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GEnie Dateline Atari with Bob Brodie 1993 04 14
||| Bob Brodie & James Grunke: April 14th GEnie RTC
||| Courtesy: GEnie Atari ST RT
/ | \ -------------------------------------------------------------------
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(C) 1993 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May
be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on
GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign
up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection
type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.Type XTX99437,GENIE
and press [RETURN]. The system will prompt you for your information.
==========================================================================
Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie
Special Guest - James Grunke
Host - Lou Rocha
Wed., April 14, 1993
Ed. Note - Bob Brodie did all the online typing for
this RTC. All music-related answers were provided by
James Grunke. Non-music questions were answered by
Bob Brodie.
<[Host] ST.LOU> Welcome to the second half of this week's Double
Dateline! Real Time Conferences. Tonight Music Expert James Grunke
joins Bob Brodie to discuss the Falcon030's music capabilities.
James has been here before so no need to be too gentle :-) You
can ask him any technical questions you may have about the Falcon
or the music software it will run. You are also welcomed to ask
any questions regarding the Falcon in general. Without further
ado, here are our guests. Bob, please introduce James and make the
opening comments.
<BOB-BRODIE> Thank you, Lou. I'm pleased to welcome our members
to another edition of Dateline Atari! Thanks for all of the
encouraging words that were sent when I had to cancel the last one
due to illness, we appreciate your understanding.
We had a wonderful time on GEnie on Monday night with Pradip to
discuss Atari Works!!! It's great to be back online again so
quickly for another GEnie Real Time Conference on our official
online resource.
James Grunke is alongside me tonight. This is his third year as
the Director of Atari Musics. He is in charge of sales and
marketing in the US for the music channel. He is also responsible
for international music developer marketing support. James has
recently brought on board over sixteen manufacturer rep firms
specializing in Music and Pro Audio channel. This effectively
provides James a staff of over 50 people on the street carrying
the Atari flag, and supporting Atari dealers!! Simply put, these
guys are the best in the business!!!
James brings to Atari a business background in digital music sales
with companies such as Mission Bay Investments, and Delian Music
Systems. He's spent many hours on retail sales floors, and knows
the mindset of the Atari Music customer.
His music background includes time spent as a staff synthesist and
digital sound engineer with the Beach Boys/Brother Records,
specifically contributing to the Still Cruisin' album. He has
also played keyboards for the Beach Boys while on tour. Other
bands that James has contributed his musical and technical
expertise to include Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Band, and Michael
W. Smith, as well as a number of video soundtracks.
James earned a Bachelor of Science in Keyboard Performance from
the University of Wisconsin and also holds a degree in synthesizer
programming from the Grove School in Los Angeles. He is a member
of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). Recently,
James was elected to the Executive Board of Directors of the MIDI
manufacturers Association. (MMA)
Tonight, we want to talk with you about Atari Music, and the Atari
Falcon030 specifically. The Atari Falcon030 is more than a
computer, it is a musical instrument. EQ Magazine recently awarded
the Atari Falcon030 it's coveted "Blue Ribbon" Award - the only
personal computer recognized by the award winning magazine as an
important new contender in the pro music and recording industries.
By blending CD quality audio, digital signal processing, video
genlock, video overlay and MIDI, the Atari Falcon030 puts
recording and video studio capabilities directly in the hands of
pro and amateur musicians. You can't find these capabilities for
this price anywhere else, proving that sometimes you have to spend
a little less to get a lot more.
Music is about self-expression. Music video and computer
assistance are tools that allow for greater expressiveness, and
the Atari Falcon030 is the one computer that can help today's
musician master both these media to create revolutionary artistic
statements.
The Atari Falcon030 offers users "Quad Processing Power"!!! The
Falcon030's exceptional performance comes from the smooth
integration of four processors:
Motorola 68030 microprocessor running at 16Mhz
Motorola 56001 DSP chip running at 32 MHz
SDMA sound coprocessor
BLiTTER(tm) co-processor for extraordinary graphics capabilities
These function in a Direct Memory Access (DMA) environment using a
multi-tasking operating system, which results in hardware so
powerful that even inexperienced users can mix audio, video,
animation, text, and graphics right out of the box. Atari has a
long-standing relationship with the music industry. In the mid-
80s, Atari was the first computer company to market to musicians
at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) convention
and to distribute through music stores. Part of Atari's rapid
acceptance was due the inclusion of MIDI ports (another Atari
first), and part was Atari's "Power without the Price" philosophy.
