Electropop veteran Vince Clarke and latest partner, Andy Bell, discuss composing, sampling and singing following their debut album release. Tim Goodyer takes notes.

Readers may suspect that Richard Dean's lapses into metaphysical metaphor result from a peyote button every five paragraphs. Yet this first article in his new series is full of useful tips beyond mere sound-on-sound.

Part wall

More DIY acoustics

Face to face with Hue - or is it Cry?

At last! A new system that gives you hi-fidelity sound from a standard video recorder. Could it become the stereo reel-to-reel machine of the future? Judge for yourself.

Archimedes Software

It's been a long time coming, and there have been problems along the way, but there's now a pro sequencer for Acorn's Archimedes. Ian Waugh opens Pandora's box.

Synthcheck

Yamaha DX7, Casio CZ5000, Juno 106, Korg DW6000, 30 to 1 the field. Commentator, Tony Mills

Hints, Tips & News From The World of Music Software

More hints and tips from the software publishers themselves. This month: C-Lab; Opcode; Coda; Dr. T's.

Dave Reed finds happiness in the Channel Islands thanks to the Trackman sequencer for the ST

Ian Gilby reviews a truly ingenious programmable patchbay that takes all the hard workout of MIDI equipment routing in the studio - the Sycologic M16 MIDI Matrix.

Playing Keyboards With Elton John

Elton John goes on tour this month to promote his new album The One; Julian Colbeck took the opportunity to talk to keyboardsman Mark Taylor about equipment, entertainment, and Elton.

How to get the very best from what you do in the privacy of your own home

Who's bought what from where.

It's a matter of merging

Tim Goodyer looks past the bright colours of Drum Theatre to find high technology and ethnic tradition working hand-in-hand, and selling records, too. The band themselves explain.

Pressing Records

Paul Gilby visits SRT Records & Tapes to unearth the 'inside views' of its managing director David Richardson, whose profound words shatter some of the illusions and myths that surround the record manufacturing industry.

Silica CD-ROMs

A selection of PC CD-ROM drives

In the second instalment of our 'How It Works' series, engineer/musician David Mellor focuses on the operational principles of digital audio systems.

Studio Test

The portastudio that would be Nassau

With features like stereo, mono and separate outputs for external processing, real-time and step-time programming, MIDI compatibility, and interchangeable drum sounds, the budget-priced MD8 should theoretically cost a lot more than it does. Tony Wride sees if it lives up to expectations.

mixed-mode CD tracklist

The words behind the sounds on this month's CD and CD-ROM