Conference napalm::commusic_v1

	Just to clarify, while MIDI was being talked about before 1983, the 
first MIDI synth, the Prophet 600, came out in early 1983.

	Dan

    
    If there hadn't been a 1983, what would I have found to waste my money
    on?
    
    Richard.

    
    My only regret about MIDI is that I wish it had come 10 years earlier
    (when I bought my 1st synth--and ARP Odyssey). But I'm glad it's
    here now. 
    
    Mike D

    Back in September of '85 I walked into Kurlan Music to buy a new
    set of bass strings. Somehow, I wandered into the keyboard room
    (without an appointment!) and heard the DX-21...
    
    Almost 4 years later I figure that $40 set of black tape wounds
    has cost me over $5000...
    
    ...and it's the best cash I've ever spent! MIDI has been the catalyst
    to me making some damn good friends (everyone one of you can count
    yourself in), having some great times, and broadening my musical
    horizons beyond what I ever dreamed.
    
    Edd

    I have the same regret as .3 - 10 years earlier might have changed
    my life! With MIDI I have instant playback (gratification) of
    compositions that I score using Personal Composer, edit, cut and
    paste, etc., as well as choice of intruments for each part at a
    whim through program/channel changes, plus the software will transpose
    and extract parts, I could go on and on. The drudgery is gone, and
    I can now compose in my spare time. Before MIDI it was copy the
    parts, hack them out on the piano, erase, re-write, in a seemingly
    endless loop. And then to make any changes (new inspiration, etc.)
    once the piece was relatively complete could take hours more.
                                                                 
    Well, now that it's here things are certainly different!
    
    Bill

>     With MIDI I have instant playback (gratification) ....
>    that I score using Personal Composer, edit, cut and
    
    Yeah, I "score" much more often now thank to MIDI.
    
    ;-)
    
    	db
    

    
    
    Ya, thanks MIDI.  My credit cards are all maxed out, the downpayment
    of a house sits in the form of keyboards and tapedecks and mixers,
    and I hardly ever see my wife.
    
    I'm a MIDIholic. :^)
    
    Ralph
    
    

    Wow...I still remember the thrill of buying my first MIDI cable,
    hooking up my CZ101 to my RX15 drum machine and *** playing drums on
    the keyboard !!!!! WOW!!!!! ***.  
    
    Rodney M.
    
    

	re: .-2

	Ohyeah.

	And MIDI has come quite a ways since 1983. My first MIDI board, the
	Roland JX-3P, had such a useless MIDI implementation that I ended up
	retiring it. Nowadays I find myself spending much more time programming
	at night as well as by day, and finding yet more creative ways of
	configuring MIDI networks. My collection of 30' MIDI cables has
	increased dramatically in the last year. In 1983, when the big choice 
	was between a Polysix and a Jupiter-6, 30' data cables weren't even
	a gleam in my eye.

	/pjh

  <<< Note 1983.7 by IAMOK::CROWLEY "know where you stand in a Hellhole!!" >>>

My name is Dave. I'm a MIDIholic.

It all started when I discovered that my beloved Korg CX-3 didn't have the
latest new craze... a MIDI port. Thus began my never ending quest for MIDIfied
equipment. It didn't matter what the function of the equipment was, it had to
have MIDI. Even if it didn't have MIDI out, it had to at least have MIDI IN and
MIDI THRU. I tried to find a VOM with MIDI...no luck. My tv still doesn't have
MIDI but my home stereo may soon have a MIDI EQ. My Mac is MIDIed to two MIDI
patch bays. I need a database program to manage the connection list. I've been
on the wagon now for about six months, and am suffering from MIDI withdrawl. If
I don't buy some new MIDI gear soon I may give up music!

;^)

dave

    I've been on the wagon too.
    
    I've been MIDI-Sober for about 5 months now, and the encouraging
    thing is that it does get easier as time progresses.  But that's not
    to say that you don't get the occasional urge to buy something new.
    
