music mouse - a unique application - creative composers must give this a try!

[supernova777]

http://www.musicmouse.com/
for atari + macintosh + amiga



http://www.musicmouse.com/mm_manual/mouse_manual.html

What Music Mouse Is

Music Mouse differs from other music programs currently available for small computers in that it is not designed for the storage, editing, and replay of musical compositions using keyboards or involving notation. Instead, it turns the computer itself into a musical instrument which you can play.

Unlike traditional musical instruments, however, Music Mouse doesn't require years of practice, or knowledge of music theory or notation. It has a variety of options built into it for harmony and melodic patterning, freeing its player to focus on the movement of melodic lines, the shape and density of their elaboration, their electronic "orchestration", and on the overall form and expressive content of the music itself. It is a controller program designed to let your computer function either as a stand-alone musical instrument, using Macintosh Internal Sound, or as a control interface for MIDI synthesizers, or both.

Though a great deal of attention has been given in recent years to the sonic side of instrument invention, and much variety and wonderful stuff has become available for audio synthesis, there are still very few alternatives for the other half of what we consider a musical instrument to be. That "other half" consists of the structures an instrument provides by which we can interact to control the sounds it makes in musically expressive ways. A musical instrument consists of not only a unique characteristic type of sound, but also of a unique "human interface" to that sound.

A keyboard gives a lot of freedom, but it also has its limitations and aesthetic biases. So does each instrument in its own way. Music Mouse is no different in this regard. It has its limitations and biases, its personal strengths and weaknesses. Within its realm of possibilities, however, there is room for an infinite variety of individual player's own statements -- your personal sensitivities and ideas, and orchestrated with the endless variety of sounds for which this interface can provide control.

What's Been Said About "Music Mouse"?

pawprint bullet
MacUser Magazine - "5 Mice. Music Mouse is a music program in a genre all its own. Called an "intelligent instrument", Music Mouse gives you instant musical feedback as you move the mouse and type on the keyboard, which controls tempo, vibrato, volume, etc. One of the more innovative music programs available for any personal computer... Immediately immerses you in the act of making music."

"Music Mouse is the kind of application that leaves you feeling completely charmed... it turns your Mac into a unique musical instrument... Most of you will call it just plain fun. This is a music program unlike any other ever written for personal computers. Music Mouse is computer-assisted improvisation, automating parts of the improvisation process, leaving you free to shape and direct the flow of the music... You can play slow, arching melodies with rich harmonic accompaniment. Or you can play glittering, shimmering textures with rapidly cascading inner patterns. The Music Mouse helps you express yourself."

pawprint bullet MacWorld Magazine - "Music Mouse is hard to describe. It is sort of a synthesizer with intelligence... you have considerable power to shape the music by setting some simple parameters. You can set patterns in motion, strike harmonies, and create all sorts of highly evocative phrases. What comes out often resembles film soundtracks, for movies that cound be anything from moody romances to spine-chilling horror flicks... a blow against "tyranny" in the music establishment... more than a musical tool. In fact, the program is so powerful that it goes beyond categorization... easy to use... at the same time... an intricate musical composition aid..."

pawprint bullet Byte Magazine - "Music Mouse takes an approach to making music that is similar to Mathematica's approach to manipulating mathematics: Neither requires you to be an expert in the field to make good use of it... It's difficult for me to explain how Music Mouse works since it's such a visceral experience... While the effect and action are hard to describe, the results are stunning... The Music Mouse can be used by first-time and professional musicians. If you're a novice, it's fun to explore..."

pawprint bullet Sing Out! Magazine (in Pete Seeger's "Appleseeds" column) - "NYC composer Laurie Spiegel has developed a floppy disc called Music Mouse for computer nuts who like to try "composing music" with the sophisticated sounds and prepared notes she gives them. The Copyright Office in Washington doesn't know what to do with her. She believes the information revolution will overthrow the intellectual property system and foresees a day when computer pieces will be like folksongs, anonymous common property to be altered by each new user. She would like to get music out of the concert hall and back into the living room."

pawprint bullet The Village Voice - "Everyone has the same initial reaction to Music Mouse... I tapped the mouse and jumped when brilliant harpsichord-tinged, string orchestra sonorities burst from the synthesizer... I switched to the piano setting and mellowed into a perfect Keith Jarrett imitation; selected an atonal palette and pulled off a plausible late-Ligeti etude; punched in some gamelan sounds and automated my own Lou Harrison concerto. You're power-crazed on your first encounter, then you realize you have to slow down and get subtle to coax from Music Mouse your own personalized composition... Music Mouse is designed to provide flexibility of style, from New Age prettiness to atonal Viennese angst." (in Kyle Gann's column)

pawprint bullet Keyboard Magazine - "The product of desire to move sounds intuitively ... Music Mouse is not a sequencer, but rather a mouse-driven music generator ... equally useful to trained musicians and rank amateurs. This program will help you explore and develope modal compositions, and then let you carry those ideas far beyond the capabilities of your ten fingers. Has performance controls that allow you to change almost every aspect of the music you produce... You can really get some great progressions ... crank up the tempo so fast that individual notes become indescernable ... produce really nice simulated filter sweeps and other timbral changes. This is more than a toy. Whether you're using it as your only musical tool for experimental things or creating background washes for more traditional music, this product is definitely worth $_____ of your Earth dollars."

