Having trouble syncing your synths or MIDIing your mother (keyboard, that is!)? Write to Grief MT, (Contact Details).

QIn the June issue Nigel Gooderham writes about a problem syncing a Korg Mono/Poly with his other boxes. He, and others, may be interested in my own solution to this. As you say in your reply, he is less than explicit about what these other boxes are, but assuming some kind of drum machine or sequencer is involved, the following may be applicable...

I have never got around to converting my Mono/Poly to MIDI (mainly because my income won't stretch to it), so I use the Arpeggio Trigger In socket on the back panel and feed a bass drum into it (from a separate Out on my D110).

You need a fairly hefty signal for this to work, so give it maximum output and velocity. Of course, this bass drum or whatever does not appear in the mix. You can construct the rhythm of your arpeggios on the sequencer or drum machine but not the notes. These are determined solely from the Mono/Poly keyboard.

This will work as long as your source of drum sounds has separate outputs from the main mix. At mixdown, this leaves your hands free to twist those knobs with the best of them.
Rob Norman
Edinburgh

AAh, there's nothing like twisting your knobs with the best of them is there? But thanks for that, Rob. I'm sure all those Mono/Poly owners out there will find it useful. You could apply the same principle to other analogue synths with trigger inputs, too. Hell, who needs MIDI, anyway?

QI recently re-read your terrific article, Microtonal Musings, in MT August '89. I've always been interested in different musical scales such as Arabic, Indian and so on. What puzzles me is that there seems to be programs for this on Macintosh but not the Atari ST. Why is this?

I have an old DX7 and an ST running Cubase. I've just read Scott Wilkinson's Tuning In and I'm eager to move into the realms of ethnic tunings. Surely some computer software company has realised the value of a universal synth re-tuneable disk for the ST and created one?

Can you suggest any recent development since the article was written? How can I move forward without buying another new re-tuneable synth?
Hugh Beattie
Clydebank

AWell, Hugh, your letter raises an interesting question - albeit four years late. Microtuning was in vogue in the late '80s and early '90s, but seems to have died a slow death since then - though many instruments still include microtuning facilities and offer the best way of getting into it. The adventurous may be able to create their own tunings using SysEx messages, but this assumes the instrument allows you to alter its tuning via SysEx. I'll bow out here - life's too short.

The MIDI Tuning Dump Standard mentioned in the article was ratified about 18 months ago, but as far as I am aware has not yet been implemented on any instrument. (So why ratify it, guys, if you're not going to do anything with it?) Of course, there is a way you can use microtones with any instrument - via pitchbend (OK, I never said it would be easy!). You'd have to sit down with a calculator and work out the tunings produced by degrees of bend, then apply them to the notes.

An event editor is essential here. Anyone with Emagic's Notator can use Hyper Edit: set it to pitchbend and you'll have a graphic display of your pitches.

Clearly, this is a process which calls for a certain amount of experimentation. I'm not aware of any disk of tunings for the ST. Most of the work in this area seems to be taking place in the US where they tend to use Macs and PCs.

If any readers are actively involved with, or even remotely interested in, microtuning, drop us a line. That goes for anyone with information which may lead to the whereabouts of tuning disks and the like.

QI'm looking for some information with which I think you may be able to assist. Some time back, MIDI retrofit specialists, Groove Electronics, went into liquidation but shortly before that happened, I believe they were converting the old EDP Wasp monosynths into MIDI-controlled rackmounted modules.

I understand that this said module is still in limited production from a small company run by one of Grooves' two directors and that this small business is located somewhere in the West Country.

I would be grateful if you could provide the address of this company so that I may get some details and, hopefully, purchase such a unit for my ever-expanding rack.

