Mixing / Production

David Ferguson has worked his way up from sampling hoovers on tape to an enviable position as a highly sought-after TV composer. Debbie Poyser & Derek Johnson discovers how he managed it, and find out his views on the way the music-for-TV industry is developing.

Are programmers musicians? Marius de Vries certainly thinks so, and he's better qualified than most to air an opinion. Paul Tingen meets the man who's lent his talents to everyone from Madonna to Massive Attack.

Sam Molineaux discovers an early techno pioneer thriving in the heart of Hollywood; living proof of the maxim 'what goes around comes around'.

In pop music, production partnerships are pretty rare — especially ones as successful and long-standing as that between Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley.

Although Craig Armstrong has been building strong writing and arranging credits since the start of the '90s with such artists as Massive Attack, Madonna, Suede and U2, it's only in recent months that he's come to the fore as a solo artist in his own right, with his new album The Space Between Us. Paul Tingen notches up some Frequent Flyer miles to talk to him.

English electronic duo Mono are virtually unknown in the UK, but are in big demand in the USA, thanks to their single 'Life In Mono' being used as the main theme to the film of Great Expectations. US-based English writer Sam Molineaux talks technical to Mono's musical mainstay Martin Vergo, and provides the perfect perspective on the disparity between their British and Stateside success so far.

Acclaimed producer Mike Hedges has filled his studio with equipment that is almost as antique as the ancient French chateau that houses it. Paul Tingen catches up with a man who's far from manic but quite ready to preach the virtues of analogue.

Rob Playford is not only the man who, as Goldie's producer, helped mould one of the most original drum & bass talents into a household name and chart success; he's also boss of one of the hippest drum & bass labels on the planet, and a sought-after remixer. Christopher Holder asks 'how does he do that?'.

Most of us are aware that sticking on a favourite CD can cheer you up after a terrible day, but many baulk at the concept that music can actually help to heal your mind and body, despite the growing evidence to support this theory. Debbie Poyser & Derek Johnson investigate, and meet a man whose music is composed with the intention of making you feel a whole lot better...

Tony Taverner's career spans decades and encompasses a huge list of top-drawer credits. Christopher Holder heads to Sensible Studios, where Tony acts as manager, to extract a few pearls of wisdom.

Sound On Sound caught up with M People's Paul Heard, before the band headed off on their European tour. Christopher Holder puts aside his preconceptions to learn about songwriting, production, musicianship and family sedans.

The classical and pop music worlds collide in the person of Ryuichi Sakamoto, with even his latest ambitious orchestral work due for remixing by a team of DJs. Paul Tingen explores the attraction of opposites...

With 200 gold and platinum discs to his name, techno-pop pioneer Giorgio Moroder can afford to sit back and take stock of his amazingly successful career. Richard Buskin talks to him about it, from early days working with disco diva Donna Summer, to the present.

This month sees the release of the new album from Karl Bartos, former member of electronic trailblazers Kraftwerk. But the synth sound is no more — Bartos' new record is closer to Beatle-esque Britpop.

Kirk Degeorgio, aka As One: head of the cult techno label Op ART, producer of the recent Planetary Folklore LP on Mowax, co-composer of the notorious Adidas 'Prince Naseem in America' ad, and proud owner of a huge collection of Blue Note jazz LPs. Phew! Christopher Holder discovers that Ipswich is nearer the centre of the universe than he thought.

David Byrne must surely be one of the most individual and iconoclastic musicians of the late 20th century and, six years after leaving Talking Heads, he's still fusing different musical styles and forging new musical alliances. Sue Sillitoe does at least some of the talking...

Writer and electronic musician Paul Nagle successfully combines a day job with live performance and regular CD releases. Paul White zooms up the M6 and comes in for a landing at his well-stocked studio.

Anyone in any doubt as to the popularity of Depeche Mode should see this man's studio. Alan Wilder, formerly the programming powerhouse of the group, and now striking out on his own, has poured the profits of his years with the Mode into this astonishing home setup. Here he talks about the studio, his new album, and his days with Depeche.

Morcheeba make their weird and wonderful music in a studio in Clapham that used to belong to The Orb. To find out more about the band and their gear, Sue Sillitoe ventured south of the river to meet Paul Godfrey and the band's programmer and producer Pete Norris.

The perpetrators of recent smash hit 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?' might look like a leopardskin-clad disco covers band composed of several people, but in fact they're the pet electronic project of two Mancunians with their heads firmly screwed on an eye to the future of dance music.

Autechre's own take on techno is so far from the mainstream that the duo, Rob Brown and Sean Booth, can scarcely understand why anyone shares their tastes. The fact is that they do, in their thousands. Christopher Holder heads to Sheffield to work on his studio tan.