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  1. 0660103030566
  2. 9[....................................................]
  3.  
  4. ü                      THEMUSICSTUDIO...Ç
  5.                          êAnÇêEvaluation.Ç
  6.  
  7. By:üAÇlainüPÇlouffe
  8.  
  9.      Themostdifficultthingtodowhilewritingacriticabout
  10. somecomputerprogramistoremainobjectiveandfairtowardsthe
  11. author(s).Onecaneasilyhindersalesofaproductbywritingan
  12. unintentionallyharshreview,orevenunwillinglyencouragethe
  13. purchaseofa"lemon"...Formyself,Ithinkthatmyattitudewill
  14. helpmegiveyouthemost"unbiased"opinions.
  15.      AsforüMusicStudioÇ,Ihavebeenusingitforafewweeksnow
  16. withaüCasioCZ-101Çandmyopinionsarevaried..tosaytheleast.
  17. Thisproductwasnodoubtmarketedtocaptivateamaximumnumber
  18. ofcustomers,(theprogramisfarfromexpensive)andüActivisionÇ
  19. wasprobablyscramblinginthefearofseeingsomeoneelsebeat
  20. themintheireffortstobefirst.
  21.      Asurprisingthingisthattheprogramdoesn'tseemtosuffer
  22. fromanyobviousproblem,tomygreatrelief!Whatmakesme
  23. hesitateingivingitthehighestmarkisthefactthatthe
  24. programdoesn'tseemtoknowwhichusersitwantstodevotemore
  25. timeto;thoseowningüCasioCZ-101ÇorüCZ-1000Çsynthesizersor
  26. thosewhodon't...(rememberalsothatthisprogramonlyworkswith
  27. thecolormonitor).Consideringthekindofsoundsavailablewith
  28. theü520Çorü1040STsÇinternalhardware,thosewhowillbuythis
  29. programwithoutowningakeyboardwillendupwithaversion
  30. remindingthemvaguelyoftheoldüMusicConstructionSetÇfrom
  31. üElectronicArtsÇ,butwithafewextraoptions...Itisagood
  32. thingforamateurcomposers,forexample,whomayusecolored
  33. blocksbearingnoresemblancewhatsoevertotraditionalmusical
  34. notation,tocomposetheirsongs.Infact,eventhosewhodonot
  35. readmusiccanbuythisprogramandworkthroughitwithrelative
  36. ease.Butdon'tforgetthatwritingyourownmusicisnotthat
  37. easy!NoteveryoneiscalledStevieWonder...
  38.      Hence,myopinionisthattheüMusicStudioÇisagoodpurchase
  39. forastudentlearningmusic,forinstance,oranyonewithabasic
  40. musicalexperience.RegardingtheusewithaüCZ-101ÇorüCZ-1000Ç,
  41. theprogramisconfiguredspecificallyforthosetwomodelsonly
  42. andthemanualwarnsyouabouttheresultsyoumayobtainwithan
  43. instrumentfromanothermanufacturer.(LetmementionherethatI
  44. havetrieditwithaüKorgÇsynthesizerandtheprogramplayedback
  45. asongIhadcustomizedfortheüCasioÇwithoutaproblem).The
  46. interfacingissomewhatlikeamodemoraprinterthatneedsa
  47. specialdrivertowork.Stillnotmuchofaproblem...
  48.      YoumaychangemostoftheimportantüCasioÇparameterswhilea
  49. pieceisplayingsuchas:changing"patches",usingonlyoneor
  50. manyinstrumentswithinthesamepiece,switchingüMIDIÇchannels,
  51. etc....Allinall,youareabletodothesamethingsaswith
  52. üMusicConstructionSetÇ,butwithyourkeyboard.Onedrawbackof
  53. theprogramisthatitisincapableofrecordingin"realtime"
  54. fromtheüMIDIÇport(aproblemwiththescreenrefreshbeingtoo
  55. slowtocatchuptoyourplaying).ThisalsomeansyouêmustÇuse
  56. themousetocompose(youhavetospecifythelenghtofthenotes
  57. individually)Thisisonlyaminorhindrancetothemusical
  58. compositionprocessbut,ifyouconsiderthealternatives,there
  59. arefew.
