REACTION: MUSIC COMPOSERS
-------------------------

By The Missing Link


Hi editor & Alphasys!

I saw the review of the Benjy Sound Monitor on the last issue of Megamag (6)...
Lucky guy as I am, I had also the possibility to take a look at some sound
monitors. Quite normal if you run a softwarehouse. I have seen (and own) the
following composers:

- Benjy Sound Monitor
- Black Magic Composer
- Sound Monitor Professional
- Pro tracker 7.0
- Chaos Music Composer
- Future Composer
- Music Pro Tracker

I disagree with Alphasys. Sure, the Benjy Monitor isn't the best sound monitor
for our Atari 8-bit, but I think Alphasys should take a 'real' look to this
program.

1. The copy protection isn't that bad. Ofcource you can break it. You can break
every protection if you want. But still, it is a copy protection. If you copy
this program with (any copier), it wil run, but there are some small routines
missing, which will effect your sound table. Try to edit the Parameters if you
run the copy. This option is deleted!

2. You can edit sounds as much as you like. If they don't seem to be ok, try to
make real sounds! The limitation is on the user, not on the machine or program.

3. You didn't mention the very good transpose options which are missing in other
composers.

4. You didn't mention the possability to edit patterns while the music is
playing. Also missing on most other editors.

5. The hot key options are very clear to me. It's quite normal to use
control-keys in a program like ^S to save or ^L to load...

My opinion about all sound editors for Atari 8-bit:

Benjy Sound Monitor
-------------------
Nice editor, but limited. A little bit to expensive, but is an European product
which are more expensive as the Polish products are. This monitor is easy to
work with for users who want to edit while the tune is playing.

Black Magic Composer
--------------------
A very good one, but you should format it! The player is corrupt and won't run
on some computers.

Sound Monitor Professional
--------------------------
A nice editor, but like the benjy Composer: limited. Still, this program is
Public Domain, so no money is wasted.

Pro Tracker 7.0
---------------
From Poland. It is a very nice editor (it is possible to convert MOD files to
this editor), but the pattern editor is much to limited. Don't buy this one,
because this one will take a lot of time to edit patterns. You can't copy them
and you always have to edit all patterns for channel 1 to 4 the same time!

Chaos Composer
--------------
Best choise at this moment. Can't play samples, but do you need them? The sounds
you can edit are very good! You can copy, mix, replay, etc. This is why we are
selling this one. The most of the musics which are written for our products are
made with Chaos. A very nice option is the use of 'sound-effects' in stead of
music.

Future Composer
---------------
Very nice editor, but limited. easy to work with and the routines made by this
editor are compatible with the 'Gilmore songs'. You can edit while the music is
playing. A nice editor to start with learning creating music on your Atari.

Music Pro Tracker
-----------------
I have only seen the preview version of this one, because the final version
isn't ready yet. Jakub Husak has also tested this one and the programmer is
working on the final version at this moment. I think that this one will be best
for the next years... Very good edit options, playing samples, mixing samples
and sounds in the same pattern, very good sound edit options, etc.

Remember if you write a review: Test all options. If you don't understand
something, read the manual and try again. I hope I won't see such a review in
the future on Megamag! (killing a program which isn't tested completely and then
suggest a program which is more expensive and very corrupt!)

Editor's note: I gave the Benjy Sound Monitor to AlphaSys, so I haven't tried
this program myself. If someone writes a review about a program, I take that
review serious unless I know that the review isn't complete.
It would be too much work (and double work) if I had to check all the reviews
(or anything else people write in their articles).
Therefore it's nice to get reactions when a review appears to be incomplete.
Thank you for your reaction and I hope people will follow your example whenever
they disagree with statements from Mega Magazine articles.