Originally Posted by Uncle Dave: Ryan,
I'm going to try and find you an "outrageous" deal on a keyboard - how much do you think you can afford to spend, and what are the MOST important things you need ? ..... Psst! I've been known to work miracles !

First of all, thank you so much Uncle Dave for this generous offer! When I heard that you were going to try to find me an "outrageous" deal, I was very surprised and excited! But, first, I want to tell you some things about my family's situation...

I have a wonderful family, two brothers, one is my twin and his name is Robby and one is my older brother and his name is Ricky; and a wonderful, devoted Mom named Shawn. I want to tell you my situation so you are aware of not only the financial problems that my family has, but other things as well. With this all said, my family is wonderful and I love them so much. However, my Mom, Shawn, and my twin brother Robby have been very sick for the past few years. Around two years ago, my Mom became very ill. As she became ill, she suffered from seizures and other various symptoms ranging from lack of coordination to headaches, nausea, etc. We are very lucky that we did not lose her and I am thankful everyday that she is alive. With this, the seizures and illness caused neurological damage, where my Mom still has problems to this very day. She suffers from neurological damage that effects most of her body along with other symptoms, like breathing problems, chronic fatigue, extreme weakness, and more, like stiffness in the arms and legs. She still suffers from seizures and has problems with coordination and doctors are not exactly sure what is wrong with her. Until she was struck with this terrible illness, my Mom was supporting our family all alone as a single parent, devoting her time and love to our family in every way possible. She is the best Mom in the entire world. Now, since she suffers from these everyday symptoms, she cannot support our family financially. That is why we have money problems, but we have somehow been provided for by a miracle and have stuck together. So, basically, with all these symptoms, my Mom still has to support an entire family, paying bills, dealing with money problems that we encounter, and so forth.

On top of this, my twin, Robby, also became sick near the time my Mom became sick. This illness was obviously contagious to some extent. He was effected differently, though, with constant neck pains, very frequent migraines, chronic fatigue, and more. He was enlisted into the local hospital because of an extremely painful migraine and neck pain. When the hospital could not do more, he was sent to another hospital for assistance. To make a long and enduring story short, the hospitals basically could do nothing, so we brought him home and he got his rest for about a month until the pain was reduced. These were awful incidents for our family to endure and we will never forget it, because we came close to losing my twin and my Mom. Still, two to three years later, my brother has that same neck pain everyday and has frequent migraines, along with the chronic fatigue and aches and pains. It is hard for him, as for the same with my Mom, to do the simplest of activities, like take a walk around the block or go to the grocery store.

My older brother, Ricky, and I are healthy and capable of helping out our family. It is VERY hard on our family, especially with having to deal with money problems and keeping up on our bills. Our journey has not been easy and I pray that my twin and Mom will be healed someday.

So, now that you have an idea of why my family and I have no money, I'll go ahead and answer some of your questions - thanks for taking the time to listen to my family's story (I tried to keep it as short as possible).

Again, thanks for offering this outrageous deal. You said you wanted to know about how much money I could spend on a keyboard? Well, to tell you the truth, with our situation, I have no idea. We have no money and are blessed enough to have the necessities that we have. So, I do not know how much money we could even spend, but I would be glad to talk about this over e-mail or through this forum.

About the most important things I need for a keyboard: First of all, the keyboard is not only for me, but for my brothers too! They love music as well and we have all dreamed about getting a keyboard someday that will meet our needs. But just because we do not have the money for a keyboard does not mean we want to have a cheap keyboard that lacks the features that we need. I know many people agree with that statement, but we would be happy with any keyboard that would meet our needs, of course ! I would want a keyboard similar to that of the PSR740 or PSR2000. Those keyboards impress me very much...I do not mind having a synthesizer either where you can edit the voices. But definite requirements for a keyboard are:

-No less than 61 keys
-Good sound quality!!!
-At least 64 notes of polyphony
-Lots of voices, like the 700+ voices of the PSR2000, including drums and drum rhythm
-We need definitely a 16 track sequencer
-Floppy Disk Drive
-Controllers, like pitch bend wheel, modulation wheel
-Various Connections, like MIDI connections to a Computer or MIDI program on a computer
-Would like the convenience of a LCD Display
-Would like for the keyboard to be expandable

Well, those are the things we would like to have on our keyboard! I really, really appreciate your offer and thank you for taking out the time to listen to this post! I really appreciate this and feel free to contact me by my e-mail so we can discuss this further. You can reach me at:

composerryancontact@yahoo.com

Thanks a lot, Uncle Dave, for the help! I look forward to hearing from you soon! See you around on the forum and have a nice day,
Ryan

Ok - first things first. I'm assuming that you have at least a "working" computer, right? (or do you use the library, or other means)
If yes - then maybe we can use part of the 'puter as the start of the sound system and such. Answer me these q's and we'll take the next step.

