AMPLINEX 003

AMPLINEX issue 003 was published in January 1988. Each AMPLINEX magazine is stored as a 200K single-sided 80-track disk image file (.ssd file type). The image can be used to create disks for a BBC Micro or can be loaded into a BBC emulator. For the disks to run, the BBC (real or emulated) must have an AMPLE Nucleus ROM installed and be running the Hybrid Music System.

New Hybrid Technology products

The two latest product releases from Hybrid Technology are the AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide and 'Inside Stories', another AMPLE music disc. Both are reviewed here.

The AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide

Roy Follett

Stop the disc drives! The great AMPLE adventure is about to start. It is Christmas Eve and Santa has made a special journey with a special parcel. What is it? With almost indecent haste I rip off the wrapping to reveal - 'The AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide'.

It is true - on the 24th of December the Programmer Guide (yes, Programmer - to match with User) arrived; ordered before the July Acorn User show, but here now. Was the wait worth it? After only a short period of study I can say 'most definitely'.

The manual is in two parts. The first, titled 'General', has chapters on subjects such as 'Numbers and flags', 'Input and output' and 'Machine-code programming' and will be of immense interest to those who want to understand the workings of the AMPLE Nucleus language.

The second part, 'Reference', is a dictionary of all (approximately 160) AMPLE Nucleus words. It is similar in style to the original Music 500 User Guide (for AMPLE BCE) and it reveals its ancestry by repeating an error in the sequence of entries.

The Programmer Guide, however, is more comprehensive than its predecessor, both in its descriptions of the words and in the number and usefulness of the examples given.

Potential purchasers should note, however, that this guide only covers the AMPLE Nucleus words - so words supplied by the application modules (try "M5"MSHOW to see just some of them) do not appear. The introduction to the guide says mysteriously 'Application specific information...is deliberately excluded, being reserved for application Guides' of which the User Guide is cited as an example. This leaves open the question of when, or if, the many module-based words not mentioned in the User Guide will be properly documented.

This guide will be of most benefit to those who already feel comfortable with the basics of AMPLE. If you seldom need to refer to the User Guide then this manual is probably what you should be reading.

Sentences like 'The Nucleus provides queue control sound words, and voice servers provide their own voice sound words and type-global voice sound words' can be heavy going, but the terminology is normally well-defined and undoubtedly necessary. There were points, however, when a glossary would have been invaluable.

One reference puzzled me: the mention on page 17 of the command MERGE. The word does not appear in the dictionary at the end of the guide and my Nucleus ROM doesn't seem to know it either.

One major criticism - there is no index. To be fair the dictionary is alphabetic, but I do feel that a book of reference should have one.

Although it seems like a great deal money (it is now £19.00), this guide is a must for any serious programmer. It should provide hours of worthwhile study and is, in the main, an excellent example of a clear, well-written manual.

An extract from the AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide is included on this disc. It lists all the AMPLE Nucleus words giving a brief description of its function, usage and syntax. The filename is:

F.Nucindx – Index of AMPLE Nucleus words

and it can be viewed within the Features section; but it is best printed.

'Inside Stories' by Peter Chase

Roy Follett

This is the latest AMPLE music album from Hybrid Technology (price £4.95) for collectors of compilations. The disc contains twelve original tunes by Peter Chase, all of which are very listenable. For the members who like programming and instruments there is plenty here for further study.

I rather like 'Why-Cry', described by the author as "the sloppy beet". Whether he means 'beat' or 'bit', I am a sucker for deep gentle sounds. What a useful instrument 'Upright' is.

The tunes are selected from an 'interactive' menu which has an accompanying backing track in the same style as the menu on the 'Notes' album from Pilgrim Beart. I liked the invitation to use the menu for your own collections and the inclusion of instructions on how to do it.

With the lack of compilations available, one has to be careful not base one's opinions on a sense of gratitude for what is on offer. So far every disc that Hybrid has offered to date has been of a high standard, and this one is no exception. What more can I say - the usual good value for money with plenty of interest. Thank you Peter Chase.

