[{"TitleName":"Music Maker","Publisher":"Bellflower Software","Author":"David Gordon","YearOfRelease":"1983","ZxDbId":"0008485","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 16, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-25","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Reviewer: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Reviewer: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free), Europe: 12 issues £17.50 post free. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"MUSIC MICRO, PLEASE\r\n\r\nJust to prove that Tech Niche isn't all soulless stuff about insensitive peripherals, JON BATES and GRAEME KIDD throw away their joysticks and take up the baton to conduct a round-up of sensitively musical software.\r\n\r\nNo matter how wonderful you believe your Spectrum to be, in arguments with Commodore, BBC or even Amstrad owners, you will have to concede that they have the edge when it comes to sound. The Amstrad, for instance, has three channels, which allows you to create a stereo sound and a white noise generator. Your 'umble Speccy doesn't have a chip dedicated to sound generation and gets by when it comes to making sound by switching the 'speaker' on and off, more rapidly for higher notes, less rapidly for the lower ones.\r\n\r\nThe BASIC Manual is a bit naughty when it tells you: '...because there is only one loudspeaker in the computer you can only play one note at a time, so you are restricted to unharmonised tunes.'\r\n\r\n'Loudspeaker' it ain't, but the only reason why you can't play more than one note at a time is because there's only one channel which can be switched on and off to generate noise. Other computers, which have dedicated sound chips, let you use several channels and that allows more complicated, harmonised tunes to be put together. Like the manual says, if you want anything more than simple unharmonised tunes on the Spectrum 'you must sing it yourself.' As you might expect, there's quite a lot of specialised hardware and software available which extends the capabilities of the Spectrum, moving it towards (and maybe even past) the level of musical competence achieved by other machines. We'll be taking a look at these bolt-on musical goodies in future Niches; for the present we've confined ourselves to a close examination of the software which runs on the basic Spectrum.\r\n\r\nWe found six programs which, to a greater or lesser extent, take the pain out of programming tunes in the 'BEEP 1,0: BEEP 5,3:' format, and three musical education packages which go part of the way to helping the musically illiterate get to grips with the subject. Rather than plunge in at the deep end on our own, we persuaded a real live musician - Jon Bates - to help evaluate the software.\r\n\r\nA professional keyboard player, author of a book on synthesisers and keyboard teacher, Jon invented a new rating for the purposes of these reviews - MUSICALITY. We've taken account of Graphics, Educational Value and User-friendliness, but Musicality is, in effect, a musician-friendliness rating and depends on the musical accuracy of the software. Before awarding the Musicality rating for each program, Jon asked himself the question, 'is it in accordance with the basic rules of how music is written and sounds?' 0/10 for Musicality would make a musician scream, he told us!\r\n\r\nThe other half of the dynamic reviewing duo, Mr Kidd, claims to know a bit about computers but is a self-confessed music illiterate. Nuff said about him.\r\n\r\nMUSICMASTER\r\nSinclair/Incognito\r\n£9.95\r\n\r\nMusicmaster allows you to enter notes either direct onto the stave, pressing keys for the name of notes A-G and prefacing them with S for sharp, L for flat or N for natural, or you can use the keyboard overlay supplied with the cassette to make the two top rows of your Spectrum's keyboard simulate a real keyboard.\r\n\r\nThe program offers all the basic elements needed to start making music with your computer, allowing the user to 'music process' a tune once it is entered into the machine using the editing facility. Only one tune can be held in memory at any one time, which can be mildly infuriating at times, given that there is room for up to 1000 notes for events, as a rest counts as a note), but there is a facility which allows you to save a completed tune to tape so it can be loaded back into the computer at a later stage.\r\n\r\nWhen you enter a tune and play it, the computer plays the notes sequentially from start to finish. If a section of music is to be repeated, it's necessary to edit that section into the sequential tune file. Another minor disadvantage of Musicmaster is the lack of a repeat command - to replay a tune you have to go back through the menu, but it does allow a tune to be played back at different speeds.\r\n\r\nOverall Musicmaster is a reasonable package which assumes no musical knowledge on the part of the user. Between them, the manual and the help function in the program were good, giving the user enough to get by on musically to make full use of the programs capabilities. While it isn't intended to be an 'educational program' as such, being more for amusement, it quite neatly teaches a little about keyboards.\r\n\r\nIn striking the middle line, aimed at someone who is neither a dedicated programmer with no musical knowledge on the one hand, nor a keyboard wizard who's scared stiff of computers on the other. Musicmaster is a success. It's a realistic way of converting a Spectrum into a music processor and keyboard which presented our team with no problems whatsoever in use.\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphics: 7/10 Good, if a little on the tiny side.\r\nUserfriendliness: 8/10\r\nMusicality: 7/10 Slightly limited on pitch range and lacks the ability to put expression in music\r\nEducational Value: 7/10 Help facility and manual would give a total novice a reasonable start into keyboard music\r\n\r\nCOMPOSER\r\n\r\nContrast Software\r\n[redacted]\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nComposer appears to have been written more for someone who already knows about music. The program presents a bit of an intellectual challenge to the user, in that you can write and 'music process' tunes but not in the conventional notation used for music.\r\n\r\nThe cassette inlay gives a brief summary of the modes used by the software, but the full instructions are presented on screen in one long chunk - which can be printed out, admittedly. The inlay states that full screen instructions can be recalled any time, but in use there didn't seem to be any help function which could be called up for advice on what to do next. Without a hard copy of the instructions in front of you, it was easy to get lost in the program, and it wasn't easy to write a tune into the computer to begin with.\r\n\r\nComposer uses a numerical notation, by which the duration of a note is entered as a fraction of a second rather than by note names - crochet, quaver etc. From the musician's point of view this is an added difficulty, and non-musicians could also be put off. Tunes written into the computer are not displayed onto a musical stave, and as a result it would be very hard for a non-musician to copy in a scored piece of music.\r\n\r\nA tune of up to 199 notes or events can be entered into memory. One useful feature worthy of comment was the facility which allows you to hear a note once it is selected, and before it is entered into your growing composition, which allows you the option of changing your mind!\r\n\r\nOverall Composer has the feel of a nice idea poorly executed. The displayed keyboard, for instance, has the keys labelled for the notes they represent - but the labels are out of alignment; the program is far from user-friendly, coming up with unhelpful error prompts like 'out of range, retype' rather than actually reminding the user of the range of acceptable values before requesting 'retype'. Composer presumes the user knows all about music before sitting down at the Spectrum, it doesn't help you get into the subject or the software, and then proceeds to present a new form of musical notation on the screen.\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphics: 3/10 Some alignment problems; is blue text on a blue background ideal?