Dream Machine: ensoniq EPS/EPSm

the all-singing all-dancing all-bankrupting Ensoniq EPS

String Search No. 2 Martin Strings meet fingers

Hints, Tips & News From The World Of Music Software

This month, helpful hints for users of C-Lab and Opcode software.

the cheapest sampling keyboard?

CD ROM Player

Expensive it maybe, but CD ROM storage is one way of making a sampler a much more powerful instrument. And if you're using a Roland S550, it may not be as expensive as you think, as Simon Trask discovers.

In the final part of a look into the world of additive synthesis, Chris Meyer explains the different approaches to additive synthesis adopted by various manufacturers and which synths have employed them.

Just what are all those technical chaps hanging around the studio control room really saying? We reveal the truth

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.

How To Upgrade Your Akai S900

What do you do when your 12-bit Akai S900 sampler starts to seem a little underspecified in comparison with the latest models? Upgrade it with a '16-bit injection' from Marion Systems. David Mellor reports.

Akai S900 V2.0 & ASK90 and Steinberg Soundworks

Already a well-established sampler, the Akai S900 is on the receiving end of a series of software and firmware updates from Akai and Steinberg. Chris Jenkins boots them up.

There's an S1000 in every studio — almost. David Mellor presents an introduction to this popular sampler.

Rohan Heath of The Urban Cookie Collective

Dom Foulsham continues our series on the digital ins and outs of sampling, and talks to some arch sampling professionals about the tricks of their trade. Discover how to get a convincing crash cymbal; how to break the rules creatively and stay legal; and 20 things to do with a redundant manual. Read it and weep, Jive Bunny

TOKAI Bass & Guitar in Deja vu trial — where have we met before?

'Is this the one we have all been waiting for?' asks Julian Colbeck. Slotting neatly into the vacant sub-£1000 price bracket, Roland's new keyboard is a fast and easy to use sampler with plenty of attractive qualities. But how does it fare against the competition? Read on to find out...

Filtering, Enveloping And Keyboard Sensing.

In the penultimate part of his series, designed to help you get the best from your sampling machines, keyboard programmer Paul Wiffen returns to his analogue roots to modify some samples.

As musicians demand ever more from their samplers, Akai replace the studio-standard S900 with an enhanced machine. Vic Lennard samples the march of progress.

Tanrak System

Ian Waugh concludes our appraisal of Tantek's budget modular FX system, and reveals there's plenty more to come in the near future.

We first looked at the Digisound in July, but now the Dutch sampled-sound percussion machine has some new features and a new distributor. Paul White checks out the new version.

Sampling Keyboard

E-mu enhance their popular Emax sampler with a built-in 20 Meg hard disk and two new methods of sound synthesis. But how successful is the sampler-as-synthesiser? Bob O'Donnell takes it to the max.

For the Atari ST

Grab yourself an image with this new add-on for the ST

The FENDER BULLET DeLUXE GUITAR - Alright, eh, Squire?

the next generation

Programming drums