This same philosophy has culminated in the Atari Falcon030, which
delivers exceptional audio and video as well as music performance.
The Atari Falcon030 ships with stereo CD quality digital audio out
of the box. The system is capable of eight independent sixteen
bit audio tracks. At this point in development, there are four
track systems available from third party developers, such as D2D
Systems Ltd. 4T/FX. Innovative products are also on the way from
Barefoot Software, EMAGIC, Steinberg, Dr. T's, and many other
developers. If you would like to have a complete software listing
of Atari Music developers, send James email here on GEnie at
JAMES-GRUNKE.
Although James hasn't been publically active on GEnie, he's been
lurking for quite sometime now! <grin> He follows of course, the
Atari RT Bulletin Board, and also keeps up with the MIDI RT.
When James picks up a magazine, he reads the Letters to the Editor
section first. When he logs on to GEnie, he goes to the MIDI RT
and reads the messages in the OLD ATARI USERS LAUGHING AT FALCON
(Cat 49, Topic 10/ MIDI RT). His acronym for this is OAULAF.
We're told that in Swedish that means, "Thick men crashing through
the woods". Appropriate, isn't it?? <GRIN>
James really appreciates those folks who support the positive
postings in that topic as well as the other areas on GEnie! And
with that, we're ready to take any questions that are ready for us
tonight, Lou! Let's rock 'n roll!!!
<[Host] ST.LOU> Thanks for the great introduction. I feel like
I've known James all my life! Our first question is from John
Brenner.
<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> Well, I had other questions in mind but
since James is here for music.....I have heard the output of the
Falcon is heavily bass boosted to use with headphones much like a
Discman. Is this equalization a hard wired circuit or is it done
with the DSP and therefore can be cancelled to get flat sound for
pro use?
<BOB-BRODIE> The bass boost section was killed at the request of
the music developers so that audio would run flat. So it's no
longer a concern, John.
<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> That is great news Bob. Will there be a
listing of Canadian pricing soon?
<BOB-BRODIE> Yes, we will be doing a mailing to our Canadian
dealers this week.
<E.NIKOLAISE2> Bob, I'm the Pres. of Stun (A ST Users Club in
Utah), our next meeting will be April 21. Will I be able to
"demo" a Falcon 030 to the club by this date?
<BOB-BRODIE> It's not out of the realm of possiblity, Erik. It
depends on the relationship you have with the dealers in Utah. Be
sure to check with them, as we have several new prospects as well
as the existing ones, like J & J for example.
<[Rob] R.ANISKO> I am curious as to how I would go about
interfacing an electric guitar with the Falcon - would it be
treated specially, or could it be used with a typical MIDI
application transparently?
<BOB-BRODIE> The audio input to Falcon is a stereo mini jack. You
could for example using Barefoot SMPTE Track Audio, or D2D or soon
to be released Cubase Audio, use MIDI tracks and combine them with
your digital audio guitar tracks.
<[Rob] R.ANISKO> Also, how would MIDI be affected by accelerators
such as the 32mhz accelerator mentioned in one of the RTC's about
Cebit...?
<BOB-BRODIE> We haven't been able to test one yet specifically
with MIDI.
<[Matt] M.RIVMAN1> My local Sam Ash guru is pro Mac. Mark of the
Unicorn stuff does more than Atari software. How do we get him
back? Any port of M of U stuff in the works?
<BOB-BRODIE> Although we are working with Mark of the Unicorn, we
can't comment specifically on their software direction. However,
it is convenient that their MIDI expansion hardware shares the
same port connectors as on the Falcon. No promises, but we are
looking into that relationship. As far as getting your local Sam
Ash guru back with us, we're confident that when customers begin
to come into their stores requesting Falcons, many Americans will
re-think their perception of Atari Computers, and what they really
can do. While Mark of the Unicorn software is excellent, I'd be
hard pressed to find something that we cannot do on an Atari
Falcon030.
