Question: Mixing Desk Query

Could someone please give detailed instructions on how to move the Mixing Desk faders up and down whilst a piece of music is being played. That is, not by changing mixes, but by use of commands, entered in Notepad, in the score itself.

I would be very grateful, as I use the Mixing Desk a lot, and find it disconcerting to hear volume changes but not see them happen.

Don Buckley

Answer: FOR(...)FOR command

In reply to David Bloxham's question in AMPLINEX 018, the FOR(...)FOR construct is only valid within a word definition, i.e. it cannot be typed directly as a command.

It is not possible to use the f1 key with a word that contains 'inside-word only' commands. This is because when f1 is pressed the Notepad runs the word as if it were being typed at the keyboard, where FOR(...)FOR structures are not allowed. So, the only way of testing the word is by MAKEing it and typing its name.

For a list of which AMPLE words are command-only or word-definition only, see the Reference section of the AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide.

Tony Walduck

Michael Lefevre

Chris Hanby

Question: 62-file jukebox?

I have built up a large collection of music for my Music 5000 over the last year and have made a disc of my favourite pieces using Allan Gardener's programmable jukebox (from AMPLINEX 017). I only have a single, double-sided drive but my DFS will allow 62 files in a catalogue.

Is there any easy way of changing the jukebox program so it can use these extra files, or does it mean changing the program entirely? I know only 63 music files can be played in one sequence but I would like to be able to choose from a larger number of files.

Matthew Grist

Answer: Mozart's musical dice-game

In response to Vincent Fojut's query in AMPLINEX 017 concerning Mozart's musical dice game: I wrote a composition program in AMPLE based on this idea a short while ago and it should see the light of day in December's BBC Acorn User. It's structured so that that users can insert their own music data quite easily.

Ian Waugh

Question: Coloured text

Is it possible to include coloured text in a verse of lyrics on the Music 5000?

Don Buckley

Question: MIDI keyboard link-up

I have now got a synthesiser keyboard and interface to the BBC. What software do I need to use it as an input/output device for the Music 5000, and has such a program previously appeared in AMPLINEX?

Peter Miller

Question: Touch-sensitive keyboards

Although I'm quite happy with my Music 4000, I'm very interested in the possibility of adding a touch-sensitive (probably 5-octave) keyboard to the Music 5000.

I'm assuming the keyboard would have its own microprocessor to handle touch-sensitivity, or alternatively perhaps, a standard MIDI keyboard could be used via the MIDI In socket on the Music 2000. Has anyone added their own keyboard to the Hybrid system (touch-sensitive or otherwise)? Does anyone know whether AMPLE would be fast enough to handle this?

Vincent Fojut

Answer: Letters after modules

In answer to David Bloxham's question in AMPLINEX 018, the letters displayed after the module's name and version number are explained in the AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide. They are called 'indicators' and tell you about the status of the module.

Some show how the module was loaded:

F - Fixed. Loaded using INSTALL, usually in the start-up file. Cannot be deleted

T - Temporary. Loaded with either MLOAD or the menu (which uses MLOAD). Can be removed using MDELETE

P - Program-owned. Loaded along with a program which required it

The above three options are mutually exclusive.

Some show you how the module is currently being used:

M - Words in this module are being used by another module

W - Words in this module are being used in the user program

U - The module is the current editor (the main menu counts as an editor)

Michael Lefevre

Tony Walduck

Question: Saving instruments

I have a AMPLE file which I use as the starting point for my programs and in which there are approximately eighty instrument definitions. However, it is a pain having to strip most of the program away if, say, I only need five or six of the instruments. It would be nice to hear of a way to save each instrument to disc, and to be able to call back only those instruments required.

Don Buckley

Answer: Watford Shadow RAM

In reply to Philip Robert Hunter's question in AMPLINEX 017 on the use of Watford Shadow RAM, it must be understood that even though the RAM card has 32K, only 20K could possibly be used as video Shadow RAM, and even then only in modes 0, 1 or 2.

The Hybrid Music System, however, uses mode 7 (using only 1K of memory) except for a modified mode 6 (using 8K) for the Staff editor.

In addition, use of a non-integral Shadow RAM card will require a page (or two) of workspace for the driving software - the Watford Shadow RAM needs two pages, I think.

So the potential gain might be as low as 0.5K or 0.75K in most editors, but a substantial 7.5K or 7.75K when using the Staff editor. It is, of course, this latter improvement which is the real attraction of using Shadow RAM.

However, these improvements will only happen if the reclamation of 1.5K from the DFS workspace can still be carried out by C.PREPARE (see Music 5000 User Guide, page 89). Various notes have appeared in AMPLINEX detailing the slight changes that need to be made to C.PREPARE to ensure this is carried out when the Shadow RAM control ROM grabs its workspace.

If this does not work properly, you may find that you have less RAM in most editors with Shadow RAM than without it, and much more modest gains (less than 6K) when using Shadow RAM and the Staff editor.

In answer to the advisability of buying a second processor (6502): whilst I cannot comment on the Acorn second processor (not having one), I can say that the Hybrid System does not work alongside the PMS B2P second processor as this uses addressing and control via the 1MHz bus (NPG FD signal, i.e. 'JIM') to compensate for its lack of a Tube ULA.

Perhaps the Acorn second processor (with a Tube ULA) avoids this problem, but whatever happens there is no version of Hi-AMPLE to provide really large workspaces.

Tony Walduck

Question: TMS to AMPLE converter

Congratulations to A J P McMaster for an excellent and much-wanted program (Utilities, AMPLINEX 018). It was good to see the program in action.

But, having converted about twenty TMS programs, I was not able to use them.

My first try resulted in 'Bad program'. Loading the file into Wordwise+2 showed that a space preceded all sections. So I deleted these spaces, saved the file, and tried again. Instead of 'Bad program' the error message was now 'Too big'. None of the programs are as long as some AMPLINEX programs which run perfectly on my Master 128.

Help, please!

Leslie Gardener

Question: The new generation

Does anyone have any further news of the new generation Hybrid Music System promised for the RM Nimbus and Master 128 computers? For instance, when is it likely to be on sale and what new features will it have?

Here are four things I would like a future Hybrid Music System to include:

1) MIDI IN - to be able to manipulate sampled sounds directly in AMPLE via MIDI IN, including the human voice

2) MIDI OUT - software dedicated to specific samplers and expanders, such as the Akai S950

3) Micro tuning - to be able to use different ethnic tunings, 'Just Temperament', etc.

4) New operators - for the Music 5000, especially brass and percussion.

Jim Redfarn

Editor's note:

The comments following some of the questions above are only my opinions on the subject and should not be taken as definitive answers.

Your comments are most welcome on any of the questions posed, whether they supplement, confirm or correct any I have expressed.