\r\nMusicality: 3/10 Apart from the numeric notation, there seemed to be a slight timing inaccuracy in the demo tune which was repeated\r\nUserfriendliness: 4/10 Screen layouts were not self-explanatory and a help function could have made life much easier. With a printed set of instructions in front of you and the patience to get into the program, no doubt quite rewarding.\r\nEducational Value: 0/10\r\n\r\nMUSIC MAKER\r\n\r\nBellflower Software\r\n[redacted]\r\n£5.75\r\n\r\nMusic Maker comes with a fairly detailed inlay card which takes the reader on a whistle stop tour of musical notation and theory. It makes good sense to someone in the know but might be a little confusing to the novice. It must have been a difficult task to compress so much information into such a small space, and it's unfortunate that there's no additional help in the program itself, which is a bit complicated.\r\n\r\nThe input method, using cursor keys (which move rather rapidly when selecting) takes a bit of getting used to. The screen displays the bar you're working on, and while it plays each note as you add it - giving you the option to delete it immediately - there's no real editing facility. Notes can only be deleted from the end of an assembled tune, and if you find the third note in your fifty note composition is wrong, there's no option but to delete the last forty seven notes you input before you get to the mistake, and then lay them all back in again. It can get a bit tedious keying in a long tune, and if you're re-keying an old tune which you've just deleted by editing, the aggravation factor increases dramatically.\r\n\r\nMusically the program is a bit limiting, in that there are only ten playback speeds to choose from, and it seemed impossible to tie notes together so that they can be sustained over a bar for instance. The program accepts up to 200 notes or events and allows tunes to be stored on cassette and printed out. In the main, a worthy piece of programming which scores plus points for printing a couple of tunes on the inlay for the user to try out.\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphics: 6/10 A bit chunky, and the screen display is rather cluttered\r\nMusicality: 6/10 The pitch range is slightly limited, as is the range of beats per minute on offer, but quite accurate overall\r\nUserfriendliness: 5/10 Only half way there!\r\nEducational Value: 4/10 The inlay card reads like it was written as an afterthought, in a bit of a rush and could confuse as easily as enlighten.\r\n\r\nSPECTUNE\r\n\r\nXORsoft\r\n[redacted]\r\n£9.95\r\n\r\nBoth the demo section and the learning mode are well put together, and despite some misapprehensions about the graphics, the whole package is well ordered and comprehensive. The demo and keyboard/stave familiarisation games provide the user with a simple but good background to what he or she is about to do - and the range of options, including the facility to store a total of 2,500 events and up to 26 different tunes at any one time is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nThe editor is a true music processor, which allows you to edit tunes by scrolling to the left and right. Short sections of music can be written and then merged together to compile one long tune, and while the editor can be a bit difficult to get to grips with, it's well worth the effort, being very accurate and comprehensive.\r\n\r\nThe inlay instructions are straightforward and well set out, and given the sheer volume of facilities on offer, are bound to be complicated.\r\n\r\nOverall, the biggest plus has to be the facility that allows you to use the Spectrum keyboard to emulate a two and a half octave keyboard. In the practice mode, you can play music merrily, and once the piece is perfect you can play it into memory in real time. Given that a tune memorised from the keyboard can then be edited or printed out, the program could be very useful as a real-time music printer/sequencer, not least for the untrained musician who can't score out his tunes played by ear.\r\n\r\nThis program was very accurate musically and while it would benefit from a keyboard overlay and a little graphical tidying up, it's well worth the effort required to get to know the complicated editing routines. Spectune would appeal to both the total musical novice and the competent musician equally - it's just a pity that the Spectrum isn't polyphonic!\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphics: 8/10 Room for some improvement, a little clumsy at times\r\nUserfriendliness: 7/10 Complicated at times, but worth getting to know\r\nMusicality: 9/10\r\nEducational Value: 8/10\r\n\r\nMUSIC TYPEWRITER\r\n\r\nRomantic Robot\r\n[redacted]\r\n£9.95\r\n\r\nMusic Typewriter is a very impressive and well thought out package which assumes a level of musical knowledge before you start - and the booklet that comes with the program points out that no attempt is made to explain musical theory in the manual or in the program.\r\n\r\nThe graphical representation of notes and staves is quite brilliant, putting to shame the displays generated not only by the other Spectrum programs we've taken a look at but bettering the offerings of most expensive professional music systems. A joy to look at indeed.\r\n\r\nMusically it is the most accurate of the Spectrum software allowing the use of bass and treble clefs and it's the only program to allow staccato and legato phrasing - music can be written exactly how a musician would write it out to be played expressively.\r\n\r\nMusic Typewriter comes with a keyboard overlay which renders input both user and musician friendly. The program allows hard copy to be generated as well as providing a transposition facility, with all incidentals being adjusted automatically. Up to sixteen tunes can be stored in memory, which has a cataloguing facility and tunes may be repeated a discrete number of times or endlessly. Up to 254 bars of music may be stored at any one time.\r\n\r\nWorking from a three screen menu the program is well documented and has a well ordered editing and cataloguing facility. Interestingly, Romantic Robot can supply a version of the software to drive a sound generation chip or even a MIDI interface (More about them next issue). Sadly there isn't a real time sequencing facility as offered by Spectune, and a little niggle is caused by the continental notation used for the note 'B' which appears as 'H', which might just confuse a few people.\r\n\r\nOverall a very respectable program, visually attractive which is simple to use and is bound to appeal to any musician. For a musical illiterate background reading would be vital - as the manual suggests - and the software would provide a useful visual illustration of the theoretical concepts.\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphks: 10/10 Eat your heart out Fairlight\r\nMusicality: 9/10 Incorporates expression\r\nUserfriendliness: 9/10 (but see educational value)\r\nEducational Value: 2/10 not for the complete beginner; it is not intended as an educational program.\r\n\r\nPLAY, TYPE AND TRANSPOSE\r\n\r\nHilton Computer Services\r\n[redacted]\r\n£9.00\r\n\r\nThis program is in a different league to all the others reviewed in this column. It is not a LOAD AND RUN FUN program, but a musical utility which has limited graphical presentation, lengthy and complicated documentation and is designed to be used by someone who has a fair knowledge of both music and programming.\r\n\r\nNotes are written to the 'play' program using BEEP statements, but putting in abbreviations for the standard names of musical notes rather than timings. A fair bit of pen and paper work is required before you start composing, and in many respects the program is a half way house for programmers who can't be bothered to work out the BEEP section of their Spectrum Manual.\r\n\r\nThe type and transpose program allows you to type notes onto bass and treble staves and then transpose from one page to another. The music typewriter controls are more complicated than the average Chinese typewriter and the end result is less than graphically stunning although the transposition facility could be useful enough to a non-musician to justify the effort of getting there!