the subtle differences explained

PART 3: What is it like to sit down at the Synclavier - the world's most expensive instrument - and create a piece of music? David Mellor finds out and tells the whole story.

Free of Culture Club, guitarist Roy Hay declares his infatuation with soul music and forms a new band. Tim Goodyer listens to his tales of "programming madness".

Sampler test

Three big names, but which one’s the best?

Wilf Smarties kicks off our regular look at new sample CD releases.

Chrysta Jones & Mike McDermot

Mackie Designs 1202 Mixer

This compact, inexpensive mixer boasts an impressive audio specification and offers a host of applications.

Sound Module

Take 20 classic keyboards into the shower? Now you can just trigger and go with E-mu's Vintage Keys sound module, provider of sampled keyboard sounds from the Minimoog to the Mellotron. But who would you have in goal?, asks Peter Forrest

Questions & Answers

PART 8: David Mellor expands on some of the points that have arisen so far in the series and looks at some alternative patchbays from Connectronics.

Rugged adventures recording Balinese music

Urban Guerilla

Paul Tingen meets William Orbit, re-mix maestro and the man behind Bass-O-Matic.

Behringer Multifex • Ultrafex • Bassfex • Multiband Enhancers

Moving upmarket? David Pickering Pick presents this user report on Allen & Heath's Saber console.

Right Royalty Rip-Off

From Sheffield's tradition as the home of industrial funk, come the Fon Force. David Bradwell talks to the men behind the cream of modern northern dance music.

Rack Mixer

DJs know Phonic's mini-mixers well. Will the musician take to their new 16-channel, rackmounted offering? Nicholas Rowland racks his brains

Boogie Back studios

What the North London jazz/soul studio may lack in technology, it makes up for in good vibes

Drawmer 1960 Dual Valve Compressor

Valves and chips combine to produce a compressor that is flexible, flattering and very friendly. But then it's built in Yorkshire, so it should be.

Vie Marshall raps with the bad young brother himself about Ataris, Creator and reader-friendly manuals

Back in 1985, Propaganda made an astonishing debut with 'Dr. Mabuse' and the classic album 'A Secret Wish'. After years of silence, a split with ZTT records, and the departure of three-quarters of the original line-up, Michael Mertens is back with a new-look Propaganda, and feeds the party line to Nigel Humberstone.

Newham College

An East End education boots up the digital revolution

Bob Clearmountain Sample CDs

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.

Just as musicians have day jobs, so companies in the music industry often have activities outside the field, writes Martin Russ.