RITTOR READING

Along with a welter of new software from Rittor Music comes a new book title — the 'Digital X Book' which covers the complete range of Yamaha X Series instruments (except the newer DX27 and DX100), including RX rhythm machines, QX Sequencers, CX5 Computer, TX 816, KX88 and so on. The book also contains voicing charts, MIDI data and advice on how to connect all this electronic wizardry together. First published by Rittor Music Inc. in Japan, the Digital X Book is now being distributed by Music Sales and should be available from any music shop.

Back with Rittor's highly regarded Passport software, a new addition is the Master Tracks 16 Channel sequencer featuring real-time, step-time and song mode sequencing in one programme. An integral part of Passport's 'MIDI Pro' software series, it's compatible with MIDI/4 Plus, MIDI/8 Plus and the full range of Passport printing software. According to Rittor, 'when you use Polywriter and Polywriter Utilities, you can take amazingly accurate sequences that you've edited in the 'Quickstep' editor of Master Tracks, transcribe it into notation, edit the arrangement further, add lyrics and print out hard copy.' RRP is £119.95. Also on the way are two new 67 voice ROM cartridges from Rittor's top Japanese DX 'sound creators' (Messrs. Ubekata and Fukuda). Retail prices of these are £49.95 each but IT readers can get a demo tape of the sounds by sending 60p to Rittor at the address below.

Finally, Passport have now developed a MIDI interface for the venerable Apple IIC, and all their Passport software is now available to users of that machine. A MIDI interface (with tape sync.) for the Commodore 64/128 will also soon be on the market, we understand, selling for RRP £149.99.

More details on all Rittor's products can be obtained from Rittor Music Europe Ltd., (Contact Details).

EASTER EXTRA

There's hardly room to squeeze this one into this issue's overcrowded NewsXtra (and we'll be telling you more next month), but Easter weekend saw what was surely the bass playing event of the decade — a two-day seminar organised by the Bass Centre, Britain's leading bass specialists, at London's Nomis rehearsal complex.

Dozens of young players signed up to take part in this mixture of small tutorial groups, discussions, live demonstration sessions and product demos featuring top players including John Entwistle, Jonas Hellborg, Nick Beggs, Dean Garcia, Colin Hodgkinson, Neil Murray, Pino Palladino and others!

Unfortunately there isn't the room to go into greater detail just now, but — thankfully! — the Bass Weekend is destined to become an annual event and we'll be letting you know in plenty of time what next year's plans are. Meanwhile, suffice it to say that the weekend provided some of the finest tutorial and entertainment value ever offered to British bass players, and that we'll be telling you more in our next issue!

AUDIO LOGIC ADD 2

Latest units from US makers Audio Logic are the X324 Stereo Crossover and the MT66 Stereo Compressor. Starting with the X324 X-Over, this unit can be employed either as a stereo 3-way or mono 4-way type and offers balanced inputs and outputs with phase inversion on all six outputs, simultaneously allowing summed output of low frequencies from both sides, enabling a mono sub-woofer connection in stereo installations. Secure filtering rolls-off frequencies at crossover points, ensuring driver protection, and a front panel mounted electronic switch allows a 2 pole high pass filter at 40Hz to be switched in. Price of the X324 (inc. VAT) is £363.81.

Audio Logic's MT66 stereo compressor/limiter offers dynamic range compression from 1::1 to infinity::1 and has its own noise gate. A front panel 'link' switch joins the two compressors for stereo tracking, and a 5 LED bar graph shows gain reduction. Accepting both balanced and unbalanced ins and outs, the MT66 also has side chain access, useful in changing compression characteristics or to allow the unit to function as a 'de-esser'. Price of the MT66 is £289.00 inc. VAT.

More data from Sound Technology at (Contact Details)

E.C. SAYS 'BACK TO SCHOOL' WITH FENDER

It's got to be the chance of a lifetime — a year's free course at the renowned Hollywood Guitar Institute of Technology in the USA, courtesy of Eric Clapton and Fender! Somewhere out there are two talented players (one for the US, the other from the rest of the world, aged 17-22 and either male or female) who are going to be sponsored under the scheme, and who will be studying under such luminaries as Tommy Tedesco, Robben Ford, Joe Diorio, Tim Bogert and Jeff Berlin, with 'guest lecturers' including Eddie Van Halen, Pat Metheny, Steve Morse, Al di Meola and more.

