GS Synthesiser

Not simply a stripped-down JV80, Roland's new JV30 has some surprises to add to its minorbuck price tag. Simon Trask test drives a new Roland which could prove a popular buy amongst cost-conscious synth players.

Programmable/Preset Synth

Hugh and I (Dance With A Strangler). A short play by Adrian Deevoy

So it's a good programme?

Over The Tracks With The Big Express

making The Big Express and strumming guitars

In the third part of this series on the growing uses of multiple MIDI channelisation, Paul Wiffen looks at the advantage of using separate audio outputs on the Akai S900.

More music with mainframe computers

Akai S1000PB 16bit Stereo Sample Player with SWM and Workstation Disks

Do you find the idea of sampling your own sounds unappealing? Why not settle for a high quality replay-only sampler like the Akai S1000PB and spend the money you save on more library disks? Paul Ireson checks out the machine and Akai's newly launched set of Workstation and SWM disks.

John Chowning, inventor of FM synthesis and the man indirectly responsible for Yamaha's DX synths, receives an interrogation from Simon Trask. In the event, our man scarcely gels a word in edgeways.

Weird tales from ace guitarist's LP sessions; shawms, theremins, and a silver band.

'When I Think Of You' by Janet Jackson

One good means of learning your way around the equipment you own is to use it to recreate somebody else's music. That's exactly what Mike Collins did last year whilst working at Yamaha's Research & Development Studio in London. Using nothing but Yamaha gear, he set about reproducing a Janet Jackson hit in full, by himself. Here, he recalls what was involved.

Jack Bruce model meets semi-supreme 14

Readers' patches for the OSC OSCar and the Yamaha CS30 make this month's patchwork an all-analogue affar. This and Stiletto's Roland D-series and Casio CZ-series synths.

The Numbers Game: Part 2

Emu's Proteus 16-bit ROM sample player was one of last year's hi-tech highlights — the new Proteus 2 offers the same concept and quality, but with a whole new set of orchestral sounds. Nigel Humberstone conducts the review.

Basscheck

It's Mark King time again. A handmade beauty with a gorgeous body. The bass, not Mark King

The Craig Anderton Music Tape & Xenharmonikon

PA DECODER D50 ROM Vol III

If you're looking to expand your sampler's vocabulary of drum sounds or your D50 library, Patchworks' Drumtrax sample tape and PA Decoder's D50 Rom Volume III should be worth checking out - start here.

ExpanderCheck

It's FM, it's got mono-mode, it's cheap(ish), and it's wonderful. Martin Moody relates to Yamaha's new MIDI expander

Guitar Maker

Colin Hodgkinson visits the Brooklyn guitar maker who numbers Stanley Clarke's piccolo bass among his artefacts.

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