When POLYPHONY started in 1975, the primary goal was to provide an intercommunication and users group for people with PAIA synthesizers. Initial response was good; POLYPHONY got off to a good start. Readers sent plenty of information for publication and, as PAIA employees had time to assemble articles based on past experiences with customers, the magazine began to grow.

At the end of 1976, we had a magazine which was literally too thick for us to staple. We had to make a change. Readers had been asking for more frequent publication and larger issues. We didn't have the time for more frequent publication, but we expanded to the larger 8X11 format so we could get more information in a given number of pages. Readers were again receptive and began submitting more material for us to publish. An added help during this period was an increase in public interest in synthesis, and a growing number of people looking for a publication such as POLYPHONY. During this period we had a barrage of requests from owners of other types of equipment to start writing about their gear, how to modify it, and get more out of it. Unfortunately, we had to concentrate on the PAIA users group format because POLYPHONY was still a part-time venture for those involved, and PAIA was subsidizing part of our growth.

It is time to grow again, and POLYPHONY is going through some very important changes. POLYPHONY staff is devoting a larger part of their time to ensure smooth productive growth. POLYPHONY has been getting thicker with each issue, and will continue to do so. Since the beginning of 1978 we have been publishing roughly on a bi-monthly schedule. With the formal publishing schedule we have now implemented, we should be finishing the last issue of Volume IV around the end of 1978. This should resolve the "volume versus year" problem. At that point, we should be in a position to increase to six issues per volume for bi-monthly publication. We will be running more pages per issue. More photographs. Perhaps color. All this growth takes money which must come from two places. Advertisers and reader subscriptions.

We have been looking for firms who may find POLYPHONY a beneficial medium for advertising, and have found a number of people who are very excited about helping us get off the ground and, of course, reaching YOU with their ads. Please support our advertisers whenever you can. Tell them you saw their ad in POLYPHONY and that you like what they are doing. We stand behind all of our advertisers as reputable firms with products and services which are very closely related to what we want and need as synthesists. You won't see any poster companies advertising in POLYPHONY. You won't see any home correspondance school reply cards stuck between the pages. Support our advertisers. TELL 'EM YOU SAW IT IN POLYPHONY!

The biggest part of POLYPHONY's growth comes from subscriptions. At this point, the majority of you are PAIA customers, although there is a good percentage of you who use other gear and enjoy POLYPHONY'S general interest articles. We want more readers, so we are making a change in the editorial policy of POLYPHONY. We are finally changing from a users group for one brand of equipment to a general purpose applications magazine for all synthesists, regardless of who's equipment they are using. With all the mail we were getting about how to work with other gear, we realized that very few manufacturers provide advanced applications information after the sale. Some provide users manuals and patch books with the instrument. Some don't even do that! When the user begins advancing and wants to interface several instruments, modify for added or improved features, or even repair the instrument... "Sorry, you're on your own!". POLYPHONY is now here to serve YOU as well as the beginner or experimenter. The Mini-Moog modification in the last issue should indicate our intentions. Modifications for other brands are in the works. TELL YOUR SYNTHESIST FRIENDS about the change in our editorial policy. Users of other types of gear who may have previously had only passing interest in POLYPHONY should now find our contents much more applicable to their systems as well. We will continue to have homebrew projects, modifications, patches, and so on. But hopefully, we will also be adding regular columns by familiar POLYPHONY writers as well as some new faces, test reports and evaluations of equipment by various manufacturers, more product announcements. industry news, perhaps some interviews, and a lot more. Really — we have some HEAVY DUTY material we are working on for this fall. Spread the word.

If you have friends who have successfully modified or expanded commercial equipment, or who have some unique applications, have them write it up as an article for us. Remember — we pay! Also be sure to note our NEW ADDRESS if you wish to send anything to us. ((Contact Details)) If you know of manufacturers who may like to reach the POLYPHONY audience, tell them to contact us, or let us know and we'll contact them.

Help us grow. Get a friend to subscribe. Support our advertisers. You will be helping POLYPHONY grow into a whole new role, continuing to provide the best information on experimental electronic music for everyone. THANKS.