The Fender/G.I.T. scheme provides for the full cost of a year's tuition, commencing in September 1986, plus the cost of round-trip transport, housing and meal allowances — and that's worth over £12,000!. To apply for a scholarship, players should contact their local Fender dealers for application forms. Entrants will have to fill in the form and then submit a cassette tape with no more than 2-3 minutes of playing, demonstrating their ability in one of several chosen categories which include Rock, Jazz, Country, Fusion or Blues. The tape can either be you playing solo or with a band but if you do submit a band tape you must say who else is playing, and what instruments they're using. Obviously, your playing must be easily identifiable!

All entries to the scholarship competition must be received no later than May 1st. and the winners will be announced during the Chicago NAMM show which runs from June 14-17th. In addition to the scholarship awards, the best four entrants will also receive a Vintage re-issue Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster and a Stage Lead 2x12" combo (or their equivalent choice of Fender gear to the value of £1,000)!

Eric Clapton will help in judging the winning entries, and Fender hope he will be present for the graduation awards in person!

More info from your local Fender dealer or, direct from Arbiter Musical Instruments Ltd., (Contact Details).

Albion Launch 'Stage Bass' Strings

New from fast-growing British string makers Albion is their 'Stage Series' of nickel wound bass strings. Albion, whose excellent acoustic Phosphor Bronze set we reviewed in Issue 7, have just added four gauges of these Stage Series strings to their existing Studio and Slap ranges. They're available in 38-92, 42-96, 46-105 and 50-110 thicknesses and are said by Albion to give a 'good live sound'. RRP is to be just £12.50 per set.

At the same time, players of both 5-string and 8-string basses will be delighted to hear that Albion also have sets on offer for these types too. Interestingly, their 8-string bass set is available with a wound octave (top) G, which should help minimise the 'clang' sometimes found when plain top strings are used on these instruments.

Also new to the Albion range are 'hybrid' sets of guitar strings, such as 'light top/heavy bottom' sets.

Finally, a thousand apologies to Albion for our lunatic omission of them from Issue 8's report of the Guitar Weekend. No excuses have been accepted, because Albion made a major impact with their superb handmade strings. Needless to say, IT Cat feeding duties have been assigned to the guilty parties — the bandages should be off by next month!

More info, from Albion Music Strings (UK) Ltd., (Contact Details).

'Thanks, Hank' say Fender

Imagine a gathering including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Dave Gilmour and Stuart Adamson! The occasion? No, not the world's first heavyweight guitar championships, but a combined tribute on behalf of these stars and Fender to the man who started so many of us on the guitar playing road with his own Strat sounds — Mr Hank Marvin.

Hank was greeted by this all-star team to celebrate the arrival in the UK of the first post-CBS Stratocaster to reach these shores following the management buy-out of Fender last year (see IT Issue 6 for more details) and was doubly honoured as the guitar (a gold plated pink Strat) was presented to him in recognition of what the great man has done for both guitar players in general and Fender as a maker. For the record. Hank's guitar is a '57 vintage, serial no. 0002 with a lacquer finish, Curly Maple neck, in Fiesta Red (which, of course, fades down to the famous Salmon Pink) and carries 22 carat gold plated hardware, complete with a an inscription on the neck, reading 'To Hank Marvin, with best wishes, from all your friends at Fender'.

Hank was the first man in Britain to get his hands on a Strat, back in 1959 when he acquired a pre-CBS salmon pink model. He'd heard that legendary session player James Burton used one, but was puzzled when he found that he couldn't get Burton's definitive sound — which wasn't surprising really, as Burton used a Tele! Hank's loss was Bruce Welch's gain, however, as he took the guitar over and still has it! According to Hank 'Bruce is not going to get his hands on this one!'.

Joining the throng of well-wishers at the presentation were Fender President Bill Schultz and Vice President Dan Smith, and we learned some interesting news from them which can be added to our previous findings on the revitalised Fender company's progress. Apparently, a custom workshop has now been established in the States specifically to cater for individual customers' requirements, and one of their first jobs is to be a project to recreate 'Blackie', Eric Clapton's legendary Strat, which is now suffering the inevitable wear and tear of having been E.C.'s main guitar for the past decade. Even better news is that production of US-made Fenders has now begun, and that US manufactured Strats will soon be available in the UK, at prices ranging upwards from £713.45 inc. VAT. Of course, the lower cost (Japanese made) Fenders will be continuing as before, with new additions being scheduled. Congratulations to all concerned from the envious mob at IT!

More info on Fender from Arbiter Musical Instruments Ltd., (Contact Details).