pawprint bullet Musician Magazine - "So original and so cheap ... sophisticated contrapuntal compositions in real time ... an intuitive composing machine ... making really usable evocative music. Some of our non-keyboard-playing readers would kill for a program like this."

pawprint bullet MSC (Music, Computers, and Software) Magazine "A complete software-based, thinking musical instrument - a unique piece of software ... that applies the theory of Expert Systems. Given the basis of harmonic and melodic theory contained in the program's algorithms, any user can sound accomplished almost immediately . For synthesists who have little or no keyboard chops, classroom application and change of pace appeal for [professionals]. Really takes advantage of the computer's logic capability ... provides a totally different method of sonic creation. Besides, it's just plain fun."

pawprint bullet MACazine - "Might qualify as my choice of Music Product of the Year. The Mac can now be a live performance instrument that is totally unique. One of Spiegel's goals in creating Music Mouse was to free the performer from traditional problems of performance technique so that inspiration and musical spontaneity could be unleashed. To a large extent she has succeeded."

pawprint bullet Electronic Musician Magazine - "This is 'intelligent' software for the Mac that creates its own harmonic and melodic accompaniments according to mouse movements ... in the hands of a good player, very impressive."

pawprint bullet Wendy Carlos, in Keyboard - "Music Mouse is a positive step away from mechanized music. It's not automation at all. I hope to see more of this kind of thing."

pawprint bullet Boston Phoenix Audio Supplement - "Created by Laurie Spiegel, a New York composer and one of the pioneers of computer music, a real-time performance instrument .. controls melody and harmony in a highly interactive fashion. It's not a conventional music program by any means ... an awful lot of fun ... capable of some astonishing effects ... represents an extreme in the movement away from keyboard controlled electronic music."

pawprint bullet EAR Magazine - "Music Mouse charts a unique course in music software ... a unique program and cannot be compared with anything currently available ... a great program for immediate gratification ... designed to foster the exploration / discovery approach to music rather than the theoretical / analytical approach. The documentation is simple and easy to understand. Music Mouse is a composition, a game, educational, and could have interesting professional applications."

pawprint bullet SCAN (Small Computers in the Arts Network) Reviews - "Leaving behind most of the formalized conventions of music and striking out into interesting and relatively unexplored territory ... many obstacles to musical creativity have been eliminated ... making it possible for both unrealized and active musicians to approach a new instrument with the same advantages and limitations ... there is no real limit to the possibilities for creativity ... satisfying results almost immediately ... not only raw information processing power but distilled personalized intelligence ... good work."

pawprint bullet International MIDI Association Bulletin - "Music Mouse puts the joy of performing back into sophisticated computer-generated MIDI performance."

pawprint bullet PC Computing Magazine - "...a delightful program... Music Mouse requires no musical keyboard, little musical knowledge, and almost no knowledge of MIDI technology. Despite its relative simplicity, Music Mouse can produce a surprising range of musical effects - and it gives appealing results almost instantly. Getting started is a snap... grand gestures involving many note events can be accomplished with little effort. Music Mouse was originally written for the Macintosh. It's now available for the Amiga... An Atari version is in the works too, but the IBM-compatible world appears shut out for the foreseeable future."

Music Mouse Specifications
All Versions -

High Level Realtime Musical Controls:

    Chromatic, diatonic, pentatonic, middle eastern, octatonic, and quartal harmony
    Transposition, and interval of transposition controls for harmonic modulation
    Parallel and contrary motion, voicing, and grouping switches
    Loudness and tempo faders
    4 rhythmic treatments: chord, arpeggio, line, and "improvisational"
    Mute / Punch In keys for each of the 4 voices. Global sound on/off
    Staccato / Legato /Half-Legato switch keys
    Display user input (mouse position) or musical output (notes being played)
    10 preset melodic-harmonic patterns, with realtime adaptatation to harmony type, scale degree, transposition, voicing, and tonal or modal inversion

Realtime MIDI Controls (via keyboard faders):

    Velocity
    Preset (sound number) Control
    Global Channel Loudness
    Portamento Rate
    Breath Controller
    Aftertouch
    Modwheel
    Foot Controller

