2 YEARS BEFORE DIGITAL TASCAM?

News that Tascam's parent company, the Teac Corp., has announced membership of the DASH Standards Committee (interesting, as it lines Tascam up with the digital standards already adopted by Sony, Studer and Matsushita) may give small and home studio recording operators a clue as to when they can expect to see the first Tascam digital recorder suited to their applications.

In a statement issued by British Tascam distributors Harman UK, the following comment appears, almost as an aside: 'By 1987/8 the principle of digital multitrack will be well accepted by the recording industry, and it should also be possible to produce somewhat more attractively priced systems by then.' Needless to say, we'll be keeping you posted on any further developments.

More info on Tascam from Harman UK, (Contact Details).

Jumbo Bargains

Cheap acoustic guitars are always plentiful, but good cheap acoustic guitars? That's something altogether different! Look out, then, for three new introductions from Hohner in the Leyanda series.

The bottom-line Leyanda is the LW400N which has a laminated Spruce top (cross-braced) and Mahogany back and sides. RRP on this one is a mere £55. The next model up is the LW600N, similar to the 400 but with a 3-piece Mahogany back with herringbone inlay matching that on the top. This one also features a bound Rosewood fingerboard and a soundhole decorated with abalone. Expect a price for all this luxury of just £85. Top of the Leyanda range is a 12 string Jumbo, the LW1200N. Like the 600 six string in most respects, it has a slightly wider fingerboard and will sell for only £95.

You can learn more about Leyanda acoustics by contacting M. Hohner Ltd., (Contact Details).

PREMIER CLASS

Following John Clarke's article on his trip to Premier Percussion in last month's IT comes a rush of new product releases from the Leicester based percussion supremos.

Knowing where to start with Premier's introductions is the hardest part, but we'll kick off with the launch of a complete new electronic drum set, which the makers are calling the Premier Powerpack. Claimed to be 'The first electronic system produced by a drum manufacturer with drummers in mind', the Powerpack system is said to promise no aching forearms, no inadequate double tom stand to support its pads... etc. Premier also claim to have eliminated any problems of creeping bass drums and bouncing tom pads by designing a special support system. In fact a lot of the maker's attention seems to have been directed towards perfecting their new kit's hardware, which is possibly what one might expect of a 'real' drum maker. But it doesn't seem as if they've neglected the electronics side in their race to perfect the metalwork.

An analogue device, the Powerpack offers switchable factory preset sounds as well as user-changeable facilities. Claimed to incorporate 'all the parameters controls necessary to create modern drum sounds', the system also has useful extras such as the snare, which has a controllable gate. Also usefully, the tom sounds can have extra harmonics added if desired. Yet another nice point is the fitment of a small rubber pad, which allows the player to trigger sound with finger-touch alone, whilst otherwise busily engaged in changing parameters. Yet another goodie is a variable speed metronome, plus a feature which lets you plug in both headphones and a stereo system for silent practise.

Newcomer No. 2 is a fresh range of heads from Premier, including types for live and studio playing, Jazz and marching band uses. TS are Premier's coated heads, CL are single ply, see-through types and the DS range comprises double ply heads with an overtone reducing gasket fitted between its films.

Premier's third newcomer is the 'Multiclamp', a device which is claimed to allow cymbal arms, tom holders and mike booms to be matched and mixed at will. The Multiclamp is fitted with a 360 degree tilt facility which means that the drummer can rotate fittings to give total variety of playing angles. Clamping onto any tube on a kit from 1 ¼" to ⅝", the Multiclamp will accept various other tubes and rods measuring from ¾" to ⁷/₁₆". The device also has a 'posi-lock' to enable fine non-slip adjustments (see Charlie Morgan's review of this latter device in last month's issue).

Premier Percussion are at (Contact Details).

Rampant Roland!

As if the gigantic range of goodies unveiled at Frankfurt wasn't enough, yet more new products are soon to be landing in the UK from the electro-Kings.

