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From: mykes@3comvax.UUCP (Mike Schwartz)
Newsgroups: net.micro.cbm
Subject: Re: Review: Music Construction Set
Message-ID: <372@3comvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 21-Jan-86 22:39:24 EST
Article-I.D.: 3comvax.372
Posted: Tue Jan 21 22:39:24 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 24-Jan-86 08:30:17 EST
References: <962@terak.UUCP> <11392@watnot.UUCP>
Reply-To: mykes@3comvax.UUCP (Mike Schwartz)
Distribution: net
Organization: 3Com Corp; Mountain View, CA
Lines: 20
Keywords: Music Contruction Set, review


Try Bank Street MusicWriter from Mindscape.  I wrote the C64 version for
them last year, and it seems to answer all the criticism I have seen about
MCS.  BSMW is keyboard driven (a word processor for music), and featues
repeats, first and second endings, piano, forte, ties, etc.  

The only drawback is that BSMW doesn't make very interesting sounding music,
because (I didn't design it, I just programmed it) it uses the SID chip like
it had one hand tied behind its back (given a choice, I would have made it
do real nice sounds).  To me, everything sounds like a calliope.  It is an
excellent music program, however, and it obeys all the rules correctly.  It
also has 0 known bugs.

I also recommend Music Shop from Broderbund, which looks (visually) like
Bank Street MusicWriter.  I have not used it, but it appears to have a
few more songs with it, and it probably sounds better (it aint hard to
do that) than BSMW.

I would be interested  to see a review of BSMW from someone out there.  It
got a pretty good review in Compute.