DIGITAL TAPE RECORDING WITH MIDI

Jon Bates continues his MIDI musings...

This month, in the continuing Saga of MIDI, we take a look at two interface devices which turn the Spectrum into a very powerful music processor. Linked via cables to a MIDI compatible synthesiser, both interfaces offer the user a staggering array of musical possibilities, the results of which can be stunning. Your 'umble reviewer managed to get each of them to turn out not only Axel F, but also a pretty decent version of Elgar's introduction and Allegro for Strings (pretty classy, huh?)

Enough bragging, and down to the hard and software. The main difference between the two systems as reviewed here is that the Performer is a real time sequencer and the Micon is a step time sequencer. It must be said, however, that both interfaces have software available and in the pipeline that will extend their possibilities.

Electromusic Research
14 Mount Close
Wickford
SS11 8HG
£120.00
0702 335747

The hardware comprises two small and tough plastic cases connected by a short ribbon cable. One part plugs into the Spectrum's edge connector, while the other has flush-fitted five pin Din sockets to connect it to MIDI instruments. The sockets provide MIDI in, MIDI out (twice) and Clock start/stop, which is used for non MIDI devices such as drum machines or analogue synths that are capable of accepting the old pre-MIDI synchronisation format of 24 clock pulses per second. One nice feature on the unit is the provision of LEDs to indicate whether MIDI data is flowing in or out - handy when you can't work out what's plugged into what and your connecting cables resemble a bowl of spaghetti.

An eight track tape recorder is capable of recording eight instruments on separate tracks simultaneously; alternatively, a recording can be built up track by track - known as multi-tracking or overdubbing. What Miditrack Performer does is to simulate an eight track digital recorder for approximately one tenth of the price of the real thing. It will record exactly what you play on your keyboard with every subtle nuance and variation in speed, including pitch bending. As there are eight tracks to record onto, even the most ambitious of us will have plenty of room to develop our talents! On loading, the program presents a screen display that gives the status of the tracks. Recording is simple: move the cursor to the track you want, enter 'R' and answer the simple question to confirm that this is indeed your intention - then play away.

When you are happy with your performance you can then record over the top of your first efforts onto a separate track, thus building up the sound. You hear your first track being replayed and can therefore add chords, perhaps, over you original tune. This process can be repeated over and over again - should you look like filling all eight tracks, you have the option of track merging. This combines all previously recorded tracks onto one - leaving lots of space free for more dabbling. There is one serious problem here, though. If you make a mistake, then you have no option but to build that track up all over again, which can be more than a little frustrating.

The program allows you to play as many notes as you wish, including chords, on each track - in other words each track can be polyphonic. The only limitation is the number of notes your synth is capable of playing simultaneously. To keep things in some semblance of order, there is a count-in (user definable) and a metronome option that bleeps away at whatever speed (tempo in musical terms) you want. The display also informs you of what bar you are at, and how much memory is left. Even for a beginner, this is pretty simple to follow. I did find the flashing background a trifle annoying, especially as it seemed to go beserk with more complex pieces.

The program comes with excellent documentation, which is easy to follow, and two demo tunes one of which shows you how to build up a piece, track by track. For the professional whizkid the program gives you more options on manipulating each track. You can repeat the whole piece (but not sections), define the number of beats per bar, change the pitch of the track, and if you're blessed with more than one MIDI instrument, you can tell each track which synthesiser it's going to play on. (MIDI instruments can receive on sixteen separate channels). However, you can't get the program to change sounds for you.

The capacity of the program depends on how much information you give it. If there's lots of touch sensitivity information for it to record from your touch sensitive keyboard, for instance, then memory is used up significantly more rapidly. Given a modest synth or two and an average tune, however, lengths of up to fifteen minutes should be possible.

CONCLUSIONS

It's a clear case of 'horses for courses' when comparing these two products. On the one hand is the EMR system, MIDITRACK PERFORMER which is easy to use and relates very nicely to the way a tape recorder works. However, it lacks a bit in the editing features and there's no display of the music you've just played. (If there was, it would probably take up most of the remaining memory and render the whole program pretty useless!) In tests, it did give the Casio CZ1O1 some problems as it kept an reverting to mono mode, but this may have had more to do with the way in which the MIDI code is ordered within the Casio itself than any shortcomings in Performer.