Can we expect that your home pc can do these jobs? (to SOME extent?)
-At least 64 notes of polyphony - YES
-Lots of voices, including drums and drum rhythm - YES
-We need a 16 track sequencer - YES
-Floppy Disk Drive - YES
-MIDI connections to a Computer or MIDI program on a computer - YES
-keyboard to be expandable - YES


If we can utilize your pc for these tasks, maybe we can incorporate a controller of some sort to get you started, while you sock away your pennies for a better system, later.
To encompass these next features - I'm sure SOMETHING can do the job in a 100-200 price range.
-No less than 61 keys
-Controllers, like pitch bend wheel, modulation wheel
-Good sound quality!!!
**(even though the pc will be used as well)
-Would like the convenience of a LCD Display

I have a few ideas already about some options for you, but need to know if the computer is available for your music as well as general family use. I admire your strength in sharing your family's difficult times with us. It's never easy to air our dirty laundry, but we're all here to help you. I'm pretty good at horse trading, and I have lots of things I don't use anymore, so I'm trying to make a package for you to get started with. I don't want you to get the wrong idea - this is not a pity case ... I just want to help, if I can. Charity can also begin on the net!

Ryan,
Since this post i have been contacted by certain members of this forum who have offered financial aid to this cause. I am feeling the glow of humanity as this wonderful outpouring has started. With the help of your friends here at the forum, I WILL get you a keyboard at the LEAST possible price. Count on it.
Anyone that would like to lend a hand - please comtact me via email - we will keep this confidential, and private!

Thanks Uncle Dave and everyone who has contributed! I truly, from the bottom of my heart, appreciate all of your efforts...thank you so much!

I am shocked that the members of this forum community are actually pulling together to help...and I don't even know who they are since they have done it privately! That is so amazing and it truly touches me to see this kind of care, kindness, and devotion towards one another! I am glad that you are trying to find me a keyboard, Uncle Dave and everyone, instead of a computer-based-setup, because I know that my family's computer cannot be used for this reason since it is so low in system resources, etc. So, I was VERY surprised to see that the members of this forum actually contributed their money...I am speechless! I realize how fortunate I am to be a part of this forum.

Remember, feel free to contact me by my e-mail at:

composerryancontact@yahoo.com

Thank you everybody! This really amazes me...see you all around on the forum and have a nice day!
Ryan



[This message has been edited by ComposerRyan (edited 02-07-2002).]

This place is soooooo cool. We're gonna tighten you right up, Ry ! Give me a few more days to see where we're at with resources. We get you started right.
Many thanx to all the "doners" ! I am so touched by the many, many generous offers.

Wow! After reading about your situation, my emotions are trying to multitask big-time!

Here’s something you may want to try to tide you over until Uncle Dave and the other generous members of this forum can get a system together for you.

Go to Myriad Software’s Web site. This is a French company created and run by two brilliant brothers (the Guillion Brothers) who are outstanding musicians and programmers. They make several pieces of software, all of which you can download free limited-functionality versions of off of the site. All of their software is available for Mac OS 8, 9, and X, as well as all modern versions of Windows.

Melody Assistant and Harmony Assistant are the two main music programs. Harmony does everything that Melody does, and then some. Even so, it lists for only $68. Melody is only $15! Those were not typos: I did not forget any digits!

Both include their own software synthesizer so you’re not dependent on the sound quality of the MIDI part of your PC sound card, though you can use that, too, and even combine them (have some tracks played by the Myriad softsynth, and some by the PC MIDI, and even some by external MIDI devices such as that keyboard Uncle Dave is gonna get you such a great deal on). Both will allow MIDI input, so once you have the keyboard, you can use it for music entry. But both will also work just fine with no music keyboard at all! You can use the mouse and/or computer keyboard for note entry. Back to the Myriad soft-synth: three GM and GS-compatible soundbases are available: a “lite” one that comes with the program to get you started, and two larger ones available for free on the Web site and on CD (respectively — but that one also can be downloaded from another site, with the Guillion Brothers’ full blessings) to improve the sound quality. And yes, you can “roll your own” and modify existing instruments or record your own multi-sampled instruments! It also has a powerful digital effects capability, with Reverbs, Distortions, Flanging, Delays, Choruses, etc., all parametrically controllable to your heart’s content!

