From mailserv@gaia.ucs.orst.edu Mon Dec  5 13:42:53 1994
Precedence: Bulk
Date: Mon Dec  5 11:38:43 PST 1994
From: gus-music-request@gaia.ucs.orst.edu (GUS Musician's Server)
Reply-To: gus-music@gaia.ucs.orst.edu (GUS Musician's Digest)
Subject: GUS Musician's Digest V11 #5

GUS Musician's Digest       Mon, 5 Dec 94 11:38 PST      Volume 11: Issue   5 

Today's Topics:
                            Band-in-a-Box
                             DAT-PC card
                          instrument volumes
                          Sequencers for GUS
               Upper limit on GUS' usability for music

Standard Info:
	- Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest.
	- Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 5 Dec 94 08:53:44 EST
From: "Burns Fisher, VMS Development  05-Dec-1994 0850" <fisher@skylab.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Band-in-a-Box

>What exactly is Band in a Box?  MIDI sequencing?
>
>Dave

Not really.  Think of it is Power Chords with AI.  You give it a style (e.g. 
Blues, Rock, ...) a chord sequence, and it builds an accompaniment for you.  
Quite a neat program.  It can also act as a sequencer in that you can record a 
melody line into it.  Actually, it's purpose is different from PC, too (I 
think).  I think it's fair to say that PC is largely for composing where you 
want control over every chord and every drum pattern, but it nonetheless gives 
you a metaphor that allows you to think globally.  BIAB is more intended as an 
accompanist:  You care less about the details of the drums and bass line etc 
and concentrate on your solo.

Someone can probably say this better than I...

Burns


P.S. PG Music should be a local call for you!  It's in Buffalo!

------------------------------

Date: 5 Dec 94 13:07:00 MET
From: "VISX80::GRECNER" <GRECNER%VISX80.decnet@musx53.zfe.siemens.de>
Subject: Re: DAT-PC card

>About a week ago discussing the use of GUS for a PC hard drive recording 
>setup, someone mentioned a card that apparently serves as interface 
>between  a DAT and the PC and lets you transfer a DAT recording to the PC 
>(as WAV file).

>Could the person give me some information as to the card's name, prize 
>and where to get it?

I suppose you mean me, even if I can't remember my previous post precisely.
But there is a card from Zefiro Accoustic (called ZA1). You can contact
Greg Hanssen (hanssen@netcom.com) for more info. It costs $350 + $10 shipping.
It's pretty easy to program it yourself, if you like, so you can play with
subcodes and so on on your own. It comes with software for data backup,
utilities such as CD to DAT copying including the StartIDs, what is a great
feature, and many others. This utilities are on ftp.netcom.com/pub/ha/hanssen.
If you have any other questions, you can contact me by mail.

				Martin Grecner

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 5 Dec 1994 09:15:38 +0100 (MET)
From: tgakem@chem.tue.nl
Subject: instrument volumes

  I own a GUS and a Yamaha tg100 general midi sound module. I find
that for certain instruments there is a large difference in volume.
If I compose some midi file using the tg100, and play it on the GUS,
the strings will sound much too loud. The nylon guitar patch of the
GUS on the other hand is significantly softer. Is there some
standard for instrument volumes? If I want to give someone who owns
a general midi instrument other than GUS or a tg100 a midi file,
which channel volumes should be right, those appropriate for the GUS,
or those appropriate for tg100?
  A slightly related question: does anyone know whether volume
control of midi voices on the GUS is done digitally so that you
are "losing bits"? Is there a difference between "channel" volume
control and "key velocity" volume control in this respect?

Any comments appreciated,

Eric Meijer

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 05 Dec 94 12:15:03 EST
From: pcady@celestat.com
Subject: Sequencers for GUS

Strong opinions wanted here:

Are there any sequencers out there that don't suck? By that I mean you
actually use the program on a day to day basis for music production.

Second question is: Does anybody use their GUS professionally? If so, in
what setup? e.g., alone, with a drum module, that sort of thing.

Thanks in advance,
Paul Cady

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 4 Dec 1994 16:04:53 -0500 (EST)
From: "Matthew M. Nordan @ 137" <mnordan@minerva.cis.yale.edu>
Subject: Upper limit on GUS' usability for music

At Christmas i'll be pretty much abandoning my GUS for a "real" sampler.  
Of course the primary reason is the 1MB memory limit, which just is not 
enough room to put together a really phat mix--even when bolstered by a 
sound module or two.  But that's not all:

Another real problem is the GUS' big ol' noise floor.  Does anyone have 
an _accurate_ S/N for a GUS with 16-bit daughterboard?  All i know is 
that even with the WAV output all the way down, with the inputs down and 
muted, with the card as isolated as possible from other components in my 
system, there's still a substantial noise floor that can be heard even 
when recording to 4-track cassette.  I can't _imagine_ using the GUS in 
digital recording--i think the noise floor would be too severe, 
especially if vocals/other instruments/etc. were clean and clear.

Yes, i am gating the GUS.  (Heck, i gate everything.)  But putting the 
GUS through a noise gate/downward expander before effects only helps a 
little--there's just no way to get around the noise floor, even if it is 
diminished when a huge mix is pumping through the speakers.  If anybody 
has any ideas on alleviating this, post them, but i think it's just a 
deal-with-it characteristic of the card.

      ]\/[atthew ]\/[. ]\[ordan  []. .[]  Support underground music!  Email
                                 [][|][]  for information about 137 Records.
   mnordan@minerva.cis.yale.edu  [] V []
        matthew.nordan@yale.edu  []   []  Yawheh, Yeshua, Elohim, forever

------------------------------

End of GUS Musician's Digest V11 #5
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