May 1994 Magazine Contents

Martin Russ looks at the long-awaited new keyboard from Alesis and finds that it takes an alternative approach to just about everything...

Paul White digs out his patch leads and powers up Allen & Heath's new general purpose, 4-bus console.

Do you have a guitar, an interest in songwriting and a modest equipment budget? Read on, and David Mellor will tell you why this backing band in a plastic box could be just what you need.

Drawmer's new dual-channel tube equaliser combines traditional parametric EQ with Drawmer's own high and low-pass filters to create a highly flexible, classic-sounding EQ. Paul White takes it into the studio.

The Proteus series of sound modules have gained a reputation for being all things to all musicians — but they've never had on-board effects. The newest addition to the family takes care of that. Nigel Humberstone checks it out.

Have Roland finally come up with a more affordable MIDI guitar for the masses? Paul White obviously thinks so.

The JX10 was Roland's 'final analogue statement' before the advent of their ground-breaking D50. Derek Johnson reveals the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of this supersynth, now available on the secondhand market for less than a third of its original asking price.

Derek Johnson takes a look at a new addition to the still-growing Sound Canvas family.

A chip update is an easy way to gain new features for your studio gear - but if you don't install the replacement correctly, you could end up with anything from temporary frustration to a massive repair bill. Craig Anderton provides a step-by-step guide.

All too often we don't really pay much attention to the way our equipment looks until we come to sell it — but as Paul White shows, it only takes a few minutes of TLC to give your gear a complete facelift.

The modular, analogue synthesizer, owned by few and coveted by many, is a extraordinarily flexible beast. Many of the effects made possible by the lumbering monsters, however, can also be emulated using far more modest instruments, as Steve Howell explains.

Interested in having access to your very own PD library — on a single disk? Vic Lennard meets up with the Atari GEMini CD-ROM.

The Windows multimedia revolution grinds on... This month Brian Heywood looks at a couple of products that may help you find a multimedia heaven with the PC. Logitech Soundman Wave & Lyrrus G-Vox.

As promised, Paul Austin concludes his look at the big guns in Amiga multimedia.

Martin Russ brings you the latest Apple news, benefits from an Opcode World Tour, reveals all about the new Power Macs, and passes an instant wallpaper music recipe...

A large, painstakingly assembled sample library is of little use if it's so badly organised that you can't separate your tablas from your trumpets. Dave Stewart gives some tips to help you make your library a model of accessibility.

Despite the onslaught of the computer sequencer, hardware sequencers are still alive and well and producing music in many a studio. Jon Cotton, a long-time user of Roland's MC50/500 series, passes on some hard-earned hints and tips for getting the most out of your microcomposer.

Sequencers are great for mechanical grooves — but that's only half the story. As Craig Anderton explains, MIDI sequencers offer tremendous expressive capabilities to those who take advantage of controller editing, logical edit, randomisation, and other common features.

Having addressed your studio mains wiring, you can now turn your attention to the connections between your equipment. Paul White explains the undoubted benefits of a patchbay system.

Composing for film is an ambition shared by innumerable musicians, only a tiny percentage of whom will ever land a soundtrack job. But it can be done. Nigel Humberstone recounts his own experience of scoring a low-budget independent Hollywood movie and talks to Barry Adamson, one of a new breed of soundtrack composers, about his career to date.

The first album from this chart-topping pianist and chanteuse was a million-seller; her second looks set to continue the trend. Ian Gilby was invited into the Craven home studio to discuss the enduring appeal of MOR.

Despite looking back fondly on his days as a pioneering member of groundbreaking electronic group Tangerine Dream, Chris Franke has been a solo artist for over half a decade, and has made a name for himself both in the world of film scoores and as a businessman. Ashok Prema talks to the man they call " the sequencer king".

Colin Newman discusses taking the step from being a musician to being the proprietor of a record label.

On a windswept February day in Blackpool, scores of Kraftwerk fans gathered to swap notes, watch probably the only Kraftwerk covers band in the world and generally party, while paying homage to one of the most influential electronic bands of our time. Convention organiser Paul Wilkinson brings us this report.

Headlining the biggest electronic music festival in Europe was a US composer almost unknown in the UK. A contemporary of synth pioneer Don Buchla, Suzanne Ciani enjoys enourmous success in America, yet such recognition has eluded her so far this side of the Atlantic.

Richard Rothman doesn't own a studio, can't play an instrument and keeps as far away from computers as he can. Nevertheless, he has been involved in the production and promotion of some very successful independent record releases. How is it done?