People that matter answering questions that don't. This month: Richard Barbieri

News from the front

all the news you need to know

gets better

Cross Wave Synthesiser

The successor to Ensoniq's popular ESQ1 expands on the sound and sequencing facilities and adds polyphonic aftertouch to the ESQ's spec. Simon Trask goes in search of the performance synthesiser.

N.A.M.M. Winter Market at Anaheim

A special guitar report from the N.A.M.M. show

People, Gear, Events, Gossip

happening people, gear, events, gossip

Yamaha CX5M Software

Three packages for the CX5M — eight-track real-time sequencer, DX21 voice editor and RX editor — are put through their paces by E&MM’s review team.

Being a brief glance back at the fascinating history of tape recorders, from mono to digital

Guitars, Amps + major keyboards survey.

Oberheim Matrix 6

A six-voice version Matrix 12 for £1700? Yes, it’s true. Oberheim’s polysynth for the masses gets a rapturous welcome from a penniless Simon Trask.

IT's guide through the MIDI jungle

A sneak look at what you could well be buying in the forthcoming financial year

British Music Fair '84

What captured our attention at the recent British Music Fair in London.

The gear piles up in your home studio, and you realise you can't manage another mix without a decent desk - but how can you afford it? Nigel "Mixmiser" Lord puts Fostex' budget desk through its paces.

Cassette Multitracking Guide

A complete idiot's guide to buying a four-track cassette recorder, with hints on what features to look for, and a rundown of some of the most popular machines.

Chas de Whalley talks about the prime of Mr Ian Broudie

Yamaha CS80

Once infamous as a roadie's nightmare, the CS80 has settled in synth history as an instrument of almost unmatched character. Peter Forrest rediscovers the pain and the pleasure.

Technology For The Common Man

The distance between the affordable and the state-of-the-art. Is it getting narrower?

Exclusive reviews of two avant garde music festivals that saw technology pushed to its creative limits, Ars Electronica at Linz and the International Computer Music Conference at IRCAM, Paris.

Etcetera