Kevin Doyle, Roy and Jackie Follett
Welcome to the second issue of AMPLINEX. In a sense, this is
the first real issue as this is the first one to include member's contributions
- and this was the real purpose of AMPLINEX.
We have decided to make this a Music issue and have included
ten original pieces of music submitted by members. The standard is satisfyingly
high with a wide variety of musical styles and imaginative use of the medium.
It has been a pleasure to listen to each disc as it arrived. A particular
favourite of ours is 'The Terracotta Army' (filename 'Terracb') by Michael
Mellor - especially since Mr Mellor's accompanying letter expressed some worries
that it might not 'reach the standard' of other contributions. The message is,
don't hesitate - let your compositions be heard.
Also of particular note are two short atmospheric pieces by Jim
Redfarn ('Whale' and 'Storm') - both excellent examples of concise and effective
AMPLE composition.
In addition, we have another promotional track supplied by
Hybrid Technology from their AMPLE compilation disc 'AMPLE Bytes Back' (reviewed
in the September issue).
One appeal to all music contributors - wherever possible, please
put some comments in your music programs. These could be information about the structure
of the piece, how or why you wrote it or how it could be changed. Good examples
in this issue are 'Fyer' by Roy Atkins and 'Nitrawl' by Richard Bettis.
Use of the word 'info' to contain such text seems to be an accepted
standard and we would suggest that it is NOT displayed automatically every time
the music is played. Please note that the words '?info' and '?' are AMPLINEX control
words added to each program and not the author's comments.
Several members have queried the position of AMPLINEX and
copyright. The latest information about this is contained in the Update part of
this section, but the main message at the moment is - please send in music even
if it is not your own copyright but please ensure you credit the copyright owner(s).
The good response in music programs has persuaded us to postpone
the BBC keyboard utility mentioned in the previous issue, but the utility for creating
title screens is included in this issue.
There is also an interesting feature on the ACT command by
Andy Thomas with an example program to illustrate the points made.
We hope you enjoy this issue as much as (or more than) the
first, and look forward to your contributions to the first issue of 1988.
Published in AMPLINEX 002, November
1987
