Mission In Action

Instead of recording their latest opus in expensive pro studios, the Mission have been laying tracks in a rural barn. It might seem they've fallen from grace; Robert Michael finds it ain't necessarily so.

More news of forthcoming products to make you drool and tempt you to dig even deeper into your pockets.

Build a home recording studio

Our regular column devoted to readers' hints and lips about their recording equipment, instruments, software and playing techniques.

UB40 exclusive... the drums go digital... Plus Dread at the Controls - top producer Mikey Dread dubs it up, and reveals some trade secrets...

More readers' queries are answered by the expert teaching staff of London's Gateway School Of Recording & Music Technology.

The ZX Spectrum Beepquencer

Is Hybrid Arts SMPTETrack for the Atari ST keeping pace with the front runners? David Mellor upgrades his sequencer package to version II software and hardware.

From his formative days experimenting with Torchsong, William Orbit has made good through his remixes and a new outfit called Bass-o-matic. Tim Goodyer watches time catch up with a techno-prophet.

The whizz-kid that made a number one hit out of a spoken-word soundtrack and a sampler with 19' is now The Wizard, courtesy of a new signature tune for 'Top of the Pops'. Tim Goodyer meets the man, the Synclavier, and the passion for new technology.

Once More for the Viewers at Home

The Rebis RA226 Sampler gets the H&SR treatment.

Rated as the world's top solo synth performer, Klaus explains how he composes on stage and in the studio

Everything you ever wanted to know about samplers... 48 models compared! Paul Gilby surveys the current sampler market, exposes the 'spec wars', dispels the 16-bit myth and explains in simple terms how sampling really works, before telling you what to look out for when buying secondhand.

Negotiating a record contract

Don’t sign a thing until you’ve read this

The story of a CD

Not many people would have the courage to give up a lucrative career in the jingles business in order to record and release their own CD. But that's precisely what Simon Renouf has done, and this is his story...

Veteran songwriter Peter Hammill and programmer Paul Ridout have used some revolutionary applications of MIDI technology in the creation of Hammill's latest album. Paul Tingen interviews them, and comes away suitably impressed.

Music moves in mysterious ways - these LPs for example aren't vinyl or CD, they're floppies for the AMPLE music system. Ian Waugh boots up the boogie.

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.

Founder member of Depeche Mode and Yazoo, Vince Clarke is joined here by Eric Radcliffe, his partner in a new band, The Assembly, air their views on writing and recording in the 1980's.

Is hip hop an unending stream of monotonous, empty rhythms, or the brightest star in the use of modern musical technology? Tim Goodyer cross-questions MC Tee and DJ Mantronik.

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.

Meeting the music business and business of making music on their own terms saw one London band building a studio as well as a reputation from the ground up. Simon Trask gets in deep with Double Trouble.

Super-guitarist, super-producer and Superstar, Nile Rodgers must be doing something right. Our exclusive, in-depth interview with the man and his production team reveals all...

Producer extraordinaire gets interactive