a budget kit 'first'

The intrepid Dave Simpson looks back over the basic types of microphone in common usage and touches briefly on the principles behind their operation. As he gets paid by the word, he's already planning to write a sequel.

Mark J. Prendergast explores the recording process that surrounded Peter Gabriel's new album 'Passion' and takes a peep inside Gabriel's Real World studio complex.

As Yamaha's 'X' range of hi-tech hardware continues to grow, Dan Goldstein and Trish McGrath present an exclusive appraisal of two of the range's most affordable additions, the TX7 FM Expander and QX7 MIDI Keyboard Recorder.

Sample CDs

First they were sampling off other peoples' records, now they're selling records to sample off. Tim Goodyer listens while Simon Harris, Pascal Gabriel, Norman Cook, Ed Stratton and Coldcut put the case for sampling CDs.

Guitarcheck

French, Japanese, Dave B takes them all on

Bass

life histories for Gibsons jazz guitars

Ben Duncan gives this power amplifier a thorough going over before telling you that he quite likes it.

Drumcheck

Bob Henrit draws a line between the Maxwin and the Professional and finds a good-looking, clean-sounding kit

Software for the Atari ST

Coupled with its success, the digital parameter access-editing of Kawai's K1 synthesiser has made it an obvious target for software editors - like these from Dr Ts, Soundbits, Drumware and Steinberg. Vic Lennard looks on.

Following last month's explanation of computer-generated waveforms and their uses, we look at strings of waveforms working together to build complex sounds. Tom McLaughlin investigates wavetables.

Guitarcheck

Do we really need more Strat copies? Dave Burrluck ponders the question

Personal Multitracker

The intrepid Nicholas Rowland continues his search for the ultimate in personal multitrackers; armed only with a blank cassette and a bedroom's worth of gear, he tackles Tascam's latest budget baby.

Then After A Few Years I Think I'll Be A Producer

making a career of knob twiddling

Akai's latest drum machine attempts to combine the best of programmable and preset rhythm units. Simon Trask assesses this marketing strategy while listening to some dope drum sounds.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly at Frankfurt's Musical Fiesta

Five pages of glorious colour on the exhibition to end all exhibitions - the annual Frankfurt Musik Messe. Dan Goldstein comes hotfoot from Germany to report on the latest developments on the hi-tech music scene. And there are a lot of them.

Everything But The Girl take the Jazz to the Electric Ballroom. Report by Jim Betteridge

Just when you thought all DDLs were the same, Ibanez come up with a budget model that still manages to incorporate a maximum delay time of over three-and-a-half seconds. Review by Paul White.

new pads and racked modules

Marantz PMD740 Cassette 4-Track

Can this stylish-looking cassette multitracker find a niche in an already crowded market? Check out our review...

A glimpse of the equipment you could well be buying in the forthcoming year

More of your unfeasibly weird secondhand bargains valued and judged by Paul Day.

Orinoco Studio

Another studio receives a visit from a roving MT reporter. This time the intrepid Dan Goldstein drops in on South East London's Orinoco Studios.