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MPU-401
The MPU-401, where ''MPU'' stands for MIDI Processing Unit, is an important but now obsolete interface for connecting MIDI-equipped electronic music hardware to personal computers. It was designed by Roland Corporation, which also co-authored the MIDI standard. Design Released around 1984, the original MPU-401 was an external breakout box providing MIDI IN/MIDI OUT/MIDI THRU/TAPE IN/TAPE OUT/MIDI SYNC connectors, for use with a separately-sold interface card/cartridge ("MPU-401 interface kit") inserted into a computer system. For this setup, the following "interface kits" were made: * MIF-APL: For the Apple II * MIF-C64: For the Commodore 64 * MIF-FM7: For the Fujitsu FM-7 * MIF-IPC: For the IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC/IBM Personal Computer XT, IBM XT. It turned out not to work reliably with 286 and faster processors. Early versions of the actual PCB had IF-MIDI/IBM as a silk screen. * MIF-IPC-A: For the IBM Personal Computer AT, IBM AT, works with PC and XT as well. * Xanadu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music. A single MIDI cable can carry up to sixteen channels of MIDI data, each of which can be routed to a separate device. Each interaction with a key, button, knob or slider is converted into a MIDI event, which specifies musical instructions, such as a note's pitch, timing and velocity. One common MIDI application is to play a MIDI keyboard or other controller and use it to trigger a digital sound module (which contains synthesized musical sounds) to generate sounds, which the audience hears produced by a keyboard amplifier. MIDI data can be transferred via MIDI or USB cable, or recorded to a sequencer or digital audio workstation to be edited or played back. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Midi System, Inc
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music. A single MIDI cable can carry up to sixteen channels of MIDI data, each of which can be routed to a separate device. Each interaction with a key, button, knob or slider is converted into a MIDI event, which specifies musical instructions, such as a note's pitch, timing and velocity. One common MIDI application is to play a MIDI keyboard or other controller and use it to trigger a digital sound module (which contains synthesized musical sounds) to generate sounds, which the audience hears produced by a keyboard amplifier. MIDI data can be transferred via MIDI or USB cable, or recorded to a sequencer or digital audio workstation to be edited or played back. MIDI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Roland SC-55
The Roland SC-55 (Roland Sound Canvas, Sound Canvas) is a Roland GS, GS MIDI sound module released in 1991 by Roland Corporation, Roland. The SC-55 was the first sound module to incorporate the new General MIDI standard. It was the first in the Roland Sound Canvas series. Unlike its predecessor, , supporting up to 24-voice polyphony with 16-part multitimbrality. Aimed at PC music enthusiasts, the SC-55 featured 315 instrument patches, including the GS drum kits and additional controllers. The selection of effects includes Reverberation, reverb and Chorus effect, chorus. It additionally came preloaded with patches imitating the Roland MT-32's variation bank but lacked the MT-32's re-programmability. Alongside the SC-55, Roland released the Roland SB-55, SB-55 (Sound Brush), an inexpensive MIDI music sequencer, sequencer module the same size as the Sound Canvas. Both the Sound Canvas and Sound Brush could be rackmounted alongside each other. Other models with comparable tone gener ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
CM-32L
The Roland MT-32 Multi-Timbre Sound Module is a MIDI synthesizer module first released in 1987 by Roland Corporation. It was originally marketed to amateur musicians as a budget external synthesizer with an original list price of $695. However, it became more famous along with its compatible modules as an early ''de facto'' standard in computer music. Since it was made prior to the release of the General MIDI standard, it uses its own proprietary format for MIDI file playback. Within Roland's family of linear arithmetic (LA) synthesizers, the multitimbral MT-32 series constitutes the budget prosumer line for computer music at home, the multitimbral D-5, D-10, D-20 and D-110 models constitute the professional line for general studio use, and the high-end bitimbral D-50 and D-550 models are for sophisticated multi-track studio work. It was the first product in Roland's line of Desktop Music System (DTM) packages in Japan. Features Like the Roland D-50 Linear Synthesizer, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Roland LAPC-I
