| Music Construction Set |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT MUSIC CONSTRUCTION SET | |
| 1984 video games | |
| apple ii software | |
| atari 8-bit family software | |
| atari st software | |
| commodore 64 software | |
| electronic arts | |
| scorewriters | |
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Though it is entertainment software, strictly speaking it is not a Game , though it is often lumped together with them. It is also considered Edutainment since users could learn a bit about music notation by using it. Will Harvey designed and programmed the original Apple II version of the game when he was 15 and in High School . He programmed that original version in Assembly Language . DESCRIPTION With ''MCS'', the user can create musical composition using a Graphical User Interface , a novel concept for the era of its release. Users could drag and drop notes right onto the staff, play back their creations and print them out. The program came with a few popular songs as samples. Most versions of this program required the users to use a Joystick to create their songs, note by note. LIMITATIONS Though novel, the music creation process was cumbersome due to the fairly primitive input mechanisms of early home computers. Also, the Apple II and PC had very limited native sound production capabilities. However, the program took advantage of advanced equipment for those who had it. For example, the IBM PC version allowed user to input/output data to a cassette recorder, so if the user cared to, they could send 4-voice music to their stereo. The Apple II version supported the Expansion Card Mockingboard for higher fidelity sound output. PLATFORMS As a powerful and novel concept for entertainment software, ''MCS'' was lucrative for Harvey and Electronic Arts. As such, Electronic Arts quickly had it ported to other popular platforms of the era, including the PC and the Commodore 64 . In 1986 it was ported to the Apple IIGS where it made use of its advanced built-in Ensoniq Wavetable synthesizer, and the following year, in 1987 , it was ported to the Atari ST . The program was completely redesigned for the Amiga , but under the name '' Deluxe Music Construction Set ''. It was given the more glorified name because of the advanced music and sound producing capabilities of the computer. This version had more features and better graphics than the other versions of the program. This version also allowed users to type in lyrics for their compositions, though these were striclty for the user (the program didn't attempt to "sing" the lyrics, a feat which the Amiga computer is capable of with the Speech Synthesis software the computer came with {Link without Title} .) The title screens of all the versions included the prefix "Will Harvey's" (i.e. ''Will Harvey's Music Construction Set''), but Harvey had little to do with any version but the original and the follow-up Apple IIGS release. SEE ALSO
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