I am seeking a MIDI sequencer that will satisfy all of the
requirements listed below.  There are many solutions that meet some
of the requirements, I have not yet found one that meets all of them.
As MIDI becomes more universal as an alternate method of controlling
our machines, I think that others will find similar needs.

The requirements:

1. Can store up to several thousand files for a machine in a single
piece of media;

2. Permits random access (as opposed to sequential scrolling) to
a large number of files (first letter(s), song number, etc);

3. Permits easy additions and deletions to the MIDI library (linking
to a master computer is acceptable);

4. Can be directly wired to a single machine (wireless does not work
in all environments) or used wirelessly where appropriate;

5. Can be turned off and restarted with a universal outlet switch to
the room (a Windows based machine will continue to run on battery until
it dies and then may not reawaken properly);

6. Permits stopping tunes part way through and ideally sends cancel
signals appropriate to the controlled machine to bring it to an "off"
state;

7. Permits Tempo adjustments on the fly;

8. Is cost effective enough to dedicate systems to each machine in
a collection.

To date, I have tried two different floppy diskette based systems (that
do not satisfy 1, 2, 3, all of 5, or 6), the ittyMIDI system for the
Palm Pilot (does not satisfy 2, 3, 4, all of 5 plus it takes forever
(hours) to restart after a re-sync if the battery dies) and Windows
based systems (does not easily satisfy 4 or 5).

I am sure that other users can add to this list of desirable features
for such a controller, and I would encourage such a discussion in MMD.

If anyone has found such a controller, I would be interested in more
information about it.

Thanks.

Jack Breen
Southborough, Massachusetts
jack@violanomusic.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]