fbpx
Wikipedia

Passport Designs

Passport Designs Inc. was a software company that created early music production software, such as the pre-MIDI SoundChaser in 1982.[1] Other programs included Master Tracks Pro and Encore.

Passport Designs Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryMusic software
Founded1979
FoundersDave Kusek, John Borowicz
ProductsMaster Tracks Pro, Encore, etc.
WebsitePassportMusic.com

History edit

Founding and early years edit

The company was founded in 1979 by Dave Kusek and John Borowicz, and incorporated in 1980, with Kusek as CEO and Borowicz as Vice-President of Development.[2][3] They had previously worked together at Electronic Music Labs from 1973–76 and Star Instruments from 1976-79. The company was originally headquartered in Montara, California, moving to Half Moon Bay, California and finally to Foster City, California. Engineering offices were also briefly maintained in Minnesota and Portland, Oregon.

Early computer music software edit

The company was a pioneer in the field of computer music, introducing the pre-MIDI SoundChaser in 1982. This Apple II-based system included the Mountain Computer Music System, a programmable 8-voice wavetable synthesizer that fit in two Apple II slots, the Soundchaser 4-octave keyboard, and system software, written by Kusek, that emulated a four-track tape recorder.[4][5]

After Mountain Computer discontinued the Mountain Computer Music System, Passport developed the Soundchaser MX-5(MX-500) Card to use instead. The MX-5 contained a Mountain Computer Music System-compatible sound function as well as a MIDI interface and the keyboard interface of the Soundchaser Music keyboard in a single card.[6]

In 1983, composer John Melcher developed 4-Track Editor, a composing application that enabled music to be entered like a word-processor.[7] The same year, Passport released Turbo-Traks, a 16-track version of their recording software. At this time, they also released Notewriter, a "real-time monophonic music transcriber", and Notetools, an add-on to convert Notewriter files to 4-Track Performance files. They also released a series of educational applications, written by Dr. Charles Brody.

MIDI edit

When the first MIDI specification was adopted in 1983, Passport put all of its development resources in this direction, licensing and developing a MIDI interface from Rittor Music in Japan and hiring Melcher to develop MIDI recording software. Composer Phil Stone was also hired at this time, first to develop audio for games on the Commodore 64, and then to port MIDI applications from Apple II to Commodore.[citation needed]

The first of these were MIDI/2 and MIDI/4, two-track and four-track MIDI sequencer/recorders for Apple II and Commodore 64 platforms, including OEM versions of MIDI/4 for Yamaha and Korg.[8] These were introduced at the 1984 National Association of Music Manufacturers (NAMM) trade show, the first commercially available MIDI sequencers in the United States. These were followed by Master Tracks in 1985,[9] and Master Tracks Pro in 1986. This software pushed the Apple II to its limits, working with an optional card to extend the Apple's memory from 48K to 2M. In 1987, after Melcher left Passport, Master Tracks Pro was completely rewritten for the Apple Macintosh, and later the Atari ST series computers, and still exists for Windows and Apple O/Ses.[10]

Nine MIDI files by the company were included in Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions. From Windows 95 to 2000, only PASSPORT.MID, and CANYON.MID ("Trip Through the Grand Canyon" composed by George Stone) remained, which are located in the MEDIA directory. Windows 3.1 only included the latter.[11]

Other applications edit

PolyWriter, Passport's first music notation application, was released in 1984,[12] followed by Encore, a professional music notation application capable of creating high-quality scores.[13] The Encore feature set was adapted to different markets and sold as Rhapsody,[14] MusicTime[15] and MusicTime Deluxe.[16] There was also a version called music@Passport, an attempt to integrate web-based music publishing into a desktop notation editor.[17]

Passport Memphis was a guitar tablature creation application that offered an easy to use drag-and-drop interface that enabled the user to create and print easy-to-read tabs.[citation needed]

Alchemy was a waveform audio editor, originally developed by Blank Software and subsequently purchased by Passport, that integrated Macintosh computers with most current digital sampler brands that supported the MIDI Sample Dump Standard, including Akai, Casio, E-mu, Ensoniq, Korg, Kurzweil, Peavey and Roland. Later versions allowed users to create a sound library that could be shared those sounds across multiple sampler formats. The final version, version 3.0, was released in 1996.[18]

The professional standard SCORE music engraving program was written by Leland Smith with additions by Perry Devine of Passport Designs and released by the company in 1987.[19]

Shifting focus from music software to the nascent "multimedia" market, they introduced Passport Producer in 1992, and Producer Pro 1.0 in 1994.[20]

Sale of the company edit

The company sold its assets to G-VOX in 1998,[21] when Passport Designs ceased to exist as a company. In August 2013, G-VOX sold the rights to most of its software (Encore, MusicTime Deluxe, MasterTracks Pro, Bring Music to Life) to Passport Music Software, LLC.[22]

On 31 January 2022 Passport Music Software, LLC ceased trading and offered the company and its intellectual property for sale.[23]

