Index to AMPLINEX issues 007-012 (Sept 1988 to July 1989)

Patrick Black

The headings to the Index are pretty well self-explanatory. Directory pre-fixes are used to indicate in which section an item appears on the AMPLINEX screen menu, as follows:

Directory prefixes

$ = Music
A = Introduction & Adverts
F = Features
H = Hints & Tips
I = Instruments
N = News & Reviews
Q = Questions & Answers
U = Utilities

MUSIC files are further distinguished by appearing in quotes, thus

"An Ode" 007 $.AnOde

NB. M09 = files on the Music Disk sent with Issue 009. U11 = Instrument Utility Disk sent with issue 011. Disk U11 has conflicting file names. Where two names are given the first is the name given in the Introductory Notes; the second is the actual disk file name.

QUESTIONS and their answers often appear in separate issues of AMPLINEX, so the letters 'Q' or 'A' or both, are placed with the issue number, depending on whether the item is a question on its own, an answer to a previous query, or is a question accompanied by a response.

There is a ROM COMPATIBILITY table, compiled from members' submissions, at the end of the Index.

Subject Issue Filename
--------------------- ----- ---------

*ACCESS & *DRIVE 005Q Q.uest005
007 H.ints007

A

'@' to transpose
instruments         012A Q.uest012
"A bunch of fives"    010   $.Fives
Acoustic instruments 005Q Q.uest005
                      009A Q.uest009
Advertisements
Jazz Disc Volume 1 012   N.ews012
"Ah Perdona"          009   $.AhPerdo
"Ain't misbehavin'"   011   $.Aint
AMPLE -
acoustic guitar     011Q Q.uest011
                      012A Q.uest012
                      012   I.nstr012
& Archimedes A3000 012Q Q.uest012
& BBC Master Editor 007Q Q.uest007
                      009   H.ints009
bend utility
    *EXEC file        011   U.bend
    demo file         011   U.bendemo
bibliography        009   H.ints009
C.PREPARE revision 011A Q.uest011
chaining files      008QA Q.uest008
                      009   H.ints009
                      010A Q.uest010
                      012   F.Chain
changing instruments
    with UNUSED       010   H.ints010
chord data facility 010Q Q.uest010
composing/transcribing
    on M5000          011   F.Comment
delete file with
    'wlist' (M4000)   010Q Q.uest010
& drum machine      012Q Q.uest012
drum rhythms
    pitch sensitive   010Q Q.uest010
    pop/big band      010Q Q.uest010
                      011A Q.uest011
Echo                007Q Q.uest007
editors             007Q Q.uest007
entering magazine
    listings          010QA Q.uest010
envelopes           005Q Q.uest005
                      007A Q.uest007
error trapping      007Q Q.uest007
external effects    007   H.ints007
function key
    redefinition      010   H.ints010
IDLE                008   Q.uest008
                      008   Q.timing
instrument library utilities -
    see under 'I'
keys of tuned
    instruments      011Q Q.uest011
                      012A Q.uest012
LEN negative settings
    with SCORE       010   H.ints010
linking two Hybrid
    music systems    011QA Q.uest011
M.FX1A bug         007QA Q.uest007
making longer progs 012   F.LongPrg
memory
    BBC B v Master   010Q Q.uest010
    RAMROM board     010Q Q.uest010
    saving           009   H.ints009
                     011   H.ints011
MERGE command      012QA Q.uest012
MIDI & AMPLE voices 009   H.ints009
    implementation
      charts         010Q Q.uest010
                     011A Q.uest011
    instr. selection 007Q Q.uest007
                     009A Q.uest009
     messages & s/ware007Q Q.uest007
                     008A Q.uest008
    slides & bends   012Q Q.uest012
    Yamaha DD10
      drums          010Q Q.uest010
                     012A Q.uest012
    possibilities    010A Q.uest010
mixes
    gaps in mixes    009   H.ints009
    for beginners    009   F.mixes1
    & submixes       007Q Q.uest007
Music 500
    and BBC Master   008Q Q.uest008
    circuit diagram 012Q Q.uest012
    serial no.
      differences    012Q Q.uest012
Music 2000 -       005Q Q.uest005
                     007A Q.uest007
    memory addresses 010   H.ints010
    review           008   N.ews008
    & Casio CZ5000   007Q Q.uest007
    & Casio HT3000   012Q Q.uest012
    & Roland D110    010   N.ews010
      controlling    012   H.ints012
    & Roland MT-32   008   N.ews008
    slides & bends   012Q Q.uest012
Music 3000         011   N.ews011
    with M2000       012QA Q.uest012
Music 4000 -
    booting           006Q Q.uest006
                      008A Q.uest008
    double kbd voices 008   H.ints008
    keyboard repair   007A Q.uest007
                      008A Q.uest008
    better metronome 010   H.ints010
    silence between
      parts           012Q Q.uest012
Music 5000 -
    clogging up       010QA Q.uest010
    synchronization
      to tape         008   H.ints008
      to Roland TR707 010Q Q.uest010
Notepad new lines   009QA Q.uest009
Nucleus -
    Help Facility     008   U.ANHF
    & BCE waveforms   009   U.NewWave
                      009   U.Preset2
Opus Challenger     006   F.Challen
                      007A Q.uest007
Opus Ramdisc        006Q Q.uest006
                      008A Q.uest008
OSCLI               008QA Q.uest008
by phone
    downloading       009Q Q.uest009
    (Music City & DCT)007   A.update
                      008   F.Abphone
    DCT demo          008   F.DCTdemo
PLAY long sequences 009QA Q.uest009
POS and PAN         007   Q.uest007
programming rock
    and pop           012   H.ints012
QTIME               008   Q.uest008
                      008   Q.timing
READY with DIM      009Q Q.uest009
ROM compatibility   007   H.ints007
                      008   H.ints008
    (see table at end of Index)
SCORE with negative
    LEN settings      010   H.ints010
screen control      007QA Q.uest007
screen graphics     008Q Q.uest008
                      010A Q.uest010
Shadow RAM - see under 'S'
SHIFT to transpose
    instruments       012A Q.uest012
spooling            007   H.ints007
STAFF               007   H.ints007
    part bars         010Q Q.uest010
                      011A Q.uest011
saving space        012   H.ints012
    'Too many         008Q Q.uest008
      numbers' error 009A Q.uest009
synchronising music
    and lyrics        007Q Q.uest007
                      008A Q.uest008
                      009A Q.uest009
tempo changes on
    all voices        007Q Q.uest007
                     008A Q.uest008
tokens             008   F.Tokens
'Too big' on Master 009   H.ints009
toolkit file       010   H.ints010
transposition of
    music            011   H.ints011
tuning systems
    with M4000       010Q Q.uest010
UNMIXes, a beginner's
    guide            011   F.Unmixes
UNUSED changing
    instruments      010   H.ints010
user Groups        010Q Q.uest010
volume – accessing
    settings         007Q Q.uest007
waveforms          009   U.NewWave
                     009   U.Preset2
AMPLINEX -
A.MPLINEX file
    & Studio 5000/4 009   A.update
                     009   A.008fix
    re-name facility 009   A.update
address            ALL   A.contrib
& ADFS             008QA Q.uest008
AMPLE for beginners 008   A.update
& BCE users        008   A.update
& CEEFAX           007   A.update
                     008   A.update
                     009   A.update
                     011   A.update
contributions      ALL   A.contrib
    closing date     ALL   A.nextiss
    use of           007   A.update
    Music 2000 files 010   A.update
    (also see below)
                     012   A.Update
copyright          007   A.update
delays to issues   009   A.welcome
development ideas 010   A.update
exit option        010   A.update
Hybrid Q&A session 010   F.HTQ&A
index (007-009)    010   F.index21
M06 music disc     007   A.update
membership         007   A.update
                     008   A.update
Music 2000 files
    on cassette      011   A.update
    on disc          011   A.update
      organising     012   A.Update
operation of
    contribution/fee 010   A.update
    release form     010   A.update
printing data      ALL   A.print
    extra options    007   A.print
return to previous
    screen            010   A.update
Sideways RAM utils 012QA Q.uest012
survey              007   A.SurvA88
                      008   A.update
    results           010   F.survA88
title screen speed 010   A.update
40-track -
    twin disk users   011QA Q.uest011
    user problems     009   A.update
80-column utility
    OPENIN problem    008   A.update
    & non-text files 012QA Q.uest012
"An ode"              007   $.AnOde
"Arp"                 007   $.Arp
"Ave maris stella"    010   $.Vespers
"Axel F"              008   $.AxelF
    playing problem   009   A.update
                      009   F.A8Mprob