The Roland LAPC-I is a sound card for IBM PC compatible computers produced by Roland Corporation. It essentially consists of a MT-32-compatible Roland CM-32L and a MPU-401 unit, integrated onto a single full-length 8-bit ISA card. In addition to normal Roland dealers aimed at musicians, it was distributed in the United States by Sierra On-Line in 1989 for use with the company's games. The MSRP of the card was around . The LAPC-I is one of few ISA cards that require a power supply with a -5V rail. History Sierra On-Line was instrumental in working with Roland Corporation in introducing high-end sound modules and sound cards in the mainstream computer game market in the late 1980s through early 1990s. The card came with no software or accessories, although no specific software was necessary, since the MT-32 appeared as a MIDI peripheral connected to the MPU-401 on MIDI channels 2 through 10. To connect the LAPC-I to other MIDI devices, an MCB-1 module is required. A model cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Music Quest
Opcode Systems, Inc. was founded in 1985 by Dave Oppenheim and based in and around Palo Alto, California, USA. Opcode produced MIDI sequencing software for the classic Mac OS and Microsoft Windows, which would later include digital audio capabilities, as well as audio and MIDI hardware interfaces. Opcode's MIDIMAC sequencer, launched in 1986, was one of the first commercially available MIDI sequencers for the Macintosh. History In 1985, Stanford University graduate Dave Oppenheim founded Opcode. Dave was the majority partner, focusing on Research & Development, with Gary Briber the minority partner focusing on Sales & Marketing. Paul J. de Benedictis joined the company to write product manuals, test products and demo the products after meeting Ray Spears in San Francisco while he was printing the beta manual for MIDIMAC Sequencer v1.0. The products were announced at the New Orleans Summer NAMM (June 22–25) (after which Apple objected to the name) and, according to composer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Micro Channel Architecture
Micro Channel architecture, or the Micro Channel bus, is a proprietary hardware, proprietary 16-bit computing, 16- or 32-bit computing, 32-bit parallel communication, parallel computer bus (computing), bus publicly introduced by IBM in 1987 which was used on IBM PS/2, PS/2 and other computers until the mid-1990s. Its name is commonly abbreviated as "MCA", although not by IBM. In IBM products, it superseded the Industry Standard Architecture, ISA bus and was itself subsequently superseded by the Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI bus architecture. Background The development of Micro Channel was driven by both technical and business pressures. Technology The IBM AT bus, which later became known as the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, had a number of technical design limitations, including: * A slow bus speed. * A limited number of interrupts, fixed in hardware. * A limited number of I/O device addresses, also fixed in hardware. * Hardwired and complex configur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has factories in Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. As of December 2022, it employed 2,783 people. In 2014, it was subject to a management buyout by its CEO, Junichi Miki, supported by Taiyo Pacific Partners. Roland has manufactured numerous instruments that have had lasting impacts on music, such as the Juno-106 synthesizer, TB-303 bass synthesizer, and TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines. It was also instrumental in the development of MIDI, a standardized means of synchronizing electronic instruments manufactured by different companies. In 2016, ''Fact'' wrote that Roland had arguably had more influence on electronic music than any other company. History Background Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi had founded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
FM Towns
The is a Japanese personal computer built by Fujitsu from 1989 to 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. In 1993, the FM Towns Marty was released; it is a game console compatible with existing FM Towns games. The "FM" part of the name means "Fujitsu Micro" like their earlier products, while the "Towns" part is derived from the code name the system was assigned while in development, "Townes". This refers to Charles Townes, one of the winners of the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics, following a custom of Fujitsu at the time to code name PC products after Nobel Prize winners. The e in "Townes" was dropped when the system went into production to make it clearer that the term was to be pronounced like the word "towns" rather than the potential "tow-nes". History Fujitsu decided to release a new home computer after the FM-7 was technologically overcome by NEC's PC- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