Other news

The Music 2000 MIDI interface is expected to be available in early February (price £161.00). AMPLINEX would like to hear from any member who has ordered a Music 2000 to arrange a review of the product for the March issue.

Hybrid Technology are now offering a 1MHz bus extension cable to allow the Music 500(0) synthesiser to be placed further away from the computer. The cable is 500mm in length and costs £13.00.

All Hybrid Technology prices mentioned are inclusive of VAT and carriage.

We had planned to provide a review of the new Waveform Designer in this issue of AMPLINEX. Unfortunately, the product had not appeared by the time we started distribution despite delaying this issue a few days in the expectation of its arrival. Assuming it appears during February, we will provide a full review in the March issue.

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

The 'Realistic' Stereo Reverb Unit

Michael Mellor

Fed up with using valuable voices for echo or want to add that 'live' quality to your Music 500/0 music and have very little cash to do anything about it?

That was the situation in which I found myself some time ago. But, after searching the market for a while, I found the 'Realistic' Stereo Reverb Unit from Tandy for £47.95p.

The unit uses the Bucket Brigade Device IC to produce the desired effects and I believe a similar unit was described in the Micro User Body Building Series some years ago.

The unit has two inputs:

1) A monaural microphone input (0.35mV 10 Kohms impedance)

The manual describes this as being suitable for a guitar or synthesiser. The ability to adjust this signal in relation to the 2nd input is by a rotating control on the face of the unit.

2) A stereo line input (150mV 50Kohms impedance)

This is the one I used for the output from the Music 500/0. It is at the rear of the unit and uses phono plugs.

There is also provision for a tape monitor input and an output to a tape recorder at the rear. The option to record with or without the processed signal is selected by a 'Reverb Record' switch also on the face of the unit. If the signal from the tape is required to be processed a Tape Monitor switch is operated. There are certain conditions where both switches are required.

The unit is then connected to the amplifier via the main output. Once fully connected you cannot hear the Music 500/0 signal unless the unit is switched on. At this point, with all equipment switched on and in a quiescent state, in comparison with the Music 500/0 set up alone, an increase in the 'noise' level can be detected. This could be annoying to the purist (CD owners particularly); however, when playing programs the noise is not detectable.

The unit's effects are controlled by two rotating knobs:

1) Delay - from 5 to 95 milliseconds (Echo time 2 seconds)

2) Depth - which alters the strength of the echoed signal in relation to the original

With these two controls the effects of doubling, flanging, echo and reverberation can be made. Like most things in life, the effects can be overdone and I find that low settings are the most useful in creating a 'live' quality.

The effects of course apply equally to all the parts in the music. Echoes on single instruments must be done via the Music 500/0.

It is claimed, in common with a lot of other audio equipment, that the operation of the Reverb Expander switch will create the illusion that sounds are coming from outside of the area covered by the loudspeakers, an illusion I find difficulty in detecting, although others can. The expansion of the sound, it is stated, increases with the increased application of the Depth control.

The manual is spartan in descriptive text, but in some ways this makes the instructions clearer. Several drawings to assist in use are included as is a full wiring diagram.

I believe that the music played via this unit is enhanced and the 'live quality' more than compensates for the noise problem.

Until I can afford an effects unit which offers a substantial increase in sound quality and variety of effect I will continue to use this unit.

Other specifications not mentioned above:

Size - 202 x 144 x 45 mm

Frequency Response – 20 Hz to 20 KHz (Depth control set at minimum)

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

A Pilgrim Pachelbel

by Pilgrim Beart

From the album 'Notes'

Courtesy of Hybrid Technology

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.PPACH

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Music for Video Games

by Philip Jones

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.VIDGAM

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Sleepy

by Philip Wormall

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.SLEEPY

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

The Schweitzer Enigma

by Jim Redfarn

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.SCHWEIT

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Parallel Lines

by A Stones

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.P-LINES

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

New Chords

by Roger Cawkwell

The music is, I think, direct enough to speak for itself, so I'll concentrate on aspects of the programming. I keep trying to get a quart out of a pint pot! The four-stringed instrument uses only 1 CHANS on each string by redefining the ACT word with (see issue 002 of AMPLINEX). 1 CHANS sounds are, of course, less interesting than the usual 2 CHANS ones but I find that for background instruments (especially playing chords) they work well enough.

