From erkamp@titan (Bob Erkamp) Mon May 17 14:28:29 1993 Newsgroups: bit.listserv.emusic-l Subject: Atari Artist...Why the Atari might be the workstation for you? Message-ID: <1993May14.105920.439@janus.arc.ab.ca> From: erkamp@titan.arc.ab.ca (Bob Erkamp) Date: 14 May 93 10:59:20 MDT Reply-To: erkamp@titan.arc.ab.ca Organization: Alberta Research Council Nntp-Posting-Host: titan.arc.ab.ca Lines: 829 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 2 - Issue 6 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 20 March 1993 :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: [non-music stuff deleted] ||| Atari Artist ............... Falcon030s at the Frankfurt Musik Messe ||| By: Peter Donoso & Fadi Hayek / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- And now, introducing.... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [ ATARI ARTIST ]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Preface Back in January of '92 Atari Explorer magazine gave birth to a one-time publication, Atari Artist, which had its official premier at the annual NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, CA. Produced under the auspices of Atari Explorer's then-editor and publisher John Jainschigg and myself, the concept was the original brainchild of James Grunke, Director of Atari Music. Nested between one of Explorer's most popular covers to date (featuring Starr Parodi and Jeff Fair from the Arsenio Hall show), Atari Artist was designed as a pull-out for distribution in music stores and shows. The magazine featured an in-depth survey covering MIDI and music related software and hardware product by third party developers for the complete line of Atari ST/STe/TT030 computers. Acting as both an informative reference guide and showcase for Ataris as a serious computer, the issue also included profiles and interviews with some of the biggest and most creative names in the music industry today. There was some brief talk about the magazine possibly continuing on a quarterly basis. It was thought the publication could function both as an artistic computer chronicle, engaging the reader's eye with a myriad of art forms which all shared a common inspirational tool, namely the integration of computers as an essential element in the creative process, and as an attractive vehicle for showcasing what Atari computers could do. Having covered music, other issues could concentrate on desktop publishing, graphic illustration/animation and setting up an office or small business at home. Ultimately it was decided that the cost in time and manpower in order to establish a second publication and do it the justice it deserved was not feasible. Atari Artist - the magazine - will remain strictly as a one-time publication, and there are no plans to pursue its further production. We did, however, develop somewhat of a fondness for both the name and the concept, hence the use of its name for this column, which we hope will appear within the pages of Atari Explorer Online on a regular basis. Bob Brodie, Atari's Director Of Communications, has welcomed the notion of having a column devoted to the aspects of integrating an Atari computer within the creative process, and we feel excited about being a regular contributor. Thanks Bob, for the warm welcome and support, and for affording us the opportunity to be a part of what we feel is the best on-line mag anywhere! Lacking the impact of a direct, integrated marriage of visual graphics set within the body of varying-styled type, we'll endeavor, with the kind assistance of your collective imaginations, to conjure form, shadow, color and texture from a palette of evocative and colorful descriptives. Where possible, we'll also be offering companion screen shots of artwork and programs, as well as animations, midi sequences and soundfiles to accompany products or mini-reviews, which you can download to enhance your further understanding of what's discussed. Along the way, we'll hopefully manage to avoid the pitfalls of insipid poetic pretense, tepid meandering diatribes and otherwise try to restrain our pontifications to a dull roar. Simply put - you're in for a good time! Though its final format and content may undergo some changes here and there to better serve you as we go, we initially see our regular column cycling its focus alternately between music and another selection from among a rotating variety of other artistic-related subjects. This will be presented in a mixture of news and mini-reviews of hardware and software products, along with excerpts from interviews with artists, both famous and undiscovered (could be you!), who are doing all kinds of interesting things with their Ataris. We'll keep you posted on the latest computer developments that will affect both the aspiring artist and the weekend dabbler, as well as report on the "cutting edge" of new and exciting technology that will soon be available for your own machine. Round this out with tips and suggestions for using your Atari computer to enrich, inspire and otherwise delight your sensibilities, and you have some idea of what's in store for you in future columns. Along with coverage on a host of both present and soon-to-be-released applications for Atari's Falcon 030, we'll also endeavor to keep TT/STe/ST users abreast of their favorite computer in regards to its capabilities and compatibilities with both existing and new hardware/software releases and updates. We do feel it's our solemn responsibility at this point to issue a word of caution, however. Continued exposure to Atari Artist may ultimately put into play a powerful sequence of events in your own life, resulting in mounting uncontrolled desire. If you soon find yourself on your knees, desperately trying to convince your wife, husband, domestic partner or significant other that, "Yes - you really do need this second (or third, or fourth,) computer in order to truly satisfy your otherwise insatiable appetite for midnight, carnal bytes and bits, and no dear, it's not yet another pet bird, it's a monster 68030 with truly awesome multi-media capabilities!"