The sheer power of even Melody Assistant is mind-boggling. It does notation (not quite engraver quality, but good enough for casual use), including the ability to export scores as Macintosh PICTs, Windows WMF/EMF, .EPS (PostScript), etc. for incorporation into graphics and page layout software! It can export its audio playback as .WAV, .AIFF, or even .MP3, right from the program with no need for an external MP3 encoder software! And, of course, it can export standard Type 0 or 1 SMF MIDI files, as well as .KARaoke and .ABC and other common karaoke formats.

The demo version even allows you to save your work! It has limited export capabilities, and printouts will have a watermark placed over them until you register the software. It also won’t allow you to enter time or key signature changes, but you can use other MIDI software to set up a file with the appropriate signature changes and import that. Of course all such limitations go away when you do register.

It has an incredible variety of musical notation capabilities, including being able to do both chord grids and tablatures for nearly every stringed instrument imaginable (including dozens of guitar tunings beyond the usual EADGBE), etc. It knows how to do Gregorian chant notation! It knows how to handle transposing instruments such as Bb Trumpet. It can mix audio recording in with the generated music, in multiple tracks, so, yes, you and your brothers can sing to your music and record the results (and the whole thing can be exported to .MP3, etc.)!

Or, you can let it do its own singing! Virtual Singer is an add-on module to either Melody or Harmony that costs $15, but a demo version comes with both programs. The only limit of the demo is that it will only generate a certain (generous) amount of synthesized vocals per session of the progam and once that runs out, all you have to do is quit the program and re-launch it to reset the counter to 100%. Virtual Singer will actually sing the lyrics on staves with lyrics, using synthesized voices that you can do incredible control over in terms of the tonality of the voice, the way it does vibrato, scooping, sliding, virtual Choir size, etc., human-like inaccuracies in note timing, pitch, etc.. All this in several languages, including both UK and US accents of English! You can even have multiple singers at once! You can let it deduce the pronunciation of syllables using its own text-to-speech (which usually does a quite good job), or specify your own pronunciation either with phonetic spelling or by using SAMPA notation (like the International Phonetic Alphabet but using only the ASCII character set) without affecting how the lyrics print or show up on the screen or in karaoke software. You can position each of your Virtual Singers on a “stage” to control where they sound in the stereo field and how loud or soft they are compared to other Singers.

The latest version, 2.0, includes Real Singer technology, which adds the ability to analyze a real human voice (from microphone input of the desired person speaking each of the available phonemes of the desired language[s]), and generates a new voice from that that can be used like any other Virtual Singer voice! You and your brothers can use your own voices to set up Real Singer, and be able to hear somewhat how a new musical creation of yours will sound even before you get together to sing it!

Melody also supports Alternative Tunings, so you can experiment with scale-based Just Intonation, Horntones, and other tunings beyond the usual 12-tone Even Tempered scale.

Harmony does all of this (including the ability to host Virtual Singer), plus the ability to edit in Page Layout mode (so you see the music how it will print even as you edit it), Engraver mode (better spacing of notes for quality sheet music printouts), plus has its own chord-based accompaniment features similar to the auto-accompaniment sections of the sort of arranger workstation keyboards discussed in this Forum! It has a variety of styles and you can make your own! It will even auto-detect the chords based on the notes you enter (by any means) or play on a keyboard, or even import from a MIDI file or some such, so you can quickly and easily overlay auto-accompaniment to an existing composition! You can also manually override any auto-detected chords as you see fit.

The demo version of Harmony, unlike Melody, does not enable you to save your work. It is not a shareware program, as Melody is. Both use the same file formats, so a song created in Melody can be used in Harmony, and vice-versa.

Another add-on program for both Melody and Harmony is OMeR, which is basically OCR for sheet music. If you have a scanner, you can actually scan in sheet music and OMeR will output special music files for Melody / Harmony. This too costs $15, and its demo version restriction is that any file made by the demo version of OmER can be viewed and played, but not changed, in even a registered version of Melody or Harmony. Of all the Myriad software that I’ve tried, this is the only one I’ve been significantly disappointed in. The accuracy is not really good enough to be useful, at least in my experience. Your source sheet music must be absolutely clean and pristine for best results (and don’t even think about using it to scan some sheet music someone FAXed you!) and even then the accuracy isn’t all that great.

