The Fair

As you wander around the British Music Fair this year, pausing occasionally to fondle a new piece of equipment or an old friend, just halt for one moment and consider the effort that's gone into giving you the chance to look at the latest products of the music industry's finest brains.

Did you know, for instance, that the final cost of putting on the extravaganza will be in the region of a quarter of a million quid? That it's been over a year in the organising? That nigh on 300 people are employed behind the scenes, not counting exhibitors themselves? Did you care?

I thought not. However, these fairly impressive statistics betray the fact that a lot of people have put a lot of faith in the success of this year's BMF - and they're going to try very hard to make sure it's more enjoyable for you than all the others before it glued together.

This show will be watched by members of the trade with acute interest, because yet again the continuing argument about having a trade-only show or admitting the public has reared it's less-than-beautiful head. The more traditional types would prefer a gentlemanly chat to their mates within the trade, a little discreet bargaining and a quiet drink or several with contacts or clients, undisturbed by the great unwashed.

The other side see the fair as an ideal opportunity to show off their newest and most wonderful gear direct to the people who will be its eventual target; the punters. The public days this year will serve as a shop window for the trade and an incitement to buy, hopefully, for the public.

But we'll see. Having disposed of the multi-hotel format that's been the recent standard and shoehorned everybody into a single purpose-built exhibition centre, we can but wait and hope that it all turns out to be a massive success.

And it will be, of course. Like each year's BMF, this will be the big event for the connoisseur of the newest high-tech or the classiest upmarket gear. Whether public or trade, there'll be, in the time-honoured phrase, something for everyone.

All this and Olympia 2.

The Organisers

This year's Fair has been put together by a professional events-organising company, Philbeach Events. They're part of the group that owns and runs the three big West London halls; Earls Court, Olympia and Olympia 2.

They handle many of the top events in the exhibition market, such as London's answer to the Motor Show, Motorfair, which attracts some 300,000 people; the International Bike Show which pulls in 100,000, and the marketing of the Royal Tournament. This year alone they will put on some 25 shows.

Their man in charge is Simon Boyd. He started contacted people at last year's show and since then he has been working hard to get as many into Olympia 2 as possible.

"We are always on the lookout for new events to organise," he explained, "and the music business was an obvious target. It's been the only industry of this size and importance without a unified, established showcase for both trade and public, until now.

"Obviously we hope for a massive success, but realistically we're thinking in terms of getting about 20,000 public visitors in over the three days. In the future - and we are hoping this will be a long-term project for us - we want to increase that to a much larger figure.

"We'll be advertising and publicising this event, but we want to be fairly selective about the audience to start with. Our aim is to get what I'd call a 'quality visitor' to the show. Not just anybody, but people who are interested and possible customers."

The Place

Olympia 2 is a purpose-built exhibition centre on Hammersmith Road, London W14. Part of the large Olympia hall, its 5,300 square metres of exhibition space and carpeted three-floor format complete with bars make it an ideal halfway point between the plush hotels the BMF's been used to recently and the cavernous but roomy exhibition halls.

Transport to the venue is via Olympia tube (change from the Piccadilly or District Lines at Earls Court) or by buses 9, 27, 28, 33, 49, 73 and 91. It you're coming under your own steam there's a fair amount of car parking nearby.

The Other Show

Not everybody was keen on the new format of the Fair this year. The piano people are holding their own showas usual at the Connaught Rooms in Great Green Street, London WC2, where there will be a representative sample of those who make and sell the wooden things with the keys on.

It's completely trade only, so most likely if you need to know about it you already will. However, it you haven't got the inside into and you want to pop along and outfit your piano shop, the dates are Sunday July 28th to Wednesday July 3 1st.

Some of the more traditional of the organ traders are also taking advantage of this cloistered environment to demonstrate their wares, and the same applies there - unless you're a bona fide trade type you won't get in.

The Cash

It's cost the organisers a cool quarter of a million quid to put on this year's extravaganza. Here's what it'll cost you:
Adults: £3
Children under 14 and OAPs: £1.50
Musicians' Union and Incorporated Society of Musicians members (if card shown): £2

The cost of the catalogue will be an extra pound, but the price of admission includes a free badge, plus admission to any of the special events that are happening at the Fair.

The Events

There will be a lot of extra-curricular things happening at this year's show; clinics, demonstrations and gigs will be taking place in the specially-built theatres as well as on many stands.

Keep your eyes and ears open for supergroups put together for the occasion by manufacturers, and famous musicians will be popping in to give a little tuition on various instruments as well. Every style of music from Heavy Metal to brass bands will be represented, and there will also be many things happening in the soundproof booths on exhibitors' stands.