B

BBC B v Master memory 010Q Q.uest010
BBC Master 128
    Editor            007Q Q.uest007
    Music 500         008Q Q.uest008
    'Too big' files   009   H.ints009
"Belief"              009   $.Belief
"Birky's song"        009   $.Birky
"Blues at seven"      008   $.Seven
"Blue train, The"     010   $.BlueTrn
"La Bouree"           010   $,Bouree
"Busking along"       009   $.Busking

C

"Cannon"              007   $.Cannon
"Caribbean romance"   007   $.Romance
"Carol machine"       008   $.Carols
"Cavatina"            012   $.Cavatin
"Clair de lune"       009   $.CdeLune
"Clarinet concerto
in B flat"          009   $.MozClar
"Creole trumpet"      010   $.CreoleT

D

"Danielle"            011   $.Daniell
"Dark"                011   $.Dark
"DCT Maestro is born" 009   $.Born
"Dennis the Menace"   011   $.Dennis
"Desafinado"          007   $.Desafin
"DIY"                 009   $.DIY
"Drunken blues, The" 007   $.DBlues
"Drunken plea"        012   $.Plea

E

Education Support
Grant for 'IT'     010Q Q.uest010
Envelopes            005Q Q.uest005
                     007A Q.uest007
"Etude Op.25 No.1 -
Chopin"            011   $.Etude
Expansion boards - see Shadow RAM
"Eyres Rock"         009   $.Eyres

F

"Fanfare for the
common man"         011   $.Fanfare
sheet music         012Q Q.uest012
"Fee fie foe fug"     010   $.FFFF
"For a dying man"    007   $.Dying
"Frere Jacques"      011   $.FrereJ
Function key redefine 010   H.ints010

G

"Georgia on my mind" 010   $.Georgia
"Goodbye to a `1000" 008   $.`1000
playing problem    009   A.update
                           F.A8Mprob
"Goodbye to the
rain forest"       011   $.Forest

