issue17

EMUSIC-L Digest                                      Volume 54, Issue 17

This issue's topics:
	
	MIDI software questionnaire (3 messages)

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Date:         Mon, 26 Jul 1993 22:59:43 GMT
From:         Marla Skoog 
Subject:      File: "EMUSIC-L LOG9307D"

I am writing a proposal to acquire MIDI software for our campus.  I am
going to need a STRONG argument since the departments don't have a lot of
money and will spend on only those things that are 'needed.'

I feel MIDI software is one of those things this campus needs.

I would like opinions from anyone living anywhere on the necesity of MIDI
software for music and non-music students.  Other than answers to the
prepared questions, I would *LOVE* to have other comments you may have!
Everything will be kept confidential.

Thanks for helping me!

Marla Skoog
skoog@plains.nodak.edu

PS-I generally don't read all of these groups, so e-mail would be
optimal, however I will keep an eye on these groups for a while.

***********************************************************************

1.  Do you think it is important for music majors to know a MIDI software
    package?

2.  Do you think it would be helpful in thier job search if they knew a
    MIDI package?

3.  Do you feel that students benefit from knowing a MIDI package,
    whether they are a music major or not?

4.  Would you learn a MIDI package if one were on your campus?  Why?

5.  Of the following, which are the 4 most important to you (you do not
    need to rank them).

    automatic transposition             auto-scrolling dring playback
    page and bar numbering              real time and step time input
    ASCII text importing                        and playback
    foreign character support           export to EPS and TIFF formats
    insertion of non-midi "special"     on-line help
        events ie-digital audiowaves    ability to create own sounds
    templates                           visual waveform editing
    auto accompanyment                  snapshot editing and recording
    program notes                       play along


Please add any comments you have about MIDI software.

Thanks again!

------------------------------
Date:         Wed, 28 Jul 1993 20:53:28 GMT
From:         Roberto Sierra 
Subject:      Re: MIDI software questionnaire

In article , skoog@plains.NoDak.edu (Marla Skoog)
writes:
>
> I would like opinions from anyone living anywhere on the necesity of MIDI
> software for music and non-music students.  Other than answers to the
> prepared questions, I would *LOVE* to have other comments you may have!
> Everything will be kept confidential.

OK.  I'll give it a whirl.

Short answer: MIDI is necessary for music and non-music students.  I wish
there had been a MIDI lab at Brown when I was taking music theory.  Sure,
they had a synclavier and a pile of acoustic instruments in the 8-track
studio, and they did eventually purchase an 8-bank TX7 (is that the
right model # -- eight DX7s in a rack mount box), but that was never
accessible to average Joes like me -- double engineering / music majors.

What would have been *really* nice would have been a place you
could go where there were about four Macs, each equipped with some
cheap keyboard and a Proteus/1, cool sequencing software like Vision
(my personal favorite), a few mics, tape decks and such, and one
Mac equipped with an Audiomedia card and Studio Vision for DSP work
and digital+MIDI work.

If you just get one system, there will be too much competition for it
and most people will get frustrated.  These days, MIDI prices and
sophistication have dropped to the point that you can get roughly
twice the power you used to be able to get.


> 1.  Do you think it is important for music majors to know a MIDI software
>     package?

Yes.  It can develop the ability to arrange music and explore many
more possible instrumentations of a piece.  If can develop a stronger
sense of underlying music theory.  It can educate people so that
when they decide to put together a home system they'll make more
informed choices.  And on and on.

> 2.  Do you think it would be helpful in thier job search if they knew a
>     MIDI package?

It depends on the job.  If they're going to be involved in music
production or arranging in any form, definitely havind MIDI expertise
(and studio expertise in general) is a major plus.  If they're going
to be working for a music publisher, or work for a major record label,
then perhaps this is less important.

> 3.  Do you feel that students benefit from knowing a MIDI package,
>     whether they are a music major or not?

I think so.  It expands people's conceptions of music to realizing
-- "Hey, I can do that!", whereas they might otherwise be intimidated.
I have folks wanting to use my home system for just the same reason.

> 4.  Would you learn a MIDI package if one were on your campus?  Why?

I think I already answered this.  To hone composition and arranging
tools, and be able to record performances in such a way that I could
go back and change the mood at a later date.

> 5.  Of the following, which are the 4 most important to you (you do not
>     need to rank them).
>
>     automatic transposition           auto-scrolling dring playback
>     page and bar numbering            real time and step time input
>     ASCII text importing                      and playback
>     foreign character support         export to EPS and TIFF formats
>     insertion of non-midi "special"   on-line help
>       events ie-digital audiowaves    ability to create own sounds
>     templates                         visual waveform editing
>     auto accompanyment                        snapshot editing and recording
>     program notes                     play along

Digital Audio -- For me, a must, but I work with DSP for a living,
so I am quite biased.  For the average person, this stuff is not
quite as simple to use yet as it should be, so perhaps for the more
advanced students.  [Also gobbles up resources though the 88MB
Syquest removable cartridges you can get these days are a good
solution.  For about $100 bucks each, and they're plenty fast,
unlike the old 44MB disks.

It's clear from your list that you're thinking of music composition
programs like Finale and Pro Composer and such.  Don't limit yourself
to these possibilities (and don't even think of getting Finale --
I've yet to figure out how the darn thing works).  Think of Vision,
Performer, etc, which may represent everything in piano roll form.


> Please add any comments you have about MIDI software.

I've used MAX quite a bit, and think it's great.  Again, this
is more for advanced students, but it lets people see that
they can quite easily build up complex MIDI processing patches
to acheive whatever end is desired.

There's tons of useful sources for MIDI files out there in
case you want to build up a library that people can explore
or jam on.


> Thanks again!
  'Yer very welcome...



-- Roberto Sierra
   Tempered MicroDesigns
   San Francisco, CA

------------------------------
Date:         Wed, 28 Jul 1993 21:42:44 GMT
From:         Jon Wdtte 
Subject:      Re: MIDI software questionnaire

In  skoog@plains.NoDak.edu (Marla Skoog) writes:

>1.  Do you think it is important for music majors to know a MIDI software
>    package?

Essential. Even if not pop/rock musicians, knowing about music
automation methods will help them (since you use time tracks in
all kinds of studios these days) and knowledge first-hand will
also break down myths and prejudices that still remain.

>2.  Do you think it would be helpful in thier job search if they knew a
>    MIDI package?

Yes. See above. Computer experience is also a + of course, and how
do you get that without MIDI? :-)

>3.  Do you feel that students benefit from knowing a MIDI package,
>    whether they are a music major or not?

If they take music courses, of course. Comp Sci students here can
take courses where they get to play with MAX.

>4.  Would you learn a MIDI package if one were on your campus?  Why?

I know 'em already, so free credits are a boon :-)

>5.  Of the following, which are the 4 most important to you (you do not
>    need to rank them).

play along; snapshot editting; auto-scroll and both real & step time.


I use CuBase Audio and am satisfied (it doesn't crash in the
latest version :-) MAX is cool though I haven't used it much.

Cheers,

                                                / h+
--
 -- Jon W{tte, h+@nada.kth.se, Mac Hacker Deluxe --
  "It is not the interfaces responsibility to give access to the application,
  it is the applications responsibility to implement the interface."
                     -- Apple Direct (?)

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