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From: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (David Phillip Oster)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Which Is Better: DMCS or Concertwar
Message-ID: <20877@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Sun, 20-Sep-87 16:01:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.20877
Posted: Sun Sep 20 16:01:05 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Sep-87 23:36:59 EDT
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In article <203200006@labsms.UUCP> lmm@labsms.UUCP writes:
>If Concertware+ and DMCS are both pretty good software packages for
>Sequencing & Scoring of Music with MIDI support, then what is the
>advantages of some of the higher-priced Macintosh packages, (ie.
>Mark of the Unicorn - Performer, and Composer and Opcode's Sequencer 2.5)
Performer/Composer does validation checking against real instruments
for the composer: if you tell it you are writing a tuba part, it will
give you warnings if you write notes outside a tuba's range.

Opcode's Sequencer is a real sequencer: It can handle precise control
of timing information on many different MIDI channels simultaneously
(The interface is modelled after a multi-track recording deck.)  DMCS,
on the other hand, uses a single MIDI keyboard as a shorthand way of
entering a musical score.  You have to play in a very realistic,
robotic, slow way if you want to use a midi keyboard for input.  

For output, you can assign each of many musical staves to a different
MIDI channel with DMCS.  Data manipluation is all in terms of sheet
music.  By comparison, Opcode's Sequencer gives you control at the
millisecond level.  See this month's Electronic Musician for an
article on how to program "feel" using this.

>If a persons interest lies only in being able to play something on a
>keyboard, have the Mac save it, and then be able to edit it on screen
>and then print it out in standard music notation on an Imagewriter or a
>Laserwriter.  What software does he need?  

If you want to play naturally,  you need both Opcode Sequencer, and
DMCS (and also a MIDI interface.) If you are willing to play
robotically, and then do some editing with the mouse, DMCS alone is enough.

>If on top of that he wants to be able to do some orchestration, I mean
>if he has a multi-timbral synthesizer and wants to put in several
>different tracks assigned to different MIDI channels and put together
>something musical what software does he need?

DMCS alone can handle this one. (as can Sequencer alone.)

>Along another line, if a person does use a Laserwriter for printing out
>his music, does he have to have the sonata font?  Which software
>programs support sonata?

If you don't buy the Sonata postScript font from Adobe (I've heard it
isn't copyprotected anymore.) then, when you print, the LaserWriter
will do what it always does when you try to print a font it doesn't
have in postscript form: it will do its best to synthesize it from the
largest size of bitmap font available.  (If you have a decent font
editor, you can tell it to create a large bitmap size of Sonata, then
hand tweak it.) DMCS supports sonata.


Sorry all you ConcertWare fans for slighting it. I just don't happen
to know it.


--- David Phillip Oster            --Inside Mac Vol. 5 documents Color
Arpa: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu --QuickDraw and NewtextEdit.
Uucp: {uwvax,decvax,ihnp4}!ucbvax!oster%dewey.soe.berkeley.edu