Starting point for a quick update should perhaps be the new RPS-10 Boss Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay which will be available over here in late June at an RRP of £199. Star features of the new Boss unit are said to be a wide range of pitch shifting from —1 to +1 octave, frequency characteristics of the effect sound always flat between 40Hz and 15kHz, 'rapid pitch shift circuits', which are said to minimise time delay between effected and direct sounds, minimal tremolo effect, an interfacing capability with BOSS tuners TU-12, 12H, or TU-100 to display pitch shift values on C notes, audio-signal controlling from your keyboard of pitch shift volume, ability to be used as a DDL with a delay of up to 800ms and — finally! — an 'invert' position, offering backwards tape effects in both pitch shift and delay modes. Sounds useful, doesn't it!

Perhaps more orthodox in its orientation is the new Roland JC-55 Jazz Chorus guitar amp, the eleventh JC to date. Although largely similar to the JC-120, the JC-55 does have some improvements of its own. Offering two 8" speakers (each with its own 25 watt amp), the JC-55 will, Roland tell us, do just as well with keyboards as guitars. With a newly designed reverb system, the JC-55 majors on Roland's unique Chorus with two modes — manual and 'fixed'. 3-band EQ, footswitch controlled Chorus, Reverb and Distortion, High and Low input jacks plus Normal and Effect line output jacks, the JC-55 will be out by the time you receive this issue of IN TUNE and will carry an RRP of £399.

Also on the amplification front, Roland will have a new bass combo with us by late July; the RRP £199 DAC-15B bass combo. Fitted with a newly developed 10" (25cm) bass driver, this 15 watt combo also features a properly tuned bass reflex enclosure and has a 2 volume system (double gain control) plus 3-band active Eq. with mid-frequency and mid-level controls.

Finally, watch out for a home version of the Juno 2, called the HS-80, a 6 voice programmable poly synth with 61 velocity and pressure-sensitive keys, which will be in the shops by mid-July at an RRP of £975. Fitted with a stereo amplifier and twin 12 cm. speakers, the HS-80 offers 64 preset patches and can store 64 programmable patches. Additionally, patch data can be stored on cassette.

More on all Roland and Boss gear from Roland (UK) Ltd., (Contact Details).

Tannoy's Diamond Days

Celebrating your 60th anniversary hardly seems the time to be looking forward, but that's the way monitor speaker champions Tannoy are handling their 60th birthday in the sound reproduction business: by launching several new models bound to be of interest to home and professional studios.

To deal with Tannoy's illustrious history first, the company was founded in 1926 by Yorkshireman Guy R. Fountain, who developed a revolutionary tantalum alloy (hence 'Tannoy') rectifier which he set out to manufacture and sell during that year. Soon, however, Fountain started work on moving coil speakers, the field in which the Tannoy name was destined to become world famous.

Almost unbelievably, Tannoy had a 200 watt amplifier in production as early as 1934(!), and it was during this decade that the company's name became a generic term for public address equipment (ever heard the phrase 'I'll just call Mr. Smith over the Tannoy'?!).

As the business of sound grew, so did Tannoy, their product range spreading out to large-scale public address, electronic fog signalling (really!), not to mention flame-proof transducers for the petro-chemical industry.

But the Tannoy we know best of all lies in the studio monitoring field, and it was during the first flush of LP recording and FM broadcasting that Tannoy launched their inimitable Dual Concentric monitors, which are undoubtedly the most widely used studio monitors in the UK today.

Still, all that's 'just history'! Tannoy's new introductions comprise their SGM monitor range, covering five models: SCM10B, Little Gold Monitor, SGM12X, SGM 1000 and SGM 3000. We hope to be testing at least some of these new Tannoys soon — meanwhile congratulations to everyone at the 'main men' of the studio speaker world on passing this milestone!

Tannoy are at the Bilton Centre, (Contact Details).

HOTRAX FROM SOUNDTRACS

Readers looking for a 19" rack mounted mixer of real quality need search no further, thanks to Soundtracs, who have just announced their new FM series, designed,we gather, to be suitable in either fixed or flightcased applications.

