Are they a viable and cheap alternative to Eqs in the studio. Curtis Schwartz takes a look at a cross section of products available

the electronics behind the noises

Studio Check

Rebis recording effects systems — Nobby Line

Roland SVC-350 Vocoder

voices in a rack

David Mellor continues our 'How It Works' series with an investigation of the many ways available to help silence your recordings!

What is a Noise Gate? What on earth is a MIDI Noise Gate? David Mellor supplies the answers and explains some standard and not so standard gating techniques, with special reference to the BSS Audio DPR 502 MIDI Noise Gate.

Using System Exclusive Bulk Dumps

Have you ever wished you could save your SPX90 effects programs to disk or into your MIDI sequencer for instant recall at the right point in your music? Using the power of MIDI’s System Exclusive Bulk Dump commands, Mike Collins explains how it can be done.

Simon Croft gets into tape loops and comes up with some interesting conclusions.

A Bad Job

This month we take a look at salvage techniques. What to do when you have to re-mix someone else's less than ideal master tape.

The omnipresent Steve Howell passes on a few tricks of the trade. This month he examines ways in which you can transform a dry, lifeless synth sound into something soft and manageable.

The Mix

The first of a 2-part series on creative mixing.

Your Paul Hardcastle Aspirations!

Steve Howell takes up his razor blade once again and explains the basis for extended remixes.

An Empty Wallet

Budget effects units for those of us with tight wallets.

The first part of a new series on recording and signal processing. This month we look at a few simple ways of making a vocal part sound more interesting.

What was to be a 2-part series has now grown. This second part covers the creative use of effects when mixing.

Digital Reverb

Digital reverb. Last time we covered reverb, many of you may not have been able to afford a digital unit, but prices are falling all the time...

Expert tips on fine-tuning your effects in exact time with your BPMs.

Part five of our series on basic MIDI applications turns its attention to MIDI-controlled effects; Bob O'Donnell patches in the 19" rack-mounts with maximum delay.

The scope of MIDI control has expanded beyond that of simply allowing one synthesiser to control another. Chris Meyer explains how you can now shape a whole mix using the five-pin DIN plug.

Studio Sound Techniques