QUESTION ONE: what, exactly, is a "phrase trainer"? Easy. Something that makes you better at playing phrases. Question two: what, exactly, are "phrases", and why should anybody want to get better at playing them? Also easy. A "phrase" is a small section of music, otherwise known as a riff, a lick, a sequence, or a rhythm, depending on which instrument you're referring to and what sort of music is involved.

Imagine the scene. You're listening to the Top 40 chart show. Suddenly, hidden deep in the black plastic rubbish sack of modem pop, you uncover a guitar solo that hasn't been played before; a drum pattern so amazingly clever that Magnus Magnusson must have recorded it; or a sequenced bassline that would shake down the walls of Jericho if only someone else hadn't got there first.

In an attempt to hear these moments in all their glory, you go out and buy the record. But it's no good. Maybe the "phrase" in question is too low in the mix, or maybe it's played too fast. Either way, it's not much more audible now than it was when you first heard Bruno Brookes play it. And if you can't hear it properly, you'll never be able to find out how you, too, can have such a neat trick up your sleeve.

Relax. What you really need now is a "phrase trainer". Just like the one Akai have released as part of their new Compact Series of clever little hi-tech boxes. With the Akai "U4" hooked up to your stereo, you can record a magical phrase (up to eight seconds long) off your record deck, set it to "loop" so it plays over and over again, alter the playback speed, and make adjustments to tone colour.

If you're not sure precisely where that great guitar solo is on the track, or you know you're only going to be able to record some of it, you can set the U4 to record continuously until you tell it to stop, after which the last eight seconds of music will be frozen and (if you want) looped round and round. Then, if it's only a tiny part of the solo you want to hear, you can select a segment of the phrase and hear that loop instead.

If the guitar solo isn't high enough in the mix to be heard clearly (unlikely - better make it the bassline), there's what's known as a "parametric equalizer" onboard the U4. Using this, you can select a portion of the phrase's frequency spectrum, then cut or boost its level. Thus, to isolate a bass synth from the rest of the track, you have two routes open to you: either select the middle frequencies and cut them, or select the bass frequencies and boost them.

But the U4's trump card is its ability to play back your favourite solo, rhythm pattern or bassline at different speeds - without altering the original pitch. This is a feat rarely achieved even by upmarket sampling machines, and involves some technological miracle-working too complex to discuss here; suffice it to say that any machine which manages it is very, very clever.

So, with your wonder-phrase duly recorded, frozen, equalized and generally mucked about with, you can now play it back at a fraction of the speed you'd normally hear it - less than half, in fact - or speed it up by as much as 250%. The first option is extremely useful, allowing you to, say, hear the guitar solo in note-for-note detail so you can confidently rip it off, slow down your own inept playing so you can hear exactly why you're making mistakes, or make a complex backing track that much easier to play along to. The second option is much less useful - unless you're using the U4 as a sort of "digital turntable" and want to speed up a sampled rhythm to suit your own (or your rapper's) requirements.

The U4 is a brilliant idea which, with sampled rhythm tracks becoming more popular by the minute, has definitely arrived at the right time. Sounds tend to have a high grunge content, and when you consider this is basically a low-quality sampler with no means of storing sounds or of playing them from a keyboard, it's a touch pricey. But once you've got one, you'll wonder what you did without it.

AKAI U4 PHRASE TRAINER: £179 inc VAT

INFO: Akai Professional, (Contact Details)