So there we were one evening, sitting round on one of those Saturdays when people say all sorts of crazy things, just to wake everyone up (like 'let's form a band', 'ever thought of playing the drums?' 'we could always get the P.A. on my Mum's Barclaycard' and so on) when someone (who'll remain nameless to protect the guilty!) asked how it was that musicians had to pay to get magazines. On the face of it, the answer was that you don't get something for nothing in this world, but the thought, once spoken, began to take root, shape and form. From the mutterings of the half-demented guitarist who asked that original question, IN TUNE was conceived. The idea grew and began to take shape (with considerable help and advice from friends, two of whom, especially, will know who they are if we just send them thanks as K. and B.) and now the beast 'IT' is at last alive, breathing its first, fit to bust with far more ideas than we've been able to cram into this first issue, and finally in your musical hands.

The eventual shape of IN TUNE (we've already abbreviated our title to 'IT', by the way!) isn't fixed yet, and I hope it never really will be - because if we can keep the new ideas coming, keep listening to your advice, responding to the always developing trends and ideas in making music, then we'll stay as alive and as fresh as I think our first issues are going to seem. But that's down to you - as we're going to be looking to you, our readers, to guide us where you want to see 'IT' go.

For this first issue's Editorial I think it's important that I explain a bit about who we are and how we're going to be working for you over the coming months - trying to help you get more from your music making.

Yes, IN TUNE is financed by advertising. I'm not going to make any bones about that, but it's no truer of us than it is of almost any magazine you can think of. By the time the cover price of a publication has filtered through the hands of your newsagent, the magazine's distributor and so on, the price you've paid for it has actually whittled down to a very small amount. What keeps any magazine alive is its advertising revenue. As you'll see, therefore, we're really no more hamstrung by our need for advertising than any other mag. - so I can promise you impartial, accurate, honest opinions about the products we review and the ideas we express. We're only of any use to our advertisers if you can trust our words - so you have my promise (and that of all of our writers, of course) that what we print in 'IT', we believe to be true. Please don't ever assume that just because we're a freebie we're any less 'straight' in our views - 'Nuff said?

One thing you'll immediately notice about IN TUNE is that we don't carry interviews with players. In our view, good interviews with musicians can be helpful to other players, but the sort of 'padding" one sometimes sees - interviews where nothing of any significance is said - are just a waste of space. Possibly, 'IT' will carry the occasional interview, but not every month, just for the sake of putting a pretty face on the front cover. We don't have to convince the newsagent that we're as likely to sell as is, say, Smash Hits, so we can leave the name game until we find someone with something to say!

Meanwhile, IN TUNE will concentrate on the practical business of being a musician - reviewing equipment, discussing ideas, writing about those things that we musicians need to know about. In this, our first issue, we've got a pile of gear assessed and evaluated, the first part of a series by ace guitar maker Chris May on building your own guitar (possibly the most neglected subject of them all!), advice from a top roadie about running vans, and lots more. Future issues of IN TUNE will feature a fascinating series from Robert Calvert (occasional Hawkwind member, writer, producer and singer of three great solo albums) on songwriting, demo making, independent record promotion etc., articles on playing tips, and much more (including many that we're keeping a secret for now!).

You are one of just 7,000 British musicians receiving 'IT' free this month, with our compliments. This makes you a very special person to us - and we hope that 'IT' will become a very special magazine for you. Please do write in to us with your views, needs, ideas and opinions - working together we could make a lot of good things happen, and making things happen is really what IN TUNE is about. Welcome on board!