A cosmic David Etheridge gets to the spirit of New Age music in the first instalment of a two-part series.

Personal Music Studio

Value added tracks

The monthly miscellany gets stuck into the trivia

Roland Alpha Juno 1

Roland’s latest analogue poly offers no earth-shattering innovations, but is still a welcome addition to the synth market’s ever-expanding lower end. Or so says Simon Trask, anyway.

Roland JD990 Synthesizer

Is Roland's Super JD module simply the best synthesizer they've ever made? Read the review to find out...

Programming Clinic

Most of the current generation of digital synthesizers use a blend of sampling and synthesis techniques to produce their sounds — a powerful combination, but perhaps less easily understood than analogue synthesis. Synth guru Craig Anderton offers some hints and tips on how to get the best out of 'S+S' instruments.

Dbx 563X

The latest addition to the dbx range of half-rack studio processors is the 563X Silencer, a handy device for removing 'hiss' from recordings or even digital samples. Gareth Stuart puts it to the test.

Sampler

It's nearly three years since Ensoniq struck it rich with the Mirage sampler. Simon Trask previews Ensoniq's new sampler and asks "can they repeat their success with the EPS?"

Synthcheck

Small, digital and reviewed by Curtis Schwartz

Advanced Multi-Effects Processor

Of all the instruments that became popular in the heyday of the "big synth" a few years back, Roland's Jupiter 8 has stood the test of time the best. Tim Goodyer, a self-confessed JP8 addict, explains why.

Korg Wavestation

Korg's new Wavestation is a direct descendant of Sequential's long-gone vs synthesizer, but as Paul Ireson discovers, it has plenty of new tricks up its sleeve to complement the old ones.

John Walters, Tom Bailey and Frank Tovey

RS-PCM Keyboard

Roland's U110 sample reading module proved popular enough to make a second appearance, complete with keyboard, in the U20 - but there's more. Simon Trask checks out Roland's RS-PCM keyboard.

The Expanded Expander

Here it is - the professional version MT32 complete with separate voice outputs, built-in reverb and hardly any noise. Martin Russ looks at Roland’s new studio-oriented rackmount LA synthesizer.

Mark Jenkins auditions the latest 16-bit stereo digital reverb with Performance MIDI.

Our monthly bring-and-buy sale for readers' synth sounds. January's models include the OSCar, the Moog Prodigy and Yamaha's ubiquitous DX7.

MIDI Controlled Muting

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

Sampler Updates

Leading the battle against planned obsolescence are the sampler manufacturers, whose machines receive updates almost monthly. We re-test three samplers to find out how they've changed.

Roland's top of the range sampler is the last of those announced at Frankfurt to reach the marketplace, but its 16-note polyphony, 512K memory, and built-in visual editing software could well give it an edge over existing £2000 samplers. Paul Wiffen takes up the case.

The Return of the Modular Synthesizer

Digidesign continue to add to their innovative range of synthesis programs which use the flexibility of computers for sound creation and the hardware of MIDI samplers to replay the sounds. Paul Wiffen finds he loves the former but hates the latter.

Digital Reverb

In the beginning was the Midiverb; the Midiverb begat the Midiverb II and the Midiverb II. Nigel Lord checks the latest incarnation of Alesis' standard-setting reverb.

An unusual selection of vocals from the Masterbits Climax Collection sample CD and a bargain collection for TX81Z/DX100 from Emis are the sounds featured in this month's Patchwork.

Signal processor control is one of MIDI's less well-known applications yet it offers enormous scope for the imaginative user. Craig Anderton is your guide...