![]() This is a MIDI interface/synchroniser that allows the Mac's serial ports to run at their maximum speed rather than the usual 1 MHz. Since then, MOTU have been fighting to regain their former position, their most recent weapon in the battle being a sophisticated bit of hardware called the MIDI Time Piece ( reviewed in Sound On Sound September 1990). It is generally accepted that Opcode stole MOTU's crown in the Mac sequencer battle with the launch of Vision in 1989. Version 3.3 emerged only three months later, now offering the facility to define and create animated sliders and assign them to MIDI controllers (the equivalent of Creator/Notator's MIDI Manager page). Performer 3.2 borrowed from the pro-standard Atari packages, adding the ability to define and independently save part of a sequence as a Chunk, plus event chasing and raw MIDI data editing. MOTU were clearly impressed, because when Performer 3.0 appeared soon afterwards, it incorporated Master Tracks-like graphical note and controller editing facilities. In 1987 Passport produced a mid-priced sequencer called Master Tracks Pro (now known as Pro 4) which used the Mac's Graphical User Interface (GUI) to great effect. Performer, being the world's first 'professional' computer based MIDI sequencer, held pole position for most of the 80s thanks to a regular series of updates, and Version 2.0 became recognised as the Mac sequencing standard. In the Mac world, a similar battle is being waged between Opcode's Vision and Mark of the Unicorn's Performer. In the Atari world, the battle for the professional MIDI sequencer crown is currently being fought between Steinberg's Cubase and C-Lab's Creator/Notator. Whether it be in the accounts, desktop publishing or MIDI sequencing, it is not uncommon for the major software houses to update their applications three times a year. With software, the whole process is accelerated enormously due to the speed with which source code can be written. In most hi-tech industries, contemporary design and manufacturing techniques allow new products to be swiftly copied, refined and repackaged, with the result that competitors tend to offer pretty much the same thing, although each manufacturer may take its turn as the temporary market leader/innovator. ![]() ![]() Performer 3.5's new Tracks Overview, Consolidated Control Panel and Notation Editing ![]()
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