HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: felske@erich.triumf.ca (FELSKE, WAYNE W.)
Subject: Re: VFX SD best workstation for the money
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: TRIUMF: Tri-University Meson Facility
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 17:03:00 GMT

In article <717438340.160000.D_NIBBY@UNHH.UNH.EDU>, D_NIBBY@UNHH.UNH.EDU (Dana   Nibby) writes...
> 
> 
>  A number of people have told me that the Ensoniq VFX-SD is the best
>workstation for the price. (approx. $1000 used is what I can spend)
>Many have said the M1 has a 'worthless' sequencer, (and only 8 tracks,
>although I could live with 8 tracks quite nicely) so I've ditched the
>idea of getting an M1. I just purchased a Boss DR-660 for all my percussion
>needs. Questions in no particular order:
> 
>  * Is there a Roland or Yamaha contender to the VFX-SD at around the
>same price? If so, what would make it a better buy than the VFX-SD.
>(keep in mind that this will be my main and only synth... possibly 
>getting a Juno 106 also. That's it.)
> 
>  * "Buy this module" doesn't help me at all. Since I don't have a synth
>to begin with. Just an Amiga 500 that I do music with internally
>(all 8-bit samples)
> 
>  * Can I easily interface my DR-660 to the VFX-SD, or do I need to use
>my Amiga as a go between. I wanted to use my Amiga for sampling only...
>I'd like to use the on-board sequencer on the VFX-SD, which is 24(???) tracks.
>Whoa! :)
> 
>  * I want to use this workstation for techno, and for dark/ambient/noise/
>film-scoring material. I need suggestions on what might be the best 
>workstation for me to purchase.
> 
    If this is going to be your one and only (untill smitten by some new toy)
I would think the VFX would have an easier time with dark/ambient etc. than any
comparibly priced Roland. Unless a D-70 is within your reach , but that has no
sequencer. The M1 except for the limited sequencer would actually be Ok, and 
there are mods to extend the memory. I am actually thinking of picking one up
as my U-20 and DX-7 each do what they do and no more, ie; dark ambient/noise

    Wayne Felske     Still learning the Words    

Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: jay@cmn19.Stanford.EDU (Jay Kadis)
Subject: Re: Alchemy for Mac / EMAX II question
Organization: DSO, Stanford University
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 21:51:45 GMT

I> What I got was "Could not retrieve EMAX II keyboard layout".
> 
> I'm using RS422 from the MAC to the keyboard.  I believe the cable has  
the
> correct pinout.  But then, maybe not?  The cable was supplied by the  
computer
> "gurus" of Loral. :-)
> 


Here's the pinout for the MAC serial to EmaxII cable I've used:

	Emax End				Mac end

1	NC			
2	NC
3	Ground --------------------------------  4  Ground
4	RCV(+) --------------------------------  6  XMT(+)
5	RCV(-) --------------------------------  3  XMT(-)
6	NC
7	Clock ---------------------------------  2  Clock
8	XMT(+) --------------------------------  8  RCV(+)
9	XMT(-) --------------------------------  5  RCV(-)

This worked from a MACIIfx to an EmaxII using Sound DesignerII.  Hope this  
helps.

Jay
From: smithj@hpsad.sad.hp.com (Jim Smith)
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 16:42:25 GMT
Subject: Re: Keyboard feel (was: Re: CZ101 for sale)
Organization: HP Signal Analysis Division - Rohnert Park, CA
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth

In rec.music.synth, eirikur@ranger.enet.dec.com (Eirikur Hallgrimsson) writes:


>In article <BvAnuC.5ns@cdsmn.mn.org>, plate@cdsmn.mn.org (Doug Plate) writes...
>>music store.  The keyboard!!  Amongst the most cheesy keyboards I have
>>touched.  The original Mirage being another example of a strange feeling
>>keyboard. 

>One weird thing that I have noticed about keyboards is that the velocity curve
>on the sound that you are listening to influences how the keyboard feels. This
>mapping must be pretty subjective: the only instruments that really feel right
>to me playing the factory patches are the CZ-1 and the Chroma.

Interesting how subjective this is.  The Chroma is one of the worst-feeling
keyboards I ever played, to me.  I hate that spongey feeling.

>The Chroma feels like it would be really clunky to play, when it is
>powered-down, but switched-on, and with the gain turned-up, it really lives and
>breathes.

