MIDI, What ya got?

[reesclissold]

I'm just getting into Cubase and Notator and decided to get some cheap MIDI gear. I have a Casio keyboard (not sure of the model, just a cheap one), a Roland JS30 sampler (limited I know, but I'm not a pro so it's all good) and a Yamaha MU5 synth (I use the term loosely!). It's all rigged up to my "pimped" STE.

 

So, what kit have you got, and do you have any tips for my future music career?

[+FujiSkunk]

Does it have to involve an Atari ST?

 

If not, I have a Yamaha PSR-550 connected to an old PowerMac 7300, which makes use of a lot of old Opcode software (OMS, MusicShop). You can sample some of the fruits of my labors here.

 

If so, then forget I said anything.

 

Edited for grammar.

Edited December 15, 2005 by skunkworx

[reesclissold]

Does it have to involve an Atari ST?

 

If not, I have a Yamaha PSR-550 connected to an old PowerMac 7300, which makes use a lot of old Opcode software (OMS, MusicShop).  You can sample some of the fruits of my labors here.

 

If so, then forget I said anything.

981085[/snapback]

 

Of course it doesn't just apply to ST! Although I was expecting more people to reply. I guess there aren't many people on here who use their ST for "serious" purposes!

 

Will check out your site... Thanks for the link!

[krupkaj]

BTW There is nice page about MIDI and Atari - Tim's Atari MIDI world

He has also forum about MIDI at Yahoo

[Paolo]

If I only could find the review on MyAtari magazine, ... searching...

 

 

here we go.

 

Direct link to the TipOfTheDay:

http://myatari.net/issues/jan2003/tipofday.htm

Edited December 15, 2005 by Paolo

[reesclissold]

Thanks for all your replies. Here's a (very large) picture of some of my shenanigans!

 

[reesclissold]

BTW There is nice page about MIDI and Atari - Tim's Atari MIDI world

He has also forum about MIDI at Yahoo

983155[/snapback]

 

I'd spotted this, he inspired my choice of software. I've been trying out the "Sweet 16" sequencer he recommends, first impressions are that it's very good! Thanks for the link.

 

If I only could find the review on MyAtari magazine, ... searching...

 

 

here we go.

 

Direct link to the TipOfTheDay:

http://myatari.net/issues/jan2003/tipofday.htm

983372[/snapback]

 

Hadn't spotted this one yet, Sergio's studio is a lot tidier than mine...

[Paolo]

Oops!

I just didn't mention that Sergio is my (younger) brother.

 

... But it was ME that introduced him in the Atari world

 

*remembers falling off the chairs in the middle of the night playing Rescue on Fractalus...*

[+Stephen]

Thanks for all your replies. Here's a (very large) picture of some of my shenanigans!

 

985262[/snapback]

 

That's an awesome setup! What are the machines you are running?

 

I finally got the plugs to make an ST to 1084S monitor cable. Can't wait to finally test out my 1040STf.

 

Stephen Anderson

[reesclissold]

Thanks for all your replies. Here's a (very large) picture of some of my shenanigans!

 

985262[/snapback]

 

That's an awesome setup! What are the machines you are running?

 

I finally got the plugs to make an ST to 1084S monitor cable. Can't wait to finally test out my 1040STf.

 

Stephen Anderson

988305[/snapback]

 

I suppose I should answer that! Here we go.

 

On the left we have my STE, sitting on top of that is a Compaq LTE Elite Laptop, A beast of a 486 with 16MB RAM, 370MB HDD, and networked to my other PCs. I use it for file transfer to the STE, as Windows 95 works with 720 DD disks formatted on the Atari. It makes transferring stuff I download really easy!

 

The monitor in the middle is what I use for the STE, using an adapter from 16/32 Systems. On top of that is my main laptop, I use it for everything but in the picture it's running Goldwave, a pretty good recording program. I connect everything through a mixer into the line-in for recording purposes (although I haven't made any music I'm ready to share yet!). It's a 1.2GHz Mobile Athlon with 512MB RAM, DVD drive and the usual 2002-era bits and bobs.

 

The PC on the right is a Mini-ITX (Small Form Factor) Pentium 4 in a highly modified case (window, neon, stick-on aluminium checkerplate). Here are some more pictures of it, before I got the 19" TFT:

 

Front of PC

Back of PC

 

It's a 2.8GHz P4 with 1Gb RAM, 80Gb HDD and DVD/RW, and a GeForce FX 5200 256Mb. It kicks ass running Quake IV and Half-Life 2, even my Alienware-owning friend thinks it's a work of genius.

 

I also have a 486 gaming PC with about 20Gb worth of abandonware games on it, and my collection of retro systems. Basically, I'm a computer geek. I'm also a Computer Science student, so hopefully that explains the obsession. Gotta have a hobby, right!

