Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca!anvil!stank
From: stank@anvil.WV.TEK.COM (Stan Kalinowski)
Newsgroups: comp.music
Subject: Re: "M" and other INTELLIGENT MUSIC INC. products.
Message-ID: <5283@orca.WV.TEK.COM>
Date: 9 Nov 89 22:16:02 GMT
References: <257@telxon.UUCP>
Sender: nobody@orca.WV.TEK.COM
Reply-To: stank@anvil.WV.TEK.COM (Stan Kalinowski)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Wilsonville, OR
Lines: 62

In article <257@telxon.UUCP> bobp@telxon (Bob Powers) writes:
	.
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>    If you have any experience with "M" or any of Intelligent music's 
>other products (like Jam factory, etc...), I'd appreciate any correspondence
>to discuss experiences/gripes/comments/suggestions/alternative 
>products/etc...

(I'm posting this because I thought it might be of general interest.)
There is a demo version of "M" for the Atari St floating around the
various sources of public domain software.  I got my copy through a
local PD disk swap, but I've heard that it is on many Atari bulletin
boards (it was mentioned in comp.sys.atari.st a short while back), and
commercial public domain software distributors.  

If you have access to an Atari you might try the demo version before
you spend your money.  Personally, I tried it, and was not very
impressed, but you may have different needs/tastes than I have.  It
does take a bit of trying to use the demo version, at first I found it
tends to time-out before you can get the tutorial examples set up.
(The demo version also does not allow you to save what you have done,
which is typical of demo software.)  After a few tries, I became
proficient enough with the user interface to be able to set up the
examples, listen to them, and play around before the program shut
itself off.  In my opinion it did not offer anything that was both
innovative and useful.  One unique feature, the "conductor" box,
allows you to change the parameters of the song in real time, i.e.
while it's playing.  I found it awkward to use.  I should point out
here that I am accustomed to using Musicbox, a PD music generator
program for the IBM PC, which recently got a very favorable writeup in
Keyboard magazine.  

I was very impressed with Musicbox when I first tried it, because I
could generate unique and interesting "music" very quickly by simply
varying some of the sample setups that came with it.  (I use quotes
around the word "music" here because I am not a musician, a purist
would probably gag at what I do, I find that infinitly pleasing
somehow.)  At any rate, I was not able to get such a wide variation in
the texture of the music generated with the "M" tutorial examples.  I
thought that "M"'s examples sounded great, but I was not able to get
the same great results on my own.  I was left with the impression that
whoever wrote the demo's was probably very musical and could probably
make anything sound good, I don't have such talent and so I was not
impressed.  I would highly recommend trying the "M" demo yourself and
making your own decision, I am not a musician and so therefore my
opinions of "M" should be taken with a grain of salt.  One of these
days, if I ever get some time, I'll probably revisit the demo version
of "M", there's always the possibility that I missed something
fundamental in the instructions on how to use it.  I do think that
offering a demo version of a program is a very good idea, and I
applaud Intelligent Music for doing it.  As a result of the "M" demo I
carry a very high opinion of Intelligent Music and would not hesitate
to do business with them once they offer a product I can use.

							stank


US Mail: Stan Kalinowski, Tektronix, Inc., Interactive Technologies Division
         PO Box 1000, MS 61-028, Wilsonville OR 97070   Phone:(503)-685-2458
e-mail:  {ucbvax,decvax,allegra,uw-beaver}!tektronix!orca!stank
    or   stank@orca.WV.TEK.COM