Day-to-day use takes its toll on recording equipment, so proper maintenance and servicing is essential to get the best from your studio toys. David Mellor takes a look behind the scenes of Fostex's service department.

Raising The Stakes

Zenon Schoepe gets to grips with the VCA automated desk that some British console manufacturers have not been looking forward to!

8-track Recorder

The 8-track war hots up. Now Tascam have an 8-track cassette to compete with the Toa MR8T. We know that eight tracks on compact cassette are possible, but who does it better, Tascam or Toa? David Mellor decides.

PART 5: In this final installment of the series, David Mellor looks at sophisticated timecode generators and readers in the Fostex range, and at complex timecode systems.

Tubular Bells, Bayou Moon and other stories

Apart from his claim to fame as the co-producer of Mike Oldfield's hugely successful 'Tubular Bells' album, engineer/producer Tom Newman has most recently been making his mark in the New Age music field with two beautifully recorded albums. Mark Prendergast reports.

A special report on one of Britain's premier avant garde music festivals, Musica Nova.

George Duke, Ross Middleton, Salvator Mulligan

An Alternative To Tape

From the analogue to the digital era, magnetic tape has been the prime production medium for recorded music for several decades. David Mellor examines new developments in recording and speculates where they might lead.

Part 2 sees Roland's SBX-80 Sync Box and SRV-2000 Reverb jump into action as Paul Gilby explains the practicalities of creative mixing with MIDI controlled effects.

The Strongroom

Tony Reed gives a hand at Strongroom Studio — almost

DAT is beginning to take a firm hold in the studio market despite all the controversy. Ed Jones reflects on Digital Audio Tape and roadtests Sony's new TCD-D10 portable recorder.

Ambient Corporation

Forget the Fairlights, ditch the D.D.L.'s — ES&CM reader Graeme Robinson shows how you can beat it with the big boys, using just a couple of multitracks.

Jethro Tull’s leading light opens the door to his new ‘home studio’.

4 track cassette deck

4-Track Cassette Recorder

If you've the tenacity to take on and beat the (ex-)GLC, then putting together an upmarket 24-track studio is a piece of cake! Tony Hastings visited this South London studio to glean the details of how it came to be and what it offers.

Four Track Cassettes

A survey of all the popular machines including TEAC, Fostex, RSD, Clarion, Yamaha and Cutec

Father of the electric guitar, inventor of multitrack recording, Les talks about his life and his work.

The Alternative

So far, affordable 16-track has been a one horse race and all the money has been on Fostex. But now the odds are getting more interesting as a lively young thoroughbred from the Tascam stable enters the starting stalls. David Mellor assesses the form.

For a company that is usually in the forefront of musical technology development to be so late in introducing their SMPTE/MIDI processor is quite remarkable. Is the Yamaha MSS1 worth the wait, or is it just a case of 'me too' marketing techniques? David Mellor champs at the timecode bit.

MIDI Controlled Muting

Paul White evaluates this compact and cost-effective means of adding sequencer-driven mute automation to any mixing console.

Korg Drums

Prolonging the percussive theme, a look at three very interesting products from Korg: Their value-for-money digital Super Percussion and Super Drums rhythm machines, plus the KMS-30 MIDI Synchronizer.

SMPTE/EBU Synchroniser

David Mellor reviews this SMPTE/EBU timecode unit dedicated to C-Lab's Creator and Notator sequencing and scorewriting software for the Atari.

The first part of a new series on recording and signal processing. This month we look at a few simple ways of making a vocal part sound more interesting.

Once the exclusive territory of costly systems like the SSL desk, automated mixing is quickly becoming widely available. Lorenz Rychner looks at an automation system aimed at the budget studio.