Siel EX80

Siel's new expander based on the DK80 synth.

Could the arrival of new storage media such as magneto-optical disks change the way we perceive music?

In depth.

Playing Keys With Shakespear's Sister

Six stars outline their home demo set-ups

sketching song ideas at home. how certain successful stars record their demos - John Entwistle, Nik Kershaw, Annabel Lamb, Adrian Belew, Blancmange

big and sequenced

Building E&MM's MIDI interface for the Beeb? Jay Chapman's got some further information you should know.

As Yamaha's 'X' range of hi-tech hardware continues to grow, Dan Goldstein and Trish McGrath present an exclusive appraisal of two of the range's most affordable additions, the TX7 FM Expander and QX7 MIDI Keyboard Recorder.

The analogue synth is alive and well and living in Patchwork. The Minimoog, ARP Odyssey and Korg Mono/Poly make a welcome return to our monthly selection of readers' patches.

arpeggiator, delay, mixer

UMI-2B

Sequencing interface for the BBC

BBC B music software

software for a sequential BBC

Italian-designed keyboards have received mixed success over the years. Elka's old Rhapsody string synth was a popular instrument in the seventies but their main polysynth, the Synthex, failed to set the world alight. That may well be about to change with the release of their impressive 9-voice, multi-timbral, DX7-soundalike, the EK44, and the 6-voice analogue EK22. Or is it? Mark Jenkins offers his views.

Synthcheck

Excellent sounds plus a sequencer for under a grand. Tony Mills gets very worked up

A pictorial diary of what happened this November at the best UK recording show.

Herbie Hancock, John Miles.

Southlands Studio

Paul Ireson goes in search of paradise and finds it in the newly renamed and refitted Southlands Studio in Chiswick, London.

new pads and racked modules

The Best of British

Britain's booming hi-tech music industry.

ALESIS DATADISK MIDI Data Recorder

The latest MIDI data recorder to appear is the Alesis Datafiler SysEx recorder, which allows you to record system exclusive info direct to disk. Filing with Vic Lennard.

The latest developments from the land of the floppy. Tony Mills reports

Programmability has changed the way we make music; but should the music now make changes to programmability? Vic Lennard recalls happy memories.

Geoff Twigg on how MIDI came about, what it does, and how it does it.

You're signed, and the big cheque arrives. What do you spend it on?

Sound On Sound reader Kofi Busia recently released his own independent LP called 'Oh Africa', funded entirely by himself. To encourage others to follow his example, we asked Kofi to write about his experiences. In this the first of three parts, he presents a frank and revealing account of why the record came about, how he came to grips with using modern technology for African music, and why he chose the equipment he used.