The Tokens

A scheme that could save the potential customer quite a lot of money is going to be working at this year's BMF. The principle is this: as exhibitors won't be selling anything directly from the stands, they will be giving out tokens to a value of, say, £10 instead. If someone expresses an interest in a product, the exhibitor will hand him a token which he can then take to his local retailer and claim against the cost of whatever it is that took his fancy at the fair.

The retailer can then claim the value of the tokens back from the manufacturer. Hopefully, say the organisers, this will benefit everybody - retailers because it'll get people into their shops, manufacturers because it'll make people keen to buy their product, the BMF because it'll act as a good promotions device, and lastly the punter because obviously it'll make his dream product that much cheaper.

The Times

Trade only:
Tuesday 30th July, 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 31st July, 9am - 6pm
Thursday 1st August, 9am - 6pm

Trade and Public:
Friday 2nd August, 10am-7pm
Saturday 3rd August, 10am - 7pm
Sunday 4th August, 10am - 5pm

A new venue, a new year, a lot of new products, and a new chance for the public to see the years crop of sparklingly up-to-date musical equipment. That's the British Music Fair.

If you're a novice to the world of trade shows, you'll no doubt find yourself scurrying around without any plan or purpose and leaving with the horrible feeling you've missed some fascinating bit of gear. Well, avoid that by perusing this guide to the whole show. It'll tell you who's there, what they're showing and where to find them. Bear in mind, though, that at press time some exhibitors were still not sure what they'd be showing or in some cases whether they'd be showing anything at all.

We hope you'll forgive us, but if not we'll be there, too, under the Cover Publications banner and we'll take our beatings equably. Find us on stands G14 and 136 and say hello.

Akai's entry into the music market on stand 272 is getting a lot of support from their R&D department, judging from the number and scope of new products at the show. It's frightening how quickly they've gone from nowhere to being the producers of some of the most hi-tech world-leading gear. The MG1212 twelve-track mixer/recorder and the AX80 synth will be there, but newer things will be (deep breath): the ME10D MIDI digital delay, a device which delays a MIDI signal rather than an analogue sound so giving an echo effect by repeating the triggering signal to a keyboard or whatever rather than just regurgitating the sound, so giving up to 1000 milliseconds of sound-on-sound, straight delay and any other permutation without any degradation of quality. It'll cost £119. The MM99 Sound Controller is a rackmounted effects unit including a pitch changer, octave doubler and digital delay in the same unit, with stereo or mono outputs and again at just £119. The ME20A digital arpeggiator gives any MIDI synth an arpeggio function including a 128 note sequencer and the facility to memorise harmonies and patterns, and again will cost £119. On the other side of the desk, there's a studio monitor called the SG200 which has been designed to accompany the MG 1212 and gives you the option of flat characteristics or tailored to suit with the included tone controls. The price has not yet been fixed on these.

The big news in the music world at the moment, along with MIDI, has to be computers and yet again Akai has leapt in with a device called the CPZ1000 music computer which has two built-in micro-floppy disk drives and expansion slots and which will drive MIDI devices easily. There are a range of accessory units which will accompany the CPZ1000 and these are the RZ1000 recorder sync operator board, which can be used as a recorder, and the EZ1000 edit operator board which can be used as an editor. No prices on these yet, however. And finally, to prove that they have ideas towards the whole recording/playing field there's a studio cassette deck which includes hordes of features and studio-quality heads. No price yet, but again it's promised to be excessively good value.

The biggest news from AKG on stand 164 is their D321 microphone. This latest addition to the 300 series of vocalists' mikes is a high-quality unit for vocals either in the studio or on stage, and its price will make it a favourite for the finicky but less than rich band. It should cost about £115, but AKG's man Keith Ellis recommends shopping around, as discounts might mean you'll get it for less. The 300 series is popping up in a lot of prestigious places at the moment, particularly on BBC television and with top tour companies. On the headphone side, there's a pair called the K240DS which are assembled and tested individually and intended for high-quality studio monitoring applications. Priced just over £60. The stand will be full of the whole range of mikes, headphones, and other audio bits and pieces, so from the low-cost to the very, very professional - you pays your money and you takes your mike.

The focal point of the John and Ivor Arbiter stand, 120, will be the first appearance of the new range of Fender guitars from Japan - so new, in fact, that photos are not even available at the time of going to print. Along with these new electrics will also be an extensive range of acoustic guitars.

Although guitarists will be well catered for, keyboard players will not be forgotten either. All the latest JVC keyboards will be on display along with Rhodes electric pianos, and the public unveiling of the long-awaited Polaris synthesizer.

For percussionists Rogers cymbals and various Paiste products will be on show, whilst frustrated vocalists will be able to reveal their potential to the world with the help of the Karaoke tapes and drums.

