Progress is finally challenging the oldest studio tradition of them all: the use of magnetic tape for recording. As direct-to-disk systems become more desirable and more affordable is it time to revise our attitudes to recording?

They're still at it - even the Christmas post has failed to slow the news of samplers, software and other developments in the world of hi-tech music reaching the MT office.

More mail from the Christmas postbag. Readers air their thoughts on MIDI mixers and the state of pop music, its production and its image.

Advice for the needy. MT's own experts are assisted by helpful readers in providing answers to problems large and small - now, who's seen my turkey and yogurt roll?

For the Pro24 user who found Steinberg's SMP24 a little pricey - David Pickering Pick checks out a dedicated synchroniser that should keep everything in time without breaking the bank.

The intrepid Nicholas Rowland continues his search for the ultimate in personal multitrackers; armed only with a blank cassette and a bedroom's worth of gear, he tackles Tascam's latest budget baby.

A look behind the scenes at some of MT's own out-takes: quotes from the famous, letters from the punters and photographs from the "rejected" file. So we all make mistakes...

When a Liverpudlian keyboard player lost faith in Immaterial things he found salvation in the Christians. Paul Tingen listens to the confessions of Henry Priestman.

Still on the sync track... Chris Jenkins sets the pace with a SMPTE/MIDI converter designed to give all the higher functions of SMPTE tape synchronisation without the higher price-tag.

Ever tried to put music to pictures? Then the odds are you've discovered just how difficult it actually is. Chris Many explains "hit points" and "cues" and shares some of the secrets of the professionals.

A budget MIDI sequencing package for the Atari ST (what isn't?). Our own St discovers that a fraction of the price doesn't necessarily mean a fraction of the facilities - especially when you're talking computer software.

Technical excess brought them success in the 70s, Trevor Horn rejuvenated them in the '80s, now they're working towards the '90s. Deborah Parisi asks the Yes men if there's anything left to say after 20 years.

A computer program that teaches you how to use your gear? Jim Burgess checks out a package for the Apple Macintosh that threatens to make the users' manual a thing of the past.

A last visit to the land of micro-chips and rice crackers. Simon Trask pays an enquiring visit to the Yamaha organisation before waving a fond farewell to the rising sun.

Are the latest samplers from Korg and E-mu Systems really new instruments, or are they simply updates on old machines? Lorenz Rychner counts the bits and checks the clocks.

Following the procession of MIDI sequence packages that have appeared for the Atari ST comes a program designed specifically for the musician fitting music to videotape or film. Chris Many gets that syncing feeling.

ARP Odyssey owner and enthusiast Gordon Reid remembers the only synthesiser that gave the Minimoog a run for its money back in the 70s - the sounds of oscillator cross-modulation and filter sweeps live on.

In the second part in our series on successful sample looping Chris Meyer concentrates on the mysteries and subtleties of crossfade looping.

Striking a blow for mallet players, Tim Ponting investigates an instrument that combines the MIDI sophistication of a modern keyboard with the mallet techniques of xylophones and marimbas.

More original patches plucked from the banks of readers' synths. This month the Ensoniq ESQ1 and Yamaha DX7 get the Patchwork treatment.

Once singer with The Pop Group, Mark Stewart has now joined forces with drummer Keith Leblanc and producer Adrian Sherwood under the title of The Maffia - Nicholas Rowland listens to the sounds of hell.

Can't find it... missed it... don't even know if it's there? A comprehensive listing of MT's reviews, interviews and features that should help you (and us) to find those elusive articles we're sure were in the wrong issue.