ttl@astroatc.UUCP (Tony Laundrie) (02/07/90)
I work with a local, nonprofit civic theater, which has occasional trouble
getting rehearsal pianists and orchestra members for its shows. We would
like to get a MIDI system that is suitable for both rehearsal and
performance environments for theater musicals.
User-friendliness is extremely important. The musical directors (or
assistants) should not have to be very computer literate. Techies
like myself can enter the music and set up the menus, etc., but the
primary operator should need very little training.
We currently have a great sound-producing machine that is driven with a
Cakewalk sequencer running on an 8088 IBM computer, but Cakewalk makes it
difficult to enter music, stop and start randomly, or easily adjust tempo.
Does there already exist software having some or all of the following features:
- Displays music graphically, just as it appears on the sheet music.
As the song plays, the sheet continuously scrolls up.
- Let's somebody enter music graphically, plunking down notes with
a mouse.
- During rehearsals, allows a non-wizard to stop a song at any point,
go back to an arbitrary measure, give some beats so the director
can readjust the tempo, then starts up when some key is pressed.
- Can adjust the tempo of the music by monitoring a switch or key that
either the musical director or an operator keeps time with (baton mounted?)
- Is friendly enough to let a novice play only bass notes, switch from
just piano to full orchestra, etc. Loads songs quickly from menus.
If possible, I would also like to get the full musical score to the
following shows: Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret, and Gypsy.
Does anybody out there use a MIDI system for musical theater shows?
What sequencer and hardware do you use? Where can I buy full musical
scores? Are there restrictions against using those store-bought programs
in performances? Email responses are prefered (I'll post a summary).
Thank you!
Tony Laundrie ...uwvax!astroatc!ttl ttl@astroatc.UUCP