * You will implement a "safe and sane" user interface for Dub. * You already know NeXTstep programming and won't ask me lots of questions (I'm perpetually swamped at work, and I may not have much time to answer your questions.) * You will send me the finished application in source form. * You will allow me to put the finished application in source form on the archive servers. * Most importantly, you won't laugh at me or malign me in public for writing such a mean user interface. If you can agree to all the above, and you're interested in helping the rest of the NeXT community make beautiful music on the NeXT, I want to hear from you. Thanks! - Robert Poor NeXT Developer Marketing rpoor@next.com --- 3.1.6.4) What is RT, and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Mon, 15 Jul 91 15:17:12 PDT From: Conrad_Geiger@NeXT.COM To: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU Subject: Real time sound mixer A new real time sound mixing program from Paul Lansky on the net... conrad From: paul@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Paul Lansky) Subject: Real time sound mixer Date: 14 Jul 91 15:26:45 GMT I have placed a real-time sound mixing program, RT, in pub/music/NeXTrt.tar.Z at princeton.EDU. This was written by me and Kent Dickey, and essentially allows you to play arbitrary segments of up to 32 different soundfiles in 8 tracks, as if they were notes, overlapping, panning, enveloping and even pitchshifting them. The limitation on the system is essentially disk throughput, which seems to allow you to do about 450k bytes per second. This means you can mix two 44k stereo files, 2 22k stereo and one 44k stereo, etc, at a time. A really nice feature of the program is that you can play different channel formats and different sampling rates at the same time! If you overload the system there will be interruptions, but you can also write the mix out to disk. I *think* it is fairly robust now, and easy to use. I have not placed it in the archives since I want to keep tinkering with it, and so want to keep it in reach. Future additions will include a signal editor, and perhaps some sort of graphic display, although the latter would be tricky, given that for my current work I often find myself lining up as many as 500 sound segments to play. I am anxious for feedback and suggestions. This program will not work well on 030 machines. Enjoy it. Paul Lansky Music Department Princeton University paul@princeton.EDU paul@silvertone.princeton.EDU --- 3.1.6.5) What is RTLisp, and how can I get it? Answer: Date: Tue, 28 Jan 92 17:14:51 GMT From: Pete Yadlowsky <pmy@vivaldi.acc.Virginia.EDU> Subject: new Lisp interface to Lansky's "rt" Apparently-To: nextmusic@wri.com RTLisp runs on David Betz's XLisp and is comprised of a set of object class and function definitions which provide a Lisp interface to Paul Lansky's NeXT-based, real-time audio mixing software, `rt'. The rt user arranges audio material temporally, dynamically and spatially by means of a relatively simple grammar which is parsed and executed by rt's audio driver program. The simplicity of this grammar can make it rather tedious to use, though, especially in the realization of complex `scores'. Also, there is no provision for the programmatic generation of audio events, so every event must be specified in detail by hand. RTLisp was designed to facilitate the process of rt score creation. It equips the composer with a powerful, interactive high-level programming environment (Lisp), and lends some intelligence to tasks such as temporal placement and grouping of audio events, control of dynamics in the stereo field and rt `track' assignment. RTLisp can be thought of as a sort of rt command compiler. It can run standalone in a shell window, controlling the rt audio driver directly, or it can run in conjunction with rt.app, Mr. Lansky's NextStep interface to the driver. RTLisp is available in two different packages. The first, under NeXTrt.tar, contains rtlisp binaries and scripts merged with a new version of rt.app, along with an RTLisp chapter in rt.app's online documentation. The second, rtlisp.tar, does not include rt.app but does include binaries, lisp source, rt's audio driver and XLisp and rtlisp documentation. anon ftp: ftp://uvaarpa.acc.virginia.EDU/pub/next/Apps/ ftp://uvaarpa.acc.virginia.EDU/pub/next/bin/ ftp://princeton.EDU/pub/music/ ftp://princeton.EDU/pub/music/ --- Peter M. Yadlowsky | Laden e-mail runs Academic Computing Center | Bumbling, creaking through the net University of Virginia | Sysadmins tremble. pmy@Virginia.EDU | - after Buson --- 3.1.6.6) What is Cmix and how can I get it? Cmix