This month news of a new BBC micro MIDI interface

Inpulse Outpost

In what seems to be part of a general resurgence of interest by British manufacturers in electronic musical instruments, Allen and Heath Brennel, long well-known for their mixing desks and tape recorders, have announced the Inpulse One Digital Drum Computer. The Inpulse One is housed in an aluminium flight case and features eight dynamic response drum pads. The unit is similar in appearance to the MPC Drum Computer and is programmable in either step-time or real-time. The Inpulse, however, is a more up-market machine and provides 16 digitally sampled drum sounds, eight internal and eight reloadable for AHB's expanding cassette software library.

The machine features an internal capacity of 15 songs, composed of up to 999 bars, derived from up to 99 patterns and has a cassette dump facility. Other features include a programmable stereo mix, individual output and trigger inputs for each drum pad and a 40-way computer expansion port, which will eventually let the Inpulse One become part of a complete computer music system. SMPTE code is incorporated within the Inpulse and this means it is no longer necessary to rewind tape machines to the beginning of songs or reels in order for the drum machine to keep in sync. AHB are claiming this development as a world first.

Allen and Heath Brennel have decided to concentrate on the upper-end of the market and this is reflected in the Inpulse One's hefty price tag of £1,995 plus VAT, which puts the unit in direct competition with the Linn Drum. We will be reviewing the machine in-depth in a future issue of ES&CM.

Contact: Allen and Heath Brennel, (Contact Details).

Springs And Things

The OSCar, probably the best mono synth on the market — certainly the most expensive — has recently undergone a number of modifications. The main change is that the performance wheels are now sprung in response to feedback. The panel graphics have also been made clearer and the waveform building facility improved. Ultravox, who were so impressed with the OSCar that they bought three, suggested a faster clock-out rate for the external trigger and this is now standard on all the latest models. MIDI is unlikely to be added to OSCar as OSC feel that the onboard sequencer has such a large capacity that it is not really necessary. However, a retro-fit is a possibility if there is sufficient demand. The OSCar's price remains unchanged at £499.

Contact: Oxford Synthesizer Company, (Contact Details).

Matrix Data

Yet another British product is the new Time Matrix digital delay from Electrospace Developments. This unit is an eight-tap system with 16kHz audio bandwidth at delay times of up to 1.636 seconds. In addition it has a further eight taps for digital reverberation and echo effects.

In the delay mode eight taps are available, each with a display showing the delay times and analogue level controls. The stereo switching system (left/right/both) can be used to produce a wide stereo field on the delayed signal by introducing a time difference between left and right. All the taps can be programmed individually and the unit has 80 delay memories which can be addressed via a thumbwheel switch (20 of these are programmed at the factory).

One of the interesting features of the Time Matrix is its ability to offset any delay cluster by adding or subtracting time, using the 'time slide' system — the amount of the offset is shown in the time slide/echo display (up to ±818m Sec).

For 'time warp' effects auto time slide can be used. This is an additional offset, which can be programmed to move automatically, the rate of change and limits being fully selectable. The Time Matrix does not use an oscillator for this movement; the machines internal memory system offsets the delay taps. The effects therefore range from very slow multi-tap phasing up to heavy guitar-tremolo arm effects, with available fluctuating pitch transposition of up to ±1 octave.

The unit uses one of the reverb taps for echo. The delay echo time is programmed using the time slide/echo display and up/down switching system; the decay time is set using the feedback control. The signal is fed to the outputs in the same way as in the reverb mode.

The Time Matrix has a digital level meter, input level control and electronically balanced XLR inputs and outputs. It also has a bypass switch with remote footswitch also available.

Contact: Electrospace Developments Ltd, (Contact Details).

Aunty MIDI

Electromusic Research, a new British company, has produced the first MIDI package for the BBC B Micro. The EMR interface unit connects the BBC to any MIDI compatible instrument and it is claimed, allows full MIDI control to and from the computer by means of EMR's 'Softmusic' software which is available on cassette or disk. Besides this EMR have been working on a number of other programs for the BBC and the first of these is the Miditrack. This is a manual (step) input program that enables music composition on up to six tracks, with full memory assignment of 7500 notes for the number of tracks selected.

Miditrack will store details of note pitch, dynamics, length and style as well as voice change and other parameters. Traditional note input is entered from the BBC computer keyboard in order to avoid coding unfamiliar to the musician. Full on screen editing features are included.

Completed compositions may be saved or recalled on disk or cassette. Any combination may be selected to control up to six MIDI instruments, with pulse count display and speed change during playback. The MIDI Interface (complete with microconnection cable) is available price £64.95 and the Miditrack is £55. The price of both bought together is £109.95.

Contact: Electromusic Research, (Contact Details).

Super 'Sonic

Just arrived in the shops is the Panasonic RQ-8100 Program Recorder, which features remote jack, phase selector, headphone jack, one-touch recording, follow-up recording, auto-stop, pause, tape counter, tone control and built-in condenser mic. The RQ has been designed with the emphasis on ease and simplicity of use and weighs in at 600g (without batteries). The RRP of the unit is £44.50.

Contact: Panasonic UK Limited, (Contact Details).