When is it better to buy secondhand gear, rather than new gear? Tim Goodyer looks into equipment costs and sound fashions.

Read all about it. The latest news of equipment and events is here in Music Technology's monthly bulletin board.

Read other people's points of view - and air your own - in Music Technology's regular readers' letters column.

What is 1¾" high, has 31 voices, plays the piano, vibraphone and sax, and has its own library? Simon Trask checks out Roland's latest PCM sample module.

The band called it music, the press called it confrontational noise, and the public bought it and danced to it. Stephen Hillier talks to the men behind Renegade Soundwave.

Jive Records' own Battery Studio complex has to accommodate acts as diverse as Schooly D, Mark Shreeve and Samantha Fox. David Bradwell raps technology.

The four-track cassette recorder revolutionised home recording and significantly changed the recording industry; will the eight-track cassette have a similar effect? Vic Lennard goes on record.

Dieter Meier is a writer, painter, performance artist and an ex-professional gambler; he's also the face and voice in front of one of the most influential bands of the '80s. Tim Goodyer joins the Swiss race.

As well as being a communications standard, MIDI has encouraged the development of new forms of musical expression - like this graphic music program. Ian Waugh draws his own conclusions.

As musicians demand ever more from their samplers, Akai replace the studio-standard S900 with an enhanced machine. Vic Lennard samples the march of progress.

Contemporary American composer Steve Reich talks about train journeys, music video theatre, and the ethics and aesthetics of sampling. Simon Trask goes along for the ride.

And if the facts aren't enough, take a look at the events of the past year from the point of view of Music Technology's staff and writers.

Ever since the invention of the wax cylinder, listening to recorded music has been a passive experience; now CDs are capable of holding MIDI and other performance data. Bob O'Donnell looks at the changing face of music.

Intended to be their finest moment, Moog's "ultimate" polysynth proved problematic and unreliable - yet it won many devotees. Steve Howell recalls the sound of analogue.

The recent development of the MIDI standard is designed to enable you to transfer your sequences from one sequencer to another. Anthony Widoff files a report.

The latest in Dr T's Caged Artist series of editors is an Atari ST program for Roland's popular D110 synthesis mdule. Vic Lennard takes his L/A the easy way.

A review of PA Decoder's D50 ROM Vol II joins patches for the Ensoniq ESQ1, Kawai K1 and Korg DW6000 in this months' selection of readers' sounds.

When the conventional approaches to composing music wn't deliver the goods, this Atari ST program may help provide the inspiration. Ian Waugh investigates computer-generated music.