In the light of the winter's music shows at Anaheim and Frankfurt, is modern technology now becoming available to every musician, and does every musician want to know?

London gets the treatment this month, with proposals for a new computer music centre, a new retail outlet for Yamaha, and new premises for an established music store. Among many other things, of course.

If you've got something you want to say to today's technology-conscious musicians, where better to do it than through the pages of your favourite magazine?

MIDI System Exclusive codes, suggestions for voice-only drum machines, and curiosity over ring modulation come under discussion in MT's specialist advice column.

If you're afraid the MkII DX7s are going to turn your prized machine into an antique curiosity, the DX-MAX could put your mind at rest. Chris Many checks out a mod for old DXs that offers many of the features of Yamaha's new babies.

The program that can turn your sampler into a synthesiser has added an FM synthesis string to its bow, yet doesn't promise to be a DX replacement. Mac addict Chris Meyer takes a look.

Not quite a name, not quite a musical instrument, but a useful tool for sampling and investigating sound with the help of a BBC B computer, a couple of controls, and some friendly advice from Uncle Ian Waugh.

After a trickle of early publicity, the successors to the immortal DX7 have arrived. Rick Davies finds out just what it takes to update a legend in music technology, and wonders if the improvements have been worth the wait

It's the most oft-quoted specification of them all, yet frequency response is also one of the most confusing aspects of music machine performance. Paul White reveals the facts behind the figures.

What have David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, King Crimson, Frank Zappa and Jean-Michel Jarre got in common? They've all employed the services of Adrian Belew, one of the world's most inventive guitarists, and a man with a passion for creating new sound textures.

Roland's latest MIDI controller is certainly an improvement over their previous efforts, but the competition has got tougher, too. Simon "Chops" Trask gives the new MKB the once-over.

Could you squeeze an eight-channel programmable MIDI mixer into a 1U-high rack-mounting unit? Simmons could, and their endeavours could appeal to all kinds of musicians, as Rick Davies reveals.

Another collection of readers' synth patches. If you've got a sound you're particularly proud of, why not begin your career as a programmer in MT? More on page 82.

Our spectacular show coverage starts here, with masses of information - backed up by colour photographs - on the biggest Winter NAMM show there's ever been...

While for those with a taste for the European, we present a similarly in-depth account of the '87 Musikmesse. If it hit the headlines in Frankfurt, you'll read about it here.

One of pop's pretty faces forsakes teen screams in search of artistic credibility - but has he got what he came for? Tim Goodyer finds out about computer love, classical arrangements and self-production.

After the Jam Factory comes "M", an advanced music composition and manipulation system for the Mac. Jim Burgess investigates a variation on the theme of MIDI recording.

Geoff Levin tries the latest word in psychoacoustic enhancement, and finds it involves analysing the entire frequency spectrum, then time-aligning parts of it. What do the results sound like in the studio?

The man behind the Stepp DG1 guitar talks about his invention, the playing techniques required for it, and his views on what MIDI offers the guitarist, in conversation with Neville Marten.

Chris Meyer attempts to unravel the mysteries of MIDI's various operating modes, and dispels the myth that some recent instruments have new ones built into them.

One of America's most innovative software houses comes up with its first program for a 16-bit computer, the Atari ST. Rick Davies takes it for a spin.