KVR Audio

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 6:55 pm

Found this feature in Computer & Video Games (Sept 1985), Beat the Sharks never made it anywhere, but there is a four page round up of early music/DAW software available for the computers at the time.

http://tinyurl.com/zj7ahdj

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 7:16 pm

Really bad article. Clearly, those guys were miles ahead of what software and machines were around (already). No mention to the Macintosh - first big flaw. No mention to Steinberg Pro 16 (for the Commodore 64), the predecessor of the Pro 24, which basically transformed the Atari in the "music computer" back then (but that would be only in 1986, followed by C-Lab Creator in 1987.

But MOTU had already launched both Professional Composer and Performer, in 1984. And Passport Designs was already a major player in the music field in 1985 (they already existed when MIDI was created, and participated in the creation of the MIDI norm).

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 8:15 pm

fmr wrote:No mention to Steinberg Pro 16 (for the Commodore 64), the predecessor of the Pro 24, which basically transformed the Atari in the "music computer" back then (but that would be only in 1986, followed by C-Lab Creator in 1987.

Was Pro 16 available at the time of that article being written (spring/summer 1985) ?

According to feature in MusicRadar, Steinberg first released the Multitracker for c64 in 1984. That sold only 50 copies. The Pro 16 thus was released later.
http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/ ... ase-406132

bronxsound · Post by **bronxsound** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:06 pm

I loved pro 24.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:14 pm

The article also fails to mention the UMI sequencer add-on for the BBC computer

That was most def around in early '85, with users like Vince Clarke

http://tinyurl.com/hkt89c8

pljones · Post by **pljones** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:05 pm

Hey, I never knew about that. I had a Music 5000, though, a couple of years later: http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/con ... nthesiser/

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:17 pm

Numanoid wrote:
fmr wrote:No mention to Steinberg Pro 16 (for the Commodore 64), the predecessor of the Pro 24, which basically transformed the Atari in the "music computer" back then (but that would be only in 1986, followed by C-Lab Creator in 1987.
Was Pro 16 available at the time of that article being written (spring/summer 1985) ?

I believe so. And MOTU and Passport software was definitely available, too (MOTU already launched in 1984).

EDIT: Pro 16 was launched in April 1985. According to Steinberg site, it was even launched in 1984: https://www.steinberg.net/en/company/ab ... nberg.html

.jon · Post by **.jon** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:25 pm

In 1985 I programmed beeps in BASIC on Spectrum 48k, complete with magical light and colour show! Let's just say my family was "supportive and encouraging" about the random noise and epilepsia-inducing screen flashing their son was "composing".

sprnva · Post by **sprnva** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:30 pm

I think I mentioned this previously but there's a few episodes of Computer Chronicles that looked at computer music. I remember at least one from around the mid 80s with John Chowning as a guest.

You can find them on archive.org.

lucidsamples · Post by **lucidsamples** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:44 pm

I am pretty sure that back then there were many attempts to succeed in music creating/editing. In the end of those attempts several bigger projects grew to become first DAWs as we see them today. Again, the creation and early development of MIDI standard was also an effect of longer discussion and some abandoned draft projects...

What am I trying to tell is that sound creation and manipulation should be considered much older than it is considered now and its history can not be limited to release date of particular software.

However it is always nice to read "how the things looked like back then"

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:52 pm

lucidsamples wrote: What am I trying to tell is that sound creation and manipulation should be considered much older than it is considered now and its history can not be limited to release date of particular software.

Computer music predates synthesizers. Max Mathews Music I was born in 1957, way before any modern synthesizer. We can even say that the concept of the modular synthesizer was already present in Music series. So, I would say that music and computers marriage has an history much longer and bigger than the majority of people might think.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:55 pm

bronxsound wrote:I loved pro 24.

I love reading old computer mags, and found a feature about that in ST/Amiga Format issue 2, from August'88

https://archive.org/stream/ST_Amiga_For ... 9/mode/2up

This was computer music before hard disc recording, however much casio's and computer goodies utilized, the result still had to be recorded by tape.

Stokely · Post by **Stokely** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 9:54 pm

Predates my computer/music involvement by 3-4 years...When I started (on macs) we had either Opcode's Vision or Performer (which may have been called something else first) as sequencers...and a giant room full of midi gear that all had to be set up with patch changes and sysex for each session...UGH.

I recall just a bit later I used Voyetra on dos...that was sequencing in big bold blocks of color

When I got (back) into computer music many years afterward, the idea of a software synth was just mind-blowing. It still fills me with wonder to have the sounds we do *on a dropdown menu*...not to mention the effects that don't need to be set up on an actual console to make most of the synths sound worth a darn

I don't doubt that hardware sounds great, but for my hobbyist needs having everything self-contained in a laptop is like magic. NEVER GO BACK!

Seriously, switching songs for a different session, especially if the main console wasn't automated, was a *lot* of work. Heck, these days I don't even bother saving and re-naming my edited patches when I tweak them (though I should really for re-use...)

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 9:59 pm

Stokely wrote:Predates my computer/music involvement by 3-4 years...When I started (on macs) we had either Opcode's Vision or Performer (which may have been called something else first) as sequencers...and a giant room full of midi gear that all had to be set up with patch changes and sysex for each session...UGH.

Vision... Great sequencer. Still missing it.

Performer was Performer right from the beginning, which was 1984. Professional Composer was for notation.

Stokely · Post by **Stokely** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 2:45 pm

Ah ok, thanks!

Yes I liked Vision a lot.

A bit later, I remember doing things in...Sound Designer was it? The two-track audio editor for macs....anything that involved a whole track you might as well go have lunch (we had a IIci and later a quadra)

"Hey, let's normalize!" "Ok, start it off and let's head to the mall for a while..."

I don't miss that, at all....

Music software in the year 1985