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From: C503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Baird McIntosh)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga needs a good music score editor/player
Message-ID: <11005@baldrick.udel.EDU>
Date: 13 Feb 90 14:51:31 GMT
Sender: mmdf@udel.EDU
Lines: 43

On precisely this topic, I have received no *NULL* z e r o Zip! nothing in
the way of responses.  Some people don't need/want to get into MIDI yet.  Some
people want an Amiga-voice-based sound package.  Some people like to make
music with the computer's standard voices.  Some people want:

 - note durations from 1/64th to tied-whole notes with every duration
   in between (triplets/quadruplets/funky-uplets)
 - support for digitized instruments in the Sonix .instr/.ss format
 - support for digitized sounds sampled/played at any rate
 - support for Sonix synthesized instruments
 - support for improved synthesized instruments with algorythmic manipulation
   of sounds during the playback of a score
 - support for crescendos/decrescendos and arbitrary changing of each voice's
   volume/adsr envelope and levels/vibrato/portamento/etc during playback
 - support for ritards/accelerandos (i.e. tempo changes, both abrupt and
   gradual)
 - support for key changes in a score
 - support for time signature changes every measure in a score
 - support for the full octave range that the Amiga can play
 - support for tied/slurred notes and also accented notes
 - an included freely distributable player program
 - etc.etc.etc.etc.etc.

Basically some people want a real music program.  Some people have used Sonix
and/or DMCS and found them lacking many of the above features.  Some people
have even tried posting their views to comp.sys.amiga to gather support from
all the computer music lovers out there.  Some people have been disappointed
with the response.  Some people will shut up now. :-)

I don't want to be too cynical, but maybe no one with programming experience
on the Amiga is interested in making money on 'artsy' programs.  It's all
networking/connectivity solutions, the best UNIX-text-editor-look-alike,
multiple serial port cards, blahblahblah.  These are valid projects, but so
is a real music program.  Everyone has to relax sometime, right?  It would
be nice to have a full-featured music program based on the Amiga's four
voices.  (anyone with C64 experience may have seen the SID Editor and Player
software....I want something like that, but expanded up to Amiga level)

I said I was gonna shut up and I didn't...now I really will.

 __o Baird McIntosh (2nd yr CS/Math major, University of Missouri-Columbia)
__/|   c503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu <-or-> c503719@umcvmb.bitnet
  |  "CS215:Systems Analysis = legitimate CS-requisite or death by boredom?"