Conference napalm::commusic_v1

>    John ______ from Petra jam out on some sequences from Jan's "Escape
    
    John Lawry.  He's been endorsing LYNC for a few years now.
    
    Mike

    BTW - Was the Hotz Box there?
    
    Mike

    Mike, "Hotz Box", as in Jimmy Hotz, famous, but unheard by me,
    producer?
    
    I don't know, who makes it ?  Didn't see it...  what is it ?
    
    karl

    Re: Jimmy Hotz (producer & musician)
    
    Yes that's him.  He invented it and it is going to be marketed by
    Atari.  David Small wrote about it in December's issue of ST.  The 
    Hotz Box is some sort of object-oriented keyboard that serves as an
    instrument as well as an educational tool.  It allows takes advantage
    of MIDI subcodes on CDs.
    
    Mike    

The February issue of EM mentioned the Hotz box in one of its articles- I think
the one on "interactive  performance tools." What stood out in my mind is that
they quote Craig Anderton as saying that it has become his MIDI controller of
choice. I'm an Amigan myself, but I have so much respect for Mr. Anderton's
opinion it's ridiculous! If it's that good, perhaps it will be targeted as a
system-independent device; cynicism says, however, that a lot of marketing types
would have to get offers they couldn't refuse before that happens. We'll see,
I guess.

Cheers,
	Bob

  Karl, you lucky dog you!  I used to really be into computer graphics (still
  am somewhat) so working in the workstation group and supporting all the
  SIGGRAPH shows was awesome for me.  (In fact, I met Todd Rungren at a few
  of them)  But I'd give up several of them to go to just one NAMM!

  Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the next NAMM show bounce back to
  New York and isn't there 1 day now that it's open to the general public?

-TR

    Back inside cover of the NAMM program directory:
    
    NAMM EXPO '91 Aug 1-4 Javits Convention Center New York City
    Trade only, Aug 1-3.  Consumer Day Aug. 4th. 
    
    And then another Winter NAMM Anaheim Jan 17-19, 1992 (!)
    
    NAMM contact (619)438-8001, Carlsbad CA. USA

    Another NAMM report from USENET.  Hot items: a replacement for the MT32
    with both L/A and RS-PCM in one unit, and a digital multitracker from
    Alesis for $4000.
    
    						Brian
    
    
From: [email protected] (David Bonobo)
Subject: Winter '91 NAMM show (kinda long)
Date: 22 Jan 91 22:43:42 GMT
 
I just got back Sunday night from attending the Winter 1991 NAMM show in 
Anaheim, CA.  It was fun as usual, but I'm sorry to report that there 
wasn't much new stuff.  Hopefully this means manufacturers have been busy
getting the bugs out of their current line of hardware/software.
 
First off let me say that I was greatly disappointed to find out that both
Akai and Ensoniq chose to stay away from this year's festivities.  I really
don't see the point in not showing up at these things, as it is an ideal 
place to show off your wares and influence the buying decisions of major
"talent" (potential endorsements), as well as the buying decisions of little
saps like me.  
 
Here's a brief run down of some of what I saw this year.  If anybody has any 
questions regarding a specific piece of gear, I'll be happy to try and 
recollect for you what I can.  Sorry...I've already got a pretty nice axe,
and real brass doesn't interest me (samples might), so my look-see will be
a bit on the electronic side.
 
Saw the bitchin' demo of the "Digital Studio" system by Spectral Synthesis.
There's no doubt in my mind that once they figure out the memory problem 
(too many bucks!), tapeless audio will be THE standard.  This thing is 
phenomonally easy to comprehend and use, and the graphics on were great as 
well.  Spectral Synthesis also can sell you a magnetic-optical disk drive 
for massive data storage; again the technology is there, it's just too
expensive.
 
