COLUMN: From chestnuts to carols, games to sleigh races, and loose translations to loose women, there are some interesting facts about the sounds of the season. Recording artist and commercial music composer Scott G presents some eyebrow-raising information about the most familiar and famous holiday music of all time.

COLUMN: Matt Forger. Michael C. Ross. Eddie Kramer. Elliot Scheiner. Joe Chiccarelli. Each one is a huge star in the world of recording. Scott G points out that you probably own albums with their names listed in the credits as engineer, producer, or mixer. Studio Expresso is what they all have in common.

REVIEW: Some music soothes you. Some seduces you. And some swaggers up to you and hits you over the head with a box of skateboard parts. Scott G (The G-Man) writes about an upstart new band called Manic Circuit that slams its way into your skull with songs of raw power combined with progressive structure.

COLUMN: Ever notice that some music artists suck? Sure you have. Ever thought it would be helpful to label these artists so we could avoid wasting time with them? Of course you have. In an interview with Brian Forest, Scott G explains how these worthless performers should all be lumped into a new genre of music that he calls “nada.”

GREENSBORO, N.C. — NOTION Music, makers of NOTION(TM) music composition and performance software, have contributed content to Pass the Ring, one of several Theme libraries for Sony Cinescore soundtrack creation software.

HAMBURG, Germany — Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH is pleased to announce that its new WaveLab Studio 6 editing and mastering application is now shipping to dealers worldwide, providing first-class mastering, editing and CD burning tools for musicians and project studios at an impressively low price point.

PETERSBURG, Va. — Alexander Publishing, the world’s leading publisher of orchestration instruction, has teamed with Naxos Recordings, the world’s leading classical recording label, for How Ravel Orchestrated: Mother Goose Suite. This breakthrough in orchestration instruction includes a newly engraved score featuring the condensed Piano part at page bottom along with the Naxos Recording of Mother Goose Suite by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Jean.