ma168a@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (John Wavrik) (11/05/86)
In response to the interest in music producing software I might mention a product called the "Music Construction Set" (put out by the same company that did the "Pinball Construction Set"). It is NOT the equivalent of a music board. The speaker in PCs is apparently the result of the ancient art of Bonsai! It will, however, produce polyphonic music like that posted by Ted Holden to the net. The data entry is mouse-like: notes are dragged to positions on the staves using cursor keys (or mouse). One might imagine that the most sophisticated computer in the IBM family would have the most sophisticated internals for music (for executives to rest from making all those "What if" decisions). In fact the PCjr is reported to be the best machine for this program. I'm using it on an AT compatible and its performance is marginal (some notes are replaced by clicks on certain pieces) -- but it only cost $15. [In fairness, I should mention that the AT is not listed among the computers on the cover. In most respects it works on the AT given the limits of the internal speaker.] --J Wavrik UCSD