As a member of the Talking Heads and forming The Modern Lovers with Jonathan Richman, Jerry Harrison would have a career of note if this was all he’d done. But as a successful producer over the...
Recording and mixing much of the Talking Heads catalog would be one achievement, but then throw in tracking some of the earliest hip-hop at Sugar Hill Records, mixing Robert Palmer’s...
A pure obsession with sound drove a young woman from her rural Italian home to the UK and into London’s recording studios. A relentless drive to learn how everything in audio works then set her...
Russ Gary is a self-professed countrified rocker and a recording legend who is still working and actively making original music today. Whether working at Wally Heider Studios, Fantasy Studios, DSR...
A producer, songwriter, and a founding member of the alternative pop band Caveboy, Isabelle Banos is based in Montreal, Canada. Her passion for empowerment through education has led her to become a...
When I heard my colleagues Steve Rosenthal [Tape Op #66] and Michael Graves [#125] had produced, repaired, and mastered Blondie’s new box set, Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982, I had to drop...
When people hire me to mix their songs, I frequently come across situations where we are not using the same terminology for the sources clients are giving me to work from. Yes, sometimes one word can...
As an electronic instrument pioneer, and one of the designers of the Roland TR-808 drum machine, Don Lewis had an irreversible impact on the trajectory and sound of popular music. On November 6th,...
I’m sure a lot of you are asking “who was Herb Deutsch and what does he have to do with rock ‘n’ roll?” The short answer is sometimes it’s the people behind the...
After receiving negative feedback regarding her release, a talented artist I’d worked with dropped me a line. Apparently a random critic of her album had declared that “the song was...
For quite a time surrounding the year 2000, I was known as “the guy who records Karate” — their de facto recording engineer. Following the completion of their third album, The Bed is...
I have a polarizing position regarding monitors. Either I really dig them (when my mixes sound good across many sources post-mix), or I simply don’t have time for them. I also think we can all...
This steampunk-inspired plug-in certainly lives in its own world. Featuring “super rad steampunk GUI because traditional gear is lame and is for nerds,” opening up the STEAMDRIVER is a...
Every time one moves into a new studio space, which I have done several times for various reasons, we’re presented with new challenges in treating the room sonically. My new studio is one large...
There will surely come a time when we no longer use ADAT Lightpipe cables as a digital signal carry method. Until that day, the ADAT protocol seemingly remains the preeminent affordable and painless...
Following the successful launch of their Al Schmitt Signature plug-in [Tape Op #145], Leapwing Audio recently released a Joe Chiccarelli Signature plug-in, offering 11 different profiles that emulate...
I love the sound of spring reverbs and have three stereo units (two Demeter [Tape Op #21] and one Benson Amps [#126]) in my racks already. So, when my old pal, Ted Miller from Satan’s Pilgrims...
I found this Love My Switches’ web store while searching for aluminum replacements for the sticky, degraded soft-touch rubber vulcanized knobs on my Arturia MicroBrute [Tape Op #106] synth. Many...
Before the widely known SSL 4000 G and E series consoles, Solid State Logic built six 4000 B series consoles. They have modeled the entire signal path of a hardware channel strip from the 4000 B, and...
As an owner of an API 1608 console [Tape Op #81] loaded with a bunch of API 550As, 550bs, and 560s [#26], I’m pretty familiar with API’s EQs in general, and I think they sound great. My...
I’ve been looking for a hardware compressor for tracking purposes, so when I saw the attractive price of Lindell Audio’s LiN76, I decided to grab one. I’ve owned a few 1176-style...
There are not a ton of superlatives to use when reviewing a power conditioner – it’s well built and effective, or it is not. The Radial Power-2 surge suppressor / power conditioner is both...
Like many home recordists, I work out of the smallest bedroom in my house: a glorious 10 x 10 x 8-foot room. Palatial, it is not. My “control room” dimensions would reduce even the...
Initially, I was turned onto Crucial Audio via their excellent Studio-Nugget Tube Delay [Tape Op #147]. I love that piece of gear and all the magic sauce it imparts. Knowing what I know about that...