...well, don't say we didn't warn you! Peter Donoso & Fadi Hayek -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - -=-=-=- [ M U S I C N E W S ] -=-=-=- - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ! ! ! EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA! ! ! In what is probably the biggest news to hit the Atari market since Atari first announced production of its Falcon 030, Steinberg has released CUBASE AUDIO for the Falcon in not one but, TWO versions. Making its debut at the recent Musik Messe, held this past weekend in Frankfurt, Germany, the program was demonstrated utilizing Yamaha's impressive CBX-D5 4 track hard disk digital recorder to handle the digital audio processing portion of the program - which now becomes seemlessly integrated with the program's 60 tracks of MIDI sequencing, as well as all the other features of Cubase. All digital recordings are treated as parts, enabling them to be cut, pasted, copied and repositioned effortlessly, with no loss of quality. In what was a stunning piece of news however, Steinberg also released another version of CUBASE AUDIO, which offers 8 channels of digital audio recording on an Atari Falcon 030 WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL HARDWARE other than an external SCSI hard disk! The program will be able to handle digital audio three ways: hard disk recording, RAM recording and Sample recording. With a maximum of 14 megs installed in the Falcon, you'll be able to access four channels of digital audio from hard disk and four from RAM. In addition, Sample Playback will allow a sample loop to be assigned to a portion of RAM memory and triggered by CUBASE AUDIO as many times as you want. This is great for drum loops, horn (or other) hits, and short vocal samples. Another great aspect of the program is its ability to take full advantage of the Falcon030's built-in DSP chip to add reverb, chorusing and digital delay to your digital sound tracks as well! Steinberg is cautious about having this second, alternate version being perceived by the consumer as capable of yielding the same quality of results as CUBASE AUDIO when paired with Yamaha's CBX-D5. Although the Falcon030 is certainly an impressive and formidable tool for enabling the average home recording to incorporate digital audio recording at an amazingly reasonable price, the version of CUBASE AUDIO which is intended to work with the CBX-D5 has additional features which place it in a professional recording/post-production studio category. The CBX-D5 supports professional AES/EBU and consumer S/PDIF formats, offers two balanced analog inputs and four balanced analog outputs, as well as a Word Clock input/output for fine synchronization in professional broadcast applications. Four different sampling rates, including the professional 44.1 kHz rate used by CDs and the even higher 48kHz rate, are also offered (the Falcon030 requires additional external hardware, such as Singular Solutions' A/D 64X, to accomplish those sampling rates). Its on-board multi-effects consists of no less than two professional Yamaha SPX1000s, which offer reverb, delay, flanging, phasing, pitch change, chorusing, ring modulation, compression/limiting, expansion, and noise gating. There's even an Aphex Aural Exciter effect, and you can assign up to four different effects simultaneously in the digital domain. In addition, each of the CBX-D5's four audio channels has its own dedicated digital equalizer equal in quality to those found on professional audio mixing consoles. You can also use it with any Atari computer, from the 1040ST (with at least 2 megs) on up to the Falcon 030. The big difference here is in the cost comparison between the two systems. A Falcon 030 with the minimum of a 250 meg SCSI hard drive allocated to four tracks of digital recording (yielding approximately 10 minutes of recording time at a 50 khz sampling rate) and the CUBASE AUDIO software, will cost around $3,000.00 list price, as compared to $5,200.00. The implications for Atari in regards to the release of both versions of CUBASE AUDIO are awesome, but having a program which takes direct advantage of the Falcon030's impressive digital audio capabilities will undoubtedly have independent producers, bands, song writers and composers literally breaking down the doors to get a Falcon! This promises to give Atari a very strong beginning in an explosion of volume sales that is anticipated to hit music retailers around the country. -=- Steinberg / Jones 17700 Raymer Street Suite 1001, Northbridge, CA 91325 (818) 993-4161. -=- Yamaha Corporation P.O. Box 6600 Buena Park, CA 90622-6600 (800) 443-2232. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- James Grunke, Atari's Director of Music, has announced the hiring of no less than 16 independent rep firms for the sole purpose of selling Atari computers to musical stores across the country. Expressing Atari's continued strength within the music industry, Grunke expects this significant decision to ultimately result in a doubling of distribution, by way of establishing a broader discreet sales channel of authorized Atari musical instrument retailers throughout the greater continental US. This is the most aggressive move Atari's ever made into the area of retail music sales. Following up this push for wider exposure of product in more outlets with strong support for all authorized Atari music dealers clearly reflects the steady, growing commitment Atari has to increasing its overall domestic market share. Falcon030 demo models will be shipped by the end of March to all authorized Atari dealers who have recently signed Atari's new dealer agreement. The particulars of this agreement are primarily aimed at emphasizing the advantages of being an authorized Atari dealer. As a stipulation of being authorized, all dealers are asked to refrain from advertising any discounted prices for Atari products. Initial orders for Falcon stock will see fulfillment soon after. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Preliminary reports of Atari's reception at the recent Frankfurt Musik Messe fair, held this past March 5th-7th in Germany, painted a picture of wall-to-wall showgoers, all eager to get a glimpse of the latest software releases for the Falcon. The big news of course, was the afore mentioned Falcon030 version of CUBASE AUDIO. Information is still coming in, so consider this a preliminary report, with more details to follow in upcoming columns. Steinberg-Jones also showed off their new Cubase Score version of Cubase, as well as the long-awaited Studio module for Cubase, their computer interface with Alesis's ADAT 8 track digital audio recording system, a DMA/SCSI small computer system interface. More details to follow in an upcoming column. E-Magic, formerly C-Lab, introduced NOTATOR LOGIC, an impressive major upgrade of their popular Notator program, with a number of new features that bare a striking resemblance to Cubase. Individual sequences are now treated as "parts", and offer a more comprehensive music editing environment while still retaining their strengths as a superb musical scoring and notation program. -=- E-Magic, Distributed in the US by Ensoniq 155 Great Valley Pkwy Malvern, PA 19355 (215) 647-3930 D2D Systems was there with D2D EDIT, their comprehensive digital sound editing software for the Atari Falcon 030. They were also demoing their next offering, 4T-FX which will offer four track recording capability by direct utilization of the DSP engine built in to the Falcon 030. Although they plan to release 4T-FX in '93 a more specific release date remains unconfirmed at this time. -=- D2D, distributed in North America by: Digital IO 2554 Lincoln Blvd. Suite #122 Marina del Rey, CA 90291 (310) 398-3993 Fax (310) 822-1360 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- In other related news, Barefoot Software is anticipating an April '93 release date for their new notation program, which they'll be distributing here in the US. Originally from Europe, MUSIC DTP will offer full orchestral scoring capabilities. Though 16 staves will fit comfortably on a page in regular format and 24 staves in a reduced size, the program has no actual limitation as to the number of staves per page or number of pages per score. Scores can be constructed by a number of methods: you can import them as a standard MIDI file, enter them in either real or step time, or place notes individually in a DTP-styled approach. The program will also offer a number of drawing tools for creating borders, circles and ellipses, as well as the ability to import .IMG files. Basic sequencing capabilites will also be available from within the program, and G-DOS is also supported. Price is tentatively set at $380.00 retail. In development from Barefoot is AUDIO TRACK which will offer all the features of their popular MIDI sequencer, SMPTE Track/Edit Track Platinum, and allow users of D2D's D2D Edit and 4T-FX the ability to sync their MIDI tracks with digital audio files. AUDIO TRACK will be able to reserve a MIDI channel which will be used by a special D2D pull-down Desk Accessory, which will allow a note to be assigned to trigger a specified audio file. An existing file can be either recorded over or played back after initial recording. AUDIO TRACK PRO, which is scheduled for a later release, will enable sound files to be chase-locked to SMPTE as well. Other plans on the drawing board include comprehensive digital audio file editing capabilities from within the AUDIO TRACK program environment, though these last two features are as-of-yet not planned for the debut release. Price for AUDIO TRACK is set at $199. Release is also scheduled for April'93. For information on AUDIO TRACK, MUSIC DTP, SMPTE/Edit Track Platinum and all their other fine products. -=- Barefoot Software 19865 Covello Street Canoga Park, CA 91306 (818) 727-7143 Fax (818) 727-0632. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - -=-=-=- [ D T V i d e o N E W S ] -=-=-=- - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Things are heating up for processing photo images and video on the Falcon030. There are a number of exciting products in various stages of development which promise to mine the full potential of Atari's exciting new offering that combines all the elements that are essential to true multi-media applications. Here's a round-up of what's around the corner. -=- Kodak's Photo-CD technology enables the transferring of film images to a CD-ROM compact disk in a very high resolution digital format for use on the Atari Falcon 030. A Photo-CD slide show package developed by German-based Color Concept's Michael Bernards, a well-known member of the team that brought us Calamus SL, as well as Rufus (his graphics-based telecommunications program) has worked on the software engine which will enable Falcon030 users to call up individual photos as well as set up a "playlist" of specific photos which they can use to pull together their own Photo CD albums. Michael was chosen to go to Eastman Kodak's headquarters in Rochester, NY, where the final pieces of his software were put into place for enabling the Falcon 030 to be able to access the Photo-CD, as well as his developer tool kit that will allow third-parties to directly access all levels of Photo-CD in their programs and applications. Price on the developer kit has not been set at this time. Atari plans to offer the software to directly view the Photo-CD images at a very competitive cost. Additional features planned include enabling the Falcon030 to perform the same functions as a Photo-CD player from Kodak, such as rotate and zoom. The images can then be saved in such standard formats as TIFF and Targa. The Photo-CD will work with any standard CD ROM XA unit, easily hooked up to the Falcon030's SCSI II port. -=- PICTURE heads a series of new applications from Digital Arts in Germany, which Goldleaf will be distributing here in the states as part of their continuing emphasis on high end publishing. PICTURE is a powerful image editing application that directly supports the Kodak Photo-CD, and allows users to combine images and retouch photos, as well as cut, copy and paste between images. DA's PICTURE supports all Atari Falcon030 video modes, and will be available in the first quarter of 1993. -=- A genlock product from John Russell Innovations was demonstrated at COMDEX running on an Atari Falcon030. His prototype unit was connected to a video camera, which focused in on show attendees while they walked by the booth. As their image was placed on the monitor, a video titling program scrolled text across the screen explaining the many features of the Atari Falcon030. The video titling program was written by Atari's Mike Fulton, and utilized Atari's next giant step in font management technology, Speedo GDOS, for all the font displays! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// On The Drawing Board? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=- D2D Sytems is planning a comprehensive video editing program. Although not much is being said at this point, Paul Wiffen of D2D has intimated it will be a very ambitious piece of programming which will bring Video Toaster-like capabilities to the Falcon 030 at a fraction of the cost. A release date is hopefully targeted for sometime in '93, but again, this remains unconfirmed. -=- Steinberg is rumored to be working on a product which, lacking a title at this early stage, is being nicknamed "Cubase Video", which promises to offer the ultimate marriage of video, digital audio and MIDI. Although there has been no acknowledgement of the existence of an such program by either Steinberg Germany or Steinberg/Jones here in the US, the product is rumored to feature cut-and-paste of video clips, which will be handled in a similar manner to Cubase Audio, and may also offer a number of special digital video effects and wipes. Speculation is that integration with CUBASE AUDIO will either be handled through M-ROS, Steinberg's multi-program switching environment, through Atari's MultiTOS, or possibly have CUBASE AUDIO run in a module form that will able to load into "Cubase Video" and run from the video end of the program's environment. If this does turns out to be nothing more than a unfounded piece of wishful thinking, it could be something for Steinberg to seriously consider. DeskTop Video will be a huge market in the coming years and, in retrospect, the tail end of the 20th century may very well come to be known as the "Digital '90s". -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Well, that's it for now. We welcome your comments, suggestions and any interesting things you may want to see mentioned here, so feel free to write to either of us on Genie at EXPLORER.2. Next issue we'll take a brief look at the latest version of Steinberg's Cubase 3.0, along with a host of exciting new additions to the Steinberg line. We'll also be assembling a lexicography of acronyms and terms commonly used in talking about MIDI, and future columns will extend this to also cover video, DTP, graphics and animation. Until next time, just remember... -=-=-=-=- Today Is The Tomorrow You Dreamed About Yesterday -=-=-=-=- --==--==--==--==-- :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Volume 2 - Issue 8 ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE 17 April 1993 :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: [non-music stuff deleted] ||| Atari Artist ||| Pete Donoso & Fadi Hayek / | \ GEnie: EXPLORER.2 ------------------------------------------------------------------- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [ ATARI ARTIST ] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ]-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-[ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ First off, we'd like to apologize for having missed the last issue of Atari Explorer Online. There was a mix-up on the actual deadline, and as often is the case the deadline had passed before we could wrap everything up. Speaking of which.... Peter Donoso & Fadi Hayek -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = = - -=-=-=- [ M U S I C N E W S ] -=-=-=- - = = -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Last issue we told you about the excitement developing over the release of a number of new music software products by Steinberg for the Atari Falcon030 and the ST/STe/TT030 line of computers. For those of you who missed it, one of the most significant releases centered around a reasonably priced Digital Multitrack Recording system utilizing Cubase Audio, coupled with Yamaha's CBX-D5. Coming in at an estimated price of about $5500, the various hardware components would include an Atari Falcon030 with a 65 meg hard drive & 4 megs of RAM, monitor, and, of course, the CBX_D5 itself, which is capable of yielding 4 tracks of digital recording, mixing and processing - a feat never before witnessed by mortal musician at such a reasonable turn-key system price. And, if you already own an Atari ST/STe/TT030 with at least two megs of RAM, a hard drive and monitor, the remaining purchase price covering the CBX-D5 unit and Steinberg software drops to around $3000. For the average tight-budgeted musician however, it's still somewhat of a small fortune. That's when Steinberg stunned the Atari community with the decision to release another version, presently referred to as "Cubase Audio For The Falcon", which offers 8-channel digital audio recording on an Atari Falcon030 without the need for any other additional hardware other than a fast hard disk! This may well end up being the proverbial straw that finally broke the high price bracket for purchasing an integrated multitrack recording, sampling, mixing and MIDI sequencing workstations. Last time we delved into the specific features of both Cubase Audio/CBX-D5 as well as the CBX-D5 itself. Now let's look a little further into the details of Steinberg's "other" Cubase Audio release. //// The Hard Facts Although the Falcon030 can achieve 8 channels of digital audio, the SCSI II standard can only support 4 tracks of simultaneous hard disk recording and playback. However, because of the Falcon030's unique architecture the other four channels can be utilized - and realized - in RAM! These four channels are manipulate by Cubase Audio as sample voices, similar to a polyphony voice feature available on most current samplers today. And, like the samplers of today, the number of sounds available at any one time is dependent on both their individual sampling time and the amount of overall RAM memory they take up in loading. Needless to say, a Falcon030 with the maximum 14 megs of RAM will prove to be most versatile in its overall ability to handle these multiple samples. Having these additional four channels, you can use them to playback drum samples, background voices - in fact, anything that you might otherwise use an outboard sampler for. This means another four tracks of digital audio in RAM is available in addition to four SCSI II-routed tracks, for an awesome total of 8 tracks of digital audio - all playing out of the Falcon030's integrated digital-to-analog converter. But wait... there's more! No recording studio is complete without effects processors, so Steinberg has cleverly provided Cubase Audio For The Falcon with the additional ability to access the Falcon030's DSP for adding such effects as Reverb, Delay and EQ directly to your digital recordings! Although you're limited to having but one of these effects available uniformly to all digital audio tracks at a time, all parameters are user-definable, right from within the Cubase Audio environment. //// The Soft Facts Upon close inspection, Cubase Audio For The Falcon bears a striking resemblance to Cubase 3.1. All the power of MIDI Recording, Score Layout and Printing, Mixing Automation - as well as full compatibility with all Cubase Modules - are available here as well. These features, combined with eight channels of digital audio makes Cubase Audio For The Falcon the first fully integrated MIDI/Digital recording studio. As devoted Cubase users will tell you, Cubase takes a "linear" approach to MIDI sequencing, as opposed to the more common "drum-machine-like chained loop" approach shared by the majority of other sequencing programs. Any and all recordings are interpreted by the program as "Parts", both functionally as well as visually. Apart >from being able to record various instruments on each track, a track can also be sub-divided into a number of Parts. You can use this to display your sections as: intro; verse; chorus; etc., or label them as: various instruments; vamp; horn hits - any way that best serves your method of arrangement. Cut, move, copy and paste functions are quick and easy to do, and the program's modular approach lets you allocate a minimum of your computer's memory by allowing you to load only those features which you really need. Cubase Audio displays its digital audio parts the same way as MIDI Parts - as rectangular boxes - but audio Parts appear with a graphic representation of the digital wave displayed right in the Part. The "parts" architectural approach makes working with digital audio amazingly flexible. One great advantage is being able to take different versions of a song, along with any number of Parts from each song version's various tracks and sections, and assemble a composite MIDI/Digital Audio track simply by cutting and pasting them all onto a new Track. The new Audio Track Class feature keeps all your audio Parts well organized, and digital audio editing is handled within what the program terms as the Audio Pool. The Audio Pool is much like a regular Cubase Arrange window, except it's dedicated to listing digital audio "events". An event can be anything from a short recording, which you can treat as a sample for looping, to a full musical passage. Length is limited only by available hard disk space. Each event is connected to an audio channel on the Falcon030, which has already been assigned a specific track within Cubase Audio's Audio Pool, much like Cubase's ability to assign a specific MIDI channel to each track. Here, within the Audio Pool, you can cut, copy and paste actual digital audio without ever touching a razor blade. Banish Silence is another great new digital audio related feature. This allows you to "gate" (silence) any unwanted noise that may appear on any Part recorded on any audio channel during moments when nothing has actually been recorded (such as the space between passages of a horn section's various lines or hits). You can do this using both volume level and duration, and actually erase these unwanted portions of hiss or noise that may plague your otherwise clean recording. This particular function has a number of advantages. First, it greatly increases your hard disk's recording capacity by removing unnecessary sections of silence that nevertheless still use up disk space. It also avoids the need for noise gating, and can be an invaluable tool in isolating short individual sound events, such as separate drum samples. Double clicking on an audio Part opens the Audio Editor, where the waveform is displayed full-size. Another new and rather unique feature is referred to as a Q Point. This helps define the exact point in the audio material that will align to the nearest quantized value of your overall recording. Amazingly, you can actually quantize digital audio Parts so that they line up in sync with your MIDI-related tracks! Cubase Audio boasts an impressive environment for integrating ALL of it's various-source Part elements into a perfectly-timed sequence. Rap artists will be especially excited about this particular feature because it make synchronizing to sampled beats a breeze. Finally, a feature called Normalizing lets you adjust the volume of all your audio tracks digitally. This lets you take your audio Parts to their maximum dynamic range before overreaching the threshold of digital distortion. All audio Parts are scanned for the loudest event. It then boosts all other events proportionally, which also allows for maintaining a uniformity of volume between all digital parts. This is sort of like performing a volume-related pre-mix, or sub-mix of all your audio tracks. //// File Compatibility Compatibility and upgradeability - two very important words in the Home Studio game. Steinberg has managed to leap both these hurdles by making audio files created with Cubase Audio For The Falcon 100% compatible with its version for the CBX-D5. If your needs grow, you can simply upgrade to Cubase Audio CBX, and expand to a full 8 tracks of independent hard disk recording. MIDI songs created using the Falcon030 version are fully compatible with any other version of Cubase on any other supported computer system for that matter, as long as you can effect a file format conversion. The concept of a computer-based super workstation, where all your musical production needs are handled under one unified environment has been the dream of every musician, while persistently remaining the nightmare of most budgets and the one glaring shortcoming of each successive new product - until now! The Falcon030 combined with Cubase Audio is the first real hope that an Integrated Workstation can truly provide any and all production needs and still fall at an affordable cost. At an estimated cost of $3000.00, that dream is close at hand. You owe it to yourself to check out this truly incredible package. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Steinberg's Studio Module =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In the last decade, the introduction of MIDI has sprung a myriad of new capabilities upon a large number of musicians, producers and composers. It's given them a degree of overall control that may have been only dreamed about at one time, but are certainly possible now to any average home studio owner. A few years ago a composer had to rely greatly upon his/her own imagination to "hear" how their score would actually sound when eventually played by a live orchestra. Today however, a composer sitting in front of his computer can, with the combined power of sequencing software and a couple of synthesizers and samplers, achieve practically the same sonic results as having actually used a full symphonic orchestra - at any time of the day or night, and all in the privacy of their own home! But, as with