Loads of excitement on the Atlantex front, with their product distribution covering a vast area, from the most expensive pro sampling studio keyboard system, the Synclavier, through the promise of many new and wonderful things from Oberheim, and a new PPG Waveterm sampling system, to new and greatly interesting things from Fostex, such as a new eight-track recorder, a matching mixer, and a two-track machine with an extra track for SMPTE code. And finally, Accessit's series of affordable effects have now expanded to the extent of an Aphex Aural Exciter, using the original patents but costing under £100. Hot news indeed - definitely something to get excited about on stand 138.

Distributors of everything from Rock guitars to glockenspiels, Barnes & Mullins are exhibiting their usual massive range of products at this year's Fair (stand 193). However, there are some new lines that should attract more than the usual attention. A new and very cheap reverb unit selling under the Torque brand name will be there, as will another stab at the budget end of the market, the Pulse range of guitars. These will be very Rock 'n' Roll indeed, shaped along the Explorer/Flying V/Battleaxe lines, and promising to retail at well under the ton, which should be ideal for the teeny Heavy Metallers. On more conventional topics, they'll show a guitar tuner by Oscar Schmidt which will offer standard and chromatic tuning at £39, and a series of instrument cases made in Germany with an aluminium framework and very tough construction. These will also be reasonably priced, with, for instance, an acoustic guitar case hitting the shops at around the £50 mark. And last but not least there will be a new and vastly expanded selection of school percussion, including xylophones, glockenspiels and all those other devices allowing spotty pre-pubescents to indulge their musical tendencies to their little hearts' content.

Bontempi Internote will be displaying a wide spectrum of keyboards all at very attractive prices on stand 267. The range of 10 keyboards will start at £89.45 and finish at £625.00. From the Easy Play Music Partner to the fully programmable HP545, there will be keyboards that should suit all abilities and styles.

Their HB series, which has been extremely successful over the last year, will be featured, and now includes the HB 464, a 61-note stereo keyboard, with MIDI, at the attractive price of £375.

They will also be displaying Farfisa keyboards. This year's BMF will see the launch of six new models, ranging from £135 to £699. Of particular note will be the FK15 - a programmable 40-note keyboard, with full or split keyboard, composer facilities and a musical game, and the KF50 - a MIDI-equipped, 61 note stereo keyboard which will retail at £375.

Modestly enough, Casio promise that their stand 268 will be one of the biggest and best at the fair. That's as may be, but what's certain is that their CZ synthesizers will be one of the biggest draws. What won't hurt either is the new sequencer added to the series, the SZ-1 which features an 1800-step memory, expandable with an optional RAM cartridge and a price of just £295. Of course thanks to the wonders of MIDI it'll control anything, not just Casio's CZ series which of course will be on the stand. On a less professional tack, the line of junior portable keyboards continues to proliferate with the PT-82, featuring ROM-pack technology and guide lights above the keyboard to teach you step by step through a tune - at just £69 it'll be ideal for the less moneyed learner. The MT-18 is the larger version on the PT-82, with bigger keys and a price of £110. Getting up the range, the CT-102 is the lowest-priced lull-sized keyboard in the range of £155 and includes preset drum rhythms and accompaniment. The MT-52 has MIDI and a semi-programmable drum machine and a price of £125; the MT-90 at £135, the CT-430 at £315 and the CT-605 at £345 are all stereo, ranging from the mini to the full home keyboard status... and there's much more. All of these will be demonstrated at some time during the fair by top Casio man Richard Young, who will be showing off the entire range continuously aided by various guest musicians.

The star of Carlsbro's show (stand 142) will be the new 150 watt keyboard combo, which as well as providing synth players with much loudness, will also be ideal for electronic drums. Do I hear the clunk of pennies dropping as amp manufacturers realise the extent of the possible new market? Other highlights will be the new portable and high-quality Taurus speaker cabinets, for PA usage mainly, and the rest of the range, covering wattages from 15 to 300, will be in evidence.

On stand 134 suppliers of cable to the broadcast audio and music industries Connectronics add video leads to their range this year. They'll also be exhibiting the interestingly-named Stand-Off series of direct-mounting, shock-isolated microphone stands which can be fitted to virtually any type of accessory or drum stand.

A move upmarket is evidenced on the Deanvard stand, 57. Their range of V-amp combos is now moving away from their budget origins and into semi-pro territory with the VM series. These amps come in 30, 60 or 100 watt configurations for both lead and bass, and 30 or 60 watts in the keyboard players' market, all of which are packed with facilities. They were in fact shown at the Frankfurt fair late last year, but this is their first British public showing and at prices of less than £240 for the 100 watt numbers going down to £142 for the 30 watt bass amp, you can expect a lot of dealers to show interest.

