ford American Dictionary (but lighter).
n s portable and could be strapped to
the body, but not tammed into the hip
pocket.
By the time one has exhausted the
imagination with pure experimenta
tion on the MG-1 (about the time the
neighbors are exhausted as well), the
manual provides answers on how the
50 buttons actually can work in har
monic consort With or without back
up band, the instrument enables the
player to be many things to many
people. With only three more
keyboard key's than the VL-Tone. it can
be manipulated like a real piano made
for human fingers rather than elf’s
knuckles, and within that 2-1/2 octave
range, a polyphonic capability allows
you to play chords as well as single
notes. No memory capability or
rhythm synthesizer is included, but the
easy - to - follow - but - not - very - complex
instruction booklet does explain a
number of true synthesizer terms such
as auto contour trigger, detuning,
cutoff frequency, peak emphasis, and
ocher (argon of the tune Following
some diagrams for dial-twiddling, one
builds the sound into an electronic or
gan, a hurricane, a violin, a tuba, a
helicoptor. electric fuzz guitar (but
one even the Ventures wouldn t have
touched, I might add), the clarinet
robots (an incomprehensible kitchen
sink) Bevond these prescribed func
tions. and a cursory description of the
six boxed, color-coded sections which
control modulation, two tone sources,
contour, fiber of brightness and low
tones, and the mixer, you are on your
own.
My own basic forays into pos
sibilities, done in conjunction with
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
plugged in through an overdub plug
in the back, cranked out such hybrids
as a dentist drill, the gamut erf bird
calls. Echoes of the Lost World, and
other amazing conjunctions of sound
to drive any ordinary record reviewer |
insane with metaphorical phrase
making To wit, a sealing mehdown
which explodes seconds after the but
ton is pushed, a burbling brook with
warm heart blips reverberating, regur
gitating on belhone background, etc
Make no m istake The MG-1 is a real
instrument If the advertising picture is
to be believed (and it must be seen to
be believed), Elton John uses one
Still. 1 would assume that the primary
kick one can derrve from playing with
the machine is scoring the themes
from Pac-Man. Donkey Kong, and As
teroids, or simulating any hundreds of
special effects The theme from Jaws
for example, can be created and left
running by itself, playing endlessly for
vour bathtub pleasure Personally, the
more traditional possibilities enticed
me, and I found myself working up
snide arrangements of Silent Night'
and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Rein
deer" (using as much white noise as
passible) to play at the annual chow
down
By interfacing your MG-1 to a home
computer, you can program many
more musical possibilities With a but
ton called random wave shape, a com
puter generated noise system of beeps,
drips, kerplunks and zaps will speed
across the keyboard endlessly without
any sense or aesthetic for as long as
the machine is plugged in It's not
exactly a comfort on a lonely evening,
but it does do things by itself if you're
still feeling incompetent
The best possible solution for such
musical nontalent is the personal
stereo, the ultimate compression of
musical ability into a small space Let
someone else do all the driving
The Personal Stereo
irst on the moon, Sony lucked
onto the generic label of
1. Walkman (plural Walkmen), like
Kleenex for tissue, hut everybody s
into the action Panasonic has a per
sonal stereo thai s more cumbersome,
General Electric's Escape comes in
striking blue, Penneys has confusing
controls, the Infinity Intimate costs a
bundle (with the FM module), and
more than twenty others compete,
each dropping in sue and pirxe from
day to day Technology virtually )ets
along WM-I1 is the sue of a cigarette
pack Sanyo's machine plays the tape
both ways without flipping, a few types
record as well as play back, earclip
speakers can already replace the
headband, everything is getting
smaller and smaller than Alice's eat
me'' mushroom We'll he injecting
jams before the Nineties
Now, there are good ways and bad
ways to utilize the amazingly snobbish
personal stereo, and the bad ways are
the most fun Strapping on a Walkman
and heading out on wheels undoub
tedly takes first preference Roller
skates, bicydes. mopeds, tractors and
wheelchairs, any means of transpioru
non gets a boost when the crystalline
separation of a good P S unit provides
a throbbing aria from the croaking
chords of an Angus Young or a Joey
Ramone in your ears The danger gives
a tingle, too, as all other sounds lake
second place, including irate horn
honks and skidding tires
Sony claims, "The Walkman is more
than a breakthrough product It has es
tablished itself as the representative
produei of an entire generation Tele
vision, color television, and sports cars
held this distinct ion for previous gen
e rations
Does this imply that a sprouting
crop of robotons are about to invade
our walkways, maneuvering as solitary
n irnbies blocking out all the world
but for their chosen sounds, never to
talk to one another again* Will disco
music return*
The more practical service of the
personal stereo exists for the opposite
group the non mobile types Bed
ridden patients, unable to haul their
stereo components into the ward, can
enjoy high quality stereo without
crowding Sedentary |obs. from factory
work to truck driving, can block out
the blahs Time seems to fly while
washing dishes, and the chances of the
ps dipping into the suds are remote,
especially if one utilizes the belt /
hook instead of the neck strap to
attach it
For most purposes, the strap secures
the machine nicely, keeping hands and
waist free Want to go strapless? Sony's
WM II fits into a shin pocket, and fea
tures "soft-touch" controls which op
erate through the fabric. Most brands
offer a mute" feature, to enable you
to speak to the check-out girl without
clicking off the tape You can com
municate while the music flows on
deep in the distance Some machines
have a microphone with the mute, eer
ily broadcasting the external noises
into the soundtrack, suitable if you
prefer to croon with the tune
Despite the lightweight comfon of
the headphones sound quality is
usually sharper than stand up speak
ers, the lyrics brought closer to the
brain, with subtleties distinguished.
