[rec.music.makers] The "Great Sequencer Poll"

apolivka@x102a.harris-atd.com (polivka al 60047) (02/12/90)

        Final Results of "the Great Sequencer Poll"

Folks,

Here is a summary of all the responses that I've received in "the
Great Sequencer Poll".  I seem to have stopped getting inputs, so I
think this is the final update of the results.

For reference, I am restating my initial posting (requesting the poll)
here:

*************************************************************************
In the spirit of the "Great Synthesizer Poll recently conducted here,
I would like to take a poll of What Sequencers you folks on the net
use.

To participate, please answer the following questions:

1. Creating Sequences:

   A. What Computer (or dedicated sequencer) do you use for (initially)
      creating sequences?
      (e.g. IBM PC-Compatible, Atari ST, Mac, Amiga, ...)

   B. What Sequencing Software do you use?
      (e.g. Cakewalk, Hybrid Arts Midi-Track, ...)

2. Performing:

   A. Do you perform live?  If so, do you use sequencing in live
      performances?

   B. If so, what sequencer do you use?
      (if same as 1A&B, just respond with "same")

   C. Would you prefer to use something else?
      If so, what?

I'm sure that the administrators of the network/users group would
prefer that you E-mail your response directly to me (to conserve
bandwidth) rather than posting it.
**************************************************************************

A total of 67 people have responded and here is a summary of their
responses, organized by question:

1. Creating Sequences:
 A. What Computer do you use for creating sequences?

      Macintosh:..............21
      IBM Compatible:.........15
      Atari ST:...............14
      Amiga:...................7
      Apple //e:...............1
      Commodore-64 or 128:.....1
      NeXT.....................1
      Dedicated Sequencer*:...11

         >>>>>>>>>>>>  NOTES:  <<<<<<<<<<<<
      A few people have more than one sequencer.

    * The "dedicated" sequencers were: Kawaiq-80, Ensoniq SQ-80 [onboard], 
      Roland MC500mkII, Alesis MMT-8, Korg SQD-8, Yamaha QX5, RX21, and
      Akai/Roger Linn MPC-60.

 B. What Sequencing Software do you use?
      Vision by Opcode:.................................9
      KCS by Dr. T:.....................................8
      Cakewalk:.........................................7
      Performer by Mark of the Unicorn:.................7
      Sequencer Plus MKIII, MKI, or SPIII by Voyetra:...5
      Deluxe Music Construction Set by Electronic Arts:.4
      Pro 4.0 or Master Tracks Pro by Passport:.........4
      Cubase or Pro24 by Steinberger:...................4
      Creator or Notator by C-Lab:......................3
      Music-X:..........................................3
      SMPTETrack or MIDITrack by Hybrid Arts:...........2
      Dynamic Studio by New Wave Software:..............1
      Ensemble:.........................................1
      Personal Composer:................................1
      Scoretrack:.......................................1
      Soundscape by Mimetics:...........................1
      Super 48 a.k.a. Midi Controlled Recording Studio:.1
      Super MRC by/for Roland:..........................1
      Texture 3.5 by Magnetic Music.....................1
      Finale............................................1
      Tunesmith by Dr. T................................1
      Homegrown (written by the responder)..............2

2. Performing:

 A. Do you use sequencing in live performances?
      Of the 67 people who responded:
        15   said they DO use sequencing in their performances,
        17   said they DO NOT use sequencing in performances,
         9   said they DO performances but DO NOT use sequencing in them,
        17   said they DO NOT perform.
          (some did not respond to question #2)

 B. If so, what sequencer do you use?
      Of the 46 people who responded:
       10 said they use the same equipment in live performances as for
          creating sequences,
        2 said they use a dedicated ("hardware") sequencer in live
          performances and something else for creating sequences.

 C. Would you prefer to use something else?  If so, what?
      Other than a few miscellaneous comments, the only responses that
      I consistently received (i.e. from more than one person) were:
        3 people said they would prefer a more portable computer,
          possibly rack mount;
        2 others would prefer something dedicated rather than the
          computer that they currently use.

ONE EDITORIAL COMMENT: 24 people said that they _do_ perform live, 17
said they do not, and 26 did not say whether they perform.  Many, if
not most of the folks who responded appear to work primarily in
technical fields.  The point is that we may not be seeing a true
representative cross section of what most _performing_musicians_ use for
sequencing.  In particular, I suspect that sequencing was not the
primary consideration in choosing a computer for many of you.  If you
polled strictly professional musicians, you might, for example, see
more Atari ST's since they have a built-in midi port.

                                        Al
--

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Al Polivka                            arpa: apolivka@x102a.harris-atd.com
Mail Stop 102-4858                  usenet: uunet!x102a!apolivka
Harris Corporation                   phone: 407-729-2983
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ramsiri@blake.acs.washington.edu (Enartloc Nhoj) (02/12/90)

In article <APOLIVKA.90Feb11183548@x102a.harris-atd.com> apolivka@x102a.harris-atd.com (polivka al 60047) writes:
>
>        Final Results of "the Great Sequencer Poll"



While the poll is an interesting idea, those who read the 
results should realize what population has been sampled.
Unfortunately, the results from this poll don't coincide
with polls taken on the general population.  Most musicians
using computers don't have usenet access.

-kevin
ramsiri@blake.acs.washington.edu

BTW:  or do they?