H

Hardware differences
M500/M5000/M87     010Q Q.uest010
"Holding back the
years"             009   $.Years
"Horses don't sing" 008   $.Horses
"Hot heavy
clean'n'mean"      010   $.HHC&M
"How about you"      009   $.How
"How fascinating"    009   $.HFascin
Hybrid
Acorn User Show (Jul 89)
    pull-out         012   N.ews012
address (April 89) 010   H.ints010
audio cassette -
'Hybrid Music System's
    Greatest Hits'   011   N.ews011
C.PREPARE revision 011A Q.uest011
discs -
    AMPLE DCT         009   N.ews009
    AMPLE Vibrations 008   N.ews008
    Contrast         009   N.ews009
    Music City 2     008   N.ews008
      snares in "Riders
      on the Storm" 012   H.ints012
    Plaice            011   N.ews011
     "Opportunaties" 011   $.Opportu
    Return to the
      Homeland        008   N.ews008
      playing problems011   H.ints011
    "Winds of change" 011   $.Winds
    Zen & the Art of
      Making Music    011   N.ews011
Educ. Support Grant 010Q Q.uest010
& members questions 009   A.update
Linking two HYBRID
    systems           011QA Q.uest011
Members Q&A session 010   F.HTQ&A
    Archimedes
    creating Modules
    discount for AMPLINEX
    M2000 capabilities
    M2000 MIDI IN
    M5000 waveform designer
    microphone input
    modules on ROM
    Nucleus ROM upgrade
    sampler
    speech
    use of Sideways RAM
    User Guide inaccuracies
Music 1000 review   012   N.ews012
Music 2000 -
    memory addresses 010   H.ints010
    review            008   N.ews008
    with Roland D110 010   N.ews010
      controlling     012   H.ints012
    with Roland MT-32 008   N.ews008
Music 3000 expander 011   N.ews011
Music 5000 Junior   008   N.ews008
    delay             011   N.ews011
    abandoned         012   N.ews012
registration slips 011Q Q.uest011
                      012A Q.uest012
reverb units        011   H.ints011
Symphony keyboard -
    upgrade price     008   N.ews008
    footswitch price 008   N.ews008
System disc
    issue numbers     008Q Q.uest008
"Hyphon FX"           011   $.Hyphon

I

IDLE                 008   Q.uest008
                     008   Q.timing
Instrument library utilities
introductory notes U11   A.MPLINEX
manual -
compressed file    U11   U.Zman/cp
view files         U11   U.Zman/v1
             OR            $.zd/19a
                     U11   U.Zman/v2
             OR            $.zd/19b
ROM offer          011   A.welcome
sample library     U11   $.InsLib
Sideways RAM image U11   $.ZROM
             OR            $.ZROM19
Instruments -
acoustic guitar    011Q Q.uest011
                     012   I.nstr012
bdrum4             009   I.nstr009
choir4             007   I.nstr007
chinabell          007   I.nstr007
church              009   I.nstr009
dblbass            009   I.nstr009
electro            012   I.nstr012
gchurch4           007   I.nstr007
guitar             007   I.nstr007
mellow4            009   I.nstr009
nasty4             007   I.nstr007
nice4              007   I.nstr007
pufflute           007   I.nstr007
smooth4            009   I.nstr009
snare4             009   I.nstr009
superins           007   I.nstr007
synbass4           012   I.nstr012
sb4info            012   I.nstr012
thunder            008Q Q.uest008
timpani            012   I.nstr012
trumpet            009   I.nstr009
trumpet4           009   I.nstr009
vox4               012   I.nstr012
"Intro-Vox"           011   $.IntVox
"Invisible touch"    009   $.Invisib
Island Logic Music
System             007Q Q.uest007
"It's Late"          009   $.ItsLate

J

Jazz Disc Volume 1
review             012   N.ews012
how to obtain      012   A.adverts
"Jesus walking..."   007   $.Jewalia
"Jig in G"           009   $.JigInG
"Just for the asking" 009   $.Asking
Jukebox f4 bug in A&B
Computing program 012   H.ints012
fix for            012   F.Jukef4

K

Keyboard repairs      007A Q.uest007
                      008A Q.uest008
Keyboard Split notes 007   U.KS/info
utility             007   U.KSplit
volume              008   H.ints008
Keyboard under `500   012Q Q.uest012
"Killjoy blues"       012   $.Killjoy
"Kitten on the keys" 007   $.Kitten

L

"Landscape & vista"   010   $.Vista
"La Volta"            012   $.LaVolta
LEN negative setting
with SCORE          010   H.ints010
"Living for the city" 012   $.Living
"Lullaby of birdland" 009   $.Bird

M

"Magnetic media"     012   $.Media
Making longer programs012   F.LongPrg
"March to battle"     010   $.March
Memory savings        009   H.ints009
                      011   H.ints011
Metronome (M4000)     010   H.ints010
MIDI
controlling
    instruments       010Q Q.uest010
expander -
    AMPLE program     007   F.Xpander
    assembler source 007   F.Xcode
    instructions      007   F.X/info
(See MIDI hardware project in 006)
implementation
"MIDI syndrome"       008   $.Syndro
"Mission Impossible" 008   $.Mission
"Misty"               007   $.Misty
Mixes for beginners
part 1              009   F.mixes1
part 2              010   F.mixes2
    sub-mixes
"Mood indigo"         010   $.MoodInd
Music 2000 file
contributions       010   A.update

N

"New Choros" query    008Q Q.uest010
                      010A Q.uest010
on "Saxtracks"      010   N.ews010
"Northumbrian
bagpipes"           010   $.NBagpip
Notepad New lines     009QA Q.uest009
Nucleus -
Help Facility       008   U.ANHF

O

"Opportunaties"      011   $.opportu
Opus Challenger      006   F.Challen
                     007A Q.uest007
Opus Ramdisk         006Q Q.uest006
                     008A Q.uest008
OSCLI                008QA Q.uest008
"Overture"           007   $.Over
"Overture to the
Messiah"           009   $.OverMes