\r\n\r\nAll in all a very complicated package, with a large explanatory manual which is less than straightforward. It could be worth the mental anguish necessary to get to grips with the programs but there's very little offered in the way of musical explanation and there's no way someone could work out how to input a piece of music without prior musical knowledge. The program is in a fairly primitive state, and has obviously been written by a dedicated hobbyist, well wrapped up the subject material. An oddity which could be easy to dismiss out of hand; it's hard to work out quite who this package would appeal to. When it was first written several years ago it would have been 'state of the art', but the art has advanced by leaps since, and left it far behind.\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphics: 1/10\r\nMusicality: 1/10\r\nUserfriendliness: 0/10\r\nEducational Value: 1/10\r\n\r\nAll in it's fairly clear that you get what you pay for in the music software market - with a possible exception in the case of Play, Type and Transpose, where it's not clear as to what you are actually getting until long after you've got it, by which time it might be too late.\r\n\r\nIf a CRASH Smash was being handed out here it would have to be shared by Music Typewriter and Spectune. Super graphics give Romantic Robot's product the edge while the real time sequencing facility pushes Xorsoft's program to the fore. The non-musician, hoping to learn something about music theory and have fun playing tunes on the Spectrum could be guided by price but would do well to go for either Musicmaster or Spectune. The more affluent muso, keen to produce good looking print-out of real time sequenced works would want to splash out on Spectune to do the work and Music Typewriter to do the display. Masochists will love Play, Type and Transpose.\r\n\r\nEDUCATIONAL INTERLUDE\r\n\r\nWhy should Rosetta McLeod have all the fun? Three music education packages came our way during the course of the research for the feature, and so Jon Bates loaded them into a Spectrum and reviewed them with the assistance of his musically illiterate mate, Graeme, aged 28 and tone deaf!\r\n\r\nLEARNING TO READ MUSIC\r\nRose Software\r\n[redacted]\r\n£5.95\r\n\r\nSomehow, the four games contained in this package, which are all quite easy, basic and short, while being musically sound and logical don't quite carry through. The games are not appealing in their own right and probably wouldn't stimulate a real interest in music from a casual look. I got the impression that they have been designed somewhere between education-for-it's-own-sake and games, and have fallen towards simplistic education at the expense of entertainment - they don't offer much in the way of reward for the correct answer and are rather schoolmasterish in approach.\r\n\r\nTreble Clef is a straightforward note recognition game, confined to the treble clef only as its name implies, which offers a permanently available help facility and colour codes the notes (this could have been carried over to other games in the package, forming a link but wasn't). Yes, up to three people can play together, and yes they could learn to recognise notes on the treble clef - but what about the base clef?\r\n\r\nScale position again uses the treble clef only, and was specifically designed to help Grade 5 theory and as such would no doubt assist - but surely a sharp or flat default would have helped. A bit technical this one - obviously not much relevance to the novice. My assistant hadn't got a clue.\r\n\r\nNote Values requires the user to enter notes or rests onto the stave displayed on the screen which build up into a sequence. A random time signature is chosen by the computer and the player will become familiar with the names of notes and their values. Unfortunately the whole stave moves to the left as the game progresses, and the novice could lose his or her position in the bar being assembled.\r\n\r\nKeyboard is the final program in the package, and is intended to teach the beginner the relationship between notes on the keyboard and notes on the stave. The player uses the cursor keys to find the notes displayed on a keyboard at the base of the screen, and gets three attempts before being given the correct answer.\r\n\r\nWithout getting too technical, the logic is a bit out of order, in that flats and sharps on consecutive white notes on the keyboard could lead to severe confusion given the way the program presents them. A bit worthless for the beginner really.\r\n\r\nThe four programs in this package, taken separately don't follow through under the title of 'Read Music'. If they had been linked together better, had been a lot more informative and most importantly more fun, the package could have been a good one.\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphics: 2/10 Uninspiring, not much fun and it looked like some routines were transferred from one program to another rather inappropriately.\r\nMusicality: 5/10 Half way there\r\nUserfriendliness: 4/10 'the player can get help and a score is given at the end', and that's yer lot\r\nEducational Value: 5/10 tries to cope with too wide a range of abilities in one package perhaps.\r\n\r\nFIREWORK MUSIC & WATER MUSIC\r\n[redacted]\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nMusically the four games in the two packages from Software Cottage are accurate and have been designed with children in mind, but proved to be appealing to my not too young assistant.\r\n\r\nFirework Music is a charming little note naming game, in which you have to protect your box of fireworks against a descending spark by naming a note displayed on the screen's stave. A correct answer wins an extra firework, and the player is treated to a firework display after ten correct answers have been given.\r\n\r\nWater Music gives training in identifying sharps and flats, again displayed on either the Bass of Treble Clef. The player is encouraged to develop a familiarity with accidentals, playing against time as with Firework Music, only this time trying to raise a bucket in a well. The bucket slowly falls to the bottom of the screen as time passes, jumping up each time a correct response is given.\r\n\r\nBoth games have an optional 'lesson' at the start (without which my assistant couldn't have attempted them) and are designed for children in the 7-12 age range. All in, the help facilities are quite good and the graphical presentation was quite cheerful.\r\n\r\nJUMPY SNAKE BLUES & HONY TONK\r\nSoftware Cottage\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\nJumpy Snake Blues is a musical game of snakes and ladders which helps to train the players ear to recognise musical intervals. Again, a demonstration program heads up the game, and the player can play against the computer (which gets the answer right every time, allowing for practice between turns) or against a friend which introduces an element of competition. The computer plays two notes and the player(s) have to recognise the interval - the correct answer moves the player's counter on the snakes and ladders board forward by the interval just identified. The winner is the player who gets to the top of the board first.\r\n\r\nHonky Tonk is a note matching game which helps develop the players sense of pitch. A grand piano, perfectly in tune acts as a reference while the player tries to tune a honky tonk piano by moving the pitch of its notes up or down in small or large steps.\r\n\r\nEach time the player refers to the grand piano for the correct note, ten points are knocked off the score so far, which starts at 1000. There are 4 levels to the game. At the lowest, where the honky tonk tunes up in quarter and semitones, even my assistant seemed to be able to cope passably well.At level four, where the steps are sixteenth and thirty-seconds of a tone, a very sharp sense of pitch is needed to achieve a high score.\r\n\r\nWhen the player believes the honky tonk piano is in tune, the games ends and it plays a rag-time tune - going out of tune painfully if the honky tonk wasn't tuned perfectly. (Even Graeme winced at this losers rendition of the tune)!