Mark Wherry steps out
of the tardis clutching a few copies of this software
classic so we've taken another look...
The Atari ST was the computer that
launched the MIDI music revolution, its built-in MIDI
ports attracted the best software developers in the
business, and it wasn't hard to see why. Despite the
onslaught from other platforms our Atari machines remain
a firm favourite with many musicians thanks to its exceptionally
stable timing. With new software releases from Electronic
Cow, Softjee, and SoundPool, and rediscovered software
like Trackman and MIDIMan, the legacy looks set to continue
- which brings us neatly to Pro24.
Background
Steinberg's Pro24 was the
product that really got the Atari MIDI ball rolling,
and also saw Karl Steinberg's company take off. SM124
screens running Pro24 became a regular sight on TOTP
used by many famous musicians including PWL, Midge Ure,
Dire Straights, Climie Fisher, and er, Bros. The design,
based around the traditional 24-track multi-track tape
recorder, was inspired. At one point Atari were bundling
copies of Pro24 and its smaller brother Pro12 with machines
and later ST-Format magazine gave away the full Pro12
version away on cover disk.
Main screen
The package
Pro24 comes supplied with
master disk, the all important copy protection dongle,
and a well written wire bound manual. Pro24 works well
on all Atari STs with at least 1Mb memory, including
STes, and unusually for MIDI software, Pro24 also runs
fine on a colour display. The actual program features
24 MIDI tracks of which 4 can be recorded to simultaneously.
Once you've made a recording you can apply many of Pro24's
tricks to it including quantising, which basically makes
your recording sit more comfortably in a musical timing
grid. As with quantising on other programs, used sparingly
it can tidy up not so good timing, but over use can
make music sound mechanical.
Three editors are provided to edit
pre-recorded music, or to enter notes manually. A grid
editor, which laid the foundation for Cubase's list
editor, a drum editor, again not dissimilar to the one
found on Cubase, and a score editor with basic printout
features, which certainly makes life easier for those
who can read music. The logical editor, again developed
further in Cubase, is also here and allows manipulation
of MIDI data based on logic conditions.
Grid editor
Drum editor
Score editor
Like the earlier C-Lab products, Pro24
offers pattern based arrangements, which can be setup
in the arrangement dialog. An editor for the master
track is provided for tempo and time signature changes,
and it is also possible to record tempo changes. A cycle
record option is provided with three different modes,
to repeat a musical section whilst recording and this
could be used to get a part just right without stopping
the sequencer, or perhaps to build up drum or other
rhythm tracks.
Pro24 is also well equipped in terms
of synchronisation and supports MIDI clock and SMPTE
via external hardware. Pro24 also includes integral
support for standard MIDI files without having to resort
to external utilities. As always, there are many more
features than we can cover here in detail.
The bottom line
Although Pro24 was superseded
by Cubase it remains a classic program ideally suited
to anyone interested in learning to use a sequencer
for the first time. By today's standards the manual
is a luxury 190 page ring bound affair which lays flat
for easy reference. There's an Instant Gratification
section which steps you though a recording session followed
by the main reference sections which details each and
every command and includes lots of highlighted tips
and, at the price, offers excellent value for money.
For years Pro24 was the preferred
choice of many music professionals and when you consider
this is the final fully developed Steinberg Pro24 III
it has undergone, and benefited from, the full development
cycle making this a stable and reliable product.
Finally, because it's a Steinberg
product there's a clear and logical upgrade path to
Cubase which uses much of the same terminology, concepts,
and even parts of the editors are the same. Songs composed
using Pro24 can be loaded directly into Cubase.
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