Also mentioned:Atari Gamer Magazine

The Von Braun · Post by **The Von Braun** » 25/12/2013 - 22:15

http://www.retrovideogamer.co.uk/index.php?topic=3178.0

Must be a few ex-Atari 8 Bit (and current?) owners on here, plus other 'Retro' sytstems.Thought you might like to check out a few digital magazines that have tried to give coverage to games and systems the mainstream media sadly seem to ignore

Chris Abbott · Post by **Chris Abbott** » 25/12/2013 - 23:11

I'm the main one I know of... fond memories! Even had a MIDI interface and sequencer, handcrafted in Milton Keynes!

Commie_User · Post by **Commie_User** » 26/12/2013 - 1:03

Well I've always enjoyed the landmark charms of the 2600, if that counts. And I made my stack of samples to prove it: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9109

(Could try this guy's as well: http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/ ... mple-pack/ )

There are some good links there.

How about a short article on your own Atari MIDI adventures Chris? I reckon we'd see some lovely curiosities unearthed, especially ones nobody else mentions, with lots of lovely pictures.

And for the ST, I think I'll take my chance to bore the guys all over again with my own misadventures: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8455

Though, I'm much more of a dilettante. I've only wanted it for a few games and some little jobs I didn't want to tie the PC up with. Great fun all the same.

The Von Braun · Post by **The Von Braun** » 26/12/2013 - 10:11

All Atari love is welcome (ex-2600 owner myself as well).The A8 magazine basically trying to adress the gulf that has been lack of proper A8 coverage for years in likes of Retro Gamer Magazine, Gamestm, Edge etc, where A8 version of a game would never seem to be mentioned.Situation improved with RG somewhat thanks to likes of TMR covering Homebrew and The Laird's passionate Atari coverage along with Marty G's work, but still long road to travel.

The Von Braun · Post by **The Von Braun** » 26/12/2013 - 10:14

Would love to hear other tales, that MIDI stuff sounds like just the ticket, going to check out commieusers link as well in a moment.

Greyfox also has a superb Coin-Op guide book done, but just needs to sort out publishing and his next (digital) book project will be based on the ST, so if anyones interested, why not drop him an email, see if he's looking for any ST articles?.

Chris Abbott · Post by **Chris Abbott** » 26/12/2013 - 17:00

I don't have a photo, but I almost certainly got the chap's details out of one of the Atari magazines around at the time (1986, I think). It was a simple MIDI interface with a real-time sequencer with limited loop and step-time capability but no staff view. I did quite a lot of stuff on it, which went out through my main synth at the time, the Casio CZ101.

The Atari 800XL and interface concerned went to my brother Pete who sold it on, so I have very little to show for it other than a WAV. The chap doing the interface was very nice. I bought the interface about a week or two before he dropped the price, but he sent me a refund anyway. I loved that little setup...

Chris

Commie_User · Post by **Commie_User** » 26/12/2013 - 18:43

It's certainly a pity that there aren't enough home studio photos floating around. I think people considered it a waste of film snapping anything but the absolute vitals in life, like family and holidays. But you do get genuine slices of everyday life with pictures that just seemed random at the time.

And that guy seemed as gold as gold Chris. Good to see you got exactly what you needed for such a system nobody planned studio duties for. You feel a bit of 'Christmas morning magic' doing something 'proper' with a games machine.

Chris Abbott · Post by **Chris Abbott** » 26/12/2013 - 20:52

I'll tell you what: the Atari 800XL had absolutely rock-solid MIDI timing: something you could never say about the C64, no matter what interface you had (I had a Datel which plugged into the top of the FM Expander cartridge which came with a sequencer and extra demo tunes on the disk version.

Commie_User · Post by **Commie_User** » 27/12/2013 - 0:07

I thought only Datel's own deals came bundled together.

...something you could never say about the C64...

[Sharp, shocked intake of breath] No, don't say that! Mind you, what kind of timing drifts are we talking about here? Enough to knacker even human playing?

And I know Instant Music did pretty well, unless both SID and MIDI had too much to do at once. But boy, did that sound even more human!

Ah, at last something on Instant Music I didn't write!

Which programs did you have? Just a sequencer or were there other nice things too?

Chris Abbott · Post by **Chris Abbott** » 27/12/2013 - 0:27

On the Atari you could rely on the MIDI signals being transmitted at the time they were supposed to be. The C64's ports weren't as accurate, for some reason. Probably dodgier engineering!

Analog-X64 · Post by **Analog-X64** » 27/12/2013 - 13:23

I made both of these tracks in the 90's using my Atari 1040ST + EDIT Track gold + Real synth gear which included the Roland W-30 Sampling keyboard as the keyboard controller.

The midi on the Atari 1040ST was solid, no latency issues that I can remember.

Switching to PC at that time was disappointing.

Chris Abbott · Post by **Chris Abbott** » 27/12/2013 - 13:47

Yeah, the Atari ST's built in MIDI was also rock-solid: it had to be since it was so much of a studio workhorse...

Commie_User · Post by **Commie_User** » 27/12/2013 - 14:03

Mind you, speaking for myself (and the poor Commie now tattered in the winds of this debate), I can't say I noticed MIDI slips in basic I/O tests. Maybe Chris used to cram his data with copious channels, CC commands, rapid arpeggiating chords and stuff.

Playing the SID would tax the system though, especially in My MIDI, which isn't as sophisticated as M64. So my own thoughts are that if there's anything to notice, it's probably more the CPU unable to keep up with all the tricks I could ask.

The Von Braun · Post by **The Von Braun** » 27/12/2013 - 20:08

Thread has 'morphed' into something totally different to topic i started, not knocking that though.

Anything to get the old conversation going is a good thing.

Commie_User · Post by **Commie_User** » 02/01/2014 - 20:23

Yup, it's all good.

Like this godly fusion of Atari and Comminess:

http://csdb.dk/release/?id=93703

http://csdb.dk/search/?seinsel=all&sear ... -119&Go=Go

Far more reliable to enjoy ports than rely on Commodore-based emulators and interpreters. Any good retrohead should think of the Shado with a shiver.

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Also mentioned:Atari Gamer Magazine

Also mentioned:Atari Gamer Magazine

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