is a loosely connected group of utilities for maniplating soundfiles. The system is available by FTP. The following description is taken from the UNIX manual page. "Cmix is a package of routines for editting, processing, and creating soundfiles. It also includes a library of routines designed to make it easier to write C programs which deal with soundfiles. Typically, the user prepares a file of calls to various cmix routines, and then invokes them by saying something like: mix < my.data Consider the following example data file: input("snd_directory/elvis") output("snd_directory/elvis+industry") setline(0,0,1,1,10,1,11,0) mix(8.6,0,21,1,0) input("snd_directory/industry") setline(0,0,5,1,11,0) mix(0,0,11,1,0) This first opens the file "snd_directory/elvis" for input, and the file "snd_directory/elvis+industry" for the output of the new mix. Setline creates the amplitude envelope to be used for a subsequent call to mix. The arguments to setline are pairs of time/amplitude values. It interpolates linearly between these points. The next call is to mix and asks to start copying the current input file to the current outputfile, starting at time 8.6 in the input file, and time 0 in the output file. It will mix until time 21 on the input file is reached. The fourth argument to mix is the relative amplitude of the current input file, and the final argument is used to determine channel location (see man page on mix). Then, with a different envelope from the next call to setline there is another call to mix "snd_directory_industry" into the same output file. To cause this to happen, once this data file has been prepared, the user should type: mix <my.data >&my.data.output & Note that the data file passes through the Minc preprocessor before being passed to cmix. Be sure to consult the manual page on Minc for more information. This is the general procedure for using any of the various cmix utilities -- creating a data file and then invoking the routines with a cal to cmix. User writtne subroutines which either augment or replace those in cmix can be compiled in the users own filespace. See the manual pages on usersub and Minc for more information. --- 3.1.7.0) [Sound synthesis software] --- 3.1.7.1) What are Patchmix and StochGran and how can I get them? Answer: Date: Wed, 29 Jan 92 14:15:04 GMT-0500 From: mara helmuth <mara@silvertone.Princeton.EDU> Subject: Patchmix and StochGran Apparently-To: nextmusic@wri.com I have put new versions of Patchmix and StochGran at the Princeton archive (Princeton.EDU) in the "pub/music" directory. These are both NeXT interfaces. Patchmix is a graphical front end to Cmix which allows you to create instruments by connecting a patch of unit generator icons. StochGran is a granular synthesis instrument. The source code is there, and it is necessary to have Cmix installed to compile them. I'm still adding things, so let me know if you use them and have suggestions. Mara Helmuth mara@woof.columbia.EDU mara@silvertone.princeton.EDU --- 3.2.0) [Software by platform] --- 3.2.1) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on multiple platforms? Answer: (in progress) See the packages discussed above in 3.1.1.0, 3.1.3.1.0. --- 3.2.2) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on UNIX platforms? Answer: (in progress) --- 3.2.3.0) [NeXT software] --- 3.2.3.1) What are some currently available sound editors for the NeXT? Answer: Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1992 18:25:21 -0600 From: NeXTmusic Mailing List <nextmusic@wri.com> Subject: Sound Editors From: "Paul Lansky" <paul@silvertone.Princeton.EDU> In a previous post there was some discussion of Soundworks and a reference to some of the sound editors on the princeton server. I thought I would clear up some confusion by posting a list of everything I know about available sound editors 1) Soundworks: available from Metaresearch. Has some great features, but a new version is forthcoming which should be much better 2) Edsnd: by Jamie pritchard, at pub/music at princeton.EDU based on the original soundeditor by lee boynton, with cut/paste, fft and spectral views added. 3) Edsnd2: by Jamey Pritchard, at princeton.EDU Comes up with a time-line instead of a soundview and you can then select any portion to view. I added a marker system which can be saved as a simple ascii file, and can cue arbitrary sections of a soundfile. Quite useful for parsing soundfiles. I used this and RT exclusively to prepare a 20 minute piece by Steve Mackey for CD. We never touched his original soundfiles. 