<[Matt] M.RIVMAN1> He specifically mentioned the many different
sync-ups allowed, SMPTE,etc. I hope the available software for
Atari is VERY flexible! He was impressed with the specs I showed
him, but still was hesitant! I'll keep trying! Thanks
<[Andy] O-ZONE> I am especially interested in the capabilities
of the D2D software. The opportunity to do real time sequencing
and direct to disk digital audio has me enthralled. How soon can
we expect availible software to offer us the use of 8 channels of
digital audio?
<BOB-BRODIE> Currently the shrink wrapped D2D software uses four
tracks. They are working directly with Barefoot Software to
integrate MIDI into Digital Audio. We expect that it will take
some time to get 8 independent channels, however we understand
that four stereo channels is on the way. This is really an issue
for the individual music developer companies to make their own
delivery date announcements.
<[STimpy] J.TORRES17> I keep defending Atari at work (Staples)
They don't think Atari exists! Are there any plans for some
mainstream ads for Atari and Atari Music (like Time, Newsweek,
etc.?
<BOB-BRODIE> Over the past year, we did six ads with Digital F/X,
6 with EMAGIC, formerly C-Lab, and over a dozen ads with the
Fostex campaign. These were all placed in publications like Mix,
EM, Keyboard. You can look for aggressive vertical marketing into
the music channel in the very near future.
<[Pat] P.FORISTER> I've heard that the sound level on the Falcon
is maxxed out when the computer is first turned on. Is this
something that can be configured in NV-RAM? Or has the sound
level been turned down?
<BOB-BRODIE> The sound system at boot up reacts just like the TT
and Mega STE there is a program you can run from your auto folder
that will configure the audio level called SNDXX that will be
available.
<[Jason] J.BRUNKEN> I am interested in the video and genlock
capabilities mentioned in the introduction. What low cost
genlocks are under development and how soon do you think that they
will be available? Also, I hear that some high powered NeXT apps
are being converted to the falcon, any truth to this?
<BOB-BRODIE> Bill Rehbock tells us that there are no less than
three under development, including the John Russell Innovations
one from here in the US, OverScan which will be distributed by
Compo, as well as the unnamed one from France, all of which cost
less than $500. One of them should come in around $249. They
will be available before June, according to the representatives
from the respective companies. They all run in True Color modes.
Re the NeXT apps, there are a number of different ones. They are
excited about the availability of the DSP Chip...for example
Singular Solutions, and DOA. Some of the other NeXT developers
are still in the TOS learning curve.
<[James] J.BRENNER1> Bob, have any Montreal dealers signed the new
Atari Dealer Agreement and if you can tell me who, I'll be the
first Montrealer to buy a Falcon. Will Atari Works ship with the
first shipment?
<BOB-BRODIE> We are just sending out the dealer agreements to
Canada this week, James. I'll be sure to put a note on all the
ones for Montreal all and tell those dealers to call you. <grin>
We just got back the manual for Atari Works... maybe it will make
the first shipment, but I'm not 100% sure yet.
<[Guitar Cente] C.FLUEGEL> OK, so I buy a Falcon. What recording
software will be available that day? I know of many in the works,
but are any finished and shipping in the USA? Also, I here that
D2D is quite crippled and unusable in any serious work (no
editing!?) Is this true?
<BOB-BRODIE> The D2D software that is bundled with the machine is
designed for consumer use. It has very limited editing.
Available shrink wrapped products from D2D include 2 and 4 track
systems with the four track system having DSP audio effects. I
believe the release date for Cubase Audio is sometime this spring,
early summer. Please contact Steinberg/Jones for confirmation.
At CeBIT, there was a program from a company called TradeiT,
reportedly using SIX tracks. We will look into obtaining a US
distributor for this product in order to ensure it's availability.
<[Jeff] J.WHITE99> James, of particular interest to dealers seems
to be the broadbase marketing plan. How will we attract new users.
Can that be addressed here?
<BOB-BRODIE> Certainly, Jeff. The machine has natural appeal to
musicians and we feel that one of the firmest ways to get
footholds in this market is by reaching out to the music
educators. Not only is the hardware exactly what musicians want,
the price point makes it reachable for educators. We know how the
recession has affected education budgets in general. Look for us
to support music educators as a base for our music launch.
<S.EAKINS> Hi Bob, just got here, so I hope that I am not reasking
a question. Will modems become obsolete with the new DSP chip?
Are there any special adapters needed to connect up to the Falcon,
I won't simply plug in my phone line, right?