    Not surprisingly, when I stopped BUYING stuff, I started getting
    more serious about USING the stuff that I already have.  I've
    almost completed two songs.
    
    Now I'm in a state that is probably familiar to post-MIDIholics
    which is "when is a piece 'done' or 'good enough'"?  That's what
    keeps me from finishing things.  I throw out too much, or I
    diddle forever and ever.
    
    However, I think what they say about Alcoholics is also true for
    MIDIholics:   Once a MIDIholic, always a MIDIholic.
    
    There's is no "cure" for it.   We're gonna have to live with this
    affliction for the rest of our lives, but as far as "afflictions"
    go, this is far from the worst.
    
    Dave, who has some "goals" to achieve before he will allow himself
    to buy anything else   (unless of course some REALLY great deal
    comes along...).

    
    Maybe we could make BIM-north into MIDIholics Anonymous meetings.
    I fell off the wagon several weeks ago, and its been getting worse
    ever since.  I've bought something new several weeks in a row now.
    I had been on the wagon since the last Wurlygig.  Now I don't
    know if it'll ever stop.  I need help.
    
    Ralph
    
    

    MIDI is a fad, a sham, a cheat.  It gives the illusion of musicianship
    without the knowledge; it gives the illusion of virtuousity without
    expression; it gives the illusion of being in a concert hall without
    the audience.

    MIDI has nothing to do with music.  MIDI was a marketing tool; a
    means of giving a goose to the synth industry, but they got a much
    bigger payback than expected, I imagine.  Hip Hip Hooray for those
    that had stock in a synth company and held it from 1982 till now.
    
    MIDI is an serial electrical interface; MIDI is a note-name protocol;
    MIDI is a gold mine for synth makers, and YOU'RE THE MOTHER LODE.
    
    Twenty years ago it was you, the guitar, and a portable cassette.
    Now it's a keyboard, a drum machine, a computer, a couple synths,
    a guitar controller, a mixer, microphones, a 4-track and a mastering
    deck.  But still no singing lessons, Harmonizers but no harmony
    classes, still no technique, an orchestra but no orchestration studies.
    It would be as though I had charge of a new complex test bench with
    the latest oscilloscopes and pulse generators, but didn't know how
    to set up a prop delay measurement; just twiddle the dials until
    it looks nice.
    
    Have fun, you've been taken.
    Tom

    
    
    Oh no, we've been discovered!!  I guess we can get rid of all the
    MIDI gear now that the truth is out.  I'm really not a musician,
    just a hacker cuz I have a few expensive toys.
    
    Gimme a break!
    
    Ralph
    
    

    I'm Karl, and I'm a slightly reformed MIDIholic.. 'sober' (i.e.
    no new purchases) for 16 months now.  Some things that work for
    me are..
    
    ..letting my subscriptions to the MIDI comix expire
    
    ..not taking trips to my MIDI convenience store
    
    ..hitting 'next unseen' when you all discuss a MIDIbit I think I need
    
    re .12.. Tom, as usual, grates.  But, just as usual, there's truth
    somewhere there amidst the attitude.  I feel my lack of formal training
    most keenly when I try to come up with a realistic horn section..
    sounds AWFUL !  Nothing wrong with the samples, I even understand
    how to vary the filter to get various sforzando effects, etc.. I
    just don't understand the voicings required.  
    
    So I'm on the wagon, equipment-buying-wise.  I've been studying
    what I DO have, and attempting to maximize its functionality.  I
    wish I could say I've been formally studying music, but that would
    be lying.
    
    karl

    1. Do you often use MIDI when you are alone?
    
    2. Do you often turn on your MIDI gear before breakfast?
    
    3. Do you sneak home at lunch for "just a couple measures"?
    
    4. Do you often forget to eat when in the studio?
    
       4.b Can you afford food?
    
