SMUG member is Mac Musician



Author: Gladya Burritt

Date: May, 1988

Keywords: Cheryl Gibbs music sound audio MIDI

Text:
Cheryl Gibbs says she's always been interested in music, art, and
graphics design.  Now, her Macintosh computer has expanded and enhanced
these interests immeasurably.
A Macintosh display at a computer fair a few years ago caught her
attention.   Cheryl found she was having a blast experimenting with
MacPaint on the display computer, and she didn't forget that first
impression.  Within the next few months she found herself enrolled in
an electronic music class in order to update her experience with early
synthesizers.   The teacher of this class had a Mac, and Cheryl became
intrigued with the new technology and programs available for the Mac. 
The opportunity to "baby-sit" a friend's electronic keyboard for a few
days helped Cheryl decide she was going to get her own Mac and keyboard
set-up.  At the time, Cheryl was working as a reporter at a newspaper
where computers were increasingly important in word processing,
graphics, and data bases.
After saving her nickels, Cheryl now is the proud owner of a Mac 512e
with a 400k external drive, and the specialized music software,
Performer and Professional Composer.   Using Performer, the music
Cheryl plays on the keyboard is digitally recorded, and can be replayed
and edited either on the keyboard or on the computer.  The program
Professional Composer allows Cheryl to translate the digital recording
into notes on paper.  Voila!  Sheet music!  Cheryl is still learning
all the different aspects of Performer and Professional Composer, and
also uses MacWrite and PageMaker.
Cheryl is totally positive about the many uses of her Macintosh.  She
remarks that her three housemates are all Mac-proficient, and that word
processing and games get equal time.   Cheryl feels that choice of a
computer should be based on the software you need to do what you want. 
She already had seen Performer and Professional Composer in use, had
tried them, and gets a lot of satisfaction from now being able to use
this knowledge and technology for her own artistic endeavors.
She also comments that she's glad she didn't allow herself to feel
intimidated by some of the unfamiliar words that went zipping by at
SMUG meetings when she was a newcomer.  She says she's found that SMUG
members are willing to help if approached with requests for assistance.
 Cheryl encourages new members to stick around and ask questions.  It's
worth it!

Copyright © may, 1988 by Gladya Burritt