This is one reason why I always play the keyboard of an instrument without
listening to its output as part of an evaluation.  Maybe they just haven't
had the right patches, but I've never like playing the Chroma.  I like a
keyboard that has a bit more resistance at the top, then a bit of give in
the middle, and then a bit less resistance at the bottom, like the original
DX7.  But my all-time favorite keyboard action is the Hammond B3.  It
almost feels like it's pulling my fingers down!  Give me that action in a 
touch-sensitive, lightweight keyboard, and I'd be a very happy camper.

It's all personal opinion, of course...

Hey now everybody now,                     Jim Smith
Hey now everybody,                         smithj@hpsad.sad.hp.com
Hey now everybody, now.  -- They Might Be Giants
From: be726@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joseph A. Ellis Jr.)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: MIDI Songs.....
Date: 2 Oct 1992 16:38:10 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: be726@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joseph A. Ellis Jr.)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, pms26964@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (CS223 GRADER) says:

>If the MIDI file was made by someone on the net just "playing by ear" and
>sharing the file with others, is it really copyright infringement if he just
>posts it to the net?  He's not getting paid to do this.  It's like recording
>a remake or parody on a 4-track and passing tapes around...no big deal, I 
>don't think.
>
 
Ah, but it IS a big deal. It doesn't matter if the person making the copy makes
any money or not. Copyright law is not there to keep other people from making
money off of a work... it's there to protect the rights of the holder of the
compyright, and make sure THEY get paid for use of their work! Whether the 
poster of a MIDI file gets money is immaterial. What matters is that the 
holder of the copyright is having the value of his work infringed by
unauthorized duplication that has a negative impact on the future worth of
the material. Posting MIDI files, lyrics, or ASCII coded music are ALL
r{illegal without the specific permission of the copyright holder.
Sure, the chances of being caught here MAY be slight... but, frankly, I
don't care to be on the wrong end of a lawsuit! If people want to post
copyrighted materials, let'em set up an FTP server of their own so they
don't put the whole net at risk. Keep copyrighted material off the net!
 
BTW, under current US copyright law, a work does NOT have to be registered to
be protected, so the ONLY 'safe' things to put on the net are works that 
are in public domain, or your own compositions, or something that the b;.owner
of the copyright has given you _specific_ permission to post.

I run a board for SF and Fantasy related music on a system in Cincinnati, Ohio,
and participate in the 'alt.music.filk' panel, and these are the guidelines we
use... quite safely, and after discussion with lawyers.

>However, if the MIDI file was arranged by a commercial company such as Tychro
>Tunes, the story would be different.  It's software piracy.
... which is prosecuted under _copyright_law_. SamekF_ things, just a diff~rerent 
medium of publication.

>
>-Phil
>
>-- 
>* Phil Scopes (pms26964@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu)
>* University of Illinois
>* Champaign/Urbana
>

 
(sorry about the messy post... a lot of line noise, and running out of time...)

-- 
 Joe Ellis  o/~ The Synthetic Filker o/~    |     TesserAct Studios
     Internet:   usr6184a@tso.uc.edu        |       P.O. Box 18577
        GEnie:   J.ELLIS22                  |     Fairfield, OH 45018
    All filked up and no place to sing!     |   New Dimensions In Filk!
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay)
Subject: Re: Analog suggestions, anyone?
Summary: Here are a few
Organization: Atomic City
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 15:11:46 GMT

To answer Pete Brooks's queries in order:

1. Yes, the Matrix 1000 is still in production, as far as I know. They
can be had new and used for $ within your range, and are very reliable
machines from all accounts I've heard.

2. You should look into the early-MIDI Roland gear, specifically the 
Juno-106, JX3P, alphaJunos, MKS-30 and MKS-50. All but the 106, which 
has a full front panel, have PG units for programming, and sound great.

3. The Prophet 600 has room for 100 RAM programs. At the time the unit
was designed, "preset" meant a program the USER had stored, not a ROM
slot from the factory. Note, though, that the 600 has no noise generator,
a nasty limitation for some sounds. The SixTrak is also a good board.

4. Look into the Korg Polysix. MIDIed ones are powerful, and sound great.

Good luck!

-- 
metlay            | "It's the probability of some Perf/X box being dead or
                  |  wedged that I have to worry about. This week, it's the
                  |  Systemizer that's pining for the fjords."
metlay@netcom.com |                                       (e. hallgrimsson)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: davet@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Dave Tutelman)
Subject: Re: MIDI Songs.....
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs - Lincroft, NJ
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 11:04:05 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.000653.14864@smsc.sony.com> dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott) writes:
>
>In article <1992Oct4.135833.29844@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>, davet@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Dave Tutelman) writes:
>|> No harm, no foul!  In this case,
>|>  - You did it first, so they can't sue you.
>
>Sure they can.  You can be sued for just about anything.
>
>If he has no proof that he "did it first", the court doesn't have much
>recourse but to find for the plaintiff.

