In the first instalment of a two-part article, UK synthesist Ian Boddy gives budding EM performers the confidence and advice you need to take your show on the road.

While many of us dream of a career writing music for films, a select few are actually doing it. Lawrence UlIman talks to Gary Chang, a resident Hollywood scorewriter.

Tony Reed plans out his shopping list for the coming year

Too old to roll on a Rocker?

The AES Report

America's premier recording exhibition provides Bob O'Donnell with food for thought; the password is "digital", just like the gear.

Johnny Hates Jazz are in the privileged position of being allowed to produce their own debut album. David Bradwell talks to the band about their unusual situation, their techniques and their philosophies.

why drummer stephen morris prefers programming computers to bashing skins

Eight-voice Polyphonic Sampling Keyboard

Paul Wiffen goes gaga over E-mu Systems' latest attempt at giving the average keyboard player complete control over the sound sampling process.

After carving a career for themselves with their unique brand of anarchic funk, Shriekback have decided the time has come for a change. Barry Andrews tells David Bradwell about the importance of loving musical equipment.

Activision Music Studio (CBM 64)

Music software for the CBM 64

There's more than one way to a living out of music. Nicholas Rowland talks to the Pync Brothers about writing and recording music specifically for use in TV and radio advertising jingles.

A multitracking keyboard for the computer musician.

A chance to check out some of the forthcoming new products that might force you to dig deeper into your pockets later this year.

Phil Collins explores the Octapads.

In the maze of MIDI software now available for the Atari ST, this sequencer stands out for offering two entirely different recording systems.

Says it all really

drum parts and recording arts

NAMM Winter Market, Anaheim

Paul Wiffen, hotfoot from California, reports on the machines that made headlines at the US music industry's winter shindig...

Digidesign Softsynth & Turbosynth

What can you do with a sampler when you're bored of sampling? Paul Ireson finds an answer to this question in the form of creative software from Digidesign that can turn your sampler into a powerful synthesizer.

Brian Whiting

Synth-pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark talk to Dan Goldstein about the twists and turns in their musical development, and how they managed to make their new album, Junk Culture, sound more acoustic through the use of computer instruments.

Brian Heywood reports on the latest PC developments.

Mozart Meets C-Lab Notator

Proving that hi-tech tools are not the sole preserve of pop musicians, Richard Gonski, Music Director of the Electric Symphony Orchestra, tells how he and Francis Monkman took Mozart's Piano Concerto In C Minor, K.491, and sequenced the whole work using C-Lab's Notator.