  60.      ThereisüHybridArtsÇ,betterknownforhavingsoldthefirst
  61. üMIDIÇboxforüAtariÇcomputerswiththe6502CPU.Theyaretalking
  62. aboutmarketingaprogramsimilartotheirüMIDITRACKIIIÇforthe
  63. ü520Çandü1040STÇ.üXlentSoftwareÇisalsocomingoutwithaüMIDIÇ
  64. program,aswellasalocalcompanycalledüSoundWaveÇfromwhom
  65. I'veseenademonstrationofoneproduct(amongmany)theyare
  66. marketing.Itisasequencerormorecommonly,arecordingstudio
  67. multi-tracktaperecorderemulatorthatworksbeautifullyinreal
  68. time.Butallthoseprogramscarryalargerpricetag.(200$+).
  69.  
  70.      Thisdoesn'tmeanIambrushingofftheüMusicStudioÇ,far
  71. fromthat!Theprogramisaimedtowardsamateurandintermediate
  72. musiciansanddoesverywellallitdoes.Anotherthingisthat,
  73. evenifyoudon'tlikewritingmusic,youcanalwayshopetofind
  74. peopletotradesongswithyou...BulletinBoards(üBBSsÇ)are
  75. generallyexcellentplacestoobtainthesefileswiththehelpof
  76. amodem.WithaprogrambackedbyanamelikeüActivisionÇ,youcan
  77. beassuredthatyouwon'tbetheonlyonebuyingit.Noteveryone
  78. ownsaüCasioÇthough,andyoumayoccasionnalyhavetoalterthe
  79. settingsincertainpiecesyougetfromsomeonewhoownsone.
  80.  
  81.      Theinteractionbetweentheprogramandtheuserisgenerally
  82. goodinspiteoftheratherbusyworkscreens,butthereisagood
  83. reasontothat;äallÇyourworktoolsarethere,installedinthe
  84. multiplemenus!Itiseasytoroamfromonefunctiontoanother
  85. anditisevenhardtolosethepieceyouareworkingonunless
  86. youdoitintentionnally!Thismeansthatthecompanymadesureto
  87. marketonlyasimpletouseandbug-freeproduct.Thisisawise
  88. decisionwhenyouthinkthatintoday'smarketplace(withits
  89. discriminatingcustomers)asinglebadproductcanthrowacompany
  90. intobankrupcy.
  91.      WealsohavetoadmitthattheüMIDIÇcommunicationcircuitis
  92. indeedastrangebeast!Designedbetween1982and1983,itallowed
  93. musicianstocreatearealtimecommunicationlinkbetween
  94. appropriatelyequipedinstruments.However,itallowedonlya
  95. basicformofcommunication;theminimumlevelofcompatibility.
  96. Thingshavechangedalotsince3yearsandtheproofisthateven
  97. yourüAtariSTÇitselfdoesn'tfollowthe"protocol"perfectly.In
  98. fact,theüMIDIÇ üOutÇportontheüSTÇcarriesaüMIDITHRUÇsignal
  99. allowingthechainingofmanyinstruments.
  100.      Thisisnottheonlycaseofdeviationfromthenorm;
  101. companiessuchasüYamahaÇ,üFairlightÇ,andothersdon'thesitateto
  102. use"in-house"protocolstoaccessmorecapability.üMusicStudioÇ
  103. doesn'tallowthoseextrafunctionssuchas:synchronizingwitha
  104. drummachine,greatertransferspeedsbetweenthesynthandthe
  105. computer,etc...ButtheüCasioÇisneverthelessagoodinstrument
  106. touseifyou'reinterestedinexploringmusic,andtheüMusic
  107. StudioÇletsyouexperimentwithmanyofitsfunctions.Thisall
  108. dependsonyourlevelofcompetence,andthisisthereasonwhyI
  109. mustgivetherightimpressionabouttheproductinquestion.It
  110. wouldbeuselessformetogetintoaconflictofinterestby
  111. suggestingyoubuytheproductthatamanufacturerwouldpromote
  112. metosell,ifthisproductshouldprovetobeinadequateinthe
  113. future;itwouldalsobethebestwaytoloseyourtrust.
  114.     Inconclusion,theprogramisgoodifyoudon'townasynth,
  115. betterifyoudo,andbestifit'saüCasioÇ.It'snot,byallmeans
  116. aprofessionnalüMIDIÇproductforseriouscomposers,butitdoes
  117. giveyouagoodtasteofthesonicpowerofyourAtariSTwithor
  118. withoutMIDIhookups.
  119.  
  120.