Edited December 28, 2005 by reesclissold

[reesclissold]

Oops!

I just didn't mention that Sergio is my (younger) brother.

 

... But it was ME that introduced him in the Atari world

 

*remembers falling off the chairs in the middle of the night playing Rescue on Fractalus...*

986961[/snapback]

 

Ah, the memories. I remember staying up way past my bedtime paying Bubble Bobble on the ST, or before that, Elite on the Acorn Electron. Those were the days!

 

What do you do now? Are you into music? Well done for introducing your brother to Atari!

[Paolo]

I am an engineer, as well as Sergio.

He uses his music stuff for pleasure, and sometimes he put it in some multimedia product we create as a side-hobby-job.

I do keep a piano at home, but I can't use it as much as I liked. I still use my Falcon for my work (together with a Windoze machine and a Mac Powerbook)

There are still things (lots of) that can't be done in an eyeblink with Wintel stuff, and things get worse everyday.

There is a very old little program I wrote ages ago that still surprises people: it's a utility I wrote to plot some hydraulics diagrams (coming out from equations) with a pen plotter straight from my ST. Now that I think of it, I must have misplaced it... :-/

...should check my M4STe for a backup copy.

[reesclissold]

I am an engineer, as well as Sergio.

He uses his music stuff for pleasure, and sometimes he put it in some multimedia product we create as a side-hobby-job.

I do keep a piano at home, but I can't use it as much as I liked. I still use my Falcon for my work (together with a Windoze machine and a Mac Powerbook)

There are still things (lots of) that can't be done in an eyeblink with Wintel stuff, and things get worse everyday.

There is a very old little program I wrote ages ago that still surprises people: it's a utility I wrote to plot some hydraulics diagrams (coming out from equations) with a pen plotter straight from my ST. Now that I think of it, I must have misplaced it... :-/

...should check my M4STe for a backup copy.

990512[/snapback]

 

I totally agree, although I think Windows XP is perfectly adequate, I tend to use Linux most days because it lets me do a lot more.

 

I work for an engineering company - we do a lot of hydraulics and pneumatics work. How much of a coincidence is that? I'm in IT Support though. I've written a few basic VB programs and scripts for Windows, but never written anything for the ST (apart from copying some BASIC code from a magazine once). I'm more into my music now anyway. Mostly I play the guitar, but I'm a fan of dance music too so I've started to get into the keyboards and MIDI sequencing.

[drdave]

I use Mega STE 4MBRAM with Unitor and Notator 3.21 and SM147 Monitor.

 

Korg Triton Pro fully maxed out in RAM

Emu Proteus 2000

Emu Mo'Phatt

Kurzweil K2000R

Roland VS1880

Alesis Masterlink ML9600

Behringer Power Play Pro PX2000

Behringer Ultra Patch Pro 48 inputs

JLCooper MSB Plus 8x8

Alesis M1 Active

3.2GHZ PC 1GB RAM XP Pro SP2 w/Cubase SX, SoundForge and other apps

 

Tips?

Get at least one pro equipment. Preferably a workstation.

Notator can handle it all. Only fiddled with Cubase.

 

Dave

Edited January 4, 2006 by drdave

[crash]

Instruments:

 

Alesis D4 Drum module

Casio CZ-1 Synthesizer keyboard

Crumar Bit One Synthesizer keyboard (1)

Crumar Bit One Synthesizer keyboard (2)

Emu Orbit V2 Synthesizer module

Emu Proteus/Protologic Synthesizer module

Emu Vintage Keys + Synthesizer module

Kawai K1-II Synthesizer keyboard

Kawai K1-m Synthesizer module

Kawai K4r Synthesizer module

Kawai R-50e Drum machine

Korg DVP-1 Vocoder/harmonizer

Korg Wavestation EX Synthesizer keyboard

Roland Juno 1 Synthesizer keyboard

Roland JV-1080 Synthesizer module

Roland JX-8P Synthesizer keyboard

Roland M-OC1 Orchestra Synthesizer module

Roland M-SE1 String Ensemble Synthesizer module

Roland M-VS1 Vintage Synth Synthesizer module

Roland MKS-7 Synthesizer module

Roland MT-32 Synthesizer module (1)

Roland MT-32 Synthesizer module (2)

Yamaha DD-14 Drum pads

 

MIDI Controllers/Gear:

 

Atari/Hotz MIDI Translator Programmable MIDI controller

Casio AZ-1 Performance MIDI controller

Casio DZ-1 Drum trigger to MIDI converter

Kawai MM-16 Midi fader mixer

Emu Launch Pad Performance controller

JLCooper MSB+ Rev2 MIDI patch bay and switch (1)

