Instant Music was a unique semi-automatic composition sequencer, designed for use by the musically incapable to create sophisticated and original melodies.

It uses as its basic layout a form of the ‘piano roll’ format familiar to users of modern sequencing software, but with the twist of having keys, rhythms and even chord structures pre-defined by template. Whilst this meant that foolproof compositions could be designed, it also handicapped advanced musicians from plotting more customized tunes. But such is the product’s ease of use that non-musicians can operate it straight from the box, with many combinations of tunes possible from a single template.

Another of the software’s big attractions is its MIDI compatibility. All the user needs is a compatible MIDI cartridge, for example the Sonus or Passport, to be able to take advantage of this most powerful of peripheral features. With it all parts of the music can be ported in realtime to an outboard sequencer for further manipulation. Thanks to this, many Instant Music templates can be coupled together in sequence or concurrently, allowing for quite complex movements to be engineered with only a little forward planning.

In context, Instant Music is a powerful musical toy. Not only can it allow good music to be made by those who feel unable to grasp the art, but also more seasoned musicians can use it to inspire them and provide foundation or embellishment for their own original work. And for more advanced users, the program’s restrictions can be largely ignored as the MIDI data itself can be suitably mastered using other programs.