At last the refreshing breeze of competition seems to be
blowing through the AMPLE world. The May announcement from Peartree that they were
breaking away from Hybrid and developing their own software to sell with the
Music 500/5000 hardware seems to have prompted a flurry of activity in the
scramble to win the attention (and money) of Music 500/5000 owners. Peartree's
alternative software was promoted on its ability to deliver additional features
not offered by the Studio 5000 software.
Alongside items of minor importance (such as the ability to
use a light pen or mouse) the Peartree software offered two significant
features - the ability to print out music scores and the ability to design your
own waveforms. The absence of the latter in the Studio 5000 software was a rather
perverse consequence of the 'upgrade' from AMPLE BCE.
At the May 'Electron and BBC Micro User Show' Peartree were
selling dozens of Music 500 synthesisers with the promise of this new software
in July (in time for the 'Acorn User Show').
Only two weeks before the show there came an announcement
from Hybrid that it too was to be demonstrating some new products there. It
came as no surprise to learn that amongst these were 'Staff Printing' and 'Waveform/Envelope
design' software.
More interesting perhaps, was a reference to the 'Music 2000
Interface' - this appeared to be the long awaited MIDI interface, which many
users had felt would give the Music 500(0) the seal of 'professional'
credibility.
The show was awaited with interest...
The clear winners on the day were Hybrid (see 'AU Show
report' in News & Reviews section) - they were able to demonstrate a clear
commitment to the Music 5000 with the keyboard, amplifier and MIDI interface,
and had responded to at least part of the Peartree challenge by having a staff printing
program available. The only absentee from the Hybrid product range was the
promised waveform and envelope design module.
It seems that for the moment Hybrid has gained the
competitive advantage with its system's extended capabilities. It remains to be
seen whether Peartree will try to challenge this or rely on their budget
pricing to generate interest in their own system.
Whichever way things develop, it has so far been good news
for owners of the Hybrid Music System, as it diversifies and consolidates its position
at the forefront of computer music.
Published in AMPLINEX 001, September 1987