any great breakthrough, there's often a duality to the "cutting edge" of the technological blade. As the romance with MIDI started to wear thin, users started wanting more from this enticing new technology. More voices meant the possibility for even more. More control started being interpreted as a demand for having to do less and less to set up increasingly complicated sets of varying MIDI functions from a number of manufacturers, all of whom use their own individual protocols. As the capabilities of individual synths increased, offering as much as 32 simultaneous voices from one synth alone, musicians still found themselves wanting to purchase not just one, but a number of these latest multi-timbral MIDI products. This, of course, only poses more of a dilemma. How do you easily control this MIDI "octopus" while keeping the majority of your energy for creating music without going totally crazy? At this year's annual NAMM convention, Steinberg presented yet another ground-breaking answer to solution to these set of problem in the form of an add-on module for its family of professional Cubase sequencers. The new Studio Module adds four new windows to Cubase, along with a host of editor/librarian features that allow you to recall and reconfigure your studio setup at the touch of a button. After loading the Studio module into memory, a brand new entry appears from within Cubase's drop-down Module menu. Called, appropriately enough, "Studio", you're given four selections: Setup, Memory Manager, Total Receive, and Total Send. Let's look at what each one does. The Setup command opens a window where you can assign all the various MIDI instruments in your home studio - up to 500 of them! Descriptions can also be entered, including make, model and individual ID numbers, if needed (ID Numbers are used to distinguish two or more synths from the same manufacturer that are of a similar model, such as a Proteus 1 and Proteus 2, for example ). The MIDI Matrix feature offers you more efficient use of your MIDI patch bay (if you happen to use one), to help you keep track of which synth is connected to a specific MIDI port, and you can even display specific attributes for each synth device for quick review. These can range from a MIDI channel to a specific audio output assignment (the more recent multiple-sound/voice synths have increased the usual stereo out offering to as many as 8 or more individual outs). Often the most frustrating part of recreating a sequence is finding all the sounds that were loaded into your synths' memories. The user has to go around and either individually configure their MIDI sound gear for these sounds by hand, or load them up via a separate dedicated or universal editor/librarian. Well, the Memory Manager selection allows you to upload either all or one specific kind of MIDI data from the instruments you've installed and assigned within the Setup page. When you click on the Load button, all the sounds and setups for all your pre-assigned synths in the Setup window start flying into the Studio Module's portion of allocated memory. A handy Info window even reveals an individual unit's ROM (operating chip) version, as well as any other details that may be particular to that device. Once the sounds are in memory, a bank option presents you with a list of patches, MIDI files, and system exclusive info. In addition, a Macro Edit window is now accessible for editing the sound parameters of each patch. The downloaded patches are integrated into Cubase's familiar Arrange Window's instrument column. Previously each instrument was limited to representing one MIDI channel. Now, when you click and hold down the left mouse button on any instrument name, you'll get an expanded version of the Instrument Section of Cubase, where each track can now use more than one specific synth. A complete list of all assigned synth instruments is available for each track. This is great for configuring a multi-timbral synth over a number of both tracks and different MIDI channels. From there the Studio Module intelligently determines the patch setup particulars of the assigned synth, and gives you a number of selections to choose from as well. For example, if you had a Proteus, patch numbers range from 000 to 128 - but if you also have a Korg 0/1w, the configuration changes to display a choice of Multi, Combination or instrument patches. There's even a separate Item List which contains all of the patch names your current sequence is using. The more experienced MIDI user might feel driven to interrupt this point to say, "Hey now, wait a minute - this is nothing new. It sounds like the old familiar sys-ex transfer, and that's been an available feature on a number of sequencers for a while now!" For those of you who are still somewhat new to all the different aspects of using MIDI, every module and synth has its own specially assigned heading that is defined by a specific string of code - its signature or label, so to speak. This clever ID allows you to send lots of data within a single, large MIDI data stream and still be able to successfully have only the relevant data filtered from the larger stream and routed to that particular keyboard or module. Sys-ex related data can contain multiple numbers of patch information for any number of sound patches, along with all additional setup data that may be a part of an individual sound. Only that particular brand and version