Software and Interface

David Ellis casts a critical eye over Passport Designs' first foray into the wonderful world of MIDI.

Paul Gilby takes a brief look at printer technology with particular reference to the Citizen HQP45 24-pin dot-matrix printer.

MIDI Hardware and Software for RS232 Interface Standard

A MIDI utility hardware and software package for any RS232-equipped micro. Review by Simon Trask, who’s thinking of having RS232 fitted to himself.

SMPTE/FSK Synchroniser

You want to sync your sequencer to tape but the budget's tight and you don't know if FSK code's smart enough or SMPTE code's cheap enough - let Vic Lennard introduce a budget synchroniser that handles both.

Vic Lennard considers the trials and triumphs of storing your synth patches as SysEx files within the sequences they're intended for, and concludes that MIDI really is your friend after all.

Jay Chapman continues his 'back to basics' description of MIDI with a light-hearted pot-pourri of handy hints and tips.

New technology has already brought the music industries of East and West closer together, but how has that affected the music itself, and what will happen as the two cultures get closer still? Gary Larson gives his viewpoint.

Jay Chapman sets the scene for a regular series written to help you better understand the practicalities of life with the Musical Instrument Digital Interface.

New York was the setting for the 83rd Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, where audio manufacturers gathered to show off their new wares. Craig Anderton provides a rundown of the main highlights.

Sequential Circuits' MIDI sequencer for the Commodore 64 looks like a bargain at only £185. David Ellis checks out the reality.

MIDI has been with us for almost a decade, yet most users still labour under Misconceptions about what it actually can and cannot do. Paul D. Lehrman explodes some of the more common myths about MIDI.

MIDI Tape Recorder Interface

If the prospect of throwing your computer into the back of a Ford Transit and hauling it on stage every night fills you with dread, the new MIDIMan from Musicsoft might well be the solution.

Concluding our sideways look at the art and soul of sampling, Dom Foulsham covers N to Z in his alphabet of tips

GuitarCheck

Who knows how good a MIDI add-on for your guitar can be? The Shadow knows, as Paul Trynka finds out....

The Musical Instrument Digital Interface has revolutionised the way we write and record music. Martin Russ delves deep into MIDI's 10-year history, explains its many recent changes and additions, and looks ahead to see what the future will hold.

The recent development of the MIDI standard is designed to enable you to transfer your sequences from one sequencer to another. Anthony Widoff files a report.

DAT Recorder

Tascam's latest machine has all the features we have come to expect of a professional DAT recorder. Dave Lockwood assesses its performance.

We examine Roland's MPU 401 Intelligent Interface that took over two years to develop, to discover whether this disc-based sequencing system was worth waiting for.

Preset Polysynth

They call it a computer peripheral and MIDI expander, you'll probably think of it as a preset version of the SixTrak. Exclusive review of SCI's new baby by Dan Goldstein.

Digital 8-Track Recorder

Key Expander/SMPTE Synchroniser

Integration is the name of the game with Steinberg's Midex - a single unit combining a software key expander and a SMPTE synchroniser for the Atari ST. Nigel Lord even likes the colour.

Jim Burgess sends us an exclusive preview of Apple's powerful pair of new computers - and assesses their implications for tomorrow's MIDI-using musicians.

Hints, Tips & News From The World Of Music Software

More hints and tips from the software manufacturers themselves, this month: C-Lab, Steinberg and Voyetra.

Just as MIDI itself has gone far beyond what its developers imagined, so MIDI Time Code has the potential to take MIDI technology into areas quite removed from the synthesis and sequencing worlds in which it has become so familiar. MTC user Paul D. Lehrman explains how.