They say everyone's got one good song in them, it's writing a second that determines whether the first was luck or not... But just how good a guide to the quality of music is the ability to repeat it?

In an industry obsessed with new equipment and techniques, being well-informed is even more important than having the right haircut. Of course, you could read MT's news pages at the hairdresser...

MT's readers' write. If you've got a grievance to air, a point to make or a question to raise, why not add your voice to MT's vox populi?

As musical interest in PC-compatible machines grows, more American software is finding its way into the UK. Harvey Newquist sequences the PC way.

From the manufacturers of the first cassette multitracker comes the Midistudio: a single unit integrating MIDI into a four-track cassette recorder. Nigel Lord calls it "revolutionary".

In 1985 Propaganda produced a seminal electronic music album - then they vanished. Five years on they've returned to pick up where they left off. Michael Mertens talks to Tim Goodyer about technology and the German tradition.

No time to lose when it comes to odd metres. Nigel Lord takes a look at "difficult" time signatures in this month's instalment of MT's rhythm programming series.

As the new Yamaha SY family of synths grows, so does its diversity. Simon Trask checks out a junior member with some interesting tricks up its sleeve.

Already renowned for producing high-quality budget equipment, Alesis have introduced a new 16-channel mixer. Ian Waugh discovers Monolithic Circuit Technology is behind the 1622's amazing performance.

With Digital Audio Tape becoming widely used for mastering, it's important to know how it differs from its quarter-inch predecessor and how it can benefit you. Vic Lennard acknowledges his new master.

If Roland samplers have previously been under-recognised by the music industry, the S770 may be about to straighten things out. Simon Trask returns to Roland's super sampler to "delve deeper".

Passport's Mastertracks has been one of the leading Macintosh sequencing programs for several years. Mike Collins boots up the latest version to check on its progress.

Still largely neglected by the software houses, the Acorn Archimedes is the host machine for the Armadillo sampler. Vic Lennard investigates a powerful sampling package for a powerful computer.

In engineering and production - as in musicianship - flexibility and adaptability are precious qualities. Martin Rex has covered artists as varied as Neneh Cherry, Fela Kuti and Michael Nyman - Ollie Crooke listens.