The IBM Music Feature Card (simply referred to as the IBM PC 'Music Feature' by IBM) and sometimes abbreviated as the IBM MFC, or just IMFC) is a professional-level sound card for the
PC, and used the 8-bit
ISA bus. The card made use of the
Yamaha YM2164 chip which produces sound and music via
FM synthesis
Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. The (instantaneous) frequency of an oscillator is altered in accordance wi ...
.
It was introduced in 1987 by
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
, and originally oriented towards composers and musicians.
In the late 80's, sound was becoming the norm in computer games and as such, video game companies started supporting sound cards in their products. In the case of the IBM Music Feature Card,
Sierra and
MicroProse
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and video game developer, developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization (series), Civilizat ...
were the main companies who showed support.
The IBM Music Feature Card failed to gain much traction, mainly because of its high retail price , and aggressive, superior competition by Roland with the internal
LAPC-I (and
MT-32 external sound module equivalent).
Some games fully support the IMFC, including ''
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella,'' ''
Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)'', ''
Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals'', ''
Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon'' and ''
Silpheed''.
See also
*
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...
*
Sound card
A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term ''sound card'' is also applied to external audio ...
*
Sierra Online
*
Roland LAPC-I,
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 ...
and
MT-32
References
External links
IBM Music Feature store demonstration software(YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:IBM Music Feature Card
Sound cards
Music Feature Card