Seeming ideal for keyboard, 4 and 8 track, 'on air' (broadcast) and stage mixing, the 19" FM mixer is available with various options of input and output modules. The extruded aluminium and steel mainframe has space for up to 14 modules, the range offered including Mono input, Mono input with remote start, Stereo input with remote start and Monitor input (all 1U high) plus Group Output for four track monitoring (4U), Group Output for eight track monitoring (1U), Monitor Output (1U), PA/REC Master (2U) and Monitor Master (2U). Working from this range, various configurations can be assembled, eg. 8-10 Monitor mixer, 12-2 PA mixer (Mono and/or Stereo inputs), 8-4-8-2 Recording/PA Mixer with mono and stereo inputs plus 12-2 Broadcast mixer etc. etc.

Delivery of the new modular system is expected to commence in early July, meanwhile more details can be obtained from Soundout Laboratories Ltd. at (Contact Details).

Nut screws washer & bolts!

No, this isn't a story about an escaped psychotic rapist fleeing from a distraught laundrette manageress — it's the result of a challenge we received from Part and Parcel (the mail order guitar part specialists) who were mad enough to dare us to find a suitably insane headline to announce their latest parts list — they really should have known better than to take on our headline writers!

Seriously though, the new P&P list details all the various screws for Gibson and Fender instruments (and others, of course). Coming in three ranges, Chrome, Black and Gold, the screws on offer range from those minute jobs designed to hold down bridge saddles right up to massive 2" neck fixing bolts. Pickup mounting screws (with springs) are also offered, and the prices are amazingly cheap — Strat scratchplate screws in chrome, for example, selling for 15p each while their gold counterparts cost 25p a throw. Machine head screws start at 80p for 25 (chrome or black) and go up to £1.80 (in gold).

Copies of Part and Parcel's guitar and bass screws list are free, as is their fabulous general parts catalogue. If you want one (a catalogue that is!) just send a large SAE to (Contact Details).

Starboard Bow for Gallien?

Any player who keeps his or her ear to the 'hot new gear' ground can't have failed to have noticed the number of top US and UK players currently raving over Gallien-Krueger amplification, most notably the incredible 'Monitor' series amps, which deliver up to 100 watts of astonishingly loud whack from minute packages. Now G-K amps are available in the UK, thanks to our good friends at Allbang & Strummit (who also handle the Hamer range as reviewed in this issue). Current Gallien-Krueger users include such luminaries as Steve Lukather, Dan Fogelberg, Joe Walsh, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Reed and Steve Perry (Journey), plus no lesser name than the eternal Mr. Bobby Womack!

IT will be nicking a G-K for review soon; meanwhile you can get more info on the range direct from Allbang & Strummit, who are at (Contact Details). By the way, distribution to other retailers is being handled by the inevitable Mike Cooper of Scott-Cooper Marketing, (Contact Details).

Rhino Rampage

Probably Britain's fastest growing musical gear wholesalers, Rhino Distribution, have just announced yet more new lines and new products, the new ranges being led by the prestigious ESP guitar family — often regarded as one of the finest guitar series to have emerged from Japan. According to information received from Rhino HQ, IT gathers that there will be (more or less) four categories of ESP models, starting with the 400 'Vintage' replica guitars and basses. Next off are the 600s, which are said to be 'familiar' in design without being replicas!

Next up in the ESP series are the 'Metal' models, with traditional shapes, pearl finishes, black hardware and several pickup configurations.

Top of the ESP line, however, are the 'Handmade' models which come in clear finishes designed to show off the exotic woods used. Having tried ESP in the past, we're particularly enthusiastic about these newcomers and hope to be trying a sample or two in the near future.

Another acquisition for Rhino are Whirlwind leads who have a new cable range which they're calling 'The Leader' (groan!). Available in 1', 3', 6', 10', 18'6", 30' and 50' lengths, the new leads replace Whirlwind's 'Ultrasnake' type. Each one, apparently, carries a 10 year guarantee!

