Computer / Software

If you thought you had hassles finding a CD-ROM drive to work with your PC, you haven't entered the soundcard zone. Brian Heywood offers a cautionary tale...

Cubase, in its many guises, has established itself as an industry standard on Apple and Atari platforms, and now looks set to be the benchmark by which other PC sequencers will be judged. Kevin Pawsey investigates what Steinberg has to offer the score-producing musician.

Thanks to Evolution's Music Creator systems, it's never been easier or cheaper to turn your PC into a powerful MIDI sequencing tool. Brian Heywood gets creative...

Last month, Martin Russ got caught up in Apple takeover fever. This month, he explains how the situation has completely changed...

There may be a famine of new applications for the Atari, but there's a positive flood of utilities. Ofir Gal offers some tips on how to turbo-charge your Atari. New products, multi-tasking, NVDI and MagiC v4.

Orphaned in childhood and now suffering a PC brain-drain, the Amiga needs all the help it can get. So, could tracker programs like OctaMED v6 be the platform's saviour? Paul Overaa asks whether the future's IFFy...

Mike Collins concludes his look at the available TDM software plug-ins, concentrating this month on those made by third-party manufacturers.

The Amiga has a lot of catching up to do if it is to outgrow its past as a games module. In Amiga Magic, however, Paul Overaa finds much to attract the musician.

The technology that lets your PC speak can equally well make it listen. Brian Heywood gets all analytical on us...

Whatever the reality of Apple's finances, the money men have decided the company is ripe for the picking. But will upsetting the Apple cart produce a windfall for the user? Martin Russ keeps his ear to the ground... Sun Microsystems.

Several software houses are producing modestly priced programs which take advantage of the audio capabilities fo the Apple Power Macs. The result can be high-quality multitrack digital audio at a suprisingly low cost. Paul D. Lehrman finds he's got the Power...

The new version of Opcode's flagship sequencer/ hard disk recording package almost extinguishes the differences between audio and MIDI recordings, allowing unprecedented control over your compositions. A hitherto MIDI-only Martin Russ broadens his horizons...

The all-digital, computer-based recording studio is no longer a distant future possibility. Thanks to digidesign's TAM buss, many of the processing capabilities of a traditional studio setup are now available as computer software plug-ins. In the first of this two-part feature, Mike Collins takes us through some of the available options.

Brian Heywood considers what 1996 will bring the PC-based musician, and decides it will be the year of the DAM...

Blue Ribbon's SuperJAM has been around for quite a while, but many musicians still don't realise just how useful this program is. Paul Overaa provides a guided tour of the current version...

Martin Russ considers some ways of realising sound synthesis on your Mac using system or third-party software, and concludes his look at the PCI buss.

Ofir Gal reports back from a show in London which proves, once again, that there's life in Atari computers yet — even if Atari themselves don't agree!

Martin Russ continues his look at computer busses and reports back from the recent Apple Expo show.

Following the demise of the Windows MIDI Mapper under Windows '95, Brian Heywood considers ways of setting up alternative MIDI patch maps on your PC, and looks back on his personal favourite products of 1995...

Paul Overaa goes behind the scenes at Tangent Music and discovers a rather unusual Amiga connection...

The information superhighway, the 'Net, you name it, the hype just goes on and on... Ofir Gal finds out how music-making Atari users can join in the fast lane.