Industry Talk

With record industry cutbacks all round, the prospect of success with a major record label seems more remote than ever for most musicians. So why not start your own? Many of us think about it, but what would you actually need to do? Our new 7-part series tells you...

The music technology world changed overnight on June 30th, as Apple announced their acquisition of German sequencer heavyweight Emagic, becoming the first computer manufacturer to own a music software company. Our team brings you the latest news on how and why the deal went through, and what the changes may mean for Emagic and their PC and Mac users.

A number of hi-tech music manufacturers are celebrating important anniversaries this year and next year. In the first of several articles on these companies, we look at the milestone products made by Emu, who drove the sampling revolution in the '80s.

Despite rumours that Apple was on the lookout for a major audio company, Apple's buyout of German developers Emagic took us all by surprise...

Roger Linn's name may be forever associated with the birth of the first serious, sample-based drum machine in 1979, but now, after years away from instrument design, he's back with a new guitar-oriented product offering rhythmic filter effects.

Is Surround Sound and the DVD-Audio format all a plot to 'take the means of production away from the workers'?

The current extent of software piracy poses a serious threat to the economical stability of the software companies on whom we rely...

BeOS is arguably the most promising independent multimedia OS of recent years - but, sadly, innovation and quality have not been enough to guarantee its future...

For years, laptops have been the poor relations of desktop computers in terms of power and facilities, yet have remained expensive in comparison to their studio-bound brethren. But things are changing...

The future looks bright for those musicians who want to use desktop video software to produce their own promotional videos. Dave Shapton explains why.

As a musician, you may well have heard of Dolby A, B and C - but Dolby E? Dave Shapton introduces the format and speculates about its possible implications for music recording.

It could be argued that technology hasn't encroached as much on the average gig as it has on the typical project studio. Dave Shapton would like to change all that...

As technological progress continues to make digital storage devices bigger, RAM cheaper, and processing faster, hitherto outlandish ideas come closer to being realistic possibilities. This month, Dave Shapton thinks about teaching his computer to Name That Tune...

Video and audio technologies are converging in all sorts of ways: musicians can now consider creating demos on DVD, and developments in digital video may show the way for better ways of recording digital audio. Dave Shapton puts it all together.

You may know Naim as a UK-based hi-fi manufacturer, but they also own a record label, and apply the same esoteric standards to the records they release as they do to their audio equipment. Phil Ward investigates the label's obsession with sound and explains their recording and mastering techniques.

Many 'classic' analogue synths are getting on for 30 years old now, yet they are still highly sought after. Hugh Robjohns reports on a company that specialises in finding and fixing vintage electronic instruments.

Dave Shapton exposes Microsoft's plans for Windows XP copy protection, and explains why he thinks digital mixers are on the way to becoming all-purpose control surfaces.

TC‑Helicon's revolutionary VoiceCraft card for their VoicePrism processor allows the user to radically reshape the whole character of a vocal sound, adding tonal and inflectional changes that go way beyond the capabilities of current voice processors. Paul White talks technology with designer Fred Speckeen.

The audio industry is gearing up to fully embrace DVD but, as Dave Shapton argues, there could be a better way...

As the 'dot com' business world's first flush of enthusiasm for the Internet fades, is a deeper understanding of the web's greater potential about to emerge? Dave Shapton speculates.

There's new and compelling evidence that judges in Germany are bonkers. Dave Shapton explains.