In this section we have some comments about the recent
Hybrid Technology announcement of a partnership with Research Machines, a user
report on the Music 2000 and Casio CT-460 synthesiser, and a review of three
new music disc releases.
Hybrid Technology news
In the previous issue of AMPLINEX we carried the news that
Hybrid Technology had entered into partnership with Research Machines to produce
a Hybrid Music System for the Nimbus PC186 "taking full advantage of its
16-bit technology to make significant improvements in functionality,
performance and ease of use." It was noted that this announcement still
left open the question of a more general development commitment to provide an
upgrade path for existing Hybrid Music System users.
Since then we have received two comments on the
announcement. Firstly, from Jack Wrigley:
AMPLINEX 015 reported Hybrid's partnership with Research
Machines. Does anybody know how much a Nimbus PC186 costs?
I've searched the PC press, but can't even find an advertisement
for Research Machines or Nimbus. 'What Micro' lists the cheapest Nimbus product
as the AX286/12 at £2390 and the cheapest Research Machines product as the
PC286/10 at £1525. At these prices even the A3000 looks reasonable!
What chance now of an A3000 running a WIMP-based version of
AMPLE, utilising the existing Music 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 hardware in addition
to that computer's own eight sound channels and at last freed from the memory
restrictions of the BBC Model B and Master?
If Hybrid are determined to split from Acorn, then surely an
Atari ST or Amiga based system would have been a better choice - low priced,
with an existing large user base and strong press support.
Secondly, from Jim Redfarn:
The News and Reviews section of AMPLINEX 015 reported planned
developments by Hybrid using the Nimbus computer. This report is partly wrong.
I happened to meet Mr Chris Jordan of Hybrid Technology and
asked him about this matter. He said that the existing Hybrid Music System was
really based on the BBC Model B. The new equipment would make use of the BBC
Master's greater computing power. Equipment was also being built for the Nimbus
computer, but this was identical in every way to the equipment being developed
for the Master. The new equipment will not work on the Model B. In other words,
BBC Master owners should stick to their machine. Model B owners can upgrade to
either a Nimbus or a Master. Obviously, for existing BBC Model B owners, the
Master is the easiest and cheapest upgrade.
Music 2000 and Casio CT-460
Andrew Leahy
I recently purchased the Music 2000 from Hybrid. It took 2
months to get here (Sydney, Australia)! Not owning a MIDI instrument myself
(yet) I borrowed a friend's synthesiser, a Casio CT-460 (the Casio CT-540 is
the smaller version of this).
The Casio CT-460 is a very cheap MIDI keyboard synthesiser,
so it can't be expected to have dazzling features. It allows 16-note polyphony
over 4 MIDI channels. Channel 1 - maximum 6 notes; channel 2 - 4 notes; channel
3 - 2 notes; channel 4 - 3 notes.
Channel 4 can be used as either an instrument channel or a
percussion channel using the in-built rhythms of the CT-460. These rhythms can
be triggered by the Music 2000 using MIDIRT - although once started I couldn't
stop it!
The synthesiser has 30 'instruments' plus percussive sounds
to choose from. Of the 30 sounds available only about 10 are actually useable!
It also has a whole host of 'sound effects', including such things as waves,
rain, clapping, galloping horses, ricocheting bullets and car horns.
When hooked up, the synthesiser worked perfectly with the
Music 2000. But it only understands note on/off and program change messages,
and doesn't respond to any of the more advanced features of the Music 2000
(like pitch-bending or modulation).
You have no control (by software) over the volume of the
instruments playing. There are volume sliders on the keyboard itself so you can
alter the volume of each channel manually, although channel 1 always plays at maximum
volume!
Another hassle I found was that the keyboard only has a 4
octave range (-2:C to 2:C) even using MIDI. Any notes outside this range get 'transposed'
into the range, so -3:D will play -2:D.
After using the keyboard for only a week I found it 'too
simple'! Although, with only one week of experience in MIDI, I've probably messed
a couple of things up, I find having no control over the voices (besides the
choice of instrument) is very limiting and annoying. In short, I couldn't
recommend this keyboard if you just wanted to use it for MIDI.
New music discs
Roy Follett
Three more discs for review in this issue: two from Panda
Discs and one from John Bartlett. The two from Panda are Volume 12 'Moments in
Time' by The Noige and Volume 13 'Jean-Michel Jarre' programmed by Bernie
Dawson.
If you are a Jean-Michel Jarre devotee then Bernie Dawson's
disc is the one for you. 125K of good music programmed with loving care as only
Bernie can, a self-confessed fan.
'Moments in Time' is original material by The Noige (which
seems to be a pseudonym for N Scott). This is good stuff although it insists
that you listen right through each piece: if you press Escape, the screen is rubbished.
Staying with the music will automatically return you to the menu.
Members can make up their own minds on these two discs
because Panda have produced short compilations for you to hear. These musical
advertisements (a good idea) are included in this issue.
The third disc is the latest from JB Software called
'Impressions'. This is a complete departure from John Bartlett's recent jazz
offerings. Good moody, atmospheric pieces, with his usual performance quality.
I really like this disc. The sounds and effects he uses to
conjure up the image do not assault my ears. I wish this disc was free of
copyright, I would dearly like to dub his music on to my hobby videos, it is so
descriptive.
So there we are. Three good discs to buy - we really are
getting spoilt for choice. Me? I would spend my money on John Bartlett's
'Impressions'. For further information on this disc see the Advertisement
section of this issue.
Published in AMPLINEX 016, March 1990