\r\n\r\nOverall there is definitely a place for the games in the classroom. They're easy to use, friendly but perhaps a little repetitive on the graphics and visual strings offered up as rewards. Jumpy Snake Blues and Honky Tonk are aimed at anyone from 7 up who wants practice at training their ear and would be particularly useful to someone learning an instrument. Jumpy Snake would certainly help with Grade 5 or CSE Musical exams.\r\n\r\nFirework and Water Music could easily have been tied in with a Handel tune to add that extra bit of gloss - I wonder why Software Cottage didn't take this step. They're an interesting way to teach the basics of music, and I liked the way they coped with leger lines on both the Bass and Treble Clefs.\r\n\r\nThe four games assume no musical knowledge at all and are quite fun to play as well as being instructional - though making a musician out of Graeme is probably beyond anyone's capabilities!\r\n\r\nFINAL VERDICT\r\n\r\nGraphics: 6/10 Cheerful, but a trifle repetitive methinks\r\nMusicality: 8/10\r\nUserfriendliness: 9/10\r\nEducational Value: 7/10","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"56","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Jon Bates","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""},{"Name":"Graeme Kidd","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"6/10","Text":"A bit chunky, and the screen display is rather cluttered."},{"Header":"Musicality","Score":"6/10","Text":"The pitch range is slightly limited, as is the range of beats per minute on offer, but quite accurate overall."},{"Header":"Userfriendliness","Score":"5/10","Text":"Only half way there."},{"Header":"Educational Value","Score":"4/10","Text":"The inlay card reads like it was written as an afterthought, in a bit of a rush and could confuse as easily as enlighten."}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 12, Mar 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-02-21","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Munford\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nDeputy Editor: Tina Boylan\r\nTechnical Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: John Torofex, Ian Beardsmore, Tony Samuels, Stephen Adams, Dave Nicholls, Ross Holman, Roger Willis, Stuart Jamieson, Clive Gifford, Simon Goodwin, Adrian Wagner, Chris Somerville, Chris Wood, Hunt Emerson\r\nAdvertising Manager: Joe Harrower\r\nAdvertising: Dave Baskerville\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Jill Harris\r\nGroup Art Director: Perry Neville\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Spectrum ©1985 Felden productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Spectrum is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"INTO THE MUSIC\r\n\r\nOver the past couple of years, apart from the odd snatch of a tune in games software, very little attention has been dedicated to the development of good music utilities. Compose and designer Adrian Wagner checks out five of the latest packages to see of the wait was worthwhile.\r\n\r\nReviewing our musical software is modern composer and electronic designer, Adrian Wagner. Adrian can claim four LPs to his name - Distances Between Us, Instincts, Inca Gold and Disco Dream of the Androids - all featuring his own compositions on the synthesiser.\r\n\r\nBut, unlike his great-grandfather Richard Wagner, Adrian's not just concerned with writing music, he's also heavily involved with the production of synthesisers. Adrian was instrumental in the invention of the Wasp and Gnat synthesisers and, at present, he's working with Francis Monkman (ex-Sky and Curved Air) on a long-term project that they hope will revolutionise the synthesiser as we know it today.\r\n\r\nAs I'm speaking among friends, we can all admit that, musically, the Spectrum's not up to much. But although its sound capabilities are certainly limited, they can prove to be very usable. Trouble is, the Spectrum itself doesn't come prepared, either from the hardware or software point of view, to make beautiful music. But, of course, there's a way around this problem... and the answer's in the software. First, though, let's review the present situation.\r\n\r\nONBOARD OPTIONS\r\n\r\nYou've got three basic parameters to play with in order to make music, and they can all be found in chapter 19 of the Spectrum manual; they are, of course: BEEP - the frequency or pitch of the note; PAUSE - the time before the next note; and duration - the 'on-time' of the note. Circumventing the need to get too musical, the Spectrum allows the pitch to be expressed in numerical terms, with middle C at '0', concert A at '9' and the C below middle C at '-12'. Duration of the note and pauses are expressed as '1' for a one second burst, '.5' for a half a second, and so on. By using a look-up table, it's quite simple to create a program that's an easy-to-use musical sequencer (See Tuning Up this issue. Ed).\r\n\r\nThere are a number of musical utilities on the market and I've chosen five which purport to extend the musical capabilities of the Spectrum. It's best to have a good idea of what you're looking for in a music package - do you want to learn how to write music, play pretty tunes, or both? As you'll see from the five packages I've looked at here, they do vary quite dramatically in their musical awareness, and if you imagine that they've had the same programming dedication lavished on them as on much of today's games software, you're in for a shock!\r\n\r\nPlease be extremely careful when choosing the right program to buy - some can be really disappointing.\r\n\r\nMUSIC MAKER\r\nPRICE: £1.99\r\nSUPPLIER: Malan Associates, [redacted].\r\n\r\nThis package offers little instruction on its use other than the blurb on the badly printed paper index card. This is a shame, because I found it quite easy to use - the only exception being that R Green (the programmer) decided to use a 10-line stave instead of the five line standard. As much as we need innovation in the world of music, I'm afraid this only adds to the confusion.\r\n\r\nThe screen information was enough to help me to store notes with ease but, unfortunately there's no facility to introduce sharps and flats! This, of course, makes the program musically unusable. But even worse, on playback it turns out that the notes are not what they say they are; for instance, a scale of C turns out to be a row of semitones starting from C and ending with G!\r\n\r\nI think R Green would be well advised to take some music instruction before attempting any more music programs!\r\n\r\nPLAY, TYPE AND TRANSPOSE\r\nPRICE: £4.95\r\nSUPPLIER: Hilton Computer Services, [redacted].\r\n\r\nThis software package comes complete with a seven-page manual, which tells you that the Play program plays tunes entered as a series of BEEP and PAUSE Basic statements. The question is, why was the program written at all?\r\n\r\nHaving loaded the cassette, you're asked how many sharps and flats are required; the problem here is that your key signature will contain either sharps or flats, but not both! After you've waded through a couple of screens giving you information on the pitch card and how to cope with metronome markings, you're in for a real thrill. The program breaks out and asks you to type your tune in Basic. What all this means is that after you've shelled out your hard-earned money for this package, you're told to type in the equivalent of what appears in chapter 19 of your Spectrum manual. Out of interest, I tried writing a tune and altering the musical parameters, but it made not the slightest difference.\r\n\r\nThe other program in this package is Music Typing and Transposing which is much the same as Play - tedious and boring.\r\n\r\nMUSIC TYPEWRITER\r\nPRICE: £9.95\r\nSUPPLIER: Romantic Robot, [redacted].\r\n\r\nThis package contains a very fast and easy-to-use non-real time sequencer that can process up to 16 tunes in memory. The writing and editing facilities are slightly easier to use than on Spectune, but then they're also musically more precise. You're even able to use complex timings like triplets and staccato notes with this package.