Tycho’s Scott Hansen is a busy man. As the frontman, principle songwriter, producer, as well as the creator of the band’s album art and live visuals, he has no shortage of things on his...
We did three and a half records with Terry. When we first got signed in the mid ‘90s, our label [Maverick] asked us who we wanted to produce our debut album. We didn’t know at first; we...
I first met Greg Wells over the phone in 2004 when we were both working on a Team Sleep record, a band put together by Deftones vocalist Chino Moreno. Chino and the guys in the band at the time (Todd...
Over the past four decades, producer/engineer Terry Date has racked up a gallery of multi-platinum monuments to his golden ears. Unforgettable moments from his catalog include the important role he...
Through close encounters with Motown machinery, Ken Caillat [Tape Op #96], and Hal Blaine's drum kit, Foxygen's Jonathan Rado has established himself as a modern manipulator of the Nixon-era studio...
During the past few years I've been thinking a lot about music and why it still feels so important to me. I believe in the long-term, far-reaching power of music in our lives, and I feel that many...
Joel Edinberg is a staff engineer at Q Division qdivisionstudios.com, one of the nicest studios in the Boston Area. He's also a gigging saxophonist, a music instructor, and the leader of gypsy-punk...
If you read my previous review of the Cloudlifter Z Mic Activator [Tape Op #115], then you know I'm a big fan of the Cloudlifter series. The Cloudlifter Zi builds on the success of the CL-Z,...
One cannot mention Suzanne Ciani's name without following it up with the word "trailblazer." This documentary film follows Ciani as she creates a world that basically didn't exist before she came...
As engineers and music producers, we have a special relationship with our microphones, as they are the lenses through which we hear the world. We desire a certain accurate sonic reproduction, but also...
Meris, the relatively new L.A.-origin company founded by hardware and software engineers formerly of Strymon and Line 6, has jumped into the world of floor pedals with what may very well be "The...
Last year, I reviewed Audiority GrainSpace [Tape Op #121], a very cool plug-in that is doing something fairly new in the DSP world. Now, in total contrast to GrainSpace, Audiority has released Echoes...
It seems like most of us own or have owned a piece of ART gear at one time or another, and Tape Op has reviewed many of the company's recording products. The Tube Mix falls right in line with ART's...
When I reviewed the LaChapell Audio 583S mk2 tube preamp [Tape Op #104], I learned that it is a fantastic mic preamp with lots of tone and personality, and it is the only 500-series preamp that I...
"Compressor Tone-Shaper Mix-Inflator Mojo-Maker" — I guess that was too much to put on the front panel, so Overstayer called it Stereo Voltage Control instead. Contrary to the company's...
Let me start off by saying that I love this mic! It is well-designed, with a number of standout features; and if you buy the stereo kit, it comes with everything you need to get rolling, including a...
Who needs another DI box? A quick online search turns up dozens of models — from units under $20, to high-end tube DIs like the Tonecraft 363 [Tape Op #103] for $1,495. And now, TELEFUNKEN...
How often do we get the opportunity to revisit something we created early in our careers, with the aim of refining it for new audiences? With the release of the CA500EQ, Coleman Audio founder Glenn...
Arturia has been building stellar hardware and software instruments for years now, and the AudioFuse is their first ingress into the competitive world of audio interfaces. I was a little uncertain at...
Buying speakers can be a daunting, deeply personal, and financially speculative venture. Many of us play the odds when choosing a playback system for our spaces. Perhaps we've demoed specific monitors...
Touted as "the world's first variable dual dynamic capsule microphone," this odd looking, half-cylindrical mic sports two phase-aligned dynamic mic elements, which are voiced differently, and a simple...
Dynamic equalizers have been around for a while. Historically, they were outboard units, making them expensive and limited to one stereo track at a time. When plug-ins of this type appeared, most were...
I've previously reviewed RX 3 [Tape Op #100] and RX 4 [#105], and with iZotope's update to RX 6 last year, I think it's time to once again point out what a powerful set of tools this...
Not only am I a huge fan of plate reverb, Soundtoys is also one of my favorite companies. They offer up a consistently unique and vibe-y catalog of inspiring plug-ins that I can't help but use on a...
Way back in 1998, we interviewed Dan Rathbun [Tape Op #10]. One of his techniques for mixing was something he called "Split-Spectrum Compression." Simply put, this is the idea of using a crossover to...
The boutique microphone landscape was very different 16 years ago, when I bought an original Soundelux Microphones U99 in 2001 — serial number 017. It was my first multipattern...
Audio-Technica has knocked it out of the park with this hypercardioid dynamic instrument mic. This is definitely my new go-to mic for toms and even kick drum. I tried out a three-pack of the ATM230 on...
German speaker manufacturer ADAM Audio recently introduced its S-series speakers, including the S2V, S3V, S3H, S5V, and S5H. These speakers represent the newest advances in technology from ADAM and...
Wow! This is one of the coolest pieces of software I've ever seen and its free! VCVRack is an open source modular synthesizer software platform developed by Andrew Belt that sounds great and is very...
This is an album of beautifully composed, arranged and recorded chamber music mixing elements of electronic music with traditional orchestral instruments and arrangements but it's also a love letter...
