This month's question: sounds or notes? Perhaps it's time for keyboard players to rediscover emotion in playing music instead of providing an intricate background for those musicians who never forgot it.

The postman issues his usual threats of imminent resignation as news of developments, updates and happenings in music technology flood in. Perhaps the MT offices will be on the ground floor when we move.

Avid followers of pop music and "serious" music compare notes, pleasures and motives in MT's monthly gossip corner. If you've got something to say about music or technology we've got a soapbox for you.

And if you've got a problem we've got an answer - or we know a man who has. MT's agony columnist attracts his usual bulging bag of fan mail. It's so nice to be popular.

A new programming aid for the Kawai R100 takes the form of DrumDroid software for the Atari ST. Scott Gershin becomes a "mouse drummer".

The hardware sequencer to beat them all? After an overlong wait, Simon Trask gets to grips with the latest development in the Alesis World Domination plan.

Looking for a be-bop bass without hassle? Matt Isaacson looks at a box of bass sounds that may help you with the bottom end of your music without tying up your favourite synth or sampler.

From being early Fairlight programmers, Simon Climie and Rob Fisher have pursued their songwriting career into the pop charts. Nicholas Rowland conducts the occasional interview.

Music technology Australian style. To prove that there's more to the Australian music scene than the Fairlight, Jonathan Puckeridge pays a visit to the Sydney Music Conservatorium.

If you're looking for a visual aid to drum pattern editing or a means of turning your Akai S900 sampler into a drum machine this Atari software could be the answer. Chris Jenkins investigates.

His time with Rainbow, Whitesnake and Ozzy Osbourne has made Don Airey a rock institution (rather than putting him in one). Tim Goodyer talks to him about music and machinery.

Been puzzled by references to just intoned or even tempered scales, or wondered exactly what the DX7II's "microtonality" is all about? Robert Rich has the answers.

His successful production of U2 has brought musical sage Brian Eno back into the public eye. John Diliberto finds out what's become of his oblique strategies and how he approaches the latest technology.

The final part of this series on creating good sample loops. This month it's yesterday's synthesisers that submit their sounds to the digital manipulation of Chris Meyer.

The successor to Ensoniq's popular ESQ1 expands on the sound and sequencing facilities and adds polyphonic aftertouch to the ESQ's spec. Simon Trask goes in search of the performance synthesiser.

One hundred 12-bit PCM sounds and comprehensive programmability make the latest addition to the Yamaha RX range of drum machines one to watch. Howard Massey is on the beat.

Another studio receives a visit from a roving MT reporter. This time the intrepid Dan Goldstein drops in on South East London's Orinoco Studios.

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 hard disk data storage, and what can it do for you? Stefan Lipson looks at the advantages of hard disks and how they can make your computer music system more efficient.

If you've ever wanted to trade some of your drum machine's sequence memory for sound memory, the DRM1 could be the beat box for you. Matt Isaacson sounds it out.