The two latest product releases from Hybrid Technology are the AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide and 'Inside Stories', another AMPLE music disc. Both are reviewed here.

The AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide

Roy Follett

Stop the disc drives! The great AMPLE adventure is about to start. It is Christmas Eve and Santa has made a special journey with a special parcel. What is it? With almost indecent haste I rip off the wrapping to reveal - 'The AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide'.

It is true - on the 24th of December the Programmer Guide (yes, Programmer - to match with User) arrived; ordered before the July Acorn User show, but here now. Was the wait worth it? After only a short period of study I can say 'most definitely'.

The manual is in two parts. The first, titled 'General', has chapters on subjects such as 'Numbers and flags', 'Input and output' and 'Machine-code programming' and will be of immense interest to those who want to understand the workings of the AMPLE Nucleus language.

The second part, 'Reference', is a dictionary of all (approximately 160) AMPLE Nucleus words. It is similar in style to the original Music 500 User Guide (for AMPLE BCE) and it reveals its ancestry by repeating an error in the sequence of entries.

The Programmer Guide, however, is more comprehensive than its predecessor, both in its descriptions of the words and in the number and usefulness of the examples given.

Potential purchasers should note, however, that this guide only covers the AMPLE Nucleus words - so words supplied by the application modules (try "M5"MSHOW to see just some of them) do not appear. The introduction to the guide says mysteriously 'Application specific information...is deliberately excluded, being reserved for application Guides' of which the User Guide is cited as an example. This leaves open the question of when, or if, the many module-based words not mentioned in the User Guide will be properly documented.

This guide will be of most benefit to those who already feel comfortable with the basics of AMPLE. If you seldom need to refer to the User Guide then this manual is probably what you should be reading.

Sentences like 'The Nucleus provides queue control sound words, and voice servers provide their own voice sound words and type-global voice sound words' can be heavy going, but the terminology is normally well-defined and undoubtedly necessary. There were points, however, when a glossary would have been invaluable.

One reference puzzled me: the mention on page 17 of the command MERGE. The word does not appear in the dictionary at the end of the guide and my Nucleus ROM doesn't seem to know it either.

One major criticism - there is no index. To be fair the dictionary is alphabetic, but I do feel that a book of reference should have one.

Although it seems like a great deal money (it is now £19.00), this guide is a must for any serious programmer. It should provide hours of worthwhile study and is, in the main, an excellent example of a clear, well-written manual.

An extract from the AMPLE Nucleus Programmer Guide is included on this disc. It lists all the AMPLE Nucleus words giving a brief description of its function, usage and syntax. The filename is:

F.Nucindx

and it can be viewed within the Features section; but it is best printed.

'Inside Stories' by Peter Chase

Roy Follett

This is the latest AMPLE music album from Hybrid Technology (price £4.95) for collectors of compilations. The disc contains twelve original tunes by Peter Chase, all of which are very listenable. For the members who like programming and instruments there is plenty here for further study.

I rather like 'Why-Cry', described by the author as "the sloppy beet". Whether he means 'beat' or 'bit', I am a sucker for deep gentle sounds. What a useful instrument 'Upright' is.

The tunes are selected from an 'interactive' menu which has an accompanying backing track in the same style as the menu on the 'Notes' album from Pilgrim Beart. I liked the invitation to use the menu for your own collections and the inclusion of instructions on how to do it.

With the lack of compilations available, one has to be careful not base one's opinions on a sense of gratitude for what is on offer. So far every disc that Hybrid has offered to date has been of a high standard, and this one is no exception. What more can I say - the usual good value for money with plenty of interest. Thank you Peter Chase.

Other news

The Music 2000 MIDI interface is expected to be available in early February (price £161.00). AMPLINEX would like to hear from any member who has ordered a Music 2000 to arrange a review of the product for the March issue.

Hybrid Technology are now offering a 1MHz bus extension cable to allow the Music 500(0) synthesiser to be placed further away from the computer. The cable is 500mm in length and costs £13.00.

All Hybrid Technology prices mentioned are inclusive of VAT and carriage.

We had planned to provide a review of the new Waveform Designer in this issue of AMPLINEX. Unfortunately, the product had not appeared by the time we started distribution despite delaying this issue a few days in the expectation of its arrival. Assuming it appears during February, we will provide a full review in the March issue.