1) Studio 5000 waveforms
Tim Sketchley
The Studio 5000 offers 14 predefined waveforms which can be
used as part of an instrument definition. When defining an instrument, it can be
largely a matter of trial and error to find the ones you need for that instrument
until of course you know them.
Details about the sound and purpose of each waveform are
given at the back of the Studio 5000 User Guide (pp 127-129). However, I have
some tips which I will now explain.
I find it convenient to divide the waveforms into three 'tone
groups' thus:
Low tone: Pure Round
Mid tone: Bright Hollow Watery Hard Clear
High tone: Pipes Sharp
Reedy Broad Metal High
The effect of these groups is similar (broadly speaking) to the
effect of the tone controls of a radio set. You should easily notice that the two
low-tone waveforms sound, so to speak, as if the tone is turned down; the waveforms
in the mid-tone group as if the tone is half way up; and the high-tone group
contain a fair amount of treble, as if the tone is turned up.
To put it another way, they are grouped according to the
brightness of the sound, with the high-tone group being the brightest. I am
missing out Syncer, which is a silent waveform.
We can now set up a simple instrument whose tone is easily
adjusted.
"toneins" [ 2 CHANS
1 CHAN
Pure 128 AMP
2 CHAN
Broad 100 AMP
EVERY CHAN
ON PHSET Flat Long]
1 CHAN
Pure 128 AMP
2 CHAN
Broad 100 AMP
EVERY CHAN
ON PHSET Flat Long]
Note that channel 1 plays a low-tone wave and channel 2
plays a high-tone wave. The tone of the instrument is adjusted by varying the two
numbers; for instance, in our example, changing '100 AMP' to '128 AMP' will
make the instrument a lot brighter.
2) Ignored natural signs
Roger Sapolsky
If the first note entered in Notepad following SCORE, normal
settings and the signature word (e.g. 'sig') happens to be preceded by the
natural sign ('='), the effect of 'sig' will not be cancelled as it should. To
play the expected natural note, simply enter 'sig' AFTER this note, the natural
symbol being then unnecessary. All notes going after 'sig' will now play
correctly when preceded by '='.
3) Three little words
Roger Calkwell
In the last issue of AMPLINEX both QUIT and 7 MODE were
suggested as ways of clearing PAD off the screen to make way for disc
cataloguing and the like.
QUIT has the disadvantage of switching PAD off, requiring
PAD and "word"GET before it reappears.
To return after 7 MODE, "word" GET (or "word"
NAME) suffices.
A screen-clearing utility word will speed up your
programming. I use "q" to remind me of QUIT, thus
"q" [7MODE]
This may be prefixed to a variety of commands;
qSHOW
q"word"TYPE
q*CAT
If you wish to switch to other modes, omit the 7 from the
definition. The q will now take a number prefix;
7qSHOW
1qdisplayword
Another approach is;
"q" [26#OUT 12#OUT]
#OUT is the equivalent of BASIC's VDU - it treats the
preceding number as an ASCII code and sends it to the screen. In this case 26
is the control code for 'default windows' and 12 is 'clear screen' - the effect
is the same as VDU26, 12 in BASIC.
If you're in a hurry and don't want to take the time to
define a word you can send some control codes directly with the CTRL key.
Pressing Z followed by L whilst holding CTRL down throughout is equivalent to
the #OUT version of q.
Two more one-letter utility words;
"s" ["*SPOOL "$+]
"x" ["*EXEC "$+]
Both *SPOOL and *EXEC like to have a space between them and
the filename, so this is built into the word. The result is that
xpiano = *EXEC piano
P.S. Why did I use "x" instead of "e"?
4) AMPLE abbreviations
Robin Johnson
One small tip, not mentioned anywhere that I have seen - AMPLE
accepts abbreviations like BBC BASIC does.
So, you can enter, for example, 'TY.' instead of 'TYPE'. It works
for Instruments and other words too. But beware of confusing the system as the abbreviation
for 'VOICES' will give 'VOICE' - which may not help much!
Published in AMPLINEX 002, November
1987
