[comp.sys.mac] MIDI

ralph@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk (Ralph Martin) (03/30/88)

Does anyone out there know if Concertware+MIDI4.0 is macII compatible?

Generally, can anyone else give me recommendations for sequencing/ patch
editor software for the MacII ?

I'm most interested in being able to enter the music on staves, a la usual
musical notation, not in some funny sequencer type way.

Thanks, Ralph

mls@whutt.UUCP (SIEMON) (04/05/88)

In article <237@cf-cm.UUCP>, ralph@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk (Ralph Martin) writes:
> Does anyone out there know if Concertware+MIDI4.0 is macII compatible?
> 
Yes, it runs on a MacII.  It has lots of capabilities, given its price, but be
warned that you run into limits real quick:

Note values range only from a dotted whole-note to a 32nd; you can do triplets
for most (all? I haven't tried) of these values.  BUT no other n-tuple groups
are possible; sigh, there goes Chopin!  There are no standard ornaments (trill,
mordant, etc.) and emulating these by explicitly writing them usually doesn't
work very well.  There goes the Baroque.

You have to enter in a framework of a fixed time-signature (you can't insert
your own bars, except that you can do a double-bar whenever you want) and a
fixed key-signature.  You can CHANGE these at any point, but only in the 1st
voice (and the change then affects all voices).  There goes church music (e.g.
chants Gregorian or otherwise), most early music and most 20th century stuff.

It tries to provide "standard" layout, and pretends to give you controls to
override (for example direction of stems, beams, etc.)  But sometimes, I find
it impossible to get it to do what I tell it -- it is very frustrating to hit
the "stem up" menu item and watch it ignore me; this happens unpredictably.
Text layout can also be frustrating.

Not wanting to be too negative -- as I said, it's good value for its price --
if you are serious about music, this is NOT the program to use.  I also want
to hear about the higher-priced spreads.  I'm in the market and too lazy (and
too new to the Mac at this point) to write my own.

Michael Siemon
contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories
ihnp4!mhuxu!mls
standard disclaimer

mls@mhuxu.UUCP (Michael L. Siemon) (04/14/88)

<sorry to post this, and to the whole world at that; email has bounced>

To:	 uunet!mcvax!vax1.computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk!ralph

Ralph,
	No, ConcertWare+MIDI does NOT come with a MIDI interface; you have
to buy it separately (obviously a dealer might have a package combining the
two.)  I don't know whether you find it easy or not to use US mail order;
if it's easy, that's your best route to buying both ConcertWare and MIDI
interfaces.  I have the Passport interface, similar to Apple's new one, and
it works fine; there are others available with more functionality -- mine has
only one MIDI line in and one out.  One from Altech Systems (I think that's
the name; they also market a Pascal library of MIDI routines.) has a line in
and three out, which is rather better functionality.  But I don't think that
comes with MIDI cables, and my Passport interface did have a pair of cables.

-- 
Michael L. Siemon
contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories
ihnp4!mhuxu!mls
standard disclaimer

ralph@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk (Ralph Martin) (04/22/88)

Hi - can someone there give me some info on the Apple MIDI Interface:
The Mac II Has subtly different pinouts on its serial ports to the Mac Plus,
especially as regards external clocking. Does this mean the Apple MIDI 
interface does not work on both of them, or are there different versions, or
what? If there is anyone out there who has got MIDI working with a Mac II I'd
sure appresiate some help.
One last question - does anyone know if MIDIscope works on a Mac II?

Thanks, Ralph

mls@whutt.UUCP (SIEMON) (04/29/88)

In article <256@cf-cm.UUCP>, ralph@computing-maths.cardiff.ac.uk (Ralph Martin) writes:
+ Hi - can someone there give me some info on the Apple MIDI Interface:
+ The Mac II Has subtly different pinouts on its serial ports to the Mac Plus,
+ especially as regards external clocking. Does this mean the Apple MIDI 
+ interface does not work on both of them, or are there different versions, or
+ what? If there is anyone out there who has got MIDI working with a Mac II I'd
+ sure appresiate some help.

My Passport MIDI interface (similar to Apple's) works fine on my MacII; I would
assume that any pin-out differences are irrelevant (the Passport interface has
an adapter cord for matching the different shaped PLUGs).  Actually, I think
that you REALLY want something more functional than a 1-in, 1-out interface
like Apple's (or Passport's).  But I was impatient.

-- 
Michael L. Siemon
contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories
ihnp4!mhuxu!mls
standard disclaimer