GVOX

Gvox is a music-software company best known for notation software. During its long and turbulent history, it developed and acquired ground-breaking products. Typically, these programs are designed by musicians for musicians.

History

• 1992, Lyrrus Inc., dba Gvox, invented the Gvox guitar system. This system was revolutionary, as it provided a way for guitarist to transcribe directly from their instrument to the computer using MIDI. Gvox also created learning software to accompany, “Riffs” and “Chords”. In 1995, Fender Musical Instruments endorsed the Gvox Guitar system, and began to distribute.

• 1998, Gvox bought Passport Designs intellectual property, including the notation software Encore, MusicTime Deluxe, and the sequencer MasterTracks Pro, investing heavily in 2000 by taking these products onto the Internet. In so doing, it gained the support^[1] of many top companies and organizations.

• 2001, as the financial markets continued to erode combined with the tragic events of that year, Gvox suffered as so many companies did. By the end of that year its web site went down, and it no longer had the financing to keep the business going. Lyrrus, Inc filed^[2] for Chapter-11 bankruptcy protection.

• May 2002, Gvox reopened and released updates for their Passport products Encore, MusicTime and, MasterTracks. It discontinued the guitar system and related products, but in March 2003 vastly improved its customer support system with a self-service knowledge base.

• July 2005, the New Jersey bankruptcy court confirmed a Chapter-11 plan. Gvox hired a new CEO, Richard Hotchkiss; in June, font designer Nor Eddine Bahha made the NorMusic Fonts, V1, (a set of jazz music fonts with handwritten look inspired from the RealBooks, designed to work with Encore 4.5.5), giving users an option for authentic-looking Jazz Notation and symbols; September, software developer Matt Ingalls began upgrading the Passport product line; and in October, sales increased 40% over the previous year.

• May 2006, Gvox released the first update in two years: Encore 4.5.6 for Mac and Music Time Deluxe 3.5.6 for Mac; July, released MasterTracks Pro 6.8.4 for windows, a major bug fix; January 2007, Gvox returned to the NAMM trade show, and in June, font designer Nor Eddine Bahha made an updated version of the NorMusic Fonts, V2, for use with Encore 5.x

• February 2008, Encore 5 for Macintosh was released with VST capabilities; exactly a year later, Encore 5 for Windows; and July 2009, MusicTime Deluxe 4.

References