Interviews
Malay: Cooking Up Tracks
by Geoff Stanfield
If record credits were easier to find these days, you’d see the name Malay on the back of many a record sleeve or CD booklet. Born James Ryan Ho, Malay’s song-focused and sonically-rich...
Interviews
Steve Perry: His Own Personal Soundtrack
by Larry Crane
As the former lead singer for Journey, Steve Perry should probably require no introduction, as his vocals have graced some of the biggest FM radio staples of the late ‘70s and ‘80s. His...
Interviews
Thom Flowers
by Larry Crane
Based out of Santa Barbara, Thom Flowers worked as a producer and engineer at Orange Whip Recording in the mid-‘90s and early ‘00s, with bands such as Lagwagon, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Nerf...
Interviews
Mario J. McNulty: Past, Present, Future
by Larry Crane
Working out of New York City, Mario J. McNulty is a talented producer, mixer, and engineer with an enviable list of credits. He’s been in the studio with David Bowie, Laurie Anderson,...
Interviews
Qmillion: Experiment & Listen
by Larry Crane
Keith Lewis is Qmillion, a musician, engineer, producer, composer, and mixer based in L.A. He’s been busier than ever during the last decade with Robert Glasper (and his Experiment and Trio...
Women in Audio
Sadie Dupuis: In the Details
by Larry Crane
Who is Sadie Dupuis? A writer, singer, and guitar player in the band Speedy Ortiz. Producer, writer, and collaborator behind Sad13. Label owner of Wax Nine Records. A writer, with a book of poetry...
Interviews
Sheldon Gomberg
by Barbra Schultz
Plenty of engineers and producers migrate from one side of the glass to the other: at some point, an engineer realizes she’s happier on the technical side, or a producer discovers his knack for...
More From This Issue See more →
Melvins: “We don’t fix it. We redo it!”
by Conan Neutron, Jon Spencer
At this point, Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover are the Melvins. They’ve recorded over 29 studio albums in all types of spaces and show no signs of slowing down. I caught up with Buzz and Dale for a...
Steven McDonald & Redd Kross: What’s a Band to Do?
by Tom Beaujour
It’s been 40 years since SoCal brothers Jeff and Steven McDonald, then only 17 and 13, first released music as Redd Kross – okay, the band was actually called Red Cross initially –...
Toshi Kasai: “I want to make them a success.”
by Larry Crane
I’d met engineer/musician Toshi Kasai and Melvins drummer Dale Crover when they spotted me at a NAMM Show years ago. We had a blast chatting, and while editing the Melvins' interview for this...
PHO: From Colombia to Dubai: Connecting the Dots
by Miguel Bustamante, Juan Carlos Bustamante
Since the early 2000s, PHO, born Leonardo Rojas, has navigated his dynamic career through the grand corridors of hip-hop, funk, and soul. By 2015, he was already considered one of the top 40 DJs in...
Jim Keller of Sondhus: Designing the Residential Studio
by Joseph Branciforte
As the reality of the pandemic set in earlier this year, recording engineers and musicians scrambled to adapt. With in-person recording sessions postponed and canceled, many were left wondering how to...
Sponsored
Columns See more →
End Rant
Keep Growing, Keep Learning
by Larry Crane
This last year, because of the pandemic, has been one of the most important times for learning how to pivot our skills, and to say yes to jobs that might have previously seemed outside our...
Gear Geeking
Gear Geeking w/ Andy...
by Andy Hong
I still use the generic wire stripper that came in a $10 Radio Shack soldering kit that I purchased while in grade school. It consists of two rectangles of stamped steel, hinged together, with a...
Sponsored
Gear Reviews See more →
RC-20 Retro Color Plug-In
by XLN Audio | reviewed by Dave Hidek
If you want to time warp your sounds or samples, XLN Audio’s RC-20 Retro Color plug-in is most likely the tool for you. I should clarify that it is not a clinical, surgical, X-Acto knife of a...
CHP-170 Micro Cutter
by Hakko | reviewed by Matt Cohen
Twenty years ago a wiring guy loaned me a tool and reminded me to return it when I was finished because it was his “best flush-cutters” – I had no idea what the hell he was talking...
2 Space Solid Wood Equipment Rack
by AudioRax | reviewed by Kerry Rose
As I’m seemingly always reconfiguring my setup – with ergonomics, modularity, and aesthetics being the main driving forces – I was excited to get the opportunity to review...
8c Powered Monitors
by Dutch & Dutch | reviewed by Lars Fox
For mixing, arguably the most important consideration for your monitoring setup is translation. You can have the most mind-blowing speakers in the world, but if for whatever reason the work you do on...
YC61 Stage Keyboard
by Yamaha | reviewed by Alan Tubbs
The Yamaha YC61 Stage Keyboard is a 61-key waterfall keyboard, now also available with 73 and 88 keys. It has three separate sound engines: VCM for the H Organs, FM for the F Organs and FM sounds in...
FetHead In-Line Mic Amp
by Triton Audio | reviewed by Brad Allen Williams
Most ribbon microphones contain simply a thin aluminum ribbon, a magnet, and a transformer. This elegant design contributes much to what we love about the technology, but there are a few drawbacks:...
EF-X2 Tape Echo Delay/Reverb
by Echo Fix | reviewed by Kevin Friedrichsen
When I first got an original Roland RE-201 Space Echo, it required a lot of love to restore it to its former glory, so Echo Fix is who I turned to first. This Australian company has been providing...
