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From: cseaman@sequent.UUCP (Chris "The Bartman" Seaman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.audio
Subject: Re: MED 3.0 thoughts
Message-ID: <55591@sequent.UUCP>
Date: 19 Mar 91 18:34:57 GMT
References: <t22918.669072860@ursa> <1991Mar16.122237.29902@cc.tut.fi>
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Beaverton, OR
Lines: 85

s117986@lehtori.tut.fi (Salmij{rvi Janne) writes:
< 	Here is what I think of this long awaited editor:
< I got it last thursday and I've been examining it since then. First thing that
< struck me when I loaded it was the outlook... It was still the same ugly screen
< except the new menubar. And there was this annoying guy still left to jump (or
< not to jump) to the pointer (sorry Topi but I think your bitmappersonality
< is pretty annoying). Although I have to say that the way it looked didn't hide
< the amount of options there... (when I start creating/composing noise with any
< editor, the outlook affects the result. I just can't make good tunes with lousy
< looking editor, when with neat editor it is much more easier. There is this 
< psycholical(?) thing you know) 

I think you must be seriously disturbed. :-)  Actually, I find MED much
'better looking' than Protracker or StarTrekker.  And I get a kick out of
the 'dancing pointer'.

< And sample-editor is great and synthsounds, wow! It includes almost the best
< syntheticsounds on amiga (I think SidMonII sounds better but I just saw a 
< glimpse of it). 'Programminglanguage' for them sounds great and it is great
< when I tested it. With it you can create a sound that you wished, almost ;)

I haven't had a chance to play with the synthsounds yet, but the demo
provided was quite nice.  And the sample editor, while it may be no threat
to AudioMaster (II or III), is still quite useful.  Much more so than the
one in StarTrekker (at least to me).

< And yes it multitasks quite well, but but... Do I need a multitasking editor ?

YES!!  I absolutely refuse to use a 'productivity tool' which can't
multitask.  That's why I threw Protracker out the window (metaphorically
speaking).  Of course, I also hated the way Protracker insisted on trying
to open a PAL screen on my NTSC Amiga, and the fact that it uses the
vertical blanking of the screen for its timing, causing EVERY song to play
way too fast.  MED, on the other hand, uses CIAB, which makes it
compatible with ANY Amiga, including the A3000.  That is a BIG plus.

I wish those of you in Europe who compose music, and wish for us in lowly
America to enjoy it, would consider that none of the Tracker tools allow
us to do so.  The only way I can enjoy it is to load it into MED, which
still has an occasional problem with a Tracker module (more on this
below).

< Besides I'd like to 
< hear what do you all who run after multitasking editors run with those ?

What do I do while composing or listening to music with MED?  Anything I
want. :-)  Since it does multitask, I don't have to worry about what I
can't be doing.

< Nowadays when the editors have sampler and sample-editors they have everything
< you need when making music in themselves. 

This assumes that 'making music' is all you do with your Amiga.  If so,
then that's great for you.  On the other hand, I use mine for a lot more.

< 	So here is the conclusion:
< 		+ Synthsounds
< 		+ MIDI
< 		+ Lotsa commands and options
< 		- Outlook

I think the word 'outlook' should probably be replaced by 'appearance',
or possibly 'interface style'.

On another topic, I tried loading some Tracker modules into MED 3.00 last
night, and, to my great surprise, the Tracker compatibility has
significantly improved.  I did have a problem with mod.klisje_paa_klisje.
During blocks 3-5, there is extensive use of Portamento.  Unfortunately,
it didn't appear to be working correctly.  I ended up changing all of the
Portamento commands to the 'Change Pitch' command (FFD).  This corrected
the problem (or at least made it much less noticable), but I would like to
know if anyone else has had problems with Portamento.  What basically
happened is that, midway through the block, it lost almost all of the
volume from the instrument being 'slid'.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Chris

-- 
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