Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    This came at at LERDS-BIM one night...
    
    My idea was to mark 2 points in your sequence, OP_LOOP_START and
    OP_LOOP_END, OP standing for optional. At any point in the song
    you could 'hit the switch' (footswitch, sys-ex, whatever) if you
    wanted. If the OP_LOOP bit was set the sequence would play to
    OP_LOOP_END and then (you guessed it), loop back to OP_LOOP_START.
    As long as the bit was set, sequence loops between the 2 points.
    Once the bit was cleared, it plays through to OP_LOOP_END and then
    continues.
    
    Of course multiple loop points would be supported.
    
    This would allow you to vary the length of a song in realtime.
    
    Edd

	Just an aside...

	So what's required for one to become a bona fide initial?

    re .2 - conscientious attendance for an extended period of time.
    When we're good and ready, we'll consider adding your initial.
    
    re .0 - the MC500 sequencing software doesn't support the feature
    you want, but the MC500 is not likely to rapidly obsolesce, as it's
    basically a dedicated computer and all its functionality is derived
    from software booted from a disk.  There are already 3 different
    disks available for it - the sequencer software, a performance software
    disk (more on-disk capacity, more performance oriented features;
    maybe this supports the feature you want) and a patch librarian.
    There's also a library of drum patterns available (not really
    "software").  
    
    len.
    
                            

    
    gee....I remember seeing this 1-man-keys-and-sing-and-everything
    group in sanfrancisco and he had a 'vintage' drum machine that
    did just what you want (except control other things besides drums)
    with a footswitch. He looped for a while and hit it again to go
    on.
    
    Always wanted the same meself....I think theres a (convoluted)
    way to get the QX5 to do it, maybe, I think....give me a while.
    Can we assume that you want like EITHER 8 bars (short) or 
    some other number (like 32 or ???) known BEFORE you enter the
    "loop"? 

    hiya jens.. 
    
    OPCODE MidiMAC (or is it MIDImac?) can do what you describe.
    
    There are 26 letters in the 'decision' window onscreen. This decision
    window is all that comes up when in pure playback mode. Each letter
    can represent a section of a piece, or, indeed, an entire piece. 
    Each subsequence thus identified can contain multiple tracks,
    some looped internally, on multiple MIDI channels. 
    
    More to your point, an entire subsequence can be set to loop
    indefinitely, or until you select another letter... just by typing
    the letter, no elaborate mouse gyrations or keying required.
    
    karl

    Well, I want to have the main song marked in such away that I can
    shorten it to a known stopping point, ie skip a verse or break,
    or lengthen it by another verse or break, all keeping the end of
    the song consistant. The problem is that what I want to change
    is somewhere in the middle of a song, and not the beginning or
    end. I currently use an older style drum machine (TR-606) & I really
    like the ability to swap between the measures as needed. I hit
    lots of buttons while I play my guitar. This arrange ment allows
    the Keyboard player & myself to play a song in any manner that we
    want. If you want to add a few verses, or end sooner, it's really
    no problem. Currently, I haul around my Teac Portastudio & on it
    I have pre-recorded songs (drum parts, Bass, extra synths & vocal
    harmonies) that we also follow. The 2 major probelms encountered
    with the portastudio is that I can't change tempo as needed, and
    I can't change the length of the song. I want the Macintosh to
    correct for this limitation (everything but the additional vocals).
    I suspect I'll get a Roland MT-32 to be driven from the Mac (I'm
    not really a keyboard player, so, I don't want anymore keys to fool
    around with - I plan to use my CZ-101 for keyboard entry & I'll
    twiddle with the music information on the Mac). The ability to sound
    like more than 2 people is significant to maintaining my earnings.
    I should be able to have the Mac & MT-32 pay for itself in 6 to
    8 months. Anyway, when there are humans playing all of the parts,
    at the same time (like a 4 piece band), you can adjust the dynamics
    and needs of the music whenever necessary, I want similar control
    when I run the sequencer. I don't, however, want to play in a 4
    piece band. Singles & Duo's can make quite a bit more money, provided
    that they play to the audience, & keep the manager happy. 
    
    Somehow I've yet to see a sequencer that gets beyond the ability
    to dynamically change the tempo of a song. No matter what, I'm
    still stuck with the full song as recorded, just like the portastudio.
    
    Just as a side note, I haul lots of equipment around with me (lighting
    system, pa system, guitars (usually 2), Twin Reverb (& spare tubes),
    Portastudio, 19" rack, guitar stomp boxes, CZ-101 (it fits very
    nicely on my portastudio stand - I welded this together to fit
    perfectly), my drum machine (it sits on a specially modified microphone
    stand - again, I welded this together to match everything). in the
    past 4 years, I've never had a serious problem with any of my gear.
    Aside of the usual cable repairs & bad tubes in the Twin Reverb,
    all of this stuff has travelled well. I've seen other groups traveling
    thru Colorado Springs who have a Macintosh & none have had any hard
    failures of their systems. For those of you who have all of this
    slick stuff at home & are afraid to move it around, you might want
    to think about how to use your equipment more effectively. I won't
    buy anything that I can't use in both a live as well as recorded
    performance. It helps, of course, to build cases that can be kicked
    down a flight of stairs & not damage the contents - I experianced
    this episode once in Chicago & didn't care for the damage it did
    to the PA column.
    
    							Jens
     
    

    Have any of you seen Paul Dresher? He's a performance-artist type
    guitar_and_keyboard_player with an interactive tape delay system.
    
