#One Stop Music Shop
23 messages in this thread
I'm considering purchasing Blue Ribbon Soundworks 'One Stop Music Shop'
and wondered if anyone here has it and would comment?
Number of voices? Do you have to double up tracks/voices to get a decent
sound? Can you edit you own samples? (I gather it is NOT a sampler in
any way, nor are the samples stored on disk, but rather in a hugh ROM?)
Does that mean you will only have the supplied 200+ sounds forever &
ever?
General overview? For $575 I want to be sure what I'm getting! Thanks.
John-
I don't have the OSMS board, but I do have an Emu Proteus I, whose "guts"
are virtually the same. (I say "virtually" because I'm not 100% positive if
*every* waveform in ROM is identical.) You will get *great* sound and
extremely flexible manipulation of the digitized waveforms provided (which
are all you're "stuck with"), without cutting down on your polyphony. (Some
of the great sounds do use two "voices," though.) If I didn't already have
a Proteus I I'd probably be looking at OSMS with great interest.
You are correct in distinguishing the OSMS from boards like the Sunrize
offerings, though. The latter are true digitizers (record and playback
digital sounds, optionally digitally edited), while the OSMS is more aptly
described as a "sample playback" system. The thing about digitizers is that
they don't make *any* sounds until you supply some, and digitizing is quite
an art form. Sample playback devices come with a stock set of sounds, which
can be manipulated quite a bit with flexible architecture such as the
Proteus/OSMS has. One of the things that makes Emu what it is as a company
is the quality of their samples- Kurzweil are the only company which
compares to them in that regard.
So, your choice is obvious: get one of each! (^_^)
Good luck-
Bob
– (!) –
Bob, appreciate your response. Do you know if the sounds provided with
the Emu Proteus are exactly the same as on this board? (I doubt if you
know, but maybe someone else does…)
Of the sounds provided, how many are 'useful' sounds, versus 'fun' sounds.
Frankly, I want LOTS of great sounding orchestral and chamber
instruments, simulations of some classic 'synth' sounds, etc. Not
particularly interested in 'Tango rock guitar', 'wind chime bells', etc.
I guess I didn't mean 'stuck with' for the sounds. It just seems odd to
me that Blue Ribbon didn't build in the capability of loading 'new' sounds
into the board from disk. Does the Emu Proteus only use ove set of ROM
based sounds, or can you go out and purchase other sounds on ROM or disk?
I hope that Melissa also sees this, so she can respond to some of the more
technical capabilities of her board, such as #voices, max # of simultaneus
voices, editing/mixing capabilities, MIDI capabilities (in/out/through?),
how it interfaces with B&P; maybe even upload a list of the sounds it
contains, and whether they are 1 or 2 voice instruments? What is the
multimedia (IBM spec) compatibility?
Thanks again. –jp–seattle–
John-
You're right, Blue Ribbon will be the best to respond as to specific ROM
sounds; my understanding, though, is that they pretty much parallel those
in the Proteus 1 (pop), rather than the 2 (orchestral) or 3 (world). If
you're primarily interested in orchestral, I'd go for an outboard Proteus 2
(unless someone with more specific knowledge indicates that the OSMS has
more of an orchestral slant, which I doubt). And no, it's not possible to
purchased additional sounds on disk; some expansion of a Proteus is
possible by adding a ROM module, but it must be one of the existing Proteus
blocks. I don't know if this is possible with the OSMS; if it is, and you'd
be satisfied with *some* orchestral sounds mixed in with the pop stuff,
OSMS might still be a good solution for you.
The marketing issue of selecting the Emu chipset rather than a
digitizer-based board, as well as the technical obstacles to enhancing a
ROM-based sample player to handle additional (presumably RAM-based) samples
are also best answered by Blue Ribbon and/or Emu, IMHO.
Bob
– (!) –
Bob,
The OSMS has many samples that are different from the Proteus/1, so if
you have the /1, you don't have to rule out the OSMS.
Dom Fontana
<– Sent from New York via AutoPilot –>
Hah! Shoulda read through all replies before answering! Dom, if you have a
list of samples, I imagine a number of folks (myself included) would be
grateful for same. Perhaps you also know about the ROM-block expandability?
Bob
– (!) –
Bob,
I don't have a list of samples but I know that it's not the exact same
samples as the Proteus/1. I'll ask Melissa if she can post a list. It's
possible that new ROMs might be available, but it's not certain.
Dom Fontana
<– Sent from New York via AutoPilot –>
Thanks!
Bob
– (!) –
Melissa, would you be able to upload a text file (or message) that listed
the instruments included? I am real interested in seeing if the
instrument mix is what I am interested in.
Another question or two on OSMS: When the Amiga is powered up and the
card is just sitting there, does it respond to MIDI in messages just like
an external sequencer does? Or does all control of it have to come via
B&P, etc? (ie. could I use an external keyboard controller to control the
OSMS directly, just like it was an external MIDI synth?)
Does your multimedia controller have any control of real-time animations
playing on the amiga? ie. can I take an ANIM-5 animation, and tell B&P to
start this song at frame #, and this other song on frame#, etc?
