15 Years Ago in EM

Jan 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Steve Oppenheimer

           
 

Our January 1988 issue featured two technologies that had been around awhile but were finally having a serious impact on music production: MIDI and digital audio recorders. For our cover story, founding editor Craig Anderton selected 25 of his favorite MIDI products that cost less than $500. Among his choices were the Akai PEQ6 programmable EQ, the Alesis HR-16 drum machine, Casio's CZ-101 and Yamaha's TX81Z synth, and the Atari 520ST computer (which had a built-in MIDI interface). In the same issue, Bill Thompson offered a very nice story about programming the TX81Z, a popular 4-operator FM synth.

Our special report on the 1987 Audio Engineering Society convention shows how much digital recording has changed in 15 years. Two of our top AES picks were high-end recorders: the Akai DR1200 12-track digital tape recorder, which cost a prohibitive $35,000; and WaveFrame's AudioFrame DAW, which would have set you back a whopping $45,000. (Obviously, those products were not found in personal studios; back then, the AES show was strictly for engineers who worked in large commercial facilities.) Our third show pick was the Eventide Ultra-Harmonizer digital effects processor ($2,395).

Also new in 1988 was the Ensoniq Performance Sampler (EPS), which had several cool features. My favorites: you could play the keyboard while loading sounds; two Patch-Select buttons let you instantly access different sound combinations; and the EPS (as well as the ASR-10, which succeeded it) had the best Polyphonic Aftertouch I've played. (No currently manufactured keyboard offers Poly Aftertouch, although some sound modules support it.)

As usual, we offered a variety of stories. In “Updating the Dinosaur,” Charles R. Fischer offered a number of upgrades for vintage analog synths. David Kempton followed Fischer with “Synthetica Exotica,” in which he provided a half-dozen ways to get unusual and useful sounds from older synths, tape decks, and even a few acoustic instruments. Jack Orman's “Better Music Through Chemistry” sang the praises of several contact cleaners, lubricants, connector enhancers, and other chemicals useful in studio maintenance. Our January 1988 synthesizer patch sheet was for the ever-popular Oberheim Xpander; I've provided a copy here for all you Xpander lovers. (see accompanying Xpander patch sheet text)

The reviews section featured Geary Yelton's analysis of the Sound Ideas sample library, Jim Johnson's critique of the E-mu SP-1200 sampling drum machine, and reviews of the Casio MG-500 and MG-510 MIDI guitars and the Korg DRV 2000 and Yamaha REV5 digital reverbs. Alan Gary Campbell checked out the DS-8 synth, Korg's attempt at making FM synthesis user-friendly by providing macro parameters with familiar names. Unfortunately, the DS-8 sound engine was based on the weak-sounding Yamaha FB-01 chip set.