\r\n\r\nBut the exceptional part has got to be the notation - it has to be seen to be believed! The way Music Typewriter prints up musical notation on-screen puts many expensive professional computer music systems to shame. The notes are tied together when necessary and, when in play mode, the music's printed out as the piece is played. The accuracy, even at fast speeds, is astonishingly good.\r\n\r\nThe program contains three pages of menu: Page 0 provides facilities to play, repeat, write, edit, and print; Page 1 changes key signatures, time signatures and tempo: and Page 2 catalogues the tunes with their respective titles and length.\r\n\r\nThe supplied manual comes complete with a keyboard overlay - which does help when you're playing the Spectrum as a musical keyboard. It would have been nice to see a demonstration program (like the one in Spectune), but you pays your money and you takes your choice. For me, though, the advanced musical notation definitely gives this one the edge.\r\n\r\nMUSIC MAKER\r\nPRICE: £5.75\r\nSUPPLIER: Bellflower Software, [redacted].\r\n\r\nThis program comes neatly packaged with a helpful index card; the instructions have been well-written and are very easy to follow. Unlike some of the other packages in this review, the programmer obviously has some knowledge of music - which I do feel is important!\r\n\r\nThe screen has been quite well laid out; the only problem here being that it displays only one bar at a time while you're inputting notes. Staying with the process of writing your tune on-screen, the program won't allow you to delete more than one note back - and even then, it has to be in the same bar. This means that if you do make an error, you've got no choice but to start all over again. On playback, it first prints the notes on the screen in non-real time and then plays them back in real time.\r\n\r\nMusic Maker allows you to add to the existing melody and store it on to cassette for later use; if you possess a printer, you can also obtain a hard copy and alter the speed of the playback.\r\n\r\nOverall, this program's pretty good - but it should have included a suitable editing facility.\r\n\r\nSPECTUNE\r\nSUPPLIER: XORSoft\r\n\r\nSpectune converts the Spectrum keyboard into a two and a half octave musical keyboard that can be made to record, recall, edit, save, merge and print. The instructions explain concisely how to change the length of each note, the tuning mode (which re-tunes any note for interesting scales), selecting key signatures, time signatures, writing and editing, and so on.\r\n\r\nDiving straight into the teaching part of the software, a user starting from scratch can learn the basic techniques of playing and writing music in very simple terms. Using an on-screen keyboard, the relevant keys blink in red and an explanation of how music is printed follows. When you've had enough of the demonstration program, you're then ready to load in the main operating program.\r\n\r\nYou're offered three options from the on-screen menu, the first of which is a learning game to help you sort out exactly where you are on the keyboard. A note's printed up on-screen and you've got to find it on the keyboard within three lives. It's fun and a useful learning aid - something other programmers should take note of. Returning to the main menu, the second option - edit/write mode - is very easy to use. Having selected a note and specified its length, it's entered into the sequencer. If you change your mind, you can go straight into the editing mode and change any notes by scrolling to the left or right to insert, delete or alter any part of the composition.\r\n\r\nThe last option on the menu is the play mode. You're now programming music in real time and the sequencer's recording exactly what's played, including your mistakes! But, even if you have entered your tune in real time, the editor still allows you to remove or change any unwanted notes.\r\n\r\nSpectune allows up to 26 different tunes in memory at any one time; these can be merged together in any sequence in the final composition. You can also make a hard copy of your tunes on a printer.\r\n\r\nOverall, Spectune is a very well-written program, and one that I can recommend. It's a useful educational tool that's fun to use.\r\n\r\nOUT OF TUNE?\r\n\r\nHere at YS, we have piles of software flung our way by various suppliers - some good, some bad, but all worthy of mention. Trouble is, once the review copy came back from Adrian, we realised that no-one had the slightest idea where XORsoft is based and how much its package, Spectune, retails at. Standing up to its first test, the YS filing system broke down completely - so now it's up to you! If you've heard of XORsoft and can tell us where the company's based, give Trouble-shootin' Pete a ring on 01-636 2416.\r\n\r\nIt's a pretty good package, and deserves a little more than anonymity.","ReviewerComments":["Music Maker (Bellflower): This is a good program, although slightly overshadowed by the standards of Music Typewriter and Spectune. The graphics have been quite well designed and the package is very easy to understand - but if you want to type in tunes of any length, then tedium soon sets in. Although the screens seem very 'busy' to begin with, the control keys are kept to a minimum to stop things getting too confusing. This program would be of most use to the musical novice (unfamiliar with the piano keyboard) who's keen to type sheet music into the Speccy.\r\nPeter Shaw\r\n3/5"],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"45","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Peter Shaw","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 47, Sep 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-08-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Paul Boughton\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigners: Brian Cookman\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdventure Writer: Keith Campbell\r\nAmerican Correspondent: Marshall M. Rosenthal\r\nPublicity: Marcus Rich\r\nArcades: Clare Edgeley\r\nReader Services: Marcus Jeffery\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover: Stephen Gulbis"},"MainText":"TITLE: Music Maker\r\nSUPPLIER: Bellflower Software\r\nPRICE: Not available\r\n\r\nThis program is very easy to use, but suffers from a lack of thought for the user. For instance, though ideal for entering music from a score, it would be extremely difficult to use this program for composing your own tunes. If you notice a mistake whilst playing the tune, there is no way to recover, other than deleting all the notes back to where the error occurred. The obvious method of avoiding this problem is to play the tune every couple of bars, but the program methodically prints all the notes to the screen before playing them at the proper tempo, making this approach extremely slow. This is a nicely produced program, but could be better.\r\n\r\nSTAVE NOTATION: Yes, but only treble clef\r\nENTER MUSIC: Yes\r\nPLAY MUSIC: No\r\nSAVE TO TAPE: Yes\r\nPRINTER: Yes\r\nTEMPO CHANGE: Yes\r\nKEY SIGNATURE: Yes\r\nTIME SIGNATURE: Yes\r\nTRANSPOSE: No\r\nSTORAGE: ? (200 bars)\r\n48K/16K: 48K","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"88","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Computers are now playing a major role in the creation of music in the recording studio. We look at how new rock band Beat the Sharks used a computer to help with their new single \"Runaway\"."},{"Text":"Catch up on the reviews of all the latest music software packages available."},{"Text":"Make music with your micros with our listings for the BBC, Commodore 64, Vic 20, Spectrum and Atari."},{"Text":"Computer magic in the studio: A musical note is displayed as a three-dimensional image on the super sophisticated Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument."},{"Text":"The Yamaha CX5 in action in the studio."}],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"TEXT\r\n\r\nTo make your choice slightly easier, we've tabulated the basic features of each package. The meaning of these features is as follows:\r\n\r\nSTAVE NOTATION: Does the program show the entered tune in proper musical stave notation, use bars, treble and bass clefs, and so on?\r\n\r\nENTER MUSIC: Can music be entered directly, one note at a time onto a musical stave?