Jim Leonard | IBM Music Feature Card: Running Store Demonstration @JimLeonard | Uploaded December 2014 | Updated October 2024, 6 hours ago.
This is a store demo that showcases the IBM Music Feature Card. This software was set up in stores like Computerland in 1987-1988, hooked up to an IBM PC or PS/2 Model 30 and a MIDI keyboard, as a promotional tool. The demonstrations are, in order:
0:30 - Animation and introduction
3:12 - Sample songs
16:06 - Short playback of The Entertainer while interactively switching through instrument patches every few measures
There is a fourth "live performance" section that is not in the above video as I lack the skills to properly demonstrate it.
The software in the video was recently rescued by myself from a system I obtained from a former Boca Raton IBM employee that was used as an in-store demonstration of the IMFC. Retrieval of the data from the ST-251 hard drive was problematic, as the drive was failing and only worked properly at certain temperatures. Luckily, a full retrieval was eventually successful, and you can now obtain this software at ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/misc/Hardware/IBM in the Music Feature directory. The video capture was from the demo unit itself, copied to a floppy to avoid running off the failing hard drive. The demo unit was an IBM PC/XT-286 with a real IBM VGA card.
This archival and restoration work is representative of what you can expect to see at The Personal Computer Sound Museum, tentatively scheduled to open Q3 2015. If you have any rare music or audio software you'd like archived or format-shifted, please don't hesitate to contact me.
More information on the IBM Music Feature Card:
The IBM Music Feature Card was released by IBM in 1987 to give MIDI musicians a way to produce professional audio using their IBM PC at a cost much lower than that of a full-blown studio. It cost $495 at introduction, and in addition to providing a MIDI sequencer and a MIDI box capable of IN, OUT, and THRU, the card was based on the Yamaha FB-01 and itself played 8 FM voices. The quality of the FM was somewhat better than Adlib because it used a 4-operator FM chip instead of Adlib's 2-operator chip, and had over 100 built-in instrument parameters (the Adlib had no resident music patches).
Like the Roland MT-32, the IMFC enjoyed gaming support from Sierra. Unlike the MT-32, however, the card did not have any built-in chorus or reverb, and as such, sounds "flat" compared to the MT-32. The popularity of the MT-32 and other lower-cost cards such as the Adlib greatly overshadowed the IMFC for gaming purposes.
This is a store demo that showcases the IBM Music Feature Card. This software was set up in stores like Computerland in 1987-1988, hooked up to an IBM PC or PS/2 Model 30 and a MIDI keyboard, as a promotional tool. The demonstrations are, in order:
0:30 - Animation and introduction
3:12 - Sample songs
16:06 - Short playback of The Entertainer while interactively switching through instrument patches every few measures
There is a fourth "live performance" section that is not in the above video as I lack the skills to properly demonstrate it.
The software in the video was recently rescued by myself from a system I obtained from a former Boca Raton IBM employee that was used as an in-store demonstration of the IMFC. Retrieval of the data from the ST-251 hard drive was problematic, as the drive was failing and only worked properly at certain temperatures. Luckily, a full retrieval was eventually successful, and you can now obtain this software at ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/misc/Hardware/IBM in the Music Feature directory. The video capture was from the demo unit itself, copied to a floppy to avoid running off the failing hard drive. The demo unit was an IBM PC/XT-286 with a real IBM VGA card.
This archival and restoration work is representative of what you can expect to see at The Personal Computer Sound Museum, tentatively scheduled to open Q3 2015. If you have any rare music or audio software you'd like archived or format-shifted, please don't hesitate to contact me.
More information on the IBM Music Feature Card:
The IBM Music Feature Card was released by IBM in 1987 to give MIDI musicians a way to produce professional audio using their IBM PC at a cost much lower than that of a full-blown studio. It cost $495 at introduction, and in addition to providing a MIDI sequencer and a MIDI box capable of IN, OUT, and THRU, the card was based on the Yamaha FB-01 and itself played 8 FM voices. The quality of the FM was somewhat better than Adlib because it used a 4-operator FM chip instead of Adlib's 2-operator chip, and had over 100 built-in instrument parameters (the Adlib had no resident music patches).
Like the Roland MT-32, the IMFC enjoyed gaming support from Sierra. Unlike the MT-32, however, the card did not have any built-in chorus or reverb, and as such, sounds "flat" compared to the MT-32. The popularity of the MT-32 and other lower-cost cards such as the Adlib greatly overshadowed the IMFC for gaming purposes.
