Michael Rother

Interviews

Michael Rother

By Larry Crane

Harmonia's five LP box set, Complete Works, contains all the released material of this fascinating German band from 1973 to 1976, including their 1976 collaboration with Brian Eno and four unreleased tracks (Documents 1975). Harmonia was Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius, of the...

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Daniel Miller

Interviews

Daniel Miller: The Normal, Mute Records

By Joe Dilworth, Evan Sutton

Daniel Miller has been a figurehead of cutting edge music since he released his first single, "Warm Leatherette," as The Normal in 1978. The rise of his label, Mute Records, soon followed, with a roster including Depeche Mode, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Erasure, Moby, Zola Jesus...

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Per Sunding

Interviews

Per Sunding: The Cardigans, Franz Ferdinand

By Alex Maiolo

For most of 1997, it was nearly impossible to avoid hearing "Lovefool" by The Cardigans on a regular basis. As one of the rare hits heard on both popular and college radio at the time, its chorus was stuck in the heads of millions, much in the way the whistling pre-verse of Peter, Bjorn...

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Brian Vibberts

Interviews

Brian Vibberts: Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill

By Chris Vibberts
The silver sedan parked outside has a license plate that read "Dr. Vibb," a...
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Deke Dickerson

Interviews

Deke Dickerson: Ecco-Fonic Records & Studio

By Susie Delaney, Larry Crane
A collector of guitars. Owner of Major Label and Ecco-Fonic Records. Record producer and...
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MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

FEBRUARY 23, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Additional Dialogue with Brian Vibberts

Additional Dialogue with Brian Vibberts

BY CHRIS VIBBERTS

The silver sedan parked outside has a license plate that read "Dr. Vibb," a nickname I was very familiar with. I knocked on the door and a man — who could've easily been my brother — invited me in while his wife filmed our first meeting. I was welcomed with a hug. His 6-year-old son greeted me with a big expectant smile. Brian Vibberts and I became acquainted with one another 14 years ago. When an internet search of my own last name revealed another "Vibberts." It just so happens that this one had worked on such albums as Michael Jackson's HIStory, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Billy Joel's River of Dreams, and Mariah Carey's Music Box and Daydream. I was intrigued and sent him an email. We made contact and were surprised to find out we shared a long list of parallel experiences, aside from sharing a an uncommon last name. We both grew up in Connecticut, went to Berklee College of Music within a year of each other, pursued a career in music, moved to California, and eventually we each had one child. We don similar hairstyles by default, love world music, attended the same exact Iron Maiden and Rush concerts in 1985, and strangely even share the same unusual food allergies. We agreed to meet in person one day, and in the meantime we stayed in contact over the years via emails and holiday cards. Brian's career exploded as he continued to work with many of the world's top artists (such as recently mixing Chick Corea and Bela Fleck's Two album) and garnered himself five Grammy awards. What follows is a conversation 14 years in the making...

FEBRUARY 23, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Additional Dialogue with Gareth Jones

Additional Dialogue with Gareth Jones

BY LARRY CRANE

I've seen Gareth Jones' name on records since the '80s and have always wanted to meet him. My imagination created a stuffy, meticulous character; an engineer/producer driven by a need for electronic perfection and a slave to the technology of recording. This is the man who engineered albums by Depeche Mode, Erasure, John Foxx, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nitzer Ebb, and Wire, and made them propulsive, fresh, and new sounding. Little did I expect to meet up with an incredibly passionate, thoughtful, and friendly bike riding gentleman with whom I felt an immediate connection. Gareth has kept busy over the years, working with groups like Interpol and Grizzly Bear, and current work that even includes a New Order remix. We met at his studio, Strongroom, in London's Shoreditch neighborhood, not far from where his career initially took off at The Garden Studio with John Foxx, where we had a wonderful chat and a lovely lunch at the Strongroom Bar.

