The AY-3-8910 chip on the 128K Spectrum was a far cry from the original beeper that resided within the 48K. With its ability to produce excellent melodies, it gave the computer even more of a soul. Games like Treasure Island Dizzy, Cybernoid and Target Renegade wouldn't have been the same without their respective soundtracks. Musicians such as Tim Follin and David Whittaker became synonymous with the computer music scene and they created some influential and downright exceptional tunes.

It has taken many years for production software to be produced that is intuitive for the average user. This has arrived in the form of Next Daw, the ultimate ZX Spectrum music tool. Perhaps now, those euphonies of the sound generation chip are within the grasp of any user.

Creating such audible delights for the Spectrum was a mere pipe dream for many. The industry standard method of producing something of substance was to use a music tracker, which wasn't the most user friendly type of software out there. Using this was akin to being a programmer rather than being a musician. Another option was to simply program the Spectrum without any form of interface. This left many a budding musician alienated from the scene, locked out from creating the potential wonders that rattled inside their brains.

This is where Next Daw comes into play. Gari Biasillo of Target Renegade fame has finally given chip tune fans the perfect tool for creating music on the Spectrum Next. DAW software (Digital Audio Workstation) offers a more intuitive and GUI based method to create compositions in. To add to this, the software utilises all 9 channels of the new AY structure in the Next, instead of the mere three that sat within the 128K.

Next Daw is broken into various sections within the interface. There is the sound patch editor, where all the warbles, blips and bleeps are generated. It takes a little time to understand all the dials and arpeggiators within here. But experimentation is the key, and soon, the Next will be outputting familiar tones that made the AY so recognisable and iconic. The piano roll editor is where the musician comes out in the 'player'. Here tones are assigned from the sound patch editor into the track being used for the virtual piano.

Notes are laid down adjacent to their corresponding ivories. They can be lengthened or shortened accordingly and easily be moved to another note if need be. These can be played in real-time and with or without any accompanying tracks that have already been created. These become the loops that are used as the bricks of the tune.

Finally, there is the song arranger editor, which is the easiest part of the software. Here, the individual tracks that have been created in the piano roll editor can be laid down in whatever order and sequence the musician so desires. The overall song structure is determined here. It's a simply case of placing the particular loop that was created and the entire composition can be finalised. Once completed, the tune can be exported for use in a game or saved as a standard file that Next Daw recognises.

Being familiar with PC Daw software, it was easy to hit the ground running using this brilliant package. It acts as it should, and within moments, I was creating some very hummable melodies.

The sound patch editor is very powerful; it is the hardest component to get to grips with, but there are some really good tutorials on YouTube of how to fully utilise it. I never managed to get my head around tracker software, I found it counter-intuitive. With Daw, on the other hand, making Spectrum music has never been so easy.

You don't need to be a virtuoso musician. Anyone can use this and create something with minimum effort. Having the nine channels is also a blessing; not being restricted to a few instruments is like being audibly unshackled.

It may still seem confusing for those who have had zero experience at all in music creation. The only real dislike I have is that the corresponding key on the piano doesn't light up when placing down a note. This is standard in most Daw software. I would also have liked a feature that supported the Raspberry Pi accelerator in the upcoming full run of the Next. Rendering the composition to an MP3 would be a great feature too. Who knows, that may be a thing for ZX Next Daw in the future?

Masterfully crafted by a very talented musician, Daw provides the most accessible and fun way to craft music for the Spectrum Next. It is one of the greatest utilities ever written. It's up there on the pedestal with The Quill, The Artist and PAW.