Vesta-Fire Winner in Culture Shock!

Out with your poison pen calligraphy kits, IT readers, because the winner of Issue 7's remarkable giveaway competition with over £340's worth of fabulous VESTA FIRE effects pedals up for grabs has been chosen and is, by the time you read this, enjoying his fantastic prizes!

Our winner was guitar player Paul Taylor of Warminster, Wilts. — a reader who has been with us since Issue 1 and who said (as all our winners seem to!) 'But I've never won anything before in my life!' when we told him the good news! Paul's band, Culture Shock, has, he tells us, taken him almost two years to perfect and will soon be on the road, with gigs lined up as far afield as Leeds and London. Paul also told us that, as Culture Shock were reequipping at the time we contacted him with the good news, the timing couldn't haven't been better — and he plans to use every one of his seven free Vesta Fire pedals with the band, no doubt to great effect (ho ho!).

Anyway, congratulations to Paul, and the best of luck to Culture Shock. For those readers still puzzling over the answers to this competition, here they are.

1 — Vesta Fire's 'Life Saver' pedal is a compressor unit (Answer C).
2 — Vesta Fire pedals have silent FET switching (Answer True).
3 — The Vesta Fire D-1X Digital delay does have LED overload indicators (Answer True).
4 — Vesta Fire do manufacture rack-mounted effects (Answer True).
5 — When fitted with the optional D1 unit (not the LF-1, as we misprinted it — sorry!), the Vesta Fire D-1X can produce flanging effects (Answer True).

So now you know! Don't forget — entry to both of this issue's competitions is absolutely free, so get your spare brain cells back from the pawnbrokers and get cracking. Who knows, this month it could be your turn to win a great IN TUNE freebie!

KILLING ZON

Reckoned to be a 'killer' bass guitar, the US-made ZON Legacy is now available from London's Bass Centre. One of America's hottest names, Zon basses are are made by Joe Zon, who operates out of Buffalo, New York. His 'Legacy' model features a slim, heel-less 2-octave graphite neck and contoured Maple and Alder body. Custom Bartolini pickups are used on both single and twin pickupped Legacies. They're single coil types but have integral second coils for hum-cancelling. The one-pickup Zon features semi-parametric Eq. with a single tone pot which varies both bandwidth and boost, as well as a 3-way switch to select frequency response. The twin pickup legacy, meanwhile, uses a built-in bass boost system with individual volume and tone pots per pickup plus a master selector switch. Schaller hardware, straplocks and brass brass nuts are standard on both models. Recent converts have included John Wetton (Asia) and John Giblin (Simple Minds) — we also understand that Mark King has added one to his collection.

Price of the single pickup Legacy is £1100, while the twin pickupped model sells for £1250. Both come with well padded hard cases by the way.

More from Quark Ltd. at (Contact Details).

UNION ROCKS

We've just heard that the Musicians' Union 'Powerhouse' Rock workshop team took to the road this month, with workshops being held at Manchester University (April 21st), Newcastle's Riverside Club (22nd), Sheffield Polytechnic (23rd) and Birmingham's Portland Club (24th). Joining forces with the M.U. team (Ted McKenna-drums, Tommy Eyre-keyboards, Tim Stone-guitar and Robbie Burns—bass) were leading gear manufacturers Roland, Sabian, Washburn, Session, Trace Elliot, Toa and Scintilla Lighting, and they plan to demonstrate what can be done with such illustrious gear as well as letting you in on the secrets of the quintet's considerable musical prowess works a treat, we gather.

The M.U. Workshops (a few of which you may just catch by the time this issue lands on your doormat) lasts almost 3 hours and has a ticket price of just £2 (for non-members) with Union members gaining entrance for free. Each event starts at 8pm and tickets can be obtained on the door.

If you have missed these events, don't despair — a second round of this mixture of playing tips, talks and demos is planned for this Autumn, and you can get details of the venues direct from the tour organiser, Odile Noel at (Contact Details). If you do want to contact Odile, by the way, please send an SAE to ensure a reply.

ECCLESHALL HEADS WEST

Yet another leading British guitar and bass maker is moving to glorious Devon — Chris Eccleshall. Chris is basing himself at a new address in Totnes, although he intends to keep' his present Ealing premises, mainly so that he can look after his many London-based customers.

Readers wanting to get in contact with the great man, however, should note that his new HQ is at (Contact Details).

ART OF NOISE?

