MOTU Ships Digital Performer 2.0
January 16, 1997
Mark of the Unicorn, Inc. (MOTU) announced today that it
is now shipping Digital Performer Version 2.0 (Screen shots available), a major upgrade of MOTU's flagship MIDI sequencing
and digital audio recording software. The upgrade boasts major feature enhancements and 100%
PowerPC native code for optimum performance on Power Macintosh computers.
Recently awarded the prestigious MacWorld World Class Award for 1997, Digital Performer
combines state-of-the-art MIDI sequencing with hard disk-based digital audio recording, editing and
mixing. Included is MOTU's ground-breaking PureDSP(TM) audio processing technology, which
provides the ability to pitch-shift, time-scale and "gender-bend" digitally recorded audio. Digital
Performer is well known for the quality of its audio processing and its well-crafted, seamless
integration of audio and MIDI.
Digital Performer Version 2.0 introduces many new audio-related enhancements and includes all of
the new features recently introduced in MOTU's major upgrade of Performer Version 5.5.
Most notable is 100% native operation on Power Macintosh computers for optimum speed and
performance. The Tracks window, one of the program's main windows, now provides an improved,
bird's-eye view of both MIDI and audio tracks. Audio tracks show actual wave forms at a size that
allows you to see many tracks at a time. MIDI tracks show a piano-roll style display of MIDI data
inside blocks, which let you edit the MIDI data as singular phrases of music, just like their audio
counterparts.
Another notable upgrade feature is Digital Performer's new PureDSP(TM) sample rate conversion
algorithm, which lets users convert, for example, material recorded on their Alesis ADAT(TM) at
48kHz down to 44.1kHz for their final CD mix. MOTU's PureDSP(TM) sample rate conversion
algorithm uses proprietary filters to completely eliminate the significant aliasing and imaging
typically produced by other audio software programs with this feature. For example, Digital
Performer's total harmonic distortion (THD+n) remains below 0.002% for most of the audible
spectrum, whereas competing programs exhibit as high as 18% THD+n within the audible range.
Also unique is Digital Performer's "draft" quality conversion, which lets Digital Performer users hear
their audio right away (at the correct pitch) while "best-quality" processing continues in the
background. Digital Performer automatically replaces draft-quality audio with its final , "best-quality"
version as soon as processing is complete.
Digital Performer 2.0 also provides more extensive support of Digidesign's TDM virtual mixing
environment and plug-in architecture. Digital Performer's TDM implementation closely matches that
of Digidesign's popular Pro Tools software so that Digidesign users can quickly find their way
around. Located in Digital Performer's on-screen virtual Mixing Board window, new TDM features
include 16 TDM busses, Aux tracks, 4 sends per track (pre or post fader), and master faders. Aux
tracks, with both mono and stereo inputs, provide a wide array of powerful and flexible mixing
capabilities, help conserve precious TDM DSP resources, and also help automate TDM plug-in
effects. Master faders provide control over TDM mixer outputs and serve as a convenient
mechanism for sub-mixing and other tasks.
A new mode, called "Direct Line Outs", lets users assign audio tracks to individual outputs (instead
of output pairs) on their audio system I/O unit for straightforward setup with an external mixing
environment.
Other new features in Digital Performer Version 2.0 include:
- More non-destructive MIDI output processing effects, including Groove Quantize, Shift, Humanize,
Echo, Arpeggiator and more. These effects can be applied as an "insert" on a MIDI track in the
Mixing Board (up to five inserts per track) and because they only affect playback of the MIDI data in
the track, they can be adjusted or bypassed at any time.
- Unlimited multiple mixdowns for an entire sequence with instant recall. This feature allows users
to create an automated mixdown of all the tracks in a sequence, both MIDI and audio, and then
save the mix as a whole. Then, users can either duplicate the mix or create a new one. Digital
Performer saves the original mix, which consists of all the volume and pan information in the entire
sequence, under its own name for instant recall at any time. This features is ideal for easily
creating alternate mixdowns of the same music.
- Adjust Beats. The Adjust Beats feature lets users record music (audio or MIDI data) without
listening to a metronome and then graphically drag beats and barlines in the time rulers of Digital
Performer's graphic editing windows to line them up with notes in a MIDI performance or peaks in
an audio waveform. This results in readable
notation transcription, as well as musical editing on measures and beats. Adjust beats does all of
this while precisely preserving every nuance of the user's original material. For faster results, Digital
Performer allows users to drag measure barlines as well as individual beats. Among other things,
this feature is ideal for film composers because it allows them to freely record their music while
slaved to picture and then afterwards place measures and beats wherever they want - all while
preserving their original performance (and its synchronization with picture).
- Drag-and-drop markers in the main tracks overview allow users quickly and easily create, view and
- Unlimited "takes" per track. A "take" stores the entire contents of a MIDI, audio, or conductor
track. Digital Performer allows users to create an unlimited number of takes for each track. This
helps keep user's track lists short and manageable because they don't have to make a new track
for each take. Instead, users can maintain one track, such as "Bass," and then store all alternate
takes for the bass track under that one track heading.
- Global selection. Global selection means that data stays selected in all edit windows until another
selection is made, even after users apply successive edits.
- Smart Selections(TM). This features provides "intelligent assistance" to basic editing tasks for fast,
musical editing. For example, if the user has grid-snapping turned on and makes a two-bar
selection, but the notes at the beginning of the selection actually occur a few ticks before the
downbeat, Digital Performer will automatically include them in the selection. Also included is
measure-relative pasting, which allows the user to quickly place the playback wiper anywhere in
the measure into which they want to paste, without having to worry about the wiper's exact
location. Pasted material is then inserted inside the measure at the same location from which it
was originally cut or copied.
- Support for OuickTime Musical Instruments. Digital Performer 2.0 can play MIDI tracks on the
Macintosh's built-in synthesizer through the Mac's internal speaker. This allows users to hear their
MIDI sequences without external MIDI gear.
- Enhanced soloing and gliding over play-enable buttons. Digital Performer now saves the
play-enable status of all tracks when the program is put into solo mode. This lets users instantly
A/B-compare between two playback configurations. In addition, users can now "glide" the cursor of
play buttons in track list to quickly mute or unmute groups of tracks.
- MIDI scrubbing. Users can now drag Digital Performer's playback wiper forwards or backwards
and hear their MIDI tracks play at the speed at which they drag.
- Extensive Macintosh System 7 balloon help. Digital Performer's balloon help is extensive, with
detailed, explanatory graphics that provide quick, on-line answers for users.
- Improved real-time notation transcription. Mark of the Unicorn's advanced notation transcription
technology, which first appeared in FreeStyle, has now been incorporated into Digital Performer.
This technology produces more readable notation transcription with a minimum of "tweaking" by the
user. Features include floating split points, multiple voices per staff, and n-tuplet recognition. The
Straighten Swing feature displays swung eighths as straight eighths (instead of triplets).
- 100% file compatibility. Digital Performer 2.0 can export files to Performer 5.5 and Digital
Performer 1.6, 1.7 and 1.71.
Digital Performer supports Digidesign hard disk recording systems for Macintosh and Power
Macintosh, including Audiomedia II and III, Pro Tools, Pro Tools Project, and Pro Tools III with TDM
(Nubus and PCI). For more information, visit their web site at www.motu.com. |
