When my colleague, professor Amandine Pras of The University of York, visited Mali to study the regional recording studio industry, she was shocked to hear the same person’s name come up again...
While hardly a glamorous concept, room acoustics represent a critical link in the recording or playback chain. While comprehensive room design is a complex cocktail of science, math and chance...
Carol Kaye is one of the most recorded bass players of all time, with 10,000 sessions and 40,000 songs under her belt, including a staggering list of hits for Ray Charles, The Righteous Brothers,...
It is truly remarkable to step back and examine the full societal impact that some recording engineers and mixers have had on American culture. During his 18-year tenure as Chief Engineer for Motown...
If you're tired of climbing behind your racks, and finding the right cable every time you want to use a piece of outboard gear or a console insert point, it may be time to find yourself a patchbay....
When Tape Op's 420th issue rolls out in 2040, the way we record, edit, mix, and master audio will be transformed entirely from the processes we use today. Currently we are separated by physical...
Not only is Susan Rogers a record producer, engineer, mixer, and audio electronics technician, she has a doctorate in psychology (having studied music cognition and psychoacoustics) from McGill...
I have been a big fan of spring and plate reverbs for decades, and over the past three years I have spent a significant amount of time diving into the wormhole of designing and building them,...
When asked to come up with a "do it yourself" tube mic pre project, I thought long and hard about what topology to go with. I designed a number of different hybrid tube/discrete class A designs...
I've been in the recording business for about 35 years, coming up through all the formats. 2-track to 24-track, 2-inch to Pro Tools. My mentor was the late great Peter J. Helffrich of Helffrich...
When the chance came to interview Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, my hand shot up. The shadow of Kevin Shields looms large over my record collection, and the fanboy in me couldn't resist the...
Back in July/August of 2002, I offered up a tube mic preamp circuit here in Tape Op, and provided a kit for a limited time to assist in building it, through my company Hamptone. For all of you I...
