27 Dec
2025
27 Dec
'25
12:06 p.m.
Will Godfrey <willgodfrey(a)musically.me.uk> writes:
very many years ago there was AMPLE written for the
BBC computer Music
500 - 5000 add-on modules. Unfortunately I think it was tied
specifically to that hardware, and has long since disappeared.
AMPLE and the other Music 500 software is very usable in emulation -
most of the decent BBC emulators (B-Em, BeebEm, MAME) have an
implementation of the Music 500 hardware.
It's a clever design, a microcoded wavetable synth built with very
minimal hardware using a logarithmic sample representation:
http://www.colinfraser.com/m5000/m5-eti.htm
From a more modern perspective, it's a pity that it doesn't have filters
and the wavetables are very small, but the large number of channels and
support for stereo panning can make for some pretty impressive results
in the hands of a skilled user...
--
Adam Sampson <ats(a)offog.org> <http://offog.org/>