4) edsndP: by Stephen Master, at princeton.EDU This is a rewrite of the original edsnd using Metaresearch's dataController and dataView objects. It is very fast, and has lots of neat features. I think it is the best one so far, although it could use a marker system. The appended "P" is a long story which I'll tell privately to anyone who really wants to know. 5) SE: The IRCAM signal editor, available at ccrma-ftp.stanford.EDU This has some really incredible features. It has to be seen to be believed. It is a different approach than all the others, but it can be quite useful. Its main drawback at the moment is that it only accepts mono files. 7 Spectro: by Perry cook, available at stanford does "waterfall plots" of spectra Emulates a Hewlett-Packard spectrum analyzer. 8) Sonogram: a very nice grey-scale spectral analyzer, available on most of the archive sites. ------------------- sort of signal editors 9)Ein: at Princeton, by me and Ken Steiglitz dsp scratch pad, with spectral, fft and soundviews 10) RT: at Princeton, by me and Kent Dickey real-time mixer and editor. Pete Yadlowsky added a very nice lisp front end. ------------------- forthcoming commercial software 11) Holstein, from Stealth Technology. The Stealth DAI 2400 is the digital audio interface, and the ADA1800 is the A-D-A plus digital audio interface. Don't know anything about it 12) Singular Solutions updates. Don't know anything about it ----------------------------- I'm sure I've left out a few. Someone please complete the list. (I'd be glad to store all these at Princeton.) While these programs do a lot, there are still a lot of things we could use. It would be interesting to discuss these things here. (for example: it might be nice to have a scrubbing routine that would allow you to rock back and forth the way we used to do with tape-heads (ouch)) (I'd also love a visual editor for RT). Paul Lansky --- 3.2.3.2) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on NeXT platforms? Answer: (in progress) --- 3.2.3.3) Where can I find information about the NeXT MIDI driver? Answer: Date: Thu, 24 Oct 91 16:59:46 PDT From: Conrad_Geiger@NeXT.COM To: nextmusic@silvertone.Princeton.EDU Subject: MIDI driver documentation Draft Documentation Available - MIDI driver documentation NeXT Publications Group A new document describing the MIDI driver is available on the Internet archive servers. This document is a revised and expanded version of the Release 1.0 MIDI driver documentation, and is not present in Release 2 or in the hard-copy technical documentation. The document is available by anonymous ftp (file transfer protocol) from one of the following Internet archive servers: ________________________________________________________ hostname Directory ________________________________________________________ cs.orst.EDU pub/next/documents/TechSupportNotes sonata.cc.purdue.EDU pub/next/submissions etlport.etl.go.jp (Japan) pub/NeXT/documents/MIDIDriver The two files that make up this draft document are: MIDIDriver.tar.Z MIDIDriver_README MIDIDriver.tar.Z is 54.2 kilobytes in size. Unarchived, it's a directory called MIDIDriver that occupyies 141 kilobytes and consists of: Introduction.rtf -- An introduction for users of MIDI on NeXT computers, including information on MIDI interfaces, the MIDI data format, and whether to use the driver functions or the Music Kit. DriverOverview.rtfd -- A conceptual overview of the NeXT MIDI driver. CFunctions/ -- Specifications of the MIDI C functions Your feedback on the document is welcome. See the file MIDIDriver_README for details. Doug Keislar NeXT Computer, Inc. --- 3.2.3.4) What is the status of the Music Kit on NeXT machines? Answer: Date: Mon, 27 Jan 92 09:54:03 CST To: nextmusic-list@wri.com From: doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.EDU (Douglas Scott) Subject: Re: Sound and Music Kits in 3.0? The Music Kit is no longer supported by NeXT under 3.0. It will not be bundled with the software. Development and management of it will be handled from now on by Stanford University. This is happening because of a complete lack of commercial interest in the Music Kit (as NeXT sees it). They feel the need to trim software support for things that will not directly contribute to the financial success of their company. They said they may re-introduce it at "some later time" once they have a chance to expand a bit. I learned all this from a session on "NeXT on Campus" at the NeXT Expo. Douglas Scott (805)893-8352 Center for Computer Music Research and Composition University of California, Santa Barbara Internet: (NeXTMail ok) <doug@foxtrot.ccmrc.ucsb.EDU> --- 3.2.3.5) What ear-training software is there for the NeXT? Answer: Date: Sun, 9 Feb 92 19:18:54 EST From: tholland@pars.skidmore.EDU (Anthony Holland) Subject: New Music Ear Training Software for NeXT - Audio Challenger 1.0 "Announcing the release of "AUDIO CHALLENGER 1.0" "Audio Challenger 1.0" is the first ear-training software released for the NeXT computer. Audio Challenger randomly generates ascending and descending melodic musical intervals which can be used in assisting music students in trying to improve their ability to aurally identify musical intervals. Audio Challenger features real-time synthesis on the DSP (digital signal processing) chip of the NeXT computer which gives it the advantage of a more natural and "lively" musical timbre than ear-training programs that currently exist on other platforms. Audio Challenger is released as FREEware to the internet archives by the researchers and students of DREAMS: Digital Research (in) Electro-Acoustic Music (at) Skidmore College. "Audio Challenger 1.0" is currently at the following archive sites: *Archive Info: filenames: AudioChallenger.tar.Z AudioChallengerREADME 1) location: nova.cc.purdue.EDU directory: /pub/next/submissions (likely to move to /pub/next/2.0-release/binaries) 2) location: cs.orst.EDU directory: /pub/next/submissions (likely to move to /pub/next/binaries) 3) University of Maryland: umd5.umd.EDU /pub 4) ccrma-ftp.stanford.EDU /pub After FTP'ing AudioChallenger.tar.Z, type: zcat AudioChallenger.tar.Z | tar xvf - note: you may need your system administrator to uncompress and untar AudioChallenger. Anthony G. Holland Associate Professor of Music NeXT Campus Support Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 tel: 518-584-5000 ext. 2606 next mail: tholland@pars.skidmore.EDU --- 3.2.4.0) [DOS/Windows software] --- 3.2.4.1) Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on DOS/Windows platforms? Answer: (in progress) --- 3.2.4.2) What are some public-domain (or nearly so) sample-editing programs for IBM-PC compatibles? Answer: Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1992 13:36:00 LCL From: Achim Haag <UJ69%DKAUNI2.bitnet@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: Re: Tetra compositor To: Multiple recipients of list EMUSIC-L <EMUSIC-L@AUVM> Hi, I don't know anything about the Tetra compositor, but I know two public domain programs, that are quite similar to Soundtracker. The first is called ScreamTracker (for PC). It has many functions: play in background, peak level meter, oscilloscope... Unfortunately it's shareware and the autor wants some $100 before he will send you a version that can SAVE your own created songs. It can handle many output devices (PC speaker via PCM, D/A- converter at an printer port, SoundBlaster (I believe!!!)), but I don't think it's worth this much. The second one - MODEDIT - is not quite as comfortably as the Scream- tracker, but it's public domain and therefore is worth it's money... Unfortunately it does *not* support SoundBlaster, but I've build a simple D/A-converter and now I can listen to the sounds on my stereo. [Nathan Torkington <gnat@kauri.vuw.ac.nz> says, on 18 August 1992, that "There is a program distributed with the later releases called ModRes which allows ModEdit to play the modules using the SoundBlaster, etc."] I've many samples from an amiga-user, so this shouldn't by a problem. Hope this information is useful for you. Bye, Achim --- 3.2.5 Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on Macintosh platforms? Answer: (in progress) --- 3.2.6 Which software packages in section 3.1.0 [Software by role] and its children work on Amiga platforms? Answer: (in progress) --- 4.0) [Hardware] --- 4.1.0) [Multi-platform hardware] --- 4.1.1) What are some good things with which to whack MIDI drum triggers? Answer: From: rich@cygnus.cygnus.com (K. Richard Pixley) Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Subject: great sticks for midi pads! (Wam-Rods) Date: 29 Dec 91 16:44:35 GMT If you use midi drum pads, run, don't walk, to your nearest phone book and start calling drum and music stores. You are looking for something called "Wam-Rods". They should run you $6-8 a pair. They are translucent softish plastic drum sticks, in several colors. The BIG win is that they do what they claim to do, which is put the bounce back in plywood feeling midi drum pads. They also seem to be a little easier on the pads themselves. I'm not really a drummer, but I don't play my pads with anything else any more. The only drawback I can see, is that unless you get the clear ones, or one of the dark colors, they look awfully "pop"ish. Disclaimer: I have no material connection to any of the commercial organizations connected to Wam-Rods (tm) (patent