You're right, of course.  I tacitly assumed that if you "did it first", you
could prove it.  If you can't, you COULD lose.

>|>  - You never "published" it (in even the most liberal sense of the term),
>|>    so you're not a copyright holder, so you can't sue them.  And even if
>|>    your never-published work could be considered "copyrighted", they'd
>|>    have the safe defense that they never heard it, so they couldn't have
>|>    copied it.
>
>I think you are wrong here.  As I understand it, the US copyright laws
>say that anything you produce that is copyrightable is automatically
>copyrighted by you.  Just because you haven't registered the copyright
>with the government doesn't mean you don't hold the copyright.
>Publishing is different.  Publishing actually means making a written
>work available for consumption....
>
>D Ingles could sue the company for copyright infringement, but he's
>going to have a hard time proving he holds the copyright if he didn't
>register the copyright and leave it where someone else could find it
>to copy it.

Several different issues here:
 1. We all agree you don't have to REGISTER a copyright to hold it.
 2. Under certain copyright law, you don't even have to put a copyright
    notice on it to hold the copyright.
 3. I believe you do have to publish it (we agree on the definition of
    publish) to hold a copyright, but I'm not sure and could be wrong.
    I'll concede this one.
 4. But I'm pretty sure of my last statement.  If you didn't publish it,
    they couldn't have heard it, and therefore they didn't COPY it.  One
    element of a copyright infringement suit is the defendant's ACCESS
    to the allegedly copied work.  The plaintiff would have a hard time
    proving access if it wasn't published.  (Prove espionage? :-)

>Documentation is the best thing to have when you go to court.

Yup.  But documentation only establishes FACTS.  I think we disagree a
little on LAW.  Namely, that the work not only has to be substantially
identical, but actually copied.  Independent composition does NOT
constitute copyright infringement.  (That's what I meant when I said that
patents are different.)

Hope this clarifies my position.

Dave
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: cassiel@cassiel.demon.co.uk (Nick Rothwell)
Subject: Question:  Powerbooks and MIDI
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 17:42:44 +0000

>The scoop I got (from Apple's Developer Technical Support) is that:
>
>   -  the PowerBooks cannot handle large MIDI SysEx dumps [ we knew that
>:-( ]

In fact, they can't handle any MIDI that comes in during blackout times;
it's nothing to do with SysEx.

>   -  there are NO Apple work arounds

Surprise me.

>   -  currently, Apple has no clear direction or solution for this problem

Surprise me again.

>   -  Tech Note 318 "Serial PollProc" is inaccurate and will be revised 

That's interesting. TN318 is the only piece of sense I've managed to find
in this whole mess.

>   -  When Apple figures out how to make this stuff work, they'll make the 
>      information available through developer channels

[FX: yawn] ...and meanwhile, Doug Wyatt at Opcode has busted his buns,
disassembled the ROM code and got the 140/170 working beautifully under
OMS. What a hero!

Nick.
From: jc@crosfield.co.uk (jerry cullingford)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: Why General MIDI is good for music
Date: 28 Sep 92 13:13:15 GMT
Organization: Crosfield Electronics, Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom.

In article <1992Sep24.074559.1637@metrosoft.com> gvh@metrosoft.com (Gordon Van Huizen) writes:
"Looks to me like a lot of what is MAPPED in general MIDI is available on  
"most sound modules anyway. Don't most sound modules have a piano patch of  
"some sort?

"Maybe I'm looking at this wrong, but it seems to me that at MOST general  
"midi implies a common subset of tone mappings for tone generators that  
"want to play the GS game. Most units in this league are entry-level sample  
"playback modules anyway. What changes?

In the worst-case scenario? Everybody sticks to simple sample :-) playback
technology and has samples of the same instruments. So the entry level
variety more-or-less dissapears, along with non-sample-based synthesis,
and you could wind up with a selection of MT-32 like boxes.

"And if higher-end modules and synths happen to map some of their default  
"patches into this map, what's the problem?

Probably not too much of a problem for the high end, unless the desire to
support GM dictates the synthesis method used, and eats heavily into the
sample ROM space..

" You can change the map, replace  
"it with another, and continue to create new patches at will. Most real  
"sound modules allow multiple maps anyway, and having a default map in and  
"of itself does not keep a synth from being programmable. It also doesn't  
"limit the manufacturer to the tones present in that map.

