``` POKE 23609,255 ``` The second number in this determines the length of the beep (try various values between **0** and **255**). When it is **0**, the beep is so short that it sounds like a soft click. ### Enhanced Sound and Music with PLAY When using *NextBASIC*, you have two different ways to make music and sound effects. You can still use the **BEEP** command (as discussed above) but you also have access to the **PLAY** command which allows you to make much more sophisticated music with up to *nine* notes playing at once. It also gives you more control over the sound of each individual note than is possible using **BEEP**. Making music and sound effects with **PLAY** is simple. You just type in the series of notes that make up a tune, then ask the ZX Spectrum Next to **PLAY** them. You can also include instructions that tell your machine what sort of tone you want for the sound. Please note that case is important when typing in the string expressions in the examples ie. **ga** should not be typed as **Ga**, **gA or GA**. To hear some of the wide range of sounds that you can make, type in one of the two programs below, **RUN** it, then try the other example. Don't worry if the program lines look complicated, they are explained in detail later. Music: ``` 10 b$="O4(CDEC)(5EF7G)(3GAGF5EC) 5Eb7E9EbE" 20 PLAY "T180O6(CDEC)(5EF7G)(3GAGF5EC) 5Cg7C9CgC",b$,"O3(7CG)(7CG)(7CG) 5GD7G9GDG" ``` Sound Effects: ``` 10 a$="M8UX350W5O7(((C)))": PLAY a$ : PAUSE 25 20 PLAY "M56UX5000W1O3(((C)))": PAUSE 25 30 a$="M56W2O1N8C" : PLAY a$ : PAUSE 25 ``` ### Using the PLAY command In the examples above, you will see that each time the **PLAY** command appears, it is followed by up to *nine* different parameters in the form of either *string variables*, *string literals* or a combination of both in a statement like: **PLAY** *P1C1,P1C2,P1C3,P2C1,P2C2,P2C3,P3C1,P3C2,P3C3* where **P*x*C*y*** are strings that refer to the *PSG* (**P**) number (***x***) (**1** to **3**) and *channel* (**C**) number (***y***) (**1** to **3**). The order of these is specific and each PLAY command must have the full complement if you require all the channels to reproduce a sound. You cannot issue two or more **PLAY** commands to control individual PSGs as each **PLAY** statement sends a batch of instructions to the audio hardware. If you wish one or more channels to be silent you should replace them with the empty string **""**. As we will examine below, the strings contain all the information to tell your ZX Spectrum Next which sounds to make. As we discussed, **PLAY** controls *nine* separate sound *channels* over the *3* available *PSGs*, each called **A**, **B**, and **C**. In the *Music* example given above, "**T180O6(CDEC)(5EF7G)(3GAGF5EC)5Cg7C9CgC**" tells *channel* **A** of *PSG1* to play the melody line, **b$** tells *channel* **B** of *PSG1* to play a harmony, and "**O3(7CG)(7CG)(7CG)5GD7G9GDG**" tells *channel* **C** of *PSG1* to play a bass part. In the *Sound Effects* example, only one *noise* is used at a time (although up to *nine*