    5. Do you ever get up in the morning with no clue as to what is
       in the sequencer?
    
    6. Is your son's name Roland?
    
    7. Do you ever want to edit out the pre-delay on "Stairway To Heaven"?
    
    8. Do you try to justify your habit by saying "It'll pay back in
       more gigs."?
    
    9. Have you ever tried to write sys-ex for a toaster?
    
    10. Do you get irked when live drummers can't start on any bar line?
    
    11. Do you think of your life as an envelope and you're on the decay?
    
    12. Can you tell what song is saved on the data cassette by listening
        to it?
    
    13. Do you think of your kids as "macros"?
    
    14. Do you get irked because you have to play the guitar part every
        time?
    
    15. Do you find yourself wishing you could quantize your guitar
        playing?
    
    16. Is there a DIN jack in the heel of your boot?
    
    17. Do you hold Keyboard magazine sideways and drool?
    
    18. Have you ever sampled your cat?
    
    19. Can you say 2 numbers *without* saying "and" between them?
    
    20. Your friend buys a $1500 guitar. Do you think he's got a
        cheap hobby?
    
    
    If you answered yes to any of the above, you're a MIDIholic.
    
    If you answered yes to ALL of the above, you own a 280ZX...;^)
    
    Edd

    Re: -1
    
     ..an absolute CLASSIC Edd !!!!!!
    
    
    Frank_a midiholic just getting over a SEVERE binge (Matrix1000,EPS)
        

    Re. l6
    
    Hey Edd, you should send that in to one of the Midimags.  Midiholics
    around the country would appreciate it.
    
    Rodney M.

    Good job Edd.
    
>    1. Do you often use MIDI when you are alone?
    
    Sometimes when I'm NOT alone.  My girlfriend gets pretty pissed
    too.
    
>    2. Do you often turn on your MIDI gear before breakfast?
    
    Nope, I usually leave it on all night so I don't have reload
    the samples in the morning.  Don't have much time before I
    have to go to work.
    
>    4. Do you often forget to eat when in the studio?
    
    Nope.  I put a fridge down in the studio just in case.
    
>    7. Do you ever want to edit out the pre-delay on "Stairway To Heaven"?
    
    No but, another sign of MIDIholics is that they here something
    on the radio and make comments like "nice reverb".
    
>    8. Do you try to justify your habit by saying "It'll pay back in
>       more gigs."?
    
    Hey, now you're getting personal.  How'd you hear about that.
    You been talking to Peigi (my SO)!!!  She knows that's one of
    my biggest crocks.
    
>    10. Do you get irked when live drummers can't start on any bar line?
    
    Yeah, but I did that well before the advent of MIDI.
    
>    11. Do you think of your life as an envelope and you're on the decay?
    
    Amen brother.
    
>    12. Can you tell what song is saved on the data cassette by listening
>        to it?
    
    No comment.
    
>    14. Do you get irked because you have to play the guitar part every
>        time?
    
    
    Yaaaa essssss!!!!!! Yaaaaa essssss!!!!
    
>    15. Do you find yourself wishing you could quantize your guitar
>        playing?
    
    Remember my diatribes about folks using metronones when they practice?
    
>    17. Do you hold Keyboard magazine sideways and drool?
    
    No,  but I couldn't help but notice that the new "Modern Keyboard"
    publication actually has full color centerfolds that are pictures
    of equipment.   I swear to god!
    
    Sorta scary isn't it.
    
>    18. Have you ever sampled your cat?
    
    No.....    OK, OK OK... I have I have, I admit it (sobs...)
    
>    If you answered yes to any of the above, you're a MIDIholic.
    
    Edd, you've really got us pegged.  This will be the first chapter
    in the "MIDIholics Anonymous" book.
    
    Hey,  should we be putting our kids into therapy.  If we don't
    I wonder if we'll be starting "Adult Children of MIDIholics"
    chapters?
    
    	db

    
    
    Ya, maybe we should start MIDInon for our wives and SO's!
    
