From: ewilts@mr.gov.bc.ca (Ed Wilts)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.audio
Subject: Re: MIDI Programs
Date: 7 Apr 92 08:30:06 -700
Organization: BC Systems Corporation

In article <RBRsiB1w164w@bbs.orion.bison.mb.ca>, linton@bbs.orion.bison.mb.ca (Michael Linton) writes:
> I'm considering buying some MIDI gear for my A3000.  What I would like to 
> know is:
>  
> 1)  How good is KCS?

Very!  I've run it for several years, first on an A2000 then an A3000.  The
current version (mine's 3.57) has no problems whatsoever running on my system
under 2.04 (I've probably got my 1.3 disks lying around someplace, but who
cares?).

There is no editing feature in KCS that I've needed that I have not figured out
how to do.

> 3)  Is there a MIDI card for the Amiga that'd work on the 3000?

Any MIDI interface that works on an A500 or an A2000 will also work on the
A3000.  A1000 interfaces will need to be modified.

> 4)  Which is a better patch editor?  X-Or, MIDI Quest, or Patch Meister?

There was an article comparing these two in a recent magazine.  Perhaps
Amazing?

> 5)  Can you use internal sounds (samples) in B&P and KCS?  If I'm not
>     mistaken, you need an internal sounds kit for B&P.  Which of the two
>     has better support/options for internal sounds?  And can these 
>     internal sounds be sequenced with MIDI external sounds?

You can use internal sounds in KCS without buying anything else.  They have
been supported for several years.  The way it works is that you allocate a MIDI
channel to an internal voice.  This means that if you want to use 10 internal
voices, you'd only have 6 real MIDI channels.  Since my MIDI gear uses all 16
channels, I never use Amiga voices.

> 6)  Is there a MIDI program that has block style notation for drum 
>     programming?

KCS doesn't have block style notation but it does have a nifty feature on its
Tiger utility (bundled with KCS).  When you place a note on a staff and drag it
up and down, it will display the actual drum type (Bass, Snare, etc).  Tiger
has a few drumkits built in and you can define your own if you have custom
assignments.  The only thing I don't like is that the printing utility,
QuickScore, only works with a single standard assignment (but there's a
documented workaround in the manual and a note stating that this may change in
the future).

> 7)  Are there better programs than KCS or B&P Pro?  Or are they the best
>     packages?  There doesn't seem to be too many to choose from (at least
>     via mail order)

You can also consider Music-X.  Although I haven't worked with it beyond a demo
a few years back, I've lots of good things about it.  Be aware, though, that
MicroIllusions is no longer distributing it - some company known for game
software apparently took it over.

One of the reasons I went with KCS (and MRS earlier) was the company supporting
the product.  Dr.T is a well-respected name in the music business.  They've
been around for a while and are expected to be around in the future.  I
personally don't trust either Music-X (remember the full-page ads 18 months
before the product finally shipped and the comments "it will ship real soon
now"?) or Blue Ribbon SoundWorks (the developer who did B&P also did Soundscape
and gave the Amiga its initial undeserved bad reputation for not being able to
handle MIDI timing).  Blue Ribbon recently sent me a demo copy of SuperJam. 
This self-running demo doesn't and crashes frequently on my A3000.  For my
needs, I want a stable product - if a company can't even produce a self-running
demo then I don't trust them to develop production software that has user
input.

All major sequencer packages have demo versions available.  If you really want
to mail order your software, try out the demos.  They all vary considerably in
look & feel.  A package that's right for the way one person makes music may not
be right for you.

-- 
Ed Wilts, BC Systems Corp., 4000 Seymour Place, Victoria, B.C., Canada, V8X 4S8
EWilts@MR.Gov.BC.CA   |   Ed.Wilts@BCSystems.Gov.BC.CA   |   (604) 389-3430