This year's BMF will see Elka celebrating 20 years of success in the home and portable organs market. On display on stand 260 will be Elka's extensive range of Project Series electronic models. The twelve models range from the OP.61 single keyboard which retails at £699 through to the double-manual. EP.12 with MIDI facilities and digital technology at the retail price of £3,799.

Aimed at the professional and semi-professional market, the EPX.25, EPX.30 and OP.26 will also be on display. The EPX.30, which retails at £3,299 is also MIDI equipped.

Completing the Elka line-up will be their range of specially-developed keyboard amplification and traditional and electronic accordions. Of particular note will be the first appearance of a revolutionary musette tuned model fully equipped with MIDI.

It's not just any BMF for multi-faceted distributors Fletcher, Coppoek & Newman - this is their twentieth anniversary, and therefore much celebrating will be in order. But neatly sidestepping the champagne bottles and the dancing revellers, you'll find the best-selling Japanese guitar in the country, Westone, on stand 150. This year's models are featuring even more sophisticated electrics (three pickup, active, phase reverse, coil tap and so on), tremolo systems with locknuts, graphite nuts, very smooth finishes and so on and on. The new models in the Spectrum range look set to continue the Westone reputation and success, too. Meanwhile, other items that sell in massive quantities include Trak drums, Zildjian cymbals, Badger amplifiers, Arion pedals and tuners, GHS strings, Mas Y Mas classical guitars, and possibly the most unusual product they handle is the Philips Karaoke tape machine, now in a twin-deck version which enables anybody to do very loud overdubbing or alternatively annoy and embarrass millions with their renditions of all-time classics.

HH Electronics will be extolling the virtues of their new range of amps at the show - the 100 series. This nomenclature merely signifies that all the amps in the range share an identical power rating of one hundred watts. However, their reasonable price and myriads of features mean that you may also see hundreds of people around stand 168. The range consists of lead, bass and keyboard combos, with head versions of the bass and keyboard amps available, and all include two separate effects loops, direct-injection output, footswitch-operated channel selection and dual-function knobs giving tone or effect selection when pulled. The prices are another good bit - the guitar combo will have a retail price of just over £300, with the bass version at £272 and the keyboard one at £342. The two head versions, which sell at £172 (bass) and £230 (keyboard) are complemented by two speaker cabinets, the bass one including a 15" driver and the keyboard one adding a horn and another fifteen quid, making them £160 and £175 respectively.

On stand 135 professional audio distributors HW Audio have a new range of low cost microphones that look like they might be interesting. The Prologue range starts at £22. They'll also be showing the popular PE Series, and on the power amp front, have some new Hasler machines, running from 120 to 500 watts - which should be enough to annoy the neighbours with.

Hayden Laboratories, agents for Sennheiser microphones, will be showing their full range on Stand G16, including the new MD 409U, the MD 441U-3 (a road version of the popular MD 441U), and the MKH40, reportedly representing the best in condenser mikes. Also look out for the Soundcaster guitar/bass radio system.

All the Hohner range of companies and Sonor will be showing their new ranges on one stand (G12) this year. Apart from the Headless Series, a range of two headless basses and guitars designed by American designer Ned Steinberger, there are about 20 new guitars and basses to be shown. There will also be a new range of Hohner guitar amplification, the Soundproducer Series with amps from 35W to 75W. Digital delays featuring MIDI and a range of professional keyboard amps will also be on display. New models in the Hohner budget Arbor series will feature new shapes and colours as well as new electric basses.

Hohner will also be showing their range of harmonicas, of course, and will be introducing new models, including the new Weekender package, a budget-priced harmonica with instructions for beginners.

On the more exotic side, new concertinas will be on display, and a new deluxe case for all Galotta accordions plus the complete range of Hohner and Galotta accordions.

Londoner Strings have apparently undergone manufacturing improvements, and the new strings will be launched at the BMF. Though the quality has improved it is said that the low price of them remains the same.

The complete range of Hohner keyboards will also be at Olympia. The PK-200 stereo keyboard with MIDI will be shown and visitors will be able to find out how Hohner's philosophy of making high-tech user-friendly will help their musicianship. Sounds interesting.

Also demonstrated will be a range of software cartridges to increase the capabilities of both PK-200 and D-200 organs. The D-180 organ will also be premiered, an organ said to feature extremely advanced technology, and to have been designed "to strict ergonomical principles as applied in aircraft cockpits to ensure comfortable and efficient operation". Let's hope it takes off.

The Hohner piano division will show some of Hohner's range of German-designed and Finnish manufactured pianos and will be introducing the new Hohner 115 piano and showing a new teak finish for the existing range.

British Music Strings, now a Hohner company, will exhibit the whole range of their products, and there will be additional items in the new Black Mamba percussion range. Beat that.