<BOB-BRODIE> Scott, no problem. Glad you could make it here
tonight to join us in the Dateline Atari! Session. There is no
problem in using existing modems with the Atari Falcon030. The
serial port works just fine. I've used STalker 3 at speeds of up
to 19.2K baud, and the Supra FAX Modem as well. There is a DSP
modem that is under development. It will be about the size of a
pack of cards, and you will plug your phone line in there. This
product is projected to be available late this summer.
<[Pat] P.FORISTER> Bob, can you give us any _firm_ dates on
availability of Falcons, and in what quantity? Hopefully the
initial quantities will be enough to supply all of the starving
Atarians out there. When will your warehouse be restocked?
<BOB-BRODIE> Pat, as I indicated on Monday night, the Falcons are
here. We have them in the warehouse (I personally went over to
check.... I didn't want to take anyone's word on this!!!) They
will be going thru a Quality Assurance process that will take a
couple of days (one of which is elapsed already), so I think we
will be sending them out the door on Friday. These are the demo
units for our dealers, and the next shipment will be in about 2-3
weeks These dates are VERY firm, Pat. I'm very pleased that the
units are in stock FINALLY, and the dealer agreements have been
just POURING in since we made a little announcement in AEO, got
the reps on the phone, and of course, used GEnie on Monday night
to tell the world that the Falcons are truly here!!!
<[(Brad)] B.SUSLOVIC> Hi Bob. I understand that the new dealer
agreement has put some mail order limitations on dealers. Under
what circumstances will consumers be able to purchase Falcons via
mail order?
<BOB-BRODIE> Brad, we're trying to build a dealer network up
again. In order to do that, we need to have storefront locations
selling our product. We recognize that in some rural, or remote
areas there is a likelihood that there will not be a local dealer.
In these cases, we will make arrangements with the closest dealer
to you to handle the customer.
<[Host] ST.LOU> Let's pause for a minute. Our door prize tonight
is a subscription to Atari Explorer. What is the ID number for the
DSP chip? 30 seconds to talk-mode. First two correct answers will
win.
<[david k.] D.KAUFMAN> Motorola 56001
<[Matt] M.RIVMAN1> 56001
<[max denebian] P.HULSE2> 7
<[Rob] R.ANISKO> 56001?
<[Pat] P.FORISTER> Motorola DSP56001
<[Guitar Cente] C.FLUEGEL> 56001
<[Ringo] LEXICOR2> 56001
<[Tim @ AEO] AEO.8> Motorola 56000
<[Connor] CAN-ASST> 56001
<[Dr. Bob] W.PARKS3> 007
<[STimpy] J.TORRES17> motorola 56001?
<[Jason] J.BRUNKEN> motorola 56001
<V.HUTZ> 08
<[Jason] J.BRUNKEN>
<[Dr. Bob] W.PARKS3> Agent 86
<[Andy] O-ZONE> 56000
<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> 1
<[Network 23] R.MARTIN22> 56001
<[Fred] FB> 99
<[STEVEN CHAPM] S.CHAPMAN> 56001
<R.NEALE2> DSP56001
<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> ID? We don't need no...
<[Ringo] LEXICOR2> Dr bob, hahaha
<[Die/!\Hard] D.VICHA> car 54
<[James] J.VOGH> 56001
<[> GLENDALE <] JOHN.KING.T> Chip, we don't need no stinken chips.
<F.CUCCI> three
<J.ALLEN27> Actually NOT, it is a special version with maskrom
code burnt in it, but 56001 will do.
<[STimpy] J.TORRES17> Yak Shaving Day!
<[Ron] Z-NET> I won already! :-) Monday!
<[Fred] FB> The BIG one?
<[Host] ST.LOU> Bunch of comics :-) David Kaufman and Matt Rivman
are our winners! Please send your addresses in email to BOB-BRODIE
to get your subscriptions. The answer was 56001
<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> This is not a technical question. On a
personal note. Bob, what is the first thing that came to mind when
you received the phone call confirming the arrival of Falcons ar
customs?
<BOB-BRODIE> It was not a phone call, I was told personally by
Garry Tramiel. And I told him "You better not be kidding around
with me!"
<MIKE-ALLEN> Most of the talk about the dsp chip has been music
related. I wonder if there are other apps that have been explored?