Two new products from distributors MTR sound like good news for recording fans. The first is the Vesta Fire MR10, a 4-track minirecorder which looks like challenging such established successes as the Tascam Porta One and Fostex X-15. Switchable DBX noise reduction, 10 inputs (including twin RIAA types for turntable feeds), pitch control, 1⅞ i.p.s. operating speed, 'phone monitoring, four Vu meters and optional remote punch in/out foot-switch all combine to make this machine look a great buy for the RRP of £285 inc. VAT.

Also new is MTR's own UK-made DNG-One Dual Noise Gate. Claimed to be able to tackle any established pro unit, the MTR's features include internal/external triggering, Lo and Hi filters (25Hz-3.6kHz & 200Hz-34kHz), 10 microseconds attack time, max hold of 14 secs, up to 32 secs, decay, adjustable floor from -70dB to -1dB, easy set-up through monitor switch and stereo linking. The RRP of this unit is £274 inc. VAT.

More info from MTR Ltd. at (Contact Details).

'Rent-a-Lick' from Hotlicks Video

Already established with their excellent audio teaching cassettes, Hotlicks have now branched into video tapes — and the good news is that you don't have to buy them; they can be rented for just £5 a week from dealers nationwide.

The first videos in the new Hotlicks series (comprising one hour tuition sessions) include a film version of the superb John Entwistle bass 'master class' reviewed in issue 6. Other tapes available in the scheme are by Hotlicks' founder, the accomplished Mr Arlen Roth, and include such titles as Learning Rock & Heavy Metal Guitar, Advanced Rock & Lead Guitar, Hot Country Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar and Chicago Blues Guitar. See this issue's review for more details!

Digital Sampler joins Tanrak System

Available in kit or ready to use form, Tantek's Tanrak system of modular rack effects has been growing in popularity since its launch just over a year ago. Now the range of modules available has been expanded to 15 with the introduction of a new Digital Sampler/Delay priced at £219.95 (in kit form) or ready built for £299.95. Specs quoted by the makers include a 15 kHz bandwidth on samples up to 1.4 secs, while a reduced bandwidth via the trim control allows up to 8 sec. operation. Dynamic range is given as 86dB via a built-in limiter, extending the unit's natural range of 76dB. Features include auto or manual sample record triggering full sample editing pushbutton single or loop play of samples, wide range CV pitch control input (allowing mono synths to 'play' samples above and below sampled pitch), velocity sensitive dynamics (allowing sampling play triggered from drum pads), sample overdubbing limiting and editing not to mention variable decay used for 'cleaning-up") abruptly ending samples.

Future expansion of the new module is catered for by the inclusion of an expansion socket. A memory expansion module is already being planned for this, the makers say, which will considerably expand the sample/delay time.

The Tanrak system comprises 19" rack mountable or free standing plug-in modules with a DC power supply. Designed mainly for home or semi-pro studios, the Tanrak range now includes Power Unit, Pro Gate, Comp/Lim 2, Dynamic Noise Filter 21, Parametric Equaliser, Multi Delay, Modulation Oscillator, Input Module, Output Module, 'Psychoacoustic Enhancer', Infinite Flanger, Mic Preamp. Mixer Module and Phantom Power Module. Tantek say that more units are currently planned.

More details on kits and completed Tanrak modules from Tantek, (Contact Details).

IT Publisher in New Job Shock Horror!

Yes, folks; as if feeding the IT Cat and keeping the Editor supplied with tea and tranquillisers wasn't enough, Louise Cooper, IN TUNE's Publisher, has finally been exposed as — gasp! — a clandestine fantasy author!

Published in the UK last month was the first volume of her new 'Time Master" trilogy, The Initiate, which has been receiving rave reviews in the USA's fantasy/swords & sorcery magazines since it was issued over there just before Christmas.

Issued by Unwin Paperbacks in their Unicorn series, The Initiate should be available in any decent bookshop by the time you receive this issue of IT, and costs £2.75 (it sez 'ere). It can be ordered from any bookshop by quoting the ISBN which is 0-04-823300-5.

Right — that's advertising comer over and done with for the time being. Can we have our wages now, boss?

BLACK MAGIC FROM JHS?

Latest from JHS is a range of low-cost combos, with various models suited to guitar, bass and keyboard uses. Covered in heavy duty black vinyl, the new amps are manufactured from 3/4" thick high density chipboard, the larger versions also offering kick-proof metal grilles and front loaded speakers.