Not much new in Roland's booth...their new product literature consisted of
about two pages, as opposed to last year's 14-page effort.  I didn't actually
get to hear it, but it sounds like they've got some kind of upgraded MT-32-
plus-some-U-20-sounds 1/2 rack module, and a companion 1/2 rack hardware
sequencer.  Sorry, it didn't sound worth waiting for the demo (though their
demos are usually quite good!).
 
I missed KORG's new booth altogether this year; too many Marshall stacks
clogging the isles.  They do have some new "Wavestation-y" kind of rack
unit that sounded interesting.  Your friendly KORG user's group man (Mark?)
could probably tell you more than I could about it...
 
E-mu had nothing new at all, unless you consider the "Pro-formance" piano
module new (been in stores for months out here).  I still think the U-220
piano blows it away (IMHOIMHOIMHO!!!).  Since EMU was one of the only sampler 
manufacturers there, I wanted to check out their EMAX's, but as usual the 
demos they had set up included basically one or two weenie sounds, and some
lame sequences.  Why can't some genius figure out a way to hook up a SCSI
drive and let you page through some beefy samples and sequences? 
 
One word: E-Bow!!  That poor guy is *still* there trying to put some new
angle on this tired device.  Sorry sport...think of something new.
 
The Fostex booth was similarly devoid of life, unless you consider boxing
up your mixer and shipping it back to the factory for an upgrade a "new
feature".  I bought their fine 812 mixer last year with the hopes that a
promised MIDI-muting upgrade would be a cakewalk.  Oh well, live and learn.
Why can't this be done by the store tech?  
 
Even Penthouse Magazine had a booth this year...what exactly is it that
they manufacture?  I wasn't able to get close enough to see, thanks to the
valiant efforts of my girlfriend.
 
As usual, all the Alesis stuff was under glass.  I see they have a new drum
machine...it looks great, kids.   From the literature, it sounds like they
are putting a twist on the newer KORG drum machine, with all the sound 
editing possibilities.  Wasn't able to stick around for the demo (how long
should I have waited?).
 
I hadn't seen the new DOD (Digitech?) stuff in action until this weekend,
and I must say, I was *blown away* with their "Intelligent Harmony" (I 
think that's what it's called...I grabbed the lit if anyone cares...)
machine.  They had a demo where a guy was singing a song and the harmonies
were all coming out of this little gizmo.  I had heard rumors that this
machine didn't have the bandwidth to handle vocals...well put that thought
out of your tiny minds!  I'd have to listen more critically for serious
studio considerations, but for live work, forget about backing vocals and
samplers with annoyingly long load times.  This thing sounds great...I 
guess all you'd have to have is someone to turn it on or off depending on
where you wanted harmonies.  Not much in the way of other new gear at DOD.
 
You want a DAT machine?  Both Sony and Panasonic have some fine-looking 
new gear with 44.1 Khz recording (no copy protection caca) for pretty 
reasonable prices.  Old news, I know.  I went and bought a Sony consumer
DAT myself; I'm not going to be pressing CD's anyway, just making *noise-
less* masters...
 
Well, I'd better shut up...just though a few of you would like to know
what happened this winter without waiting for the June issue of H&SR or EM...
 
-David

From: [email protected] (Jeff Boone)
Subject: Re: Winter '91 NAMM show (kinda long)
Date: 23 Jan 91 23:38:21 GMT
 
I too was disappointed with Ensoniq, but Akai was there showing off their 
S1100 sampler, the ADAM 12 track digital recorder, and their DD1000  
magneto-optical recorder.
 
>As usual, all the Alesis stuff was under glass.  I see they have a new drum
>machine...it looks great, kids.   From the literature, it sounds like they
>are putting a twist on the newer KORG drum machine, with all the sound 
>editing possibilities.  Wasn't able to stick around for the demo (how long
>should I have waited?).
 
They were also showing an EARLY version of their 8-track digital recorder
that uses S-VHS tapes and will retail for $3995 (due in Q4). I thought
this was one of the hottest items in the show. You can gang a bunch
together and make a 32 track digital recorder. At $4k it's not for
everyone, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
 
Jeff Boone
[email protected]

       
       
       
       
       
       Is it possible that the "super MT-32" the first reviewer is
       referring to is really the CM-32P or CM-64?  Both of these accept
       the SN-U-110 Rom cards which might mislead the casual observer...