\r\n\r\nPLAY MUSIC: Is it possible to record music by \"playing\" the Qwerty keyboard? The advantage of this method is directly proportional to your dexterity on the keyboard!\r\n\r\nALTER RHYTHM: If you can \"play music\", can you subsequently edit (and correct) the timing of each note, say, by tapping the rhythm on a single key?\r\n\r\nSAVE TO TAPE/DISK: Can the tune data be saved to tape or disc for loading at a later date?\r\n\r\nPRINTER: Does the program have facilities to print out the tune data? This will usually only be relevant on packages with stave notation.\r\n\r\nTEMPO CHANGE: Can the speed of playback be changed? In other words, can you change your peaceful ballad to allegro at the touch of a button?!\r\n\r\nKEY SIGNATURE: Is it possible to define the key (eg. C major) in which a tune will be played?\r\n\r\nTIME SIGNATURE: Can the time signature be specified?\r\n\r\nTRANSPOSE: Does the package allow tunes to be transposed? Transposing a tune changes the key signature.\r\n\r\nSTORAGE: How large a tune(s) can the system handle?\r\n\r\nDEFINE ENVELOPES: Can pitch/amplitude envelopes be altered? Envelopes define the type of sound that a note will produce (eg. piano-type or guitar-like). This feature does not apply on the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nFinally, we have given a score (out of ten) for the GRAPHICS and EASE OF USE of each program.\r\n\r\nThough these comparisons should prove useful in helping you decide which program is best for your own needs, always bear in mind what you intend to use the program for. Also, don't use the tables to compare different micros. For instance, the BBC and Commodore programs are not only dealing with better sound chips than the Spectrum, but tend to be far superior programs."},{"Text":"I bet you thought musicians went into a recording studio with their guitar slung over their shoulder, played a few tunes, sang a bit and then emerged with a smash hit number one record! Well WE did at C&VG until we delved into the amazing world of computers and music. Read on and find out how the micro is making a big noise in the pop world..."},{"Text":"One of the most important scene-setting elements of all the best games must surely be the music. Though for many years this feature was largely ignored, nowadays even the rather limited capabilities of the Spectrum's sound chip are being used to the full.\r\n\r\nAlthough micro music still has a long way to go before rating comparison with your average symphony orchestra, some game music is of a very high standard. The phenomenal effort required to produce such tunes as Ghostbusters on the Commodore 64 must rival the amount of time spent programming the game itself.\r\n\r\nThis is all very nice for companies large enough to handle this, but what about the home computer games programmer? Well, fortunately for us, the increased awareness of the value of micro music has led to the development of a number of music utilities. We've looked at a few of these on the Spectrum, BBC and Commodore 64 computers, and you'll find our comments on the next few pages. Firstly, however, let's consider a few basic considerations which you should take into account when choosing a music utility package.\r\n\r\nOne of the first things to decide is what you hope to gain from your music package. These can be divided into three main areas of use: educational, home use and game programming. These uses will also depend, to a large extent, upon your own musical abilities. On the educational front, if you're an absolute beginner to music, then your main requirement is likely to be learning how to write music, not a package allowing you to transcribe three-part harmonies which assumes you know exactly what you're doing. Alternatively, maybe you know a little about music but want to find a package which will teach you how to write even better tunes. Home use will be to either enter tunes onto a musical stave, or use the facilities of the micro as a sequencer/synthesiser. Then again, games programmers are going to want to be able to enter tunes and use the resultant data. This might be by manually transferring the composed tune to BASIC, or possibly even using the tune data directly from their own programs."},{"Text":"MAKING TRACKS\r\n\r\nSo you've always fancied yourself as the next Frankie Goes to Hollywood? You have a great idea for a song. It goes something like doo dum da doo doo doo dum da Relax.\r\n\r\nBut there are two slight problems. First, you think you may have heard the song before somewhere Second, you have just raided the piggy bank and you are still £50,000 short for the necessary computer gadgetry.\r\n\r\nDon't panic! As pop group Beat the Sharks discovered, the technology is available and it's cheaper than you think. So relax, write a new song and read on... The story so far...\r\n\r\nNew record label Pure Trash had signed the Sharks to release a single called \"Runaway\". That was the good news. The bad news was that Trevor Horn would not let them play with his costly-computerised music toys.\r\n\r\nUnabashed they turned to the little Yamaha CK 5M, an MSX micro with an add-on piano keyboard and excellent music chip.\r\n\r\nIndeed inside its small frame it packs half of a Yamaha DX9 synthesiser's voice generator.\r\n\r\nThe band's main interest was to take what is basically a home computer system into the studio and come out with a production that was truly professionaL\r\n\r\nThe aspects of the system which most appealed to the band were its ability to synchronise another keyboard and drum machine. Also, using the optional music computer software, some of the backing tracks could be programmed before going into the studio. This obviously saves money.\r\n\r\nThe idea was to lay down a pulse track from the CX 5M onto an outside track of the studio's 16-track tape deck. This pulse could then be used to drive the computer, as well as the drum machine.\r\n\r\nDrum rhythms for the whole song had already been programmed into a Yamaha RX11 drum machine.\r\n\r\nThe most useful bit of software available with the CX 5M is the FM Music Composer. This allows you to write up to eight different parts into the computer. Individual notes are entered one at a time, either using the computer keyboard of piano keyboard. The music score is then displayed on the monitor. And if you have an MSX-compatible printer then you also get your own sheet music printed!\r\n\r\nThe whole writing process is a bit fiddly and long-winded but you soon get the hang of it. Obviously it helps if you've some knowledge of music, especially if the rhythm is complicated.\r\n\r\nSo, having recorded the pulse (sync) track, you can then use this to drive the computer and drum machine. Each of these machines can now be edited at any time during the recording and still keep accurate time.\r\n\r\nIn theory it's a great facility to have. You don't have to commit anything to tape until it's all how you want it to sound.\r\n\r\nThe main advantage as far as Beat the Sharks were concerned was that this cut the cost of studio time as a lot of the backing could be pre-programmed. The other benefit is that when using a relatively small recording studio you save lots of those precious tracks by putting all of the programmed backing onto the same piece of tape. The single \"Runaway\" was recorded at a 16-track studio so obviously all of these techniques were very important.\r\n\r\nBut it wasn't all sweetness and light! Having set everything up and pressed the start key, engineer Richard Joseph and producer Mike Burdett did have some problems with keeping the sync track at a constant speed. But these were soon sorted out.\r\n\r\nWhat you hear on the record then are computer controlled drums, bass and keyboards. The rest of the tracks, guitar, keyboard and vocals were then played on top, live, by the Sharks\r\n\r\nBasically the system used in the studio could be set up by any budding songwriter in their bedroom. All you need to start is the CX 5M music computer and a tape deck.\r\n\r\nImprovements and refinements to the package would certainly be welcome and from what I hear may well be on their way. Yamaha appears to be sorting out the syncing problem and also developing new software\r\n\r\nThe present method of programming in step-time (note by note) is a bit of a pain. Far more flexible would be the real-time software which is apparently coming. With that, you play what you want on the piano keyboard and it is then written in exactly how you play it. Far less fiddly altogether.