What advantages do you expect your Multimedia PC compatibility to have for
Amiga owners? Will you be file compatible with 'official' standard
Multimedia PC machines (ie. clones). Any other benefits you can mention?
I'd really like to see you do a conference here on CIS soon. (or have I
missed one lately?) There's a lot to discuss…. new B&P, OSMS, etc…
thanks –jp–seattle–
Dear John,
I'll upload a Patch List as soon as I can.
You can use the One-Stop Music Shop without using Bars&Pipes Professional,
by either:
– using the included LoopBack software, which allows you to drive the card
via its MIDI interface, or
– using the ARexx-controllable MIDI file player, also included.
Bars&Pipes Professional's Media Madness does perform ANIM files via our new
ANIMal Tool.
Melissa
Melissa, thanks, I'd appreciate a look at the patch list.
You didn't address the Multimedia PC compatibility/usefullness issue. I'm
aware of what the standards (such as they are) are in the PC world; was
curious what you had implemented, or what it would do for me on the amiga?
thanks… –jp–seattle-
Hi there Just got your the OSMS board and with the first trial run it seems
to have a lot of potential….I have a Proteus XR with the 4 meg upgrade
for 8 meg of sounds and I can tell you many of the sounds are different…I
have the computer in my house for the moment so I cant do an A B test but
seems like the fidelity is a tad shy of the Proteus…I could be wrong but
I will check it out when I transport the system out to my studio…the
other thing which may have made me conclude this is the …that I used the
computer keyboard to sequence stuff…not the best way by any means…so I
admit my test was rough and dirty…also I tried to use it with Music X and
all I got was lockups…I did use the loop back utility, starting it up
before Music X. Any ideas to get it working…also have you tried this
setup with amax II +, Ill try that tonite….. Also what do you mean by
this PC compat. ?? and what are the benefits? Are you suggesting that I can
use this with the Bridgeboard as well ?? BY the way GREAT JOB !!! now if
you can get companys to make games access the board we'll really be rockin.
thanks and sorry for the spelling erroooooors etc… DA
Dear Don,
Thank you for your observations on the One-Stop Music Shop. You'll be
pleased to hear that we've completely writeen the LoopBock software. I've
uploaded to the MIDI library in the Forum.
Melissa
Thanks, I tried to look for it but could not find it…is it called
loopback and which number Library once inside the Midi Library? Da Can you
tell me more about the PC compatibility stuff..does it mean it will act as
a soundboard for cdrom and games? DA
Don,
It takes a couple of days sometimes for us to check out the file and
approve it for release. Watch the Library News section. We'll announce it
as soon as it's publicly available.
Thanks for understanding,
David
Don,
After files are uploaded, the Sysops have to try them and approve them
before they are merged with the exisiting files. So even though Melissa
uploaded the new LoopBack Tool, it won't be available until it's approved
by the Sysops.
Dom Fontana
<– Sent from New York via AutoPilot –>
No problem …Im having problems downloading at the moment not sure why but
I keep getting cant find file/device so will have to figure out that first.
thanks DA
And one thing slowing up release of files this week is that five of the
sysops are in Orlando for DevCon. We can get online and read messages with
laptops, but we cannot download and check software until we get home again.
That makes it pretty hard on the few who are at home this week.
Betty
Betty,
I hope you are enjoying DevCon. I hope you'll tell us about it upon
your return.
Have fun.
Dom Fontana
<– Sent from New York via AutoPilot –>
DonovaN, If I get the OSMS I will post here an impression of it. It
sounds like it may not fit my needs however, since the patches don't sound
classical music oriented. Frankly, I don't need (or want) dozens of
rock/jazz/blues guitar instruments, funk brass, etc…. I want (and need)
a dozen flutes, oboes, violas, cellos, timpani, etc.. 🙂
I say this w/o reading the text file that Melissa has just uploaded that
lists all the patches. Maybe I'm in error about the instrument mix.
ttfn –jp–seattle–
John,
You sent your message for Donovan to me by mistake. 😎
Dom Fontana
<– Sent from New York via AutoPilot –>
DonovaN, If I get the OSMS I will post here an impression of it. It
sounds like it may not fit my needs however, since the patches don't sound
classical music oriented. Frankly, I don't need (or want) dozens of
rock/jazz/blues guitar instruments, funk brass, etc…. I want (and need)
a dozen flutes, oboes, violas, cellos, timpani, etc.. 🙂
I say this w/o reading the text file that Melissa has just uploaded that
lists all the patches. Maybe I'm in error about the instrument mix.
ttfn –jp–seattle–
First of all, the One-Stop Music Shop sounds increadible! It supplies
16-bit digital, 32-voice multitimbral stereo audio, an extra MIDI
interface, extensive editing software, a LoopBoack program, SuperJAM! and
Bars&Pipes Pro hooks and more!
You do not need to double up anything to get increadible audio.
You cannot record your own sunds, however you can edit the existing sounds
and build your own from the base samples provided in ROM. You can alter
the envelope, change the LFOs, mix several voices, chorus things….
I wouldn't be surprised if one day we supply a ROM upgrade to increase the
number of sounds.
Currently, we're selling them faster than we can make them!
Melissa