A similar approach is taken to one of the percussion parts during the bass solo. In is replaced by - a percussion instrument with contrasting sounds on each CHAN – that is used to play independent rhythms by the use of . The bass (Spanish; bajo) has hitherto enjoyed the luxury of an extra voice to give a sustained effect, usually on the lowest 'string'. gives this up with 2VOICEUNUSED in favour of which uses it to two tom-toms. You may have already noticed in the Debussy piece on the Studio 5000 disc).

Whilst all this is going on the two players decide to play independently, the first doubles the , whilst the second accompanies with a 48, rhythm. This is accomplished by 5SHARE (i.e. send notes, etc. to the fifth part) 2VOICE in which is represented in but not . The second flute also plays two-note chords by means of continually changing SHIFT - this is how I used to program before I learned the trick – it’s much clumsier and harder to read. Rewrite if you like.

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.NEWCHOR

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

My Tune

by Chris Percival

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.MYTUNE

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Chi La Gagliarda

by Roy Atkins

Composed by: Baldassare Donato

Chi La Gagliarda is an Italian madrigal composed by Baldassare Donato in the late 16th century; it is a fine example of a typical popular song of the time. This kind of song is again popular with amateur choirs all over the world. The words to the song tell about the Italian teachers of the dance called the galliard and their lady pupils. The song is suggestive in that it would appear that teaching ladies to dance was not entirely their main interest.

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.CHI

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Prelude in C

by Mark Whippey

Composed by: J S Bach

This is the C major prelude from book 1 of the Well-tempered Clavier (the 48).

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.BACHINC

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Autumn Song

by Leslie Whalley

The piece is a simple songlike piece with an ABA structure. I've tried to make the harmony interesting. I expect the instrumental mixes could be improved. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Source: AMPLINEX 003 disk, file $.AUTSONG

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Notes on Musical Mastermind

Susan Jones

This is a form of the game using notes instead of colours. The program sounds a chord and the player must identify the notes it contains, in ascending order of pitch.

A guess is entered as a sequence of upper-case note-names, e.g. DFAD. The program indicates the number of correct notes in the right place (yellow stars), and the number of correct notes in the wrong place (blue stars).

The process continues until the sequence is correct. The program keeps account of the best score (i.e. fewest guesses) and prints a message if the latest score is the best so far.

Pressing the space bar at any time plays the chord again. Single notes may also be sounded as their names are entered. For some people this will make things too easy, so the option can be switched on or off at the beginning of each new game. If the sound is turned off altogether the game becomes an exercise in logical deduction like ordinary Mastermind!

Minor problems are:

· The random number generator sometimes gets stuck in a groove and presents the same chord twice running!

· Repeatedly entering and deleting notes causes the pitch to rise. The octave is reset whenever the chord is sounded, or at the beginning of each new guess.

Chords

Because the program is meant for ear-training, it uses predefined chords rather than random note- clusters. Those supplied are common positions of chord I, III, IV, V, and VI of C Major. However, the program has been designed to be adaptable in a number of ways. Listed below are some possible modifications, with hints about how to do them.

1. Change the instrument used. The definition is in the "RUN" word. Some users may like to have a different instrument for each voice in the chord.

2. Change the key on which the chords are based. One example is given already. The file "U.DMAJ" holds a set of chord words which can overlay the existing ones. After loading the program, enter *EXEC U.DMAJ to do the replacement. In this context, C and F stand for C# and F# respectively.