Atari ST and Macintosh Versions Only -

    User selectable MIDI output channels
    MIDI Through (MIDI Merge for live input from an external source)
    Realtime on-screen diplay of all values

Amiga Version Only -

    Uses any IFF sampled sound, with realtime control of looping and envelope decay
    Uses Amiga Standard IFF sampled sound format, compatable with all Amiga samplers
    Plays up to 4 different sampled sounds at once
    Envelope on/off switch and Decay Rate Faders
    Sound cycling
    Microtonal pitch space and mouse-controlled pitchbend
    2 graphical drawing modes plus 2 note display options
    Independent RGB color intensity fader control for each of the 8 screen colors
    Color cycling
    Color inversion
    External video can be genlocked and keyed into screen background
    Key repeat rate controls (for fader response time and keyboard switch oscillation rates)
    Can be run simultaneously with other Amiga music programs, such as sequencers or notation programs, or with other copies of itself under Amiga multi-tasking

Note: The Macintosh and Amiga versions work with either MIDI or the computer's built in audio. Atari ST version works with MIDI only. All Music Mouse controls are completely realtime interactive and random-access available from the computer's alphanumeric keyboard.

Also Note: There have been so many new Macs, I strongly suggest downloading the demo to ascertain compatibility with your configuration.

MM FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about Music Mouse
What about PC?
This is probably the most frequently asked question about Music Mouse. Music Mouse is for Macintosh, Amiga and Atari ST only. It is not available for PC-Wintel computers. However a reliable source has shown that Music Mouse for Atari can be run on PCs within the STEEM Atari emulator. I don't know if it would run in any Mac emulators for PC, so please let me know if you try that or find additional emulators that work with any versions of Music Mouse.

Note: The Atari version of Music Mouse is identical to the last Macintosh OS 9 version except that due to the Atari computers' lack of internally synthesized sound it outputs MIDI data only. For instructions on running Music Mouse on a PC in the STEEM Atari emulator, please see these pages on Tim Conrardy's wonderful Atari MIDI website:

Tim's Atari MIDI World
Atari Music Mouse
The STEem Engine Atari Emulator for PC
Is Music Mouse still available, and what is the current version?
In general, the Music Mouse upgrades of recent years did not include new features, but mainly just modifications so that the program would remain compatible with changes in Macintosh hardware and System software. The Atari and Amiga versions of Music Mouse have not been upgraded since the discontinuation of their respective host computers, but they both still run fine. They are available until the existing supply of packages runs out, and after that if there is still demand for them.
How do I get it?
A demo of the current Macintosh version (v. 2.1.2) can be downloaded from my website. After you try it and you know that it runs satisfactorily with your configuration, you can buy/register for the non-demo version of the update on my web registration page.
What is the difference between the demo and "full version"?
The difference between the demo and the full version is that the demo will only run for about 5 minutes before the program quits. The non-demo runs indefinitely and includes digital versions of the manual and keyboard map.
How do I get output on a USB Macintosh?
If you are using the Mac's internal sound, just select "QuickTime" on MM's "Output" menu. If you are using a MIDI interface on a "Stealth Serial Port", Music Mouse will write to that port with no problem. If you are using MIDI via a USB port, I plan to but have not found the time to do an update that either uses OMS'd drivers or outputs to the USB bus. In this case you can still get MIDI output from Music Mouse by selecting "QuickTime" on Music Mouse's "Output" menu, and then using the QuickTime Setup Control Panel and/or OMS Setup to select MIDI output or whatever driver type is appropriate for your system.

Important Note: It appears that QuickTime seems to require that OMS be installed in order to recognize any external MIDI ports. Somehow this is not documented anywhere that it should be. Even if you have FreeMIDI (www.motu.com) installed, which is still be supported while OMS is no longer supported, QT will not find external MIDI hardware.

The current version is 2.3.8. Run the installer then do the setup. Avoid using the OMS control panel ("OMS Preferred Device"), which crashed for me (Mac OS 9.1). But the "OMS Setup" program seems to work ok.
With which Atari models is Music Music compatible?
Music Mouse for Atari runs on ALL Atari Platforms:

    ST
    STE
    TT030
    Falcon

Is there a demo of the Atari version?
There is currently no available demo of the Atari version of Music Mouse, but it is is identical in function to the Mac version, so if you have a willing/interested friend with a Mac, download the Mac demo to see if you like the program.
How much does Music Mouse cost?
The current price of the full program with instruction manual, tutorial and keyboard map is $29 for any of the 3 "breeds" (Mac, Atari, Amiga). An update costs $14. I send the Mac version by email and the other versions by airmail, as soon as kagi.com, who process the payments, email me that an order has been received.

Thanks for your continuing interest and support for the little music rodent!