Meanwhile Audio Logic's signal processors (which we mistakenly attributed to another distributor in last month's IT) and Dean Markley amps and strings have also been added to the Rhino roster!

Now for the new gear from existing Rhino companies, starting with Dod, who have five newly updated pedals. Apparently all the new units now have a 'B' suffix to distinguish them from earlier models. The Dod SFX 20B Stereo Phasor (sic) now has a regeneration control, the SFX 30B Noisegate/loop gains an FX loop, and the SFX 50B Overdrive Plus now comes with a tone control, as does the SFX 55B Super Distortion; while the SFX 80B Compressor/Sustain has an added attack control. All these new updates come at no extra cost, we're happy to report.

Finally, EMC pickups and accessories are down in price. All single pickups now cost £75, two pickup systems are £145 and three pickup systems cost £199. All other EMC products are receiving similar price-cuts, we understand.

More info on Dod, EMC, Whirlwind, Audio Logic and — gasp — Dean Markley, from Rhino Equipment Division, (Contact Details).

Fair's Fare!

Want to see just about every conceivable form of musical equipment all under one roof? We bet you do, in which case make a massive mark in your diary for the first three days in August, which is when the 1986 British Music Fair opens its doors to the musical public.

Last year's BMF (the first held at London's Olympia 2) was an overwhelming success, as many of you who went to the show will remember, but this year's Fair looks like being even bigger and better! Over 100 companies have booked stands, and visitors will not only be able to see all the latest gear, they'll be able to try it for themselves, too! Further attractions (and if they're anything like last year's they'll be attractions indeed) will come in the form of on-the-spot competitions, demos from top players, show concerts and countless other events. Needless to say, IN TUNE will be there with our own stand, so you're all invited to drop by and feed peanuts through the bars to your friendly IT team!

The BMF opens to the public from 10am to 7pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and entry costs £3 for adults, £1.50 for OAPs and children, and there's a special £1 reduction for members of the Musician's Union and the Incorporated Society of Musicians. On the other hand, you may get in free if you're one of the winners of the 20 tickets we're giving away in the free entry competition which you'll find elsewhere in this issue.

Great news for musicians living outside the London area is that some music shops are planning to organise coach parties with reduced travel costs and entrance fees. Keep an eye on your local music shop windows for details of these trips! We gather that both the MU and the ISM are also organising coach parties from some areas. Devotees of British Rail will meanwhile be delighted to learn that a new service is starting this month, whereby an Intercity service links the northwest and southeast with all trains now stopping at the Kensington Olympia's own station. Trains will run regularly between Manchester or Liverpool and Dover, linking Stoke, Birmingham, Coventry, Kensington Olympia, Gatwick Airport, Brighton, Newhaven, Folkestone and many other towns. The new service, British Rail say, will enable visitors to Olympia to be able to spend a whole day at the show and still be back home by 10.35pm.

Next month we'll be giving you more details of what promises to be the event of the year for Britain's musicians. Meantime, don't forget: August 1, 2 and 3, the BMF at Olympia 2, (Contact Details). See you there!

Free Tapes on Command Modules

Problem. How do you sell a product that needs to be heard to show its value? Answer — give away a free cassette tape showing what it can do. That's the solution opted for by electronics specialists Prelude with their fabulous Prelude Percussion Module — the PPM.

Fully digital, the PPM costs only £58.82 and is a touch sensitive digital replay unit, which takes its sounds from a huge variety of individual digitally recorded sound store 'chips'. With adjustable decay and pitch, plus a fast dynamic trigger response of up to 82dB, the 16k memory allows triggering of spoken phrases, effects and drums via the plug-in sound sample chips, suiting the PPM to a wide range of uses. Recently added to the Prelude system is a range of new modules including drum pads (at only £19.95), single power supplies (£5.99), a five output power unit (£19.95), and a foot trigger, which allows the unit to be used by guitarists, at just £14.97. Additional sound samples cost only £9.81 and there's a handy 'quick-change' socket on offer at £11.59.

