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If it doesn’t work, it’s in the help file

Preset Polysynth

They call it a computer peripheral and MIDI expander, you'll probably think of it as a preset version of the SixTrak. Exclusive review of SCI's new baby by Dan Goldstein.

With their second album just released, Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe take a rest to talk here about the trials of their rise to fame, and their musical and equipment plans for the future. Dan Goldstein (a trifle agog) listens in...

Noise Problems

Just when you thought noise was a thing of the past... Gremlins are back - in a studio near you.

Yamaha ProMix 01

The second part of our in-depth review

Human Rhythm Composer

Since the days of the TR808, Roland have set standards for many other drum machines; now they're concentrating on the human angle. Simon Trask tests the "Human Rhythm Composer".

Equipment

Mel Lambert takes the Prokit Mixer kit to the ends of the earth (well, Kensington) and finishes up with saved ackers and a useful board.

Chrysta Jones & Mike McDermot

Dual Reverberation Devices

A wide selection of sound libraries from Sound Source Unlimited, Roland and Stiletto come under the scrutiny of the Patchwork reviewers.

Hints, Tips & News From The World Of Music Software

More hints and tips from the software manufacturers themselves, this month: C-Lab, Steinberg and Voyetra.

do you have to be a politician to have a hit

Spraying

why guitars go lovely colours

Studio Monitors

Why choose between "flat" studio monitors and hi-fi speakers when you can have one pair for both jobs? Nigel Lord cranks up Peavey's 308s's.

Getting Started

This month film music composer Robin Lumley discloses his own route to fame and fortune in an effort to get you started on yours...

AmpCheck

Martin Brassel on the units in Alligator's move up-market.

Yamaha QY300

The Walkstation grows up

The 'guitar synthesizer' appears to be going through a new lease of life at present, with many manufacturers releasing guitar-based synth controlling devices that make good use of MIDI's powers of expression. Ian Gilby tries out one such model: the Shadow GTM-6.

How To Get The Most From Your Sampler

In The Digital Age

The digital revolution has not quite killed off the analogue synthesizer, and vintage or vintage-style instruments have an enduring appeal. Julian Colbeck looks at why this should be so.

Personal Multitracker

The intrepid Nicholas Rowland continues his search for the ultimate in personal multitrackers; armed only with a blank cassette and a bedroom's worth of gear, he tackles Tascam's latest budget baby.

Composing music for television can be both exciting and frustrating, as Ian Assersohn and Stephen Frost of Sequenza Music Production discovered when they began writing music for a documentary film about India.

Acoustic drum samples from producer Bob Clearmountain rub shoulders with Mega Beats drum machine samples, while SSU sounds for the Yamaha SY77 complete the lineup in this month's Patchwork.

One of the most successful, certainly the most consistent, of Britain's electronic musicians, Gary Numan has succeeded in taking his eclectic and compelling music into the mass market. Gary talks of his songwriting and recording techniques, his past career, and what he plans for the future

RAP Software

An ingenious Spectrum/Commodore program that lets you combine whole hordes of MIDI drum machines into compatible systems. Simon Trask gives it the thumbs-up.