In mid-2022 the original developer of Encore, Don Williams, bought the company and announced a new version of Encore for an autumn release the same year.[24]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Bring the computer to your senses... with Soundchaser". Keyboard Magazine. Joe Perry. August 1981. p. 13. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  2. ^ Dave Kusek LinkedIn profile
  3. ^ John Borowicz LinkedIn profile
  4. ^ Applefritter.com
  5. ^ Ellis, David (January 1982). "Soundchaser Computer Music System". Electronics and Music Maker. Maplin Publications. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Computer music comes of age" (PDF). Recording Engineer Producer. Hollywood, CA: Martin Gallay. December 1983. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  7. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  8. ^ Ellis, David (September 1984). "Passport MIDI/4 Software". Electronics & Music Maker (Sep 1984): 82–83. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Passport Master Tracks 1.8 for Apple IIe". The Internet Archive. 1986. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  10. ^ Burgess, Jim (July 1987). "Passport Master Tracks Pro". Music Technology (Jul 1987): 60–62. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ^ Hamilton, Kirk (5 October 2012). "This Gloriously Cheesy MIDI File Was Windows' Greatest Hit". Kotaku. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Products of Interest". Computer Music Journal. 8 (2): 70. Summer 1984. JSTOR 4617910.
  13. ^ Rothstein, Joseph (Summer 1993). "Passport Designs' Encore Music Notation Software". Computer Music Journal. 17 (2): 104–107. doi:10.2307/3680877. JSTOR 3680877.
  14. ^ Cruden, Brenda (20 November 1995). "Composers' tool can bring Rhapsody into your life". InfoWorld. Vol. 17, no. 47. p. 104.
  15. ^ "Product Announcements". Computer Music Journal. 17 (3): 86-87. Autumn 1993. JSTOR 3680951.
  16. ^ . Passport Music Software. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Market Tips". Piano and Keyboard: 22. November–December 1997.
  18. ^ . Sound On Sound. June 1996. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  19. ^ Smith, Leland (1992). SCORE Reference Manual Version 3.0. Palo Alto, CA: San Andreas Press. p. 1.
  20. ^ Schorr, Joseph (April 1994). "Passport Producer Pro 1 .0". MacWorld. Vol. 11, no. 4. p. 81.
  21. ^ (Press release). New York, NY: G-Vox. 15 October 1998. Archived from the original on 2 March 1999 – via Harmony-Central.
  22. ^ "Passport Music Software, LLC".
  23. ^ . Passport Music Software. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  24. ^ Williams, Don. "Innovation Reimagined!". Passport Music Software. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

