Koan Pro and Koan Plug-in -- SSEYO's Koan Pro gives you the ability to create great-sounding background music for your web pages. Koan sound bytes can play for up to eight hours yet average only 7 Kb per piece, presenting webmasters with the perfect solution for giving users something cool to listen to while browsing or downloading files from your web site. Not only do Koan clips take up less space than comparable MIDI and WAV files, but they also sound much better. You can create everything from soothing and mystical ambient beats to thumping techno tunes with Koan Pro, and the sound mixer doesn't even require a musical keyboard. And as long as your audience has the Koan Pro plug-in for their Netscape or Internet Explorer web browsers, they too can easily listen to the relaxing and reflective or quick and provocative music that you create. The Koan Plug-in plays Koan clips that are generated locally in real-time and can even make use of SoundFonts. Check out SSEYO's LiveConnect site for a multimedia showcase of the extensive capabilities found in both Koan Pro and the Koan Plug-in. While the plug-in gives users an efficient way to playing Koan clips, the Pro sound mastering tool is what makes Koan really shine. By utilizing sound templates in Koan Pro, you can take pre-existing pieces and customize them to your delight with more than 150 specially designed variable controls. Fifty separate voices, five different voicetypes (ambient, rhythmic, fixed, follow, and repeat), four music rule types (scale, harmony, next note, and rhythm), and specialized support for the most popular soundcards represent only the beginning of Koan Pro's extensive selection of on-screen custom controls. There are alternatives to Koan Pro that already exist on the web, including Microsoft Internet Explorer's built-in support for MIDI background sound clips. Additionally, apps like RealAudio and TrueSpeech can stream remote sound clips in real-time, giving your users the opportunity to listen to music while it's being downloaded, rather than having to wait until the entire piece has been downloaded before being played. Still, few apps can match the high-quality music and small files produced by Koan Pro, and fewer still offer powerful tools for both creating and playing music on the web. If you've been looking for a unique way to spice up your web site, CD ROM, or similar multimedia project, Koan Pro could well be the beat that you've been missing. Pros: Great-sounding background sound clips for your web site, sound bytes average only 7 Kb Cons: Koan Music clips lack real-time streaming and built-in web browser support New: This is the initial review for Koan Pro Version Reviewed: Player - 1.20. Plug-in - 3.20 Date of Review: 8/5/96 Reviewer: Forrest Stroud apps conference Main Menu