P

PAN                   007Q Q.uest007
"Pink Panther, The"   010   $.PinkPan
"Polish dance"       009   $.Poldans
POS                  007Q Q.uest007
Practice of Music
'keyboard' writing 011   U.Xample1
harmony
instrumentation
programming
rhythm
spacing
part 4             008   U.Music4
part 5             009   U.Music5
chords -
    9th, 11th, 13th 009   U.Music5
    inversions        009   U.Music5
melody -
    counterpoint     009   U.Music5
    harmonic aspects 009   U.Music5
    psychology       008   U.Music4
    rhythm           008   U.Music4
    pitch patterns   008   U.Music4
"Prelude & Fugue"    012   $.PrelFug

Q

QTIME 008 Q.uest008
008 Q.timing

R

"Race with the devil" 010   $.RaceDev
"Rainbow"            012   $.Rainbow
"Rat in mi kitchen" 008   $.RatInMi
"Revs"               009   $.Revs
"Rhapsody on a theme
of Paganini"        009   $.RachPag
Rock/pop programming 012   H.ints012
Roland D110          010   N.ews010
controlling        012   H.ints012
review             012   N.ews012
MT-32 with M2000   008   N.ews008
re-programming     008Q Q.uest008
DT707/M5000 sync. 010Q Q.uest010
ROM compatibility     007   H.ints007
                      008   H.ints008
                      010   H.ints010
with Watford 32k    010   H.ints010
(See table at end of Index)
"Rosemary"            010   $.Rose
"Russians"            007   $.Russian

S

"Sabrina strikes back"009   $.Sabrina
"Save me" hang-up     007QA Q.uest007
SCORE with negative
LEN                 010   H.ints010
"Sea shanty medley"   009   $.Shanty
"Seeing you again"    009   $.CUAgain
"See nature rejoicing"012   $.Nature
Shadow RAM
Aries B-32          008Q Q.uest008
                      009A Q.uest009
                      010Q Q.uest010
                      010A Q.uest010
                      011A Q.uest011
                      010   H.ints010
                      011   H.ints011
'grafix' screen
    load example      010A Q.uest010
Integra-B           008Q Q.uest008
                      009   H.ints009
Solidisk 2Meg128K   007Q Q.uest007
                      008A Q.uest008
           4Meg256K   008A Q.uest008
Watford 32K         010   H.ints010
          RAMROM      011Q Q.uest011
                      012A Q.uest012
Sheet music
inaccuracies        012   H.ints012
"Sleepy shores"       012   $.Sleepy
"Snowman"             008   $.Snowman
"Song of a dreamer"   009   $.Dreamer
"Spooky funk"         010   $.Spooky
Spooling              007   H.ints007
"Squits"              011   $.Squits
STAFF                 007   H.ints007
'Too many           008Q Q.uest008
    numbers' error    009A Q.uest009
"Star Trek theme"     012   $.StarTrk
"Still is the night" 012   $.Still
"Sweeney, The"        009   $.Sweeney
Synchronising music
and lyrics          007Q Q.uest007
                      008A Q.uest008
                     009A Q.uest009
"Syrens"              012   $.Syrens

T

"Telstar"            011   $.Telstar
Theory of Music - see Practice
"Theme"              009   $.Theme
"There are many
steps"             007   $.TherAr
"Three to get ready" 011   $.3GetRdy
"Three year song"    009   $.3Year
"Time is on my side" 012   $.TimeIs
"Toccata in D minor" 008   $.Toccata
Toolkit file         010   H.ints010
Transposing instr.   011Q Q.uest011
'@' & SHIFT        012A Q.uest012
Transposition        011   H.ints011
"Travelin' Tex
Tinhorn"           011   $.Tex
"Tune for pipes
and flutes"        007   $.Flutes

U

"Underworld
procession, The"    009   $.UndProc
UNMIXes, a beginner's
guide               011   F.Unmixes
UNUSED changing
instruments        010   H.ints010
User port splitter   009   H.ints009
User defined words
bx (bdrum4X)      009   I.nstr009
lr (LOADRUN)      009   H.ints009
pa                 010   F.mixes2
pb                 010   F.mixes2
sbinfo (bx & sx) 009   I.nstr009
sig (in STAFF)     012   H.ints012
sx (snare4X)      009   I.nstr009
v   (VOICES)       009   H.ints009

V

"La Venissiene" 009 $.Venissi
"Viola4 dance" 008 $.Viola4D

W

Wave Designer bugs &
solutions – notes   012   U.WDesign
- wave converter   012   U.TFWave
Waveforms for Nucleus
from BCE           009   U.NewWave
                     009   U.Preset2
"Windman"            012   $.Windman
"Winds of change"    011   $.WINDS
'wlist' file (M4000) 010Q Q.uest010

Y

Yamaha DD10 drums 010A Q.uest010
012A Q.uest012

ROM Compatibility Table (B=Model B, M=Master)

Compatible with AMPLE

Acorn
     Basic Editor 1.32           BM
     DFS 2.26                    BM
     Forth 1.03                  B
     View 3.0                    BM
     Viewsheet 1.0               BM
     Viewstore 1.0               BM
ACP/PRES
     ADI 1.10                    B
     ADT 1.76                    B
     ARM                         B
AMX
     Mouse Support 3.61          BM
     Stop Press 1.9              BM
     Stop Press Support 1.9      BM
Aries B-32 1.00                  B
Commstar                         B
Computer Concepts
     Inter-Base 2.0A             B
     Inter-Word                  B
     Inter-Chart                 B
     Inter-Sheet                 B
     Mega-3                      B
     Spellmaster 1.69            B
Dumpmaster 2.03                  BM
Enigma Disc Imager 1.09          B
Floppy-wise Plus 1.9             B
Integra-B OS 1.2                 B
*Oxford Pascal 2.1               B
*Slave 1.34 toolkit              B
Vine Micros Replay System        B
Watford
     Beebmon 1.00                B
     Conquest                    B
     DFS 1.44                    B.
     Dumpout 3.2                 B.
     Quest Paint 1.10            B

Incompatible with AMPLE

Care ROM Cartridge System
in some cases (see H.ints008)   B
Integra-B OS if earlier
     than V1.2                   B
*Oxford PASCAL                   B
PMS NTQ                           M
*Slave toolkit                   B

------------------------------------

* NOTE: contradictory advice from
members on these ROMs.