All true, of course - but it does mean that the presets are less likely to
be different, so you may _have_ to create new patches if you want variety..
Not impossible, certainly, but more work :-) and maybe makes it a bit
harder to tell what a box is capable of, in a quick demo.

Usually, when I look at a new synth, I'm interested in one of two things:

Does it do better at existing sounds, and thus replace an existing box, or
free the existing box for use with more of it's unique sounds?

Does it provide new sounds to complement those available from my existing kit?

The second one is usually more important :-) :-)

GM has the potential to reduce that variety, at least in the low end. If it
succeeds, it will probably be because people restrict themselves to the GM
patch set - and that means the manufacturers will have less reason to go
-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------------+     |
| Jerry Cullingford  #include <std.disclaimer> +44 442 230000 x3868|   ,-|--
| jc@crosfield.co.uk (jc@cel.uucp) or jc@selune.demon.co.uk        |   \_|__
+-----(Work)---------------------------------(home)----------------+ \___/
From: zdenek@ksr.com (Zdenek Radouch)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: K2000R should be ready shortly.
Date: 1 Oct 92 21:33:59 EDT
Organization: Kendall Square Research Corp.

In article <0B5B29FBA060073A@ACS.WOOSTER.EDU> WSCOTT@ACS.WOOSTER.EDU writes:
>A couple of posts have mentioned how the K2000R will have the feature
>of an "extra" SCSI port. Because it is a rack unit and cannot act as
>a master controller, it's place is in a SCSI chain and therefore
>NEEDS to have two SCSI ports(like most external SCSI drives). If
>it only had one, the designers would be objects of derision and ridicule
>shortly after its release. Because it has two they will not be, but
>I wouldn't see it as an "extra".
>
>Bill Scott

  Please note that the MIDI master controller and SCSI master have nothing
to do with each other and don't necessarily have to be the same device.

  If the second port is on the same SCSI bus as the first one, then it's
nothing more than a $5 connector since they're 100% in parallel.
It's true that having two is convenient for the purposes of chaining,
but you can do the same thing with a single connector and a 'Y' cable.

  I agree that the second port should not be considered an extra feature,
unless it really drives an independent SCSI bus (that would piss me off
as a ridiculous and unnecessary expense).

  It's pretty clear that Y.C. will try to keep the rack price in the same
range with the keyboard unit for business reasons. I can only hope that
they'll add REAL features to achieve that (yes, I'm waiting for it, too).

-Z

P.S.
I can't see how the same designers that get away with putting in the
brain dead MIDI (which you can't interconnect with the rest of the
world regardless of how many MIDI ports they give you), would be
ridiculed for giving you only one SCSI connector (which you can fix
by using a different cable).
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: zicarell@well.sf.ca.us (David Zicarelli)
Subject: Synthesis Algorithm Acronyms
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 17:14:01 GMT


I'm attempting to collect all the various acronyms that have been
conjured up by the marketing departments of synthesizer companies
to describe their synthesis algorithms. Example: Korg "AI" =
Advanced Integrated; meaning: samples played through a filter
and amplitude envelope. If you have a moment, I'd appreciate
if you could drop me a line with the acronyms of equipment you
might own or know of, and I will collect the responses together
and post the results.

David Zicarelli
zicarell@well.sf.ca.us

"The services of TLC are furnished to La Face Records by
Pebbitone, Inc." --back cover of a recent pop album
From: metlay@netcom.com (metlay)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: Keyboard feel (was: Re: CZ101 for sale)
Summary: Pressure vs velocity
Date: 5 Oct 92 18:59:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: netcom.1992Oct5.185947.5239
Organization: Atomic City

In article <1680262@hpsad.sad.hp.com> smithj@hpsad.sad.hp.com (Jim Smith) writes:
>In rec.music.synth, metlay@netcom.com (metlay) writes:
>> Where *I* get finicky is with pressure sensors. 
>
>This isn't too surprising to me, since you admit to not being primarily
>a _keyboardist_, and also, of course, with your extensive use of dynamic
>modulation (I still think that the VFXsd poly pressure is quite useful, you
>just have to be subtle with it).

Not being a keyboardist per se is not something I "admit to," dude. I'm a
synthesist, and I learned on gear that didn't have keyboards, and it shows
in my work. That's nothing I "admit to," it merely IS, in the same way
that Mount Everest IS, or John Cage ISN'T.

