The record company A&R man is your enemy, right? After all, it's only him that stands between you and a record deal. But technology has changed his job and your relationship with him.

Financial quarter report follows... New Sunday newspaper offers no threat to major monthly music periodical. If it's news, it's in Newsdesk.

It's old favourites time, with Stock, Aitken & Waterman and sampling ethics the main topics of debate in MT's letters page. Is sampling really the aesthetic and ethic of the age?

Kawai K1: the sequel - Kawai have added onboard effects and a new sound library to their popular K1 synth to produce the K1 II. Ian Waugh likes what he hears.

Building on the patterns explored earlier in this series, adding expression is the theme of this month's drum programming column. Nigel "Reet" Lord changes his accent.

Not only will Explorer 32 edit sounds on Roland's MT32, MT100, E10, E20, D5, D10, D20, D110, D50 and D550, it will also store edits in C-Lab's Creator and Notator sequencers. Ian Waugh is Our Man in LA.

Five years ago The Blue Nile released an LP that has had the music biz desperate for more. Nigel Lord waxes lyrical over emotional songs and ill-defined technology.

From a new British company comes a new Atari ST software sequencer that looks set to rival Notator and Cubase for power and versatility. The virtuous Nigel Lord boots it up.

MIDI controller data can have many uses such as adding "feel" to music after it's been recorded into a sequencer. Vic "Megalomaniac" Lennard explores this and many other applications.

Following the success of the Octapad and Octapad II, Roland have come down-budget with a MIDI percussion controller to suit all pockets. Simon Trask scores a hit.

From his remixes of dance music through his record releases with LA Mix, Les Adams has specialised in making a lot out of a little equipment. His latest project is a solo LP, as Simon Trask finds out.

Commodore's Amiga computer is the beneficiary of this impressive - and colourful - sequencing package. Ian Waugh welcomes the illusion.

What happens after MIDI? The question has often been asked but never answered. Scott "Compatibility" Wilkinson looks into a system that incorporates MIDI and a whole lot more.

The VZ8M is the latest application of the synthesis system behind Casio's popular VZ synths. Simon Trask evaluates iPD synthesis in this age of digital development and analogue reincarnation.

Ideally every synth and sampler editor would allow you to edit sounds while your sequencer is running. One that does is this desk accessory for the Atari ST. Vic Lennard opens the box.

Someone whose career in music began before the invention of the tape recorder will have witnessed a revolution in music technology. Peter Ridsdale shares the experiences of a man who has spent a lifetime composing for pictures.

Tired of digital parameter access synth editing, unimpressed by software editors? Vic Lennard looks at a system that allows you to use real sliders to edit your synths.

Still suffering from a dearth of software, the powerful Acorn Archimedes computer has yet to gain acceptance in music circles - will this sequencer help it on its way? Ian Waugh checks it out.