Few people have heard of it, yet John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 was the first commercially available personal computer.
Brand New Music Synth -- For the Apple II?!
By James Grahame
Although it pains me to write this, it is possible to go overboard with vintage gear. The Apple II Digital Music Synthesizer might be a case in point. It's a brand new $19.95 piece of software for the Apple II, released on 5-1/4 inch floppy. Needless to say, it's guaranteed to be a niche seller.
That said, it's pretty cool by early eighties standards. MJ Mahon & 8 Bit Weapon declare, "The DMS is the only wavetable synthesizer for the Apple //e, IIc, and IIc+ computers that is suitable for performance use. It supports up to 8 voices, which can be selected from the 10 on disk, and played (monophonically) from the Apple II keyboard. It can be used to “record” a performance for later playback as well. Also, the DMS doesn’t require a monitor! Just turn on your Apple II and when the drive light goes off. Then hit the space bar you’re ready to play live!"
There's even an mp3 demo. I can hardly wait to subject you all to my next Apple II-inspired vibraphone / sine wave / banjo opus. Bring earplugs.
Apple II DMS Music Software [via CDM, Technabob & Matrixsynth]
