Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!mpmst1
From: mpmst1@unix.cis.pitt.edu (metlay)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: amigas in the music world.
Summary: Further thoughts on matters musical....
Message-ID: <24860@unix.cis.pitt.edu>
Date: 11 Jun 90 22:38:26 GMT
References: <2458.tnews@basso.actrix.co.nz>
Reply-To: mpmst1@unix.cis.pitt.edu (metlay)
Organization: RoadKill Records(TM): Music With Impact
Lines: 61


Dale, I agree wholeheartedly with your elaborations on my post. To
clarify a few things:

1. Apparently we are seeing the first glimmers of SMPTE compatibility
in the Amiga world as of now; I have received several notes from people
who have heard about upcoming developments in MasterTracks Pro (by the
company who INVENTED computer MIDI software, btw) and Music-X (a sick,
twisted, pervert's view of MIDI that I plan on buying instantly, SMPTE
or NO SMPTE...yum....) that will allow SMPTE chaselock and tempo maps.

Big fat hairy f*cking deal. With no interfaces to stripe the code itself,
and I have heard of NONE, the software's still useless. (See Metlay's 
Law, below. Note that this was developed by me for application strictly
to synthesizers; it does, however, occasionally apply elsewhere |-> )
SMPTE isn't a subset of MIDI; it's an audio tone on the tape that time-stamps
the music in an absolute frame of reference. The one kluge that WILL work,
one that you mentioned, is to buy a device that converts SMPTE to a type
of MIDI message that IS software dependent, the so-called MTC (MIDI TimeCode).
It's worth noting that sync boxes like this were the rule rather than the
exception, until fairly recently; nowadays everyone buys MIDI interfaces
with SMPTE built in; they sell for $500 or so, and usually attach to a Mac.
|-<

2. I stand my ground on the backwardness of the Amiga music world; they're
squandering their lead as Apple develops utilities like MIDI Manager (no,
it's not true multitasking, but it works and it does more, faster, than
an Amiga can, end of discussion), and there's no sign of anything more than
a feeble twitch in the direction of improvement. Why not? Because with very
few exceptions, the pro-level software for MIDI on the Amiga are ports of 
programs written for other machines, done by the companies who make most
of their revenue from those other machines. Dr. T's KCS? Ported from the C64
and the Atari ST. Texture? Ported from the PC. MasterTracks Pro? Ported from
the Mac. And so on. The big guns in the business aren't devoting any muscle
to the Amiga because they have a vested interest in keeping the Mac afloat!
There's a totally devastating piece of hardware out there called the MIDI
Time Piece; it's a MIDI interface, 8x8 MIDI router and data processor, and
when combined with the right software it can totally automate a MIDI studio.
It was, of course, developed for the Mac, and the company who built it claims
that they're working on software ports to other machines. Yeah, sure.

I hate to sound like I'm bellyaching, but these are the facts as they stand 
at this point in time; I buy what works and I make music with it, but I 
don't get dewy-eyed over promises of great things to come. The Amiga is a
powerful, creativity-unlocking computer, and that's why I bought one. But
as things stand right now in the MIDI world, I'm going to have to find a
used Mac to run the few pieces of software that I can't do without, and 
that I simply can't get on my Amiga.

If the people who make AMAX are listening--MIDI stuff won't work on the Amiga
with AMAX, but if it did, your sales would go WAY up with an ad or two to
that effect in the right magazines....

*sigh*


-- 
metlay			      | METLAY'S LAW:
                              | If you can't go into your local store, ask for
mpmst1@unix.cis.pitt.edu      | it, pay for it and walk out with it, then it's
metlay@vms.cis.pitt.edu       | vaporware, and you shouldn't waste time on it.