SOUND ON SOUND
Mark J. Prendergast catches up with ace remixer/musician William Orbit to learn of his newfound passion for classical music.
SOS reader Eugene Romain frankly faces up to the embarrassing problem of gear lust, and asks: do we really need the next 'big thing'?
Over three years, Towering Inferno (led by core duo Andy Sanders and Richard Wolfson) engaged the services of over 50 performers to produce their self-financed opus Kaddish — described by Brian Eno as " the most frightening record i have ever heard!" peter jones charts the development of this ambitious project.
Regular SOS contributor Martin Russ returns to the back page with some rabid thoughts on software updates.
Martin Russ takes a look at the changing face of technology during the first decade of SOS.
Brian Heywood traces the development of the most popular computer platform in the world, and examines its application in music.
Sound On Sound's first decade has been graced by synths that were revolutionary, synths that were fascinating, synths that were seminal, and synths that were simply loved. Julian Colbeck takes a personal look at 10 of the best from synthesizer history.
Not many bands would set up banks of modular and analogue synths in Paddington station and play free for the delight of the weary commuters. node did — but then that's the kind of guys they are. Nigel Humberstone talks to half of the band about free-form composition, inspired mistakes, and the lack of sex appeal in electronic music.
After years of rumours and myth, the fruits of the Beatles' reunion for small screen and recording projects can now be experienced by mere mortals. For the past 18 months, Mark Cunningham has been keeping his ear to the ground, and can now reveal the fascinating details surrounding the Fab Four's Second Coming'...
Aquabats are an unconventional trio dedicated to the creation and recording of unconventional improvised music — using unconventional and often improvised instruments — which they call Earth Music. Tim Turan tells the story.
Nick Rothwell had a problem; although he owned an impressive MIDI setup, he found much of it useless when his musical project Cassiel came to provide the music for live dance performances. Here he explains how he solved his problems and adapted his setup to fit in with new requirements.
For his latest musical project, Rick Wakeman chose to work with a travelling state circus. Jonathan Miller discusses the keyboard virtuoso's clowning glory, and delves into the man's 27-year recording career.
Rob Parrett catches up with veteran musician Rabbit, also known as John Bundrick, who's still in demand as a session keyboardist after more than 25 years in the business.
There's a revolution taking place and it's heading your way! David Mellor explains the increasing importance to musicians of optical technology for data storage.
What do you do if the expensive piece of gear you've just bought doesn't do what it's supposed to? Here, producer and studio owner Mel Simpson bemoans the fate of the reluctant guinea pig...
Canadian company QSound Labs were among the third-party TDM developers present at Digiworld, the recent Digidesign-hosted event in London. Paul White chatted to QSound's head of technical support, Scott Willing, about the latest developments in their 3D processing technology.
The Sabres Of Paradise are familiar to many as the experimental dance project headed by renowned DJ/Producer Andy Weatherall. However, the two other members of the Sabres also have an extensive list of production and remix credits to their credit. Nigel Humberstone talked to them at the Sabresonic Studio about their recent work.
Paul White trips off to California to discover the inside track on sampling, resynthesis, Darwin, and the future power generation of musical instruments from industry pioneers, Emu Systems.
We think nothing of using computers to help us create music via the wonders of MIDI — so why not use the computer to generate the actual sounds, and take entire synthesis systems into the realm of computer software? Paul D. Lehrman puts the case for and against this move and talks to some software synth developers.
Thanks to MIDI, modern musicians can achieve effects that would have seemed nothing short of magical only a few years ago — but it can still seem like mumbo jumbo to the uninitiated. Regular SOS contributor Paul Ward believes it could be so different with just a little standardisation.