Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    Jens, I had heard the same also, (from the same guy that told me
    of the upcoming Yamaha price reductions I mentioned in another note).
    It seems that it is intended to be the "Workstation" type with onboard
    effects and percussion sounds. 
    
    The s/w approach seems good at first sight, but if the unit doesn't
    take off and they stop developing, what have you gained? However
    it does sound interesting and I'll try and get more info out of
    him.
    
    BTW Jens, thanks for the aural enhancer circuit, I've started to
    accumulate the parts...the circuit looks deceptively simple!
    
    Ken
    

    Has Peavy improved their quality any?  I've used their gear in the past
    and always have come away being very glad that *I* didn't own the
    component. 

    I'm skeptical.

-b

 The following information is courtesy of PRO SOUND, Colorado Springs.. 


PEAVY DPM-3, digital phase modulation synthesizer:
==================================================
	Software based voice/program generation
	27 mega-hertz voice/data processing
	6 computers in host/slave configuration 
           (2 8-bit, 1 16-bit, and 3  24-bit)

DISPLAY:
	40 character backlit lcd with parametric programming (like the esq?)

KEYBOARD:
	  61 keys
	  Velocity
	  Unique aftertouch capabilities??? (polyphonic aftertouch)
	
CURRENT OPERATING SYSTEM CONFIGURATION:
	16 voice polyphonic/multi-timbral/dynamic allocation
	32 digital oscillators
	16 bit samples/ 2MB sample memory/ new samples can be loaded
                                           from card and disk
	110 individual drum samples
	2 multi-effects processors 
        (software based implemented with 24 bit processing)
	   reverb, early reflection, delay, eq, chorus, flange,
           phase shift, distortion, excited...
	9 track sequencer
	   20,000 notes
	   8 for instraments
	   1 for rhythm
	
PATCH:
	   100 program internal
	   200 cache card 

DISK DRIVE:
	  720 kb drive
	  Voice dump
	  sequencer dump
	  PCM DATA !!!!!!!!	

CACHE CARD (looks like roland card):
	  Voice dump
	  sequencer dump
	  PCM DATA !!!!!!!!!	

AVAILABILITY:
	  3-6 months
		 
ESTIMATED COST:
	  This is a rough guess as it has not been
          officially announced yet 2,295.


NOTE:
	6 prototypes were at the NAMM show.  The person I talked with said it 
supposedly sounds pretty good.

    
    Just curious, have these things come out yet?  
    
    I remember Peavey showing a drum line at NAMM a few years back that
    never made it to the stores.
    
    

	Well, Brian Rost and I (unplanned meeting) had our first view of PV's
new synth.  Union Music has one set up - price: $2195.

	It sounded very D50/M1/K1-ish to me (I'm really not interested in that
kind of sound).  Very clear/clean drums.  I could detect no grunge in any of the
sounds.  It may be a hot contender for the current market.  It doesn't have 
polyphonic aftertouch, by the way, only channel aftertouch.  (Nice leslie sound 
for B3 available via aftertouch, though - the speed changes based on pressure).

PRO's:

	Two independent multiple effects loops
	20,000 note easy-to-use sequencer
	disk-drive
	headphone out with SEPARATE volume knob (unfortunately its in a hard to 
		reach spot on the back panel)

CON's:

	Only two audio outs
	Buttons are "tight", would be difficult to use for a quick on-the-fly 
		change
	Although it uses samples, it doesn't do any sampling
	Doesn't use generic sample format (can't use just anybody's samples)

	Dan

The thing got pretty good reviews in the rags.

An informal "clinic" will be held tomorrow, Wednesday the 14th of March, 1990,
at Daddy's Junky Music in Nashua NH on the Peavey DPM-3.  Time: 12 noon about.

Basically Tim told me that the Peavey rep (she supposedly is a hot player) is 
coming to put new ROMs or some such in the machine and will be demoing the
new ROMs' features to Tim and whomever else is there and interested.  This
is not an official clinic or any such thing.

Chad

    
    
        I tried the one at Daddy's in Nashua about 3 months ago. 
     The sound is reminicent of the Casio VZ. Breathy sounds, but not
    on the order of the K1. No really "blow yer socks off" sounds, in
    my opinion.
    
    
    RC
    
     

	I just ended up with one in my studio for the week, while I'm
	programming it for some folks that are going to use it for gigs.