JLCooper MSB+ Rev2 MIDI patch bay and switch (2)

JLCooper MSB 16/20 MIDI patch bay and switch

C-Lab Unitor II MIDI/SMPTE Expander

Emagic Log3 MIDI expander/dongle

Anatek Pocket Filter MIDI Filter (1)

Anatek Pocket Filter MIDI Filter (2)

 

Audio Gear:

 

Alesis Microverb III Effects module

Alesis Nanocompressor Effects module

Aphex Aural Exciter B Effects module

BSR EQ-3000 Graphic equalizer

Denon PMA-500V Pre-main amplifier

Midiman Fineline 24 channel rack mixer (1)

Midiman Fineline 24 channel rack mixer (2)

Polk Audio 5B Studio monitors

Sony MDR-V600 Headphones

C-Lab Human Touch Click-track, live musician sync

Soundpool Falcon Digital Interface SPDIF coaxial/optical interface

Soundpool Falcon Analog 8 D/A Converter

Midiman CO2 SPDIF converter/repeater

Emagic AMT-8 MIDI Interface

Emagic Audiowerk Audio Interface

 

Computers:

Model Display Ram Expansion

Atari TT030 19inch Moniterm 4ST/64TT CaTTamaran 48mhz

SuperNova ATI GPT

Atari Falcon030 15inch SVGA 14ST/64TT CT60 68060 Accelerator

Eclipse PCI video

Falcon Rack

Atari Mega ST 4 15inch SVGA 4ST Turbo25

 

Software:

 

Emagic Logic 2.5 Atari

Emagic Sounddiver 2 Atari

Steinberg Cubase Audio Atari Falcon

Hotz MIDI Translator Atari

Hybrid Arts Ludwig Atari

Intelligent Music M: Interactive and Composing System Atari

Intelligent Music RealTime: Algorithmic Sequencing Atari

Jim Johnson Tunesmith: Algorithmic Phrase generator Atari

Dr. T's KCS Omega Version 4.0 Atari

Dr. T's X-OR Atari

Copson Data Zero-X Atari Falcon

Hans Achim Mueller Voxx Software Vocoder Atari Falcon

Microdeal Clarity 16

 

Stands:

 

Quiklok QL690-F4 5 tier keyboard display stand

Quiklok ZM-18 28 space rack stand

Quiklok QL-623 3 tier keyboard stand

[Paolo]

So, are you a musician, a collector, or BOTH?

 

and...

WOW!!!

You have an HotzBox!

The only other I know with an HotzBox is [email protected] (IIRC)

Envy is growing in me

 

EDIT: Of course, you are going to post pictures, now, RIGHT?

 

PS: how do you connect the FA8 with the FDI? I just bought an FDI and it's on its way to my home, I'd like to be prepared.

Edited January 25, 2006 by Paolo

[crash]

So, are you a musician, a collector, or BOTH?

 

Both I suspect, but mostly for the sake of music.

 

WOW!!!

You have an HotzBox!

The only other I know with an HotzBox is [email protected] (IIRC)

Envy is growing in me

 

AFAIK, Tim actually borrowed the Hotz Box, but didn't own it, although he may have purchased one since last I checked I wonder where all the Hotz boxes went?

 

I consider myself _extremely_ fortunate to have found at Hotz box, and that I was able to repair it into working condition.

 

EDIT: Of course, you are going to post pictures, now, RIGHT?

 

Sometime after I get everything hooked up again. To make a long story short, my sequencing computers, Atari TT030's died, so everything has been unplugged for a while. TTs are very picky when it comes to running Logic, so out of the systems that I have left, none of them run Logic. My CT60 Falcon won't run Logic either, and my Turbo030 MegaST is dead. I need to have something repaired in the near future.

 

I did fire up the Hotz Box a little while ago and it's still working nicely

 

PS: how do you connect the FA8 with the FDI? I just bought an FDI and it's on its way to my home, I'd like to be prepared.

1006482[/snapback]

 

There is a little cable that joins them together. I'm not sure where you would find one right now, but you should be able to make one. Mine is a 2 inch long DB15-DB15, female on both sides, wired straight through. This is a DB15 connector with two rows of pins like a PC gameport or a Falcon video port, not like the HD-DB15 with three rows of pins found on a VGA port.

[krupkaj]

FA8 has two 15 pins connectors. One cable goes to FDI and second to Falcon. FDI has the same 15 pin D-sub connector. Cable to FDI is simple pin to pin connection. Connection between FDI and Falcon DSP is on my webpage

[Paolo]

@krupkaj and crash:

Thanks so much for the wiring info. Now I'll have the cable ready as soon as that red box rings my bell