Industry Talk

The untimely death of musician Duncan Browne part-way through an album project spurred keyboardist Nick Magnus on to complete the recordings. Here Nick tells the inside story of how he accomplished it.

Alesis, once the champions of budget effects, drum machines, and more recently the ADAT digital recording system, have now diversified into mixing consoles, amplifiers, and studio monitors, with every sign that the list will continue to grow. Paul White spoke to Alesis' Frank Kelly about some of the new directions the company is taking.

Paul White discusses the role of the software 'plug-in' with Gilad Keren, co-founder of Waves.

Is MIDI about to be superceded? Martin Russ investigates proposals for a new standard for interfacing and controlling electronic musical instruments.

Digidesign hardware now forms the backbone of most Macintosh-based hard disk recording systems, but where did the company come from, where is it going, and what changes can we expect to see after their recent merger with Avid? Paul white gets the answers directly from Peter Gotcher, President of Digidesign.

Paul White talks to Graham Blyth, Spirit's founder and design guru, about the company's product philosophy and its newest line, the Spirit Powerstation powered mixer.

Not many musicians realise the potential of playing the European live circuit. Nigel Humberstone, whose band, In The Nursery, has built up quite a substantial European following, lets you in on some of the secrets of technical and business survival in Europe.

Panicos Georghiades explains how PC multimedia authoring programs can be used to put additional information onto a CD along with the music.

Karl Steinberg now runs one of Europe's most successful software houses. But the company grew from a mere idea and a small business loan. Paul White talked to the man behind the mighty Cubase at his Hamberg R&D department.

Producer Paul Staveley O'Duffy has strong opinions on how the music business can be improved. Here he puts the case for a more flexible approach to the record industry — one that would expand the boundaries of what the public gets to hear...

In the concluding part of this short series, our intrepid MIDI musicians turn their attention to the creation of sound effects and the final mix... By Paul D. Lehrman with Steve Olenick.

The recently released 'Tangents 1973-1983' Tangerine dream boxed set chronicles the 10 seminal years the German group spent on the Virgin Label. Mark J. Prendergast concludes his history of the band, and looks at the effects they have had on the development of modern music technology.

As Wise Buddah Music, Radio FM DJ Mark Goodier and his business partner Bill Padley are producing and editing programs for the BBC with little more than a Mac computer, a DAT machine, and some high-powered Digidesign editing software. Paul White talks to them about how they manage it.

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to produce the music and sound effects for a major international documentary series, largely in a home midi studio." Could it be done? In part 1 of their two-part assignment, special agents Paul D. Lehrman and Steve Olenick found out.

October saw the release of a giant Tangerine Dream boxed set from Virgin Records, 'Tangents 1973-1983'. In the first of this two-part feature, Mark J. Prendergast considers Tangerine Dream's groundbreaking use of emergent synthesizer technology during their first decade.

Yamaha have taken the unusual step of launching 15 new products between major trade shows. Paul White was lured to the NEC by the promise of a free lunch and a cup of coffee.

Atari's high flyer had top billing as the first ever personal multimedia system. Andrew Wright enters stage left to look at the claim.

Where can you go to mess about on a Mini Moog, do battle with a Bulcha, operate an Odyssey, programme a PolyVoks or make friends with a modular? The Museum of Synthesizer Technology has all this and much more, and was recently opened by none other than Bob Moog at a star-studded ceremony. Julian Colbeck reports.

Seattle is known to many of us as the Grunge music capital of the world. If Mackie Designs have their way, it could also become known as the mixer capital of the world. Paul White went on a tour of Mackie's factory for the inside story on the company's history and product line.

Paul White talks to Malcolm Toft, the man behind the legendary Trident range of recording consoles, who now has his own company, MTA, which looks set to continue the tradition of analogue excellence.

Though many of us still don't fully understand it, interactive media is the way of the future for music and associated images. Nigel Humberstone visited ESP, a company with a long history in what is still a relatively young industry, to find out what it's all about...