3. Similar sets of words could be created for other keys by editing this file. Bear in mind that:

· For each chord, it is necessary to alter both the notes sounded and the corresponding character string placed on the stack.

· The "sign" word must be altered to set the correct key signature and print out a message saying what the key is. This is called by the "RUN" word.

· Within each chord word a nested IF( )ELSE( )IF structure is used to select a particular inversion. You may insert more alternatives if you wish so long as you retain the correct structure. You will also need to alter the range of the random number generated for the global variable "inv" in the "RUN" word.

4. Use additional chord words. Define the new chord words, insert the necessary selections in the word "choose", and alter the range of the random number generated for the global variable "chord" in the "RUN" word.

5. Use chords with more (or fewer) than 4 notes. The program should handle chords with up to 6 notes. Alter the value of the global variable "len" in the "RUN" word and redefine all the chord words to correspond.

An unsolved problem

It would be difficult to handle accidentals in chords other than those which are part of a key signature, since the one to one mapping between note and typed symbol would be lost.

Suggestions for solving this neatly will be welcome - as will other comments on the program. If there is any interest I will try and produce an enhanced version!

Related files on this disc:

U.Masterm - Musical Mastermind AMPLE program

U.DMaj - alternate set of chord words for use with above program

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Notes on Quick Chord Namer

Bill Mellor

Base letter       Variation letter
––––– ––––––       ––––––––– ––––––
A       l            Maj        l
Bb      m            Dom 7      m
B       n            Min        n
C       o            Aug 5      o
Db      p            Dim 7      p
D       q            Min 7      q
Eb      r            Dom 9      r
E       s            Maj 7      w
F       t
F#      u
G       v
Ab      w

To use this utility *EXEC U.Chords into your current program. The next step is to find the base of the chord you require down the left-hand side of the table above (e.g. D) and to note the letter to the right of it (i.e. 'q'). The next column shows variations of the base (e.g. Maj 7) and by checking the letter to its right you will find the second coordinate (i.e. 'w').

By using the two coordinate letters as an AMPLE word, e.g. "qw", you have a shorthand method of playing the chord of D maj 7. This makes much more room available in Notepad and in this form rests and holds may be used in the normal way.

The TYPE command will show the full construction of the chord if required. The choice of coordinate letters may seem strange, but this is to avoid the letters used as notes, that is a to g.

The chart was originally much larger, containing many more base variations such as 'dominant 7 with augmented 5', but the whole thing was getting out of hand and I've settled for the more commonly used ones.

If anyone feels they could improve on the chart please feel free to have a go.

Related programs on this disc:

U.Chords - chord definitions

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Hints and tips

Ignored natural signs

Graham F Firth

The hint by Roger Sapolsky in November's AMPLINEX failed to mention that the natural sign (=) is ignored on the first note after every key signature. I notice it mainly when using the Staff Editor.

As he rightly says, the effect can be overcome by putting the key signature after the naturalised note although it makes the music look a bit odd.

Two little utility words

David Westbrook

These are a couple of little utility words that I find useful. The first, "sp", performs a similar function to Roger Cawkwell's "s" in AMPLINEX 002, but is even more labour-saving!

The purpose is to SPOOL a file to extract a word from a program so that you can use it easily in other programs. For example, suppose you want to get a SPOOLed version of some wonderful instrument you've heard in an AMPLINEX issue (yes, I confess I 'borrow' other people's sounds!).

Just enter 'sp' at the command line: you will be prompted for the word you want and the filename to spool it to. The filename will automatically be given an 'S.' directory prefix, to mark it as a SPOOLed rather than SAVEd file. If you don't want that, just remove the 'S.' in line 6. That's it - 'sp' does all the work of opening the file, TYPEing the word and closing the file for you.

To use it, just type in the following and *SPOOL it (easy, since 'sp' will work on itself!). Then *EXEC it into any program you like.

