knudsen@ihwpt.UUCP (mike knudsen) (12/06/85)
Has anyone out there checked out a Sequential Circuits Multi-Track (MT) synth? What I hear seems too good to be true: 8 voices, poly-timbral under MIDI (who knows what from the keyboard), and touch sensitive (after touch also??), AND at a price $200 cheaper than the Korg DW-8000, or same as an AX80. Is this for real? What's the catch? Does it skimp on oscillators (like only one per voice), or filter quality, or maybe the EG isn't very flexible. Or is the whole thing stamped out of old beer cans and melted-down Barbie dolls and the keyboard contacts will flake out after 6 months? I mean, Sequential isn't exactly a newcomer or a sleaze outfit ... One keyboardist did tell me he didn't like Sequential's sound -- not fat enuf in the bass (sounds like a digital complaint to me). I'm just about sold on an AX80, Korg DW8000 or Roland JX8P, but none of these is even split, let alone poly-T under MIDI, which is what I was originally looking for till I discovered velocity-sensitive boards. Please email or post any responses -- thanks, mike k PS: Yeah, I should go see for myself. Unforch, the nearest MT dealer is a ways off and I'm limited on travel time. Besides, don't you like an excuse to expound your views? PPS: I'm not sure our netnews is getting out to the world. PPPS: I was prepared to spend the extra $$ for the Jx8P till I discovered it had only 6 voices (but WHAT voices...yummy)!
ward@chinet.UUCP (Ward Christensen) (12/07/85)
I purchased the Multi-Trak on July 1. I also bought the Roland PC interface
stuff (mpu-401, mfi-ipc, and mps) but the dealer screwed up and it never
arrived so I have cancelled that - now looking for something else - and
it must NOT be copy protected.
The MT has 6 voices, not 8, has stacks and splits, multi-timbral via
stacks/splits and of course MIDI. I bought it for two reasons: (1)
because it really COULD play 6 different instruments at the same time;
(2) because it has a nice 4-song, 6-track 1600 note sequencer which "could
keep me occupied until my MIDI stuff comes". I did a little "Stars and
Stripes Forever" for July 4, with tuba base, couple coronets (cornets?)
"sort of" a clarinet, and flute. Added bass and snare drum and final
cymbal crash with my Yamaha RX-15 - came out quite nicely. The built-in
sequencer allowed me to record a simple melody line, then add (like overdub
on a recorder, but actually its own track) harmony, bass, etc. You can
erase entire songs, or just one track. They default to looping back on
themselves, or a song can be appended to another. Very nice.
I'd say it IS a bit short in the true synthesis area, but this being my
first and only synthesizer, I'm not sure how to rate it against others.
From what I HEAR, the DX-7 is phenomenal, and has a nice piano, etc, while
the MT seems to be pretty good in brass, but doesn't have a good piano,
etc (and people don't seem to be trading "programs" for it). The Harpsichord
is pretty nice, special effects pretty "neat". But I've not figured out how
to get any kind of "violin", "oboe", "clarinet", etc. But then perhaps
that's not its job. I am not getting very serious about it until the MIDI
stuff comes - and now its cancelled so I am "shopping" again.
P.S. back to splits & stacks: In the musical CATS, "Old Deuteronomy (sp?)",
they start with a brass and flute intro. Using a split, I was able to do
polyphonic 3-voice (same instrument) split for left hand, and a multi-timbral
right hand, consisting of one part of program 40 "organ-flutes", and two
parts of 54 - "Flute". Whenever you don't have all the same instrument on
one side of the split (or in the stack) then it becomes unison or monophonic
but poly-timbral. Really a blast!
I think it has a nice fat bass, but again I am quite inexperienced. You
can pick one of the unison-bass programs, i.e. not polyphonic, or you can
create a stack of multiple instruments (up to 6) for a fatter bass (or
any) sound.