Whether or not it's fair on the manufacturers, we live in a world where new electronic instruments are judged more by their factory presets than by their true capabilities; whether this is the fault of the user or the engineers behind some of today's convoluted editing systems is quite another matter. The truth is that many of us rely on factory presets or lightly edited versions of them — not so tragic, because there are lots of processing tricks that can be used to transmute even the most basic patch into something new and refreshing. Even if we rely on preset effects patches, there are so many processors out there that the possible permutations of instrument preset and effects unit preset are inexhaustible. However, now that nearly every synth comes with some in-built effects processing capability, there's a strong temptation to use what's available rather than patch in and programme an external effects device. And if you're happy to rely on the factory preset patch, why not stick with the effect that was originally assigned to that patch? Clearly this approach can lead to stagnation.

I suppose what I'm saying is that no matter how seductively well-featured the inside of your latest synth might appear to be, it's still a good idea to hang onto your stand-alone effects units and signal processors and, more importantly, to learn how to make good use of them. It's ironic that as machines appear with more and more features, the urge to experiment is suppressed, making it easy to end up with sounds that are actually less innovative than we were producing a decade ago with far less sophisticated equipment. A perfect case in point is the effect we know as flanging. This was first discovered by running two tape machines carrying copies of the same tape in near sync with each other and then subtly varying the speed of one or other of the machines. The result was stunning and the race was on to put it into a box that could be used live or in the studio. Now every multi-effects unit on the market offers flanging at the touch of a button, but I've yet to hear one that comes close to sonically emulating the original tape flanging effect.

In the hope of rekindling some of the pioneering spirit that put British music on the map, we'll be running frequent features on all aspects of squeezing more sounds out of the equipment you already own, from in-depth synth programming to signal processing and recording techniques. There's far more to synthesizing a sound than turning on a synthesizer, and there's more to composing music than simply running a sequencer. By reading SOS, you've already affirmed that you're serious about your music — and we'd like to assure you that, as we celebrate our eighth birthday, we're every bit as committed to providing you with the information you need to help you make your music as good as it can possibly be.