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Re: Need IIe, IIgs MIDI software
> Mitchell Spector wrote:
>> Mitch Monger <m@m.com> wrote:
>
>>In general, the Apple II community doesn't seem as
>>fired up about making music as the Commodore folks are.
>
> there was, for a brief time, a resurgence of interest in doing
> everything possible to push the machine to its limits in
> graphics,animation and music. Some of the best things came out
> between 1992 and 1995. Then it all just seemed to stop...cold.
I went from Sinclair to Commodore to Mac, but I remember that.
There was that IIgs vs Macintosh vs Commodore vs Atari vs PC
thing. The IIgs people reminded me of the NeXT people later;
embattled religious sects. Worthy religions, mind you.
> The past decade there's been really nothing happening,
> which is disappointing when you consider there's been
> programming revivals with many of the other now "dead"
> platforms (i.e. C64, Atari ST, Atari, Amiga, even old game
> consoles).
Yes, the IIgs doesn't have the cool cachet. Apple IIs are cool
now, and the early Macs are too. I met a guy with a license plate
that says "APPLEII" and he doesn't even own one. I told him I own
an original II, but he didn't even want to talk about it. He just
said he hadn't used an Apple for 15 years and drove off. Owner of
Idaho license APPLEII - you are an asswipe!
The IIgs's are just falliing between the cracks. It was
potentially the most powerful music making machine of its era.
And of all of the vintage machines being revived for music, it
still is potentially the most powerful. There are more people
making music on the friggin' ZX Spectrum! (and some of it sounds
pretty good, too).
<clip>
> The problem is just when things started
> to get interesting for the machine (in terms of this new golden
> age of programming) everyone just suddenly abandoned the
> machine.
Pressures of the marketplace. Move on or die.
<clip>
> There weren't too many really talented music composers
> around the Apple IIgs scene either. There was the FTA, James
> Brooks, Gene Koh, and late in the game, Dreamer (Ninjaforce).
Thank you for the list. I've heard FTA so far. Superb group, but
the tonal quality was fairly SID-like:
http://ergo-sum.us/Members/cmcurtin/machinemusic/view
If every possibility of the DOC can be tapped via software, then
I don't think FTA had the software to do it. The Ensoniq ESQ-1
sounds much better.
<clip>
> If you want to have a listen how flexible the Ensoniq is:
> http://www.virtualapple.com/californiagamesgsdisk.html
Don't have ActiveX on my eMac, but I did downloaded California
Games and will run it when I get my IIgs set up. Yes, I think
games are the place to go for cutting edge music of the era. Game
programmers get into the nooks and crannys.
>>Maybe people just look at the Ensoniq synths which were
>>based on the 5503 and throw up their hands and think
>>"why bother, it's already been done."
> I suppose one reason is the 5503 was mainly geared for
> wavetable synthesis
Ah, I didn't realize this. I'm still learning. This is why the
drum sounds of the IIgs are superior to even the MIDIbox SID's.
It's because they're samples of real drums. You say mainly geared
for wavetable, but I wonder how much potential it has as a sound
generator. A combination of functions would be good. If it's
mainly a sample playing "ROMpler", that's great too. I just have
to do some hands on learning, when I get the chance.
> Mention the "IIgs" and most people think you're talking about
> something from the Macintosh II line or a faster version of the
> Apple IIe they used in school. Or worse, most people just never
> heard of it at all.
Reminds me of when I sold a small mountain of NeXT computers on
eBay. If someone I knew wanted to know what I was selling, I had
to launch into a computer history lecture, "There was this guy
who had a NeXT Cube named Tim Berners Lee, and he made a
networking program with it called www.app." A computer can
completely alter the courses of the lives of every human being,
but be almost completely unknown. People's priorities are
screwed. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Brittany Spears really is more
important.
> How many music remixes were done for the Apple II or IIgs?
> Unfortunately the answer is: Zero.
Geez Louise! That's nothing but tragic. When I get my setup set
up, I won't do remixes, but mixes, which are even better still.
I've only just begun to get serious about making music. Can't
wait to mix Polysons with RT.Synth! Yeayah! It would have taken
me forever to uncover the info that's in this thread. Muchos
gracias, seniors.
-Mitch Monger AKA ExiMod
http://www.motiograph.com/eximod/intentional_robot.mp3
http://www.motiograph.com/eximod/macpippi.mp3