We checked out the free cassette offered by Prelude and have to admit that we were knocked out, not only by the huge variety of sounds that are available, but by the superb sound quality of them. For drummers looking for a handy 'voice' to trigger from their pads, for home recording fans — even guitarists, keyboardists and bassists — the PPM looks like a great buy! Moreover, IT readers who'd like a free demo cassette of this exciting new machine only have to tick the 'Prelude' box on this month's free info request to get their own copy. Our view? Go for it!

Also worth investigating from Prelude is their incredibly clever Electronic Chord Tutor. Working (and looking) much like a pocket calculator, this device has a display which reads out as either a guitar fretboard or a keyboard (depending on which model you buy), and shows the correct positions for chords at the touch of a keyboard button. It'll also show both major and minor scales. Running from a pair of AA batteries, the Prelude Chord Computer sells for a mere £19.95, and looks to us like an essential aid for any keyboard player or guitarist who needs to check up on his or her chords — which means most of us doesn't it?

More info from Prelude at (Contact Details).

Digidrum goes to Version 3

Computer music software seems to go from strength to strength in its abilities. Witness the latest version of Syndromic Music's Tron Digidrum 3, suitable for Commodore 64 and 128 computers.

The idea behind this combined software/hardware package is to allow the user to have a completely programmable, digitally sampled drumkit on his or her Commodore with the facility to organise the drum samples into songs of over 375,000 steps. The Tron Digidrum 3 will hold 8 samples, with three playable simultaneously. Over 30 samples are provided on disc or cassette, and all these may be stored off individually and then loaded into other percussive combinations.

Issue 3 of this system features a fully interactive Editor (which is more than WE have — the IT Cat!) which means that you can both swap and copy sounds as well as mix two or more samples together. Lots more features make the new Digidrum 3 look like a superb package for Commodore owners; especially at its price, which is just £79.99 inc. VAT, post and packing.

By the way, owners of the Digidrum 2 can have their software updated to issue 3 standards for just £14.99, which is a nice touch, isn't it?

The Tron Digidrum 3 is available direct from Syndromic Music, who are at (Contact Details).

VALVE AMPS OFFERED RAK TREATMENT

'Old valve amps don't die... they simply fade (very noisily) away!' — that's the message from amp specialists RAK Electronics who have just come up with an intriguing service for valve amp owners.

Saying that they believe that Marshalls, Hi-Watts, Fenders and Laneys are some of the finest valve guitar amps ever made, RAK go on to point out that many of these makers' older products are now really beginning to show their age; common symptoms being a loss of output power, an increase in hiss, hum and (unwanted) distortion etc. RAK's answer is possibly unique. 'Why throw out a Rolls Royce quality amp when it can be put back into even better condition than when it was new?' they argue. Better by far is to recondition these old amps to a standard (RAK claim) that surpasses their original condition.

What RAK are offering is a service of 'Gold Label' valve amp rebuilds, which start at £125 — this price including a complete valve change, capacitor and pot replacement programme and so on. Top-line treatment for a valve amp peaks at £265, but RAK stress that this service means a complete re-build with (they say) the best components money can buy. What's more, your newly refurbished amp comes complete with a five year guarantee! As RAK say, it's a lot cheaper than chopping in your old amp for a new one!

Meantime, even if a complete RAK Gold Label Re-Build isn't within your means, they also offer a supply service for just about any components which have gone down, including obsolete valves, transformers and so on.

RAK can be contacted at (Contact Details).

Ex IT Man in New Shop Shock!

Our hearty congratulations to Downbeat Music, a new London-based music shop just opened by sometime IT percussion reviewer Pete Randall. In line with our policy of keeping our reviews strictly impartial, Pete has retired from our drum/percussion review pages, but he certainly hasn't quit the biz!

Pete and his partner, Dave Matthew, will be stocking drums (of course!), guitars, amps, recording gear, mikes, FX, small PA equipment and a lot more in their new store, which is packed with equipment throughout its two floors. Downbeat Music looks like being a valuable addition to North London's armoury of music shops.