\r\n\r\nThere is also talk of Yamaha developing a digital sampling facility for the machine. This would allow you to sample any sound, for example a car starting or someone talking, and punch it into a song at the press of a button... just like P-P-Paul H-H-Hardcastle on \"19\"!\r\n\r\nSo happy programming and if you want to know how the Beat the Sharks session turned out listen out for them on the radio.\r\n\r\nYamaha CX 5M computer £449; mini keyboard (mini). £P.O.A. keyboard (normal size) £P.O.A."},{"Text":"SPECTRUM\r\n\r\nThe Spectrum is by no means an ideal music instrument. With only one channel or rather poor sound, its capabilities are, to say the least, limited. This has not stopped a number of companies from producing some very good music utility packages."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Graphics","Score":"8/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Ease Of Use","Score":"7/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 10, Dec 1983","Price":"£1.85","ReleaseDate":"1983-11-25","Editor":"Roger Munford","TotalPages":196,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"ZX Computing\r\nVol. One\r\nNumber Ten\r\nDec/Jan 1984\r\n\r\nEditor: Roger Munford\r\nAdvertising Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nManaging Editor: Ron Harris\r\nManaging Director: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Henry Garnett Ltd., Rotherham.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of the Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1983"},"MainText":"MUSIC MAKER\r\nBellflower Software\r\n\r\nBeing somewhat musical myself, I loaded up this program hoping to find something to lighten up my life. After choosing my key and time signatures (from eleven major keys and twelve times), I eagerly entered my first tune. \"Nice graphics\", I thought. However, I found some aspects of the program a little limiting, eg no notes shorter than a quaver were allowed, and I was restricted to between middle C and the G an octave and a half above. Tied notes were also not catered for, which could prove inconvenient.\r\n\r\nThe documentation (which included three sample tunes), seemed a little educational in style, which may account for the above shortcomings. The feature that I found most annoying though, was the fact that I could only delete the most recently entered note, which I needed to do more than just once. One other odd point was that the program seemed to avoid putting accidentals on lines, instead much preferring the space immediately above or below, which looked a little messy.\r\n\r\nSo, pressing the 'p' key to play, I sat back to hear someone else's melody echo in my ears, only to be rudely awakened. Again, good graphics, but the tune! Every time the program drew a barline there was a very audible pause. Quavers were out of time too; the program could not draw them fast enough, and every time the program filled up a screen there was a pause of about two seconds while it cleared screen and redrew the three staves. Surely a little machine code could have been used here, or failing that (not everyone loves the Z80!) the music could have been printed first, and a pointer moved along in time. This fault, I am sorry to say, makes the program almost unusable, which is a pity considering the graphics and the need for such a program.\r\n\r\nIn conclusion, this package would not satisfy those who seriously want to make music.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"94","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Paul Holmes","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Some of the complex screen displays you can expect from Bellflower Software's Music Maker package."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 19, Jun 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-30","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Jonathan McGary\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"£5.75\r\nBellflower Software\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nDisappointing, not bad for an early attempt, but slow and limited.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 17, Feb 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-01-31","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Jamie Clary\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSales Executive: Jonathan McGary\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nChief Executive: T J Connell\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1984"},"MainText":"MUSIC MICRO PLEASE!\r\n\r\nAn outline of some of the more harmonious programs and devices recently produced. Ray Elder takes up the Baton and conducts the investigation.\r\n\r\nFor the professional/dedicated/expert musician there is the Midi interface and synthesiser system, but for many others, including yours truly, the cost of such equipment is beyond the realms of an overdraft.\r\n\r\nFor us interested but impoverished would be musicians there are a few more affordable, though much less versatile, alternatives.\r\n\r\nFORTE!\r\n\r\nAn essential first step is to do something about the BEEP, there are several ways around this, you can simply amplify the thing or, if you want to get the most from the computer, then you will need to purchase a unit which incorporates a sound chip. Most of these units use a version of the AY-3-8910/8912 chip and this is a well tested and reliable chip which can produce some impressive sounds.\r\n\r\nSimple amplification of the BEEP can be achieved in several ways and is the least expensive of the two options. Beep amps either have a built in speaker or send the sound to the TV and some such units are:\r\n\r\nTHE CHEETAH BEEP AMP, this puts the sound through the TV and is in the same size box as their other units, complete with a full through port for other peripherals. Cost £9.95.\r\n\r\nCURRAH MICRO SPEECH unit. This is primarily a speech unit but it also routes the Spectrum Beep through the TV and is worth considering if you want to investigate the world of speech as well. Cost £29.95.\r\n\r\nDK'TRONICS BEEP AUDIO AMP. This is a self contained unit in two parts, the amplifier interface and a separate 1\" pod mounted loudspeaker. The interface has a full through port and, although lipped, fits both versions of the Spectrum securely. Cost £14.95.\r\n\r\nTHE TRICHORD, a full sound box including AY chip, amp and speaker and software for both ZX81 and Spectrum, available from Newtech Developments Ltd. Cost ranges from £24.95 to £26.95 depending on model and internal amp fitted or not.\r\n\r\nWILLIAM STUART SYSTEMS sound generator unit, designed to go with their speech recognition and synthesiser units but can be used on its own (if plugged into a stereo system it sounds superb). Software is available separately and is excellent, the ARP program kept me fascinated for hours.\r\n\r\nFULLER (reinstated by Nordic) have a sound unit and a master unit which includes speech, we have not tried one out yet, but the new look packaging is nice.\r\n\r\nAnd finally DK'TRONICS again, identical to their beep amp in size and shape is a full Sound Synthesiser. This is based on the AY chip and is supplied with a demo tape. Cost £29.95.\r\n\r\nTHE DK'TRONICS 3 CHANNEL SOUND UNIT\r\n\r\nI will give a detailed account of this unit as it is one of the few still left in my possession, most of the others had to be returned after each specific review, and anyway its one of the latest on the market, and most are similar in operation.\r\n\r\nThis is supplied with an eight page booklet which gives setting up details, the volume is adjustable by a small screwdriver through a little hole in the top of the unit, full volume is loud enough for most purposes!\r\n\r\nSome demo programs are given which explain the basics of programming the beast, these are in BASIC but a machine code programmer can glean enough information to enable him/her to incorporate routines in their programs.