Andy Jones

These beastly ROMplers provide all the music-making power one could ask for

We stack up six excellent emulations of classic polys for your consideration

We survey the most impressive soft synths that have caught our eyes (and ears) this year

The polyphonic stakes are high...

The next bout in our polyphonic synth shootout pits Roland's original JV-1080 sound module against its modern plugin recreation

The first round in our polyphonic hardware vs software shoot-out

Grab your favourite softsynths and let us take you on a journey into their evolution. Learn how to get more out of them and see how they stack up next to the pioneers that inspired them

Or the most irritating? You decide…

Interview: Since his own band broke up, Stevenson has taken the producer/engineer route, diving straight into the LA music scene and recording its biggest stars

Happy TB-303 Day! Grab your time travel machine, because back then it only cost a couple of hundred bucks

We're in Prophet-5 mode, as we celebrate five decades of the first 'proper' polysynth with five – ok six – glorious tracks

Our in-depth guide to the classic compressor revered by gearheads and beloved for its warmth, colour and transparent sound

And why you should see them play the whole album live this year…

Always making the most of modern technology but never following an obvious path, this pioneering band remains hugely influential on both guitar-led and electronic music

"The Prophet-5 will remember 40 different preset sounds, each of which can be easily recalled and also modified. Impressive, eh?"

"Afterwards she told me that it was the hardest vocal she'd ever had to do in her life," said songwriter Terry Britten in a classic 1986 interview

Did the Moog synth speed up the demise of the Beatles?

Turns out that success might not be about the gear you use, after all…

Here's how to master one of music's most beloved effects boxes, used by dub producers and experimental electronic composers alike since the early ’70s