Mark Prendergast talks with trumpeter, composer, and synthesist Mark Isham about new technology, David Sylvian, Van Morrison, Windham Hill, and his solo career as one of Hollywood's more interesting film soundtrack composers.

Another year, another host of hardware to look back on. We take you through the goodies and the baddies that came out during '84, just in case you missed any of them.

The ADS sampler has the look and feel of a German sports car - expensive, no-nonsense, and high performance. Craig Anderton takes it for a test drive.

Eight-voice Polyphonic Sampling Keyboard

Paul Wiffen goes gaga over E-mu Systems' latest attempt at giving the average keyboard player complete control over the sound sampling process.

Mark Jenkins pins down the expert synthesist/programmer best known for his work with Peter Gabriel, and discusses the release of his eighth solo album - 'Metropolitan Suite'.

through the year darkly with One Two

A History of Wind Synthesizers

Could the wind of change be upon us? MIDI has already given guitarists and drummers the means to control electronic sounds, and the launch of the Akai and Yamaha wind controllers now allows woodwind and brass players to join in. John L. Walters takes a general look at the historical development of wind synthesizers, and the Akai and Yamaha products in particular.

How Good Are They?

Over the next two issues Graham Hinton tests five mixer automation systems which all provide control of audio signal level by means of Voltage Controlled Amplifiers (VCAs) and are accessible to some degree by MIDI. This month it's the turn of the Akai MPX820 and Simmons SPM8:2.

Few instruments have caused as great a stir in the marketplace as the futuristic-looking DG1. Stepp describe it as "a radically new instrument that plays like a guitar, and which can produce some of the most phenomenal sounds you're ever likely to hear." Ian Gilby visited Stepp to find out for himself and talk with its creator, Stephen Randall.

News from the cutting edge of music and multimedia technology

In this lengthy article, Craig Anderton explains all the features found on sequencers, from the simple to the esoteric. It is intended for those who are trying to make an intelligent purchasing decision about a sequencer and don't fully understand all the options that are available.

Electronics Into Light

Karlheinz Stockhausen has had a profound influence on modern music from the 1950s onwards, and pioneered the use of electronics to create genuinely new music. Mark J. Prendergast reviews his career.