       One of these days I gotta remember to hit NAMM...  less than 40
       miles away when it's in Anaslime.
       
       
       

>       Is it possible that the "super MT-32" the first reviewer is
>       referring to is really the CM-32P or CM-64?  Both of these accept
>       the SN-U-110 Rom cards which might mislead the casual observer...
    
    Well, those guys are not half-rack modules, which is how he described
    it.  Sounds more like a CM-64 repackaged for the non-computer user. 
    But who knows, we'll have to wait and see.
    
    						Brian

Article        11016
From: [email protected] (Chris Muir)
Subject: Re: NAMM???
Date: 23 Jan 91 17:56:11 GMT
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
 
I just returned from NAMM, the land of big-haired guitar wankers. The show
grew by about one third this year. It was a little subdued on account of the
war, but not as much as I would have guessed. Perhaps that should be
sub-dude. At any rate here is some cool stuff I saw. I know I'm forgetting
lots of junk, but maybe someone else who was there will jump in with their
faves making this a wholesome, well balanced NAMM report.
 
I think that for me, the biggest trend is one towards knobs. Roland showed
what was essentially an improved D-50, but with a knob for every parameter!
All these knobs send over MIDI, so that they can be recorded into a
sequencer (or something). They also showed the S-750, a not so little
brother to the S-770 sampler. It seems about the same but without the
digital I/O or balanced input. The DM-80 hard disk recorder was on hand as
well as their sound spinner (I've forgotten the name/number).
 
Oberheim, back from the dead, showed that they can still make the Matrix-12.
They also showed that they can still crank out variations of the
Cyclone/Systemizer: the Strummer (takes keyboard chords and strums them like
a guitar) and something that does drum patterns (a drum machine without any
sounds to go with that drum sound module without any sequencing you just
bought). The most interesting thing was seen but not heard. It was called,
informally, the OberMoog. It looks like one of the old SEMs (Synthesizer
Expander Modules) blown up to rack size. It took six or eight spaces, and
had a knob for every parameter. It is very similar to the SEM in concept,
except it is polyphonic (up to 12 voices), and it has a Moog ladder style 4
pole filter in addition to the multi-mode filter that was on the original
SEM. About $3500 for a two voice, up to about $6000 for a twelve voice.
 
Korg had, under glass, the Wavestation A/D. This is a two space rack mount
version of the Wavestation. The twist here is that it has two analog inputs
that it can process in unspeakable ways (at least I couldn't get anyone to
speak about them).
 
Opcode showed Max, OMS (Open MIDI System), Galaxy with Editors, and upgrades
to Vision and Studio Vision. Max seemed very well received. OMS is a MIDI
driver that gives named port/channel combinations. You can say that the
modem port MIDI channel 3 is your TG77 and from there on just refer to the
TG77 by name in all Opcode products. OMS can drive cards like Digidesign's
Sample Cell without the MIDI Manager. OMS can interface with the MIDI
Manager too. Opcode is developing hardware to take advantage of the
capabilities of OMS. If you think you like MOTU's MIDI Time Piece, just
wait.
 
MOTU showed a buggy version of Digital Performer which is Performer with
digital audio recording and play back grafted on (well, play back at least).
Might be ready for Beta by the next NAMM show, and by the way, the Summer
NAMM show in New York has been canceled. They also showed their MIDI mixer
and their Video Time Piece. The mixer is a pretty cool idea, but where are
the knobs?
 
Steinberg/Jones had Cuebase Mac doing digital audio as well. I hadn't looked
at Cuebase before this show, but at Richard Zvonar's recommendation I took a
peek and and I was pretty impressed. All editing in real time (except
digital audio), good cross between pattern and linear approach. It may be a
little too late to make much of a dent in the Mac sequencer market, though.
 
