CompuServe Thread

Jane, Music-X and Bars & Pipes are two good Amiga MIDI packages. There are demo's available for both of them here on CIS. (The Music-X demo is in AmigaVendor LIB 10. The Bars & Pipes demo is in LIB 7 of this forum.) Melissa Jordan Grey has indicated that the new Bars & Pipes Professional will be available soon, and that a demo version of that product will also be forthcoming. There is also an Amiga version of MasterTracks Professional, and Dr. T's KCS & Tiger Cub. My primary interest at the moment is MIDI sequencing. I find myself using Music-X mostly at the moment, because it's the best fit for what I need to accomplish right now. If I were doing composition, I'd probably use Bars & Pipes as my primary tool. I find that for me, the programs complement each other nicely. Do you know what your friend's primary application interest is for the MIDI software? There might be different recommendations for real-time sequencing than there would be for algorithmic composition, for example. A hardware MIDI interface is required. This takes the form of a device that attaches to the Amiga's internal serial port. (The Serial Solution from Checkpoint Technologies is an A2000 add-in board that supports MIDI baud rates. Some of the programs can also support a MIDI interface attached to this accesory board.) Amiga MIDI interfaces generally run between $40-$75, although there are specialized interfaces that support more MIDI jacks, and/or SMPTE time code that do cost more. There is also the A.M.A.S. unit, which attaches to both the serial and parallel ports, and does sound sampling as well as MIDI. Hope this helps, 8) David – via Whap!

Jane, For sequencing software, I would recommend Bars&Pipes Professional from the Blue Ribbon Soundworks, Ltd. You can call (404) 377-1514 for more information. You'll also need a Midi interface. I use the ECE interface, but there are others offering even more capabilities than the ECE. I hope this helps. Dom Fontana