Comment / Opinion

Dr Douglas Doherty discusses the point.

Have your say for a chance to win an AKG C12VR mic worth £5,700 / $5,499!

Commercial Productions Analysed: Rebecca Ferguson • David Guetta • Professor Green

While technology continues to march ahead, the cold reality is that the musical hardware and software available five years ago almost certainly already did everything...

Fin * Bob McCarroll * Professor Karmadillo

Dr Nik Farrell-Fox asks: Is the digital studio a lonely place?

• Sak Noel 'Loca People' • Labrinth 'Earthquake' • Drake 'Make Me Proud' • Florence & The Machine 'Shake It Out'

Experience seems to suggest that as technology becomes more sophisticated, its rate of change also accelerates. For example, it took many thousands of years to get from the wheel to the steam engine...

Krojc * Toy Tin Soldier * Mike Henderson * Annie Dressner * Marvin B Naylor * Crazee Baldhead * Big Chief

Can musicians hope to get a fair deal from copyright law when the legislation itself is so out of date?

• Pixie Lott 'All About Tonight' • Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 'Death Of You And Me' • Laura Marling 'Sophia'

April is the time of year when we traditionally wind you up with fake stories, impossible products and non-existent bands. However, whenever we come up with an 'impossible' idea to use as a spoof, somebody usually goes out and builds it.

Marcus Ryle of Line 6 talks to SOS about a radical new approach to live sound.

The Hillmen * Little Black Holes * Primary Slave * Mine * Charlie Birnie * The Tempus * Pearl Handled Revolver

When is an engineer not an engineer?

• Lana Del Rey 'Videogames' • Tinchy Stryder 'Off The Record' • Emeli Sandé 'Heaven' • One Direction 'What Makes You Beautiful'

Over the past few years, we have seen computer software achieve what had previously been considered to be impossible.

Breton * Ove Engen * RJ Thompson * Burning Wire

SOS Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns ponders whether 'boutique' actually means 'better'.

• Lady Antebellum 'We Owned The Night' • Cher Lloyd 'With Ur Love' • Snow Patrol 'Called Out In The Dark'

We've been running a small amount of live sound gear coverage in the mag for a few months now. On the whole, it has been very well received...