Welcome back! Over the summer we acquired a few new pieces of equipment and made plans for some renovations that, hopefully, will happen sometime during this school year.
Hope you enjoy this, the second issue of Tech Notes. I will be using these notes throughout the year as a way to keep everybody up to date on recent Timara purchases and future plans. Look for more issues to come out periodically.
The sampler supports either analog or digital inputs, and the digital I/O can occur from either the AES/EBU jacks or by SCSI transfers from the Macintosh. An internal 10Mb of Ram allows for about 3.5 minutes of sampled sounds at 44.1khz.
TelevEyes
For those of you interested in getting your computer generated animations off the computer screen and onto a video cassette, the little box sitting on top of the Quadra 610 in Studio 2 can do the job.
The TelevEyes/Pro will convert a computer video signal to the standard NTSC signal used in VHS video decks. Its setting are all programmable from the screen and it includes a special feature called genlock. With genlock, a second video source replaces those areas of the computer screen that display a specified 'key' color. This is most commonly used to add computer generated titles to video, but I'm sure that you all can conjure up more creative uses.
Feel free to roll in the Video Monitor cart to Studio 2 and try it out. Use an RCA cord to connect the video out of the TelevEyes to either the monitor or the VHS deck. To use the genlock feature you will need a second video deck that you can check out from my office.
Roland Drum Pads
The Roland Pad-80 has eight percussion pads which send out Midi Note On/Off signals when struck. Each pad has programmable settings for Midi Channel, key number, sound length, sensitivity, velocity curve, and various ways of layering of up to 3 key sounds per pad. There is also an external pedal control for Modulation, Pitch Bend, or Aftertouch effects.
When eight is not enough, there are jacks for 6 'satellite' pads with the same programmable features as the built in pads. I've tried out our home-built dual pads with these external inputs and they work just fine.
You can also build your own sensors without much difficulty. Go out to Radio Shack and buy a piezoelectric disk for about a dollar. Connect the two leads to a simple 1/4" plug that will connect to the Roland external inputs, and then go ahead and stomp, slam, shoot, drop, or whatever. It is that simple.
The Quadra 650, a good solid machine with a Nubus for the Audiomedia cards and an upgrade path to the Power PC, has been discontinued. The new 630 has no Nubus card. The Power PC is a new technology with possible compatibility problems with some of our software. The Power PC's are due for a speed update in November and an overall update next May.
The room will also have a stereo monitor system connected to the teacher's station and either a projection system or a large video monitor for use in a classroom setting.