We wouldn't suggest that you tap 'Uncle Pete' for special discounts on account of your having been one of his readers, but we're sure that all IT readers will be particularly welcome at the new store. Just tell 'em the IT Cat sent you!

Downbeat Music are at (Contact Details).

FERNANDES TWINS

Twin new models have just been added to the well-respected Fernandes range — the FRB-120 Revolver and the BXB-75 basses.

Starting with the Revolver, this newcomer features a bolt-on long scale carbon graphite neck with a 22 fret phenolic resin fingerboard. Twin FG1 (who?) low impedance humbucking pickups are fitted, wired into an active circuit provided with both treble and bass cut/boost. Usefully, the Revolver has a balance control; always a better option than a conventional pickup selector switch. Finished in black chrome, with strap locks coming as standard, the bass will be available in a choice of black, transparent red or pearl white.

The second new Fernandes is the BXB-75. An Explorer lookalike bass, this is an all-wood model, again with a bolt-on neck. Offering a medium scale (32") neck fitted with 22 frets on its Rosewood fingerboard, it looks like it's been aimed squarely at the HM. market. Brass hardware and strap locks come as standard and the colours available are black, white and candy apple red.

More on Fernandes guitars and basses from Blue Suede Music Products, (Contact Details).

JAYDEE, KRAMER, FLOYD ROSE & GROOVE TUBE PRIZES IN XTRA SHOW EXTRAVAGANZA!

Yes, we know it sounds well over the top, but our headline tells the true story — a JayDee Mark King bass, a Kramer Focus 4000 guitar, a Floyd Rose trem system and a set of Groove Tube valves are the prizes being offered in an astounding competition organised for visitors to a unique show planned by Scott-Cooper Marketing and Dreadnought Guitars (the UK's Martin distributors) to coincide with the British Music Fair.

The Guitar Extravaganza show takes place directly opposite the main Olympia 2 venue at the Hand & Flower public house, and will be open for both public and trade visitors between 9am and 6pm on August 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and between 10am and 8pm for trade visitors only on July 29th, 30th and 31st. Public admission (which includes entry to the amazing free gear competition!) will cost just £1 a head.

On display will be the whole Scott-Cooper and Dreadnought lines, which means that you'll be able to see gear from JayDee, Kramer, Hamer, Gallien-Krueger, Floyd Rose, Kinkade, Staccato, Acoustic, Jim Kelley amps, Groove Tubes, Dobro plus Martin, Saga, Kentucky and Landola ranges of Folk and acoustic instruments also handled by Dreadnought. There'll be guest appearances at the show from leading players, possibly including luminaries like Tony Iommi and Mark King — and maybe the occasional IT Cat All-Star, too! Visitors to the Guitar Extravaganza show will be able to put their names and addresses on entry forms (you'll find one elsewhere in this month's IT) into a ballot box by the entrance, and at the end of the show a draw will take place to see how the fantastic prizes will be allocated. Don't miss it!

More info, from Scott-Cooper Marketing Ltd., (Contact Details), and/or Dreadnought Guitars, (Contact Details).

Mini Mikes

Latest from the RAMSA division of Panasonic is a range of miniature mikes, designed to be clipped onto instruments from drums through guitars, saxes etc. All the new RAMSAs are electret condenser types and are made of brass, with shock insulation which is claimed to isolate the mikes from picking up vibration-induced noises.

Offering a frequency response of 50Hz-18kHz and with a maximum input level of 148dB @ 1kHz, the RAMSA WM-S1 is designed for use with cymbals and acoustic stringed instruments. It's priced at RRP £109.99. Model two in the new range is the RAMSA WM-S2 (RRP £89.99) which is suited to brass instrument uses and offers a frequency response of 120Hz-15kHz with a maximum operational SPL of 138dB. This miniature mike can, the makers say, also be used for tom tom and other percussion instruments. RAMSA mike no. 3 is the WM-S5 (RRP £119.95) which can take positively massive sound pressure levels of up to 158dB (the makers say). At an RRP of £119.95, the WM-S5 is claimed to be suitable for snares and toms plus various brass instruments.

