From: pan@pannet.UUCP (The PAN Network)
Newsgroups: comp.music
Subject: Re: Jim Miller Personal Composer 
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 23:47:37 EDT
Organization: The PAN Network
Reply-To: smithmusic@pan.com



In defense of Jim Miller - Personal Composer etc., .... I would like to point
out that I have been and probably still will be one of the Alpha developers in
Jim Miller's Personal Composer - not from a technical side exactly but from a
composers view.  I worked very closely with Jim over the years - knew him well -
watched him grow and saw all the development problems.  The time lapses were
always because he tore the program apart completely and re-wrote the software.
This happened many times - mainly because I and other people like me - were
making demands on the program continually.  Other reasons - were simply that he
was hospitalized or deathly ill a lot of the time and eventually couldn't sit up
at all.

About the program.  The things you write are essentially unfounded.  I have
written in the past about 300 compositions using that program.  Premiered many
of them with orchestras - WORLDWIDE - Russia - China - Scandinavia Europe etc.
Be aware of - and keep in mind - that all software which is written with a WIDE
user group in mind...has limitations.  I have looked at - researched (in
combination with IBM for instance) - many software programs for sequencing and
notation.  ALL of them suck for one reason or another...and these reasons are
that they ALL try to be everything to everybody - and secondarily - they are
either written by engineers or programmers whom THINK they know about music or
whom know about music and don't THINK...or whom have NO talent in any event
either musically or in engineering.  At the time when Personal Composer came out
- it was the BEST program on the market - anywhere.  Then of course things
developed.  Voyetra made a GREAT sequenceing program!!!!  Other people TRIED to
make great noatation programs - all of them were full of crap.  Miller was a
guitarist - and he continually understood the needs for things like 64th notes -
in the notational and sequencing sections - but the need for SALES dictated a
cut off place for the program.  I eventually used the program only for notation
- sequencing in Voyetra and saving files in .s format for personal composer
notation.  I complained and bitched about the limitations of the notational
formats - and we were all working very hard on that when Jim expired.  As far as
I know - it is still in the process of a major upgrade with the PhD whom
originally worked on the program.  It is being written for windows - but then
there was the considerations of OS2 - or Windows or what?? Don't forget this was
all due to many things - from MPU interfaces - to limitations of DOS to a
million problems....but all in all - there was and still is not a more easily
used program for music notation.  Having dug into about 50 other programs - I
can say this with great authority.  It was planned that this program should be -
and probably will be - a pure masterwork someday....but it will take time.

As to the problems you describe - I have never had them.  If you computer was
big enough - if you had space - and if you worked with RAM etc...the program was
super - and even IS super. I don't know your details - but no doubt you didn't
really know what you wanted to do - or understand how to tell the program what
you wanted it to do....do you need some help?  Should David in support at
Personal Composer not have a vacation???  Can I help you with something?
Or...why not go out and buy Finale...it is a difficult - all encompassing
program which STILL needs a good sequencer - I am using FInale by the way now) -
but I still record in Voyetra - save files to .mid format and pick it up with
Finale.  You want to get serious about notation that program...will keep you
busy with its learning curve for awhile.  Don't underestimate Personal Composer.
One day they will shock the H... out of you I think....

Regards,

Michael J. Smith in Sweden.

smithmusic@pan.com