Cash: where does it come from and where does it go? Tim Goodyer looks into the flow of money in the music biz and asks if pop music is worth the money spent on it.

Hot on the heels of the news of England's World Cup win comes news of equal importance about the hi-tech music industry. (Well, this was written in early June.)

The studio that house built - a gear list for making music... what's the point of editorials... what's up with Akai's ads... It's all in Communique.

When is a MIDI lead not a MIDI lead? Vic Lennard looks at MIDI leads, the problems they can cause and an inexpensive way of solving them - the MIDITest 5.

Software upgrades mean there can never be a definitive review of a program. David Bradwell keeps track of the latest Hybrid Arts' SMPTETrack updates.

In the final instalment of this three-part review, Simon Trask takes a look at the most important aspect of Roland's super sampler - the sampling itself.

Traditionally the musicians' worst nightmare, the drum solo is now all but extinct (except in heavy metal circles, of course). Nigel Lord reexamines the lost art with modern technology in mind.

Responsible for establishing artists like Yazz and Lisa Stansfield, Coldcut also have a reputation for being one of the most innovative production teams around. Tim Goodyer learns about their new LP and the future of computer graphics.

The latest addition to Roland's D-series synths is its new flagship - the D70. Simon Trask puts the "Super LA" synth through its paces and discovers its new Analogue Feel facility.

As even the most modest MIDI studio becomes a powerful tool for the creation and recording of music, sound processing becomes a more essential part of it. Tim Goodyer checks out ART's latest multi-fx processor.

While Sequential's Prophet 5 will always be regarded as a milestone in synthesiser technology, their Prophet 600 is almost forgotten already. Gordon Reid attempts to correct the history books.

After much pre-publicity, Cheetah's first venture into the world of samplers is here. It's 16-bit stereo, reads S900 disks and is reviewed by Vic Lennard.

Chick Corea has helped pioneer the use of electronic instruments in jazz music - now 49 LPs down the line, he believes there's still more ground to cover. Scott Wilkinson talks to a musical legend.

Somewhere between human composers and sci-fi music systems of the future are the algorithmic composition programs of the present. One of the few such programs for the IBM PC finds favour with Ian Waugh.

Dr T's programmers probably sieep as often as rust. Ian Waugh boots up the latest version of the successful Copyist scorewriting program - and finds that it's running on his Amiga.

With so many disappointing sounds currently being sold as the work of "professional" programmers, it's reassuring to find a selection as good as Valhala's International Gold cards for the Korg M1.