Big Noise MaxPak V2

Steven Helstrip checks out a four‑program PC package which aims to cover all the MIDI production bases.

Big Noise software has recently decided to shelve its first Windows sequencer, Cadenza; in its place, MaxPak V2 aims to provide all the key elements of MIDI production in one complete and relatively cheap package.

For £235, you get a 64‑track sequencer, on‑screen mixing module, System Exclusive librarian, MMC (MIDI Machine Code) tape transport control, and JukeMax — a MIDI juke box which allows you to string together up to 256 sequences for live performance. An added bonus in this department is that you can now embed lyrics within the file, which is great for the karaoke enthusiast, but has no real use in the professional world.

Suprisingly enough, Big Noise have not changed the packaging for this upgrade or re‑written the user manual. Instead, a small booklet outlining new features has been added and further details are covered in the on‑line help within each section of the program.

To run MaxPak efficiently, you really need a 486SX/25 or better, with a bare minimum of 4Mb RAM. A lesser‑specified machine will suffice, but you'll need a lot of patience. To make use of the scoring facilities within this package, it is useful to have a 17‑inch monitor and a PC that supports resolutions of up to 1024x768; again, this is not essential, but is a big advantage.

Installation runs smoothly from just one high density disk; True Type fonts for scoring, which are automatically inserted within the Windows control panel, are supplied. Drivers for Music Quest and the CMS range of interfaces are also included, with the option to use Windows MME (Multi Media Extension) drivers, now available for all major products. Once installation is complete, MaxPak runs a utility to select which interfaces are to be assigned. At the heart of MaxPak sits Big Noise's MIDI Director control panel, which will support up to 16 MIDI ports simultaneously from a maximum of eight physical interfaces, providing a possible 256 channels – more about the control panel later.

Seqmax

If you are familiar with Cadenza, you'll have no trouble in getting to grips with SeqMax; the layout is very much the same, and that includes the unmistakable large transport buttons positioned to the top left of the screen. At a glance, nothing really stands out from within the main track sheet; track names are listed down the left of the screen, whilst to the right of each track lie the pretty much bog‑standard track parameters, including MIDI port, channel, transpose, bank and program number, volume and pan settings. Further to the right is a column which displays the number of events within each track — more useful would be some indication of MIDI activity, which can often save a lot of time when it comes to trouble shooting.

Selecting a patch or instrument for each track can be done by utilising the database supplied with SeqMax. Double clicking in the instrument column reveals a dialogue box, where a list of preset sounds is displayed for many sound modules. Selecting a sound automatically names the track and inserts the appropriate program change number. There are maps for General MIDI and most Roland keyboards, to name but a few. The database can be modified to suit your own setup and includes bank as well as program change number.

Following Microsoft's guidelines for Windows, values are altered with the +/‑ signs from your computer's numeric keypad, and not with the two mouse buttons for increment and decrement — a bit irritating, since it's enough of a pain switching hands between your synth and the mouse, let alone introducing another input device. However, double clicking on any parameter brings up a dialogue box where the mouse can be used to change values. This seems a bit of a long‑winded way around a simple task.

A click of the right mouse button in the track sheet reveals various editing modes, and it is here that MaxPak has much to offer. The Graphic Editor is a typical piano roll‑style editor which has some quite innovative features. The window is divided into two sections, the top half displaying notes and note lengths within a grid, the bottom, a graph to show control values for each event — a partition bar can be adjusted to show more or less of each region. When a track is assigned to a drum kit map, this editor becomes a drum editor rather than a piano roll.

The lower half of the screen provides many useful tools for adapting or inserting note attributes. The default setting displays velocity, but it's possible to view any controller within the graph. A further click of the right mouse button reveals a tool box; with the pen selected, you can draw your own velocity curves or other controller data. Other tools include data thinners; fill, which inserts extra events to produce a smooth transition between two points; invert; and erase, all of which have their own dinky icon.

The event editor is very basic and would benefit greatly from the use of a comments column, as you can find yourself inserting controller messages, then returning at a later stage and wondering what on earth they were assigned to do. Events can be filtered from view, and tools include insert, erase and a 'go‑to' feature.

Arrangements can be structured using the song editor — a 'birds‑eye' view (or measure pane) over the whole song. This is represented in a grid not too dissimilar from Passport's Master Tracks Pro. Sections can be block marked and copied to other tracks or positions within the song, but unfortunately no section smaller than a whole measure can be copied.

Big Noise have not included song position pointers within any part of MaxPak, which is important to many users; nevertheless there are 'bookmarks', which is a definite bonus.

