Formerly chief engineer at Sear Sound [Tape Op #41], Tom Schick proved his skills in the studio with artists like Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Sean Lennon, and Rufus Wainwright. As a freelance engineer...
Being that Spencer graciously helped Tape Op set up our interview with his dad, Jeff Tweedy, and that he sat patiently as I asked so many questions, we thought it'd be fun to talk to him about growing...
When I visited Nashville and interviewed Vance Powell [Tape Op #82] years ago, I met his buddy, Mitch Dane, who shared the Sputnik Sound studio space with him. Over the years Mitch and I have spent...
I've been in studios and rooms all over the world. I've seen where The Beatles spent hours creating masterpieces. I've been in the room where Buddy Holly's hits were made. I've stood at the mics...
In March of 2018 I met Holly Herndon at a hotel on the outskirts of Berlin, just two weeks before she was set to defend her Doctor of Musical Arts Music Composition dissertation from Stanford...
From humble beginnings in Hobbs, New Mexico, and a childhood spent moving from oilfield to oilfield for his father's jobs, Ryan Bingham rode bulls and eventually learned to play a guitar given to him...
Part of my job with Tape Op is talking with our advertisers, and I particularly enjoy talking with the smaller, boutique audio makers. Of that group, Avedis Kifedjian is one of my favorite people to...
Dave Cook, recording and live engineer extraordinaire, has worked with The B-52s, King Crimson, Cindy Cashdollar, David Bowie, Amy Helm, Ravi Shankar, Mamadou Kelly, Maya Beiser, Suzanne Vega, and...
I don't remember a time while growing up when there wasn't clay, glaze, and kilns in my house. My mother had studied art when I was a baby, and she began producing a series of decorative and useful...
After reading Tom Fine's informative review of the Mini Maglite Pro [Tape Op #130], I realized that it's been a while since I've talked about flashlights. My favorite task light is the Bosch FL12 Max...
Audified is a hardware and software company from the Czech Republic that may be somewhat unfamiliar as a brand name in the US, but for more than 20 years they have been creating audio products under...
Softube is one of the most acclaimed emulation developers, so it was a surprise that their release of the Weiss DS1-MK3 mastering compressor was not a model – it's a line-by-line source transfer...
FabFilter's Pro-Q 3 is the best sounding, most powerful, most flexible EQ plug-in that I've ever used. If you're familiar with FabFilter's line of products, you'll be glad to know that the Pro-Q 3...
Antares has just upped its game by releasing a lower-priced version of its Auto-Tune [Tape Op #126] line of pitch correction plug-ins called Auto-Tune Access. I have been a user of Auto-Tune since the...
Audient jumped headfirst into the premium class interface market with their release of the iD22 [Tape Op #104]. The premium classification gives more attention to component and design quality than...
Admittedly, I'd began this review with a bit of frustration by hooking up the MADI optical outputs of my interface to the MADI optical inputs of the Ferrofish A32, routed 16 channels of audio and......
There are plenty of great emulations of upscale vintage reverbs out there, from plates and chambers to coveted early digital units. While there is a time and a place for these elegant designs, many...
The debate between hardware versus plug-ins has cooled over the last couple years as plug-ins are getting better and better. However, Acustica Audio seems happy to stoke the fires with their El Rey...
My first impression of the TASCAM Model 24 was of the classic design. From the red, blue, and orange Gain, EQ, and Aux knobs, to the faux wood sides, this is a classy-looking piece of gear. It...
The children of Dust Bowl migrants who’d resettled to Southern California in search of farm and oil production jobs redefined their cultural significance (c. 1951) and fostered a music scene...
Hot on the heels of their affordable “You’ll Actually Use” plug-in bundle series featuring 3 Filters and 3 Preamps [Tape Op #125], here is Arturia’s latest batch of software...
Sony, widely known for their consumer entertainment products, takes pro audio very seriously. In the professional microphone market, Sony previously produced three remarkable microphones: the C37A...
Full disclosure; while I’m going to review Valhalla DSP’s latest plug-in, ValhallaDelay, I’m also one of the two product designers of the plug-in, along with Valhalla DSP founder...
Tone Empire’s LOC-NESS (aka “the Smash-Box”) is a dedicated channel plug-in designed for processing individual drum hits, a drum set’s room sound, or the entire drum bus. It is...
Since building my mixing space last summer, I’ve been looking for a solid pair of headphones for mix referencing that wouldn’t break the bank. When I heard that ADAM Audio, maker of highly...
In my mind, one of the greatest shortcomings of the hybrid/in the box era in which we find ourselves is the loss of a coherent, thoughtful approach to the monitor section of a studio. The center...
When I first heard that Tim Farrant of New Zealand’s Buzz Audio had designed a new stereo compressor based around a diode bridge gain reduction circuit, I immediately knew that this was...
There was a time in the ‘80s and ‘90s when the word “Lexicon” became synonymous with reverb. Like Kleenex, Photoshop, or Google – if you heard, “Just add some...
It’s been nearly a decade since we published a review of the original version of Studio One [Tape Op #76]. Over the years, the DAW’s feature set has grown significantly, and, impressively,...
Steinberg is on an impressive roll with sexy hardware interfaces, collaborating with Yamaha and Rupert Neve to deliver products that lean into the strengths of all three. The AXR4 is clearly meant to...
In the recording industry, there is a long list of iconic microphones that every experienced recording engineer has at least heard of. The RCA 44-A, is one of these. Built in the 1930s, and known for...
I expect many readers are going to want to buy this plug-in within five minutes of trying it. In addition to being a nice limiter for general use, The Wall is superb for adding last minute level to...
Neumann made its bones on the microphone side of the audio business. From its 1928 founding by Georg Neumann, through its 1991 acquisition by the Sennheiser family-owned company, Neumann was...
In 2012 Audio-Technica released the AT5040 [Tape Op #95] microphone, which was a special mic in several ways. The hand-built mic uses four 2-micron rectangular capsules, positioned next to each other...
When I saw the list of artists' albums and songs that LA based multi-instrumentalist/producer and songwriter Nate Mercereau has contributed to I had to take his new release for a spin. He has worked...
