17 Bit Software 3: The Continuation/17-Bit_The_Continuation_Disc.iso/files/nz18.dms/nz18.adf/Causers.Newsletter/Music.EE

Text File | 1993-12-03 | 6KB | 199 lines

GADGET.Electronic Edition                          SEPTEMBER 1987



                 Copyright 1987 by Ron McCraw

This  file  may  be  freely   distributed   to  public   computer
bulletin boards  provided  this  notice  is included intact,  but
may not be used  or  published  in  any  other form without prior
consent of the author.



            SONIX AND DELUXE MUSIC: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

                         by RON McCRAW



     Being an owner of both  Deluxe  Music  Construction  Set and
Sonix,  I  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  offer  some
observations and experiences with these two programs.
     First,  let's  talk  about  Deluxe  Music  Construction  Set
(DMCS).  I  aquired  my  copy  of  DMCS  in  March  of this year.
Initial impressions were not good.  First of all, the manual that
I received was defective. It  was  missing  six of its eighty-six
pages.  Of course, the six  it  was  missing  described some very
useful features of DMCS.
     Anyway, after a cursory flip through the rest of the manual,
I decided to go ahead and try  the  program  anyway.  I loaded up
the program, played around a little bit, and zap, Guru.  Yes, the
initial release of DMCS was as  defective  as  the manual. (Since
that time, Electronic Arts has  supplied  and  updated version of
the program (for a mere $7.50) and a new manual (for free)) .
     DMCS is a true composing program.  It has all the tools that
a fairly sophisticated music  writer  would want.  Since they are
many, I will not attempt to  describe  all of the features of the
program.  Suffice it  to  say  that  it  has  everything that the
experienced musician would want.
     The complaints I have against the program are as follows:

     1) Size - DMCS is 306K.
     2)  Slow  -  DMCS  is   rather   slow   when  doing  certain
subfunctions (i.e., the mouse hand is quicker than the program).
     3) Copy Protection - I have made a  copy of the DMCS disc to
a work disc  (mostly  and  attempt  to  reorganize  the  disc and
improve its speed). This  means  that  I  have to load the master
disc in the alternate disc  drive  and  wait for DMCS to scan its
copy protection file (found in the C directory).  True, I can get
an un-protected version butthat costs $30.00.)
     4) Random Voices - DMCS selects the Amiga voices randomly on
playback.
     5) Program Design - DMCS is obviously designed for more than
one machine (it is written in  C,  of  course).  This is probably












the reason for its size and slowness.

     Don't misunderstand, I like DMCS despite its faults. But, it
does have room for improvements.
     And then, along came Sonix from  Aegis  Development.   It is
not designed, per se, for the  sophisticated  user.  It's more of
an entry-level  music  program  for  those  with  limited musical
background.   The  first  part  of  the  manual  is,  in fact, an
introduction to musical concepts for the uninitiated.
     Things in Sonix I favor are:

     1) Small Size - Sonix is written in 68000 assembler.
     2) Speedy Response - Sonix is designed for the Amiga.
     3) No Copy Protection.
     4) Waveform Generator - (more about this later)
     5) Use of Voices - Each music  track  in  Sonix is tied to a
particular Amiga voice.
     6) Keyboard - The keyboard can be played like a piano.
     7) Instrument Control - You can change  an instrument on any
note, not just at measure boundaries.

     The waveform generator is  a  world  unto  itself.   You can
generate any sound from  a  plucked  string  to  whale song quite
easily.  It simulates both  a  frequency  modulator  and  a lower
frequency modulator (to add  timbre).  In fact, I have spent more
time playing  around  with  the  waveform  generator  than  doing
anything else in Sonix.
     Now, let me give you my list of complaints.  They are:

     1) Volume Control - There is no ability  in Sonix to control
the volume as needed (or  desired)  during the playing of a song.
The volume control settings  (both  master  and individual) apply
for the entire song.
     2) Slurring - There is no ability  to slur notes.  Although,
you can  simulate  this  effect  with  the  waveform  generator's
enveloping; it shouldn't be necessary to do this.
     3) Tieing - Being a musician of sorts, I tend to score music
in the standard way.  Hence,  I  tend  to  tie  notes of the same
pitch together within a measure.  Sonix can only tie notes across
measures.

     Neither DMCS nor Sonix  allows  for  the  realtime  input of
music  to  the  score.    They   are   not  sequencing  programs.
Therefore, you  change  the  duration  of  a  note by selecting a
different  gadget.    Although,  DMCS  allows  a  MIDI  connected
keyboard to cycle  notes  to  the  correct  duration,  this is an
extremely slow process.   Since  music  usually  changes duration
quite  frequently,   the   direct   input   of  notes  is  rather
impractical.
     I should mention here that you  can  score  music to play on
more than just the Amiga's voices.  The MIDI interface allows you
to control eight MIDI tracks in Sonix and up to sixteen in DMCS.
     I  guess  I  have  said  enough  about  these  two  programs
(Besides, self is  nagging  me  to  play  Shanghai.   He's really












addicted to this game.)   Let  me  close  this by saying there is
another music program on the  market  (not  counting Soundscape's
Pro Midi Studio).  It's Activision's  program "The Music Studio,"
described as the premiere music  composition  tool  (their words,
not mine).  The new version, which  was upgraded to support Amiga
IFF files and to work under  AmigaDOS  1.2, might be the greatest
thing since doughnut holes.  I guess we will see soon enough.