1) Using *SPOOL and *EXEC

The Music 5000 User Guide (page 79/80) describes how to save the contents of a program as a text file. But if you want to save just one AMPLE word for use in another program (e.g. an instrument definition) you don't want the rest of the program as well. To avoid this - use the AMPLE word TYPE instead of WRITE and specify the word(s) you want.

For example, if you want to save the word 'bassins' as a text file:

*SPOOL E.bassins

"bassins" TYPE

*SPOOL

To load the word back in later:

*EXEC E.bassins

When lifting instruments out of another piece of music to add to your sound library, reset the directory to distinguish them from other files. I use the letter 'E' as a directory (with an Acorn DFS) to remind myself that these files should be *EXECed back into the AMPLE program.

Alternatively, you can prefix the file with the special letter - the only problem here is that it shortens the filename by another letter.

Peter Domain

2) Using an instrument template

It can often help to design a general purpose template for defining instruments, and then change or delete it as necessary. It can remind you of the options available and give you a common starting point for your trials.

For example:

2 CHANS

1 CHAN

Pure Flat Onoff

0 SHIFT 0 OFFSET 0 PITCH

OFF INVERT ON PSENS OFF PHSET

OFF RM OFF FM OFF SYNC

0 POS

2 CHAN

Pure Flat Onoff

0 SHIFT 0 OFFSET 0 PITCH

OFF INVERT ON PSENS OFF PHSET

OFF RM OFF FM OFF SYNC

0 POS

EVERY CHAN

3) Do not adjust your ears

Due to the way our ears work, 0 PAN tends to sound softer than 1 to 3 or -1 to -3, so compensate for this with the slides in the Mixing Desk.

4) Stepping through a tune

To step manually through a tune from the Mixing Desk, enter "/" while in PAUSE to step a beat at a time. Alternatively, go into command mode (using TAB) and type

48, (or your bar length) <RETURN>

/ (to hear one bar) <RETURN>

// (to hear two bars) <RETURN>

etc. ...

5) Skipping through music

If you find yourself repeatedly skipping through a piece of music to get to the part you want to hear, try defining a couple of words to fast-wind the music to the place you want. Use player 9 to keep the music-playing voices clear. For example:

"part9x" [ ON FAST ]

"part9y" [ OFF FAST ]

Then enter the new player and part letters in the PLAY string (e.g. "1239-axbcbcyda") as required.

6) The main mix

When using sub mixes, make sure that the main mix is used first in your PLAY statement, or else some of the mix values will be missing.

7) See the whole SHOW

To enable you to see all the words displayed by SHOW when on the Notepad screen, go into command mode and type 7 MODE before entering SHOW. To return to Notepad, type "<string>"GET.

J Follett