Aaron Dessner, along with his twin brother Bryce, make up two-fifths of the group The National. I interviewed Aaron and Bryce for Tape Op online (#133) about the making of The National’s 2019...
Growing up surrounded by the Bay Area’s rich mix of hip-hop, pop punk, funk, and soul, a door opened for producer Ricky Reed when one of his productions found its way to Jason Derulo and...
Last fall, I had the pleasure of meeting up and chatting with two successful Hollywood film composers (Charlie Clouser & Lyle Workman), each in their respective home studios. Interestingly,...
Last fall, I had the pleasure of meeting up and chatting with two successful Hollywood film composers (Charlie Clouser & Lyle Workman), each in their respective home studios. Interestingly, what...
The production of today’s singer/songwriter projects is going through a major renaissance, and Ethan Gruska is at the forefront of these new sounds. At only 30 years old, he has already put...
Laraaji (born as Edward Larry Gordon) may be most well-known for his 1980 album Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, a collaboration with Brian Eno for his legendary ambient series of recordings, but...
A drummer turned mastering engineer, Piper Payne is a Bay Area audio professional who I’ve long admired. She has worked with the likes of The Go-Go’s, Shannon & the Clams, Third Eye...
Composer, musician, and producer James George Thirlwell has been known as JG Thirlwell, Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and most famously, Foetus and its many incarnations. Lately he has been doing quite a...
Grammy-winning engineer Matt Still has become Elton John’s go-to person for decades. This speaks volumes, given the no-doubt exacting nature of such a veteran and commercially successful artist....
As we move through life we learn different things from different people, many of which are formative. From my father, I learned the value of a good work ethic and doing what you say you’ll do,...
With the recent releases of M1 MacBook laptops and the M1 Mac mini desktop, Apple has finally begun an all-encompassing transition to its own ARM64 CPUs. In response, I’ve had a number of...
With the current market for analog audio hardware crowded with clones of coveted pieces, the myriad of redundancies can be a drag once you tire of the usual suspects and begin to seek new tonal...
At $199, the Aston Element is a very affordable mic, but by no means is it cheap gear. That is to say, the value at this price point is immeasurable. An expertly crafted microphone paired with a...
Four years ago, Black Lion Audio introduced the B173 [Tape Op #100], their single-channel take on a British-style preamp at a wallet-friendly price. Last year, their B173 Quad improved on the design...
It’s time to open up about those empty spaces in our 500 Series racks – it feels like a sickness inside you, doesn’t it? Every time you see a shadowy gap or blank panel in your rack,...
As gear reviews go, this is a pretty easy one to write, as the issue isn’t whether or not this is an excellent product. It most definitely is, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who...
I first heard about JZ microphones years ago when my friend, singer Leah Siegel (Firehorse), gave me a BH-1 Black Hole [Tape Op #71] mic she’d received as partial payment for a session. She...
The Useful Arts BF-S PRO DI is everything you’d expect in a high-quality, all-tube, single-channel studio DI. Besides the IEC power receptacle on the back, all connections are on the front...
I’d been curious about Marshall Terry’s passive/active EQ beast with hieroglyphic-looking markings since before the pandemic hit. He pulled me over to his booth a few years ago during the...
When I was asked to review an Ear Trumpets Labs microphone, I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve always been attracted to their vintage-style designs and have had good experiences with their Edwina...
I’ve always been a big fan of Chameleon Labs’ gear. They were one of the first companies to bring classic audio designs into the realm of affordability. I’ve owned a pair of their...
For some time now, I’ve been on the hunt for a mastering-grade A/D converter to capture the summed stereo output of my Shadow Hills Industries Equinox [Tape Op #55] for printing final mixes back...
We’re huge fans of Eventide over here at High Bias Recordings. Eventide units have been an integral part of the sonic fabric here both on the front end with the Rose [Tape Op #133], Blackhole...
Subtitled “The People and Processes Behind Self-Recorded Music,” this is a beautiful, hardbound coffee-table-style tome about making recordings that matter. Featuring excellent photos by...
Coming up in audio in the early 2000s, I was present for what was maybe not the most universally trustworthy or well-informed era of the online audio forum, but definitely the funnest. There were...
Recently, I read about the MorphVerb plug-in and thought, “Do I need another reverb?” If you are like me, you already have a bunch of reverb plug-ins. But I decided to check it out to see...
This is the newly updated and keyboard-less version of the venerable Buchla Music Easel. The original Buchla Music Easel was one of the earliest analog synthesizers. Originally released in 1973, it...
With varying COVID-19 restrictions still in place across the world, home recording and podcasting products are in demand. Broadcast-quality dynamic microphones are many times at the center of these...
There is maybe no easier font for satire in audio criticism than the floral superlatives assigned to hi-fi speakers and playback equipment. Reviewers write haikus in brown pencil, dithering about the...
When the folks at Benchmark suggested a review of their HPA4 for Tape Op, my first reaction was, “Isn’t this aimed more at the audiophile market?” Benchmark’s Rory Rall replied...
Recently, I was looking for something completely different in a microphone with $1200 of stimulus money burning a hole in my pocket. So, when I discovered the Austrian Audio OC818 – a...
Before I dive into a ton of information, let me start by saying I may have found my new “desert island” plug-in. In a matter of one week, this plug-in has made my mixes better and...
Werkstatt-01 is a compact, patchable analog monophonic synthesizer based on classic Moog circuits. The company is producing this DIY project kit as a perfect gift for your favorite synth-pop geek,...
A few years ago I reviewed Arturia’s Beatstep Pro [Tape Op #111] and was really impressed by the functionality of that unit. Their new MIDI/CV sequencer/controller KeyStep Pro takes things up...
Let’s get this out right up front: Waldorf’s Iridium is a deep, complex instrument and processor with tons of new technology under the hood, both in terms of its synthesis engine and its...