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

Instrument design research

Bernie Dawson

After using the Music 5000 for some time now I have begun to grow tired of the set of sounds it is capable of producing. (For example, the supposedly 'different Elguit' guitar in AMPLINEX 012 was all but identical - simply having the offset put on channel 2 instead of channel 1 makes no difference to the RM'd signal output - my ears could not detect a difference anyway.)

It occurred to me that I select some presets more often than others in my instrument definitions so I set about analysing the instruments created in AMPLINEX 12 and the Music City 2 album (both have 15 tunes with which to do the comparison), to find out if this applied more generally.

AMPLINEX 012 had 67 user-defined instruments of which 19 could be recognised as coming from Hybrid's 5000-4 bank of instruments. Music City 2 had 80 user-defined instruments 14 of them coming from 5000-4's bank. Each instrument was then analysed to add up each occurrence of a waveform, pitch envelope and amplitude envelope. Words like SYNC, RM and FM were also noted.

Waveforms analysis
------------------

AMPLINEX 012 Music City 2

Most popular 5 were:
Metal 25            Metal 54
Round 21            Round 17
Pure   19            Pure   13
Sharp 13            Sharp 33
Bright 9            Bright 13

Least popular 5 were:
Syncer 7            Syncer 0
Watery 4            Pipes   0
Hard    4            High    1
Broad   2            Broad   0
Clear   0            Clear   1

Pitch envelopes analysis
------------------------

AMPLINEX 012 Music City 2

Most popular 5 were:
Flat    61           Flat    54
Delvib 35           Delvib 43
Vibrato 12           Vibrato 13
Slowvib 11           Slowvib 11
Drop     6           Drop    23

Least popular 5 were:
Cycle    0           The same ones
Ramp     0           as AMPLINEX
Rise     0           plus Trill
Warble   0           Sweep and
Wow      0           Wide all = 0

Amplitude envelopes analysis
----------------------------

AMPLINEX 012 Music City 2

Most popular 5 were:
Onoff   20           Short    40
Tailed 17           Verylong 19
Strike 14           Strike   14
Percuss 14           Percuss 16
Long    13           Long     16

Least popular 5 were:
Burst    4           Tailed    3
Swell    2           Onoff     2
Tremolo 1           Peaked    0
Spike    1           Spike     2
Reverse 0           Reverse   0

Other analysis

This shows how often RM, FM or SYNC were used in the instruments:

AMPLINEX 012 Music City 2

SYNC       7              2
FM         6             19
RM        15             32

Comments, conclusions

Frequent use of Metal and Sharp was for percussive and string definitions respectively. Round and Bright are often in bass definitions. There was considerable agreement as to which are the most useful/useless waveforms.

A similar picture was seen with the pitch envelopes - the same top 5 being used on both discs. Clearly many pitch envelopes are regarded as useless by programmers, as they usually produce sound effects more suited to playing Pacman! Some of them could be used with SYNC though (see later).

The use of amplitude envelopes is much more varied as evidenced by the difference in choice shown in the two sets of music. Out of SYNC, RM and FM, RM is much more used, and SYNC is least used.

So, if like me you want to try and create different sounds:

1) Go for the less commonly used waveforms such as Clear, Broad, High, Hard.

2) Use the little-used Syncer and SYNC in conjunction with some of the odder pitch envelopes on channel 1 (Music 5000 User Guide p69). This always produces sounds with a lot of timbral movement.

3) (and here I'm wishing out loud) Persuade Hybrid to give us the old Music 500 design facilities. The Music 5000 came out roughly 3 years ago - one would have thought that by now this major deficiency would have been corrected.

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

Questions and answers

Answer: £500 synthesiser

In reply to Peter Miller's question in AMPLINEX 012, I can recommend the Kawai K1 synthesiser, which has an RRP of £595, but which I purchased for £505 and have seen advertised for even less. The K1 has full-size keys and has velocity and after-touch sensitivity. It comes with 64 Single preset sounds which include some excellent vocal, string and piano sounds. There are also some great synthesised sounds, ranging from the really nice 'Reflection' to the definitely weird 'Terminator'.

Up to eight of these Single sounds can be combined into a Multi patch. The K1 comes supplied with 32 Multi patches. A Multi patch can be a split, layer, velocity split in any combination. Each section of a Multi patch is assigned to its own MIDI receive channel, so from the Music 2000, you could play bass on channel 1, piano on channel 2, and guitar on channel 3.

There is also a feature called 'variable polyphony' which redistributes voices not in use. What this means is that while the K1 is only eight-voice polyphonic, you need not worry about how many voices you assign to each part in a piece of music, because the K1 gives voices to parts as and when required. The K1 is also very easy to program and it was only a short time before I was modifying the preset sounds to suit myself and storing them on to RAM cards.