Morph Controller
by Sensel | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
In the category of alternate controllers, the Sensel Morph is one of the best I’ve seen to date. By alternate, I mean as an alternative to your ASCII keyboard, mouse, trackpad, and piano-style...
iLoud MTM Active Monitors
by IK Multimedia | reviewed by Fiona Gurney
I have a hard time trusting my ears. To be fair, my already limited mixing experience has been further restricted by a tight budget. But the thing I have the hardest time wrapping my head (or, ears)...
Adhesive Remover
by Goo Gone | reviewed by Scott McChane
Gummy residue on your Sennheiser MD 421s and mic stands from overuse of gaffer/duct tape? “Original” Surface Safe Goo Gone goo & adhesive remover to the rescue. With a fresh, citrusy...
ICON USB Microphone
by Earthworks | reviewed by Geoff Stanfield
I’ve been recording many interviews for the Tape Op podcast series, and our new feature called DISCussion <tapeop.com/audio> en mass. In-person we usually use the DPA 4061 lavalier mics...
EC3 Tube Preamp
by Electric & Company | reviewed by Kevin Friedrichsen
Electric & Company, operated by Mattie Smith and crew out of Austin, Texas, hand-build a small lineup of tube microphone preamplifiers and refurbish vintage units. My first experience with this...
TF11 Condenser Mic
by TELEFUNKEN | reviewed by Slater Swan
One of the most esteemed names in the world of audio production, TELEFUNKEN, has released a new and exciting product in their Alchemy line of microphones: the TF11. I was beyond excited to test out...
Perfect Groove Virtual Cutting Lathe
by Rebeat Innovation | reviewed by Adam Gonsalves
Perfect Groove, created by a small team of three developers at Rebeat Innovation, is a standalone application for Mac (OS X 10.11.6 or later and Windows 64-bit version 7 or later) that predicts how...
A17-M Monitors & A125-M Subwoofer
by PSI Audio | reviewed by Garrett Haines
PSI Audio started making speakers before some of us were born. Alain Roux introduced his designs in 1975, while a student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. His company eventually...
A150 Reference Headphones
by Audix | reviewed by Scott McChane
It’s easy to fall in love with the sound of some new headphones, as it might bring you a different picture from your existing pair. Inevitably for me, the novelty soon wears off, and I return to...
MC-3 APB Compressor Plug-In
by McDSP | reviewed by Don Gunn
The McDSP APB (Analog Processing Box) [Tape Op #134] is the gift that keeps on giving. In addition to the original stock plug-ins the APB-8 and APB-16 shipped with, Colin and the folks at McDSP have...
Revoice Pro 4.2
by Synchro Arts | reviewed by Lars Fox
Years ago, while wandering around NAMM or AES looking for new plug-ins that could do something cool and unique, I could always count on seeing the people from Synchro Arts showing off their unique...
Studio One Professional v5.1 Update
by PreSonus | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
I’ve established Studio One [Tape Op #86] as my primary mix and master environment these days, making the jump with the previous version (Studio One Pro v4.5) [#132] from other – ahem...
B12A MkIII Preamp
by Black Lion Audio | reviewed by Dave Hidek
In 2011 Black Lion audio released the B12A, their take on API’s well-known 312A preamp. Not marketed as a clone of the 312A, the B12A represented Black Lion’s re-engineered take to deliver...
Sennheiser MD 421 Mic Clip
by IPR | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
Frustrated because your stock Sennheiser MD 421 clip broke and you’re finding out that a replacement for the poorly designed original clip will cost you more than several gourmet pizzas to go?...
Zen & the Art of Mixing 2021
by Mixerman | reviewed by Larry Crane
In Tape Op #83 – ten years ago – I favorably reviewed the original Zen & the Art of Mixing book, noting that it was “ideal for someone who is unhappy with their mixes and wants...
Camden EC2 Preamp
by Cranborne Audio | reviewed by Anthony Gravino
These days, it’s pretty rare to see a piece of audio equipment with an innovative feature set, but the Cranborne Audio Camden EC2 is indeed one of those rarities. It is a combination two-channel...
Sennheiser MD 421 Clip Lock
by The MicLock | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
This is an ingenious and very useful $25 accessory for anybody who owns Sennheiser MD 421 microphones and is perpetually frustrated at the poorly-designed mic clip/mount, the one that results in the...
AT8470 Mic Clip
by Audio-Technica | reviewed by Larry Crane
At my studio, Jackpot! Recording, while setting up for a tracking session I get pretty obsessive about fixing the little problems that annoy me. One of these “little” irritations is...
Neve 1084 UAD Plug-In
by Universal Audio | reviewed by Tony Vincent
I was an early adopter of Universal Audio’s UAD plug-in platform. My 2003 Power Macintosh G5 may have housed only a single UAD-1 DSP Card [Tape Op #41], but at the time, I thought the world of...
Spaced Out Effects Plug-In
by Baby Audio | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
The golden age of plug-ins is happening right now. Initially, most audio plug-ins aped existing analog gear such as EQs, compressors, and existing effects units like plate reverbs and tape delays. I...
Symphony Desktop Interface
by Apogee Digital | reviewed by Jeff Elbel
Eight years ago, I had the opportunity to evaluate Apogee’s Quartet audio interface [Tape Op #93]. I purchased my own Quartet as a result, and have trusted it ever since for use at The Happy...