CompuServe Messages

Tim, I think the CZ-101 is a good place for you to start. See if you can get it for less than $100. If not, I still think it's worth $100. It's really a great beginning synth. Again, I still kept mine. Yes the CZ will do what you want. You have to get a MIDI interface for the Amiga. The ECE MIDI interface is a good cheap one. Let me know if you need more info on interfaces. The interface allows you to connect the CZ to the Amiga and the Amiga to the CZ. Then you need sequencing software. I recommend Bars&Pipes Pro from Blue Ribbon. If you don't want to spend that much now, you can get Bars&Pipes (not the Pro version) and upgrade to Pro later. Then you put the sequencer into RECORD mode and play the CZ in real time. You can then edit your performance using the Amiga and play it back through your CZ. Actually the CZ has 8-voice polyphony. That means 8 notes can sound at once. The CZ also has 2 oscillators. You use the oscillators to create patches (sounds). However, most of the patches use 2 oscillators, so you are limited to 4 notes sounding at once. A few patches only use one oscillator, so you could play 8 notes at once if all the notes were only made up of one oscillator each. For all practical purposes though, you can consider it as a 4 voice unit. You'll want to use 2 oscillators per patch. In any event, in multi-timbral mode, you are only limited to 4 voices, regardless of the number of oscillators per patch. This means that when using the CZ with a sequencer you can assign 4 voices to play at the same time. They can be 4 different voices, but then you couldn't play chords. If you wanted to play 4 note chords using a piano sound, you'd have to assign all 4 voices to the piano. So while it is a bit limiting, I still think it's great for you to start with. What made the CZ so popular was that it was cheap, sounded good, and was programmable. That still holds true. I recommend it. *** Dom Fontana ***