A well packaged comprehensive system is offered contained in a video-style vinyl box. There are two discs, one containing the system operators and the other a 'song and sound library'. You also get a manual which, over 75 pages, explains in considerable detail the operation of the system and finally some cut out strips to help with the keyboard commands.

The quality of the product is evident throughout. I found that everything worked as it should, smoothly and with a minimum of fuss after a short period of familiarisation. Full marks for user-friendliness. This was also largely due to the use of icons and other appropriately placed graphics.

The "Quick Guide To The Music System" was idiot-proof (I should know!) and allowed you to sample all the main features very rapidly. The writer adopts a light-hearted approach with occasional flashes of wit (like the explanation of icons - "we don't mean Russian religious artifacts, but easy-to-remember symbols").

On powering up you enter the Control Screen which gives you access to all the facilities. There are five main areas each with their own routes and jobs.

The first of these is the Editor. This, if you are composing is your equivalent of an assembler. The range is impressive allowing four octaves on the music staves and placed in any key with the facility to transpose into any other key. Your input can be edited and displayed in classic notation. Tempos range from 30 to 200 crotchet beats per minute. All notes are entered directly on the staves with one keypress.

The Synthesiser allows fifteen sound shapes to be saved as 'music envelopes'. The sound is made up by defining 19 parameters and the creation can be heard immediately. A frequency and amplitude graph is an additional feature which can also be used to update the envelope parameters. Extensive use of icons make this section easier than it seems.

The Keyboard gives you an alternative method of composition. With graphic displays you can try out a tune with the sounds created by the Synthesiser. Notes appear on-screen as you depress a key in position on the screen keyboard. This was a marvellous opportunity to test all sorts of tunes with the ability to store pieces of a multi-track on-screen recorder.

The Linker is, as the name suggests, a section allowing up to ten files to be joined, and played back as one piece. Other facilities make this a versatile option.

The final section is the Printout which I wasn't able to try out. The manual says it's compatible with Epson RX, FX and Star Delta series dot matrix printers.

There are many additional features which allow a great flexibility in composing and playing with sounds. The utilities allow easy storage and transfer from one section to another. Three further programs allow you to copy the Song and Sound Library from 40 track disc to 80 track disc. You can copy music files from disk to cassette and vice versa and can extract envelope files from music files.

There is all this plus the ability to listen to some pre-recorded examples to inspire you to greater things. It was an easy program to use, versatile in its application allowing a child to experiment and a composer to give free range to his imagination. At this price it is highly commended.

M.P.