Not only did Opcode produce excellent MIDI software for the Macintosh but they also made the some of the best MIDI interfaces for the Mac to ever exist. It all started with the Opcode MIDIMAC back in 1986 and went on from there. Read more about Opcode Studio Series Macintosh Serial MIDI Interfaces
All the Opcode Studio manuals listed below are in PDF format. I am still searching for a PDF version of the Opcode Studio 3 user manual. If you have access to this file, please contact me.
This one was really cool. MIDI Maze was a game developed by Xanth Software F/X for the Atari ST line of computers. MIDI Maze used the Atari ST's built-in MIDI interface to allow for true 16 player networked gaming (one per MIDI channel i suppose). This was way back in the 1980's, well before TCP/IP or IPX was any where near common in the home, very innovative, out-of-the-box use of the MIDI hardware.That's the type of innovation that is rarely seen these days. Read more about MIDI Maze Atari Game
Opcode's greatest contribution to the MIDI world was probably the Opcode MIDI System, a.k.a OMS (which was later renamed the Open Music System). OMS was a set of system software for the classic MacOS that managed MIDI routing and processing. Read more about The Opcode MIDI System a.k.a OMS
Opcode made MIDI and later audio software for the Macintosh platform in the late 80's and the 90's. Eventually they did release their MIDI sequencing app Vision for Windows as well, but their primary focus was always the Mac. Read more about Opcode Software and Hardware
seq24 is an open source remake of the old style MIDI step loop sequencers. If you are a fan of the old style step sequencers (and if you're not, you should be) you owe it to yourself to check out seq24, it's awesome and has a lof of serious fans. You can even buy seq24 shirts from the seq24 website. Read more about seq24 loop step MIDI sequencer
Rose Garden is an open source MIDI sequencer app that includes audio recording. Rose Garden got it's start on the SGI IRIX platform, another of my favorite tech areas from the 80s and 90s. I personally use Rose Garden these days running under Slackware Linux. Read more about Rose Garden MIDI Sequencer
Opcode released their flagship MIDI sequencing software Vision back in 1989 for the Macintosh. Vision was very well received and was on the top of it's game at the time, winning several awards. It was in 1990 however that Opcode gave birth to Opcode Studio Vision.
I have a lots of fond memories of hours upon hours spent in Studio Vision. Studio Vision stood out as the first MIDI sequencer to integrate digital audio recording. It was the first sequencer that i ever owned (software or hardware) and served me well starting back in 1991 on my old Mac IIci. Read more about Opcode Studio Vision MIDI Sequencer for MacOS Classic
I would say that the House of Synth is indeed a great place to get your vintage synthesizers from...I would recommend it even for my mother in law :) Thank for giving me the opportunity to get such a great piece of machinery!!!
