Music Mind Magic 9709 Rich Rd. Bloomington, MN 55437 1/3/89 Dear MIDI Musician: Thank you for your interest in The Anything Box (tm). The Anything Box (TAB) is a real time MIDI processor for the IBM PC and compatibles, designed to give you maximum control over the MIDI data stream instantly -- in real time. Through its unique and powerful graphics-oriented programming language, there is no limit to the things you can do. Simple jobs become even simpler: like transposing all notes in the data stream. As with any MIDI processor, you can transpose by a fixed amount, but TAB goes much further: you can control the amount of transposition in real time with the computer keyboard or any MIDI controller. You can turn it on and off with a keystroke. You can transpose channel or controller values as well as pitch. Complex jobs are a snap: TAB has built in arpeggiators, MIDI delays and echoes, low frequency oscillators, record/loop buffers, and more. Split your keyboard into as many independent parts as you wish. Move the splits in real time. Blend the transition between two splits for unique timbral effects. I don't have room here to go into all of TAB's capabilites. Read the enclosed literature. Run the demo. I think you'll agree that TAB offers unprecedented power for an extraordinary price. Sincerely, Randall Stokes Creator, The Anything Box Hardware Requirements TAB requires a minimum of the following hardware and software for operation: * an IBM PC or compatible computer * at least 256k RAM (with 200K available for programs) * DOS 2.0 or above * Roland MPU-401 MIDI unit with IBM PC interface card (or compatible) Although TAB can run with the minimum hardware above, it is highly recommended that the machine have as much RAM as possible (up to 640k), and another floppy disk drive or a hard disk. A RAM disk (either installed in conventional memory or through expanded or extended memory) can make various file operations much more convenient (consult your dealer or computer manuals for more information). TAB will run with monochrome, Color Graphics (CGA), or any of the more advanced adaptors (EGA, VGA) in CGA mode. If you have an AT class machine (with an 80286 or 80386 processor) a special version of TAB is supplied that will run somewhat faster on your machine. Running the demo Insert the demo disk in drive A:. If you have a color monitor, type COLOR otherwise type MONO The demo program can run on any standard monitor, color or monochrome. Using the COLOR or MONO command simply selects a more appropriate color scheme for your system. The demo is a fully function version of TAB, with the following limitations: * you cannot save any of your own patches * you can only process 30 seconds of music at a time How to order The Anything Box Purchasers of TAB will receive: * printed manual (almost 200 pages). * extensive library of preset patches * notification of software upgrades. Often, upgrades will be free if you send us a floppy disk and return postage, otherwise they usually will cost only a small handling charge. * access to the user newsletter and patch bank. From time to time, we will publish any interesting patches we develop or receive and make them available to registered users. You will be able to get these on disk, too, under the same terms as the upgrades above. As of this writing, you can have a registered copy of TAB for $69 postpaid. (Price subject to change without notice). Send your order to: MUSIC MIND MAGIC 9709 Rich Rd. Bloomington, MN 55437 Please mention demo #2988 when ordering, and specify 3-1/2" or 5-1/4" format (we will ship 5-1/4" unless notified otherwise). What is The Anything Box? The Anything Box (TAB) is a MIDI processor. Unlike most sequencers, a MIDI processor allows you to do all sorts of things to your MIDI data while you play, that is, in real time. Like a sequencer, however, TAB can save your MIDI data to a data file, play it back, merge or split data files, and much more. There have been MIDI processors before. But what makes TAB so unusual is its power and flexibility. For example, not only can you do keyboard splits, but you can have as many splits as you want, and you can move the splits in real time, using any controller you wish (the mod wheel, pitch bend wheel, computer keyboard, whatever). Further, you can process any individual split any way you want: one could be transposed in pitch, another transposed in both pitch and channel, another inverted in pitch or velocity. You could even turn one split into a set of controllers for another! Not only can TAB process music, it can actually create it. With TAB you can build complex, fascinating textures from a single note. TAB can do many things, including (but not limited to): * transposition * compression/expansion * record/looping * MIDI delay * MIDI echo * arpeggiation * MIDI filtering * inversion * mapping various controllers to other controllers * keyboard splits * adding additional controllers through your computer keyboard * display the MIDI data stream Most operations can be applied not only to notes but to any portion of the MIDI data stream (velocity, pitch bend, channel, control information, even the MIDI status bytes themselves). You can combine the basic operations in just about any conceivable way. For example, you could display the data stream before and after a transposition, then arpeggiate the result. Operations can be done any number of times, each controllable separately. Thus you could split the data stream into three parts and arpeggiate each part in a different way, at a different speed. Most operations can be controlled in real time. The amount of transposition, the amount of delay, the location of a keyboard split, the speed of an echo -- all can be controlled in real time. You can decide how you want an operation to be controlled. You could set up a transposition always to transpose a certain amount, but you could also control that amount from the computer keyboard, the mod wheel, the pitch bend wheel, a MIDI