    Basically, he's got a 4 track tape that has several record/playback
    heads spaced along the delay loop. He controls this in real time
    to get repeating phrases and cross-fades and all kinds of indescribable
    goodies (listen to "Dark Blue Circumstance" or "Liquid and Stellar
    Music").
    
    It seems to me that you'd like to do something similar except with
    prerecorded MIDI sequences...
    				- HBM
    

    I heard of Paul Dresher in spring 83.  In december 82, he and I
    were
    accidentally writing the same music.
    He likes long delay echos, like 20 seconds.
    Tom

    Yes, It's amazing what you can do with some of this older non-midi
    stuff. I seen lots of laid back stuff being done using tape decks
    (actually very highly paid also) by single acts in the major hotel
    lounges in town & at places that I've visited in the last year (I've
    traveled a lot). The biggest problem with using the portastudio
    is that it's pretty temperature sensative when it comes to tape
    speed. it either speeds usp or slows down if I can't protect it
    from breezes (It does get somewhat chilly here in Colorado at times).
    However, I think that the software for MIDI applications will have
    to take a drastic new direction, as it starts showing up in live
    situations more and more. I saw the recent note about the MC500
    being down-graded to an MC300 & wierd noises being made about it's
    obsolecene. This really has me worried. I can afford to buy pretty
    much what I need (I get tax breaks), but, at the same time, I'm
    used to keeping things very simple & not buying things that I 
    don't really need. The possibilities with a PC are quite good,
    and even tho I'm a Hacker at heart (love that C & LISP code), I
    don't want to have to write anything that I don't have to. I do
    have 9 guitars, But, then I rarely ever sell any musical toy that
    I buy (Still have my '64 Gibson SG - I bought it brand new after
    being enchanted by the Beatles).  
    
    I Looked into using a sequencer as a PLAY ONLY type of option, but,
    then I started thinking about what I would use it for. 
    
    Out of curiosity, How many of you play a lot of LIVE music & what
    do you do to deal with the audience, relative to MIDI activity (like
    Speed up / Slow down / Screw ups / Missed Cues / Starting the Wrong
    Song) I carry over 100 songs in tape format for the portastudio,
    but we use it for less than 20% of act. If I went with a real time
    MIDI system, I suspect that it would increase to over 50%. How about
    the rest of you?
    
    							Jens

    My next concert will include pieces that have part of the orchestration
    held in Emax sequences, originally downloaded from the Mac.
    
    Jens, I wish you'd reread my reply on the OPCODE sequencer for the
    Mac. The 'subsequences' can hold small pieces of a tune, can be
    set to loop, will switch in real time when you press a new letter
    representing another subsequence. Sounds just like what you're seeking.
    
    karl

    I liked your input Karl. If you look at the times of entry, you'll
    see mine is a few seconds (or a minute) later than yours. We were
    entering at roughly the same time. I'll check out the OPCODE
    items in the very near future. I think that there is some real
    potential for Live use of computers & that it doesn't have to sound
    mechanical, or everything has to be too sanitized. I ordered both
    COMMUSIC III & IV last week, to hear what type of stuff everyone
    else is doing. Do any of these tunes ever get played outside of
    the COMMUSIC tapes? I do some originals when I play live, but not
    all too many.
    							Jens

    re .9 - the MC500 is not being "downgraded" to the MC300.  It is
    being upgraded to the MC500 Mark II which will have 4 times the onboard
    storage.  The MC300 is a new product.  MC500s will not be obsoleted.
    You can get your MC500 upgraded to a Mark II for about $400.   Will
    Apple do the same for your old Mac?
    
    len.
    

    I'm back again with more questions for those of you who use MAC's.
    
    I want to be able to (real time, of course) be able to translate
    one MIDI channel to another & also transpose a few notes on one
    of the MIDI channels, while the onboard software is playing back
    a song. Why would a sane (well maybe not quite sane) person want
    to do this? Here is why:
    
    I have an MT-32. I got Midi Ports 2 thru 10 predefined & I want
    to leave them that way. My keyboard player recently bought a
    Yamaha SHS-10 Midi strap on keyboard (has Casio CZ-101 sized
    keys, but for $150.00....). It has an auto Bass follow function,
    as well as built in drums. Both actually sound quite reasonable
    considering what they are (DX-100 on a stick!). The Bass follow
    ends up on MIDI channel 13 (no big deal, but, I'd like to switch
    it to any channel between 2 and 8 - the the MT-32 can play the
    Bass patterns, as well as the SHS-10) - so far my CASIO CZ-101 is
    being used for this. The drum pattern comes out on channel 16 &
    I would like to use the MT-32's drums, as well as the SHS-10's.
    This would require a MIDI channel swap from 16 to 10, and would
    require that I transpose the 4 MIDI notes (Bass Drum, Snare, Etc.)
    to match what the MT-32 is set up for. Does anything like this exist,
    or do I get to write my own code?
    
    We are currently using the SHS-10 for our LIVE work on only 4 songs,
    but, it's so much fun for the keyboard player, we are planning to
    work it in on at least 5 or 6 more. Needless to say, I want to be
    able to sync on all of this, LIVE and in real-time.
    
    The Duo I'm in is: Me (guitars & some keyboards) & a Keyboard player,
    (Hammond M3, Assorted non-MIDI equipment & the SHS-10). We also
    are using a Roland TR-606 & a Portastudio. I've already figured
    out where the MAC is going to sit.
    
    				     		Jens