Forums | MacLife

aphetica · 2006-12-21 3:29 am

Hiya. My name's Rebekah. I'm a vintage hardware geek, longtime lurker, and first-time poster.

Anyway, I'll get right to it.

I have a powerbook 520c, stock 25mhz with obviously no fsb, 20mb of ram, and OS8.1 .

I'd like to use it for recording general midi if possible, but there doesn't seem to be alot of information anywhere about making music on a 500 series.

My question is whether anyone knows what an appropriate midi interface would be for this system, as well as what type of software to record / sequence / arrange? I use Midigraphy on my G4 and I'm pretty sure that's compatible with 8.1 also, but I'm sure there is other software available that I am not aware of.

BTW, I did a search and couldn't come up with any relevant results.

And I know I could use my G4 with alot more ease for something like this, but the PB is just so cute that I can't help but wanting to enslave it. ^_^

Alien · 2006-12-21 7:14 am

Serial-to-MIDI interfaces for older Macs are regularly offered on eBay. You'll be best off using software from about the era of the machine itself. An older version of Cubase, for instance.

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dvpierce · 2006-12-21 7:18 am

A serial-port midi interface would be hard to find. There was a M-Audio Midiman that was a older version of the MidiMan USB. Opcode made some, but they've been out of business for a while - you can probably find one on eBay. You'll also more'n likely need to download OMS.

Sequencing software? Well, Finaly 97 might work, although it's notation and not really sequencing. Vision and EZVision would be neat, but difficult to find and/or get licensed. Vision used Key Disks, which are dangerous if you don't have a company around to send you replacement disks when they go outh.

I used Master Tracks Pro 6.0 with good luck on an SE/30 and a couple of '040 Macs back in the day. So did Queen. Rock On.

You'll need to get on eBay to find all this stuff. It's old. Also, setting it up and getting it to work right is a major PITA. Turn off Virtual Memory and Disable AppleTalk, for starters.

I have a powerbook 520c, stock 25mhz with obviously no fsb, 20mb of ram, and OS8.1 .

Your 520c probably has no FPU. However, it most certainly has an FSB of sorts - the FSB is the main bus between the cpu and everything else. The FPU (floating point unit) makes your computer do math better.

saltyl · 2008-03-01 3:20 am

StudioVision Pro is an excellent program and has a thriving online community still...There are several sites that have the program as a free download that does not need a floppy or any other authorization...This should work well on your laptop; I used it on a Performa 630CD (don`t remember which version, though).