AMPLINEX 011

AMPLINEX issue 011 was published in May 1989. Each AMPLINEX magazine is stored as a 200K single-sided 80-track disk image file (.ssd file type). The image can be used to create disks for a BBC Micro or can be loaded into a BBC emulator. For the disks to run, the BBC (real or emulated) must have an AMPLE Nucleus ROM installed and be running the Hybrid Music System.

News and reviews

Hybrid Technology – product news

In an unexpected move, Hybrid Technology have delayed release of the Music 5000 Junior (which was announced last autumn) and switched resources into development of the Music 3000, an 'expander' which adds a second 8-voice synthesiser to play alongside the Music 5000.

AMPLINEX has just received a beta-test version of the package and this is reviewed below.

In addition, two new music discs have been released - 'Plaice' by the Fish Shop Boys and 'Zen and the Art of Making Music' by Obernell. These too are reviewed below.

A new audio demonstration cassette has just been produced to show off the capabilities of the Hybrid Music System. Called 'The Hybrid Music System's Greatest Hits', the 13-minute tape contains excerpts from a dozen different pieces of AMPLE music. In addition to extracts from Hybrid's own music albums (from, for example, Pilgrim Beart and David Reed), there are two from past issues of AMPLINEX with music from Michael Harbour and Mark Mulders.

The tape will be selling for £2.95.

Music 3000 expander

Kevin Doyle

The Music 3000 package will consist of a synthesiser, issue disc and a brief user guide. The synthesiser is a modified version of the Music 5000 and allows it to be controlled in parallel with, but independently of, the Music 5000.

Setting up the Music 3000 is very easy. Like the Music 5000 there are three connections to be made: the 1MHz ribbon cable (which just plugs into the socket on the back of the Music 5000); the mains lead (plug provided); and your own audio lead to plug into the 5-pin DIN socket on the back of the unit.

The last item may need some consideration - many people will be using ordinary stereo audio equipment to listen to their Music 5000 at present. With the addition of the Music 3000 you will need a means of listening to four channels of sound.

If your audio equipment has only one stereo DIN socket then you will need to use a lead which converts two DIN plugs into one. To coincide with the release of the Music 3000, Hybrid Technology will be adding such a lead to their product list.

Those who already have multi-channel mixing or recording equipment should have no difficulty accommodating the extra two channels of output.

The Music 3000 software looks identical to the standard Music 5000 or 5000-4 package until you come to the Mixing Desk. The screen layout is the same showing the standard 8 voices. But if you move the cursor beyond the eighth voice (at the right-hand side), the screen is re-drawn to display another set of 8 voices. These new voices are called 9, A, B, C, D, E, F and G, a rather odd notation which probably results from the need to fit them into the cramped screen display.

In use, voices 1-8 (on the first screen) are played on the Music 5000; voices 9-G (on the second screen) are played on the Music 3000. In other respects the software is unchanged. The same waveforms are written to both synthesisers, and complex, multi-channel instruments can even be split between the two synthesisers.

Although sixteen voices are available, the limit on the number of players remains at ten, so chords must be used in order to play more than ten different musical scores. For those who just want to increase the complexity of the instruments used, however, existing pieces can be adapted very quickly to play on more voices.

Another immediate benefit of the extra voices is in the use of multi-voice effects such as Echo and Perc. With eight more voices available much more attention can be paid to the overall sound of a piece of music, with less concern about running out of voices for the score.

One side-effect of the increased number of voices is that the 'mix' definition output by the Mixing Desk can easily become too long to be read into the Notepad - awkward if you use both methods for amending mixes, but one more reason for Hybrid to develop a better Notepad.

In summary, if you are finding the eight voices of the Music 5000 synthesiser a restriction, and you do not wish to invest in MIDI equipment, the Music 3000 could be the answer. The only other point to consider before buying, is how you will combine the audio outputs of the two synthesisers.

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The Music 3000 will be launched at the July BBC Acorn User Show and will cost £115 including VAT and postage and packing. The audio lead (2 into 1 DIN) will cost £4.95 inclusive.

New Hybrid music albums

Roy Follett

'Zen and the Art of Making Music' by Obernell

When I reviewed Obernell's previous disc ('Return to the Homeland') I was absolutely delighted with it, and praised it highly. So highly, in fact, that I was accused of going over the top.

Sorry to say, I am unable to be as enthusiastic about 'Zen and The Art of Making Music' - very few of the pieces have any fresh ideas for the listener.