"sp" ["Word to spool: "$OUT $IN
LEN 1 #- $- $12 $2
"""" $12 $+
"""" $+
"Filename: "$OUT $IN
"*SPOOL S."$+ $+
"TYPE" $12 $+
"*SPOOL"$12 $+ $+
]

The other word "del", is used for a "mass deletion" of words. I tend to have programs littered with utility words, unused instruments etc., which I don't need in the final version of a piece. But I get bored with typing "word"DELETE over and over again.

Answer - again, let AMPLE do it for you. Just enter 'del' at the command line and keep on entering word names until you've got rid of all the junk; then press ESCAPE to finish.

"del" ["del"$+
"Word to DELETE: "$OUT $IN
LEN 1 #- $- $12 $2
"""" $12 $+
"""" $+
"DELETE" $12 $+ $+
]

Both of these words demonstrate how you can use "$+" to issue, from within words, commands which can usually only be used at the command line (*SPOOL, DELETE and so on). This technique can be very useful, but it does often need a lot of trial and error to get the order of the assembled string of words right. Hence all the $12 commands to turn them round. Lines 2-4 in both words (beginning 'LEN') are used to add the necessary inverted commas to the word name that you type in.

"del" also shows how you can use this kind of word 'recursively': "del" calls itself, and thus keeps endlessly cycling round a loop until you press ESCAPE. REP(...)REP won't work in this situation (at least as far as I've been able to see) presumably because the assembled string never gets to the command interpreter. Does anyone else know better?

Finding the elusive 'bad bar'

Roger Sapolsky

It is frustating to see the error message "Bad bar in player X" displayed over and over again after you have spent a long time searching for an erroneous time setting hidden within a music part.

Is the word '^;' present in the part? If it is, you will always get the error message, no matter the time settings. Use of a bar length setting (e.g. 48, 4 BAR) prohibits the inclusion of chord rests - AMPLE knows why.

The AMPLE bar-checking facility is useful when applied to complicated music, particularly for those who do not read music fast enough to locate an error by ear at the moment it occurs.

To get round the problem mentioned above, you can simply delete the conflicting semicolons when only a few are present in the score; they can be retyped later after debugging.

Should there be many of them, it is best to enter, say,

"part1z" NAME MAKE

while part1a is displayed, then to delete all semicolons from part1z, check for errors and take a note of them before deleting the dummy part1z.

Errors in part1a can then be eliminated.

When working on part1z, don't forget the chord rests hidden inside words such as

"r" [96,^;]

The semicolon(s) here must also be deleted.

Instrument transfer

Jimmy Ryan

Here is an easy method to transfer an AMPLE word from one program to another without the use of *SPOOL or *EXEC.

For example, to transfer an instrument "instru" from one program "prog1" to another program "prog2", go into Notepad and enter:

"prog1" LOAD
"instru" GET
"prog2" LOAD
MAKE

Testing mixes

Graham F Firth

I find it useful to define the letter 't' as a word to test the music. If you are using multi-mix music then you could define the word 't' as follows:

"t" [ "12345-1234d" PLAY ]

This will play the fourth part, but will go through all the mixes so that the right mix will sound. When this part is OK, you can alter the 't' word to play the next part, and so on.

If you are only using a single mix then you could use part1, etc., for the whole tune, and part1a, etc., just to include the part you want to try. Remember to put SCORE & sig in part1a of course.

The SHIFT command

Tim Sketchley

The SHIFT command is used as part of an instrument definition, and is used to increase or decrease the pitch of one or more channels by an amount specified in sixteenths of a semitone.

For example:

0 SHIFT - plays the specified pitch
1 SHIFT - plays 1/16th semitone higher
-1 SHIFT - plays 1/16th semitone lower
16 SHIFT - plays a semitone higher
32 SHIFT - plays a tone higher
192 SHIFT - plays an octave higher
384 SHIFT - plays two octaves higher

Let's start with a straightforward instrument definition:

"shiftins" [2 CHANS
2 CHAN
128 AMP
EVERY CHAN
Bright Flat Long
]

This produces a very ordinary sound. Now let's replace the line 128 AMP with 1 SHIFT 128 AMP. This creates an ensemble effect, as the channels are playing very slightly different pitches.

