Caged Artist Series
By Bob Melvin

The Caged Artist Series of Synthisizer System Exclusive (or Patch)
Editors/librarians were created by Bob Melvin and distibuted by
DR T Software in the late 1980's.

The first program in the series was "DX Heaven" which was for the first
generation Yamaha DX7 /TX7 Synthesizers.It was as the title states for DX7
programming.It was originally written in the mid 80's for the Apple II computer
but was ported over to the ST with many additions.More Synthesizer editors
followed, all following the same format.Toward the end of distibution, copy
protection was removed. They could also be used as MPE modules in Dr T's Omega
II KCS.

Today, Bob Melvin has given permission for Free trading of these excellent
editors. Thankyou Bob! Download them Below.Thanks also go to members of the
Atari-Midi Mailing list for providing downloadable copies of the programs.

Bob also created XOR for Atari which is now Mark Of The Unicorns'UNISYN for the
Mac and PC platforms. (see link below for MOTU). Files that were created
on Caged Artist products were interchangable with the Atari version of XOR, so
 "upgrading" to XOR was not a "painful process.What this means for the Atari
 Musician today is that you can still create custom sounds using Caged Artists,
  and use the banks in XOR. XOR has it's own editing style, while Caged Artists have a "different" style,
much like the difference between two Sequencers such as Cubase or KCS.Both can
be used effectivly.

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At the beginning of Bob's Caged Artist's rather "amusing" and very
"entertaining" manuals are these words:

"Welcome and thanks for buying Dr T./ Caged Artist software. My goal in
creating this series of software products was to make the program intuitive
enough such that the manual is barely necessary, without the usual trappings of
user-friendliness (Are YOU sure?). To me this is important since my Muse gets
P.O 'd and deserts me whenever I have to open a manual or think too strenously
about the software. I hope you find this type of software as I do in the
process of creating music. If you like it, there's plenty more ware (s.i.c.)
this came from."

-Bob Melvin
a.k.a. Caged Artist

Another example of Entertainment from the manual:

"Importment notice #2. If you turn the ST's power OFF, leave it off for 10
seconds. Give it's memory banks a full lobotomy. Otherwise , bizare anti-social
behavior may ensue."

_________________________________________________________________________

He is right in that the programs are very intuitive and you may not need any
type of instruction at all to use the program. However, here are a few things
to get you started which apply to all the Caged Artist Series:

First of all you want to make sure you have the MIDI OUT of the Atari to the
 MIDI
IN of your synth. Also the MIDI OUT of the synth to the MIDI IN of the Atari.


After loading the program you are presented with the bank/librarian Screen.
Along the side are commands to access the rest of the screens (or modes)You can
use the Mouse to select them by simply clicking on the names, or using the
appropriate Function keys(F1 to F15). Depending on which synth editor you are
using the Function keys might change. However they are always listed.To load a
bank, simply select LOAD FILE from the menu.You can load several banks at once.
 To Save it is of course SAVE FILE.
To save your sounds FROM the synth itself, select GET ALL, and the sounds will
magically appear in the bank. You may want to do this initually with your synth
so your sounds are "backed up".To send a bank select SEND ALL.You can also
Print the bank list by selecting PRINT.That is if you have a printer
hooked up! You can also format a disc from within the program by selecting
FORMAT. Very handy if you ran out of space on a disc and need to format a new
disc to save your precious creation!

FUNCTION GLOBAL DECRIPTIONS

VC Edit : takes you to the voice editing screen.Here is the main mode for
editing patches showing most parameters on the screen at once which is the
strength of these editors.Parameters may be changed by simply clicking on them
so they are highlighted, then using the Plus (+) or Minus(-)keys on the Ten key
pad, or Left clicking and dragging the mouse up and down, or using the side
"slider" to change the parameters.Also direct entry using the Ten key or QWERT
numbers on the ST keybrd is sopported.Renaming a patch is as easy as clicking
on the patch name, and simply typing in the new name.Once a patch is edited, it
can be saved by selecting STORE VC, which when you do, returns you to the Bank
Screen and asks you to store the patch in a location. Click in a location, it
stores the patch and you are brought back to the Editing screen.Other Options
on the menu in the Editing screen are RANDOMIZE, which allows automatic Patch
creation. You can set "masks" for this on the RAND MASK option.This is a very
cool feature of these editors and very usable sounds may be generated in this
way.Sounds may be auditioned by Right Clicking in the screen. Left clicking at
the same time will produce Modulation (vibrato).You can also use your
midi keyboard for auditioning if you have Midi Merge set to ON in the systems
 screen (see
below)

Envelopes: In some editors it is a seperate screen. In others it is part of
Voice Editing Page.Here you have graphic
editing of envelopes simply by using the mouse to "drag and pull"the parameters
while viewing the numerical numbers change. Very intuitive in creating Sounds
and seeing the Envelopes displayed on the screen as you change them.You also
have options to Copy Envelopes by simply selecting the COPY function.

System: takes you to a screen where you can set options : [System Exclusive
Channel] Make sure this is set to the recieving channel of your synth.[Merge]
 (or midi thru) You will need this ON if you want to play your
midi keyboard to audition the sounds.[Storage Drive] lets you select a default
drive to store your sounds. Handy on a Hard drive system.[Mouse Glissando]Set
this to ON if you want to use the mouse to audition sounds (by right clicking
in the screen)[Randomization amount] lets you set a percentage for the Random
Patch creation feature.[Colors] lets you set custom colors for the program: a
very cool feature in my eyes. ( I love configuring colors!) While most Atari
Musicians use ST Hi Res for most programs, these programs look very good in
Medium Res once you configure the colors to your satisfaction.

Comment from the manual:(Entertainment time)"You are free to customize the
program to your whim, whether it be day-glo, earth tones, Miami Vice pastels or
whatever! I find a background of "223" grey easier on my eyes sometimes, and a
nice alternative for highlights is a hot "725" pink or "760" yellow."

To save your settings simply select SAVE SYS.This screen also has System
editing for the particular synth the editor represents.

APPLICATIONS

I use these editors in conjuction with XOR as they both share the same bank
formats. I really like the simplicity and ease on which you can create sounds.
Most parameters are shown on one screen which makes it easy to deal with at
first glance. Graphic editing of the envelopes is also intuitive, while the
Randomization feature makes it easy to create intresting sounds without too much
effort. Also these editors can be loaded from within Dr T's KCS sequencer
package. Each program has an INF file which is the key to loading it into KCS
from the MPE menu. This is what makes these programs work on a TT030 or Falcon
if they do not run from within thier own directories.A must for every Atari Musician.

Tim Conrardy
http://atari.atlantis-bbs.com
Tim's Atari Midi World
4-8-2000

Mark Of The Unicorn: home of UNISYN

http://www.motu.com