XRI's MICON, on the other hand, has complete and full editing facilities but is rather more laborious to use. However, you do get a real-time sequencing program thrown in as well, and i understand that multi-tracking software is also on its way. XRI also offer additional software to store and edit on screen the voices of Yamaha, Roland and Casio synths, while Miditrack Performer only supports Yamaha equipment in this way at present.

The two systems were tested using a Yamaha DX7 and DX9, a Korg Poly 800 and the acid test was tried using the most modest of set ups, the excellent Casio CZ1O1. Thanks must go to Musicmakers of Selly Oak, Birmingham for supplying the synths used for this and other MIDI reviews...

MICRO MUSIC

This month we look at a Midi interface and an alternative system for Casio and Yamaha owners.

In our last issue we featured a large section on Midi - Musical Instrument Digital Interface - but unfortunately there was one unit that didn't arrive in time for that article, but now, as promised, here is our assessment of it.

ELECTRONIC RESEARCH MIDI INTERFACE

This well made and robust unit, which is distributed by Rose Morris, consists of two neat units connected by a ribbon cable. The smaller of the two units connects to the Spectrum port at the back of the machine and the other box attaches, via a five pin Din plug, to a suitable keyboard. This is a good system as it enables Din leads to be swapped or connected without risk of damage to the computer when it is operating.

I tested the interface with a SIEL DK80, KORG POLY 800 and a JVC KB600, the first two being true synthesizers and the JVC is a typical home keyboard with built in drums and rhythm unit. All these are in the £650.00 price bracket.

Four sockets are provided on the computer. Clock Start/Stop, Midi In, and Two Midi Outs. Two flashing LEDs indicate data in/out state.

SOFTWARE

Five software programs are available from EMR, three are for the Yamaha DX7, one for the DX9 and one for general purpose use. As the Yamaha synths are expensive, professional instruments, we concentrated on the general purpose program.

The PERFORMER is an exciting program aimed at the experienced musician, but which also has much to offer the less able as well. It simulates a full eight track tape recorder and operates in real time - ie. records what you play as you play it directly from the instrument. There are many features to this program, speed control, track merging, mono/poly modes, transportation, sync and full polyphonic recording of all Midi data including note events, dynamics, modulation controls and voice changes.

The manual is well written and easily understood, and this, combined with a well laid out screen format, made me feel confident in the use of the program within about half an hour of starting. A screen dump is pictured elsewhere on this page.

I put track one into record mode and, after an eight beat count which could be altered as desired, recorded a short bass line. The optional metronome kept me in time.

I turned the metronome off, put track two into record mode and recorded a rhythm track as the first track was being replayed. Finally, I recorded on track three a lead line while listening to the other two tracks replaying. Each of the tracks could be assigned to individual Midi channels and the end result was quite impressive. A tape recorder to give similar results would cost over £1200.00!

This interface was the only one out of all those tested which triggered the JVC drum unit and allowed external control over it.

For the experienced player this is a very powerful tool indeed. and the ease of use and variety of re-record and editing facilities make it valuable for those of more limited ability, although as it is all in real time it can be frustrating. There are obviously limitations and one is the massive amount of memory used when full data recording mode is used, it could cut your recording time to as little as two minutes. However, in partial data recording mode compositions as long as fifteen/twenty minutes can be achieved.

During a conversation with Mike Beecher of EMR I asked if he had plans to produce Microdrive/Wafadrive/Disk drive versions of the program as I consider the program much more useful with fast access. He was not certain at first but when I told him how much better it was when I'd converted it to run on the Technology Research disk drive he was very interested and I promised to supply him with a version to convert to all these systems (by now he may have decided to use it). Drop him a line if you are interested.

Electronic Research, 14 Mount Close, Wickford, Essex SS11 8HG (also available from Rose Morris distributors).

EMR Interface (approx) £79.90, Performer Software £39.95.

MIDI CONTROL OF THE DX7 AND TX7.

We try a Spectrum MIDI package which makes DX7 programming easier, and TX7 editing possible.

At over £1400 we did not consider DX7 software to be of interest to many readers, but from the number of letters we received we realised we were wrong!

The TX7, a DX7 without keyboard, designed to be added to a DX7 and priced at £699, was more feasible but none - including Yamaha it seems, thought it could be programmed without a DX7. But we discovered that it could!