John Hornby Skewes will officially enter the world of home and semi-professional recording equipment on stand 104 at this year's BMF. Two units will be on display, the Audio-Technica AT-RMX64 4-Track 6-input cassette recorder, aimed at the professional and semi-professional market and set to retail at about £1100, and the Teczon DUB Multi 4 by 4 personal recorder designed for the home recording enthusiast, and retailing at £429. There will also be a number of new microphones designed for different applications, including the switchable dual impedance model PR022.

A large part of the JHS stand will be taken up by guitars, and both the Hondo and JHS Encore ranges promise many new developments including new designs for the professional range and new low-priced beginner models, including left-handed Hondo electrics.

JHS have now increased the number of Kahler tremolo models they import to embrace the entire range of twenty-four, and on hand throughout the show will be bass specialist Tony Muschamp of the Hollywood Bass Institute of Technology to give demonstrations and advice.

Under the JHS name a number of new effects units and delay lines will be shown, and they will be returning to the drum market with their new 'Thunder' kits and 'Headliner' head and cymbals.

James How Industries are going to be selling Swedish, or nearly, when they show their Jonas Hellborg amp on stand 205. This impressive piece of pro sound gear consists of a pre-amp section with built-in chorus and reverb plus wide-ranging Eq to handle bass, guitar or keyboards, going through three power amps of 70, 70 and 120 watts respectively, and thence into two 12" speakers and one 15" made by RCF and housed in two separate cabinets. An impressive thing indeed, and as it's named after the superstar bassist from the Mahavishnu Orchestra it may well first find favour with the four-stringed contingent. And talking of strings, the star new product in the range will be Superwound's 'Starfire' sets with 'Xtra-Wrap' and 'Reinforced Twist'. Basically, these are Superwound strings but without the piano-style design where only the centre core of the string goes over the bridge, and with added windings to combat breakages when used on tremolo guitars. This is very much a trend in string-making circles with the increase of the Kahler/Floyd Rose whammy-bar systems and the resultant rise in string snapping.

Wind is going to be a-blowing on the Bill Lewington stand, 194. This famous wind instrument company are going to be demonstrating the new range of Yamaha brass band instruments with, believe it or not, a real brass band. The trumpets, euphoniums (euphonia?), flugel horns and other impedimenta of the wind-driven ensemble will be joined by Leblanc clarinets, Muramatsu flutes and G. Monnig bassoons and oboes to make the would-be blower feel just as at home as any of the of strummers, pluckers, hitters, or tinklers.

On stand G15, MTR have added a few strings to their bow since Frankfurt. In addition to the Cutec TFE 1531 switchable stereo/mono graphic, (£254), they'll have its little brother, the GE2110 10-band stereo graphic at £198, Cutec's answer to the Porta one, the MR404 4-track cassette, and their MX-1242; surprisingly enough, a 12-4-2 mixer, yours for £565 inc.

From Vesta Fire they've got the MR16-channel, 4-track rackmounting cassette, the updated Dig 411 DDL (1024 m/sec, 16k bandwidth, mod, and hold) at £213, and the Dig 420 DDL rackmounting 1-second sampler-delay, for £338. MTR'll also be putting out their own range of gear, including a cheap patchbay, and the TP 1200 power amp - 1560 watts of mosfet power for £848... Plus gear from McGregor, Tellux, Aces...

Music Sales, best known for the publishing and distribution of music, are also maintaining their commitment to the Commodore 64 on their stand, 206. Their just-launched, MIDI compatible Music Maker and Playalong Album packages for the machine will be joined at the Fair by a comprehensive sound editing/composing package, The Commodore Sound Studio; a 'musical-voice recognition program', and eight-voice polyphonic sound expander add-on, a stand-alone keyboard, and, perhaps most interestingly of all, a budget sound-sampler, scheduled for general release in September. Should be worth a look.

OHM were still keeping their cards close to their collective chest at press time and muttered darkly about secrets - however, we can reveal that there will be on stand 169, apart from the full range of amps and speaker cabs that have been around for some time, a brand new range of PA cabs which will be affordable and portable, plus a guitar combo which will put out 75 watts and apparently will not be a million miles removed from the Session design. However, this will sell for about two hundred and fifty quid in the shops, so a lot of guitarists will be keeping a careful eye on the OHM appliances.

Technics, part of Panasonic UK, will have a wide selection of their products on display on stand G4 at Olympia. They will exhibit their PCM sound series range of products, their latest keyboards and MIDI equipment, as well as their SX-A1 'integrated concert system', which retails at £36,000. Don't forget to bring your cheque book. Should you do so, you might well have to consult NP Finance, part of the Panasonic group of companies, who will be there to give advice on the low-interest finance scheme available to the purchasers of Technics organs.

Technics will be demonstrating their products in their 40ft 'Panasonic Showliner', which has the benefit of being a soundproof environment in which to demonstrate the products.