    Ralph
    
    

    
    re .16:  even worse:
    
    	listening to the radio and saying "crummy DX patch, why
    	didn't he crank up the second carrier..."
                                                    
    re janzen.flame:
    
    	Speak for yourself.  Not counting the cubic feet of classical
    	music (which gets played, too!) I actually _do_ read books on
    	theory.  I may not have gone to class, but I can read about
    	it.
    
    	Pity reading about music doesn't help the chops.
    
    		-Bill
    
    P.S. Tom, you're gonna love my next COMMUSIC submission.  Either
    that, or you're gonna vomit, rip the tape out of your machine, 
    and pour clorox in your ears to kill the residue.  :-)
                                

       <<< Note 1983.13 by ANT::JANZEN "cf. ANT::CIRCUITS,ANT::UWAVES" >>>
                           -< jailed for MIDI fraud >-

>    Twenty years ago it was you, the guitar, and a portable cassette.

Ahhh, but that's when I studied music. I did have to learn the basics, and
then became a music teacher for 6 years. Now, with the MIDI orchestra just
waiting for the power switch and boot command disk, I can realize my musical
fantasies without having to hire an orchestra and a concert hall. MIDI is a
tool, and has made it possible to compose, arrange, and produce without the
need for other musicians. MIDI is *not* a substitute for learning theory or
musical virtuosity.

dave

    re: .16 
    Thanks Edd..was having a miserable day 'till I saw your note.
    
    My SO is out tonite so I can try and sample the cat!
    
    Ken
    

    re: .13
    
    Tom as usual, has inserted some observations that lead to interesting
    questions.
    
    > It gives the illusion of virtuosity.
    
    So what?
    
    The sound of virtuosity is something that is appealing.   Does
    it matter that it's merely an illusion.
    
    Are there any great performances, say Glenn Gould's Variations,
    that would somehow be diminished if it were discovered that they
    were actually seqwuenced?
    
    Tom, the band that got me into rock and roll (I was a stalwart
    classical pianist at one point who, like you, thought rock was
    garbage) was Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
    
    I quickly bought all their recordings and found myself thirsting
    for more.  Someone turned me onto an ELP "clone" band - a band
    that sounded a lot like ELP - called Triumvirate.
    
    To some, they were just ripping off ELP.  I didn't care.  Their
    albums were almost as good as ELP, and as far as I was concerned
    they were another source for the kind of music I wanted to hear.
    I may have less respect for them than I do for ELP (I give them
    credit for being the originals), but I don't think about things
    like "respect" when I listen.  I justs' listen.
    
    There is nothing I'd like more than to see a band come out that
    shamelessly (but successfully) rips off the Dregs (my favorite
    band).
    
    In fact, I would like to play in that band.  ;-)
    
    	db

    < Note 1983.13 by ANT::JANZEN "cf. ANT::CIRCUITS,ANT::UWAVES" >
>    MIDI is a fad, a sham, a cheat.  
>    MIDI is an serial electrical interface; 
>    MIDI is a note-name protocol;
    
    RS232 is a sham; just a scam by those computer manufacturers to
    sell more terminals.  I can do the same with a teletype.
    
    Ethernet is a sham; just a scam to sell more computers and network
    hardware.  I can do the same with modems and serial lines.
    
    DECwindows/X/OSF Motif is a sham; just a scam to sell more and 
    more memory and bigger and bigger workstations.. I can do the same 
    things with my 512K Mac..
    
    ALl this 'connectivity' means NOTHING if the weenies that use it
    don't write 
    elegant, compact IAS device drivers directly in HEX.. nothing less 
    will do.  If YOU can't, then you're a fraud.  All this 'connectivity' 
    is just a method to sell more and more computers
    to hapless techhies, who think that if they get networked, they'll
    be able to write 
    (shut up, EVE) 
    GREAT RT-11 device drivers in HEX, like *I* do.  But they can't
    because they havent been to endless school like I have.  A REAL
    tecchie can etch raw silicon with a magnifying glass and a darning
    needle, like I'Ve been doing since I was seven.    
    
