Never mind avoiding presets and programming your own patches... how about rebuilding the whole damn synth? Richard James - aka Polygon Window, Caustic Window, Diceman, Soit PP, Blue Calx, AFX and The Aphex Twin - isn’t happy with his hardware till he’s had the toolbox to it. Phil Ward enters the twilight zone of the lad from Cornwall who’s spearheading the ambient onslaught.

Riding the ambient house wave, The Orb have released a concept album that mixes dance beats with new age textures. Tim Goodyer tunes in to Alex Paterson and Thrash as they chill out with technology.

Tony Horkins lays his hands on Tom, Alanna and Joe and squeezes out the technical secrets

Having helped to create Britain's Northern techno scene, Unique 3 claim it doesn't actually exist. Simon Trask listens to this and other enigmas from one of the country's most creative dance outfits.

Vince Clarke reveals trade secrets.

Paul Ireson converses with 50% of Switzerland’s most exciting export since milk chocolate - Dieter Meier of Yello.

At home with Chris Hughes

The former Tears For Fears producer invites us in for a cuppa

Martin Goldman examines the dos and don'ts of tape machine maintenance.

Relaxing For Gigs

Take a deep breath. Now repeat after me: 'Tone's topping tutorial tips teach trainee tonsils'

The Making of an Album

When Julian Colbeck went back to Bach to find musical inspiration, little did he think he'd end up recording a whole album.

In the first of a two-part series, Chris Meyer looks into the workings of additive synthesis and how it can be used to accurately mimic naturally-occurring sounds.

Part 2. If you developed a stomach ulcer through reading last month's instalment on the theory of line-up and haven't dared go near your tape machine since, you can stop worrying no was David Mellor tells you exactly what to do to achieve perfection in your recorded sound.

The Art of Sampling

Part 1: The Art Of Sampling. Keyboard programmer Paul Wiffen offers valuable advice on squeezing the most out of your sampler.

If you're swamped in hiss, then you may need this — the full SP on gates and their uses. But listen carefully: I may be asking questions.

Advanced Vector Synthesiser

In their days at the top, Sequential pioneered an exciting form of sound generation called Vector Synthesis. Simon Trask witnesses its revival in Korg's Wavestation.

The Changing Scene

Groove M4CV MIDI-to-CV Convertor

Old analogue synths never die — they just gather dust until you can find a reason to kick them into life again. As Chris Ankin discovers, the Groove M4CV MIDI-to-CV convertor could be just such a reason.

Beyer DT159 & DT329

Headset mics

With DAT poised to make the leap from the professional recording studio to the high street, David Mellor looks at the benefits of the format to home recording.

Self confessed synth merchant Dave Stewart reveals how to do away with drummers.