An added attraction will be the 'Viewdata' computer system which allows a direct link to dealers around the country for sales leads and suchlike.

Best, most, biggest and newest is the theme of the Pearl stand (108). They'll have the world's best-selling drumkit on their stand in the shape of their own Export set. It apparently outsold even Simmons in the US and is doing spectacularly well everywhere. Find out why from the Pearl people. Also have a look at the brand new Supergripper system of tuning and tensioning including its easy-release head mechanism. It'll be attached to a GLX super-pro set which will in its turn be attached to a Porcaro Rack, fast becoming the new standard for hardware. The MX series of maple-shelled drums will be there in all its glory, including the chrome finish, the DLX and DX stuff will also be shown, as will all the snares and hardware that the company manufacture. However, probably the thing that will attract the most interest will be the new, reworked electronic kit, the Drum-X. Rumours that it's been redesigned owing to Simmons' displeasure at the similarities in pad shape may or may not be true, but whatever, the exact changes are remaining a close-kept secret until the very minute the show opens.

Peavey promise a heap of new gear - amps, speakers, guitars, you name it. Just a few of the bits and pieces to be revealed on stand 149 will include the CL 1 Cluster loudspeaker system, a small cabinet containing no fewer than six six-inch diameter drive units and a high-frequency horn. It's supposed to be an ideal unit for halls, auditoriums, clubs, or anywhere else where speech and/or music needs to be loud but little. On the other end of the frequency spectrum, the 115 SC Scoop low-frequency cab is rated at 250 watts and includes a folded horn design to give a smooth response down to 60Hz. Another area where Peavey are gaining more respect is the guitar world, and their contributions to that will include an electric twelve-string with a thin neck, two humbucking pickups and a price tag of £435. Known as the Milestone 12, this looks well tasty - as opposed to the Mantis LT which looks, well... it's got a single humbucker and a genuine Kahler tremolo and, like its more normal-looking cousin, the Predator, it's got a Rock maple neck and will cost £335. But there's bound to be loads more to drool over.

A good case could be made for visiting Penn Fabrications on stand 144; they make components for cases and cabinets of all kinds, and distribute a few other peoples' bits to provide a complete service for anyone who wants to build boxes to put their valuable, fragile or loud bits in. It's their first appearance at any music fair in this country, signalling the fact that they're now turning their attention from their fabulously successful export trade to the home market.

Rhino Music Spares have... no, not spares for your musical rhino, sadly, but more parts for more things than you could shake a jackplug at. Plugs, handles, wheels, castors, pickups, sockets, hinges, and those little things that you can never remember the name of but always fall off and go down cracks in the stage. Yes, all of those and more including the Pro-Parts range of guitar spares on stand 162.

Not much in the hot news department from Rickenbacker on stand 133 - but that's just how they like it. Their guitar range is, as they say, built on tradition and with their prices climbing towards the thousand-pound mark, people obviously prefer their solid, dependable designs to the latest Z-shaped whammy-barred wonderaxe. Changes have been made, however, in the range of colours available which is widening, and in the hardware which while unaltered in design or function, is now available in a black finish which apparently looks very tasty indeed. The biggest news is really that they are at the fair at all, in fact - the British distributorship is at last on firm ground and being handled by an arm of the American parent company. So watch out for the classic Rickenbackers popping up in more places nationally as the company gains a foothold in the market again.

As usual Roland's stand (G1) will be a hive of activity. There will be demonstrations on the hour, every hour, by top session musicians Mark Wood and Michael Giles plus Roland's Alan Townsend, in the sound-proofed, air conditioned Roland stand.

The range of Roland and Boss equipment will be vast. There will be electronic percussion, guitar synthesizers, the JX8P programmable polyphonic synth, the EP50 electronic piano, mother keyboards and sound modules, the SRV200 stereo studio digital reverb and various MIDI bits and pieces.

In a separate recording room, recording engineer Dave Kenny will demonstrate the SBX 80 Sync Box, the Boss Micro Rack effects range, and the SRV 2000 and the SDK 2500 MIDI digital delay.

The HR 100 and HS 60 new home synths will also be revealed to capture the hearts of the amateur musician, while on the constantly manned Boss demo stand, the DSD 2 sample/delay pedal, among other things, will be put through its paces. With a "programme your own" percussion stand and the usual plethora of literature and the like, the Roland stand will not be short of visitors.

Rose-Morris will cram all their latest products into the 1280 square feet of stand G4 at this years BMP. Demonstrating these will be Paul Brooks, who recently appeared on Wogan, no less, discussing his writing of a film-score on EMR computer/MIDI software, and well-known guitarist Gordon Giltrap. These two will be demonstrating on the Rose-Morris stand every hour, plus on Friday, Saturday and Sunday they will feature in an hour-long concert of music and instrument explanation.