pending) other than as a happy materialistic consumer. ps, I like the piss yellow ones best. :-). --- 4.1.2) How do I get MIDI working with my analog synth? From: "Shiv (S.) Naimpally" <shiv@bnr.ca> Subject: Re: Analog FAQ [Please direct inquiries to Shiv. He's sending updates to me. Thanks! --crl] Analog info. This posting has info on FAQs such as 'how do I MIDI my ____ analog synth ?' etc.. There are 3 parts. The first is a listing of places oferring MIDI retrofits for older keyboards. The second is a listing of companies making MIDI to CV convertors. The third is a list of places that stock parts, manuals, etc. for older keyboards. If you have any corrections, additions, etc., please email me at shiv@bnr.ca. Oh, and you're most welcome ! What was that ? You don't actually have an analog synth ? Shame on you ! You can try the following used music dealers: Analog Systems Tel: 213-850-5216 fax: 213-850-1059 Have in stock Buchla, Moog, Serge, Emu modular systems, ARP 2500/2600, Minimoog, OB8, etc.. Media Sonics Tel: 918-451-0680 fax: 918-451-0671 Caruso Music 20 Bank St. New London, CT 06320 tel: 203-442-9600 fax: 203-442-0463 Rogue Music 251 W. 30th NY, NY 10001 tel: 212-629-3708 fax: 212-947-0027 Carry Moog, ARP, Oberheim, etc.. Get on their mailing list ! Analogics 5261 Maple Ave East Geneva, OH 44041 tel: 216-466-6911 Daddy's Junky Music P.O. Box 1018 Salem, NH 03079 tel: 603-894-6492 fax: 603-893-6710 Goldman's Gear Exchange 1620 Niagra Falls Blvd Tonawanda, NY 14150 tel: 716-633-6111 fax: 716-832-6009 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDI Retrofits ************** Encore Electronics 30 Glenhill Court Danville, CA94526 tel: 510-820-7551 MIDI Retrofits for: Oberheim OB8, OBX, OBXa, OBSX, Roland Jupiter 8, Moog Source. Analogics 5261 Maple Ave. East Geneva OH 44041 tel/fax: 216-466-6911 MIDI Retrofits for: Sequential Prophet 5, 10, and Pro 1, Oberheim OB8, Korg Mono/Poly, Arp Odyssey & 2600. MIDI->CV convertors: Have Roland MPU101 and Kenton Pro 1. Wine Country Productions 1572 Park Crest Court, Suite #505 San Jose, CA 95118 tel: 408-265-2008 fax: 408-266-6591 MIDI Retrofits for: Over 35 models of synths from Sequential, ARP, Moog, Korg, Roland, and Yamaha. MIDI->CV convertors: Have Kenton Pro 1. Miditec 453 Darwin Crescent ThunerBay, Ontario Canada P7B 5W5 tel: 807-345-6434 MIDI Retrofits for: Hammond Organs, Korg BX-3 & CX-3 organs, Korg EPS-1 & SP80S e. pianos, Korg Poly 6 amd Poly 61, Roland Juno-60, and Jupiter 8. Generic retrofit available for most organs and accordians. Kenton Electronics 137-165 Hook Road Surbiton, Surrey KT6 5AR tel: 081-974-2475 fax:081-974-2485 MIDI retrofits for numerous mono and poly synths and some drum machines. I suspect Analogics and Wine Country are using these since they also carry Kenton's MIDI->CV convertor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDI to CV Convertors ********************* PAIA Electronics 3200 Teakwood Lane Edmond, OK 73013 tel: 405-340-6300 MV-8 convertor is unique in that it will do MIDI->CV or CV->MIDI ! 8 CV ins, 8 gate ins, 8 CV outs, and 8 gate outs. $300 kit, $400 assembled. Clarity Nelson Lane Garrison, NY10524 tel: 914-424-4071 The Retro has 8 analog outputs. $600. Kenton Electronics 137-165 Hook Road Surbiton, Surrey KT6 5AR tel: 081-974-2475 fax:081-974-2485 The Pro2 has 2 independent sections, each of which receives on its own MIDI channel. Each section has 3 CV outs, gate, and s-trig out. Optional Hz/V supports synths with linear (instead of exponential 1v/oct) response such as early Korg and Yamaha gear. There is also a clock out that will put out a trigger synced to the MIDI clock input. This is suitable for driving an arpeggiator etc.. The Pro2 is sold in the U.S. by Analogics, Wine Country, and others. I have written and faxed them several times from Canada and had NO response at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Parts for vinatge synths ************************ ARP: Music Dealer Service 4700 West Fullerton Chicago, IL 60639 tel: 312-282-8171 Deltalab, Oberheim (parts): Magic Music Machines 1207 Howard St. San Franisco, CA 94103 tel: 415-864-3300 Oberheim manuals: Magic Parts 1537 Fourth St., Suite 198 San Rafael, CA 94901 tel: 800-451-1922 800-525-0022 (in CA) Moog: EJE Research 20 French Road Buffalo, NY14227 tel: 716-656-9607 Sequential: Wine Country Productions (see address & phone above) --- 4.2.0) [UNIX hardware] --- 4.2.1) What are some MIDI interfaces for 386 UNIX boxes? Answer: To: nextmusic-list@wri.com Date: Sat, 25 Jan 92 10:50:46 EST Original-From: blink!tjt (Tim Thompson) Subject: re: UNIX/Midi Interfaces > From: Roberto Sierra <73557.2101@compuserve.com> > interfaces exist for UNIX machines. Does anyone know > if anything is available for Unix on a 386 platform? MPU-compatible interfaces work fine under UNIX on a 386. A UNIX device driver called devmidi is available via FTP (on ucsd.EDU and louie.udel.EDU). There are changes to this device driver (also on at least louie.udel.EDU)) that allow it to work with VP/ix, so you can run DOS MIDI software as well. For software, there is glib, a free generic librarian/editor. The glib2 version on louie.udel.EDU includes support for the devmidi driver. This may not appear relevant to "nextmusic", but when NeXTStep becomes available on 386 machines, it may be much easier to write MIDI software to run on both a 386 and NeXT. Anyone know if the Music Kit will be enhanced on the 386 to include support for the MPU interface? ...Tim... Date: Tue, 16 Feb 93 10:03:26 MST From: Mike Durian <durian@advtech.uswest.com> An MPU-401 compatible MIDI driver is included with BSDI's BSD/386 product. BSD/386 being a POSIX complient operating system for 386's and 486's based on the CSRG Net2 release. If you build my tclm [see item 3.2.2 --crl] package on a BSD/386 machine with an MPU-401 card, you can enable hooks to allow you to play as well as modify MIDI files. mike durian@advtech.uswest.com --- 4.3.0) [NeXT hardware] --- 4.4.0) [DOS/Windows hardware] --- 4.4.1)* How do I do MIDI with my laptop PC? What is the Key Electronics Midiator? Answer: Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 11:18:24 +0200 From: ruprecht@corse.informatik.uni-freiburg.de (Nick Ruprecht) Organization: Institut fuer Informatik der Universitaet Freiburg Address: Rheinstrasse 10-12, D-7800 Freiburg i. Br., Germany Phone: +49-761-203 3884, fax: +49-761-203 3889 The Key Electronics MIDIator is a good interface for portable PCs. warrant mention of the Key Electronics MIDIator under a separate topic. I think that the MIDIator 101 will actually do the baud rate transformation from 38.4 kBaud to 31.25 kBaud. The MIDIator 101 goes for about $US 120. Key Electronics also distributes a sequencer for MS-DOS PCs for it. The MS-DOS sequencer Cakewalk supports it as well. Key Electronics' address is: Key Electronics, 7515 Chapel Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76116 Office: (817) 560-1912, FAX: (817) 560-9745 Toll Free: 1-800-533-MIDI (1-800-533-6434) ** Date: Mon, 9 May 94 08:02:08 PDT From: tonyf@ims.com (Antonio Freixas) There are several vendors providing both serial and parallel port connections to MIDI which will work with a laptop. The three vendors I know about are: Key Electronics 1-800-533-6434 7515 Chapel Avenue Fort Worth, TX 76116 Midiman 1-800-969-6434 236 West Mountain St. Suite 108 Pasadena, CA 91103 Music Quest 1-800-876-1376 1700 Alma Drive Suite 330 Plano, TX 75075 I have both a Key MS-101 serial interface (also known as a MIDIator) and a Midiman Portman PC/P parallel interface. For DOS systems, you are dependent on the music software vendor to support the particular device (some of the hardware vendors supply drivers to Cakewalk with their products). For Windows 3.1 systems, the hardware vendor supplies a Windows driver and all Windows software vendors that I know of will use the driver (there may be a few shareware programs that still assume you have an MPU-401 which will not work with these MIDI devices). The current Key Windows driver for the MIDIator loses bytes on some systems. I am one of those unlucky ones -- with the MS-101, I cannot do reliable SysEx dumps. Real-time recordings wind up with very long notes as Note Off events are lost. Key claims that the problem occurs due to other Windows programs misusing the clock interrupt; they are working on a fix but have not released one as of 7-23-93. I have used the Key MS-101 under DOS without problems (using the notation package SongWright). I believe that each of the above vendors supplies BOTH serial and parallel versions of their products. If you have a laptop without a mouse port separate from the serial port, the parallel versions are the way to go, as you will be able to use the mouse and MIDI. Windows programs are easier to use with the mouse; some programs cannot be fully used without a mouse. -- tonyf@ims.com (503) 626-7117 x1349 --- 4.4.2) I'm just starting on MIDI and want to know how to send MIDI from my SCO UNIX box (and who do I buy a card from? Are there device drivers available?) Answer: From: tjt@blink (Tim Thompson) Newsgroups: rec.music.synth Subject: Re: MIDI FAQ? Date: 28 Dec 91 14:34:29 GMT Andrew Beattie (tab@ibmpcug.co.uk) writes: > I'm just starting on MIDI and want to know how to send