\r\n\r\nMost of the manual is dedicated to operating instructions for the program supplied, these are brief and there are gaps which left me confused - the use of the Envelope generator for instance. The software itself is good and allows you to create tunes in 3 part harmony and is cursor controlled, this means that it can be operated by a joystick. However I found it a little tedious to use and the editing is almost non-existent, an error early on means re-entry of the rest of the line.\r\n\r\nDuring playback the three lines of music are shown as a letter/number representing note and octave. Without prior musical knowledge you may find it hard to get anything of worth from it.\r\n\r\nThe sound quality itself is very good, the speaker handles the output with minimal distortion and many a long hour was happily spent with this program.\r\n\r\nA unit which is nicely made, looks and sounds good and is well worth considering.\r\n\r\nIt also works well with other peripherals, the Technology Research Disk drive unit functioned without problems and it was easy to convert the software supplied to disk. The ZXLprint III Centronics unit also sat at the back quite happily, and of course DK's own units, joystick interface etc. proved compatible.\r\n\r\nMAKE MUSIC\r\n\r\nis a program produced by the Buffer micro shop which works in conjunction with any Spectrum sound unit using the AY-3-8912 chip and attempts to emulate a three track recorder, similar to the BBC Music Processor program. It is quite successful although rather awkward to operate, the screen display is not as informative as the BBC, and envelope control is non existent. Good, but not as versatile as it could have been, and as far as I know, the only one of its type for the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nXOR from a company called Xorsoft and described by reviewer Clive Smith as \"one of the better ones\" and Music Maker from Malan are two programs which help you compose simple tunes with the inbuilt Beep.\r\n\r\nMusic Maker from Bellflower is an early attempt which didn't quite come up to scratch, editing and printer copies are virtually non-existent and there are irritating pauses when a new line is needed.\r\n\r\nSinclair's own offering is Musicmaster. When it came out I said that it probably pushed this aspect of Spectrum computing to the limit and it remains a top program in this field. This has two modes of entry, note names and keyboard simulated, editing is good, replay is fast and a stave printout is provided.\r\n\r\nAND FINALLY...\r\n\r\nfrom a small company (you may like to play \"spot the advert\" for their products) comes my favourite program so far!\r\n\r\nMUSIC TYPEWRITER from Romantic Robot, [redacted] is a very professional piece of programming, easy to use, excellent screen presentation, error trapping and helpful prompts. Fast replay, versatile editing, stave and note printouts, transposing to other keys, six octaves, treble and bass clefs, 23-255MM (metronome scale), menu driven and up to 16 pieces of music held in memory at one time.\r\n\r\nEven without an amp it sounds good.\r\n\r\nDo you get the impression I'm impressed?\r\n\r\nA keyboard overlay is provided and versions of the program are available for use with a sound generator chip and even with the Midi interface if you so require.\r\n\r\nIf you are interested in music and own a computer then get it. Cost £9.95.\r\n\r\nFor those of you who enjoy DIY then watch out for our Beep amp hardware project and some musical programs soon to be published in ZX Computing.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"115","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Ray Elder","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 11, May 1983","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1983-05-26","Editor":"Cyndy Miles","TotalPages":90,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"CHARACTER SET\r\n\r\nEditorial\r\nEditor: Cyndy Miles\r\nAssistant Editor: Geof Wheelwright\r\nProduction Editor: Keith Parish\r\nSub-Editors: Peter Worlock, John Lettice\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writers: Ralph Bancroft, Wendie Pearson\r\nSoftware Editor: Shirley Fawcett\r\nSystems Editor: Max Phillips\r\nHardware Editor: Richard King\r\nPeripherals Editor: Ian Scales\r\nListings Editor: Sandra Grandison\r\nEditor's Assistant: Harriet Arnold\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: Jimmy Egerton\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Floyd Sayers\r\nArt Assistant: Dolores Fairman\r\nPublishing Manager: Fiona Collier\r\nPublishing Assistant: Jane Green\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Mark Eisen\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Nic Jones\r\nSenior Sales Executive: Sue Hunter\r\nSales Executives: Robert Stallibrass, Matthew Parrot, Bettina Williams, Ian Whorley, Sarah Barron, Roxanna Johnston, Christian McCarthy\r\nProduction Manager: Eva Wroblewska\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Jenny Dunne\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Simon Maggs\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by\r\nVNU Business Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper\r\n\r\nCover photography by Ian McKinnell"},"MainText":"NAME: Music Maker\r\nAPPLICATION: Music composition program\r\nSYSTEM: 48K Spectrum\r\nPRICE: £5.75\r\nPUBLISHER: Bellflower Software [redacted]\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nOUTLETS: Mail Order\r\n\r\nA SOUND PURCHASE\r\n\r\nMany recent software releases have tried to make the most of home computers as music making machines. So, being somewhat musically inclined, I was interested to find out what Music Maker had to offer.\r\n\r\nOBJECTIVES\r\n\r\nThe aim of the exercise is to choose a musical key - and by using the notes within that key, create your own melody, which can be played back at various tempos.\r\n\r\nFIRST IMPRESSIONS\r\n\r\nThe program came in cassette form, with a fairly bland cover. Instructions on LOADing and how to use the program were on the reverse side.\r\n\r\nThe program proved easy to use, and I became familiar with it fairly quickly.\r\n\r\nIN PLAY\r\n\r\nAfter LOADing the tape the central area of the screen displays the range of musical keys available from C to D flat. Next to each key is the number of sharp and flats.\r\n\r\nI chose Eb by usingthe K key, which moved sequentially through the list of keys.\r\n\r\nNext on the musical agenda was a selection of time signature. The number of beats per bar - 2, 3, 4 or 6 - is selected by using the B key. The value of the note - 2, 4, and 8 - is selected with the V key.\r\n\r\nThe next step is simplicity itself. After pressing the obligatory K key to continue, you selected the tempo, which varies from 38 to 188 beats per bar, by using the keys 0-9.\r\n\r\nThen things really began to take shape. After I hit the K key, the screen greeted me with a colourful display of all the notes in Eb.\r\n\r\nRest can be entered simply by pressing R instead of selecting a note.\r\n\r\nA maximum of 200 notes can be stored and there's a counter to display the number of notes used. And when a bar is filled a new bar line is drawn automatically.\r\n\r\nThere's also a nice facility provided to either shorten or lengthen a note's duration by using the right and left arrow keys.\r\n\r\nSelected notes are played back as they appear on the screen. The screen then displays a menu option to replay the melody, change its speed, add more notes to the melody. SAVE it on tape or create a new practice.\r\n\r\nVERDICT\r\n\r\nI found Music Maker both entertaining and instructive. There is no provision to produce chords, because the Spectrum doesn't have a three channel sound chip. But overall, it's a good program that is well worth a listen.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"51","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Trevor Jones","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Lasting Appeal","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Playability","Score":"4/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Use Of Machine","Score":"3/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Value For Money","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]