Conference hydra::amiga_v1

3023.0. "Beginner's Music questions." by HYDRA::CHICOINE () Mon Oct 16 1989 13:46

       Hello all,
 
       I'm running an A500, with 1meg, and 2 floppies, no hard disk.
      Education and entertainment for my two children ages 8 and 2,
      are the primary functions for the system.

        One of the paths I see the system taking my family is music. 
     
        What the system will have to over come is the total lack of music
     background from myself, and the total lack of computer illiteracy of
     my wife. For that matter, my wife's knowledge of music is probably
     limited to someone that can use the scales,  and had six months of
     music lessons on a flute, 5 years ago.   Big task for a little A500.

         Where do we start?    

         What keyboard do we start with?  (I'd like to be able to use it
          with or without the computer.) But I do want it to produce good
         sound, (I.E. If it's switched to piano, I'd like it to sound like 
         one.) I don't believe I need or want 10 million preset sounds,
         and X_HUGE # of polyphonic notes.

      I've seen notes in the COMMUSIC file about the low end CASIO MT-240,
    but I really would like something with 49 fullsized keys as opposed to 
    the small keyboard. But! my budget is non existent so I'm very flexible.

         What software do we start with?

         The CASIO MT-240 (has midi out) (Does it also need Midi in?)  
         runs between $175 and $190,  I've seen midi controllers for about
          >= $60. If the CASIO has Midi out, do I still need this?
         How much is the software? 
 
         Can we do _it_ for under $270.00 total?  New Y/N ___   USED Y/N ___
         " _it_ " = hardware and software.
         
         I've seen an AMIGA packaged kit containing a (yamaha -held like
         a guitar - keyboard, and software package of some type) on sale
         at System Eyes AMIGA store for about $178.00. Is this stuff just
         cheap kid's stuff? or not a bad deal for an OK package. ( I've
         seen this kit in lot's of AMIGA mags. I hope you know the kit
         I'm talking about.)

         Will we be happy and excited with immediate results (remember the 
         7 year old _  He's smart, but he's got a short attention span) 
         after the first few sessions, enough so as to inspire continued 
         use of the investment?

         Are there programs used to teach music, something that compares
         what you're playing to what you are supposed to be playing and 
         verbally corrects the player? I picture something that might
         display notes on screen and display what you play either on top
         of the original note (if you played the note correctly) or show
         the note you played in a different color next to the original note 
         when you miss it. Something with a metronome built in. That you
         can purchase different data disks with different music types and
         skill levels to learn. Something that would number or color code 
         notes for very early learners. Kind of like an electronic music 
         tutor, in the same light as the Mavis B.- Typing tutor.

         Ed Smith asked a question way back when about MUSIC STUDENT 1.
         Is this kind of what I'm looking for? No-one answered his note.


   More questions;

         ON these mini keyboards there are sounds called "voices". Are 
         these the same as the "sampled sounds" on the AMIGA; And if so,
         can I then just get an electric piano with no "voices" and 
         select them internally with the software?

         Can I get a microphone and pass voice to the AMIGA, and then
         digitize / Funk-a-size it?  Just a toy for the kids?  I recall
         seeing something on one of the PBS kids shows where Stevie Wonder
         did this type of thing with a keyboard, a trackball, and some
         kind of PC.
      
         Does/can the AMIGA do the same thing as the 1970's moog 
         synthesizers did, to create some crazy sounds?
        
         These are just a few of the many questions I have, and I don't
         even know what to ask yet. I suppose once I start learning a 
         bit more, and asking at a few stores, I'll have a bunch more
         questions. 


             Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

                             *** May God Bless ***
                                 John Chicoine
 

    On a different note,  What about some of the canned music that is in
  the Pd space. How do I get to hear some of that? I Up-loaded the 1812.arc
  and tried to "play" it using "PLAY" from the CLIWizard program, but I
  got nothing,,,  Which ones can I "play"  what PD-palyers should I have?
  how do you know which ones work with which music?

< Note 3023.0 by HYDRA::CHICOINE >
                        -< Beginner's Music questions. >-
John,
		To address some of your questions:
         
         >I've seen an AMIGA packaged kit containing a (yamaha -held like <
         >a guitar - keyboard, and software package of some type) on sale <
         >at System Eyes AMIGA store for about $178.00. Is this stuff just<
         >cheap kid's stuff? or not a bad deal for an OK package. ( I've  <
         >seen this kit in lot's of AMIGA mags. I hope you know the kit   <
         >I'm talking about.)

		The keyboard is a Yamaha SHS10, I have one of these that I
	use to control my Casio 101 and my drum machine.  This keyboard has
	6 midi channels that it outputs, 1 drum, 4 accompaniments and 1 solo,
	but it has no midi input.  This is not a problem for me but you 
	will not be able to play it with the A500's output although you
	could use it to input notes and/or play the A500 voices using DMCS.
	(DeluxeMusicConstructionSet)

         >Will we be happy and excited with immediate results <

		This depends on how easy it is to impress you :^) but seriously
	I'm all thumbs and even I can cause little kids to marvel for seconds
	at a time with this; even minutes if I let them play it.

         >ON these mini keyboards there are sounds called "voices". Are <
         >these the same as the "sampled sounds" on the AMIGA; And if so,<

		Voices are the instruments that the keyboard can mimic and,
	in expensive ones, they could be actual samples of real instruments
	but the cheaper ones are usually synthesized sounds.  The SHS10 has
	16 voices and 16 accompaniment styles with auto bass, one finger
	chords, programable accompaniment, pitch bend, portemento, vibrato,
	drum fill-ins and other features all for about $70
      
         >Does/can the AMIGA do the same thing as the 1970's moog <
         >synthesizers did, to create some crazy sounds?	  <

		With the proper software, yes.  I have a Perfect Sound
	sampler that can record stereo sound samples and create instruments
	for DMCS also Synthia can create instruments of all types.