MIDI from my SCO UNIX > box. (and who do I buy a card from? are there device drivers available? If SCO UNIX implies you're using an AT-bus 386 of some sort, there is a UNIX device driver available called devmidi that can be found in the ucsd.EDU archive and elsewhere. It supports any MPU-compatible MIDI interface. The glib librarian/editor, also found in the ucsd.EDU archive, can use this driver (email me for the changes). There is also a version of devmidi that allows it to be used with VP/IX, so you can run DOS MIDI software under UNIX. For any machine with a standard serial port, you can use the Key Electronics (1-800-533-MIDI) MIDIATOR MS-114 interface - it goes from standard RS232 to MIDI. There's no buffering, so to avoid input lossage you need to run the RS232 at 38.4Kbaud. For MIDI output, you can run the RS232 at lower rates and still get usable results. For machines that can run their RS232 at the exact MIDI rate, you can get by with a cheaper version of the MIDIATOR, I think, the MS-101. ...Tim Thompson...AT&T Bell Labs/Holmdel/NJ...tjt@blink.att.com... --- 4.4.3) How can I adapt my IBM-PC parallel port to be a MIDI interface? Answer: From: cgd@ecmwf.co.uk (Dick Dixon) Subject: 'Paramid' parallel-port MIDI interface Date: Thu, 22 Jul 93 9:08:33 BST This is a build-it-yourself MIDI interface adaptor for PC parallel port. So far as I know, it will work with any PC (I have tried it with four; 286, 386 and portables). MIDI in, out and thru are provided, with signal monitoring LEDs. The posted zip file includes a driver for DOS Cakewalk standard, plus some 'C' code to test the interface. Not recommended as a first project for previous non-techies, but no particular snags in construction are anticipated. It can be obtained thus: Site: ftp.cs.ruu.nl [131.211.80.17] Login: "anonymous" or "ftp" Password: your own email address (you@your_domain) File: /pub/MIDI/DOC/paramida.zip regards Dick Dixon [SEE ALSO: the June 1986 BYTE magazine article on building a MIDI board for the IBM PC -- crl] --- 4.5.0) [Macintosh hardware] --- 4.5.1) What's all this about problems with Macintosh Powerbooks and MIDI? Answer: See anonymous@xcf.berkeley.edu:misc/netjam/doc/PowerbookMIDI, or email netjam-request@xcf.berkeley.edu with the subject 'request for file: doc/PowerbookMIDI'. Comments welcome. --- 4.5.2) How can I build my own MIDI interface for the Macintosh? Answer: From: henges@ingr.com. (John Hengesbach) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,rec.music.synth Subject: Re: DIY MIDI interface? Keywords: MIDI Date: 30 Dec 88 16:05:21 GMT In article <817@ttrdf.UUCP> fjo@ttrdf.UUCP (Frank Owen ) writes: > > Has anyone figured out how to kludge up a Do-It-Yourself MIDI interface >for the Macintosh? It seems that the one Apple sells has practically no A reply... MINIMAL MAC--MIDI INTERFACE =========================== Well, here it is all you MIDI fans. THE ultimate in simplicity!! This is a simple schematic for a serial to MIDI converter. There are two functions performed here. One is the conversion from current loop to RS-422. The second function is supplying the 1 MHz signal for the serial chip to sync up with the 31.5K baud rate of MIDI. >>>>>>> DATA FLOW >>> (MAC TO MIDI INSTRUMENT) >>>>>>>>> +-------+ +------+ To MAC 4 10|26LS32 | |7407 | Serial >------+ |11 1| |2 +------+ 5 Port 5 9| +-----+ +-----+R=220 +-----< \ DB9 pin >------- | | | +------+ \ (5 pin DIN socket) Numbers | | | | | MIDI OUT +-------+ +------+ / (to instrument) +------+ +------+ 4 / +5 volts -+R=390 +--+ +5 volts -+R=220 +-----< +------+ | +------+ +-------+ | +------+1 +------+ 4 8 6|26LS31 | | |MCT2 +-----+R=220 +-----< \ >------+ |11| 5| | +------+ \ (5 pin DIN socket) 9 5| +--+--+ | | MIDI IN >------- | 4| |2 5 / (from instrument) | | +-+ +------------------< / +-------+ | +------+ | v Ground <<<<<<<<<<<<< DATA FLOW << (MIDI INSTRUMENT TO MAC ) <<< +-------+ +------+ 7 10|26LS31 | |1 MHZ | >------+ |9 8| OSC | 3 11| +-----+ | >------- | | | | | + | +-------+ +------+ Power connections: GROUND +5 ----- -- 7407 7 14 26LS31 8,12 4,16 26LS32 8,12 4,16 OSCILLATOR 7 14 Notes: The optical isolator MCT-2 above can probably be any relatively fast optical coupler. Note that the 390 ohm resistormay need to be adjusted to make sure the output does not saturate. Using a scope while feeding a MIDI signal in should show you whether the signal looks clean. The diagram has been drawn to show MAC signals on the left and MIDI signals on the right. There have also been allowances made for the fact that 80 column ascii displays are not **exactly** graphics terminals. Also note that the MAC pin numbers are for the