Who helped make Climie Fisher's single a hit? And the Pet Shop Boys', and Depeche Mode's, and Bananarama's? David Bradwell investigates the latest action in the Stock, Aitken & Waterman production stable.

The Man and his Music

We feature one of France's most fascinating Electro-Musicians, and look at the man, his music and the philosophy behind his composition.

Roland VP330

Roland's VP330 Vocoder Plus not only helped to put vocoders on the map, but has since become a classic keyboard in its own right. Gordon Reid says "synths that make you go Hmmm".

What goes on behind the apparently calm world of soundtrack-writing, by Steve Howell, who's been through it all himself.

Bargain Basement Buys

The downward price spiral and what it means to the musician.

The Micro Guitar

Tony Mills uncovers some software for—guitarists! Whatever will they think or next?

Richard Elen talks to Dave Tuffnell, the man behind a unique electronic music information service - ESSP.

Games Feature

Now that computer games are available on CD, they’re no longer restricted to naff sound effects and music. We talk to games producers Ocean and composer Debbie Wiseman about the arrival of serious sound for games...

Vintage technology strikes back

...including The A-Z of Analogue

Secondhand Polysynth Guide

Whether you can't afford to indulge yourself in this month's Polysynth Checklist or simply prefer something that's now out of production, E&MM's guide to things secondhand could save you a lot of time and trouble.

Museums, master tapes, MIDI and more; plus, as usual, Deevoy's Demo Demolition

The analogue synth is alive and well and living in Patchwork. The Minimoog, ARP Odyssey and Korg Mono/Poly make a welcome return to our monthly selection of readers' patches.

What's going on? Turn to page 14 and find out

Sampling and the law: where do you stand when you plug your record deck or CD player into your sampler? David Bradwell investigates the legal position and the attitudes of the music industry.

Voice processor processed

While most of us spend our time trying to get our MIDI equipment to work together properly, Martin Russ reveals how to creatively mis-use MIDI and produce some interesting musical results.

Electronic album roundup, featuring Reggae spotlight; On-U Sounds, new Foetus album, Vangelis

What the hell's a MIDI Performance System? David Mellor does his level best to explain.

Rudi Cazeaux explores the nature of sound and presents some basic guidelines for synthesizing the various standard groups of acoustic instruments.

Vangelis and Georg Deuter.

The System

In this month's system feature, we focus on sequencing with a human touch: DX7 and SH101 in perfect harmony.

Reverb: Too much of a good thing?

A new column that allows music industry figures to air their views on whatever it is that bugs them! Keyboard programmer, music consultant and author Paul Wiffen kicks things off this month.