I have particular interest in Ham Radio apps and also in using the
technology to clean up some vintage recordings. My dad was in
radio and tv since 1937 and I have some very interesting
recordings that really need help. One in particular of my dad with
Bob Hope, Jerry Colona and Frances Langford on Guadalcanal in
1944.
<BOB-BRODIE> There certainly are, Mike. Modems, Data compression,
decompression, voice mail, fractal generation, and other things
are very possible. Regarding using the DSP to clean up the
recordings, you can use the DSP as a audio equalizer to
"surgically" clean up recordings using digital audio recording to
transfer these recordings into the computer and do the editing on
screen there.
<[Pat] P.FORISTER> San Antonio has lost both of its Atari dealers.
Do you know if we will be left in the dark for long? How can I
find my closest dealer? Also, any news in IBM processor direct
cards? Have any benchmarks?
<BOB-BRODIE> Pat, I am personally working with one of the
prospects for San Antonio. He has assured me that he is very
interested in signing on. We also have a new rep firm for the
area, called Highway Marketing. They are charged with signing up
new dealers in that area. I believe they are actually based in
Dallas, and are primarily aimed at Music and Pro Audio dealers.
Re the PC benchmarks, I believe that Bill Rehbock reported a
Norton SI rating of 12.1 in his CeBIT Report CO that was held here
last week. Be sure to get the transcript out of the library here
to get the exact numbers. Bill also described the other emualtors
that are under development for the Atari Falcon030 for the PC side
of things...there is a 486SX version coming out as well!
<[Jason] J.BRUNKEN> Bob, How many commercial software packages for
the Falcon do you estimate will be available by Christmas 93? And
is that 2-3 weeks on the 4/65's a 'worst case' estimate? I've
already paid for mine!
<BOB-BRODIE> Jason, 2-3 weeks is worst case to get the units in
here to us from the factory. I'd add another week for it to get to
your dealer in order to be safe...the boat probably doesn't dock
near him! :) Re the Falcon apps, that's hard for me to say. I'd
prefer again to refer you to the transcript from Bill's CO. I've
been swamped and really haven't had much of a chance to speak to
him about this yet, and I know that he is really, really excited
about a number of applications that he saw at CeBIT. I will say
that I envision two issues for the US: 1) How many apps, and 2)
Who will sell them? We must take steps to ensure that the
products have distribution in North America.
<[Host] ST.LOU> Bob, can you tell us WHO is working on a DSP modem
at this time? And what baud could be expected?
<BOB-BRODIE> Non-disclosure prevents me from naming the developer,
Lou. Sorry.
<[Tim @ AEO] AEO.8> Whats the latest on the Jaguar and the Lynx?
I'd also like to know what the RISC chip in the Jaguar *does*?
Graphics or the main brain?
<BOB-BRODIE> Hi Tim, on the LYNX side of things, we're running a
full color eight page insert in the gaming magazines (like Game
Pro) which is hitting the stores now... it really looks terrific!
We have added an 800 number for people to call and order products
for the LYNX directly from Atari... it's 1-800-221-EDGE We're
really excited, as not only do the ads look great, but they have
an offer to buy two games, and get one for free. Be sure to look
in your favorite game magazines for the ad! Re the Jaguar, I'm
afraid that I can't tell you anything about the technical end of
the Jaguar at this time, Tim. Sorry. We're very pleased with the
number of developers that we've signed up, and the machine is
coming along VERY nicely. We have added about the staff in all of
the appropriate areas, like a new VP to head up the Entertainment
Software, Gabriel Baum, and a host of new artists, programmers,
testers, etc have been hired to help with Jaguar.
<[Host] ST.LOU> Bob and James, thank you for spending the evening
with us. We are all really excited about the imminent availability
of the Falcon and sincerely wish it provides great successes for
Atari and its loyal users!
<BOB-BRODIE> Thank you Lou, it is always a great pleasure to be
online on our offical on-line resource: GEnie. It's easy to see
why GEnie is the number one online network for Atarians around the
world. Thank you all for attending, and good night.
<[Host] ST.LOU> Everyone is invited to hang around and chat for a
few minutes. Don't forget to drop in on April 19 and you could win
a free copy of Outline Art 3.0 from DMC Publishing. Our guest will
be Nathan Potechin!
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