Opinions on the Music 5000

In AMPLINEX 004, we carried a feature about the desirability of publishing original (rather than transcriptions of someone else's) music and about the merits of the Music 5000 as a musical instrument. Since then we have received several more comments on these and similar subjects, and we have decided to bring these together here in order to further the discussion and to encourage other responses from members.

Jim Brook

I could not disagree more with Richard Nevill in AMPLINEX 004 - melody has to be the supreme element in music, and I invariably find that the most attractive sounds I hear on the Music 5000 are compositions which were NOT written with it in mind. Give me 'To the Manor born' before the 'COSMIX' stuff, every time. I'm busy at the moment with a 'Handel-style' arrangement of an old nursery rhyme that I came across, and although I wish I was more skilled in using AMPLE, I still find the results exciting.

Ken Hughes

I should like to add my support to the views expressed by G H Richardson in AMPLINEX 004 on the type of music that AMPLE can be used for. I myself use AMPLE mainly to help me in my attempts to play the organ and a PSR 70 keyboard. As I find it almost impossible to play a tune that I do not know completely, I transcribe the tune into AMPLE and then learn it by listening to it and playing along with it on the keyboard. I am also able to play music I could not otherwise play by playing the melody part on the keyboard along with a backing part from AMPLE.

My favourite music is the middle-of-the-road type and I for one would like to see copies of well-known music of this type included in AMPLINEX. I would be very interested to see some orchestral arrangements of simple tunes such as those given in books like 'The complete keyboard player'.

Michael Harbour

I have just received and listened to AMPLINEX M06, and I think that AMPLINEX music discs are a great idea. I am a bit disappointed, however, at the number of 'originals' on each disc. Most pieces seem to be straight transcriptions of Bach or Grieg. Apart from the Chorale Prelude (which I thought was VERY realistic) the other transcriptions lacked a certain realism.

Although I don't knock what Bach and Grieg wrote, if we want to hear their music, surely we should buy records. The more realistic the Music 5000 pieces get, the closer they become to a record track. So, again, why not just settle for the record version and spend the time composing good original material?

Graham Firth

I can't say how much of a pleasure it is to see some 'real' music in the AMPLINEX jukebox. I do not wish to take anything away from those members who are clever enough to write music, but to me there is nothing nicer than to hear something well-known coming out of my Music 5000.

I know some people don't like to hear poor imitations of records but I have to disagree, and if they are based on a record, then the nearer they are to the originals, the better. If they aren't, then a nice arrangement is always a pleasure to listen to.

Bob Cornford-Wood

The comments in AMPLINEX 004 show the diverse spread of musical interests that the Music 5000 is able to cater for. From my point of view, I find the system exciting to use mainly because I'm a woodwind player with virtually no keyboard skills. Being in control of more than one musical part is a great feeling - whether it's a transcription of a piano rag, or an original composition.

Ivor Abiks

I've often wondered to what use other members put their AMPLE systems. I suppose there are those who use them as 'accompanists' when learning a solo instrument piece (such as flute, violin, cello etc.). On the other hand, are there any who have thrown away their CD players, and use a Music 5000 as an 'alternative' digital sound source? Anyway, for what it's worth, I'll tell you how I use mine. It may start something.

I play semi-professionally in a band (well a duo actually), but, with backing tapes made with the help of my Music 5000/4000/2000 system, we sound like a cast of thousands! My Music 500 synthesiser, upgraded to a Music 5000, is connected to a Tascam 244 Portastudio. An Alesis Microverb (used with discretion), makes the Music 5000 sound absolutely fantastic.

Together with a Korg DDD-5 drum machine, Yamaha TX81Z, and Yamaha PSR-70, I can (almost) reproduce the type of sound that is to be found on most chart singles (can't quite get Kylies' vocal sound though).

I find the results of entering notation from sheet music somewhat variable. Sometimes, the performance is very 'mechanical' and needs 'humanizing' by adding parts, riffs, etc., via the Music 4000. At other times, the performance seems to mimic the original very well. There seems to be a variety of quality/accuracy in the transcribed sheet music that one can purchase.

I generally use the Music 5000 for any piano parts, the FM piano voices on the TX81Z are not very realistic in my opinion, even though they are touch sensitive. I don't use any multi-tracking techniques because I find I have sufficient voices (8 on the Music 5000, 8 on both TX81Z and PSR-70 and 14 on the DDD-5 - a maximum of 38!). The only problem I encounter is finding enough RAM in my BBC B+ 128K.

The resulting recording is then copied to conventional cassette for use 'on the road'. Any pub-frequenting members in the Cambridge area may well have heard a Music 5000 at 100 watts - and I don't mean near Hybrid's headquarters! To what use do other members put their systems?

'Robonk'

When you buy a guitar and learn to play it, the first tunes are always established pieces - 'My bonnie lies over the ocean' or 'She'll be coming round the mountain'. It's similar with other instruments. When you're relatively competent, people will ask you to play something - they might even be slightly interested in your own composition - but play the latest 'Bros', 'Houston' or whatever and you'll be brilliant. Most professional musicians play 'covers' with very little 'original' music, especially 'classical' instrument players.

I like to hear good original music such as Obernell's (which I find very hard to write) but I would rather hear a thousand good copies than ten dreadful originals.

Editor's note:

Further comments, opinions and details of uses of the Music 5000 are welcome.

The policy of AMPLINEX is to publish a mixture of the best of both original and transcribed music, within the limits of our copyright agreement. We wish to encourage creativity in the use of the Hybrid Music System and believe that this can be achieved in both original compositions and the imaginative arrangements of other people's music.