MIDI IN THE HOME

Talented? Musically frustrated? Read on...

There is a growing trend towards using the computer as a tool in the composition and performance of music using the new range of low cost keyboards and synthesizers. We decided to keep up with this trend and present a guide to what is available and how it can be used for both expert and newcomer alike.

As we are a computer magazine we are concentrating on this aspect and our information on the instruments is not "in depth" - this could be the subject of a magazine in its own right!

Arguably, CASIO are the Sinclair of the keyboard world, three years ago their £40 machine caused as much stir as the ZX81 in its day, and even now their CZ101 is the cheapest MIDI machine on the market at around £350.00. I know several people personally who owned an early Casio, went into computing and, returning to bigger machines have now linked both interests together, and they are not all millionaires either - one is a schoolboy and another is unemployed!

ROSSETTI SOFTWARE

8 TRACK COMPOSER £49.95.
LIVE SEQUENCER ARPEGGIATOR £19.95 (See our Special Offer Coupon for Rosetti's address).

Two things are immediately obvious with this company's wares; first, they all come in distinctive blue library cases and secondly the instructions, although commercially printed are VERY brief. There is less said on the Arpeggiator leaflet than on most cassette inserts. The assumption is that you should know what you are doing, both musically and computer-wise.

Having moaned, it is only fair to say that as a user with only general knowledge I really didn't have any major problems, except that I couldn't operate the Arpeggiator with the footpedals supplied. This was a pity as this is a very strong and interesting feature of the program.

THE ARPEGGIATOR

...was interesting but of limited value, useful for playing along with and, when used with the footpedals, can store and replay in sequence up to 40 chord arpeggios. It would have been more use if the patterns could have been varied rather than the fixed run up or run down the chord notes. A feature to allow you to decide the order of play or a random option would have made this much more versatile. Verdict; fair, a pity it wasn't developed further.

LIVE SEQUENCER

The computer acts as a straightforward tape recorder - well, slightly more actually as you can also auto start it or playback at varying tempos without pitch distortion, and loop the sequence so that it replays continuously. Oh, and you can also get the machine to smooth out and adjust the tempo and reassign the channel so that another instrument replays it.

It is enjoyable to use and a little more versatile than most built-in sequencers, though whether you decide it's worth £29.95 is up to you and the use to which you want to put your machine.

COMPOSER

This is Rossetti's star program, it is very similar to the XRI step time sequencer, and is not really my idea of a full composer program.

This one merited four and a bit pages of a leaflet! It actually took me an hour to get to grips with the program and I was quite impressed. Each of the eight tracks hold only one-note sequences, these are played into the computer from the keyboard, the only thing that is recorded is the pitch of the note, all note lengths are set to quavers. Once the sequence has been played then the fun begins. Lines of music shorthand are presented in five rows which are the note or line number, pitch eg. 4D (note D in 4th octave), duration as a note symbol, gate time (sustain), velocity (volume). The last three are alterable (editable) from a cursor and this is where a composition takes shape.

AND FINALLY...

The prices of the instruments will vary quite a lot from place to place so don't take them as gospel, they are meant as a guide.

I must say a sincere thank you to all those who lent me all this very expensive equipment, Vince Hill Associates and Siel, Mr. Chapman and Rosetti, Richard Young and Casio, XRI (who have just brought out a Juno 106 and DX7 editor and are about to release a composer program) and Paul Waby for lending me his Korg.