Sound International
Encyclopedia
Sound International was a British monthly music and recording magazine
established in 1978 and published until the mid-1980s. The magazine included interviews with musicians, recording engineers and producers, news and reviews of musical instruments and recording equipment, and feature articles on a wide range of aspects of the professional and semi-professional music and recording industry of the period.
Sound International was established as a sister publication to the leading international professional recording journal of the time, Studio Sound magazine (formerly Tape Recorder). Both were published from the Croydon, Surrey offices of Link House Publications, headquartered in Poole, Dorset in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the title was to appeal to professional and amateur musicians as well as recording engineers and producers and the growing crossover area of musicians building their own studios and utilising lower-cost, smaller-scale "semi-pro" or "prosumer" audio equipment, pioneered by companies like Tascam
with their 4-track reel-to-reel recorders and the cassette-based 4-track Portastudio
. The magazine correctly identified that there would be a significant growth in the importance of home studios at both the professional and semi-professional levels and was aimed at this burgeoning market.
The first issue of Sound International was published in May 1978. In the early 1980s, Link House Publications purchased competing title Beat Instrumental
and added it to the masthead of Sound International. The title also underwent a significant redesign at the time. The title was ultimately incorporated into Studio Sound magazine in around 1985 as the musical instrument (MI) and professional audio industries started to become more integrated.
Founding Editor of Sound International was Richard Elen, formerly a studio manager for EMI Music Publishing Ltd and trained at Island Records' Basing Street Studios in the early 1970s, and the Deputy Editor was Tony Bacon, who joined the title from Richard Desmond
's competing magazine International Musician and Recording World
. After Elen left the magazine in 1981 to become Editor of Studio Sound magazine, Tony Bacon was promoted to the post of Editor. He remained Editor until the title was "folded into" Studio Sound in the mid-1980s. Bacon went on to edit other magazines and authored the guitar books Six Decades of The Fender Telecaster, 50 years of the Gibson Les Paul and Paul McCartney - Bassmaster.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
established in 1978 and published until the mid-1980s. The magazine included interviews with musicians, recording engineers and producers, news and reviews of musical instruments and recording equipment, and feature articles on a wide range of aspects of the professional and semi-professional music and recording industry of the period.
Sound International was established as a sister publication to the leading international professional recording journal of the time, Studio Sound magazine (formerly Tape Recorder). Both were published from the Croydon, Surrey offices of Link House Publications, headquartered in Poole, Dorset in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the title was to appeal to professional and amateur musicians as well as recording engineers and producers and the growing crossover area of musicians building their own studios and utilising lower-cost, smaller-scale "semi-pro" or "prosumer" audio equipment, pioneered by companies like Tascam
TASCAM
TASCAM is the professional audio division of TEAC Corporation, headquartered in Montebello, California. Tascam is credited as the inventor of the Portastudio, the first cassette-based multi-track home studio recorders. Tascam also introduced the first low-cost mass produced multitrack recorders...
with their 4-track reel-to-reel recorders and the cassette-based 4-track Portastudio
Portastudio
The TASCAM Portastudio was the world's first four track recorder based on a standard compact audio cassette tape.When the original Portastudio 144 made its debut in 1979 it was a revolutionary creative tool...
. The magazine correctly identified that there would be a significant growth in the importance of home studios at both the professional and semi-professional levels and was aimed at this burgeoning market.
The first issue of Sound International was published in May 1978. In the early 1980s, Link House Publications purchased competing title Beat Instrumental
Beat Instrumental
Beat Instrumental was a UK monthly pop and rock magazine. First published in May 1963 as Beat Monthly it became Beat Instrumental Monthly with issue 18 and Beat Instrumental from issue 37. Like the weekly Melody Maker it aimed at musicians, emphasizing instruments, production and equipment in its...
and added it to the masthead of Sound International. The title also underwent a significant redesign at the time. The title was ultimately incorporated into Studio Sound magazine in around 1985 as the musical instrument (MI) and professional audio industries started to become more integrated.
Founding Editor of Sound International was Richard Elen, formerly a studio manager for EMI Music Publishing Ltd and trained at Island Records' Basing Street Studios in the early 1970s, and the Deputy Editor was Tony Bacon, who joined the title from Richard Desmond
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond is an English publisher and businessman. He is the owner of Express Newspapers and founder in 1974 of Northern & Shell, which publishes various celebrity magazines, such as OK! and New!, and British national newspapers Daily Star and Daily Express...
's competing magazine International Musician and Recording World
International Musician and Recording World
International Musician and Recording World was a magazine in production from 1974 to 1991. It was jointly created by Ray Hammond and Richard Desmond and published by Northern & Shell. As it expanded, separate editions were created for the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan...
. After Elen left the magazine in 1981 to become Editor of Studio Sound magazine, Tony Bacon was promoted to the post of Editor. He remained Editor until the title was "folded into" Studio Sound in the mid-1980s. Bacon went on to edit other magazines and authored the guitar books Six Decades of The Fender Telecaster, 50 years of the Gibson Les Paul and Paul McCartney - Bassmaster.