...On A Shoestring Budget

Having a problem getting your music listened to by film production companies? Paul D. Lehrman tells the tale of how he put together a showreel of his music without it costing him the earth.

A chance to check out some of the forthcoming new products that might force you to dig deeper into your pockets later this year.

Even the biggest sample library never seems to have quite enough drum sounds. The solution? Roll your own. Craig Anderton passes on some hot hints and tips on how to get the best possible drum sounds out of your sampler.

Ken Dibble checks out this pair of Urei monitors and draws some interesting conclusions.

Inside this German synth pioneer's home studio.

Japanese Artist: World Musician

Despite the cult following for Yellow Magic Orchestra, collaborations with David Byrne on the Oscar-winning soundtrack to 'The Last Emperor', and a long-standing musical friendship with David Sylvian, the multi-faceted talents of Ryuichi Sakamoto are still not widely appreciated. Mark J. Prendergast attempts to rectify the situation...

Since the break-up of his group Japan in November 1982, David Sylvian has been slowly widening the base of his music to encompass both ethnic and avant-garde sounds. Mark Prendergast gathers the facts on the change of style.

First Take

Performance Sampler

It's been a while in the pipeline but Ensoniq's successor to their popular Mirage sampler is up and running. Simon Trask checks out the latest "peoples' sampler".

Three pages of forthcoming new products to tempt you to dig deeper into your pockets later on this year.

Want to get into computing and multimedia but unsure where to start? Ian Waugh guides you through the maze of computers and jargon

The Freedom Factor

Opcode's ground-breaking sequencer, Studio Vision, lets you manipulate audio data as easily as MIDI events. All you need is a hard disk recording system like Digidesign's Sound Tools, a fast Macintosh computer with plenty of storage capacity, and some creative ideas. Paul D. Lehrman reports.

Yamaha TG100 General MIDI Tone Module

A lightweight multi-timbral module, with 28-voice polyphony and 192 sounds, which also acts as a MIDI Interface for your computer — where's the catch? Paul Wiffen looks hard but just can't seem to find it.

Samplecell is a top-quality RAM sample playback card for the Macintosh II, and the latest addition to Digidesign's impressive range of digital audio hardware and software. Paul D. Lehrman enthuses.

MIDI Composition via Computer

The tale of two songwriters on opposite coasts of America, using different computers and musical instruments, writing and producing a single without face-to-face collaboration until the final mixdown. Al Hospers reveals what happened.

AES Convention 1988

Los Angeles' recent AES convention pointed the way ahead for recording technology. Bob O'Donnell takes a trip to the fair and finds the rides to his liking.

A man continually in search of magic moments in the perfect quality of music.

He's played guitar with the best - David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian, Talking Heads, Brian Eno and, of course, King Crimson - and he's also worked away from the public eye, pursuing truths other than the rock and roll life. Mark Prendergast discovers that Robert Fripp's insights are of interest to more than just guitarists.

Last month we gave you advice on choosing a computer for musical applications; as a follow on, this month Mike Barnes provides a comprehensive rundown of available music software for the Atari, Macintosh, IBM PC, and Amiga computers.