Record reviewers have been known to
tape their free promos, in order to lis
ten while biking to their day jobs as
busboys.
The political ramifications of the
Walkman and its proliferating ilk may
balance on the obsolescence of
sidewalk "boom box" radios. Clearly,
one need not advertise his preference
for high column P-Funk to the generic
crowd passing by, but on the other
hand, there is nothing particularly
suave about accidentally belting out
the chorus of Bette Davis Eyes" in an
otherwise quiet and crowded elevator.
And, the person next to you doesn't
need to be shouted at to understand.
Me can't hear REO cranking in vour
ear.
These potential snags are quickly
learned, and overcome. The larger
model personal stereos might not be
as cute as Sony's, but they are still
small enough to fit comfortably in the
most active situations. The FM radio
units, while draining batteries at a
much slower rate than the 9 or so
hours cassettes get on 2, 3 or 4 AA bat
teries, sometimes don't get consistent
reception, dependent upon the area
and the activity where they're used.
The best personal stereo models offer
an FM module which snaps in like a
cassette, allowing you to opt for re
corded or broadcast sounds.
Some begrudging competitors don't
hold much for the future. Richard Sut
ton of Toshiba America claims, “It's
just like the CB boom. It will go down
-. K
the tubes in two years. With the Ko
reans and Hong Kong manufacturers
in there, pretty soon you’ll see them
for $29 95 . "
In the meantime, who's waiting to
find out? I've got a date to scrub the
bathroom floor with Ellen Foley, and I
can’t wait.
+
— *
The Many Roads to Hi Fi
by Martin Clifford
There are no upper and lower
limits to high-fidelity sound, and
since listening to music with an
assist from electronics has so many dif
ferent approaches, one person’s fi is
another person’s phooey. What you
may like in the w»ay of audio and what
you will ultimately buy depends on the
way you interface with audio compo
nents, on your budget, age, sex, envi
ronment, personal taste and musical
training. Fortunately there are various
ways to set up a hi/fi system, some of
which are a dead-end arrangement,
others permitting the system to grow
as your budget and musical taste per
mit.
Getting a hi/fi system is a decision
making process and the selection of
the wrong option can be costly, time
consuming, and stress inducing. The
problem is compounded by the fact
that you cannot really hear a hi/fi sys
tem until you’ve listened to it for about
a half year. It is only then that the od
dities of the system you have set up
will begin to emerge.
Your natural yearning for audio can
be satisfied in a number of ways. Basi
cally, there are two approaches, com
pact vs component, but there are a
number of subheadings under these
two. A compact svstem consists of an
(Continued on page 22)
EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER WANTED IN A PORTABLE.
If you’ve always had a taste for a portable stereo
with loads of stereo features, but were afraid of gaining
weight, try something new
Our new series of Slim-line Personal Stereos.
Available with home audio features like stereo
AM/FM and cassette, Dolbvfmetal tape capabilities,
a 6-band graphic equalizer Music Search
(forward and backward), auto replay and direct
AND LESS.
one-button feature switching.
© 1981 Pioneer Electronics of America, 1925 E. Dominguez Street, Long Beach, CA 90810. ’Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories.
All with about 1/3 less bulk than regular portables. 131 ^ IVI
So, finally, you can goi^ge yourself on incredible VT# ^
sound. And still be able to move.
We never miss a performance.