One thing I've noticed about Activision software is that in spite of its high price, it's slick and generally to a very high standard.

This package reinforces this view. It provides a complete environment for the creation of music. Whilst some knowledge of music theory is necessary for' first class results, a music "paintbox" is provided for the novice.

In either of the two operation modes, you may use anyone of IS. sounds, each with an identifying colour. These sounds are created by a sound engineering screen which offers complete. control of all sound parameters. The screen depicts an instrument panel with sliders for the adjustment of the sound parameters. To give a final polish to your composition, you can vary the sounds whilst the tune is playing.

The main composer section allows the creation of sound by placing notes on two musical staves which scroll across the screen. The system works like the musical analogue of a word processor allowing the copying, editing and manipulation of the score. The full range of note types are supported and different sounds can be identified by the different colours of the notes. At any time you can save your composition and voice settings or get a hard copy of the score on your printer.

The music paint box functions<?ns in a similar manner but with less emphasis on musical theory. In all modes, icons are used with a joystick controlled pointer for the selection of options.

This package bristles with features and is really quite amazing...

R.W.