Baby of the family is the C5 guitar model, a five watt RMS battery/mains portable due to sell for £49.95. The C10 will sell for £89, the C20 for £129, with the C60R (the 'R' standing for reverb, presumably?) having an RRP of £185. The C60B (bass) also sells for £185, while a keyboard version, the C60K, has an RRP of £219.

More details from JHS & Co. Ltd. at (Contact Details).

JIGSAW HUNT FOR MUSICAL PIECES

Looking for that elusive record deal? If you are, then Jigsaw, one of the South's most respected studios and production outfits, could be the people to contact. Jigsaw's Managing Director (producer Dave Williams) tells IN TUNE that his A&R-led company is currently looking for both bands and artists to sign — and the type of people they're looking for aren't in the 'instant hype' category, which seems to be all that many of the top record companies want.

Dave says his signing policy reflects a belief in developing long term acts with international appeal. He also stresses that the bands and artists he's looking for should be very accessible/'in no way self-indulgent' and should be prepared to record songs from outside writers, particularly for singles.

Readers interested in submitting demos or obtaining details of Jigsaw's studio can reach them at (Contact Details).

Bass Answer from Wilkes

Issue 5 of IT carried a review of the superb sliding pickup system from Doug Wilkes dubbed 'The Answer'. Enabling any combination of humbucking and single coil pickup sounds to be obtained from one guitar. The Answer has already begun to impress numerous players, a recent band converted to the system being Big Country whose next album (currently being recorded at the excellent Powerplant studio) will feature this Wilkes in action.

Now comes news of a bass version, which will at first be fitted to a new model of Wilkes bass, but which will, like the guitar model, soon be available for retro-fitting onto any make of bass.

More info from Wilkes Guitars Ltd., (Contact Details).

PEAVEY'S PROGRESS

Peavey U.K. have just moved home from Sussex to a brand new site in Northamptonshire, where for the first time plans are under way for them to commence UK manufacture of several future Peavey products.

The new address is Peavey Electronics (UK) Ltd., (Contact Details).

DX7 Trips Light Fantastic

Definitely an essential extra is the new retrofittable backlit LCD kit for Yamaha's eternally popular DX7. According to Yamaha, fitting the new module (cat. no. LCD7) is a straightforward job, calling for no soldering. DX7 users who don't, however, fancy tackling the job themselves should contact their local Yamaha stockist, who should be able to do them job for them.

RRP of the LCD7 is to be £50 inc. VAT and the module should either be in stock at, or can be ordered from your, local Yamaha Combo keyboard retailer.

More info from Jim Corbett, (Contact Details).

Capable Cornish

So much response greeted last month's news piece on electronics expert Pete Cornish that we decided to follow it up this month with a pic of a unit guaranteed to get any keyboard player's pulse racing. The gizmo in question is Pete's PCMA 12 channel Active Direct Injection unit. 19" rack mounting (height is dependent on how many sockets are required), each channel input offers 200 kOhm balanced operation on 3 circuit 1/4" jack or XLR sockets, with a ground lift switch to eliminate hum from mains powered signal sources. A variable attenuator (0-40dB) allows maximum input signals of at least 100 Vrms. Outputs (two per channel) are isloated/transformer coupled with 600 Ohm impedance, with max signal +16dBm into 10kOhm from each, overall gain being 0dB.

Options on this unit include jack or XLR connectors. Input links can be fitted, as can a switched attenuator and four outputs per channel.

This, of course, is just one of literally dozens of specialised units offered by Pete, who can be contacted at (Contact Details).

Long Distance Information from MIDI-Link 2

Interfacing several different types of MIDI equipment can be a hassle, especially if you need to send data down long leads for remote connection; so welcome, please, the new MIDI-Link LRM-2 from Quark. Version one of the MIDI-Link quickly established itself as a bestseller, but their LRM-2 enables MIDI info to be transmitted over distances of up to 200 metres as opposed to the restricted 15 metre length when you use conventional 5-pin DIN connected leads.

The LRM-2 fits a standard 19" rack mount (measuring 1U high) and will both send and receive two independent sets of MIDI data. Twin sets of MIDI in/through/out sockets are provided on both the front and rear panels (making it easy to use when fixed into a rack) and the unit costs just £239 inc. VAT, making it an attractive proposition for both studios and stage musicians who need to be able to use long MIDI leads. The LRM-2 is the first of several new MIDI units due out from Quark over the next few months, plans existing for both a DI and studio MIDI ring-main version of the LRM-2, not to mention a new MIDI patchfield system.

More from Quark Ltd. at (Contact Details).