Subtitled a zine about sound, this mag includes a wide array of people and thoughts and features an arty screen-printed cover. Within its 21 pages, the first issue has an interview with Tape Op pal Matt Boudreau of Working Class Audio, an article with Kirsten Izer and Randy Belculfine discussing "Healthy...
Full disclosure: I was interviewed for this book and appear in the text a bit, plus Tape Op is mentioned. However, despite my own involvement, I found this book to be an important read. As a founding concept of Tape Op, I've long held that people who mostly fixate on recording equipment are missing...
For those of us constantly striving to maximize the potential of a hybrid workflow, the LPZ-2 from Avedis Audio can make the job a little easier. It offers two levels of stereo padding to convert balanced line level signal to microphone preamp input level, prevents nonlinear source/load impedance interactions,...
Anyone who mixes for hire knows the scenario: A client sends a song to be mixed without individual drum tracks (snare, kick, etc.) that are instead embedded in a single track. I'll send an email, "Hey, can I get the actual tracks for the drums so I can really mix your song?" They then...
I’ve been a long-time enthusiast/user of the AKG C 24 stereo mic, so it was a treat to review the new P-24 from Peluso Microphone Lab. I have been a fan of Peluso for years, and several mics in their line have been on a lot of albums that I have produced, including the P-12 [Tape Op #72], P-87, and...
The Vintage 11 is a large diaphragm FET condenser microphone and is part of JZ Microphone’s “Vintage” series that includes the Vintage 67 [Tape Op#133] and Vintage 12 [#147]. The Vintage 11 has discrete Class-A electronics, JZ’s Gold Drop™ capsule technology, and is hand-built in Latvia. Its flat, rounded...
I remember working with Greg Freeman [Tape Op#1] on a record, and he mentioned recording in a studio in L.A. that featured a console with a built-in cocaine mirror and rooms down the hall for shagging groupies or such. When your band’s making a record for $15 an hour, this not only sounds disgusting,...
I must admit that when I first heard about Memorandum, I imagined it being either another impractically-complicated distraction or a source of amusement while awaiting mix approvals from remote clients. When I looked into it further, I appreciated its conceptual focus enough to explore its potential...
With its clean, streamlined all-brass construction, Ear Trumpet Labs' Wanda seems to be the first of their unique microphone line that has no plumbing or bike parts in sight. A 26 mm diaphragm phantom-powered condenser mic, Wanda measures under 4-inches long by 2-inches in diameter – with a built-in...
In the shadow of the iconic RCA 44 series ribbon mics produced in the ‘30s is the relatively esoteric RCA BK-5A [Tape Op#65]. It was designed as a directional ribbon mic for higher SPL sources on film sets but gradually found favor with music recording engineers. Some vintage BK-5As are still in service...
Mic stands are one of the parts of owning a studio that is not cool or fun. You need them, but they are often abused and constantly need repair. Cheap stands never last, and expensive stands are, well, expensive – and who wants to spend money on something that just gets abused? It's more exciting...
Pulsar Modular's P821 MDN Tape is a remarkable sounding approximation of the Stephens 821B tape machine. Let me be clear; this is not another they-got-the-rights-to-sell-a-tape-machine-so-they-did-a-pretty-GUI-on-top-of-a-cookbook-EQ-with-variable-delay-some-hiss-plus-distortion-plug-in. This...
One of my favorite things about doing this work are the relationships we establish. I first met Charlene Gibbs, Sammy Rothman, and Nathan Bowers in 2014, while taking a tour of AEA microphones. I knew Wes Dooley [Tape Op#97] already, and had a great relationship with AEA, but after meeting these "kids"...
Over the course of a few months, a friend of mine had been gently prodding me, asking me if I’d take an honest listen to some new high end studio monitors from Germany. I’m always hesitant to write loudspeaker reviews, especially for expensive gear. As the dollar amount goes up, so do my expectations...
When my band recorded our first album (Vomit Launch’s Not Even Pretty) in 1986, our producer, Greg Freeman [Tape Op#1], had a Yamaha SPX90 reverb unit. There were no other reverb processors in his studio at the time, and we loved reverb. If you listen, especially to the original vinyl release, vocals...
For decades, I've wondered how the effect on the female backing vocals of Pink Floyd's "Time" from The Dark Side of the Moon was created. I hear a Leslie speaker vibrato or Doppler effect, but it's more focused and clearer in the high frequencies than that kind of re-amping...
When AEA released their first stereo mic, the R88 [Tape Op#96], in the early 2000s it was quite a statement. Other companies, such as Royer Labs, were fairly new to the scene, and ribbon mics seemed to be making a comeback out of nowhere. I remember looking at the R88’s size and design and being completely...
In writing this review, I realized it's been over 30 years since I was introduced to my first TASCAM product: The Porta One Ministudio. That little 4-track cassette recorder planted the seeds for countless multitrack creations. It wasn't long after exploring and outgrowing the capabilities...
Jack White [Tape Op#82] likes a certain guitar tone, right? A fuzz with a low octave and maybe some high octave piercing tone. Union Tube & Transistor hooked me up with their collab Third Man Bumble Buzz guitar pedal years ago, and I love the fact that it has no knobs and a perfect Jack White sound....