Date   : Wed, 02 Aug 2006 09:59:28 +0100
From   : Richard Kilpatrick <oldcomputers@...>
Subject: Re: Hybrid Music - determined attempt!

On 2 Aug 2006, at 09:41, Dave Moore wrote:

>> What is the Music 6000, was it ever released? It says "Music Sensor"
>> in the few posts I find mentioning it.
>
> Yes, the 6000 was indeed released. I have a couple of units,  
> together with a
> number of the software packs.

Oh, that's pretty interesting actually. I know that article looks at  
it from a teaching perspective, but that's a good performance tool in  

theory.... everything can be programmed.

So now I have to add that I would like to get my hands on one of  
these once the rest of the system is behaving - at this rate I'll  
have to dedicate a whole article to the Hybrid system!

> I've also got a few brochures for various Hybrid products e.g.  
> M2000, M3000,
> M4000, Ample Nucleus, Amplinex, Universal Software Pack, Music  
> Publisher etc.
> If you think these would be of use for your project, let me know  
> and I'll sort
> out some scans.

I'm not sure at present - space in the magazine I'm targeting (they  
requested the article, but it isn't commissioned - I've written for  
them in the past) will no doubt be limited. My last article ran to  
4,000+ words and 4 pages; this one covers 4 computer systems (I'm  
seriously considering dropping the Yamaha CX5M and Apple IIgs from  
the article, as the Hybrid is complex, and the Alpha Syntauri Apple- 
based synthesizer was the first of the breed so needs to be covered  
correcly).

One of the points I'm making in the article is the overall age and  
time of development of the Hybrid - that it was designed in 1984 (BBC  

B current and 8-bit computers dominant) as a limited device, but took  

until 1987 (16-bit computers dominant) to become the fully-featured  
system; by which time Acorn were going to release or had released the  

32-bit Archimedes, the BBC B was gone, and the Master was always  
painfully overpriced for the home user (of course, by the time the ST/ 

Amiga arrived, it was overpriced and technically obsolete, almost  
irrelevant to the home computing market - great as it was, if I'm  
remembering rightly in 1990 they were still listed at over £600).  
This, and the rather cerebral nature of the software, must have  
seriously limited the system's potential market.

The Music 6000 does seem to indicate that they saw the system as an  
educational tool, which is a shame. I haven't heard my present setup,  

but the old one I had sounded pretty impressive.

I suppose I should cover that sequencer software Vince Clark used/ 
uses, too...

Richard

-- 
Tasty Other - Because Far Too Much in Life Makes Sense
Music for download - coming soon (RIP MP3.com)
G.A.S. http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/music/
Platform: PowerMac G5 2.0GHz Dual, 20" LCD, Logic, Hammerfall.