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Find out how to get the highest-quality audio into your computer music system.

Last month, we revealed just how hideously complex the sound-producing mechanism of the snare drum can be. Nevertheless, synthesizing the sound is not as hard as it seems, as we find out with the aid of a Roland SH101...

There are now lots of different ways to make a stereo master recording of your final mix, so how do you work out which one is best for you?

We hear from more surround producers working at very different ends of the music business to see how they've created working surround systems, and how they make use of 5.1 at the mixing stage.

Abbey Road's famous Studio One has played host to innumerable big-budget orchestral recordings for film, but the final session before its refurbishment in 2001 saw it being used for a new purpose: to record the soundtrack for a video game.

Handy tricks and tips for getting the best out of Roland's VS880 and VS1680 workstations.

If you're tired of mixing on-screen using just your mouse and keyboard, then it's worth considering a hardware MIDI controller. But with so many different models available, how do you choose the one that's right for you?

If your monitoring isn't up to scratch, your whole production will suffer, so here are some tips on setting up your room so that your mixes always sound their best.

If you thought synthesizing realistic bass drums was complex, that's nothing compared to snares. So how is it that the analogue snare sound is so well known? And how do you go about creating it? We find out...

The flexibility of the effects assignment in modern MIDI + Audio sequencers (DAWs) can be daunting, so here's some advice on how to sort out the routing and order of your plug-ins for common recording and mixing tasks.

Recording a large orchestra can be fairly tricky, even in the most well-equipped of studios, but trying to get a great sound on location, using only the gear you can fit into your car, adds challenges all of its own.

Try these tips and techniques for creating more convincing programmed rhythm parts in your sequencer.

Windows XP is probably the most important PC operating system upgrade since Windows 95, but as always, its new features come at a cost. Should you upgrade your computer? Here's the definitive guide...

We consider some of the pros and cons of mixing in surround, and hear how experienced surround producers take advantage of the format, and tackle the problems.

Moving from last month's theoretical bass drum synth patch to its practical application on affordable analogue synths, we also take a look at how the world's most famous drum machines produce this fundamental rhythm sound.

On October 25th 2001 Apple released their first non-Mac device for many years, the iPod. Apple Notes spots a vital clue which makes the iPod rather useful to the recording musician, whatever the general consumer makes of it...

Hands-on advice to help you improve the fundamentals of your mixing technique.

Most SOS readers spend a lot of time considering what equipment to buy, and learning how it works. But it's also important to consider the ergonomics of your studio if you're to avoid the possibility of painful, and surprisingly common, strain injuries.

Our series turns to the practicalities of setting up your own surround-capable recording system, and we talk to two radically different surround studios to see how they've coped — one at project- and one at pro-studio level.

Ever wanted to synthesize unpitched membranophones? No? Well, you might if you knew that bass and snare drums are of this percussion type. We show you how...