Digidesign didn't really show anything new on the floor, but they supposedly
were showing a new card that did four channels of digital audio in a suite
in one of the hotels. They had a pretty tasty guitarist doing Studio D
demos, though.
 
EMu had the Procussion, basically a Proteus with a jillion (between 500 and
1000) drum sounds (YAP: Yet Another Proteus). It really sounds pretty
wonderful, but it costs $1099. They also had the long awaited expansion
chassis for the EIII, the EIIIx. In reality it is a replacement for the rack
mount version of the EIII. EMu has the best demo at NAMM year after year.
This year the theme was Club Delphi, a beat club. Very entertaining.
 
Alesis had an new version of the Quadraverb, the Quadraverb GT. This is a
Quadraverb plus with an analog front end to do that distortion, compression,
etc. that we big-haired guitar wankers demand. They also had the D4, which
is their answer to EMu's Procussion. It only has a half or a quarter of the
jillion sounds that the Procussion has (>400), but it lists for $400. It
also has six inputs for drum pads that it can convert to MIDI triggers.
Similar to the SR-16. They also had a mute, blinking, digital audio recorder
that uses an S-VHS recorder as its medium. Eight tracks for <$4000. Forty
five minutes per cassette. Multiple units can be synced for more tracks.
They expect to ship in 1992.
 
This was the year that MIDI and tubes merged in a big way. ADA had this
market to themselves for a couple of years, but they've got plenty of
competition now. ART had two MIDI Tube Preamp / Multi-effects boxes, one for
guitar and one for bass. Hughes & Kettner had a very expensive one. Not to
be outdone, Soldano announced a more expensive one with motors to turn the
knobs. I saw at least one more, but it has faded in to the horror, the
horror...
 
 
 
 
-- 
__________________________________________________________________________
Chris Muir                              |   "There is no language in our
[email protected]                       |    lungs to tell the world just
{hplabs,pacbell,ucbvax,apple}!well!cbm  |    how we feel"  - A. Partridge

	Boy has Roland hit my soft spot and big-time - look at the JX1 -
    not just knobs and sliders but at an affordable price!!!!
    

Article        11681
Path: shodha.enet.dec.com!pa.dec.com!decwrl!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!zardoz.cpd.com!xphoton!miker
From: miker@xphoton (Miker here)
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers,rec.music.synth
Subject: New Roland Gear - was: (Re: Winter '91 NAMM show (kinda long))  LONG
Message-ID: <1991Jan25.225732.6220@xphoton>
Date: 25 Jan 91 22:57:32 GMT
Organization: Excellon Photonics
Lines: 87
Xref: shodha.enet.dec.com rec.music.makers:8847 rec.music.synth:11681
 
In article of 22 Jan 91 22:43:42 GNT [email protected] (David Bonobo) 
writes:
 
>I just got back Sunday night from attending the Winter 1991 NAMM show in
>Anaheim, CA.  It was fun as usual, but I'm sorry to report that there
>wasn't much new stuff.  Hopefully this means manufacturers have been busy
>getting the bugs out of their current line of hardware/software.
>
>First off let me say that I was greatly disappointed to find out that both
>Akai and Ensoniq chose to stay away from this year's festivities.  I really
[Stuff deleted]
>Not much new in Roland's booth...their new product literature consisted of
>about two pages, as opposed to last year's 14-page effort.  I didn't actually
>get to hear it, but it sounds like they've got some kind of upgraded MT-32-
>plus-some-U-20-sounds 1/2 rack module, and a companion 1/2 rack hardware
>sequencer.  Sorry, it didn't sound worth waiting for the demo (though their
>demos are usually quite good!).
 
 
Well I don't know what show Dave went to, but I'm sorry that he missed some
really great new gear !!! AKAI was there demoing their new S1100 series and all
the usual stuff. Ensoniq was not to be found. However, Roland announced a lot 
of new gear for us keyboardists. They announced the VK-1000, FP-8, JX-1, and 
JD-800. 
 
