Anyone remember a music program called M ?

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StudioDave
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Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by StudioDave »

Greetings,

As many of my readers know I'm not a big user of Linux MIDI software. Actually, let me clarify that statement: I'm not a big user of Linux MIDI *sequencers*. I like them, especially the seq24 model, but they're all conventional in their emphasis on the use of the mouse. Further, they assume that input will come from a file or some external MIDI device. Alas, my MIDI keyboard skills are worse than pathetic, so I prefer a keyboard-centric sequencer.

One of my most productive periods was during the heyday of MIDI during the late 1980s and early 1990s. I became a devout user of Voyetra's software, especially their flagship Sequencer Plus Gold, one of the most powerful MIDI sequencers from that time. Alas, with the ascension of Windows 3.1 Voyetra abandoned all ties with DOS-based designs and dropped Sequencer Plus from their catalog, along with its companion programs (mostly patch editors/librarians). Running SPG under Windows was painful, but my disappointment vanished when I discovered that the Linux DOSemu program could be configured to run DOS-based MIDI applications, including Sequencer Plus. I've been happily using SPG as my primary MIDI sequencer under Linux now for almost 15 years.

Voyetra also had another cool program in their roster, a rather colorful port of Intelligent Music's M, one of the first interactive MIDI-based music composition programs. It became quite popular in its original version for the Mac and later for the Atari. Voyetra called their port M/pc, and I tested it extensively for them. Unfortunately, commercially M/pc was a non-starter, so the company quickly dropped it from their catalog. It called a run-time version of Windows 2.0 (!) and required some hefty hardware , including extra memory and an EGA video system. I bought a new monitor just to run M/pc, I absolutely loved that program.

For a while I could run M/pc under DOSemu, but at some point in that system's development it became impossible to run M/pc. I tried to comfort myself by running the Atari version under the Xsteem emulator, but it just wasn't the same experience. Alas, I figured M/pc was lost to me.

Two days ago I was browsing the Linux Game Tome site and saw that a new version of DOSbox had been released. I downloaded, built, and installed it on my Ubuntu 9.10 box, then I tried running M/pc. Unsurprisingly it failed. However, I noticed that DOSbox includes a "ver" utility that functions like the old DOS setver, which I had been unable to get working under DOSemu. To cut to the chase: I reset the version in DOSbox, and M/pc loaded and ran. With a little more effort I was able to configure DOSbox to automatically load and run M/pc when I start the emulator. I was/am amazed.

Check out the screenshot at http://linux-sound.org/images/mpc-linux.png

I'm looking forward to using the old favorite in the modern Linux sound software ecology. M/pc's GUI is designed for pattern creation and variation, it'll be fun to hook it up to amSynth, LinuxSampler, and other Linux sound generators to make some music with it again. Yes, it's mouse-controlled, but it's also not a sequencer, so I can live with the mouse in this type of program.

Best,

dp
Scot Solida
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by Scot Solida »

I remember M! Very cool program. I also had a rhythm thing from Intelligent Music that was nifty, but I can't remember what that one was called. Those and Dr T's KCS were my MIDI tools of choice during my first brush with desktop music making.

It was an exciting time, when developers seemed determined to do things differently; to truly take advantage of the possibilities of the personal computer to provide new methods of working with our MIDI gear.
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funkmuscle
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by funkmuscle »

I never ever got the app working... I remember it too..
StudioDave
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by StudioDave »

Scot Solida wrote:I remember M! Very cool program. I also had a rhythm thing from Intelligent Music that was nifty, but I can't remember what that one was called. Those and Dr T's KCS were my MIDI tools of choice during my first brush with desktop music making.
That "rhythm thing" might have been Jam Factory, but IM made a number of other interesting programs.

Funny story about KCS: In the late 80s one of the best guitarists around here expressed a desire to learn about "this MIDI thing", so I gave him a C64, a MIDI interface for the machine, and Dr T's KCS. The condition was that he not ask me any questions about anything unless he really hit the wall. I think he asked one question in the first month (about MIDI CCs, IIRC), but after that he was off & running. He made some great music with KCS, and I must say that it was an impressive program.
It was an exciting time, when developers seemed determined to do things differently; to truly take advantage of the possibilities of the personal computer to provide new methods of working with our MIDI gear.


Yes, it was a great time. I was living in LA then, a few shops sprang up that were dedicated to music machines and software for them. We could visit a store and play around with the various software packages, though at the time I was quite new to computers and didn't usually know what I was doing. The experience was terrific. I also attended some NAMM shows out there during the 80s and 90s. The MIDI hardware & software explosion was in full swing, with dozens of development houses competing to get their products noticed.

There's still a lot of great new things coming out these days, but back then the newness of it all was exhilarating.
StudioDave
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by StudioDave »

funkmuscle wrote:I never ever got the app working... I remember it too..
Did you try M/pc or one of the other versions ? There was even a version for the Amiga. :)

Btw, I'm going to ask Voyetra if I (or they) can re-distribute the program. According to one person the source code disappeared years ago. Voyetra's been giving away Sequencer Plus and their other DOS software, so maybe there's a chance. It's really quite simple to run it under DOSbox. Unfortunately there's no electronic version of the documentation for M/pc, but there is for the Atari version (at Tim Conrardy's site). The program functions are pretty much the same across platforms.

Best,

dp
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funkmuscle
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by funkmuscle »

my issue I thing was mostly DOSbox... still can't figure it out properly.
StudioDave
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by StudioDave »

Quick note: Last night I set up M/pc to drive a Csound synthesizer patch. Very successful ! I've also learned how to improve the MIDI timing from DOSbox, and I've edited the .conf file to automatically load the required driver and the program. One keypress and I have M/pc, very nice.

Apparently DOSbox can be patched for MIDI input but I haven't tried it yet.

Now to write to Voyetra/Turtle Beach.

Best,

dp
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funkmuscle
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by funkmuscle »

I think I will fight with it again tonight..
StudioDave
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by StudioDave »

funkmuscle wrote:I think I will fight with it again tonight..
I've built and installed DOSbox on Ubuntu 9.10 and Lucid, both 32-bit systems. Had no troubles. Let me know what walls you're running into, maybe I can help.

Best,

dp
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funkmuscle
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by funkmuscle »

cool, thanx man
StudioDave
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by StudioDave »

Update 23 June 2010:

I built and installed DOSbox on my aging 64 Studio 2.1 box. Got M/pc running, but discovered that DOSbox 0.74 does not support MIDI input. Output yes, input no. A search on the Vogons forum revealed that a patch was available, I got it, applied it to the sources, rebuilt, reinstalled, and voila, I now have MIDI input capability with DOSbox.

http://linux-sound.org/images/v-rides-again.png

Funny stuff.

Best,

dp
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funkmuscle
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by funkmuscle »

nice... :D
still haven't had the time to mess around with it yet.
StudioDave
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by StudioDave »

Update 25 June:

I've jettisoned DOSbox in favor of a return to DOSemu. The DOSbox patch gave me a MIDI Input port but caused other problems. I tracked down Eric Auer's old callver utility, recompiled it, put it in my DOSemu /bin directory, and now I can use DOSemu for apparently all of Voyetra's ancient DOS MIDI software, at least on the 32-bit systems. M/pc under DOSemu crashes on my 64 Studio box, I'm not sure why yet, but it runs nicely under DOSbox on the 64-bit system.

Back to the tracks. :)

Best,

dp
pkkp
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Re: Anyone remember a music program called M ?

Post by pkkp »

does anyone has voyetra m/pc software for dos. link please for m/pc
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