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MusicKit4.1.txt
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1995-06-12
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The CCRMA Music Kit and DSP Tools Distribution now runs on Intel-based
hardware under NEXTSTEP, using one or more plug-in DSP cards to
support music synthesis and digital audio processing. MIDI is
similarly provided by plug-in cards. The new release, designated
"4.1," is essentially Release 4.0 plus support for NEXTSTEP
486/Pentium machines. (A list of highlights is given below.) The
release is "fat" so there is only one package that works on both NeXT
and Intel-processor computers. It is available free of charge by
anonymous FTP from host
ftp://ccrma-ftp.stanford.edu/pub/NeXT/MusicKit/
For those unfamiliar with the Music Kit see the
"BACKGROUND" section below.
For music synthesis and digital audio processing on Intel hardware,
the 4.1 Music Kit provides drivers for three DSP sound cards, the
Ariel PC-56D, the Turtle Beach Multisound and the i*link i56 (see
below for details.) For MIDI on Intel hardware, the Music Kit
provides a driver for MPU-401 cards (such as the MusicQuest family and
the SoundBlaster-16), emulating the functionality of NeXT's MIDI
driver, including synch to MIDI time code. Source to all the drivers
is included in the Music Kit Source Package.
While only one DSP card is required, the power of a system can be
scaled up by the use of multiple cards. An application built with the
Music Kit can simultaneously use multiple DSP and MIDI cards by the
same or different manufacturers, with details of DSP resource
allocation handled automatically. In addition, the drivers provide
automatic sensing so that applications can be moved between machines
with different hardware configuration with no re-configuration
necessary.
NeXT hardware has not been left behind-the Music Kit now supports the
192K DSP extension memory board (available from S.F.S.U.) with
automatic sensing.
Other new features include a MusicKit panel for the Preferences
application for setting various defaults and managing multiple DSP and
MIDI cards.
DETAILS OF SOUND CARDS
1.ARIEL PC56D.
The Ariel card comes with a 27 or 33 MHz DSP, 64K of zero-wait-state
SRAM, and a moderate-quality CODEC (not currently supported by the
Music Kit.) It also includes a NeXT-compatible DSP connector which
can be used to do high-quality ADC/DAC via the Ariel ProPort. Other
serial port devices, such as the Ariel DATPort, Singular Solutions
A/D64x, Stealth DAI2400, etc. may be used to do analog and/or digital
I/O. Ariel has put together three attractive packages specially for
Music Kit users which are described in the Music Kit release notes.
Ariel can be contacted at the following address:
Ariel Corp Main Office
433 River Road
Highland Park, NJ 08904
U.S.A.
(201) 249-2900
(201) 249-2123 (FAX)
email: info@ariel.com
2. I*LINK I56
The i*link i56 board includes a 33 MHz DSP with 8K of zero-wait-state
SRAM, a 16-bit 44 Khz CODEC (currently not supported by the Music
Kit), and a NeXT-compatible DSP port which can be used to do
high-quality ADC/DAC or digital I/O (using the devices listed above.)
In addition i*link provides support for NEXTSTEP sound functions
(sound library). With the Mix package (which costs extra), the i56
can also be used as an automatic telephone answering system, fax,
modem, and telephone address book. i*link can be contacted at the
following address:
Kommunikationssysteme GmbH
Nollendorfstrasse 11-12,
10777 Berlin _ Germany.
phone: +49 30 - 216 20 48
fax: +49 30 - 215 82 74
mix: +49 30 - 215 83 42
email: info@ilink.de
Distribution in North America:
Alembic Systems International, Ltd.
phone: 1-800-452-7608
phone: 303-799 6223
fax: 303-799 1435
email: info@alembic.com
14, Inverness Drive East, Suite G-228
Englewood, CO 80112, U.S.A.
3. TURTLE BEACH
The Turtle Beach Multisound and Tahiti cards include a 40 MHz DSP, 32K
of 3-wait-state static RAM, and a 16-bit 44 KHz CODEC for DAC/ADC.
The Multisound also has a built-in Emu sample-playing synthesizer and
a MIDI port (currently not supported by the Music Kit). Turtle Beach
cards are widely available from sources such as Computability ((800)
554-9951). Turtle Beach can be contacted at:
Turtle Beach Systems
52 Grumbacher Rd
York, PA 17402
(717) 843-6916
FAX (717) 843-8319
Technical Support (717) 764-5265
BACKGROUND
The Music Kit is an object-oriented software system for building
music, sound, signal processing, and MIDI applications under the
NEXTSTEP operating system. It includes programmer libraries,
applications, a music scripting language, documentation and
programming examples. It has been used in such diverse commercial
applications as music sequencers, notation packages, computer games,
and document processors. Professors and students have used the Music
Kit in a host of areas, such as music performance, scientific
experiments, computer-aided instruction, and physical modeling of
musical instruments. The Music Kit is the first to comprehensively
unify the MIDI and Music V paradigms, thus combining interaction with
generality. It was developed by NeXT Computer, Inc. from 1986 to 1991
and has been supported since then by CCRMA at Stanford University and
developers such as Pinnacle Research, Inc. Please send Music Kit
requests to musickit@ccrma.stanford.edu. To subscribe to a Music Kit
news group, send to mkdist-request@ccrma.stanford.edu.
MUSIC KIT RELEASE 4.0--HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a partial list of highlights of the 4.0 release of the Music
Kit (also supported in release 4.1):
* Extensible, high-level object-oriented framework that is a super-set
of Music V and MIDI paradigms.
* Representation system capable of depicting phrase-level structure
such as legato transitions.
* General time management/scheduling mechanism, supporting
synchronization to MIDI time code.
* Efficient real-time synthesis and sound processing, including option
for quadraphonic sound.
* Fully-dynamic DSP resource allocation system with dynamic linking
and loading, on multiple DSPs.
* Complete support for multiple MIDI inputs and outputs.
* Digital sound I/O from the DSP port with support for serial port
devices by all popular vendors.
* Non-real time mode, where the DSP writes a sound file (NeXT hardware
only.)
* Suite of applications, including WaveEdit--a graphical waveform
editor, Ensemble--an intLibrary of unit generators for synthesis and
sound processing.
* Documentation, programming examples, utilities, including a sound
file mixer, sample rate converter, etc.
* ScoreFile, a scripting language for music.
NOTES ON INTEL-BASED HARDWARE
Care must be taken to be sure that NEXTSTEP and the sound cards are
configured properly. For information on configurations supported by
NEXTSTEP, please contact NeXT (email: NeXTanswers@next.com). Note that
the Ariel PC56D and i*link i56 use several high addresses in I/O space
to signal DSP reset and memory map configuration. Be careful that
these addresses do not conflict with other devices, PCI bus
configuration cycles, etc. For information on CCRMA-tested
configurations, send email to musickit@ccrma.stanford.edu.