Let me illustrate a bit.
 
FP-8 (Portable Digital Piano)
 
A fully weighted 88 key system that incorporates the PA-4 new design hammer 
action keyboard. (KX-88 owners look out) 16 Piano settings, 5 Electric Piano, 
3 Mallet, and 4 Strings are available. 28 voice polyphony. Built-in Chorus and
Reverb. On-board sequencer can record up to 4,500 notes. Built-in monitor
speakers and separate 10W amps. 2 Pedal inputs (1 damper, the other assignable
between Soft|Sostenuto|Expression). Midi In/Out/Thru. Weighs 24kg (50 lbs.).
Comes in 3 colors, white, red, or grey. You can layer 2 sounds together.
List price 2695.00 US.
 
JX-1 (Perfomrance Synthesizer)
 
Compact, entry level keyboard optimzed for live performace. 61 key -  velocity
keyboard (4 curves), 24 voice polyphony, 64 presets, 32 user defined , Reverb,
Chorus, Vibrato, And Octave functions. 2 sounds can be layered. Microtuning.
(Look out Yamaha). Audio input/mixing (can accept outboard sound source and 
mix to audio out or headphones) for accompanyment playing. Midi In/Out/Thru.
Key Transpose. Reminds me of a JX-3P updated to 1991. (with better fidelity
and sounds). Sounds are created with PCM sounds and TVF's. Best feature: All
buttons, knobs, and sliders. No menus to wade through just to change a 
parameter. List price 895.00 US.
 
JD-800 (Programmable Synthesizer)
 
Roland's new state-of-the-art professional board. Their quote, "The JD-800
represents a breakthrough in synthesizer technology that combines the high
sound quality of a digital synthesizer with the flexible sound manipulation of 
analog synths."  The JD-800 has at least 50 panel sliders each assigned to
a separate parameters so that sounds can be easily modified in real time, even
during performance.  108 preset waveforms to choose from. Up to four sound
types can be layered together for complex sound generation. 61-key velocity
and aftertouch keyboard, 24 Mbit internal wave memory, 24 voice polyphony.
64 patches internal - 1 Part, ( ditto on a M-256E) which implies a card slot.
Distortion, phaser, Spctrum, Enhancer, Chorus, Reverb, Delay, and EQ.
4 velocity curves, 2 LFO's, New designed high power TVF. Portamento.
List price 2895.00 US.
 
VK-1000 (Rhodes/Organ)
 
I'm a little sketchy on this one - didn't get a spec sheet so this is from 
memory). 76 keys on the newly developed Rhodes technology with organ (good
sounding) built-in. Neat feature: IT HAS DRAWBARS !  Built-in 3-speed Leslie
simulation. Can layer piano and organ sounds together. Adjustable key click.
 It sounds very good. If you missed that B3 sound, well here it is in a nice 
lightweight portable package.
 
However, if you don't missed loving a few hundred pounds each night, Hammond
has resurrected the B-3 !!! Now called the XB-3, it has been updated for 1991.
This means its just as cool as ever, just as big, sounds just as good, and
has midi. There you go. What else can I say ?
 
 
Gotta go, more on Winter NAMM 1991 later.
 
(One sad note for all of you East coasters: Summer NAMM 1991 has been
cancelled.)
 
 
Mike

    didn't know where else to put this...
    