Korg will, of course, feature very heavily on the Rose-Morris stand with a wide selection of their current products, which visitors will be able to play.

There will also be some new VOX amplifiers, which should cause considerable interest in many an aging rocker, and indeed the younger musician who can forget about digital technology tor a while and discover the timeless glory of the all valve combo.

Applause solid-bodied guitars from Ovation will be making their UK debut, with prices starting at under £125.

Takamine, as played by Ry Cooder, will be prominent in the Rose-Morris display. Their models include guitars with pickups built into the frets, and matt finish guitars for a particularly natural sound.

With the vast range of other brands on display, the Rose-Morris stand should have something of interest to just about everybody.

Yet again MIDI features as the highlights of a stand, the one in question this time being 101, Rosetti's. Their RMS-6H MIDI master synchroniser sounds from the specification like a cheap version of the Doctor Click/SRC Friendchip principle. It'll send trigger and sync signals to MIDI keyboards and other related equipment and synchronise them, allowing you to interface all your bits and pieces perfectly. And if your gear isn't of the latest MIDI generation, there's also a gadget called the CGX interface which will link MIDI signals to conventional analogue inputs. Mini-Moogs are go! This will sell for the same price as the RSM-6H, £225.

One of the most interesting bits of equipment and a boon for the professional score-copier, orchestral arranger or string person will be the RMS 28C, which will transcribe real-time multi-track polyphonic data accurately on to professional standard musical notation. It won't be entirely welcomed by those who earn a living putting dots on to bits of paper, but it will certainly save enormous amounts of time in putting a score together. The RMS 1H-SPX1 which fits inside the Yamaha DX7 and expands its memory from 32 to 128 pounds with more MIDI options as well. Surely with the preponderance of the DX7 in contemporary music there will be a huge market for that, as there will be for the new RAM and ROM packs.

Rosetti will be joining the digital drum revolution in modular style, with a digital drum unit, rack-mountable and able to be triggered from a keyboard, drum pads, a computer or the programmer unit which is available for the purpose.

Equally exciting if not more so is the IVL Pitch Rider which is a unit that, quite simply, converts a pitched signal to MIDI. Almost along the lines of Fairlight's Voicetracker 5 but vastly cheaper, this opens up a whole spectrum of possibilities for playing one instrument from another easily.

Back to the less high-tech but still new Pro-Amp line, which features new styling and uprated components, not to mention the new Seiko MIDI keyboard, a range of very very cheap Czech guitars, the less cheap but very nice Cort and Epiphone guitars, and all Rosetti's brass, school and orchestral range.

On stand 192, in the more peaceful section of the show will be Rudall, Carte & Co whose established range of wood wind and brass instruments will be augmented by a brand new line in Japanese flutes. They wouldn't tell us the brand name for contractual reasons, but apparently the flutes will be competitively priced and should interest a good few blowers. The company are expanding their horizons too (man) to include the Nikko metronome and a selection of guitar leads and mikes under the Suzuki marque.

SIEL will be exhibiting a formidable range of equipment on stand G10 at this year's show. On the keyboard front they have a brand new range of portables which feature a new digital chip developed by SIEL. These entirely digital keyboards are to be marketed in the low cost £170 - £350 price range. The models are the MK-410, MK-419 and the MK-610. The top of this range, the MK-610, will have 12 presets, mono and poly capabilities, 12 rhythms, auto-accompaniment features and programmable split keyboard. All the range will be stereo.

A new synth, the DK70, will also be on show, this one expected to retail at around £499, while the already established DK80 and its expander version - the EX80 — will also be on the SIEL stand.

On the computer front, there will also be a wide selection of things on display. The ES232, with new software and a MIDI adapter for MIDI software, the new Sound Buggy for the CMK49 which turns it into a home keyboard, with the computer programming the rhythms and sounds, and the DX7 Editor software, which works through a SIEL interface are just some of the things on show. With the new Island Logic software and Frazer Wyatt amplification also on the SIEL stand, this selection of products will no doubt attract considerable attention.

Simmons will no doubt draw a crowd to stand G9 with the new top-feature SDS9 and budget 800 series drum kits, latest additions to their moderately successful little range. Also on show will be the SDS7, the Eprom blower, the SDS64 drum sequencer package for the Commodore 64, and, hot, poop, the MTM - No, not the Mary Tyler Moore Show, but the MIDI/Trigger/MIDI rack-mounting interface, a clever little gadget virtually guaranteed to make everything work with everything else...

