Multimedia: PhatBoy enters audio mix

MacWeek, March 16, 1998 by Matthew Rothenberg

The $15.99 software package is a generative sequencer that supports AIFF and .WAV samples of any length or resolution, the company said. Users can save their mixes as stand-alone Macromedia Director cast files. PhatBoy lets users assemble samples by clicking and dragging them into a bank; they can also select whether they want to loop any of the samples.

Next, the software calculates the total number of four-track mix combinations it can generate from the selected samples. Users can move forward or backward through samples assigned to each track; another set of buttons lets users modify the tempo of the tracks, the company said.

Clicking in a graphics window calls up a preset collection of real-time fades and dissolves between audio channels. Clicking on a channel name such as "drum breaks" will randomly select samples within a group.

PhatBoy is available for Mac OS and Windows 95 systems. A seven-day trial version is available from the company's Web site.

Modified Ltd. of Bath, England, is at 44-1225-337-992; fax 44-1225-311-362; info@modified.com; http://www.modified.com.