A selection of opinions and queries from the E&MM postbag.

Britain's booming hi-tech music industry.

Upcoming electronic music products and events.

CBS-Fender's 'budget' polysynth retails at £1700. Mick Jones finds out if it can hold its head above the competition.

Paul Wiffen goes gaga over E-mu Systems' latest attempt at giving the average keyboard player complete control over the sound sampling process.

Glance at the spec and you'd never know this new Italian-built and MIDI-equipped polysynth only cost £699. Paul White has the details.

Are instruction tapes an expensive gimmick or a vital aid to achieving a better playing technique? Jay Chapman has been giving them a listen and reports his findings.

At long last, Casio have come up with a keyboard acceptable to both the pro and domestic fraternities. Paul White checks it out.

If you've got access to a Spectrum, sound sampling can be yours for under £200. Mike Drane reports on a revolutionary British development.

Somehow, it had to be Yamaha who'd be first to put MIDI on a digital delay. The possibilities are endless, claims Paul White.

Axxess mainman Patrick Mimran and one of the most remarkable custom-designed synthesisers ever built. Report by Dan Goldstein.

Chris Heath and another batch of E&MM readers' demo tapes: perhaps we should re-title it 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'.

Latest releases by electronic stalwarts Heaven 17 and Depeche Mode - plus others by less well-known bands - come under the Editor's scrutiny.

Loner Peter Hammill has just remixed an album of love songs using the latest instruments technology can provide. Chris Heath reports.

Away from the fickleness of the pop music world, Cabaret Voltaire have been quietly breaking the barriers of underground electronic music. Interview by Dan Goldstein.

A special report on the proceedings at this year's UK Electronica festival. Words by Tony Mills; pictures by Alf Annison, Stuart Catterson, Tony Mills and Chris Jenkins.

The four circuit diagrams that lie at the heart of our MIDI Controlled Sampler project, with a full description to follow next month.

More on click-tracks and how to use them, by E&MM's resident literary module, Steve Howell.

Fancy a theremin? Paul Balfour's simple circuit should do the trick.

Multicolour patches for the Korg Poly 800, Roland Jupiter 8, APR Quadra and Yamaha CS5, though doubtless they can also be adapted for other synths.

Having problems connecting instruments together? Our new series on syncing should solve your problems. This month, John Harris looks at syncing gear to tape.