>>I think I preferred icktang, big guy. |->
>
>It'll be back, I gorontee it, oh Franctious one..   :->

I hope for the sake of your wife and unborn children that you and I are
the only people on this newsgroup who understand the implications of
that reference, dude. And besides, it's "Franxious."

>Perhaps you'll prefer my new sig.  |-o :-> It was great fun visiting with you 
>and the rest of the West Coast r.m.sers who could make it.  I highly recommend
>getting together with r.m.sers in YOUR area, friends!  It's definitely
>interesting  to continue a long-going conversation with 
>someone you've just met.

This is true. Silicon Valley was the second biggest r.m.s stomping
ground I could have hurled myself into. (The biggest, Boston and
environs via NYC, will be this Christmas if all goes well. I plan to
pour eggnog in Eirikur's Chroma, meet and approve of Dan's new bride,
meet Laird for the first time, re-introduce Nancy to my wife, and
throw a huge r.m.s bash in someone's borrowed home without their
knowing it for New Year's. And throw up on Carl's carpet halfway
home. Coup.)

>"Transactional diseases                      Jim Smith
>Are the only thing that pleases." - anon.   smithj@hpsad.sad.hp.com

Harrumph.

-- 
metlay            | and she's a master of return hitting          
atomic city       | giving rhythm to her posts
                  | so you read her and think hey it sounds good
metlay@netcom.com | and wish her posts had a soundtrack too    (f. ercolessi)
From: JROSSI@EAGLE.AAMRL.WPAFB.AF.MIL
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: E-Mail smileys ... fame in our midst
Date: 29 Sep 92 13:14:00 GMT


This morning my wife left me this reprint from a Wall Street Journal article
dated Sep 15.  Seems as though the Journal dedicated some 22 column inches
to a report on use of smileys in E-mail.  As I was reading the article I
got to the point which read ...

"Smileys started popping up on computer screens more than a decade ago.  The
MIT Press's 'New Hackers Dictionary' attributes the very first smiley to a
1980 message by a Carnegie Mellon computer scientist named SCOTT FAHLMAN"

No wonder Kurzweil made him a beta site.  Wall Street Journal, no less.  They
even published his lament on not having saved that historic first message.

Scott.. don't you people practice safe computing at CM?, oh yea, 1980...
pre-virus era.

:-)

John
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: wiley@crooks.b11.ingr.com (Dave Wiley)
Subject: Korg DSS1 keyboard/sampler/synthesizer
Reply-To: wiley@wiley.b11.ingr.com
Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 19:17:35 GMT

I have a friend who wants to sell a Korg DSS1.  Both he and I were
wondering what a fair market price for this would be today.  He thinks
it was about $2000 new (a few years ago).

I am wondering what other people's opinions on this synthesizer are?  Is
there a significant difference between 12 bit and 16 bit sampling for
home use?  I like the idea of sampler output fed into a synthesizer.  Are
there any other sound modules which do this?

"Sniff.  Sniff.  Smells like a newbie to me!"

You're right.

--
david wiley                  "Along the coast road, by the headland
Intergraph Corporation        the early lights of winter glow
(205) 730-6390                I'll pour a cup to you my darling
wiley@wiley.b11.ingr.com      Raise it up--say Cheerio."     - Ian Anderson

Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
From: beltran@ns.network.com (Tony R. Beltran)
Subject: Re: fixing my roland U20 myself.
Organization: Network Systems Corporation
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 21:25:59 GMT

In article <6OCT199211214883@erich.triumf.ca> felske@erich.triumf.ca (FELSKE, WAYNE W.) writes:
>In article <1992Oct6.004344.8088@news.acns.nwu.edu>, phantom@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (James Choi) writes...
>> 
>>A velocity sensor in my roland u20 went bad.  Is it hard to order a part
>>and replace?  How much does it cost to replace one sensor at a repair
>>center?  What does it look like inside?
[stuff deleted]
>	Note; It is a good idea to get a service manual. These can be had from
>Roland in any decent sized city. It has keyboard assembly instructions,part
>numbers as well as all the test modes to check all the elx. At $20 it's a good
>idea if you plan on going inside it at all.
>

Excellent idea.  I always do this when I get a new (or used) piece of
gear.  It was through the service manual that I found out the Roland
stand for the FP-8 also serves as the service bench by loosening the
retaining screws and sliding the piano back.  Slick idea.  Also, the
service manuals always explain how to run the diagnostic firmware that
seems to come with just about every piece of gear I have owned.  This
information is rarely discussed in a user manual.  Typically, there is
a lot to know about a given piece of equipment that is only revealed in
the service manual.

Tony