Experiment with different SHIFT settings using Notepad. You may want to switch off channel 1 using 0 AMP so you can hear what channel 2 is doing. You should discover that although 1/16th semitone is a very small interval, the effect of the two channels playing the two pitches is considerable.

It is worth noting that 192 SHIFT plays an octave higher and this produces a bright and full effect. Also, 193 SHIFT plays an octave plus 1/16th semitone higher and is used in Organ.

Help from the Music 500 User Guide

Roger Cawkwell

There is much useful programming information contained in the Music 500 User Guide. Many of the AMPLE BCE words have the same meaning in AMPLE Nucleus and the Reference section of the Music 500 User Guide is in a similar format (though with less detail) to the new AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide.

Getting more volume

Ted Royffe

A simple hint for those who find that, although they can get reasonable output by turning up the volume on their amplifiers, they do not get sufficient output from the preset tape outputs thereon to make decent recordings. The easy way round this is to feed the Music 5000 output into the microphone inputs on the amplifier, if provided. However, in order to avoid distortion from overloading these, it may be necessary to use a simple dual attenuator.

If it is too much trouble to build one, suitable adjustable units made by QED can be purchased from many hi-fi shops. They are obtainable with phono or 5-pin DIN connections, or a combination of the two, and did cost about `9.50.

Symphony keyboard diagram

Graham F Firth

If anyone wants to buy the Music 4000 upgrade but doesn't want to pay for the keyboard as well, I can supply the circuit diagram for the Symphony keyboard.

It is a fairly simple circuit, but not really for the beginner. I modified an LVL Echo keyboard to this circuit and it works fine.

AMPLINEX to Wordwise Plus conversion

David Westbrook

I have developed a little Wordwise Plus segment program that I've found very useful in printing out AMPLINEX text files. The problem with these is that the 40 column format takes up an awful lot of paper if you print them from within AMPLINEX. For those with WORDWISE PLUS, this segment program will convert them to your normal format by stripping out the extra RETURNS and spaces for you. It's not perfect but it leaves you with a minimal amount of further formatting to do before you print the file.

To use it, go into Wordwise, load the segment program into, say, segment 0 and load the AMPLINEX file you want into the normal text area. Then run the segment program (i.e. in edit mode press SHIFT + f0). It prints a message from time to time, just to reassure you that something is happening.

After the reformatting is complete, you will be asked to put in the disc on which you store your usual page formatting "green code" commands (e.g. Paging, Page length, Justification etc.). Change "ampform" in the program to the file name you wish to use for these. If you don't want to load such a file, just remove the lines between 'VDU7' and 'DISPLAY'.

Related program on this disc:

H.WWconv - Wordwise segment program

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988

Index of AMPLE Nucleus words

The entries are arranged in a sequence based upon the following order of characters:

! " # $ % & ' ( ) * , - / : ; < = > ? @ [ \ ] ^ | ~ 0-9 A-Z

except that leading non-letters are treated as if they were at the end.

Each entry gives the word name and a brief description of its function.

A status may be shown on the right indicating that the word can be used only as a command or used only inside a word definition. If no status is shown the word can be used both as a command and inside a word definition.

Where relevant the following line shows the word's inputs and/or outputs. Where there are both, the -> symbol is used to separate them.

Index of words

<carriage return> mark line end

<space> separate items

! move an extra octave up or down

" start literal string

"characters" -> string inside []

string1 "characters" -> string2 string1 outside []

#! store number at address

datanumber addressnumber #!

#* multiply two numbers

number1 number2 #* -> productnumber (number1 x number2)

#+ add two numbers

number1 number2 #+ -> sumnumber (number1 + number2)

#+! add number to number at address

datanumber addressnumber #+!