	Not a bad instrument, but it does have some, ah, zits, in my opinion.

	Things I like:

	1) MIDI implementation. It has a very thorough MIDI implementation.
	   You can get at positively everything from MIDI, which is nice
	   since I dislike the front panel. They did not implement MIDI
	   MONO mode. They did implement MULTI mode. It came configured in
	   OMNI mode. Barf. 

	2) Large wavesample library, plus you can save to disk (like the SQ-80).
	   One notable is that it can load MIDI sample dump standard files
	   into the wavesample library.

	3) The disks are IBM/Atari standard DD format. I formatted a disk
	   in the Atari and used it in the DPM3. Nice touch.

	4) The drum sounds are pretty good. Their software implementation of
	   a "kit" is a nice idea, and setting aside a track in the sequencer
	   for drums kind of helps the sequencing effort.

	5) 2 on board FX objects, software configurable. Pretty standard
	   fare, reverb, delay, chorus/flange, and exciter. 

	6) It's quiet, and has lots of headroom. I hooked it into the
	   system and it made a BIG difference from when I was playing it
	   through my Keyboard Cube. Probably says more about the Cube
	   though.


	7) Assignable controllers. It has a data slider, data wheel, and
	   data buttons, three footswitch inputs (1/2, and 3), all 
	   assignable.


	Things I don't like as much:

	1) The sequencer. Very much like the ESQ-1 in some respects, notably
	   the step edit function. To step backwards you have to rewind to the
	   previous measure and step back up. Argh. I do like the 9 tracks,
	   since it appears to have enough voice capablity to USE 9 tracks. I
	   guess I'm just spoiled by having a computer around to do things like
	   this.

	2) The menu implementation is a little TOO handholding for my taste. 
	   They made some implementation decisions which are a trifle annoying,
	   like putting the bend and mod wheel parameters on the OUTPUT page
	   instead of the MASTER page. Or getting a file from disk, which 
	   involves 12 seconds of paging into menus to tell it, YES, I want
	   storage, YES, it's mass storage, YES, it's disk, YES, get me
	   a directory, YES, load 1 sequence, YES, this one here, YES, load
	   it already. No lie. 

	3) It doesn't do defaults. Say, for example, you're making 4 sequences
	   for your favorite rock tune (intro, verse, chorus, bridge). You
	   want to record drums from MIDI, and you want the tempo at 88. For
	   EACH SEQUENCE you have to reset the MIDI in (config page 1), TEMPO
	   (when you create the sequence, or after, in another page), the
	   length of EACH TRACK in a sequence (doesn't default to the length
	   of the sequence. Dunno why). Oh, it doesn't remember your program
	   layout, so you gotta find the drums you used in the last sequence,
	   the bass, piano, etc. I haven't figured out if you can save defaults,
	   you can save "globals", but they aren't the same thing. 

	4) Creating a SONG from SEQUENCES is clumsy to me. SONGS consist of
	   events, of which there are three: SEQ, TEMPO, and END. Parameters
	   for SEQ and TEMPO are, respectively, the sequence (remember to use
	   the data slider, NOT the data wheel to select what sequence), and
	   the tempo value (use the wheel, not the slider... bzzt). Oh, and
	   remember to make sure you select INSERT mode or it forgets. Barf.

	5) The manual. Someone went nuts with a Mac making it, and it looks
	   a lot better than it is. I mean, the physical quality of the manual
	   is fantastic (plastic black 3 ring binder, heavy paper, etc). But the
	   content is average, and specific topics require wading through
	   pages of "how it works", as opposed to "how to work it". Some
	   people probably like it that way, I wish they'd separate the two.


	All in all, though, it's a neat box. For $2300 list, it's worth a look.

	/pjh

    I just got the new Peavy DPM-3 keyboard and am looking for a source for
    DECENT patches, etc.  The strings, horns, pianos, etc are only mediocre
    as typical of most factory sounds.  I'm not into wild sounds (yet
    anyway).
    
    I plan on doing alot of recording of my own works with fairly
    traditional sounds for the near term, and would be interested in
    finding out where I could buy or trade some voices.  I haven't seen any
    sound programmer offerings spring up in the back of Electronic Musician
    yet.
    
    I'm also interested in pen-pal'ing with any DECies who have this
    keyboard.
    
    	Dan

    Just saw an ad in the current EE Times, Peavey needs some SW engineers
    to work on the DPM line....
    
    							Brian