Finally, there's the new headset mike from RAMSA, the WM-S10 (RRP £119.99), which has a claimed frequency response of 70Hz-16kHz and will handle a maximum SPL of 138dB. The mike capsule can be clipped to either side of the headset band, and RAMSA suggest that it can be used for flutes and harmonicas as well as for vocals.

The WM-S1 and WM-S5 both use 48v phantom powering, while the other two models will run from desk derived phantom power as well as from their own battery-powered juice.

More info, on all RAMSA PA and mike gear from Electronic Musical Instrument Division, Panasonic UK, (Contact Details).

MUSIC CALL FOR ELECTRONIC GIGS

A fascinating new service for musicians and bands of all musical styles started back in the early part of this year and now looks like really taking off. Called Music Call, the scheme operates on the widely used Prestel service, and enables gig and concert promoters throughout the UK to dial-up Prestel and search for bands who might be suitable for their gigs.

Run by Musicians' Union member Joe Boylan, from Skipton, Yorks., Music Call is available 24 hours a day and comprises ten on-screen pages (this number to be increased as demand grows). Widely used throughout the UK by theatres, conference centres, hotels, night clubs, leisure complexes etc., Prestel is an ideal source of information on available artists for gig promoters. Moreover, bearing in mind that some 40% of Prestel subscribers are private viewers, Joe Boylan also predicts bookings for bands who advertise on Music Call from people planning social evenings, weddings, parties etc. Prestel, by the way, now receives an astounding 8 million requests for screen every week in the UK from its 60,000+ users, which must make Music Call an intriguing prospect for bands and artists looking for work.

The way in which the Music Call system works is simplicity itself. Supposing the entertainments manager of a club or leisure complex needs a band or artist for a certain date, all he or she does is dial up Prestel, log on to Music Call (a simple process) and browse through its pages, where they will find a classified section showing performers offering the type of entertainment they are seeking. Displayed on screen is the name and a short description of the band/artist in question, plus a contact phone number. If your message appeals, then the gig is yours!

Bands or individual artists registering on Music Call are charged just £35 for a full year's on-screen advertising, although a special discount applies to MU members, who can (until August 1st 1986) register for just £25.

Calling-up Prestel page number 202 2312 will give you an idea of what Music Call looks like, but readers wanting more details should, ideally, contact the system's organiser, Joe Boylan, who can be reached at (Contact Details) (between 5-6pm) or, if you happen to be on Prestel yourself, you can contact Joe via a response frame on the Music Call pages.

ARIA INTO DIAMONDS?

In addition to the Road Warrior models shown at Frankfurt (see our report later on in this issue), Aria look poised for a major assault on the UK guitar market with their new Diamond series. Four instruments (the JX Custom and JX Plus guitars and the JPJ-2 and 3 basses) form the new range, the guitars featuring Aria's ACT3 trem systems, with colour choices of black, white and candy apple red.

The JX Custom has twin humbuckers, while the JX Plus offers twin single coils with a humbucker at the bridge. Both models have 16" radius 'no choke' fret-boards. The JX custom will sell for RRP £369, the JX Plus for £399.

Bass Diamond models are coming too. Offering the same colour choices, they have 22 fret bolt-on necks, the JPJ-2 being fitted with one 'split' and one 'J' type pickup, the JPJ-3 offering two 'P' types as well as a 'split' model. RRPs are £319 for the JPJ-2 and £339 for the JPJ-3.

Watch out also for some new Aria low-cost entrants which also look set to shake the guitar market — the new Aria CAT models. With an RRP of just £169, the RS CAT looks like creating quite a stir, as does the bass model, the RRP £179 RSB CAT. The guitar takes its shape from Aria's Wildcat series, and offers a single coil pickup at the neck and centre positions with a humbucker at the bridge. Fitted with the ACT 2 trem system, it even provides you with a graphite nut. The bass CAT has split and Jazz pickups, volume and tone controls plus a selector switch and comes in a choice of black or white.