Distributors of much stringed stuff, Stentor, have broken their tradition a little this time on stand 183 by bringing in a drum kit, the 'Brand X' five drum outfit which is made in Europe and retails at around £300 complete with stands and cymbals. Well worth bending a few traditions for at that price, as well; many a skint drummer will no doubt thank them for it. Back on the stringed front, the Kawai Aquarius range of electric guitars look interesting, as do the spare parts by Double Eagle, Schaller and TK. Concert classical guitars by Aturias and Antonio Lorca are there for the nylon-stringed types, Ozark banjos and mandolins for the country types, and for the less-than-rich types (and who isn't in that category) Vulcan budget electrics look good.

Few stands will have as many strings attached as Strings & Things, the Brighton company who distribute 21 major brands of string, from D'Addario to Ernie Ball, Martin to Monopole and Fender to Fretmate. But that won't be all; Music Man basses will be on show in case you want something to attach the strings to, and other lines will include Barcus Berry transducer systems, Jim Dunlop picks and capos, EDC (otherwise known as Soundmaster) rhythm units and mixers, Fibes drumsticks, Herco picks, Paiste cymbals, Remo drum heads, Rogers cymbals and the impressively cheap Frontline range of effects, leads, straps, guitar covers, mikes, drum accessories and much else. Take a look at the selection on stand 174 and boggle.

Over on the Summerfields stand (G5/G6), the flood of oriental ingenuity continues with new Ibanez guitars promised, although details were sketchy at press time, new Ibanez rack effects, digital reverb being a strong possibility here, and much from drum manufacture Tama. Including a totally non-drum product, a keyboard stand. However, as this is based on the Tama stand technology it's sure to be solid and heftily built as well as massively adjustable. On a more normal line, there will be the new double bass drum pedal on show, as well as the electronic kit, another one which has undergone a redesign job, like the Pearl affair, both in terms of improvement and a move away from the Simmons design and towards one which is hopefully individual yet competitive.

A classical collection from Juan Teijeiro Music is promised on stand 201 - everything to keep the closet Segovia happy, with their beautifully made nylon-stringed specials just the things for the more fussy plucker.

TOA will be presenting their usual range of mixing desks, sound processors and sound reinforcement on stand G8, with the addition to the last category of the 380 SE loudspeaker system for keyboards, and the 30 SD speaker for PA use.

Washburn UK are going to have their usual bewildering selection of colours and types of guitar and bass on stand 131, and the sound-proofed booth on their display will be full of famous and incredibly famous musicians demonstrating the range of models. With Washburn's endorsees including Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Dead Or Alive there will be no shortage of superstars. The Dynacord range of gear will also be on show, including their electronic drumkit and their well-respected effect units.

The focal point of the Yamaha stand (277/280/281) will be the sound room area, featuring two sound stages - one for keyboard/hi-tech products, the other for good old guitars.

A demonstration programme will feature such artists as Dave Bristow, Dave Mattacks, Mickey Barker and Jon Etheridge. There's also a possibility that Dr Chowning, the very man who created Yamaha's FM Digital Tone Generation, will also put in an appearance and might co-host one ot Yamaha's three concerts in the Apex Suite during the public days, along with Dave Bristow.

Yamaha are also introducing some new products along with those that made their debut at Frankfurt. These will include a budget-priced stereo FM synthesizer, a low-cost PCM digital drum machine, a new range of CP electric pianos with MIDI eg CP60M, and the REV-7 stereo digital reverb which is also promised to bring a thrill to the thrifty home-recordist or cash conscious studio hand.

Yamaha tuned percussion will also be shown in the UK for the first time, alongside the established System Drum range (5000, 8000, and 9000 series).

BMF visitors will be able to use the hands-on areas for a variety of products, including acoustic and electric guitars, backline amps, signal processors, DX and PF keyboards, CX5M music computer with new RX editor and 4-track sequencer softwares, and 'X' series MIDI system components, e.g. QX1, TX816, KX88. In conjunction with the QX/TX/KX88 display, visitors can watch a promotional/training video covering these products.

Yamaha Multi-Keyboards will be at both the Connaught and on stand 114 Olympia.

In addition to the successful MC Series released at Frankfurt, three new multikeyboards will complement the range.

Following the contemporary design of the FE50M, a new MC-450 will be shown, finished in black, the specifications being the same as those of the MC-400. The other two new models, the MR-500 and the MR-700 offer all the features of the MC Series and Yamaha's unique ROM/RAM Music System, plus polyphonic music programmer. The prices of all three models will be announced at the trade fair.

Also displayed at both venues will be the new Clavinovas, the CVP-3, CVP-5 and CVP-7, and two budget-priced digital pianos - the YPR-6 which retails at £299 including VAT, and the YPR-8 with touch response which will retail at £399 including VAT.

And that's the lot. All there is left to say is Arrivederci, Au Revoir and Goodbye, hoping that you saw your fill and don't strain yourself on the way home carrying that huge pile of brochures. Here's to next year; and you can't say Fairer than that.