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-
-
-
- Lisa,
-
- Here you go - 900 words for Q&A including extra intro and ego
- boxes. Isn't there any way in which the photographs can be
- 'lost', as I certainly didn't get any valentine cards...
-
-
-
- Q&A
-
- The Q&A Team sift through the detritus of reader's letters
- to bring you the fractious, facetious and downright
- factitious facts.
-
-
-
- John Kennedy
-
- Joined to a 68040 processor at birth due to a tragic
- accident with a personal organiser, what John doesn't know
- about the Amiga can fill a matchbox.
-
-
- Mat Broomfield
-
-
- What Mat doesn't know about matchboxes can fill an Amiga,
- which is all very well but this isn't a magazine about
- matchboxes...
-
-
-
- Icon: Music
- Title: NUTTY OVER NOTATION
-
-
- I'm getting into music on the Amiga, and I'm especially
- interested in the MIDI side of things. I've worked out that
- I need a MIDI sequencer program, but I'm afraid that they'll
- all be too complicated. I can read proper musical notation,
- so I really need a program that uses this. Am I asking too
- much?
-
- Adam Priestly, Liverpool.
-
-
- Of course you're not asking too much - the Amiga capable of
- almost everything. The best music sequencing program
- available (at the time of writing) is without doubt Bars and
- Pipes Pro. In fact, Bars and Pipes has recently won awards
- for being the best sequencer on ANY computer, so I'm not
- alone in my thinking.
-
- Like any powerful program it will take time to learn, but
- when you master Bars and Pipes you'll be set up, and no
- matter how complicated your MIDI set-up it will keep pace.
-
- Contrary to what I may have indicated in the past, one of
- the most powerful features (and one of the best hidden in
- the menus) is the musical notation section. Instead of the
- usual coloured blob approach, real notes on real staves can
- be displayed. You can also use guitar notation, chords, a
- mixture of notes and blobs (good for drum parts) and even
- add lyrics.
-
- The notation method used can vary from track to track, so
- your keyboard parts can use a piano roll system and guitar
- parts can use proper guitar tabulator.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Icon: Comms? Modems? Help!
- Title: COMMS CONUNDRUM
-
- Is it possible to use an external MODEM intended for use
- with a PC with my Amiga A1200, and then simply use NComm?
-
- The reason I am asking is that the PC 14,400 baud MODEMs
- seem to be considerably cheaper than the ones advertised for
- the Amiga.
-
- J.S Smith, Wincobank, Sheffield.
-
-
- The Amiga supports the same RS232 standard serial port as
- the PC, so any external MODEM will work fine. No MODEM is
- manufactured especially for use with Amiga or the PC - they
- are designed to work with RS232. The exceptions to this rule
- are the internal MODEMs common in the PC world. These cards
- will only in a PC (without going down the route of
- bridgeboards and PC emulators). NComm is an excellent choice
- of software (but consider Term as well) and will work with
- any comms hardware.
-
- As far as pricing goes, I've been looking around myself and
- I've found that after the inclusion of VAT and postage
- (which PC magazine adverts always leave off) the prices are
- almost identical.
-
- Incidentally, the 14,400 baud MODEM which seems to work best
- with the Amiga is the US Robotics Sportster, although the
- Supra v32.bis comes a close second. Both are available from
- many advertisers in this magazine.
-
- For the Dublin reader who wrote, calling a BBS is the same
- as making any other telephone call and is charged at exactly
- the same rate. If you use your Amiga and MODEM to log-in to
- a board in Manchester, it will appear on your telephone bill
- exactly as if you had dialled the number of a friend there
- and had a chat.
-
-
-
- Icon: Monitor
- Title: BUY A PC? NEVER!
-
- I have an A500 Plus and until now it has been great. I have
- it connected to a colour portable TV, but I have a problem:
- for some unknown reason there is a great deal of
- interference when I boot up. I can just about make out the
- boot-up screen.
-
- I have called out the repair man to check the TV, but the
- interference is still there. Could it be the lead that
- connects the A520 modulator to the TV?
-
- When I asked my local dealer he suggested I sell the Amiga
- and buy a PC. No way! I have had my Amiga 2 years this month
- and think it's great.
-
- G. Connor, South Elmsall, West Yorkshire
-
-
- Buy a PC? Bit of a drastic way to solve your video problems.
- Your local dealer wouldn't happen to sell PCs would he?
-
- The first thing to do is check your Amiga with a different
- TV. Pop round to your mate's house and plug it in. If it all
- works ok, get that repair man round again.
-
- It is possible that the lead is getting old, but replacing
- it shouldn't be hard. All you need is a standard shielded RF
- cable. You'll find many older home computers and nearly all
- game consoles use an identical lead, so if your local shop
- doesn't have one try any of the advertisers in CU.
-
- If the lead proves to be ok, then I'm afraid the error may
- lie with your modulator and it should be replaced. Silica
- Systems are advertising a replacement for £29, and guess
- what: it comes with a new lead too!
-