An in-depth dissection of electro-pop; how to create it, how to adapt it but not how to dance to it.

To help you get into the festive mood, we asked a few artists and producers, and a handful of our regular contributors, what they'd like for christmas this year... In a hi-tech music kind of way. Paul Tingen collected the wish-lists.

To mime or not to mime, that is the question. Just when does miming stop being a convenient practice in presenting music TV programs and start to have an effect on the music itself?

A long-awaited replacement for Roland's discontinued M-64C RAM cartridge joins the Dangerous CD Company's Danger 1 sampling CD on the spot in this month's Patchwork.

Greater reliance on hi-tech instruments in the studio means there's more demand for people able to programme them. Paul Gilby spoke first to Karin Clayton about her recently formed agency that supplies programmers for studio sessions, and then to Fairlight programmer Simon Lloyd about his work.

The Art of Sampling

Part 1: The Art Of Sampling. Keyboard programmer Paul Wiffen offers valuable advice on squeezing the most out of your sampler.

burn for the best 12in mixes

You'll be hard pushed to find a UK studio that isn't choc-a-bloc with Japanese studio equipment, but have you ever wondered what they use? David Mellor takes a slow boat that bypasses China, and visits two Tokyo studios to find out.

...Including the A-Z of Analogue

Another collection of readers' own sound patches, with the Korg DW8000, Oberheim Matrix 6, Yamaha DX7 and Casio CZ range all featuring.

Roland XP-50

Well-equipped new workstation

Adrian Deevoy on lead typewriter

Disturbing tales of everyday studio folk

The System

System feature; sound collage with the CSQ600.

Sarm West

Report by Curtis Schwartz.

DSD-2

Roland's delay sampling pedal

From the profound to the downright silly, we wind up a year's chit-chat

Rockschool's Alastair Gavin ganders at the vastly praised digital synth, and decides they're right.