Conference napalm::commusic_v1

RE -1

In my opinion, the best sequencer for IBM machines is the Voyetra Sequencer 
Plus series.

They also have some new MIDI interfaces that have two inputs and 4 outputs. 
The 4 outputs give you 64 MIDI channels to play with.

Mike D

The "big 2" in IBM sequencers are Voyetra and Cakewalk.  I happen to have
Cakewalk, and am happy with it.

Both have demo versions available.

For composing and scoring there is (among other things) Music Printer Plus,
Laser Music Processor, and Ballade.

Ballade, I know zip about.

MPP claims to be usable as a sequencer as well.  I'm not so sure about that.
I played with a demo version a bit.  It is very full-featured.  It has a rather
sophisticated "compiler" to convert score notation to MIDI.  As I recall, it has
some hint capability...stuff that you put in the score to help the compiler
understand.  It can deal with multiple parts and tracks in a fairly sophisticated
manner.  It is quite expensive, though:  $600.

LMP is what I have and know the most about.  It is a lot cheaper ($100 for the
basic version, $40 for the music compiler, $40 for the ability to print high
quality output on a matrix printer).  However, it is not as fancy.  It has
fewer features.  The "compiler" is definitely the weak point...it is easy to
confuse, and it can only deal with one track.  (Multiple parts make multiple
notes on the same track).  They claim to be working on a "pro" version which
will have more features.  No date.

Hope this helps...I'll be happy to give you a demo on my system some time.

Burns

       
       
       
       
       I haven't looked at MIDI lib lately - in fact, I don't even
       remember where it is.  But, if the Cakewalk v4.0 demo isn't up
       there, give me a pointer and I'll upload it.  The demo is a full
       working copy with the SAVE function crippled, so you can load in
       your standard MIDI files and futz around with Cakewalk to see if
       you like it.
       
       
       
       

    re: basenote
    
    just to represent the MAC side of the discussion, there are 3
    recommended music scoring programs on the MAC (requires MAC+ or higher) 
    
    ConcertWare		appx $150 for CW+MIDI
    Performer		appx $300 for both packages
    Finale		appx $500 
    
    I have Finale and have done amazing things with it. So have other
    people (some commercial). I also have Concertware+MIDI, and though it
    is very easy to use, I keep running into limitations. From what I've
    heard, I might recommend Perfromer since it seems to be in the middle,
    in that it's powerful, but still easy to use. Finale takes at least 3-6
    months to really get "good" with it, so that right there tends to tell
    me the user needs to be a regular user (unlike me, who is just an
    infrequent user, but a perfectionist :-)
    
    They all understand MIDI files, so I've imported (for example) Master
    Tracks Pro stuff into Finale, and formated/printed it in 1/2 hr.
    
    Naturally, when you buy a MAC (preferably one of the new ones), you
    also get alot of subtle, but very important things that make using the
    software (any software) easier to use, such as CUT/PASTE, Publish &
    Subscribe, and alot of other marketing bally-hoo -- to me it's "plug &
    play".
    
    I have found (interestingly) both IBM and MAC require *some* amount of
    "system manager" stuff be done (MAC = INIT, IBM = TSRs, for one
    example), so that might affect your decision. Also, if money is a
    consideration, then I can ony strongly recommend that you carefully
    delineate your needs (music, word processing, finances, etc), then shop
    for the configuration that supports that (4 Mb ram, 40Mb Hard Disk,
    etc), and *then* compare costs...
    
    Bruce Evans

    okay, I've been staying out of this one..
    
    I recently purchased a used MAC+ with 2.5 MB of RAM and a 45MB SCSI
    hard drive for ... $1000.  Kind of erases the traditional PC cost
    advantage.  I run MOTU Performer, which was closer to $370, tax incl.
    Performer is a very full-featured sequencer, and has a companion
    product, Composer, which gets good reviews and prints on laser and dot
    matrix (ImageWriter II).  Note that together these programs cost FAR
    less than Finale for MAC, and offer more functionality.
    
    karl

Well, I have an Amiga, and I have no direct experience with the Mac or PC
products, BUT- given the limitation of choices to these two thingies, I'd go for
the Mac. Apart from the fact that it's a few eons closer to true multitasking
and has a decent user interface, I'm very much taken with Mark of the Unicorn
hardware, such as the MIDI Timepiece, which works with Composer.

Bob

I use  Master Tracks PRO4 on my Mac Plus.  PRO4 is a great sequencing program.
I  can't offer any comparisons, though, since I haven't really played with the
others.

If you  choose  the  Mac,  you  would  probably want to go with software which
supports  Apple's MIDI Manager.  The MIDI Manager (discussed elsewhere in this
conference)  lets  you connect up several MIDI applications at once, and makes
it easier to write your own MIDI applications.  I don't think there's anything
like it in the IBM world.

Another thing  to  consider is balancing the processing power of your hardware
with the software.  Some of these programs are pretty heavyweight - I've heard
that Finale on a Mac Plus just doesn't cut it (i.e. too slow).

Jim

    re: .-1 (Finale on Mac+ is too much...)
    
    you're right. Even on a II it's slow... (which makes me lust after
     the new MACs just announced (color, color.... Mom??? I want Color!!)
    
    hmmmm, color music.... neat presentation technique....  :-)
    
    B Evans