AMPLINEX survey

Kevin Doyle

Firstly, many thanks to all who took the time to complete our survey in the September issue of AMPLINEX. We had almost 100% response, and all the comments have been noted and, where possible, taken into account in this issue.

The answers to the multiple choice questions gave us a sketch of the initial AMPLINEX membership. Here are some of the key points.

About two thirds of the members have Music 500 hardware and the original BCE software, and half have the Music 5000 hardware. The overlap is people with both.

About half the membership owns a keyboard (more Hybrid than Symphony) and there was a high degree of interest amongst those who don't yet own one.

When asked about what software products were of interest, everyone highlighted AMPLE music compilations and the Advanced Sound Studio announced by Hybrid in July attracted an 80% response from members.

On the hardware side, the MIDI interface was of interest to two out of every three members, and from other responses it seemed that about a third of those who showed an interest already had access to MIDI equipment.

By contrast, no one expressed any interest in the Hybrid amplifier.

Several people replied to the question on 'which aspect of the AMPLE language they would like to see discussed in AMPLINEX' and we will endeavour to cover as many of these as possible in the near future.

Two particular areas mentioned were instrument design and the use of sub-mixes. These are both areas where I feel sure that members will have experience to share (see, for example, the Hints and Tips contribution from Tim Sketchley).

Comments on the design and contents of AMPLINEX were, in the main, very favourable. Specific requests for change have been incorporated into this issue wherever possible (see 'Update' in the Introduction section for more details).

If you haven't yet sent in your copy of the survey, please try to do so in time for the next issue - your comments are very useful to us.

And please continue to let us know what you think about AMPLINEX, what you want us to do and where we go wrong. We have not included a survey program in this issue so please put your replies in another format (see 'How to make a contribution' in the Introduction section).

Two ideas open for comments -

• Would you like a regular method for providing feedback on each issue? If so, what form should it take? A short comment box as used in the survey? Marks out of 10 for each section? Would you like to see them published in a letters or comments page?

• If you contribute a piece of music would you like member's comments or other feedback on how it was liked or disliked?

Whatever your thoughts, please let us know in time for the next issue (see 'Next issue news' in the Introduction section), and remember - AMPLINEX is whatever we make it, so let us have your ideas.