This disc contains nineteen tunes, most of them with lyrics, and all the pieces are original compositions. There are two remixes included in the total of nineteen.

Any innovation, however, seems to be reserved for rewriting the English language and I quote at random from the lyrics held in the 'info' words:

"Don't u see we'll b 2gether 4ever more"

"After wot u did 2 me?"

I was very disappointed.

'Plaice' by The Fish Shop Boys

'Plaice' by the Fish Shop Boys contains ten titles all of which are a play on the theme of fish - for instance, 'OpporTUNAties', 'BASSe out of hell' or 'PILCHARD beat'. This last one is at the expense of Pilgrim Beart with a re-working of some of his stuff.

Some thought has gone into the compilation of this disc, but the content does not bring joy to my ears. Perhaps I like my tunes to be more melodic, or is it the driving drum line that I found over-insistent? I don't know. But I do feel both of these discs would be more interesting if it were only possible to hear the lyrics performed rather than reading them off the screen.

However as someone must have said 'Art is in the ear of the beholder' - so go and buy these two discs, listen to them, and then tell me I am wrong.

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Both these music discs are available from Hybrid Technology priced £4.95 (inclusive of VAT and postage and packing).

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Winds of Change

by Obernell From the album 'Zen and the Art of Making Music Courtesy of Hybrid Technology in this ever changing world, it is so very hard 2 keep pace. living in this ever changing world, is like running the endless race. the winds of change blow so cold, that my face and hands are numb. this ever changing world, has got me under its thumb. Obernell

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.WINDS

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Travelin' Text Tinhorn

by Andy Knight Tex Tinhorn was just a saddle tramp, drifting from town to town. He meant no harm to anyone. But he made a big mistake when he arrived in Tumblegulch. Not that folks were unfriendly in these parts, 'cos they were. He stopped off at the "Golden Nugget" saloon to wet his whistle and wash away the trail dust. This was his error, 'cos the Claytons were in town. Now local folks don't use the saloon on these occasions but if they do, they keep their eyes fixed to the floor, 'cos,it don't take much to upset a Clayton. As Tex found out when he accidentally spilt Billy Clayton's drink. Well, all hell let loose, but Tex was lucky to get away with jest his hat shot full a holes. All you could see of Tex was a cloud of dust as he high-tailed north on the trail ag'in. I sure hope he don't take the trail east at Red Rock Pass, 'cos that'll lead him to Roughwood and the McCarthys are in town...

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.TEX

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Three to Get Ready

by Michael Mellor Composed by: Dave Brubeck You would think from the title that this piece is a waltz, however it has a pattern of 2 bars of 3/4 time and then 2 bars of 4/4 time after the initial theme. It was one of the first pieces I programmed. Michael Mellor

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.3GETRDY

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Telstar

by Pete Christy Composed by: Joe Meek Originally performed by The Tornadoes One of my all-time favourite tunes, though I'm not sure I do it justice. The music was worked out on a small Yamaha Portasound keyboard, then transcribed into AMPLE. Not a sheet of music in sight! The lead instrument isn't quite right. Not quite raucous or hollow enough. Also there is a slight timing hiccup on the mix changes to and from the chorus. If you can improve it, feel free, but tell me how!

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.TELSTAR

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Squits

by Mike Dobson Looking at the word 'screen', you may be intrigued to know how I did it. I drew the picture on my personal Mode 7 designer and *SAVEed it as a lump of bytes. Then I loaded up AMPLE and the Notepad, *LOADed the screen and typed "screen"NAME. I then pressed TAB to enter the Notepad and added the '%' and 'DISPLAY'. Finally I typed MAKE. This is a fairly effective way of storing screens in AMPLE and allows the use of non-AMPLE software to draw the pretty pictures. Now stop reading and pay attention to the tune...

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.SQUITS

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Opportunaties

by Fish Shop Boys From the album 'Plaice' Courtesy of Hybrid Technology opportunaties [ let's catch lots of fish ] (gabrielli/obernell/law) fish shop boys (1:48) i've got the brains, you've got the prawn... you've got the hooks, i've got the brains...

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.OPPORTU

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Intro-vox

by P W Scott

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.INTVOX

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Hyphon FX

by Andy Smith A journey into our destiny This composition saw its completion on Sunday 9th April after two days work. One main point about it that I don't like is the hiccups during the half mix changes. One particular mix is the one before the jobboFX's play, in the latter part of the piece. I hope someone can correct it. ACT has been used as I find it tremendously useful and effective. Enjoy your listening Bye!

