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- The Book of MIDI, an interactive HyperCard|Opcode
-
- Contact:
- Kord Taylor
- Opcode Systems, Inc.
- 3641 Haven Drive, Suite A
- Menlo Park, CA 94025-1010
- tele: (415) 369-8131 ext 211
- FAX (415) 369-1747
- AppleLink OPCODE
-
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
-
- OPCODE RELEASES THE BOOK OF MIDI INTERACTIVE HYPERCARD STACK FOR LEARNING ABOUT
- MIDI
-
- MENLO PARK, CA February 22, 1991 — Opcode Systems, Inc. has released The Book
- of MIDI, an interactive HyperCard stack that teaches the user about MIDI
- (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), music, computers, and synthesizers.
- MIDI is the standard communication protocol between synthesizers, computers,
- and a variety of other electronic instruments and processors.
-
- MIDI was first proposed by Dave Smith (founder of an early synthesizer
- manufacturer, Sequential Circuits) at an AES Conference in the early 1980s. By
- 1984, a group of manufacturers had developed MIDI as a standard. MIDI’s
- prominence in the world of electronic music and now in the multimedia arena has
- prompted Opcode to provide an interactive environment for people to learn about
- it. The Book of MIDI is suitable for all levels of MIDI users, as it provides
- an in-depth overview of all aspects of MIDI. Because it requires no MIDI
- hardware, The Book of MIDI promises to expose MIDI to a wide range of
- computer-users.
-
- The Book of MIDI provides an interactive approach to learning, allowing the
- user to learn by watching, listening, and playing. It lets the user hear
- digitized samples of synthesizer sounds and can emulate the functions of
- Opcode’s EZ Vision sequencer using animation. In addition to numerous animated
- movies, The Book of MIDI contains the MIDI Game and several interactive MIDI
- experiments which let the user learn by experience, not just by reading.
-
- Chapters in The Book of MIDI include:
-
- >What is MIDI?
- Includes frequently asked questions about MIDI and electronic music,
- definitions, and the history of MIDI
- >Setting up a Studio
- An in-depth, step by step tour of setting up a MIDI based studio, from basic
- to complex
- >MIDI Hardware
- Covers classic synthesizers and all modern hardware. Includes digitized
- sounds of synthesizers
- >MIDI Software
- Covers sequencers, editor/librarians, multimedia and other music-related
- software
- >The MIDI Specification
- Fully re-written for easier reading and understanding
- >The MIDI Game
- Challenging interactive game to test one’s knowledge of MIDI, computers, and
- music
-
- Throughout each chapter are key words which are highlighted for easy
- cross-referencing. The user simply clicks on the key word and is then shown
- the term’s definition or is taken directly to the portion of the Book of MIDI
- that relates to that term. In addition, a list of books and reference articles
- is available on many subjects. A detailed glossary is included covering
- hundreds of terms and concepts.
-
- The Book of MIDI carries a suggested retail price of $39.95. The complete
- package comes with 3 disks to be installed on a hard drive. A fourth disk of
- digitized sounds is sent free to owners who return their registration cards.
- Options are also available for those without available hard disk space or
- memory for the digitized sounds or animations. The sounds work on all machines
- but the animations require 2 Megs of available RAM. The basic system will run
- on a Mac Plus or above with HyperCard 1.2.5 and above.
-
- NAME: The Book of MIDI
- COMPUTER: Macintosh Plus and above
- MINIMUM RAM: 1 Megabyte (2 Megs for animations)
- REQUIRES: Hard Disk, HyperCard 1.2.5 and above (No MIDI Hardware Required)
- PRICE: $39.95
-
- Opcode Systems, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of professional music software
- and hardware for the Apple Macintosh computer.
-
- REVIEW COPIES OF The Book of MIDI ARE AVAILABLE
- ============================================================================
- This information is provided to the Developers Services group at Apple Computer
- by the product's developer. Apple cannot warrent any third party's product.
- Please consult the Apple Products Library or MENU/Software Library on
- AppleLink, or contact the individual company for further information.
- ============================================================================
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