#- subtract number from previous number

number1 number2 #- -> differencenumber (number1 - number2)

#/ divide previous number by number

number1 number2 #/ -> quotientnumber remaindernumber

#11 duplicate number

number #11 -> number number

#12 swap two numbers

number2 number1 #12 -> number1 number2

#2 discard number

number #2

#212 duplicate previous number

number2 number1 #212 -> number2 number1 number2

#2121 duplicate number and previous number

number2 number1 #2121 -> number2 number1 number2 number1

#213 rotate positions of three numbers

number3 number2 number1 #213 -> number2 number1 number3

#< test previous number is less than number

number1 number2 #< -> flag (number1 < number2)

#= test numbers are equal

number1 number2 #= -> flag (number1 = number2)

#> test previous number is greater than number

number1 number2 #> -> flag (number1 > number2)

#? fetch number from address

addressnumber #? -> datanumber

$+ add string to left end of previous string [] only

rightstring leftstring $+ -> string (leftstring + rightstring)

$- split string after numbered character [] only

string number $- -> rightstring leftstring

$12 swap two strings [] only

string1 string2 $12 -> string2 string1

$2 discard string [] only

string $2

% introduce comment

& indicate hexadecimal number

&<hex digits> -> number

' accent next note or hit

( start additional chord notes

) end additional chord notes

* indicate operating system command command

*<line>

+ sharpen next note

, set length

number ,

- flatten next note or indicate negative number

/ hold music event

: set octave

number :

; set music voice

voicenumber ;

= naturalise next note

@ set transposition in semitones

transnumber @

[ start word definition command

namestring [...]

\ move back

] end word definition [] only

~ slur next note

^ play rest

^; play chord rest

| mark end of bar

0 to 9 decimal digits

<decimal digits> -> number

A to G play note with ascending pitch

a to g play note with descending pitch

ACT execute music action

see text

ACT( start music action sequence [] only

positionnumber ACT(

)ACT end music action sequence [] only

ALIGN ensure text cursor is at start of line

AMPLE restart system command

AND AND bits of numbers

number1 number2 AND -> ANDnumber

ARRAY access array element

elementnumber baseaddressnumber ARRAY -> addressnumber

ASC convert character to number [] only

string ASC -> asciinumber

#B! store low byte of number at address

datanumber addressnumber #B!

#B? fetch byte from address

addressnumber #B? -> datanumber

#B12 swap high and low bytes of number

number1 #B12 -> number2

BAR set bar length in length units

lengthsnumber BAR

$CHR convert number to character [] only

asciinumber $CHR -> string

CLEAR clear editor data command

CODE call machine-code routine

YXnumber CAnumber addressnumber CODE -> YXnumber PAnumber

COMPACT compact unused memory command

COUNT return loop count [] only

COUNT -> number

DELETE delete word command

namestring DELETE

DIM reserve memory

sizenumber DIM -> addressnumber

DISPLAY display text

DURATION wait for a period of time

number DURATION

)ELSE( separate conditional sections [] only

EVERY leave 'every' value

EVERY -> number

FAST select fast/normal tempo

flag FAST

FCOPY copy numbers from frame pointer

number -> number1 ... number-n

FIND find uses of word command

namestring FIND

FOR( start definite loop [] only

countnumber FOR( ... )FOR

)FOR end definite loop [] only

FRAME set frame pointer to top of stack

FRAME! write frame pointer

pointernumber FRAME!