DB9 connector **NOT** the 8 pin mini-DIN connector!! The age old question of where to get power for this always remains. On the pre-MAC-PLUSs, there was power available from the serial port connector. I solved this problem by finding a 7 VDC AC adapter at a parts store and using a 5 volt voltage regulator IC to bring it down to 5 volts. This is left as an exercise for the student..... The 26LS31 and 26LS32 are the same type of chips which are used in the MAC for RS-42? conversion. I got them from a store in Santa Clara California (Anchor Electronics (408) 727-3693). They also have 1 Mhz Oscillators as well. I have built several variations of this over the last two years and have had good success using a variety of music software with them. John Hengesbach (205)772-1669 uunet!ingr!henges Intergraph Corporation Huntsville, AL 35807 --- 5.0) [Reference Material] --- 5.1) Is an overview of "General MIDI" available? Answer: Yes, via ftp as: anonymous@XCF.Berkeley.EDU:misc/netjam/doc/midi/general_midi --- 5.2) What are the names and address of various gear manufacturers? Answer: Rich Kulawiec (rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.EDU) posts a monthly list of manufacturer contact info to rec.music.makers, rec.music.synth, alt.guitar, and news.answers. --- 5.3) Where may I find an electronic music bibliography? Answer: See the file: anonymous@ftp.cs.ruu.nl:MIDI/DOC/bibliography or anonymous@131.211.80.17:MIDI/DOC/bibliography --- 5.4) Where can I find out all about MIDI? Answer: Email LISTSERV@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU, with the phrase GET MIDISPEC PACKAGE in the message body. You will get the following message, as well as the files to which it refers. Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1991 18:32:49 -0500 From: Revised List Processor (1.7a) <LISTSERV@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: File: "MIDISPEC $PACKAGE" being sent to you ************************************************************************* * * * MIDISPEC Package * * * * The following series of plain text files are the contents of the * * MIDISPEC PACKAGE. They are a reference resource compiled from several * * sources, mostly by Greg at LEE@UHCCUX. The Primer, originally written * * by Bob McQueer, is in constant revision. The other files are subject * * to periodic review and update. The package as a whole may be added to * * as MIDI expands. * * * * They have been placed here to make it possible for users to retrieve * * or subscribe to the whole set of documents as a "package" so as to * * automatically get the updated documentation when it is made * * available. Access to the complete package is possible via GET * * MIDISPEC PACKAGE. * * * * You can subscribe to it with: AFD ADD MIDISPEC PACKAGE (note that you * * will need to use the PW command to define yourself a password before * * you can use the AFD command -- see LISTAFD MEMO for more details). * * If you wish to only be informed when the files are updated, use the * * FUI ADD MIDISPEC PACKAGE command. * * * ************************************************************************* * filename filetype Filelist File description * -------- -------- -------- ----------------------- MIDISPEC $PACKAGE EMUSIC The Package Definition MIDI1_0 MIDISPEC EMUSIC The MIDI Version 1.0 Specification PRIMER MIDISPEC EMUSIC A MIDI Tutorial MIDIBNF MIDISPEC EMUSIC MIDI Considered in Backus-Naur Form CTRLTAB MIDISPEC EMUSIC Listing of Controller/Mode Command Codes STATTAB MIDISPEC EMUSIC Listing of MIDI Status Codes NOTESTAB MIDISPEC EMUSIC Listing of MIDI Notes by Octave FILEFMT MIDISPEC EMUSIC Description of MIDI Standard File Format SDSFMT MIDISPEC EMUSIC Description of MIDI Sample Dump Standard TIMECODE MIDISPEC EMUSIC Description of MIDI Time Code Format --- 5.5) What are the details behind current sound formats? Answer: The Audio Formats Guide is available by anonymous ftp from ftp.cwi.nl [192.16.184.180], directory pub, file AudioFormats*.* (where *.* is the version number). --Guido van Rossum, CWI, Amsterdam <guido@cwi.nl> "Shut that bloody bouzouki off!" --- End of the Netjam FAQ. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Craig R. Latta | Experimental Computing Facility, UC Berkeley (XCF) Composer and | Atari Games Audio Group <Latta@AGames.COM> Computer Scientist | The NetJam Project <NetJam-request@XCF> Craig.Latta@NetJam.ORG | The Smallmusic Project <Smallmusic-request@XCF> (standard disclaimer) | Biggles' Home for the Oversubscribed (wanna join?) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- User Contributions:
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