keyboard, a foot switch, even a random number generator. You can make controllers control multiple things, in different ways. You can have the mod wheel control transposition amount AND the number of echoes AND the location of a keyboard split. All simultaneously. TAB can synchronize events through the use of clocks. You can have as many clocks as you need, each with its own frequency, independently controllable in real time, and optionally synchronized to the MIDI stream. Finally, TAB is extendable. Programmers familiar with assembly language or C can actually create their own data or control processing functions and link them directly into TAB. No other MIDI processor or sequencer on the market is so flexible! (This feature is scheduled for release in the Spring of '89.) Why would you want to do all these things? Who knows!? TAB was written with the idea that only you should be able to decide what is a reasonable thing to try and what isn't. Except for things that are simply not possible in MIDI or for computers, TAB is wide open to creative experimentation. TAB also comes packed with a full range of preset patches to choose from, so you can start experiencing the power of TAB without learning anything about how to make it perform your own brand of magic. How TAB works TAB takes the "building block" approach to MIDI processing. A great building can be constructed from just a few carefully selected kinds of material. TAB achieves its great versatility by providing a comprehensive selection of carefully designed software "bricks", then letting YOU be the architect. Each brick is called a "module", or "mod", and is designed to perform one simple operation on the MIDI data stream. Each mod will accept a packet of MIDI data (a packet is a collection of bytes from the data stream that represent a single MIDI event, such as "play middle C"). The mod processes the packet in some way (such as transposing it), and then passes it on to other mods. How these mods are connected together is up to you. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and the physical limitations of your computer. Two Kinds of Mod This structure of interconnected data processing mods (called "data mods" from now on) is only half the story. There is a second kind of mod whose sole purpose is to control the operation of the data mods. These "control mods" are as varied as flowers in a garden, but each does one thing: provide a control value for use by a data mod or by another control mod. One control mod might provide a value from the MIDI keyboard. Another might deliver a value from the computer keyboard. Yet another might provide a constant, preset value. Any of these values could be used to tell a data mod, for example, how FAR to transpose its current data packet. The most important thing to realize is that, as different as they are, with very few exceptions each control mod is fully interchangeable with any other. If a data mod requires a value from a control mod, virtually ANY control mod can be attached to it, yielding an incredibly diverse range of possibilities for you, the architect. This single point is the key to TAB's power. TAB's Screen If you wish, you need never create a TAB patch for yourself. You can load any of the preset patches provided with a few keystrokes, and never learn another thing about how to build patches of your own. But, for those who wish to dabble in the arcane arts, the building process is simple. You build a patch by selecting mods and placing them where you wish on the computer screen. Each mod appears as the mod's name, printed in inverse (dark letters on a light background, or whatever color you select). Attached to the mod will be a number of open connections, or "stubs". Think of a mod as being like any other piece of equipment in your rack. It's essentially a "black box", with wires going in on top and wires coming out on the bottom. As long as you understand the job it will do, you need not concern yourself with the internal details of its construction. (You can build your own "black boxes" too -- see the section on "Units".) To connect the mods, you simply connect the desired stubs, drawing directly on the screen using the cursor arrow keys. The connections between data mods will show up as a thick line resembling a pipe, and will be referred to as "pipes" from now on. The control lines resemble electrical wires, and will be referred to simply as "lines" or "control lines". The mental image is quite easy to remember: data pass through pipes, and control values pass through wires. A completed construction of mods, lines, and pipes is called a "patch". This word harkens back to the days when analog synthesizers were programmed by stringing patch cords between very simple modules. TAB brings back the flexibility of the analog synthesizer, but weds it to the power and accuracy of the digital computer. Music Mind Magic 9709 Rich Rd. Bloomington, MN 55437 The Anything Box (TAB) -- FEATURES: * Real time processing of MIDI data * Over fifty basic operations. Patches are built by combining operations in any way you like. Any operation can be combined with any other, and can be employed as many times as you like in the same patch. * Operations such as transposition, compression, expansion, limiting, inversion can be used on any type of MIDI data (channel number, pitch bend, etc.) or an any real time control value, not just notes. * Real time control via computer keyboard or any MIDI data or controller on any MIDI channel. Control layout is entirely user definable. You can also use internal controllers such as low frequency oscillators, clocks, and random number generators. * Just about any key on computer keyboard can be employed for control purposes. * Process to or from multiple MIDI Standard disk files. Merge existing disk files with real time MIDI data, or save all or part of the MIDI data stream to one or more disk files. * Multiple record/loop buffers. Loop one buffer while you record in others. Loop them at