Just recently, the music scene for the Beeb has been hotting up with the release of numerous books, a couple of keyboards, synthesizers and lots of firmware and software. What makes this latest offering from Fsoft special is its price. It costs only £9.00.

The package consists of two sections: the sound and the player. The sound is basically an envelope designer in which the amplitude and the pitch are represented graphically. The parameters may be changed and the effects heard immediately. You can store 16 envelopes in memory at once which may be played on the keyboard. The sound is very easy to use and is as good as any other similar program on the market.

The player is a rather sophisticated sequencer. The BBC keyboard behaves as the music keyboard and up to three notes may be played at once. By selecting record mode, you can store away a tune in real time and the notes are printed on a scrolling stave at the top part of the screen.

A metronome may be simulated for timing but if you do make a mistake, you can edit the program using a simple line editor. Having to use the Beeb's keyboard to play the music, mistakes are bound to be made and unfortunately, the editor is fiddly and time consuming.

Overall, the package is easy to use and represents remarkable value for money. If only editing could be done graphically (like the rival music system by Island Logic) as well as in real time, then this package would be unbeatable.

S.S.