Roland JD800 Programmable Synthesizer

Already a strong contender for hot keyboard of the year, Roland's new JD800 puts analogue-style knobs and sliders back on the front panel of a modern digital synth. Julian Colbeck goes "wow"!

From the chart success of 'Bass (How Low Can You Go)' to an album and a 24-track studio in his lounge - Simon Harris talks sounds and samples with Tim Goodyer.

Dynamic Bitimbric Polysynth

It boasts a list of features as long as your arm and a price tag that makes it one of the most accessible MIDI polysynths, but does the musical reality fulfil the paper promises? Trish McGrath reports.

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.

Fostex MTC1 Sync Box

Take Fostex's R8 tape deck, Steinberg's Cubase sequencer and an MTC1, and what have you got? Total creative freedom! Richard Aaron discovers the missing link in the recording chain.

With its ability to manipulate sounds and music, the digital sampler has probably caused more arguments than any other musical instrument to date. Peter Ridsdale takes an alternative view.

More and more synth owners are turning to computer based voice editing software to take the drudgery out of programming their own sounds. We asked Matthew Newman of the Ensoniq Users Club to compare three ESQ/SQ80 editors from Soundbits, Dr T and Steinberg.

Philips DCC 900 Digital Cassette Recorder

Philips' new consumer tape format tested under studio conditions.

BMF REPORT

The excessive heat in London's Olympia gave the latest hi-tech gear a run in the "who's hottest" stakes at this year's British Music Fair. Simon Trask sweats it out.

Harold Budd - The incredible lightness of being

och aye

An intriguing evaluation of the way the human body reacts to music.

An interview with Edgar Froese and Christoph Franke during their recent UK tour

An interview with Edgar Froese and Christoph Franke, concert report and music pull-out "Choronzon" from the 'Exit' LP.

Keyboard to Guitar Chord Converter

Latest in Oberheim's Perf/X series is a unit designed to bridge the gap between keyboard and guitar. Simon Trask perfects his Jimi Hendrix impression.

LA Synthesiser

Roland's latest keyboard combines two currently important concepts: the workstation and the company's own Linear Arithmetic synthesis. Simon Trask test drives the "multi-timbral linear synthesiser muhitrack sequencer".

24-Channel Multitrack Mixer

Fostex's new 24-channel 12-group 2412 mixer packs big console features into a compact frame. Dave Lockwood tries it on for size.

Dr.T's Keyboard Controlled Sequencer - Level II V3.0 for the Amiga

One music software house that showed greater awareness and belief in the Commodore Amiga from the outset was Dr.T. David Ellis checks out version 3.0 of their top-of-the-range sequencer to see how it rates against the growing competition.

We look at internal sampling packages for all the top micros in this definitive round up

Music Workstation

The cynics will say the W30 is nothing but a repackaging exercise on Roland's part, but Simon Trask looks a little deeper. Do a combined sampler and sequencer make the ideal workstation?

Atari ST & Commodore Amiga

Part 2. Concluding our look at the relative merits of the big four music computers, Martin Russ puts the case for the Atari ST and its variants, and Paul Overaa explains why his heart belongs to the Commodore Amiga.

Want to get into computing and multimedia but unsure where to start? Ian Waugh guides you through the maze of computers and jargon

It began with an illicit remix of Suzanne Vega and it's already earned them their own album release. Simon Trask tracks down the elusive DNA musical partnership to ask who, how and why.

This recent event had plenty to interest the hi-fi enthusiast.

Yamaha TG100 General MIDI Tone Module

A lightweight multi-timbral module, with 28-voice polyphony and 192 sounds, which also acts as a MIDI Interface for your computer — where's the catch? Paul Wiffen looks hard but just can't seem to find it.