different points. Loop them at different speeds. You can even reverse playbacks for retrograde effects! * Define as many clocks as you need. Each clock rate can be controlled in real time, and optionally synchronized to the external MIDI clock. Clock rates from 4648 Hz to 1 tick every 9 hours! * Split the MIDI data stream by event type. Route the separate streams however you wish -- filter them out, process them independently, save them to MIDI data files, whatever. * Convert any kind of MIDI data to any other. * Powerful MIDI arpeggiators. Complete control over pattern, speed, note duration, and number of notes. * Powerful MIDI delays. Control delay times in real time. Synchronize to internal or MIDI clock. Delay any MIDI event, not just notes. Delay times from 215 microseconds to 256 hours! * Powerful MIDI echo effects. Control number of repetitions and echo speed in real time. Complete control over related effects such as fading. Echo any MIDI event, not just notes. * Multiple MIDI gates, which delay a data stream until you want to release it. * Multiple digital low frequency oscillators (LFOs), with the standard wave forms (sawtooth, triangle, square, sine). Frequency controllable in real time from 18 Hz to 256 hours per cycle. With reduced resolution, LFO can reach frequencies as high as 2000 Hz. Variable pulse width can be achieved by processing other wave forms. * Digital low pass filters usable on MIDI data or control values. * Multiple tiled windows entirely user definable for real time monitoring of MIDI data or control information. Numeric or graphic (piano roll) display. * Optional note tracking ensures note on and note off events do not get separated, regardless of the processing involved. With all these features, here is just a TASTE of things you can do: * Harmonic transposition, which ensures that a transposed note stays within a selected key or scale. * Real time splitting of the MIDI keyboard into as many parts as you'd like, with split points fully adjustable in real time. Channel, transposition, inversion, or whatever else you can think up is independently controllable for each split. Or use a split to set aside part of the keyboard for controllers that can operate anything else. * Blended and overlapped splits. Blended splits allow gradual transition from one split to another over a certain range of the keyboard. * Velocity or mod wheel splits. Let velocity control the channel your data is transmitted on. Blend the split so velocity or mod wheel causes sound to pan across several channels. * Use any MIDI controller to affect or replace any other. Control velocity with your mod wheel, or let a second MIDI keyboard be a master controller for the first. Or be bizarre: control notes with pitch bend, and pitch bend with the MIDI keyboard! * MIDI "chorusing": use the random number generator filtered through the low pass filter to drive the delay and/or transpose modules for a "humanizing" effect. * Real time quantizing: drive a gate with a pulse from the LFO. Gate note-on events and note-off events separately if desired. * Use a rising sawtooth from the LFO to control volume or velocity. Synchronize the cycle with the barline in your music for a repeated crescendo every bar. * Set up your own wave forms in several LFOs, then use the outputs to control note values. Loop the results with different periods, and/or pipe them through delays driven by other LFOs with their OWN tables, or drive the delays with the random number generator,or . . . * "Comb" out a clogged MIDI data stream by discarding every third or fourth pitch bend command. * Send MIDI data to multiple channels, simultaneously or in sequence. Choose the sequence any way you want -- drive it with an LFO, for example, to move sequentially or in a user defined pattern, or use the random number generator to select the channel. * Modulate one LFO with another for more complex wave forms. Modulate the results with a third LFO, or modulate your pitch bend wheel for unusual effects. Heck, modulate anything, and modify it all in real time! * Isolate selected note classes (such as all C#s and F#s on the keyboard). Transpose the selected classes only, for an instant mode change. Or "comb split" your keyboard, letting the black keys do one thing and the white keys another. Limitations: * Some of the above effects depend upon the hardware capabilities of your synthesizer (such as velocity sensitivity). * TAB does not process system exclusive data. $10 ... $20 ... $30 ... more We want to send you $$$! You already know that The Anything Box (tm) is a unique and powerful tool for the MIDI musician. We'd like everyone to know, and we'd like your help. That is why we're offering a special rebate program: Get a copy of the TAB demo disk, registered to your name (details below). Feel free to copy the demo. Give copies to friends, neighbors, colleagues. Post it on electronic bulletin boards. Give it as party favors. For every order we receive that specifies your demo serial number, we will send you $10. It's as simple as that! That's right: if we get one order, you get $10. Two orders, $20. A hundred orders, $1000. And all YOU have to do is give away copies of the demo disk! To get a registered copy of the TAB demo, simply order The Anything Box. At $69 postpaid, it is one of the few remaining bargains in a world of escalating software prices. And when you order the full package, we throw in a registered demo disk FREE. But you can also get a registered demo for just $10. Then you get your first $10 rebate just by ordering the full TAB package. Terms and conditions: There is no limit to the number of rebates you may get, but rebates will only be sent for actual orders of the complete TAB package. Payment must accompany order. This offer may be withdrawn at any time. Under no circumstances may you copy and distribute the actual TAB program disks. These disks are serialized with a different number, and any orders including that serial number will void this offer.