Over the last few years musicians have consistently been more excited over the latest MIDI hardware developments than they have over MIDI software. Whilst other micros have come and gone, the Atari ST and Macintosh micros have quietly become the established computers for making music with MIDI. Ed Jones reveals why with a look at Steinberg's Pro-24 (V2.1) and Mark Of The Unicorn's Performer (V2.2) programs.

Three 4-tracks

Is it possible to get expensive sounds from inexpensive equipment or is the poor person's multitrack merely an expensive toy? David Mellor looks at three entry-level recorders - Tascam Porta 05, Fostex X30, and Yamaha MT2X - and asks 'Which one would you choose?'.

Leads & Wires

Find out about the rubber on the outside, the wire on the inside, the music goes round and round...

An in depth interview with this amazing character who is now recognised as one of the world's most inventive and original electro-musicians.

In fact, when is it a musical instrument? We start making sense of the silicon chip.

Chris Smith continues his series on synchronisation

16-Bit Digital Synthesizer

Following on from the success of their extremely popular K1, Kawai have gone upmarket with the 16-bit K4. Tony Wride looks at the company's new flagship synth.

4-Track Recording

PART 4: David Mellor takes a first step into the wide world of multitrack recording with an explanation of cassette-based 4-track techniques.

Metalwork

Part 2 deals with that crucial part of the record making process - the metalwork stage.

Goes Chrimbo Crazy

A special seasonal waft of your favourite news and gossip column, this time drifting through the whole magazine and including mini-interviews with the likes of China Crisis and jokes from the likes of us. The fun starts here.

A Voice In The Wilderness

Now that we can all make make release-quality albums in our bedrooms and basements, what happens to all this music? Richard Garrett has some suggestions.

Hardware

The first part of a short series in which Martin Russ expands, exploits and explores the Atari ST computer.

Warren Cann looks at the updated version of the MPC60, the most notable result of Roger Linn's collaboration with Akai.

Direct-to-disk recording system

PC-based direct-to-disk recording is getting better... and cheaper. Ian Waugh looks at one of the latest systems to emerge.

Who needs SCI? Billy Cowie has come up with some simple software that enables the Model 64 Sequencer to be programmed in step-time.

What have David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, King Crimson, Frank Zappa and Jean-Michel Jarre got in common? They've all employed the services of Adrian Belew, one of the world's most inventive guitarists, and a man with a passion for creating new sound textures.

Bass modes

Perfecting the acoustics of your studio

H&SR looks at Sony's tiny compact disc player and offers a few excuses for buying one.

Cassette Multitracker

When cassette multitrackers were new they said everybody should have one - now that there are machines like the X28 around, everybody can. Nigel Lord says small is beautiful.

With the predominance of the workstation synth, and the rise and rise of essentially preset instruments, what has become of the 'traditional' synthesizer? Paul Hazel turns the spotlight on Roland's JD800 and Korg's Wavestation, two recent instruments which answer the question — but in very different ways.