Some 40 years ago, as a bushy‑tailed, bright‑eyed Editor, I was upstairs at my rickety desk in SOS’s garret loft office — which was all we could afford in 1985 as a start‑up business. It was late at night, and I was trying desperately to conjure up the perfect words for a leader column to express how I and my brother Paul felt as we were about to launch upon the unsupecting UK audience what I knew in my heart was going to be a revolutionary colour music magazine that fused recording content with music technology gear and software reviews. It featured an innovative Sound On Vision sound‑for‑picture section in the back pages, along with Kendall Wrightson’s exploration of SMPTE in a new series that nodded at the power of MIDI timecode and how it would grow in relevance to the eager home musician in years to come. The amazing Roland SBX‑80 had just launched and was reviewed in issue 1, along with MIDI‑controlled effects and a superb synchroniser from Bokse. We understood their significance.
Midge Ure of Ultravox and Band Aid fame graced our premier issue front cover. Yours truly interviewed him after Chrysalis, his record company, sent me a cassette tape which I devoured and loved to bits (I still do!) as I drove down to Midge’s then home in Chiswick, London. I was shown into his garden shed, where he’d installed a modest home studio — precisely what I wanted to portray as the groundswell of interest in home recording (which began with my time as Editor of Home Studio Recording magazine) was at fever pitch. So I asked the awkward questions and delved deeply into how his well‑crafted songs were conceived, written and demo’ed on Midge’s Akai MG 12‑track recorder and E‑mu Emulator prior to big studio sessions and mixdown. Midge admitted candidly that “MIDI baffles me”.
Over the years Midge has become very knowledgeable of MIDI and in‑the‑box recording in his Bath‑based home studio. Somewhere on the SOS YouTube channel you can still watch our video of Paul White and Hugh Robjohns undertaking their Studio SOS optimisation of Midge’s studio space. SOS delivered material like this that was hard to find elsewhere, long before YouTube became a dominant force.
I challenge anyone to show me a magazine that evokes such passion from its readership as Sound On Sound...
Through this past 40 years, SOS has attracted talented team members across all departments, most of whom have been loyal and still work for the publication. I bless them all for their unswerving dedication to creating, month in and month out, the very best magazine in our sector, bar none. In fact, I challenge anyone to show me a magazine that evokes such passion from its readership as Sound On Sound, remaining firmly at the top of the pile while music tech magazines from big publishers have died off. That’s why I love Sound On Sound.
Ask our readers if they value their print subscription and they will tell you indefatigably that what we write each month matters immensely to them and influences every single purchasing decision. Over one million visitors to our website each month seek out our independent in‑depth reviews and tutorial workshops. Why? Because we are committed to truthful, honest content that cannot be bought. Our readers know this fact and, whilst they enjoy YouTube influencer content like we all do when researching gear, they crave the guarantee from SOS that what we write about products holds true after they hand over their hard‑earned cash or credit card and the gear/software later arrives at their home studio. Long live SOS.