Chris Meyer takes an in-depth look at Oberheim's EPROM burner and reader, and considers its renewed significance in the light of continually evolving MIDI applications.

Spotting Market Trends

Those little snippets that make the musician's life worth living

Gordon Simpsons

A tale of simple Edinburgh folk and Simpson's Edinburgh shop. Billy Punter takes the tartan trail

Richard Burgess, Roland Orzabal and David Lloyd

AmpCheck

Paul Francis in cult classic Frazerhead!

Thomas Dolby, Chris Heaton, Dave Stewart

A new regular feature giving details of three music personalities. This month: Thomas Dolby, Chris Heaton and Dave Stewart.

budget synth drums

The latest gear

gossip column

synth drums, actually

Drums/Percussion: New gear survey

Klone Dual/Paragon Percussion

The Klone Dual and Paragon Percussion's DVXM — Two stand-alone Drum-synth modules that offer a cheaper way into electro-percussion than the Simmons of this world.

Looking back over ten years' worth of magazines, it seemed that there were certain moments worth reliving - here are the edited highlights.

The Fishman guide to DIY synths

The Nightcatchers

First of an occasional series on the twilight zone between recording first demos and collecting that first gold disc. Birmingham's Nightcatchers talk to Tim Goodyer about tight budgets and big-name producers.

news from the front

new gear releases

Percussion Sounds

Steve Howell investigates conventional drum-kit sounds and how to synthesise them, using even the most basic of instruments.