PS: Is there any chance of providing a full test report/write-up of the remarkable analogue range of Studio Electronics' superb modules in the near future? I understand that they have produced about half-a-dozen models of well-known analogue units based on classic instruments of the day, including the recently-released SE-1, a sort of programmable Mini Moog! Speaking of classic modules, how about the inclusion of the Groove version of the EDP?
Chris da Silva
Southsea

AThere's a lot of 'I believes' and 'I understands' here. Where did you get your information, Chris? There are a lot of people who would like to discover the whereabouts of Groove's Neil Nash (not all with the same benevolent intention as yourself). My enquires haven't managed to unearth said West Country company but I'm sure that if any of our readers has any more info they'll pass it on PDQ.

As far as I was aware, the instrument you mention was not a rackmount unit. It was shown once (somewhere!) but never went into production. But I could be wrong.

The Wasp bears a 7-pin socket for connection to another Wasp. If you have or can acquire one of these instruments (try our small ads), you should be able to control it with Kenton Electronics' Pro-2 CV Converter which is £195 plus VAT. Give Kenton a call on (Contact Details) for more info. Such a nice, helpful bunch of chaps.

As for Sound Electronics gear, it doesn't seem to be widely available in the UK which makes getting review instruments rather difficult. But if you want more info, give them a call on 0101 818776 8104. They may be able to supply you with some write-ups from US mags. We'd be very interested to hear from any readers with Sound Electronics gear.

QAt the present time my equipment list is a bit on the short side. Luckily for me this is about to change as I intend investing in some serious gear. I would be very grateful if you could show me in diagram form the best way of routing all my new equipment together with both audio and MIDI cables.

My equipment list will be: an Atari 520STFM running Pro24, JV880, Vintage Keys, Waldorf Microwave, JX1, Juno 60, Alpha Juno 2, Jupiter 6, W30, SH-101, Microverb 3 with a Mackie 1202 mixer going straight to DAT.

I want to use the JX1 as a mother keyboard to control all the MIDI Devices and I am thinking of using a V10 MIDI Thru unit to create a star system. Also, I will be using all of the equipment simultaneously but I do not intend on upgrading to a bigger mixing desk.

I would also be grateful for any info on the Alpha Juno 2, a photo, a rough idea of cost and an address where I could get my hands on one.

Finally, will the new Atari Falcon run normal ST software as some people say it does?
Steven Payne
Coventry

AHell! You won the pools, or what? 'Fraid your question is a little too broad. However, in general terms, wiring should not be a major problem. The star network is a good idea - you'll find all the relevant information in The MIDI Survival Guide which is £6.95 from PC Publishing on (Contact Details).

Providing a mixer diagram for your mixer would also be rather impractical; a lot depends on what exactly you want to do with your system. But, the shop where you buy it should give you some help and there's always the instruction manual. Basically, it's just a matter of routing the instrument Outs to the mixer's Ins.

But a couple of points for you to ponder. The 1202 will not give you much room for expansion, especially if you want to use the instruments in stereo or use individual outs. Also, I'd suggest that the Microverb may be a little low-end for the mega setup you'll have. I'd suggest looking a little more upmarket for a more versatile and quieter FX unit.

I'd also suggest you opt for something a bit more up-to-date than Pro24, but that's up to you. You may find you need at least 1Mb of RAM in your ST, too.

As regards the Alpha Juno 2: it's not exactly a classic design and to my knowledge there have been no retro' reviews. MT's original review was back in February '86 - copies are available from our back issues department ((Contact Details)). Roland ((Contact Details)) might also have some back info on it.

As for getting your mits on one, look in our Warehouse ads to see if anyone's selling one or advertise for one there yourself. You could also check the main ads where you'll see companies like eXclusively Analog (Chris on (Contact Details) or Tony (Contact Details)) and Music Control ((Contact Details)) which specialise in analogue instruments.

How much to pay for one depends on how many wallies are prepared to pay over the odds - supply and demand and all that. It came out in 1986 at a RRP of £995 so you'll probably be looking at about £400, but personally I wouldn't pay more than £300 for one.

The Falcon will run some normal ST software. Some reports say it will run 70% of ST software but other reports say it won't. Decide what software you can't live without and then see if the Falcon feels the same way about it.