KArl
        

    funny, I've written rt drivers, too.  Anyway, drivers are a sham.
    ;-)
    Tom

    
    MIDI definitely has had a great impact on the industry. 
    But because of that I just wish some real comms people 
    would have designed it. Then hopefully what we would have 
    had now would have been something more useful and something 
    that wouldn't have had to be redesigned too soon.
    
    As the story goes: Jim Cooper ensured a bad design on MIDI to 
    be able to get rich by selling his MIDI mergers and other problem 
    solving boxes...  :->                            
    
    ( However, the design of MIDI isn't nearly as bad as that of The
    MIDI Files, which is absolute crap... )
           
    Nevertheless, I make use of MIDI every day and much of my work
    would be impossible without it.
    
    Timo
    

    I submit that if MIDI gives the illusion of proficiency, the 
    problem lies in the mind of the audience, not the performer.
    
    Edd

re  < Note 1983.13 by ANT::JANZEN "cf. ANT::CIRCUITS,ANT::UWAVES" >
>                           -< jailed for MIDI fraud >-

>    MIDI is a fad, a sham, a cheat.  It gives the illusion of musicianship
>    without the knowledge; it gives the illusion of virtuousity without
>    expression; it gives the illusion of being in a concert hall without
>    the audience.
>	.....

>    deck.  But still no singing lessons, Harmonizers but no harmony
>    classes, still no technique, an orchestra but no orchestration studies.

>	.....
>    Have fun, you've been taken.
>    Tom

	Nah,  "Theory"  and  "Musicianship"  are for historians.  Why 
be encumbered by centuries of precedent when we (or our compooters) 
can think freely ?   "Algorithmic composition",  Yeah, that's the 
stuff - just let the algos go.  Black box technology is the future, 
just bang a coupla buttons for instant gratification.  As long as it 
gets us in the store for another fix as soon as the plastic account is 
half paid off everything will be fine.

	Reg

{Oh, I forgot to say  "AI".  Dunno what it means, but its IN nowdays.}

    
    uh oh, a my first week without a beer, and it looks like i'm about
    to smoke my first joint - i did it, i called rodney and asked for
    for first dibs on len's old cz. No, i have not told my wife yet.
    I realize this is just a baby step, but from what i've learned from
    this notes file, (and that 1983 classic, MIDI_MADDNESS) i'm doomed.
    
    And oops, i was once even trained in music ( but honest, i gave
    up theory in 1972).  So now, on this last day of sobriety, i need
    to look up a lawyer and a shrink. This is getting to be too much
    like my last project :-)
    
    
    bs

    Re: .16
    
    	So what are you some kind of psycologist?? ;-}
    
    I don't have a problem, not me! I only bought the ESQ-1 to see what
    MIDI was all about.  OK so I did buy the TR505 drum synth but I
    had to to see how the connectivity worked. Besides I sold them both
    when I bought the EPS. But I don't have a problem, I can quit whenever
    I want to, I just don't want to thats all. Yea that's it I don't
    want to quit. So leave me alone, I'm all right, I'm not a MIDIholic,
    that only happens to other people.
    
    					;-} ;-} Mark ;-} ;-}
    

    significant other (?)

    synthesizer output?
    
    Edd

SO = spouse whom your not married to.

    SO=wife,hubby,live-in girl/boyfriend etc etc. Usage is when you
    either don't know or don't want to tell!!
    
    Ken
    

    re .37 et pre.
    
    Seck makes a pretty neat mixing board...
    
    The notion of SOs raises the question of MSO and LSO, analogous
    to LSB (least significant bit) and MSB (most significant bit).
    Not be confused with the London and Montreal Symphony Orchestras.
    