Overall, I would say that the K1 is a great instrument for the first-time synthesiser user (like myself) because of its ease of programmability. It is also powerful because of its flexible multi-timbrality. Other instruments in the same price-range that I would recommend a look into are the Yamaha DX11 and YS100 and the new Roland D5 - but do shop around because prices of these instruments can vary greatly. All these instruments have retail prices around the £600 mark, but they can very often be purchased for less.

C Needham

Question: Using Solidisk Sideways RAM

I have got the Solidisk 128K SWRAM board in my BBC B. No matter what I try I have not been able to use it as a RAM disc in the AMPLE environment although I have successfully used an image of the AMPLE ROM in Sideways RAM.

I can use the RAM disc in BASIC, and my AMPLE System disc copies to the RAM disc OK. But as soon as I type *AMPLE, the SWRAM is corrupted, and none of the modules can be INSTALLed from the RAM disc.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Do I, for example, need to connect a write-protect switch to my SWRAM?

Andrew Leahy

Answer: Transposing instruments

Further to the discussion in AMPLINEX 012, it has been brought to my notice that in orchestral scores the tenor and bass trombones and the tubas are not written as transposing instruments. Whereas in band scores, of these three, only the bass trombones are written as non-transposers.

I see that in an Elgar score which I have timpani are written without a key signature but they are not transposers. Otherwise the key signatures shown are our best clues.

As regards saxhorns (abbreviated horns) in band music here is a table of transpositions:

Soprano in Eb sounds 3@ Cornet in Bb -2@ Horn in Eb -9@ Euphonium in Bb -14@ Bombardon in Eb -21@ Bass Tuba in Bb -26@ (Helicon is the same)

Saxophone transpositions are similar.

Lol Taylor

Question: Korg DDD-5

Does any member who owns a Korg DDD-5 drum machine know how to access via MIDI the 'intro/fillin' and 'ending' function as provided by the two Preset panel buttons?

I'm not sure if it actually possible. When I asked Korg the same question at a recent music fair in Wembley, I got the impression that they didn't know, and wondered why should I want to do that anyway instead of using the Programmable mode.

Has anyone managed to find out if there is a way to do it? I find the technical section on MIDI at the back of the manual somewhat lacking. (Maybe it's because I don't know enough about MIDI).

Ivor Abiks

Question: Voice dumps

Does anyone know of a source of a librarian/editor or even a simple voice dump program for the Yamaha TX81Z or the PSR 70, which would enable me to load to and from disc on the BBC computer.

I would prefer to do so via AMPLE and/or the Music 2000 interface but would consider purchasing or making another type of interface if necessary.

To send system exclusive bulk data on the TX81Z you have to send a checksum as part of the data. This checksum consists of 'twos complement of the lower 7 bits of the sum of all databytes'. Can anyone please explain to me in plain language what this means and how to work out such a checksum?

Ken Hughes

Editor's note:

This is one of the shortest Questions and Answers section I think we have ever had. Does this mean that all your questions about the Hybrid Music System have been answered? If not, please send those which remain to us in time for the next issue.

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

Printing out AMPLINEX information

There are three ways to print out the information seen in AMPLINEX.

You can print out an AMPLINEX file as it is displayed on the screen from within AMPLINEX; you can print the files themselves as you would any other text file; or you can load the files into your own word processor and re-format them as required before printing.

1) To print a file from within AMPLINEX choose the 'SET PRINT ON/OFF' option from the Introduction menu. This allows you to toggle a software 'print switch' on or off. If the switch is set ON then any AMPLINEX file which is displayed on the screen will be sent to the printer. This will continue until you set the switch off again using the same Introduction option. An asterisk is displayed at the top of the screen next to the issue number when the print option is ON and the print status is shown at the bottom right of the screen as text is displayed within AMPLINEX.

It is now also possible to print out part of a file from within AMPLINEX. There are two ways to do this:

a) To print a single page of an AMPLINEX file, make sure the 'print switch' is OFF and then select the menu option which displays the file. When the page you wish to print is displayed, and the 'Press RETURN to continue' prompt is showing at the bottom of the screen, press the letter 'P' on the keyboard. The page being displayed will then be sent to the printer. Pressing RETURN will then continue to display the file without printing.

b) To start printing part-way through a file, you can turn on the 'print switch' by pressing the CTRL and 'P' keys together when the 'Press RETURN to continue' prompt is displayed. Subsequent pages which are displayed will then be sent to the printer. The 'print switch' can be turned off again in the same way.

2) If you prefer to print the parts you require outside of AMPLINEX - all the data is held in files on the AMPLINEX disc. The files are in directories named according to the sections in which they appear and the file names can be seen at the foot of the screen as they are displayed in AMPLINEX so you can make a note of the ones you require.

The file directories allocated to each section of AMPLINEX are as follows:

$. for Music

A. for the Introduction and Adverts

F. for Features

H. for Hints and Tips

I. for Instruments

N. for News and Reviews

Q. for Questions and Answers

U. for Utilities

In addition to the text files, the AMPLE instrument definitions can also be printed directly from within AMPLINEX. Music and utility programs written in AMPLE can only be printed by LOADing the programs into the Studio 5000 and using the WRITE command (see Studio 5000 User Guide page 100).

3) If you wish to re-format the text before printing you should load the files into your word processor. The files contain unjustified text restricted to 38 columns width. The files contain only printable ASCII characters except for a control code (ASCII 11) which marks the screen page breaks. View treats these as left margin tabs and if necessary they can be removed with a C/^L// command.