FRAME? read frame pointer

FRAME? -> pointernumber

FVAR access stack frame item

elementnumber FVAR -> addressnumber

GO start players together

GVAR create variable [] only

GVAR -> addressnumber

HALT halt/continue timebase

flag HALT

IDLE pass control to other players

IF( start conditional sequence [] only

flag IF( ... )IF or flag IF( ... )ELSE( ... )IF

)IF end conditional [] only

#IN wait for and get keypress

#IN -> asciinumber

$IN input line from keyboard [] only

$IN -> string

INDEX leave loop index [] only

INDEX -> number

INSTALL install module command

namestring INSTALL

K( start key signature

)K end key signature

'L set accent strength

number 'L

+L increase dynamic level

changenumber eventsnumber +L

-L decrease dynamic level

changenumber eventsnumber -L

=L set dynamic level

number =L

LEN get length of string [] only

string LEN -> string lengthnumber

LOAD load program command

namestring LOAD

MAX leave larger of two numbers

number1 number2 -> largestnumber

MCAT display catalogue of modules command

MDELETE delete module command

namestring MDELETE

MEM show memory usage in bytes command

MIN leave smaller of two numbers

number1 number2 -> smallestnumber

MLOAD load module command

namestring MLOAD

MODE enter display mode command

number MODE

MPREFIX set module filename prefix command

string MPREFIX

MSHOW show list of words in module command

modnamestring MSHOW

MVAL! write music variables

framelev keysig barcountlen octnote length tranvoice MVAL!

MVAL? read music variables

MVAL? -> framelev keysig barcountlen octnote length tranvoice

NEW discard program command

NL print new line

NOT invert sense of flag

flag1 NOT -> flag2

NOUT print number in decimal

number NOUT

&NOUT print number in hexadecimal

number &NOUT

OFF leave off flag value

OFF -> offflag

ON leave on flag value

ON -> onflag

OR OR bits of numbers

number1 number2 OR -> ORnumber

OSCLI send string to operating system [] only

string OSCLI

#OUT send ASCII code to screen

number #OUT

$OUT print string [] only

string $OUT

P( start concurrent sequence [] only

playernumber P( ... )P

)P end concurrent sequence [] only

$PAD pad string to length with spaces [] only

string1 lengthnumber $PAD -> string2

PAUSE pause/continue sound processing

flag PAUSE

PNUM leave player number

PNUM -> number

QKEY test key status or get keypress

negativenumber QKEY -> flag

zeronumber QKEY -> asciinumber

QTIME return queue time

QTIME -> number

QUIT leave editor command

RAND get random number

RAND -> number

RAND! set starting point for random numbers

number RAND!

RANDL get random number in range

maxnumber RANDL -> number

READY make system ready

RENAME rename word command

oldnamestring newnamestring RENAME

REP( start indefinite loop [] only

)REP end indefinite loop [] only

$REV reverse the order of characters [] only

string $REV -> reversedstring

RVOICES set voices range

startnumber endnumber RVOICES

SAVE save program command

string SAVE

SCORE prepare for music words

SHARE select voice ensemble

ensemblenumber SHARE

SHOW show user words command

SIGN test number is negative

number SIGN -> flag

SIMPLEACT remove all music actions

SP print a space

STOP stop program

$STR convert number to decimal string represenation [] only

number $STR -> string

&$STR convert number to hex string representation [] only

number &$STR -> string

$STRIP remove leading spaces from string [] only

string1 $STRIP -> string2

+T increase tempo

changenumber beatsnumber +T

-T decrease tempo

changenumber beatsnumber -T

=T set tempo

number =T

TYPE type word definition on the screen command

namestring TYPE

)UNTIL( exit from indefinite loop [] only

UNUSED make voice(s) unused

VAL convert string to unsigned decimal number [] only

string VAL -> remainingstring number ON if found

string VAL -> remainingstring OFF if not found

&VAL convert to unsigned hex number [] only

string &VAL -> remainingstring number ON if found

string &VAL -> remainingstring OFF if not found

VOICE select voice(s)

voicenumber VOICE

VOICE! set voice settings in frame

voicenumber VOICE! or EVERY VOICE!

VOICES set number of voices

number VOICES

WIND advance time

ticksnumber WIND

WRITE display text of all words command

X play hit

XOR exclusive-OR bits of numbers

number1 number2 XOR -> XORnumber

Published in AMPLINEX 003, January 1988