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From: nivek@cmu-ri-rover.ARPA (Kevin Dowling)
Newsgroups: net.music.synth
Subject: Mac/MIDI
Message-ID: <230@cmu-ri-rover.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 31-May-85 00:51:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: cmu-ri-r.230
Posted: Fri May 31 00:51:02 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Jun-85 12:08:11 EDT
Distribution: net.micro.mac
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 52


The latest issue of the IMA bulletin (International MIDI association
newsletter) has an article on MIDI for the Macintosh.  Reprinted without
premission:  

"Digidesign, the folks who make alternative drum sounds for
digital drum machines and more recently the Sound Designer Macintosh
software for the Emulator II, in conjunction with Assimulation, producers of
many Apple peripherals, are producing the MIDI conductor, a Macintosh/MIDI
interface.

The interface consists of a cable with a small 1x1x3 inch box that connects
to the serial port on the back of the Mac. A "replacement" serial port is
provided on the side of the box and traditional MIDI In/Out connectors are
found on the front. MIDI conductor comes fully documented with a list price
of $79. Digidesign indicates the design will be mass-produced and sold at
your local computer store.

For more information contact DigiDesign, Inc. at 920 Commercial St., Palo
Alto, CA 94303. Phone (415) 853-0436

This is the third or so Mac MIDI device I've heard about. According to some
salesmen in NYC I talked to several more Mac/MIDI devices are coming out
early in the summer. I posted on another Mac/MIDI device about a month ago.

Also in the issue it mentions that Apple will have their own display at 
the June NAMM show (National Association of Music Merchants) in New Orleans.
Apple plans to have very large displays of IIe and Macintosh music software.
Steve Jobs is supposedly behind this push...

---- not mac related but interesting:
Intercomp in Rochester (716) 247-8056 is offering a Co-Co MIDI interface at
$98. They're also developing software for the interface.


Also an interesting letter on the proposed Roland MPU file format for
exchanging song files between programs or devices using the Roland MPU-401.
The letter argues that the format does not go far enough and has problems
in that, the conductor track is not specified, click rate is not specified,
no way to change time signature within a track, and no way to assign different
tracks to different ports.

Also a report on what's going to be happening at Digicon '85 if people
are interested I'll post more info to net.music.synth

					nivek
Aka :	Kevin Dowling		Bell:	(412) 578-8830
Arpa:	nivek@cmu-ri-rover	Mail:	Robotics Institute
					Schenley Park
					Pgh, PA 15213