Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    *If* I had a PC that would interface to my MIDI gear (the closest thing
    I have is a 256K Rainbow) I'd write my own patch editor in a heartbeat.
    
    Given some of the work I've done with Yamaha's sys-ex it just doesn't
    look like it would be all that hard. Of course, some people actually
    prefer to *play* their synths...
    
    Edd

    
    What about this new Dr. T generic, "X-Or"?  They support a lot of brands
    out of the box and you can roll your own or get updates for new
    machines.  They even support oddballs like the Sequential MAX according
    to the ads.
    
    							Brian

    Hi,
         I am using Steinbergs Proteus editor, and I can strongly recommend
    it. I think it also supports the XR, and one of its most attractive
    features is that it opens up the Proteus graphically, the idea being
    that edits are made with "patch cords" between each internal functional
    module block. There is also an extremely powerfull patch librarian
    facilty, and an on-board sequencer which can import SMF format songs
    and it also has an on-board software keyboard.
    There are patch creation facilities which will generate variations on a
    given set of parameters or purely random, and the randomisation feature
    can be programmed as well.
    The Quadratic Mix feature allows quantitative mixing of four different
    voices, not unlike mixing paints in a paintbox, and also included is a
    full mixing desk for trying out patches with songs from the on-board
    sequencer. 
    The editor is extremely powerfull in that it presents the complete
    internal layout of the Proteus on the Atari screen, and as an aid to
    inspiration and creative breaks from programming in which one may rest
    the eyes for a little, you can click on Brain Cooler from the desktop.
     There is a slide-show Demo Disk of the Steinberg Proteus editor, and
    it is about 1 Meg. in size. I have checked with Steinberg and they say
    it is O.K. to distribute it, but archiving is difficult due to the bulk
    of the program. I will try it again using an extended format disk and
    try to upload it.
    Very Best Regards
    Brian

One nice thing about Steinberg is that because they are dongle-based, they allow
you to copy from friends or enemies the updates to the program.  It saves you
a few bucks now and then when there is an update.

Chad

    What's "dongle-based"? Sounds like my high school raison d'etre...
    
    Edd

    "Dongle" is slang for keys, plugs, etc. that you have to insert in I/O
    ports of your computer for the SW to run.  That way, the SW isn't copy
    protected, but if you get a bootleg copy you still need the HW dongle
    to run it.
    
    							Brian

    Thanks, Brian (Robson ... and Rost for the clarification - honestly,
    Eddrick!).
    
    Any SWAGs on an editor for the MKS?  Please?
    
+b

    re .1 - a nit:
    
    The MKS-70 is a rackmount SuperJX (JX-10).
    
    The rackmount Super Jupiter is the MKS-80
    
    len.

    I knew that - write it off to bit rot.  I don't think you can even edit
    a Jupiter from a computer, can you?  I didn't think it implemented
    SYSEX to that degree.
    
+b (the chagrined)

    Yes, you can send individual parameter modification SysEx messages to
    an MKS-80.  It has quite a sophisticated SysEx implementation for its
    time.  It's no great shakes with respect to multitimbrality and all
    that by modern standards, but a computer based librarian/patch editor
    would be straightforward, and I have heard of several proposals to
    write one, but there aren't enough MKS-80s out there (with enough
    owners with the same computer) to make it a commercially viable effort;
    perhaps as a labor of love.  I just copied my MKS-80 manual for someone
    who picked one up used and proposed writing an Amiga-based editor/
    librarian.
    
    len.
    

    Well, while we're down the rathole, I was on the phone a few nights ago
    with a Kurzweil dealer in Indiana who claims that OpCode is just about
    to release an editor for the Kurzweil 1000 series synths!
    
    I don't know if they ever did one for the Jupiter or JX.
    
    An aside - it's not that using the front panel on the Proteus or the
    MKS70 is so bad ... it's just that rolling back & forth thru menus uis
    time consuming.  It's also bloody inconvenient if your unit happens to
    be rack mounted and on the bottom of the rack - have to stand on your
    head to program.
    
    So when are you selling your Jupiters, Len?  ;-}
    
+b

    My Jupiters will be willed to some deserving party.  I do not expect to
    part with them in my lifetime.
    
    There *is* a programmer for the JX-10 which I assume works for the
    MKS-70 - it's the PG-800.  It *considerably* simplifies programming the
    beast, though it only provides access to "tone" parameters, not patch
    parameters (for you non-Rolandians, a tone is a two-oscillator basic
    sound, a patch is one or two tones plus some other stuff (e.g., split
    information)).
    
    len.
     

    I thought about that - but the only ones I've seen were over $400!!!
    I'll twist knobs for years before I drop that kind of change.
    
    The "patch" thing is where the SuperJX really shines, IMO ... I'm
    surprised that the PG800 doesn't have that portion on board (unless it
    was designed for the JX8 and not the JX10).
    
+b

    > My Jupitors will be willed to some deserving party.
    
    Yo, ol' buddy len!! Who deserves a party more than me??
    
    Edd

    Yep, the PG-800 was designed for the JX-8P, and as such only handles one
    tone at a time; a JX-10 is two JX-8Ps in the same box, with the patch
    machinery added to coordinate the two sections.  Hence also the "8"
    in PG-800 (the programmer for the D-50/550 is the PG-1000, to further
    confuse things).
    
    PG-800s went for $400 *new*, so you ought to be able to find one used
    for considerably less. After all, the JX-8P and JX-10 are obsolete
    synths.
    
    len.
     

    
    To what extend is the architecture of a MKS 50 simmilar to the MKS 70?
    
    I've got a MKS 50 editor........forgot the name though.
    
    

    The various MKS-nn units have nothing in common but their MKS prefix.
    
    E.g., the MKS-20 is the sampled piano unit.
              MKS-30 is an alpha juno in a box
              MKS-50 is ???
              MKS-70 is a JX-10 in a box
              MKS-80 is a JP-8 in a box
    
    I think there's an MKS-10 ("Planet-P"?).
    
    Anybody got any Roland marketing hype handy?
    
    
    len.
    

    The MKS-30 is a JX3-P in a box. It's also known as the "Planet S".
    
    Edd

    Wasn't the MKS-50 an S-10 in a box (sampler with QD)?
    
    Steve

    Nope - MKS-100, and later the MKS-220 (upgraded).
    
+b

The MKS-50 is a rack mount Alpha Juno (I or II?  I can't remember which
is velocity sensitive.  The MKS-50 is.)

The MKS-30 is a rack mount non-Alpha Juno, like a Juno-106, I think. 
Older, but probably better, since the Alphas only have 1 oscillator per
voice to the Juno's two.

Steph

    Again, the MKS-30 is a JX3-P in a box. I've got one in my rack. It
    replaced a JX3-P....
    
    It uses 2 DCOs.
    
    Edd