*********************************** AM/FM *************************************     The 1993 MIDI AND ELECTRONIC   MUSIC SHOW   WEMBLEY   U.K.    A Subjective Report by Kevan R.Craft. for AM/FM - Amiga Musicians Freeware Magazine The fourth MIDI & Electronic Music show opened at Wenbley Conference & Exhibition Centre in the U.K. on Friday April 23rd and it closed Sunday the 25th. You could say the MEMS was two events in one - in the main part of the show punters were able to pursue the exhibitors stands, testing the new products and asking penetrating questions like "do you know if Commodore are eventually going to accommodate the hardware for 16 Bit sound in their new range of machines?" And, "when are Commodore going to make MIDI IN, OUT and THROUGH sockets standard on their range of computers?" You can guess the answers! "What's an Amiga?" "I thought Amigas were games machines?" Anyway, the actual musical technology on display at this show was previously previewed at the Frankfurt and NAMM music fairs earlier in the year. The second element of the show was some extensive seminar programmes. Some of the U.K.'s leading experts in the Hi-Tech field gave the punters the benefit of their years of accumulated wisdom. There was also a very high powered selection of personages and advice on offer for all musicians, not just Hi-Tech types. On the instrument front, most of the leading players were there to show off their new range of hardware - Roland, Yamaha, Korg, AKAI, Peavey and the rest but the leading players have to be AKAI with their outstanding range of goodies! AKAI were displaying their A-DAM (AKAI Digital Audio Multi-Track Format Recording System), An appropriate name for a world's first, according to the advertising blurb! This comprised of the DR1200 Digital Multi-Track recorder, DL1200 Programmable Auto-Locator and DM1200 Meter Unit, this advanced system gives studios and individual musicians easy and affordable access to digital 12 track recording using popular 8mm video tapes. This a technical feat made possible through a unique combination of AKAI's three fields of engineering - digital audio, video and multi-track recording. The A-DAM Recording System combines superb technical specifications like 16-bit quantization, selectable 44.1/48 kHz sampling frequency, powerful error correction capabilities with features for easy operation: digital crossfade, syncronized operation of up to three DR1200 recorders, plus a number of automated operations. The A-DAM Recording System from AKAI is a simple yet versatile means for creative studio engineers and musicians to explore artistic possibilities - all in the incorruptible digital domain. The price? Well I your talkin' over 20,000 U.K. pounds here mate! AKAI also had a new CD Rom Sample player on show. The CD3000 CD-Rom Sample Player to be exact! This new toy from AKAI, enables the sampling freak to play CD samples direct into the machine's memory and can then be saved direct to 3.5 inch PC formatted floppy disks. The CD3000 is also a 32 voice multi- timbral module with which can store/edit sampled data with the option of adding ROM stored PCM acoustic waveforms, and may be accessed via conventional MIDI means through computer software, MIDI song players and keyboards with in-built sequencers etc. (I want one!) Again, AKAI were displaying their new S01 16-bit Digital Sampler which also has PCM samples already built-in to the unit. Although this unit will be marketed to those musicians/composers who like to create their own samples and use them in the 8 part timbrality of the machine. On the computer front, ATARI and the PC was catered for and not a sight or sound of the beloved AMIGA! Its an utter disgrace that such an all-rounder of a machine which is capable of completing any complicated computing task is not represented in the music industry! Get your fuc***g act together Commodore or we'll start a pressure group to force you to comply to all the Amiga musicians wishes! Otherwise we'll move on to a different machine like rats on a sinking ship (the Titanic)! I was expecting to see the publishers of the new 'Music-X v2.0/Notator-X'at the show, but have been informed by a reliable source, that they are delaying the software release of Music-X/Notator-X for a couple of months because of problems negotiating the 'rights' with the author David Joiner. The only available MIDI software for the Amiga at the show was Gajits 'Sequencer One/Plus - which in my opinion is utter crap! There was one single Public Domain library which distributes Amiga PD called 16/32 from the South of England. I didn't really want to go near his stall because of previous dealings concerning 10 FRED FISH disks, which were actually unformatted disks with sod all data on them, but I went and had a quick look anyway! He was selling MIDI files for PC's and Atari's because he also stocks PD for those machines. I also noticed that he possessed the complete catalogue of The Crusaders demos and I bet he hasn't been given permission for this! I was not having any of it, and on I went elsewhere in the show! Bastar*! I went over to the Roland stall and to be honest, they didn't have much compared to AKAI and Korg. The only thing of interest (to me anyway), was the relatively new MIDI Guitar controller - Roland GR-1 which is a great improvement on the GR-50 and caters for GM MIDI standard as well as MIDI controllable guitar patches for effects like sustain, echo, delay and chorus etc. (I want one!) The trouble with going to one of these shows is that you feel like your a dog with 2 dicks and you don't know where to look next- so many great things to see and touch - like heaven really! One demonstration I missed but got the lowdown from a friend, was the Peavey MIDI Bass demo. According to him, this MIDI Bass is a real beast and is capable of everything that MIDI synth keyboards and MIDI guitars can do. Apparently, the Peavey MIDI Bass is being taken up by a lot of professional musicians as a new means of composing/recording and for supplimenting the bass guitar in live work. Look out (listen) for this in future recordings and you'll be pleasantly surprised. One final thing that did catch my eye, was the existence of plenty of stalls peddling MIDI songs. After roaving around the various stalls like 'Hands on MIDI' and 'Heavenly Music', 'Pro Music' Pro Tracks' Newtronic' and 'The Associated MIDI Programmers' I discovered that selling MIDI songs can be quite lucrative, especially if you have arranged them yourself! Apparently, these companies acquire a MIDI file via a third party arranger and pay 50 per cent for the MIDI file arrangement. They register with MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society) and arrange to pay a royalty to the original songwriter/composer. The general price of MIDI songs is between 10 - 15 U.K. Pounds EACH, depending on how many MIDI Channels and the complexity of the actual arrangement. I even noticed a complete MIDI album of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells for 25 Pounds! (This makes the AM/FM MIDI Files rather special don't you think!) Well, that was my experience of this 1993 MIDI and Electronic Music Show. Of course there was much more but you try seeing everything possible in just a couple of hours and then hope to get out of London before the rush! No way man! I suppose the real highlights have to be AKAI and their amazing hardware but with the distancing price tag! I find that the only trouble with going to these kind of shows, is that you want what you see but your eyes tend to be bigger that your wallet! Know what I mean? Better get writing that hit song.. Kevan R.Craft 12 Mount Road Halton Runcorn Cheshire. WA7 2BH. England. (U.K.) Tel: +44 0928 563762 *********************************** AM/FM *************************************