Want to be a recording engineer? Terry Holton provides an insight into the audio and video production training courses offered by London-based Media Production Services.

Effects processing is now an integral part of a recording studio - large or small. Aaron Hallas goes back to basics in this introduction to sound treatment.

Steve Jansen & Richard Barbieri

Following a brief diversion in the form of last year's Rain Tree Crow project, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri are once more pursuing their creative partnership. Paul Ireson reports on the recording of their latest album.

Japan's most respected technopop pioneer has recently finished an album that breaks new ground for him - it involves live musicians. He discusses his new LP and his other projects with Paul Tingen.

From his formative days experimenting with Torchsong, William Orbit has made good through his remixes and a new outfit called Bass-o-matic. Tim Goodyer watches time catch up with a techno-prophet.

Three jam-packed pages of hot new products.

Digital Reverb

Following on from the DRV 1000 and DRV2000, this latest digital reverb cum multi-effects processor is Korg's most sophisticated yet - 16-bit, 20kHz bandwidth, full MIDI control and, for all armchair enthusiasts, an infra-red remote control. David Hughes reports.

More news, views, and a smidgeon of hot gossip!

Later with Jools Holland

Behind the scenes at TV’s premier music show

Four years on from the successes of The Flat Earth, Thomas Dolby has moved to LA for his follow-up LP, Aliens Ate My Buick. Tim Goodyer discovers that aliens have a lot to say.

The line between man and machine is blurred; today there exists an entity whose purpose is to make music. Simon Trask discovers that its sights are locked on the dance charts and it absolutely will not stop.

Feel Every Beat

Are Electronic, mutant offspring of New Order, The Smiths and the Pet Shop Boys, the first electro-supergroup? Does it matter? Mark J. Prendergast ignores the hype, sidesteps trivial speculation, and talks technical to Bernard Sumner.

Pioneer of the sampling revolution, Tim Simenon, is back with a new album, a new studio and a refreshing update on what technology has to offer music. Tim Goodyer charts Unknown Territory.

Kaleidophon Studios

Simon Trask travels to North London to visit one of Britain's longest-established synth studios, and to talk to its creator, electronic composer David Vorhaus.

The Stereo MC's' Connected was for many the album of 1992; their live shows are currently one of the highlights of 1993. Phil Ward makes his own stereo connection and discovers just what it takes to get the balance right.

Effects

Part 14: Effects, in the latest installment of his studio cookbook. David Mellor looks at ways to-make your recordings more tasty.

What is a Noise Gate? What on earth is a MIDI Noise Gate? David Mellor supplies the answers and explains some standard and not so standard gating techniques, with special reference to the BSS Audio DPR 502 MIDI Noise Gate.

Toa MR-8T 8-track Cassette Recorder

If you thought eight tracks on standard cassette was an impossibility, think again. David Mellor assesses the world's first 8-track cassette recorder. Will it do to 8-track tape machines what the portastudio did to 4-tracks? Read on and find out...

Howard Jones was the first keyboard player to successfully exploit the new technology to the full by regularly performing solo concerts with nothing but MIDI instruments as his backing band. In this rare interview, Brian Jacobs talks to Howard about his music, recording, his decision to produce most of his new album himself, and his growing admiration for an instrument he once said he would never use.

Multi Effects Processor

David Mellor samples the delights of a multiple effects unit that can create up to nine high quality effects at the same time.

Inventor of the 'infinite guitar', this Canadian born player's haunting multi-layered guitar parts have graced the works of such luminaries as Brian Eno, Jon Hassell, U2's Edge, and Daniel Lanois, though Michael Brook's own music has yet to receive the recognition it deserves. Mark J. Prendergast reports.

Responsible for establishing artists like Yazz and Lisa Stansfield, Coldcut also have a reputation for being one of the most innovative production teams around. Tim Goodyer learns about their new LP and the future of computer graphics.

No, this is not the rack-mounting version - it's a robust 14-track (at a push) multitrack recorder/mixer and computer-controlled patchbay rolled into one. Find out whether or not studio engineer Gareth Stuart reckons it could be a viable alternative to traditional reel-to-reel 16-track systems...

Don Goldstein talks to American composer Harold Budd about his past collaborations with such luminaries as Brian Eno and Michael Nyman and, more recently, the Cocteau Twins.