using MICROSOFT MICROSOFT PowerPoint PowerPoint for digital digital audio audio by M. Barrett Cleveland I simply can't imagine recording and editing music and sound effects for theatre and dance productions on anything besides a personal computer. We moved to computerbased digital audio at Colorado State University in late 1995. Our first system was powered by a 486 CPU and had Windows 3.1 as the operating system. The need for a new reel-to-reel tape deck ($1,500) prompted the purchase an HP 1x CD writer for the bargain price of $1,000. Since that point, we have not used tape recorders for recording or playback of sound. Sound cues are burned to CDs and are played back via dual-CD decks in all three of our theatre and dance production venues. We have plans to integrate Stage Research Inc.'s SFX Pro Audio multi-channel digital audio playback software into the sound system for our main stage theatre. Although we have most of the components in place, we are still seeking the funds to complete the project and hope to have it in place by late spring 2002. Therefore, we continue to use dual-CD decks for all playback. Since 1995 we haven't used tape recorders for recording or playback of sound in any of our theatre and dance venues. TD & T S P R I N G 2 0 0 2 27