Who you (the readers) voted as best musician, and what you (still the readers) voted as best gear. We shake the world.

BMF Report '86

The Editor struggles through tech-laden stands, lively demos, liquid lunches and hordes of musicians to bring news of Britain's best-ever music show. If you missed it, you missed out.

Thomas Dolby is back after a four year break, without the mad professor image but with an excellent new album in Astronauts & Heretics, his most personal recording to date. Paul Tingen spoke to him about the long road from solo synthesist to globe-trotting collaborator.

Rhythm Composer

The TR505 was a runaway success at the budget end of the market, but it lacked one important ingredient - separate voice outputs. The TR626 rectifies the matter whilst offering even more features - 30 PCM drum/percussion sounds, 8-note polyphony, sync-to-tape, and MIDI control of nearly all its parameters. Mark Badger investigates.

Over the last few years musicians have consistently been more excited over the latest MIDI hardware developments than they have over MIDI software. Whilst other micros have come and gone, the Atari ST and Macintosh micros have quietly become the established computers for making music with MIDI. Ed Jones reveals why with a look at Steinberg's Pro-24 (V2.1) and Mark Of The Unicorn's Performer (V2.2) programs.

Back in the '60s it was Jefferson Airplane, then it was Jefferson Starship, then it was simply Starship. Brad Leigh Benjamin compares notes with the Synclavier king of one of rock's institutions.

Sequential's One Man Band

Paul Wiffen first encountered the Studio 440 sampling drum machine several months ago when he was called in to help Stevie Wonder suss out his! It has since become the mainstay of his own programming armoury. Here he tells why...

Digital sampling keyboard

Much rumour and speculation has surrounded the launch of what Ian Gilby reckons to be the best mid-priced sampling keyboard on the market. So what makes Emax special? Read the UK's first in-depth review and find out.

How To Get The Most From Your Sampler

An overview

Mark Prendergast presents a general overview of record labels, artists, and recordings that make up the exciting area of new electronic and experimental music in the late 1980s.