I purchased a TX7 a little while ago. A DX7 was out of my price range, but I reasoned I could link it to the Siel keyboard we used for an earlier review, and this proved to be so. Although the voices supplied programmed into the unit were more than satisfactory, I soon became aware that I only had access to about 60% of the machine's capabilities. So, I rang up Mike Beecher of Electromusic Research and neither he nor the programmer of their DX7 software knew whether it would function with the TX7, although they couldn't see why not. The programs arrived and I set about experimenting.

THE PROGRAMS

Throughout this article I will be referring to the TX7. For DX7 owners ALL the operations and functions of the software are the same and work perfectly I managed to borrow a DX7 in order to confirm this. The three programs marketed by EMR are:

1. A voice and function library This consists of seven banks of 32 sounds. These are transferred to and from the DX/TX via the EMR MIDI interface.

This was an immediate bonus to the TX as the only other way of doing this was the cassette interface fitted and, although tape sound libraries probably exist, I was unable to find any.

Now I had access to 224 alternative sounds. The sounds supplied are interesting, ranging from the pure effects such as 'birds' to some beautiful and pleasing musical sounds. I was told that they had been collected from many sources from all over Europe, in themselves they are a valuable addition to the TX/DX. If your use of the equipment is studio or home based then having the Spectrum connected permanently with the full library in memory is satisfactory as loading and finding a sound from a bank takes around twenty seconds!

However, if you are using your machine on the road, or want to use your Spectrum to run another MIDI program such as EMR's Performer a brilliant 8 track real time polyphonic 'tape recorder' simulator, then this is not often convenient. To get around this you can use this program to compile a bank of the 32 most frequently used sounds and keep it in the DX/TX's memory permanently. This is a little time consuming and rather fiddly, requiring loading a bank to the TX, retrieving the single voices required back to the Spectrum, saving onto tape one at a time until all 32 are on tape. Then by loading each voice back into the Spectrum, transferring to the DX/TX and storing into the required memory number, the final compilation of the 32 voices can be made.

2. Function Parameter Store.

A fundamental difference between the TX7 and the DX7 is that the TX7 provides a separate set of function information for each voice, whereas the DX7 has only one which must be changed, if necessary, when a new voice is used. This means that this program is not so essential to TX7 owners especially as each function is alterable from its own control panel. However the easy to use menus plus the means of displaying all the information at once on the screen proved very useful and greatly eased the modification of the values.

A big bonus for DX7 owners is the option to load one of the bank of 32 function patches into the DX7 from the program change of another MIDI instrument, thus saving the need to reprogram them manually. After each alteration of a function the patch is sent to the TX DX so that you can play it and get an instant audio feedback of what your modification sounds like.

3. Voice Editor.

This is the chief program for DX/TX owners in that is displays all the information clearly and graphically, both in bar graph and line graph form. As the actual programming of the DX/TX voices is well known for its complexity, this program should be received with open arms by those who are still struggling. The fast access to all the parameters which can be seen at a glance, compared and altered, almost makes this task easy!

After each section has been changed the new information is sent to the TX/DX and can be played so you can hear the effect you have created. For DX7 owners this program will aid your sound creation if you are experienced or make it much less daunting to learn how to program sounds.

TX7 SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

Because the TX7 does not have a keyboard and is connected by the MIDI IN to the controlling keyboard, I had a problem in that every time I wanted to use the program I couldn't play the sounds and vice versa. This meant a lot of pulling out and plugging in of the 5 pin Din leads. Not a good idea.

I got around it by purchasing the Yamaha YME-8 MIDI box. This allows two MIDI INs to be switch routed to two banks of four MIDI OUTs. To swap from computer to keyboard was now only a matter of flipping two switches. Expensive at £55 but cheaper than replacing damaged leads and sockets, also it come in useful for other MIDI operations.

Yamaha say in their TX manual - "as the TX7 voices are not programmable there is no need to give details of programming them". This means that you have no clue how to go about creating sounds. If you have a good idea of sound creation on digital synths then you are likely to be able to work it out by trial and error.

Whatever your knowledge it is great fun and satisfying (not to mention frustrating) using the Voice Editor program to experiment with.

PLUS...

ZXC has managed to organise a special offer in conjunction with Electromusic Research. Individually, the Function Library, Function Editor, and Voice Editor programs cost £24.95 each which would make a total of £74.85 for all three. ZXC is able to offer its readers all three programs for the bargain price of just £49.95, representing a saving of er, um (hang on a sec)... £24.90!! {EMR's own Midi Interface is also available for £79.90).