Prince Paul is happy. Happy to be back in New York, happy De La Soul is finally on streaming services, and happy to chat about the difference between the E-mu SP-12 and SP-1200 samplers. At 56 years...
Mary at home in Los Angeles with her harp. Mary Lattimore’s music exists somewhere far above us. The angelic tones emanating from her Lyon & Healy harp, often looped live through a Line...
For over 25 years, I have done an extensive amount of mixing of music that I didn't track or produce. This work has been for home recordists, artists that used a studio for tracking but wanted...
For almost a decade, Meg Duffy has weaved intimate lyrics with imaginative melodies as Hand Habits while also contributing their talents as a guitarist to albums and touring lineups for artists...
Tampa, Florida's Obituary have been making meat n' potatoes death metal since 1984. Their last several albums document a journey through learning the art of production for the metal veterans,...
For years, I've emailed with composer/guitarist/producer Brian Tarquin about projects he's been involved with. We finally got together over Zoom and had a great chat about his career – one that...
On September 6th, 2023, the world lost one of the great session players of all-time, double-bassist, Richard Davis. He was 93-years-old.
Bogotá, Colombia’s Meridian Brothers are one of my favorite active bands these days. While I’ve been fortunate to see their touring lineup in New York a few times in the last year,...
Recording engineer, mixer and producer Wes Maebe has worked in a number of studios around the world with some of the biggest names in the business, including Ellie Goulding, Cat Stevens, Celine Dion,...
I sat down to try and write an End Rant describing how to know when a mix is done, and then I became stuck. Everyone’s experience with this can be different, so I dropped a line to some...
I bet most Tape Op readers who own a soldering iron also have a digital multimeter (DMM), and they've learned at least the basics of diagnosing misbehaving instruments, amps, pedals, preamps,...
I recently expanded my mix studio into a Dolby Atmos surround room. The cost of a multichannel speaker system is substantial, covering speakers, stands, wiring, and a controller to handle at least 12...
As James Brown's drummer from 1967 to 1970, Clyde Stubblefield is one of the most important figures in modern popular music, yet most people don't even know his name. Estimates show that his work...
Gregory Scott's Kush Audio has done their 10,000 hours when it comes to designing audio compressors. It was a decade ago that Kush released the UBK-1 [Tape Op #86] hardware unit and subsequent...
The Meris LVX is exactly the delay unit I have been dreaming of. Lucky for me, it’s also the delay unit that the folks at Meris have been dreaming up for over two years, and it's a masterclass...
Universal Audio (UA) is one of the giants of the plug-in world, and their emulations of classic analog gear are among the most hallowed. With the release of their PolyMAX synth, UA is showing...
Remix is a plug-in that "uses cutting edge technology based on artificial intelligence" in order to un-mix a stereo track into five stems of Vocals, Piano, Bass, Drums, and Other. There have been a...
The latest compressor from Empirical Labs is similar to Ike and Tina Turner’s classic cover of “Proud Mary,” in that it ranges all the way from nice to rough. Like its older sibling,...
I've been wary of "all-in-one" vocal processing plug-ins that claim to deliver "pro-level vocals" for your mixes with minimal work. I've tried a few, and every time I've been better off removing the...
It's no secret that I am a fan of JZ Microphones. In the past, they've offered exclusively large diaphragm microphones, but with the BT202 they have entered the small diaphragm condenser [SDC] market...
I work in studio recording, location sound, and live performance. For me, versatility is king, and I'm constantly searching for tools that allow me to minimize my kit and do more with less. With this...
The kind folks at Wavesfactory recently offered up the free SK10 plug-in, which simulates having a speaker-based mic as an extra low frequency kick drum track. Insert it on your kick track, dial in...
As a Windows/PC user, I have been watching from the sidelines as Universal Audio's Apollo series became one of the most established interface and plug-in platforms while garnering lots of positive...
DPA's DDK4000 is a selection of their mics packaged as a complete drum recording solution, including the 4055 kick mic, a 2012 compact cardioid mic intended for snare, two 2015 wide cardioid mics for...
Mixing drums can seem like some sort of magic. Mysterious, delightful, revelatory, fascinating, confounding, and confusing all at once. My experience begins with the love of playing drums. The power...
Looking for a new effects pedal and want to know if the Eventide H90 Harmonizer is a good fit for a recording rig? Well, it absolutely is a good choice for recording situations. However, is it a good...
What's a BinAmp? Well, the fine folks at PSPaudioware love the sound of the preamp section of the Binson Echorec 2 delay, those cool metal-based magnetic drum delays from Italy, first introduced in...
