Noise reduction is an essential part of any professional recording; but there's more than one way of providing it and more than one way of using it. Silence is golden to Vic Lennard.

A step-by-step guide to the workings of a typical mixing console.

New products from the States

Shadow MIDI Guitar system

This month's colourful round up of new products to tempt and tantalise.

Performance Signal Processor

Korg's A5 series of effects is aimed to offer a variety of effects to a variety of musicians. Simon Trask test drives them and discovers guitar distortion works for drum machines.

Secondhand Polysynth Guide

Whether you can't afford to indulge yourself in this month's Polysynth Checklist or simply prefer something that's now out of production, E&MM's guide to things secondhand could save you a lot of time and trouble.

And what news there is. A special preview on the Frankfurt fair, lifting the veil on 1987's most important gear.

Jethro Tull's main man takes us behind the fish farmer exterior and into his home studio.

Digital Drum Machine

Competition is fierce in the budget drum machine arena. Nicholas Rowland takes a look at the British answer to the Japanese and American machines that have been in the limelight recently.

What's Up, Doc?

4-Track Recorder/Mixer

Fun In The Waves

Guitar Weekend - GuitarCheck Special

Six pages of mini-reviews — and every one a British beauty. Dave Burrluck reports on the London Barbican's second annual Guitar Weekend

The Clarinet

The second instalment of our series on programming and sampling the sounds of acoustic instruments. This month Howard Massey turns his attention to Acker Bilk's favourite: the clarinet.

Direct-to-disk PC recording system

It's getting closer... the home 8-track, gone digital.

First of an occasional series of chats with engineers; Richard Elen extracts facts from Phill Brown.

Guitar Multi-Effects Processor

A multi-effects processor for the guitarist who wants instant gratification without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace? Paul White plugs into the ART SGX-LT.

Microphones

An Empty Wallet

Budget effects units for those of us with tight wallets.

You'll be hard pushed to find a UK studio that isn't choc-a-bloc with Japanese studio equipment, but have you ever wondered what they use? David Mellor takes a slow boat that bypasses China, and visits two Tokyo studios to find out.