                     Microsoft Musical Instruments
                         Review by David Golber
 
The good words are
     Sometimes charming
     A good quick listen
     Clear sound
 
The bad words are
     Uneven
     Shallow
     No references to go deeper
 
    This CD ROM from Microsoft has, according to its box, information
about more than 200 instruments. I didn't count, but I'm willing to
believe them. For each instrument, it typically has a few pictures of
the instrument, a short (fifteen seconds) sound sample of the instrument
being played, and a quick list of little facts about the instrument. For
some instruments, you can play individual notes by clicking them on a
scale. There are also sound samples of different ensembles, ranging from
various kinds o estern orchestras and popular music ensembles, to
gamalan, both Javanese and Balinese. And it has nice point-and-click
indexes to instruments by families or geographical origin, and various
kinds of cross-reference mechanisms. Oh yes, there is a voice that
pronounces the name (in English) of the instrument.
    The CD ROM cost me about $50 by mail. I tried it out on a Macintosh
Quadra 950, quite a powerful system. I had no problems using the ROM,
and it ran fast enough that I never felt that I was waiting impatiently.
The sound quality (on the Quadra's built in speaker) was quite good.
    On the other hand, even though the box claims that the photographs
are "high-quality", they are not. For example, in the picture of the
Northumbrian small-pipe, the keys are just a hazy blur. It's good that
the label of the picture explains that there are seven of them; the
viewer certainly could not count them. And no, you can't "Zoom in."
    (A particularly annoying inanity on the box is the statement that
the sounds are "recorded live by professional musicians using the actual
instruments."  Wow!)
    Some of the selections were, well, charming. I'm not sure whether
I've heard zampogna before. I had heard of it, though. It's a bagpipe,
played in southern Italy, by shepherds. Their custom is to come into the
cities around Christmas time, and play on the streets. It's a wonderful
rich, warm sound. I smile as I think about it.
    And I suppose it's nice to have these fifteen-second samples of all
sorts of instruments.
    But in the end, my real feeling about this ROM is a wry, twisted
half smile, with raised eyebrows.
    The quality is uneven. As one would expect, the recordings of
western classical and popular music of various kinds are excellent. Some
of the recordings of music of other cultures is of the same high
quality. For example, the sample of Shanai music is from a recording by
Bismillah Khan. `The recording of Hardanger fiddle music, on the other
hand, is definitely the worst sample of playing of this instrument that
I have ever paid money for. A nameless snatch of plunking and sawing. By
a Ben Mandelson. he text accompanying the Hardanger fiddle entry is also
strange. It says in part "accompanies singing and dancing at traditional
village festivals and events". At first glance, these words drift in one
ear and out the other. At second glance, one thinks "What a silly and
meaningless statement; one could say that about any music." Finally I
realized: It's not even true!  In all the time I have listened to this
music, both live in Norway and on recordings, I have never heard singing
accompanied by Hardan fiddle in traditional use. In fact, I'm not sure
whether I've heard this combination even in innovative modern pieces.
    Some of the 15-second samples do a pretty good job of communicating
the real sound and feel of the music. Bits of chamber music, jazz,
orchestra. But sometimes the little selections are so far out of context
that the listener will surely get no idea of what the music is about.
For example, the Turkish zurna selection is played without davul
accompaniment; there is no sense of the drive and excitement, the dust,
sweat and hot sun, of this music.
    But the central criticism of the ROM is the continual feeling, that
touches every part, of superficiality. You are supposed to jive on the
quick samples, the bright colors, the effortless cruising. You are not
supposed to go deeper, to probe, to think deeply, to compare.
    As an example, consider the entries on the modern grand piano and
the older forte-piano. There is a great deal of interest these days in
performances on period instruments. There are those who say that we are
missing a great deal in hearing Mozart on the modern piano instead of
the forte-piano of Mozart's day. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to hear
the same passage played on both instruments?  Perhaps, but it's not on
this ROM.
    Close comparison of the two entries uncovers the following:
    The grand piano developed from the harpischord [sic] in Europe in
    1709. and The forte-piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in
    1709.

    If you wanted to really understand what it was that Cristofori built
in 1709, or the relation of the forte-piano and the modern grand piano,
well, you won't find it here.
    How could these two passages be in the same document?  Because (I
think) the writers and editors view each entry as a single isolated
piece. The reader is not expected to probe, to relate one entry to
another. Perhaps we should be particularly disappointed, since one of
the capabilities of the ROM medium is the easy following of
relationships. In comparison, read the article on Piano in a good
encyclopedia. No, it's not easy to read, and the story isn't simple. But
it really describes the complicated flow of invention and modification
that began in 1709.
    An important part of a good encyclopedia article that is missing
from the ROM is the list of references to follow up. This can be done so
easily in a ROM - just click on the button labeled "More info". But
there's no such button.
    Another important part of an article in a good encyclopedia that is
missing in this ROM is the initials at the end. These are the initials
of the scholar (full name and affiliation at the end of the last volume)
who wrote the article. Again, this could be done with an "Author info"
button. But there's no such button.
    To me, the absence of an acknowledged author for an article means a
lot. First of all, I get the feeling that the articles are written by
faceless "researchers". Their job is to read a couple of encyclopedia
articles, and write a half a dozen little sentences. But there's a more
philosophical aspect: the absence of a name gives the feeling that
information is certain, impersonal, and merely "data". A _.n_.a_.m_.e at
the end of an encyclopedia article tells the reader that there is a
scholar involved, wh uts his or her knowledge and opinions on the line.
Even more, a name should make the reader realize that there is a human
being involved, fallible and opinionated as we all are, and that there
might be other scholars who might disagree with something in the
article. The kernel of scholarship is the realization of uncertainty.
    On this ROM, not only are there are no names of the writers of the
individual articles, even the identities of the recordings and musicians
are half hidden. They are not in the individual articles, but are pulled
up from the "About ..." item in the Mac menu. They are in order of
recording, or of musician's name. So if you want to find out who is
playing the Hardanger fiddle selection, for example, you have to read
down the list. It gives a feeling that these lists are here because they
fill some legal requirement, like the statement "Microsoft is a
registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation", not because correct
musical manners require that the musician is acknowledged by name. This
may be the way they do things in marketing computer software ... but it
is not the way in music. Can you imagine buying a recording of the
Beethoven Violin Concerto, which had in small type on the back cover
"Violin played by Itzhak Perlman"?  There could be a "Performers" button
with each item. But there's no such button.
    The "About ..." information lists a number of writers, photographers
and illustrators. There are also two "consultants", Jeremy Montagu and
Peter Cooke, a "Composer/Musical Arranger", Robyn Smith, and a
"Researcher", Donna Rispoli. So far, I have not found any of these in
Who's Who's, lists of university faculty, and so forth.
    All in all, should you buy this ROM?  For the price of four music
CDs? Well, it gives you a quick listen - but don't throw away your
encyclopedia.

Send your postal name, address, city, state, zip to 24prod@supportu.com
       for product literature to be sent to you via postal mail.
