New Mac Software Bundle from Opcode

Opcode Systems Inc., an industry leader in audio recording and music sequencing hardware and software, releases the Musicshop Bundle package -- a system that provides a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) sequencer, audio recording program and MIDI interface, supplying all of the necessary tools for anyone interested in recording and composing music at home.

This special holiday bundle includes Musicshop^TM, Audioshop^TM and the MIDI Translator II^TM interface. With an attractive price of $129.95, the Musicshop Bundle is the perfect package for experimenting and creating music on your Macintosh. It may be purchased through the MacWarehouse mail-order catalog and from Guitar Center, the national music retail chain.

MUSICSHOP:

Musicshop provides 32 tracks of musical instrument sequencing that work in conjunction with standard MIDI compatible devices such as keyboards, synthesizers and sound modules. Compose, edit and mix your work to produce a professional sounding product.

With the click of a mouse you can change key, meter or time signature, and quantize all or part of your sequence to automatically fix your mistakes. Change pitch bend, volume and note duration by simply drawing with the mouse or grab any MIDI note to lengthen its duration and change its start time or pitch. Punch in-out recording, automated mixdowns, graphic editing with easily readable colored bars, and notation and piano roll viewing give Musicshop a powerful combination of tools and a professional feel.

A 32-track mixing console offers fader grouping, volume, pan, mute and solo controls, and familiar tape deck-style controls allow even the novice enthusiast to quickly learn their way around the program. A complete interactive help menu is also provided.

System requirements for Musicshop are -- Power Mac: System 7.5 or better, 16mb RAM; 680x0 Mac: System 7.1 or better, 8mb RAM.

AUDIOSHOP:

Audioshop offers the ultimate Macintosh sound utility for playing, recording and editing audio. 16-bit CD sound quality and standard 8-bit audio make Audioshop truly a professional digital recording environment.

Record using any standard Macintosh recording device, including a CD-ROM drive or microphone, or bring audio in through a sound card. Once the audio has been imported, you can edit it graphically right on-screen. The edit window displays audio waveforms and allows you to cut and paste different parts of the sound, much like a word processor. You can even zoom in and out to precisely edit the waveform.

Like Musicshop, Audioshop also provides a familiar CD player interface and colorful editing tools provide a quick and elegant way to work with your audio on the Mac. Audioshop also offers built-in sound effects like echo, reverb, vibrato and flanging, in addition to envelope controls for affecting volume and pitch. Sounds or audio CD tracks can be assembled into a group of tracks referred to as a playlist and the track order may then be modified by simply clicking and dragging with the mouse.

Audioshop can convert between all standard Mac file types and translate audio CD tracks into Mac digital audio files. It also will support the WAV file format in the Windows environment. Tracks can be saved in AIFF, Sound Designer II, Macintosh System and WAV file formats.

MIDI TRANSLATOR II:

The MIDI Translator II interface provides one MIDI In and three MIDI Outs that may be connected to any sequencer, drum machine, or other MIDI device using standard MIDI cables. It attaches to either the modem or printer port on the Macintosh. Its 16 MIDI channels can be processed simultaneously. The MIDI Translator II includes a "thru" switch to allow selection between MIDI or other Macintosh peripheral, as well as MIDI activity LEDS. The MIDI Translator II requires no power supply and a serial cable is included with the device.