More details of all Aria guitars from distributors Gigsville Ltd. at their new address: (Contact Details).

TRANTEC ON AIR

IT readers who've been attracted by the advantages of using wireless transmitter/receiver systems in place of inconvenient connecting leads between their instruments, mikes and amps, but who've been put off by the high prices such delights usually command, will undoubtedly be delighted by the appearance of the all-British Trantec System 1. Priced at what the manufacturers claim is 'almost a tenth of the cost of systems with comparable specifications' and 'less than half the price of its nearest competitor', the RRP £299 (inc. VAT) System 1 has already been on test with a number of leading bands with whom, we gather, it has gone down a proverbial storm. Even more good news is that it's fully legal for UK use!

The Trantec System 1 comes as two units: the PP3 battery powered transmitter (a small plastic box) which takes the output from your instrument or mike via a short lead, and the receiver, which is housed in a neatly designed plastic container fitted with a 'whip' aerial. Particularly for guitarists and bassists, the Trantec's small transmitter could hardly be more convenient to use, clipping easily to your instrument strap or, if you prefer, fixing to a belt.

The unit's operation appears to be simplicity itself. Once connected to your instrument's output socket by a short cable, the receiver transmits the output signals to the main receiver, which has two LEDs on the front panel, one showing power 'on', the other lighting when it's receiving a signal. A jack output from the receiver provides the means to connect the unit to your amp, and there's an adjustable output level control for you to set the gain level to that which best suits the amp's input requirements.

Apparently, the Trantec System 1 is available set to several of the different legal frequencies allocated for wireless mike systems, which enables various band members to use them at the same time without their chosen frequencies interfering with each other.

According to the makers, the first deliveries of the Trantec System 1 should be in the shops by the time you read this, but readers wanting further details on this canny device can learn more by contacting Terry Mabey at Trantec Systems, (Contact Details).

Ensoniq's Permanent Wave?

That'll teach him to speak too soon! Arriving a mere two days after we typeset Nick Graham's keyboard roundup (elsewhere in this issue), in which he remarks that he has little information on Ensoniq, a complete digest of what this US keyboard manufacturer has been up to arrived on our desks. Here 'tis!

Kicking off Ensoniq's info pack was an update on the Mirage, the sampling keyboard which established this manufacturer almost overnight. They tell us that there are now over 20 diskettes available in their own sound library, with a total of 40+ if you include those which come from outside sources but which are classed as 'Ensoniq-approved'. Apparently that total gives the unit some 600 original sounds. Coming right up to date, however, were details of the Ensoniq SDP-1 piano and the ESQ-1 Digital Wave Synthesiser.

Classed by Ensoniq as a 'digital sequencer/synthesiser', the ESQ-1 is described as 'a powerful complex-waveform synth and multi-track MIDI sequencer in one compact and great sounding instrument'. An 8-voice polyphonic 'polytimbral' synth, it offers a choice of 32 multi-sampled and synthetic waveforms. Included are sampled waveforms of piano, strings and brass. An 80 character fluorescent display enables the user to select any 10 programmes, which are shown by name (not just number) at any one time. The total number of programmes on board amounts to 40, and an additional 80 cartridge programmes are also available. The onboard sequencer, meantime, features 8 discrete tracks, each of which is can be assigned to its own programme and MIDI channel. Also provided are auto-correction (to 1/32 of a note), metronome, auto-locate and mixdown. Internal storage capacity is 2,400 notes, which can be expanded with a cartridge to 10,000.

Ensoniq's 76 weighted key piano also uses sampled waveforms to produce its total of 12 sounds. These include electric and acoustic pianos, 'bright' and 'mellow' plus honky tonk, two marimbas, electric and stand-up bass, vibes (percussion and mallet). Extra playing features include sustain and sostenuto pedals, stereo chorus built in, octave transposition, assignable bass split and MIDI in, through and out jacks, plus the ability to send and receive the bass on a separate MIDI channel.

More info from Ensoniq (UK) Ltd., (Contact Details).