of synth capable of reading this coded data, will accept it - all other synths that are nevertheless part of the same MIDI network will completely ignore it. Well, yes, a sys-ex dump does make things somewhat easier, but working with sys-ex can still be tricky, even for the most familiar user, and you also still need the use of an editor/librarian software package to audition, catalogue, edit and store your sounds. These, and other aspects of working with MIDI, have all played their role in contributing to some serious hair loss for a number of musicians. The Studio Module utilizes sys-ex, but uses a much more efficient and far easier method of handling what amounts to a fairly large amount of data. For those users who may find themselves longing for individual sys-ex dump capability the Total Receive and Total Send features offer the familiar standard dump feature capability. These also provide a quick save- and-recall of all your synths, regardless of whether they've been previously entered in the Setup window. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Steinberg's Cubase To Have A New Name =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cubase, as most users have known it, bases itself around a sequencer which is accompanied by a variety of graphic editors, along with a number of additional modules, including the Scoring and Mixer editor/modules, which can optionally be configured for automatic loading when the program boots up, memory permitting. Although the next version, 3.5, which will also be fully Falcon030 compatible, is due to be released sometime in the summer of '93, its title will be changed to Cubase Score. A version called Cubase 2.5 will also continue to be available, but without scoring capabilities. Present owners of Cubase will be eligible to upgrade to Cubase Score, which Steinberg will be handling in the same way as they would for any ongoing upgrade for Cubase. Cubase Score 3.5 will be offering a number of changes and improvements. The Mixer module will have a newly-overhauled graphic display, with greater mobility for moving and placing objects, as well as the capability to display as many as 24 faders across a standard Atari monitor screen. As you may have already guessed by its new title, the most exciting improvements will concern Cubase's familiar Scoring module. There'll be an impressive number of new things you'll be able to add to your printed sheet music and, although the program's present scoring capabilities have certainly provided users with a well-rounded number of features, Steinberg will have either added to or expanded on them with a host of additional options. Apart from a significant increase in speed of transcription, other improvements will include: ù More comprehensive control over grace notes. ù Expanded tuplet capabilities (termed as N Tuplets) which will allow for divisions of half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes in divisions >from a 2nd to a 15th. ù Tabulature capabilities for use which will allow you to define a variable-lined staff and assign each line to a particular string. ù The ability to nest time signatures within each other. ù Cross-staff beaming. ù 8 voice polyphony per voice (doubled from a previous 4 voices maximum) ù A new Automatic Layout option which will allow you to configure page numbering. More importantly, this option will offer the user the capability to create, save and load their own layout formats as templates. These will be able to contain repeat bars, endings, rehearsal marks, staff and measure distances. In addition, you'll also be able to import these layouts from another Arrangement of your song or copy elements from one layout to the current score page. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= //// Definitely On the Drawing Board! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Reliable sources have confirmed that Steinberg is indeed working on a multi-media based program that will combine the features of Cubase Audio with a video/animation cut, paste and editing program. The program promises to treat MIDI, digital audio and video equally using the same familiar techniques for editing and assembling as Cubase and Cubase Audio. Steinberg has been running teaser adds in Germany and using the current working title of "Multibase". Although a release date is being targeted for two years from now, it would seem that the decision to advertise a product that far in advance would lend credence to the idea that it's probably more likely to being ready by either the end of '93 or first quarter of '94 Multibase - it's not that far off! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Well, that's it for now. Once again, we welcome your comments, suggestions and any interesting things you may want to see mentioned here, so feel free to write to either of us on Genie at EXPLORER.2. Next issue we'll be talking about the direction and future of Desktop Publishing and Graphics, along with some news on updates for familiar products as well as what may be ready for upcoming release, along with a lexicon of terms for these subjects. In the following issue we'll finally begin to assemble a lexicography of acronyms and terms commonly used in talking about MIDI, and hopefully have some news about Notator Logic. Until next time, just remember... -=-=-=-=- Today Is The Tomorrow You Dreamed About Yesterday. -=-=-=-=- --==--==--==--==--