Article 407 of clari.news.music:
From: [email protected] (RUTH YOUNGBLOOD)
Newsgroups: clari.biz.misc,clari.news.features,clari.tw.computers,clari.tw.electronics,clari.news.music
Subject: 'Ultimate sound board' creates instant musicians
Date: 10 Feb 91 00:03:59 GMT
Priority: weekend


UPI Business Special Report

	SINGAPORE (UPI) -- Thwarted by poverty from learning to play an
instrument as a child, an enterprising electrical engineer created the 
``ultimate sound board,'' enabling personal computer addicts to polish
off tunes like accomplished musicians.
	Without any formal music training required, delighted users of Sim
Wong Hoo's ``Sound Blaster'' find only one finger on the keyboard
produces an array of popular melodies or orchestral-type selections
while background accompaniment of instruments and rhythms are added.
	``My lack of formal musical training turned out to be a blessing,''
said Sim, the 36-year-old entrepreneur whose creation has freed
frustrated performers in the United States, Britain, France, Australia,
Germany, Finland, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
	A Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) connector box provides
access to similarly equipped instruments or keyboards and a built-in
power amplifier allows for the direct connection to speakers or
headphones.
	Not only does Sim's brainchild give personal computers digital sound
and synthesized music capability, a digitized voice channel provides
speech, animal calls and special effects such as machine noises and
thunderstorms -- all easily reproduced for presentations and educational
games.
	A mischievous parrot mimics and responds to queries, a ``doctor''
replies humorously to questions and educational games draw on dazzling
graphics and sound effects to retain interest.
	Enthusiasts are invited to customize their own characters and compose
their own tunes. A voice development kit contains programs to record,
compress, store and play back the digitized sounds.
	``This is the ultimate sound board,'' Sim said, with no other
offering such diversity. The enticements are steadily increasing as his
research department churns out more entertaining diversions on Sound
Blaster's card.
	``That's the beauty of it,'' said Sim, whose Creative Technologies
has grown so fast he's eyeing a listing on the New York Stock Exchange
in 1995.
	``Competitors offer cards that can do some of the things, but none
match Sound Blaster's range of capabilities,'' said Sim, whose flagship
product was launched in 1989.
	Retailing at $239, Sound Blaster's monthly sales jumped to 10,000
units within six months and currently total 30,000 a month, with the
United States accounting for half.
	More than 100 American houses in the fields of music, entertainment,
education, speech and presentation software have started writing their
software with the Sound Blaster card.
	The product is manufactured in a 12,000 square-foot Singapore factory
and marketed through a network of overseas distributors in Asia, Europe,
the Middle East and Australia. The firm is boosting its American
operations in the heart of Silicon Valley from six to 50 sales and
technical staff.
	``My aim is to firmly position the Sound Blaster as the industry
standard for music, sound and speech for personal computers,'' said Sim,
who opened offices in China and Taiwan last year and plans to develop a
version of Sound Blaster in Mandarin.
	Fed up with working for other firms, Sim started his company as a
one-man operation in 1981 and is credited with creating the first
Singapore-made personal computer in 1984. Eighteen months later, a
second computer emerged.
	``I could see a need for a creative music system,'' Sim said. ``From
my own experience, I knew many people would love to play an instrument
but could not afford the investment.''
	In the runup to Sound Blaster came Game Blaster, which successfully
provided symthesized music capacity but no other sounds. Five months
later Sound Blaster was on the market
	Sim was determined to make new inroads in the quality of the sound
and is constantly striving to improve it. In steering the company into
the 1990s, Sim is exploring the use of new technologies, such as 
``multimedia,'' the merging of text, graphics, sound and video with
personal computers.
	Multimedia is seen as one of the next big developments in personal
computing, with users adding sound and pictures to traditional computer
texts and numbers.
	Sim has already signed a worldwide licensing agreement with Microsoft
to deliver audio cards and upgrade kits this year to support the
software giant's multimedia environment.
	Creative Technology also is in the process of tying up with several
computer manufacturers, including AT&T, Tandy and Zenith Data Systems,
to incorporate the Sound Blaster chip set into their personal computers.
	The rapidly expanding company also has developed a Chinese software
system for personal computers. Called PJS, Sim expects it to generate
some $30 million in sales within two years.
	PJS allows any Chinese character to be input into a computer with a
maximum of five key strokes.
	``All of this is very exciting,'' said Sim, who says he is
continually waking up in the morning with a new idea.
 adv sun feb 10 or thereafter