![]() ![]() These factors make the PC a very flexible and relatively cheap computer to use for music applications, since fairly small companies can address specialised niche markets - such as MIDI interface cards, hard disk recording, and so on. The PC is designed to have an 'open' architecture, which means that there's a lot of competition in the marketplace, and you're not tied to a particular vendor. There's nothing inherently difficult about the process - it's just a matter of getting the right information. The 'wooden spoon' is that he/she can get lost amongst the poor documentation, misleading sales pitches and disingenuous specifications - lies, damn lies, and statistics. The glittering prize is that the PC musician has far greater range of possible music system configurations. ![]() Putting together a music system using a PC means making decisions that ST or Mac users wouldn't need to make until they needed a far more advanced system. But computers are complicated beasts, and the PC - possibly due to its very adaptability - is especially so. By reducing prices and making the technology do more, the PC has given the competing platforms something to strive for, and generally 'improved the breed' of all personal computers. The development of the IBM PC and its clones as arguably the most popular personal computing platform has driven this change to a great extent. Computer technology now allows us to approach our music making in a variety of ways that were only available to professional studios a mere decade ago. The way we use computers today in the business of making music mirrors how the 'state of the art' has developed. #VOYETRA SERIAL PLUS#In fact, one of the first professional sequencers available on any platform - Sequencer Plus from Octave Plateau (who later merged with Voyetra) - was developed on, and for, the PC. In terms of music support, the PC was actually doing quite well, at least in North America. ![]() The Atari ST was the new kid on the block, and was meant to steal the Macintosh's growing market by being cheaper and faster. When SOS first hit the news stands in late 1985, the IBM PC had been around for four years, while the PC‑AT and the Apple Mac had been available for about a year. This undoubtedly reflected the relative expense of the American computer systems at the time. This is not to say that SOS ignored the use of computers in music, since a BBC Model B sequencing package - the UMI‑2B - received a major review. Today's big three personal computers for music, the PC, Apple Mac and the Atari ST, don't get a mention in either the editorial or the adverts of the first ever issue of SOS. And, of course, these technological developments have also changed the way we make music. #VOYETRA SERIAL UPGRADE#Today the personal computer has insinuated itself into all aspects of our daily lives, to the point where Microsoft can cheerfully spend millions of dollars hyping up an operating system upgrade to the general public. The impact of any kind of computing on people's daily life a decade ago was almost invariably behind the scenes and at work the home was a blissful haven from the chattering of dot‑matrix printers, the chugging of floppy disk drives and the whine of VDUs. The last decade has seen a revolution in the use of personal computers in all aspects of society. Brian Heywood traces the development of the most popular computer platform in the world, and examines its applications in music. ![]()
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