Scottish band Danny Wilson were led by Gary Clark, who regards his debut solo album Ten Short Songs About Love as his finest work to date. From conception to birth, it was made entirely at home. Phil Ward drops in on the basement studio, and finds both album and proud father doing very well

It’s more than just a rackmountable version of the JD-800, but just exactly how much more you’ll have to ask Ian Waugh to find out. A flagship is the ship aboard which the commander of the fleet is quartered, by the way - so look out for portraits of the Roland Board Of Directors on the back panel

If you’ve got a Commodore Amiga computer, this could be the sampling system for you. Ian Waugh examines the add-on that might just take off

Looking for the hardest, heaviest, thickest and fattest analogue synth line? Strictly monophonic? Step this way, because Peter Forrest is about to unveil his unique guide to the analogue synthesiser’s unique feature: Unison Mode, in which all the oscillators gang together and hit you over the head

Wendy Carlos still loves digital synthesis. Through her pioneering soundtrack work on movies like Tron, and her synthesised interpretations of the classics, she has done as much as Jarre, Kraftwerk and Eno in making synthesisers both respectable and popular. She also used to be Walter Carlos. Daniel Rue investigates

Just how close can technology come to matching a real concert pianoforte? Only one man can address this question: the maestro himself, Simon Trask

The cassette 4-track is still the focal point of the home studio, and Marantz have produced a serious challenger to the familiar Portastudio. How does it measure up? How will musicians’ take to it? How does Nicholas Rowland do it?

Phil and Paul Hartnoll are Orbital, and their pioneering brand of user-friendly electronic dance music is a lot more fluid than the traffic on the motorway that prompted the name. So Phil Ward avoids the M25 and heads straight for the heart of the P&P music factory

Concluding our sideways look at the art and soul of sampling, Dom Foulsham covers N to Z in his alphabet of tips

Simon Trask takes command of Orla’s 88-note weighted keyboard, and brings the sensitivity of the concert pianist to this MIDI module interface. Will the C80 respond?

Get in touch with the subculture, courtesy of Simon Trask

Here’s your ticket to Amsterdam, Vince will meet you at the studio and show you all his favourite classic synths. A dream? No, a reality, thanks to Ian Masterson and Music Technology. Ian gets an exclusive guided tour around Erasure’s secret analogue powerhouse, just for you. You can almost taste the Amstel beer

Programming Lexicon FX units has never been easier, thanks to this upgraded version of their remote control. And what do you know? Nicholas Rowland, not Top Cat, is the most effectual. Lexicon’s LXP-5 FX module gets the one-over too