Transposition of music
'Robonk'
I use this method when arranging for large bands which have
different keyed instruments, e.g. Bb trumpets and Eb horns.
A chromatic scale is one which goes from one note to the
next note of the same name and includes all intermediate semi-tones. This can
be used as the basis of transposition.
First write the chromatic key of the music. For example, for
the key of Ab:
Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab
Then write directly under it the key you require (e.g. C):
C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
To transpose, read the note from the music on the top line
and take the new value from the bottom line.
Using the Aries B32
Ken Hughes
In AMPLINEX 009 there was a hint from Pete Christy about the
command
*XON 20 A
to use the Aries B32 with AMPLE.
In AMPLINEX 010 Allen Gardner shows another way to do this
by altering the C.PREPARE file.
The former method give more free bytes than the latter, but
is less convenient to use. For the best of both methods type the following:
*RENAME !BOOT BOOT
*BUILD !BOOT
*KEY 10 *XON 20 A|M *EXEC BOOT|M
CALL !-4
*BUILD !BOOT
*KEY 10 *XON 20 A|M *EXEC BOOT|M
CALL !-4
and then press the ESCAPE key.
On my system !BOOTing the disc sets up Shadow RAM and then
loads AMPLE without the need to press BREAK. Having noted the problem with
Staff printing (AMPLINEX 007) I have left one disc unmodified. I have not had any
problem with the Staff editor using the above system.
'Return to the Homeland'
Les Pearce
I have recently purchased the AMPLE music disc 'Return to
the Homeland', which was reviewed by Roy Follett in AMPLINEX 008. However, upon
its first play, whilst monitoring the Mixing Desk, I noticed that player 1 was
not active in quite a few of the pieces although it was set to play. Further examination
of these pieces revealed that 'PNUM SHARE' was missing at the end of the 'mix'
word.
After correcting this omission all such pieces played as
intended. This was on a system loaded with Studio 5000 Release 2, but I later
found that all such unmodified pieces would play correctly on a system booted
from Studio 5000-4 Release 1 (as supplied with the Music 4000 keyboard). However,
as the disc is labelled for use on the 'Music 5000 Synthesiser' I would have
expected it play correctly when run from Studio 5000!
So, for other 'Studio 5000' users here is a list of the
tracks needing attention:
Side A - Dance!; Flight Of Icarus; Call Of The Homeland;
Don't Surrender; Lucy, Who Lives On The Corner; Dreamer.
Side B - Return To The Homeland; Midnight In Soho; Russia
(We Live In Fear); Restless; Midnight In Soho (remix).
Apart from this relatively minor problem, and although I
wouldn't give it 'five stars' for originality as Roy did, I would still
recommend this disc for its very compact and effective use of the AMPLE
language resulting in some very interesting and enjoyable pieces.
Reverb units
Jim Redfarn
Some while back I bought one of the Tandy reverb units
recommended in AMPLINEX 003. I have two Hybrid Music Systems and still use it
on one. On the other I use an Alesis Microverb II. This is so much better, that
I feel that I must recommend it to members who are improving their systems in
this way.
In case any members are not clear what is exactly meant by
'reverb', it means adding natural-sounding room reflections to your recording.
The Alesis Microverb offers a large range of room sizes and is very convincing.
Prices seem to vary a lot, but mine cost £170 new. You can of course get them
second-hand. By the way, don't get a Yamaha R100 Reverb/Echo unit. I did, in
error, but luckily managed to persuade the shop to exchange it. The snag with
the Yamaha is that the input sockets are mono.
Saving space during AMPLE compositions
G H Richardson
Never having had any serious memory problems on the
relatively short musical pieces I had programmed before, I did not consciously
think to save space when programming Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. I actually
got it all in at 12188 bytes, but by that time there was no room to load the
Staff editor and the Notepad was getting close to the brink.
Since I normally use the Staff editor and keyboard to put
the music in and to edit it, I found this disconcerting and had to resort to
Notepad to edit. When this began to fail panic set in and I had visions of my
'masterpiece' ending 10 bars short - so I began looking for ways to save space.
First I did the obvious thing. I went through parts 1, 2 and
3 (21 sections) eliminating spaces between characters where possible; cramming
two lines into one; converting repeated rests (^^^^) into rest holds (^///) -
except for chords - and in this way managed to save about 160 bytes.
Next, I dimly remembered that because I used the Staff
editor to input my notes the word '%STAFF' appeared in all sections of every
part and that this word was not really necessary unless you wished to view the
part on the Staff. So I removed '%STAFF' from all the parts and sections -
saving a few hundred more bytes.
Then I examined other peoples' programs and came across this
mysterious symbol 'sig' which I eventually realised was a music word containing
something like
SCORE K(-B)K 48, 4BAR
setting the time, key signature and bar length which I had
in full in all parts and sections. With reckless abandon I replaced this phrase
with 'sig' throughout bringing my savings to the magnificent total of 988
bytes.
At this stage I had made enough savings to permit me to edit
the music, put in an alternative mix and add the 'info' notes, so I left it at that.
I realised, however, that further savings could be made by
using symbols for alterations in volume - e.g. 'ppv' for '30 0 -L' - and for
variations in time - e.g. 'acc' for '30 8 +T'. On reflection I think the better
way, assuming enough space is available, is to insert the volume and time variations
in their normal, standard form initially, then examine them, see which are the
most commonly occurring, and symbolize those.
The article by Kevin Doyle 'How to save memory in AMPLE'
(AMPLINEX 004) has further information on this subject, and all I have done is
reduce the general to the particular.
Finally, I understand there are considerable savings to be
made by making a new !BOOT file by leaving out unwanted modules, but to me this
is a technical minefield and fills me with horror. I may try it someday if someone
could spell out the process step by step in practical terms.
Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989
