Music Technology - February 1987
|
Another winter, another spate of musical instrument shows. They mean a lot for business, but what do they mean to music as a whole? |
Latest facts and figures from the world of music technology, at a time when there's a buzz of expectation in the air. |
MT readers give their views a thorough airing, and nobody is safe - least of all MT itself. |
Another selection of readers' technical queries answered by MT's resident team of Agony Aunts. |
Just weeks before it makes its European debut, Dan Goldstein previews the small mixing console that could change the way we think about signal processing, sequencing, and recording as a whole. |
The Phase Distortion people breathe new life into the remote strap-on MIDI controller. Simon Trask wonders if up front keyboard-playing will catch on this time. |
Chris Jenkins looks at a master keyboard of a very different kind, from the people who brought you drum machine and sampling add-ons for home computers. |
Peter HammillVeteran songwriter Peter Hammill and programmer Paul Ridout have used some revolutionary applications of MIDI technology in the creation of Hammill's latest album. Paul Tingen interviews them, and comes away suitably impressed. |
It's been available for well under a year, but already, Roland's latest MicroComposer is establishing itself as something of an industry standard. Steve Howell gives a comprehensive user's eye view... |
Frank ZappaWhat makes one of rock music's most eccentric and unpredictable characters lock his guitar in a cupboard and take to composing on a Synclavier instead? Rick Davies provides the answers in an exclusive interview. |
A Re-Review Of The Roland MC4 Microcomposer...But let us not forget what went before. Steve Howell again, on the machine that introduced the world to recording music by punching in a set of numbers. It's still usable today. |
Sample Replay UnitIn a musical climate dominated by preset sounds, why not produce a rack-mounting unit that simply replays other people's samples? Paul Wiffen analyses Oberheim's attempt at doing just that. |
Robert Irving IIIFancy following in the footsteps of Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarret and Chick Corea? Robert Irving did, and now finds himself doing just that, playing keyboards with Miles Davis. Tim Goodyer reports. |
ICMC ReportFresh from his exploits at Steim Studios, Ron Briefel takes a look at what last year's International Computer Music Conference had to offer in the way of new instruments, new music, and new ideas. |
Mick KarnHis idiosyncratic style of fretless bass playing inspired a generation, but now the ex-Japan man is playing sessions, writing his own music, and programming his own synths. |
The "guitar player's synthesiser" is now in full production. We analyse the mechanics of the Stepp, and let two musicians - a guitarist and a keyboard player - give their views on its playability. |
|
The Final Frontier?Is what digital reverb is all about recreating. But how do the mechanics of reverberation work, and what relation do today's digital techniques bear to the real thing? Paul White reports. |
Software for Apple MacintoshIf you're lucky enough to have an Apple Macintosh computer, you can now take advantage of a revolutionary new program that improvises its own music based on the data you feed it. Review by Jim Burgess. |
MT readers get their chance to see their own synth sounds in print. Instruments featured this month include the Juno 106, Poly 800 and DX21... |
You may have what seems like the perfect combination of MIDI voice module and guitar controller, but without some kind of interface unit, you may not get the best out of them. Rick Davies points you in the right direction. |
Sampling Drum Machine/SequencerAfter last month's In Brief preview, Paul Wiffen gets his hands on a first production model of Sequential's new all-in-one drum machine, sampler and sequencer. Is it the master of all trades? |
While other manufacturers dabble in new resynthesis technology, Korg stick with multi-sampling for their new digital piano. Simon Trask puts fingers to ivories to find out if their approach works. |
From Canada comes Mandala, the first instrument capable of translating video images into MIDI data - and vice versa. Jim Burgess points some pretty pictures and assesses the implications. |