RUSH Guitarist locked in room with Max Kay — Shock Horror!

guitars and stuff from New Orleans

Brian Eno

workings of the press part two; dealing with music papers

European Son

Digital Drum Machine

Expandability comes to drum machines, with an affordable unit that offers four ROM expansion slots, plus the added bonus of onboard user sampling. Trevor Gilchrist checks it out.

Bryan Ferry

You know all those classic sixties and seventies songs you keep hearing on TV ads these days? Well, almost every one you hear is not in fact the original recording but a completely new version. To give you an idea of how such reconstructions are produced, Nigel Beaham-Powell of Streets Ahead Music Productions recounts how he went about reproducing a Bryan Ferry track.

What is 'New Age' music? Who plays it, and why is it apparently so popular? Our resident musicologist Mark Prendergast traces its development back to the work of 'new music' composers Arnold Schoenberg and Erik Satie.

Can you cope with a life of motorways, transits and cafe grease? Roadside Rescuer Adrian Legg advises from grim experience.

Two multi-tasking packages, Virtuoso and Cubase, meet in the ring. Jim Spriggs plays referee

Nomad's first product is a low cost SMPTE reader/generator that allows MIDI drum machines, synths and sequencers to sync to tape easily. David Mellor puts it to the test.

the cheapest sampling keyboard?

The Rhythm Section

Landscape's bassist and drummer recount their reasons for choosing to form their own label to Ralph Denyer.

the Roland story

Nicholas Rowland checks out some amazing sound sources for your sampler

drum parts and recording arts

Peter Randall bashes a Tama Superstar into shape.

A Music Technology Phenomenon

An exclusive report on the Eastern Bloc consortium that's preparing to do battle with the best the West can offer. Last year's Anticipation Sampler was brilliant, but the 1986 machines are better still.

Marvel at previously unrevealed secrets of famous musical instruments and their inventors.

Another in our 'How It Works' series. David Mellor kicks off a two-part investigation into the practicalities of bins, horns, tweeters and woofers. Baffled? You won't be once you've read this!

Paul Tingen takes a look behind the scenes with Mai Tai production duo Eric van Tijn and Jochum Fluitsma — and finds out about songwriting, recording and home-made samplers.

Klaus Schulze & Rainer Bloss, Tim Souster

Volume isn't everything

The Eno collaborator and leading exponent of American minimalist music, Harold Budd, discloses the fascinating background to his new solo album 'Lovely Thunder', his love of the piano and his strange union with the Cocteau Twins. Mark Prendergast attends the masterclass and takes notes.