OS X and microtonality

Hello again

I've been digging deep for information on softsynths and platforms and the
rest. I've come up with a lot of information on what won't work but nothing
positive on a microtunable softsynth for Mac OSX that I could also get at
with a midi keyboard if I wanted.

Is the z3ta+ Waveshaping Synthesizer PC only - there's no clues on their
website or if there are I missed them?

Also are there any PC laptop users out there? Any recommendations as to
makes and models?

Thanks
a.m.

>Also are there any PC laptop users out there? Any recommendations as to
>makes and models?

Heya Alison,

I've been laptop-only for almost 3 years. I have an IBM Thinkpad X20.
About to upgrade to a Dell D600. Typically Toshiba, Sony and IBM make
the best laptops. As for models, it depends what you like. I go for
compact models so I can carry them easily, but they cost a lot more. No
model has any sound advantage over another -- the native sound on
laptops is uniformly bad. But one can run a softsynth or easily attach
a USB sound module.

If you do scoring on a computer, screen resolution is really important.
I'd recommend at least 1400x1050.

Other than that, one would be advised to get a laptop with Intel's
"Centrino" logo, for various reasons.

-Carl

Alison,
Laptops... For me, Toshiba Satellite series seemed best disk size & memory
for the money in comparable models. Bought mine a year ago.

As for microtonality on OSX, I think there's very little. For most small
developers, unless they are developing exclusively for Mac, there isn't any
bang-for-the-buck. It's a minority platform. The tools that Mac does have
are often really great tools, but for variety you have to go to a majority
platform where developers can make a return on their investment...

Rick

On Wednesday, April 30, 2003, at 03:02 , MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@...>
> Subject: OS X and microtonality

Hi Alison, the major ones I know of are :

Reaktor and Max/MSP. As long as we have those two available, arguably it really doesn't matter much what else is not available. Still, I'd like to see FM7 (probably coming soon) on OS X, and one of those samplers like HALion supporting microtuning.

If you're looking for a laptop, try an iBook 14.1" G3 900MHz.

For more OS X audio/MIDI/music software :

http://www.osxaudio.com/

Cheers,
Joel

Thanks Carl and Rick for your advice. After much deliberation I've decided
that portability is desirable but not essential so I'm looking at some nice
PC desktops with good soundcards. If anyone has any recommendations I'll
gladly take them on board.

I look forward to using some of the new softsynths recently mentioned on
this list, They've been getting good reviews in one UK magazine at least,
though not for their microtonal potential.

There seems to be quite a buzz about new software with users abandoning
hardware systems. I can see the point as it's taken me two days and nights
to rearrange and repatch my hardware/midi studio. I'll give it 6 months
alongside a softsynth system to compare the two.

Thanks again

Regards
a.m.

on 30/4/03 2:27 pm, Joel Rodrigues at jdrodrigues@... wrote:

On Wednesday, April 30, 2003, at 03:02 ,
MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@...>
> Subject: OS X and microtonality

Hi Alison, the major ones I know of are :

Reaktor and Max/MSP. As long as we have those two available,
arguably it really doesn't matter much what else is not
available. Still, I'd like to see FM7 (probably coming soon) on
OS X, and one of those samplers like HALion supporting
microtuning.

If you're looking for a laptop, try an iBook 14.1" G3 900MHz.

For more OS X audio/MIDI/music software :

http://www.osxaudio.com/

Cheers,
Joel

Great site Joel. Thanks

Regards
a.m.

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On Friday, May 2, 2003, at 12:51 , MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com wrote:

> From: Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@...>
>
> Great site Joel. Thanks
>
> Regards
> a.m.

You're welcome Alison.

BTW, I noticed Native Instruments has a page with info re. their OS X release schedule.

http://www.nativeinstruments.de/page.php?l_src=home_us&tsr_id=13580&id=osx_us&
type=1

> From: "Bill Sethares" <sethares@...>
>
> Another choice for microtonality in OS X is the Bitheadz Unity
> Session software synth/sampler which supports full 128 note > MIDI retuning.
...
> --Bill Sethares

Hi Bill (Prof. Sethares !),

The cheapest may be ChronoX which was mentioned on this list a while ago:

http://www.linplug.com/index.htm

Cheers,
Joel