Quantise and other parameters are to be found within the drop‑down edit menu. SeqMax's maximum resolution is 480ppqn (Pulses Per Quarter Note) with a smallest quantisation value of a 64th note. There is quite an extensive Humanise feature within this menu, which is based on the strength of velocity, note duration and event start times, given that a 100% setting will not affect current data; there's also a swing/shuffle feature to be played with.

A new addition to version 2.0 is the Score Editor. It doesn't provide the in‑depth features of a notation package such as Encore or Finale, but offers the opportunity to view data in traditional notation style. All tracks are displayed except those which are either muted or pattern based.

Text input has been kept to a bare minimum, allowing only lyrics to be inserted; symbols simply include the traditional note length and rest values with various orchestral and dynamic marks. Once symbols are inserted, they are left 'free floating', which means that they can be positioned more accurately at a later stage. All marks are placed above the staff, lyrics below.

Making changes to clefs and font sizes from the score settings option is about as technical as things get; however, should you be writing out parts for a school band you shouldn't have any problems in printing out a reasonable score from within this package. When it comes to printing out scores, MaxPak will only print highlighted parts, and you can enter song title and author within the dialogue box which pops up just before the printed sheet pops out.

There are two on‑screen mixing modules within MaxPak, one of which is MixMax, the other being a track mixer within the sequencer itself. Configured for General MIDI, the mixer allows settings to be changed for reverb and chorus levels, as well as volume and pan — and in real time. However, the performance of the mixer leaves much to be desired where speed is concerned, due to the amazingly slow rate at which the graphics are drawn to the screen — irritating after only a short time, as switching between windows forces the mixer to be redrawn. My findings are based on a 486DX2/50, so draw your own conclusions.

Other important features to be found in version 2.0 are Tap Tempo, which allows you to tap in and create a tempo map and track shift to offset the start time of individual tracks, and the Pattern Editor, which bears a resemblance to the techniques employed by Steinberg's Pro 24.

Mixmax

The second fundamental program in the package is MixMax, a fully programmable on‑screen mixing console. It looks very much the same as the faders window within SeqMax but offers more in terms of flexibility and control. The default layout is for General MIDI, but there are layouts for Fostex Mixtab and Mackie mixers. Graphics redrawing is still slow here, and it becomes more of a problem should you wish to extend the console.

Going into edit mode allows faders, knobs and switches to be added to the screen. By assigning a controller to the new object you can control, in real time, external hardware settings via MIDI. Snapshots can be taken of mixer settings, allowing you to assign predetermined mixes to different parts of the song, though only one snapshot can be taken at any one time — which can be restricting — and it is not possible to load more than one mixer setup, surprising in a Windows package. Mixing sessions can be recorded and saved as MIDI files as well as in a proprietary format, and overall MixMax serves its purpose well and is easy to set up and control.

The beauty of MaxPak is the multitasking capabilities made possible with the MIDI Director control panel. Any changes made within MixMax will be reflected in SeqMax, and vice versa. This is also true of the other elements within the package.

The MIDI Director control panel sits in the background doing most of the donkey work until it is called upon to stripe a tape, make changes to sync settings and/or MIDI input and output setups. There is also a basic MIDI filter within the input setup. An excellent feature in this window is the program change mapping system. Imagine the following scenario: you have just recalled an old sequence recorded using the General MIDI map. To play back this arrangement on a non‑compatible sound source would involve making program changes to match instrument timbres. With program change mapping you can select source and destination sound modules/synths and have the mapping utility assign the most appropriate timbres for you. These maps can be edited, but there are only eight maps to play with.

Tapemax

TapeMax is another new feature, which allows you to operate external multitrack recorders which support MMC (MIDI Machine Control). When in use with SeqMax, the program assumes the tape is sending SMPTE, and that the sequencer is locked to the SMPTE code, thus enabling you to drop in at any point and keep tabs on song position/SMPTE time on screen. There are eight locate points which can easily be set, transport controls and record enable for up to 32 tracks.

There are improvements to this program which would be nice — for example, naming tape tracks, programming drop‑in points and being able to record sessions should you want to repeat any actions — but overall, it works well.

Conclusion

I feel that MaxPak will sell masses to the part‑time enthusiast rather than the professional musician. Its big selling point is its price — you certainly get a hell of a lot for your money. It's feature packed, reliable 95% of the time and will run on almost any PC with 4Mb RAM. Multitasking capabilities are excellent, and the package is backwards compatible with MaxPak V1.0 and Cadenza. There is some room for improvement, and some bugs which have to be cleaned up, but putting that aside, MaxPak is certainly a good buy.