Why does Stan file his fingers? Phil Bashe get the facts from The Man behind Slap'n' Pop...

From Jamerson to Joy Division, Chic to Kaye, this is the place of the bass.

Best Basslines

Stanley Clarke & George Duke, Pat Benatar and AMM

Ex-Police drummer and self-styled 'tech-head' Stewart Copeland discusses the merits of owning four Fairlight CMIs, why he's in a group called Animal Logic, and how to write an opera. Logical questions: Nicholas Rowland.

Drums & more — guaranteed no puns about electrical goods!

Ken Scott muses on his journey from Bowie to Kajagoogoo. Chas de Whalley listens attentively

smelly gossip

Accessorycheck

An active circuit to boost your bass and take the hiss

Alembic is a word guaranteed to set bassists' teeth a-gnashing with envy. Steve York supplies the necessary.

Bass synthesizer examined

Are you a muso?

Our handy multiple-choice quiz will let you know once and for all.

Guitar Maker

Colin Hodgkinson visits the Brooklyn guitar maker who numbers Stanley Clarke's piccolo bass among his artefacts.

Aria Straycat bass / Westone Pantera bass

Bass Slate

The life history of the bass guitar.

The comings and goings of everyday studio folk

Fretless Bass Playing

Colin Hodgkinson wide-eyed and fretless.

Mr Bassman, boom boom, thwack thwack, talks exclusively, dang dang, chacker chacker, to Making Music, thock thock, thwackadang

talks to Ralph Denyer

Well... what can you say? You know how good he is and what a writer our Ralph D is. But don't let's give the game away: read on!

The art of writing music for popular television in the last few years may have been single-handedly redefined by Jan Hammer. His upbeat, rocky soundtracks to the hit TV series 'Miami Vice' (along with a few of the chart hits used in the show) have now produced two albums of instrumental music. Ed Jones finds out how they were done.