Two utilities have been published in AMPLINEX to aid with the re-formatting of text files:

In AMPLINEX 003 'Hints and Tips' (H.ints003) there were instructions for a Wordwise segment program to automatically format AMPLINEX text files. The segment itself was included in AMPLINEX 004 (H.WWconv).

In AMPLINEX 005 there was a utility to print formatted 80-column text direct from an AMPLINEX text file. The instructions (U.print/i) and the BASIC program (U.print80) are both within the 'Utilities' section. A modification to this program (to provide a wider margin) was included in the 'Hints and Tips' section of AMPLINEX 006. See also the Update section of AMPLINEX 008 for a note concerning BASIC 1 users.

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

The AMPLINEX Competition

To celebrate the start of the third year of AMPLINEX we are offering one of the new Music 3000 expander units (reviewed in AMPLINEX 012) which doubles the number of voices available on a standard Music 5000 system. The unit comes with software which expands the Mixing Desk to twice its normal size and we will also provide a lead to combine the outputs of the Music 3000 with your existing Music 5000. The whole package is worth £120.

To enter the competition all you have to do is to compose a short jingle which can be played during the opening credits of the AMPLINEX disc - that is, about 12 seconds worth of music! This jingle will then feature in future issues of AMPLINEX.

To ensure that we can fit the winning piece into the AMPLINEX program your music, plus any instruments and mixes you define, must take up no more than 1000 bytes of memory.

The entries will be judged by Ian Waugh, who writes the regular music column in BBC Acorn User magazine. He will be looking for a piece which shows off the Music 5000's capabilities, complements the screen display, and suits the AMPLINEX magazine.

You should also write up to 100 words to explain why you think your jingle is particularly appropriate for the AMPLINEX opening screen. This will be taken into account in the case of a musical tie.

A special file called A.Comp000 is included on this disc. This file contains a copy of the AMPLINEX title screen display words and a RUN word. You should add your competition entry to this file.

Other rules of the competition are:

1) All entries must be received by the AMPLINEX contributions deadline of FRIDAY 3RD NOVEMBER.

2) Only one entry per member.

3) All entries must be contained on a file called $.Comp###, where the #'s are replaced by your AMPLINEX membership number (so if your membership number is 999, your file would be called $.Comp999).

4) The RUN word in this file should contain your name - there is a space for it in the A.Comp000 file.

5) Up to 100 words of text can be included (as comments) in a word called 'info'.

To keep your piece of music below 1000 bytes you should check the memory used by typing

MEM

and noting the number of bytes shown against 'Words'. The basic A.Comp000 file takes up 2500 bytes. Therefore, with your music included, 'Words' should not show more than 3500 bytes. The 1000 bytes limit does NOT apply to your 'info' word, so you should check the memory before adding the 'info' text, or (after saving the file) DELETE the 'info' word before doing the memory check.

We look forward to hearing your entries and to announcing the winner in the next issue of AMPLINEX.

Related file on this disc:

A.Comp000 - starting file for competition entries

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

Next issue news

The next issue of AMPLINEX is planned for release at the end November 1989. This means that all applications for a FREE copy (i.e. those with discs containing contributions) must be received by FRIDAY 3RD NOVEMBER. Anyone paying the £2.00 fee should apply by Friday 24th November.

In issue 014 we plan to conclude our recent features on waveforms with an excellent waveform design utility which will allow you to design and use your own waveforms within the AMPLE Nucleus environment.

Most of the rest of the content depends on your contributions between now and then - so please let us have your words or music in time for the next issue of AMPLINEX.

P.S. Don't forget your competition entry!

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

How to contribute to AMPLINEX

To receive your next issue of AMPLINEX free of charge you must send a contribution of your own.

This could be an AMPLE music program, an instrument definition, a question or an article about some aspect of the AMPLE language or Hybrid Music System hardware or software, an AMPLE utility, a useful hint about AMPLE, or an answer to another member's question.

Under copyright law we cannot publish programs or music unless we have the permission of the copyright owners or their licensing agent. It is important to realise that in the case of an AMPLE music program, copyright exists in both the program itself and the music it represents. There may even be a separate copyright in the arrangement. If you wish to contribute transcriptions into AMPLE of someone else's music you must credit the copyright owner(s) of the music, the arrangement (if applicable) and lyrics (if included). We can then try to obtain permission to publish.

To protect ourselves from copyright actions we must ask you to sign the copyright declaration on the 'next issue request form' which was sent to you with this issue of AMPLINEX. All submissions made to AMPLINEX will be regarded as permission to publish within the AMPLINEX membership. Beyond this, the submission remains the property of the author.

As part of an exchange arrangement, we may wish to pass on your address if any of your contributions are of interest to other software publishers.

If you do NOT wish your contributions to be considered for publication elsewhere (and thus your address not to be passed to anyone else) please indicate this on the request form in the place provided.

You can also use your return disc to pass on questions which you would like answered on any issue relating to the Hybrid Music System or AMPLE language. We will do our best to answer them (or will pass them over to the other members for help) and publish the results in the Questions and Answers section of AMPLINEX.

You can also use AMPLINEX to advertise any (un)wanted items or to make contact with other members. Just put the details of your advertisement on to the return disc and we will try to include it in the next issue.

The 'Feedback' section of AMPLINEX contains a utility to allow a note to be written on the screen which can then be saved to disc. This 'note' file can then be included on your disc sent for the next issue of AMPLINEX.

'Feedback' notes can be used to make contributions to any of the text-based sections of AMPLINEX as well as to make comments or suggestions on AMPLINEX itself.

Send all contributions, on a standard DFS format disc (40- or 80-track).

It is not necessary to send printed copies of your contributions - any copies required are printed locally to minimize postage costs.