    Uhm, Edd, was there anything, uhm, "significant" in the fact that
    I drive a 280ZX?
    
    len.
      

    Face it len, you, yes YOU, are the epitome of MIDIholism.
    
    I mean really, *5* drum machines??? Even I, a confirmed 2 meg
    a day user, only have 2....
    
    Edd

    
    	well, i've had the cz-101 to play with for a couple of hours
    now. In the back of my head i kept hearing this "uh oh, uh oh".
    All i've managed to do is create some sounds - no midi network etc...
    Addicting.... 
    
    	I tried mentioning terms such as sequencer, maybe more synth
    power to my SO. However since the cz does not have a full size keyboard
    then my daughter can't use it for piano, what good is it, sell it!
    Dollar amounts seem to have no affect other than the fact that
    I SPENT $175 ON ME (but dear, the children love it) so who knows,
    this thing may end up in the for sale note in record time, but I
    figure a couple of more hours and i'm hooked. Hum, maybe if i gave
    up food.....
    
    	And, for once, it's real nice to have something more than my
    imagination to visualize much of the conversation in here.
    
    	bs

Where's the SYNTHaholic note?

I bought a synth that has no sysex to avoid becoming a MIDIholic.  I swore
(hand raised) that I would not want/need associated rack mount gear.  And
I've gone three months without even looking at a MIDI cable. 

Trouble is, there's this other disease lurking--SYNTHaholism.  Once you
learn to program the synth, midnight hackery takes on a new meaning.

So, I believe there needs to be the corresponding set to .16:

    1. Do you often use the SYNTH when you are alone?
    
    2. Do you often turn on your SYNTH before breakfast?
    
    3. Do you sneak home at lunch "just to work on the latest patch a bit"?
    
    4. Do you often forget to eat when at the SYNTH?
    
    5. Do you ever get up in the morning with no clue as to what patch you 
       last modified?
    
    6. Do you think of your life as an envelope and you're on the decay?

    7. Do you listen to music not for the music but to hear a particular 
       instrument or patch and wonder how to duplicate it?  Improve it?

    8. Do you wish traditional instruments had different velocity curves?  
       A split?  Aftertouch?  Mod or bend wheels?

    9. Do you imagine ports on your body allowing, for example, a pitch
       bend with your teeth?

    10. Do you listen to your kids' whines and want to adjust their
        vibrato depth?  Low pass filter?

    11. Do you think of noise as a waveform parameter that you should be 
        able to adjust?
    
    12. If you are away from a SYNTH for more than a couple of hours do
        you get irritable?

    
    If you answered yes to any of the above, you're a SYNTHaholic.
    
    [Now if I am in this shape with just a synth, just think of where 
    I'd be with sysex.  :-):-):-):-)]

Alex

    21. Do you consider sex as "sequencus interuptus"?
    
    Edd

    Well, after a record FIVE MONTHS of MIDI-sobriety (not buying any
    new shit), I'm off the damn wagon again (the RCE-10).
    
    I just couldn't resist, it was such a great deal!
    
    	db
    
    P.S.  OK, I confess - I DID buy a power distributor for $69 a
    few weeks ago, but that doesn't count right?

    re <none>
    (i)		The successful definition of MIDI in '83 was a slap in the
    face to many other industries. ie. what's the standard for getting two
    computers to talk to each other ?  The MIDI spec settled (95%) the
    interfacing problems in one fell swoop. A few pages of fairly simple
    specification/definition, and now look what you have.
    (ii)	The MIDI spec has revolutionised many branches of the music
    industry, such that a greater number of people now have access to
    composition/arrangement. If it hasn't already happened, some little guy
    living in a small flat somewhere, using basic MIDI gear plus a
    computer, will come up with *amazing* stuff. If it wasn't for MIDI,
    then this guy would not have had the chance.
    (iii)	Sorry this is serious, but due to the excellent quality of 
    some previous notes, I'm not going to attempt any humour.
    
    Jim Burke