Hybrid Technology have announced that they are now a
division of Music Information Technology Limited. Their new address and
telephone number are given below. The meaning of this change, and its
significance for users, are not made clear.
New Hybrid Technology products
Hybrid Technology have announced some new software and
hardware products, aimed mainly at the education sector. Below are some brief
details distributed during the education technology show, BETT 91.
Music 6000 Sensor
A non-contact music controller that projects an interactive
linear sound space up to 35 feet for exploration and performance by hands,
feet, whole body.
Music Publisher
Desktop music publishing with fully automatic score layout,
for pupil compositions, lesson materials, full scores and instrumental parts,
and low cost publishing.
Soundscore
From concepts to compositions using a real-time coloured
graphic score, with keyboard recording, over-dubbing, editing, and colour or
mono printout.
Soundstory
Word-processed text and recorded sound and music combined,
creating stories, adventure games, songs, poems, drama soundtracks and more.
Soundscene
Sound and visuals combined in a variety of interactive
scenes, explored using single switch, double switch or touchscreen.
Soundshow
Over an hour of pre-recorded music presented via pictograms,
accessible through switch or touchscreen, and configurable for a wide range of abilities.
RM Music Sequencer
For the RM Nimbus PC186 with Hybrid Music 2000 Interface,
powerful and easy-to-use keyboard recording using mouse and Windows - launched
by Research Machines at BETT 91.
Further details are available from:
Hybrid Technology
88 Butt Lane
Milton
CAMBRIDGE
CB4 6DG
88 Butt Lane
Milton
CAMBRIDGE
CB4 6DG
Telephone: 0223 861522
The A3000 and the Concertmate 1000M
Jack Wrigley
After a careful appraisal of all the options, I have just
bought a BBC A3000 computer. This is to compliment my BBC B and AMPLE of
course. Apart from music, I have a professional interest in graphics and the
A3000's use of outline fonts was the deciding factor. Used with a printer like
the Canon BJ-10e ink jet the system gives Apple Macintosh quality, at a much lower
price.
With the lack of definite information on the future plans
for 'SuperAMPLE' (to give it a name), I recently wrote to Pres and Research
Machines. Both failed to reply and both kept my stamped, addressed envelopes!
I was asking Pres if they knew if AMPLE would work on the
A3000 in BBC B emulation mode (they market all the necessary hardware). I was
trying to find out from Research Machines if the spec of the Nimbus PC186 might
be in line with the PC emulator available for the A3000. In PC emulation mode the
A3000 can equate to a 640K PC on a machine equipped with 2Mb or more. The hope
was that both options might give a useful memory increase over the BBC B if
AMPLE was a possibility. Does anybody have any ideas or opinions on the above
options?
What a few weeks experience with the A3000 does demonstrate,
is just how powerful a custom-written application of AMPLE could be on this machine.
RISC OS is multi-tasking and one can imagine all the AMPLE editors being available
from pull down menus at the point of a mouse! Windows could be opened with, for
example, the Mixing Desk running in one and the Notepad or Staff editor
displayed in another. The flexibility of AMPLE combined with the processing
power and speed of the A3000 would surely be a winning combination.
My first music software choice for the A3000 was Clares'
'Rhapsody' music notation program. This really does give an idea of what an
AMPLE Staff editor might be like on the A3000. The 1Mb memory allows 5 scores
to be loaded at one time, each having a maximum of 24 staves! 'Rhapsody' will accept
MIDI files, so I wonder if Music 2000 notes could be imported? Eight sound
channels are available on the A3000 and, though the supplied 'instruments'
sound a bit thin, new ones can be installed and public domain software is
available to transfer Amiga sounds and samples.
'Rhapsody' supports MIDI, and the software really started to
impress me once I'd taken Andy Knight's advice from AMPLINEX 019 and bought the
Concertmate 1000M keyboard. The quality of sound on this half-price bargain was
not exaggerated by Andy. Any members looking for a starter MIDI instrument need
look no further, but there can't be many left, so don't spend too much time
thinking about it!
The 'multi sprit' (that's what it says!) percussion mode
would work well in an AMPLE program, one voice being able to sound 49 different
and very realistic PCM percussion instruments simply by changing pitch. Only
the small keys disappoint, but then I'm a pretty clumsy player!
Once I've got over the financial shock of recent weeks, I
look forward to testing the 1000M with a Music 2000.
Finally, I'll make a personal plea to Chris Jordan and the
Hybrid team to get together with Acorn and develop AMPLE for the Archimedes
range. Sales now exceed 100,000 and it's got ample memory and ample speed. All
it needs is the AMPLE software!
Published in AMPLINEX 021, March 1991