40-track disc users please note:

The AMPLINEX magazine is designed to fit on to one side of an 80-track disc. If you use 40-track discs you should send one double-sided or two single-sided discs.

Suggested file formats are:

a) AMPLE music programs - save these in normal Studio 5000 format (e.g. by selecting 'Save program' from the Studio 5000 Main menu). Since many members do not have the Music 4000 keyboard please ensure that your program has no M.M4 or M.KFX module words present. To make sure, try loading the program using your Studio 5000 system disc.

Please include some comments about the music - how or why it was written, how it could be changed - and put them into a word as comments following a DISPLAY statement. Use of the word 'info' to contain such text is common practice and we would suggest that it is NOT displayed automatically every time the music is played.

b) AMPLE instruments - save these in text form via *SPOOL using the AMPLE 'TYPE' command to save the word(s) you want.

Some description of the sound itself and hints on its use (e.g. which parameters could be changed, which are the most suitable octave settings) would make it more useful. This can be done using comments within the instrument definition itself (by preceding them with a '%').

c) Text (hints, questions etc.) - use the 'Feedback' note facility for short contributions. For longer pieces use View, Wordwise or other word processor (without embedded format codes or commands). Do not right justify the text.

You can help us operate AMPLINEX more efficiently by careful naming of the files which you send us. Receiving several files called 'hint' or 'quest' can cause us problems in trying to keep track of which contribution came from which member.

Wherever possible, please try and make the filenames of your contributions unique especially where they are for a regular section of the magazine.

Putting a combination of your name or initials and the section for which the contribution is destined is one way of doing this. So if your name is Fred Bloggs you could use FBquest or BlogH&T for contributions to the Questions and Answers or Hints and Tips sections.

Whatever filenames you use, please remember to include your name somewhere in the contribution - this can save us many hours annotating lists and cross-referencing filenames with contributors.

Ensure that your disc is well packed as we will be using the same packaging to return it to you.

Make sure you enclose a return address label and postage and that both the packaging and the disc are marked with your name and address.

Send it to:

AMPLINEX
26 Arbor Lane
Winnersh
Berks.
RG11 5JD

to arrive by the date specified in the 'Next issue' section.

We look forward to reading and hearing your contributions.

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

Update – changes/corrections/comments

This section is a focus for news about the workings of AMPLINEX, corrections to items in previous issues, and other small items of information which might otherwise be missed amongst the details of each issue.

We regularly receive notes from members who wish to pass on their comments about a piece of music or their thanks to another member who has, for example, answered a question for them. In the past we have tried to pass these messages on to the appropriate person, but sometimes this can prove administratively difficult.

It is also noticeable that many pieces of music contain comments such as 'please let me know what you think of this...' or 'let me know of any improvements...'. To date, we have not really had the place in AMPLINEX to publish such comments.

To make things easier, and to make sure the messages get through, we have introduced a new area within the Advertisements section of the magazine which will be the place for such short messages from one member to another. So, if you have a comment about something in AMPLINEX and wish to pass it on, send a note on your next AMPLINEX disc and we will try to include it in the Advertisements section. Like advertisements, such comments will not count as contributions, but we hope they will enable members to offer encouragement and constructive comment on what they read and hear.

AMPLINEX and CEEFAX

As you may know, AMPLINEX has for many months been trying to arrange for some AMPLE music programs to be broadcast on the BBC's CEEFAX Telesoftware service. After many delays and legal difficulties we had hoped that the broadcasts would be going ahead in the near future since the BBC had issued some contracts to AMPLINEX members. However, we have recently been informed that the BBC's Telesoftware service has been terminated.

We were told, in a letter from the Telesoftware Manager, Jeremy Brayshaw:

The whole range of Telesoftware services are to end on 31st August, including the BBC micro programs, IBM PC files and the weather satellite image services.

This decision has been taken by the BBC's Board of Management as one of a range of recommendations put to them in relation to the proposed re-organisation of the CEEFAX teletext service.

We are naturally disappointed at this lost opportunity for promoting AMPLINEX and AMPLE music, and for those members who hoped to be in the first group of broadcasts.

We are, of course, still looking at other ways to promote AMPLINEX more widely and we may well look to use the music which was selected by members for the CEEFAX broadcasts elsewhere.

We always welcome suggestions for improvements in the workings or contents of AMPLINEX - most of the changes made to date have originated from members' suggestions. So, if you have an idea to improve AMPLINEX, let us know.

Also, please let us know if you spot an error or omission in the contents of AMPLINEX - you may be the first one who has noticed.

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989

Welcome to AMPLINEX 013

Kevin Doyle and Roy Follett

Welcome to AMPLINEX 013 and the third year of AMPLINEX. Once again we are able to provide a 'bonus' disc of music with this issue. On the disc you will find 17 pieces of music from AMPLINEX members in addition to the 9 pieces on this disc. We also have two extracts from the latest Hybrid Technology music discs (see News and Reviews section).

We continue the theme of waveforms from the last issue with a utility to allow you to use Music 500 waveforms without affecting the rest of your Studio 5000 setup, a utility to help you design instruments, and a feature on the most, and least, popular sounds in the Hybrid Music System.

We have, of course, the usual variety of 'Questions and Answers' and 'Hints and Tips' and, courtesy of Patrick Black, an index covering all of the previous year of AMPLINEX (issues 007 to 012).

Perhaps most importantly, we have our AMPLINEX competition - your chance to win a Music 3000 expander unit. All the details are elsewhere in this section.

And don't forget - keep those contributions coming.

Published in AMPLINEX 013, September 1989