This Roland Gift is nothing to do with the competition, says Mark Cordery

grab your slice

how to get your music on the radio

Recording guitar

Fade away and radiate with Primal Scream's engineer Brian O'Shaughnessy

Are record producers losing their touch now they've regained their influence? Are DJs better-equipped to make music that moves? Simon Trask gets the answers from an objective source - one of Britain's top remix DJs.

4-track Recorder/Mixer

What is one? Who has one? How can you get one? All these and more dealt with expertly by Bob Henrit

Tascam Porta Two

This month's cover feature, the brand new Tascam Porta 2. Bristling with features, this 6-channel, 4-track portable studio still falls within an attractive price bracket.

Wonderful Radio Mike Hrano brings you a bulletin on how to get fair play on your airplay

So You Say

What the people say.

Tony Horkins meets the crue-d crowd, and gets a lesson in manners

The Weird and Wonderful World of The Blue Eyed Boys

do you really want to be the next bros?

'When I Think Of You' by Janet Jackson

One good means of learning your way around the equipment you own is to use it to recreate somebody else's music. That's exactly what Mike Collins did last year whilst working at Yamaha's Research & Development Studio in London. Using nothing but Yamaha gear, he set about reproducing a Janet Jackson hit in full, by himself. Here, he recalls what was involved.

Mini monophonic synth with sequencer, rhythm machine and calculator

The Mechanical Copyright Protection Society

The second of an occasional series in which David Mellor takes a look at the organisations that help musicians and composers earn an honest crust in this hard world. This month: the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society.

MIDI Disk Recorder

Meanwhile, Elka have called their CR99 a MIDI Disk Recorder rather than a MIDI sequencer. Vic Lennard goes on record with a MIDI sequencer with a few surprises up its sleeve.

Castleridge Studios

H&SR takes a look at its first Australian studio. The locals couldn't give a Castleridgexxx for anything else.

This month, Phil Spector

After three years out of the public eye, Scritti are straight back in the charts with a new LP and single. Green Gartside explains to Tim Goodyer why technology has replaced live performance.

Chas de Whalley encounters his old pal Huey Lewis to discuss the merits of self-production

Linn 9000

Linn's new 9000 combines drum machine and MIDI recorder-making it the heart of your set up.

Smile please! Tony Reed raps with the Cockney Translator about schooltime chronicles, writing styles, and the pressures of success

Part 2 of the interview.

Danielle Dax

Richard Walmsley meets the Wolfgirl and discovers the Dax-sound

...aka The Moody Boys, Voyager and Urban Jungle, and remixer by appointment to KLF, System 7 and many others. Phil Ward uncovers the real Tony Thorpe.

a house music producer who hates sampling and big drum sounds? some mistake, surely?