External links edit

  • Official website

passport, designs, software, company, that, created, early, music, production, software, such, midi, soundchaser, 1982, other, programs, included, master, tracks, encore, company, typeprivateindustrymusic, softwarefounded1979foundersdave, kusek, john, borowicz. Passport Designs Inc was a software company that created early music production software such as the pre MIDI SoundChaser in 1982 1 Other programs included Master Tracks Pro and Encore Passport Designs Inc Company typePrivateIndustryMusic softwareFounded1979FoundersDave Kusek John BorowiczProductsMaster Tracks Pro Encore etc WebsitePassportMusic com Contents 1 History 1 1 Founding and early years 1 2 Early computer music software 1 3 MIDI 1 4 Other applications 1 5 Sale of the company 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory editFounding and early years edit The company was founded in 1979 by Dave Kusek and John Borowicz and incorporated in 1980 with Kusek as CEO and Borowicz as Vice President of Development 2 3 They had previously worked together at Electronic Music Labs from 1973 76 and Star Instruments from 1976 79 The company was originally headquartered in Montara California moving to Half Moon Bay California and finally to Foster City California Engineering offices were also briefly maintained in Minnesota and Portland Oregon Early computer music software edit See also Apple II sound cards Mountain Computer Music System The company was a pioneer in the field of computer music introducing the pre MIDI SoundChaser in 1982 This Apple II based system included the Mountain Computer Music System a programmable 8 voice wavetable synthesizer that fit in two Apple II slots the Soundchaser 4 octave keyboard and system software written by Kusek that emulated a four track tape recorder 4 5 After Mountain Computer discontinued the Mountain Computer Music System Passport developed the Soundchaser MX 5 MX 500 Card to use instead The MX 5 contained a Mountain Computer Music System compatible sound function as well as a MIDI interface and the keyboard interface of the Soundchaser Music keyboard in a single card 6 In 1983 composer John Melcher developed 4 Track Editor a composing application that enabled music to be entered like a word processor 7 The same year Passport released Turbo Traks a 16 track version of their recording software At this time they also released Notewriter a real time monophonic music transcriber and Notetools an add on to convert Notewriter files to 4 Track Performance files They also released a series of educational applications written by Dr Charles Brody MIDI edit See also Master Tracks Pro When the first MIDI specification was adopted in 1983 Passport put all of its development resources in this direction licensing and developing a MIDI interface from Rittor Music in Japan and hiring Melcher to develop MIDI recording software Composer Phil Stone was also hired at this time first to develop audio for games on the Commodore 64 and then to port MIDI applications from Apple II to Commodore citation needed The first of these were MIDI 2 and MIDI 4 two track and four track MIDI sequencer recorders for Apple II and Commodore 64 platforms including OEM versions of MIDI 4 for Yamaha and Korg 8 These were introduced at the 1984 National Association of Music Manufacturers NAMM trade show the first commercially available MIDI sequencers in the United States These were followed by Master Tracks in 1985 9 and Master Tracks Pro in 1986 This software pushed the Apple II to its limits working with an optional card to extend the Apple s memory from 48K to 2M In 1987 after Melcher left Passport Master Tracks Pro was completely rewritten for the Apple Macintosh and later the Atari ST series computers and still exists for Windows and Apple O Ses 10 Nine MIDI files by the company were included in Windows 3 0 with Multimedia Extensions From Windows 95 to 2000 only PASSPORT MID and CANYON MID Trip Through the Grand Canyon composed by George Stone remained which are located in the MEDIA directory Windows 3 1 only included the latter 11 Other applications edit See also Encore notation program PolyWriter Passport s first music notation application was released in 1984 12 followed by Encore a professional music notation application capable of creating high quality scores 13 The Encore feature set was adapted to different markets and sold as Rhapsody 14 MusicTime 15 and MusicTime Deluxe 16 There was also a version called music Passport an attempt to integrate web based music publishing into a desktop notation editor 17 Passport Memphis was a guitar tablature creation application that offered an easy to use drag and drop interface that enabled the user to create and print easy to read tabs citation needed Alchemy was a waveform audio editor originally developed by Blank Software and subsequently purchased by Passport that integrated Macintosh computers with most current digital sampler brands that supported the MIDI Sample Dump Standard including Akai Casio E mu Ensoniq Korg Kurzweil Peavey and Roland Later versions allowed users to create a sound library that could be shared those sounds across multiple sampler formats The final version version 3 0 was released in 1996 18 The professional standard SCORE music engraving program was written by Leland Smith with additions by Perry Devine of Passport Designs and released by the company in 1987 19 Shifting focus from music software to the nascent multimedia market they introduced Passport Producer in 1992 and Producer Pro 1 0 in 1994 20 Sale of the company edit The company sold its assets to G VOX in 1998 21 when Passport Designs ceased to exist as a company In August 2013 G VOX sold the rights to most of its software Encore MusicTime Deluxe MasterTracks Pro Bring Music to Life to Passport Music Software LLC 22 On 31 January 2022 Passport Music Software LLC ceased trading and offered the company and its intellectual property for sale 23 In mid 2022 the original developer of Encore Don Williams bought the company and announced a new version of Encore for an autumn release the same year 24 See also editMaster Tracks ProReferences edit Bring the computer to your senses with Soundchaser Keyboard Magazine Joe Perry August 1981 p 13 Retrieved 22 February 2020 Dave Kusek LinkedIn profile John Borowicz LinkedIn profile Applefritter com Ellis David January 1982 Soundchaser Computer Music System Electronics and Music Maker Maplin Publications Retrieved 22 February 2020 Computer music comes of age PDF Recording Engineer Producer Hollywood CA Martin Gallay December 1983 Retrieved 22 February 2020 John Charles Melcher Archived from the original on 2012 03 03 Retrieved 2010 02 10 Ellis David September 1984 Passport MIDI 4 Software Electronics amp Music Maker Sep 1984 82 83 Retrieved 2 February 2022 Passport Master Tracks 1 8 for Apple IIe The Internet Archive 1986 Retrieved 2 February 2022 Burgess Jim July 1987 Passport Master Tracks Pro Music Technology Jul 1987 60 62 Retrieved 2 February 2022 Hamilton Kirk 5 October 2012 This Gloriously Cheesy MIDI File Was Windows Greatest Hit Kotaku Retrieved 2 February 2022 Products of Interest Computer Music Journal 8 2 70 Summer 1984 JSTOR 4617910 Rothstein Joseph Summer 1993 Passport Designs Encore Music Notation Software Computer Music Journal 17 2 104 107 doi 10 2307 3680877 JSTOR 3680877 Cruden Brenda 20 November 1995 Composers tool can bring Rhapsody into your life InfoWorld Vol 17 no 47 p 104 Product Announcements Computer Music Journal 17 3 86 87 Autumn 1993 JSTOR 3680951 MusicTime Deluxe Passport Music Software Archived from the original on 14 April 2021 Retrieved 2 February 2022 Market Tips Piano and Keyboard 22 November December 1997 Passport Alchemy 3 Sound On Sound June 1996 Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 Smith Leland 1992 SCORE Reference Manual Version 3 0 Palo Alto CA San Andreas Press p 1 Schorr Joseph April 1994 Passport Producer Pro 1 0 MacWorld Vol 11 no 4 p 81 G VOX Begins Shipping Passport Designs Products Press release New York NY G Vox 15 October 1998 Archived from the original on 2 March 1999 via Harmony Central Passport Music Software LLC Passport Music Software has closed Passport Music Software Archived from the original on 4 February 2022 Retrieved 6 June 2022 Williams Don Innovation Reimagined Passport Music Software Retrieved 15 August 2022 External links editOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Passport Designs amp oldid 1171965248, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.