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.HYPHON

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Goodbye to the Rain Forest

by Ted Kirk

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.FOREST

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Frere Jacques

by Jim Redfarn Composed by: Traditional I use this piece to teach beginners how to use the Hybrid Music System. They play the first part of the tune into the Staff editor, using the keyboard for input. They input the remaining part of the tune using the Notepad and step-time keyboard. The ornamentations are recorded in real-time at the keyboard. I have written some worksheets for this. If you are interested phone me on 01 504 6680. Jim Redfarn

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.FREREJ

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Fanfare for the Common Man

by Robonk Composed by: Aaron Copland Emerson, Lake & Palmer's arrangement This was written as an aid to a 20-piece Brass arrangement I was working on. I got so involved with the Mixing desk side I was nearly late with the score. Note the weird mix1 to get the instruments in order on the desk. This also uses the UNUSED command followed by an UNMIX. I had to sacrifice 1 voice from the opening fanfare because it hiccupped upon entering mix1 trying to set 8 voices.

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.FANFARE

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Etude Op 25 No 1

by G H Richardson Composed by: Chopin This is a very good example of a technically-difficult piano piece made easy with AMPLE, as anyone who has tried to play it will know. In programming it the problem was to get the double running accompaniment into a nice smooth legato. Initially I used Ted Royffe's pianol from Bethena (AMPLINEX M06) for all parts but the notes were too separated for the accompaniment so I took off the attack and gave them more sustain, retaining the original definition for part 5 which merely emphasises certain notes. This is a beautiful piece and the result is not bad. Reverb helps.

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.ETUDE

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Dennis the Menace

by Frank Dudley The Beano Concertino

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.DENNIS

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Dark

by Michael Harbour

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.DARK

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Danielle

by Neil Williams This tune is one of several composed on my electronic keyboard prior to the purchase of my Music 5000 about a year ago. Since then I have transferred them to AMPLE as accurately as possible. This has enabled me to add a slightly more complex bass line in the middle section (my keyboard playing abilities are very limited). I decided to keep the number of voices to a minimum so as to keep them largely polyphonic. This, I think, adds feeling and smoothness to the piece and is how it was written. The accompaniment track (player 3) was more of an afterthought as I was left with a spare channel, although I now think it improves the piece quite a lot. Try typing mix2 as the piece is playing. This is an alternative voice arrangement without the accompaniment of player3. Neil Williams (16) (Due acknowledgment to the 'susped' routine from XPACH by Pilgrim Beart used in part2.)

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.DANIELL

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Ain't Misbehavin'

by John Bartlett Composed by: Fats Waller As played by Art Tatum This is a transcription taken from a 1938 recording by Art Tatum. It is as faithful to the original as possible with only a few very minor 'tweaks' to suit the AMPLE environment and limitations. The "piano" instrument is one which I created and use almost exclusively for piano parts because it seems more realistic than the "Upright" voice. Because of the size of the program, if you wish to experiment it will probably be necessary to SPOOL the affected part to disc, modify it, and EXEC it back to the main program.

Source: AMPLINEX 011 disk, file $.AINT

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Bend utility

Peter Miller

For example of use see U.Bendemo.

These routines produce realistic guitar bends (try with Elguit), and can be used on the Staff or in Notepad. The bend is initialised with 'bn' immediately before the note (either a semiquaver or demisemiquaver - see bn) followed by 'bn1', 'bn2' or 'bn3' for up and down, up, or down bends. The total length (including the note entered) is a crotchet, which can be extended with ties. Use *EXEC to merge this file with your own music.

"bn" [ON Slide
0=L
% Bend syntax: bn <note> bn<1-3>
% There are three bend words
% available, and the length of <note>
% must be as specified in the chosen
% word.
]

"bn1" [4, 4 4 +L
//// /
4 4 -L
////
OFF Slide
6,/
% bend up and down 1 semitone
% preceding note must be
% demisemiquaver
% total length = 1 crotchet
]

"bn2" [4, 4 4 +L
//// /////
OFF Slide
12,
% bend up one semitone
% preceding note must be semiquaver
% total length = 1 crotchet
]

"bn3" [4, 4 4 -L
//// /////
OFF Slide
12,
% bend down one semitone
% preceding note must be semiquaver
% total length = 1 crotchet
]

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989

Hints and tips

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

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.

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Published in AMPLINEX 011, May 1989