Your chance to catch up on whats happening in the whacky world of hi-tech music and recording.

Yet another selection of recently announced new products to whet your appetite!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's a battery powered, pocket sized, 8-track sequencer/32-note 8-part synth'n'drums module. Craig Anderton checks out Yamaha's mighty midget.

Part 11. Dave Stewart explains the recording of one of his songs and passes on a few tips into the bargain.

On a clear day you can usually tell the difference between sampled and real drums. But if the quality of the samples is high enough, will there come a time when you can't tell which is which? David Mellor listens to two new sample cds.

Part 1: All four of the major computers can be used for musical applications, so which one should you choose? This month, Richard Elen puts the case for the Apple Macintosh whilst Brian Heywood advocates the benefits of the IBM PC-compatible.

Despite the tendency of creative professions to be more liberal than others, women make up only a tiny proportion of producers and engineers in the music industry. Paul Tingen reports on this sad state of affairs.

Soundcraft's new Spirit Studio is the company's first serious move into the domestic end of the studio market, a compact fully-featured mixer for the generation of affordable multitracks. Dave Lockwood checks it out.

Every year without fail, hi-tech instrument manufacturers congregate in the huge exhibition halls of frankfurt to show off their very latest creations. Paul Ireson brings you the edited highlights of this year's show.

Mark King, master bassist with a string of hit albums to his name as leader of Level 42, has reaped many of the rewards that pop stardom can bring — but satisfaction with the music industry is never guaranteed, as Paul Tingen discovers.

Part 2. Dave Lockwood completes his assessment of the new features to be found in the latest version of this popular sequencing and scorewriting program for the Atari ST.

Part 18. David Mellor concludes this 18-part mammoth series on recording techniques with a handy question and answer session.

Here's your chance to get your hands on the latest 16-bit drum sound module from Alesis long before your friends do!

More hints and tips from the software manufacturers themselves, this month: C-Lab, Steinberg and Voyetra.

A MIDI user knocks the knockers! Simon Sanders of Micromagic puts the case for leaving MIDI users alone to get on with making music.