A free Netscape-style Web plugin lets you post sheet music made by Myriad software on your Web site, where other people can see and hear it in all its glory, including with Virtual Singer, without having to have the software, and without having to download megabytes of MP3 or other audio. Even with Virtual Singer staves, a typical .MUS file is only a few tens of kilobytes long! (Files with digitally recorded audio tracks and/or custom-sampled instruments will, of course, be longer.)

When you go to the Web site, first download “Download Assistant,” which is an automatic download utility specifically for their software. It is very small and will download very quickly, and then handle the download and installation of any of their other software, including the ability to resume an interrupted download from where it left off. All this without installing ad-displaying, privacy-violating, and system-destablizing hidden SpyWare like GetRight, GoZilla!, Netscape Download, RealDownload, etc. all do.

I think the Myriad software would be a great and inexpensive way for you to get started.

[This message has been edited by COMALite J (edited 02-07-2002).]

Uncle Dave, you are right, this place is VERY cool! I have learned a lot here at this forum and I thank everyone who has contributed out here on the forums! I also want to thank all those who are contributing to the keyboard that Uncle Dave is planning on buying for me...I am deeply touched! This really means a lot to me and I realize how fortunate I am.

Also, Uncle Dave, just to let you know, I got your e-mail and I replied to you - so you might want to check out your e-mail. Thanks for contacting me, I really appreciate that!

Thanks COMALite J for the lengthy post! I really appreciate that. Thank you for reading my family's story too, that means a lot to me. Your post was very detailed and thank you for that URL! I really appreciate that information. I checked out the various programs and will be sure to go back there and check it again! Those programs sound very interesting, especially the ones that imitate human voices. I also like how they do not rely on the computer's soundcard, but instead have their own software synthesizer, that is very convienent. Again, I'll be sure to go back to that URL and check it out! Thanks a lot!

Well, thanks everyone for your contributions. I want you to know that I will NEVER take advantage of this wonderful opportunity that you all are giving me...I realize how fortunate I am! See you all around and have a nice day,
Ryan

Comalite,
Haven't heard from you in a while, and we are in the same "town". I would very much like for you to try and make some edits to the harmonizer on my PSR2000.
I'll email you and perhaps we can get together soon.
DonM

Don, I’d love to get together. Last Saturday our Barbershop Chorus (the River Cities Jubilee) sang on a float in the Krewe of Centaur Mardi Gras Parade. This Sunday, my Barbershp Quartet (name we had chosen is taken, so no official name yet) will ride in the Krewe of Highland (a small neighborhood Krewe) Parade, and sing at the Highland neighborhood party at Columbia Park after the parade. Parade starts at 2:00 Sunday. Also, I sing in a Church choir for a Stake Conference the very same Sunday morning, so I’m a bit busy this weekend. :-)


Ryan, I envy you your ability to compose music. I am very left-brained, and so, while I can very easily learn all the ins and outs and features of any musical technology or software, including arranger workstations, and can play just about any song I’ve ever heard, I cannot make up so much as a chord sequence of my own. It fascinates me that people can actually do that!

Anyway, let me know how the Myriad software works out for you. Check out the Web board there — the Guillion Bros. themselves, as well as many very knowledgable users, provide excellent support there (try getting support directly from the actual authors of the software for any of most multi-hundreds of dollars music program such as CakeWalk, CuBase, Sonar, SmartScore, Finale, Sibelius, etc. etc. etc.! Even if you could, such a level of support would cost way extra [and have to be renewed periodically!], above and beyond the already-expensive price of such programs!). There is also a Democratic Workshop where you can vote on features other users have suggested for future versions of the programs, or even suggest new features of your own for users to vote on! (I am myself working on designing several features to facilitate true chord-based Just Intonation, as is required for Barbershop music. Already the software lets me do that sort of thing manually, but I’m hoping to help the Guillions get it to do so automatically!)Again, I don’t see many of the “big boys” doing that!

In the interests of putting appropriate info in appropriate Forums, we should probably take any further discussion of Myriad or other software to the PC and Mac Software forums here.