FEBRUARY 23, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Additional Dialogue with Per Sunding

Additional Dialogue with Per Sunding

BY ALEX MAIOLO

For most of 1997, it was nearly impossible to avoid hearing "Lovefool" by The Cardigans on a regular basis. As one of the rare hits heard on both popular and college radio at the time, its chorus was stuck in the heads of millions, much in the way the whistling pre-verse of Peter, Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" would be a decade later. However, it's safe to say neither of these would have reached the world's ears had they not been shown the way by the Swedish indie pop band, Eggstone. The scene this group created, both culturally and by laboring in Malmö's now legendary Tambourine and Gula Studios, not only launched world-famous bands but also drew in outsiders like Franz Ferdinand, Saint Etienne, Idlewild, and Boss Hog, to name a few. Eventually their studios would even host the inimitable Tom Jones and legendary producer George Martin. Founder Per Sunding not only continues to produce quality pop in Tambourine's hallowed halls, he remains Sweden's ambassador of Bonving [a sport invented by Eggstone that involves tossing shoes].

FEBRUARY 23, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Asger Christensen & Iris Marie Jakobsen of Aarhus Lydstudie

Asger Christensen & Iris Marie Jakobsen of Aarhus Lydstudie: Recording in Denmark

BY ALEX MAIOLO

Copenhagen may get all of the attention, but just three hours away lies the second largest city in Denmark: the port city of Aarhus. With it's huge university, and rich Nordic history, it's long been associated with the arts. In fact, the EU has designated it a European Capital of Culture for 2017. Two large music festivals, SPOT and Northside, attract an impressive lineup each year, and the town is dotted with clubs of all sizes. With so much music a town needs places to record, like Aarhus Lydstudie. Asger Christensen and Iris Marie Jakobsen own the latter, raise their daughter, Rosa, and play in Giant Sand, as well as other bands. In between all of this, Iris manages to be a full time doctor at Aarhus Universitetshospital.

COLUMNS

END RANT by Larry Crane
Don't Give Up
END RANT

Don't Give Up

by Larry Crane

I'm in front of the console, about one hour into a mixing session with a new client in attendance. I've got too much on my mind, an issue of the magazine to write and edit, gear to upgrade and repair at Jackpot!, a looming trade show, a messy office, and about 100 projects around my home I've been...

GEAR GEEKING by Andy Hong
An Ode to Ribbons
GEAR GEEKING

An Ode to Ribbons

by Andy Hong

I can remember back in 2002, when I first joined the Tape Op team as Reviews Editor, ribbon mics were relatively rare, and even new ones, like the now ubiquitous Royer Labs R-12, weren't too often seen in project studios like mine. Thanks in part to David Royer and Wes Dooley (AEA), two untiring...

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

D12 VR dynamic kick mic w/ active filter

BY D12 VR dynamic kick mic w/ active filter  |  reviewed by Scott Evans

The venerable AKG D12 is one of those mics I hear about a lot but don't see in person very often. I've borrowed a few from friends, and each one sounded very different. Plus, hilariously, each time I described the previous loaner mic to the current one's owner, I was told, "That one must be broken....

Gear Reviews

Decoder mid-side matrix & mic preamp

BY Decoder mid-side matrix & mic preamp  |  reviewed by Joseph Lemmer

About the size of a large guitar pedal, the Decoder is an all-analog box that lets you convert mic or line-level Mid- Side signals to stereo Left/Right. It's relatively easy to set up a digital matrix to convert between M-S and L/R in your DAW, and you can also set up a matrix using three channels...

Gear Reviews

Elements 500-series mic preamps

BY Elements 500-series mic preamps  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

Seattle's DIY Wizards are at it again — this time with more preamps taking advantage of the 500-series format. The Elements line-up of preamps includes four models: Gold, Copper, Bronze, and Silver. Each "element" promises a distinct tone. Available in kit form, all of the preamps share a similar...

Gear Reviews

Mogaine ribbon mic pre-preamp

BY Mogaine ribbon mic pre-preamp  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

Many of us love ribbon mics. Arguably, they can be the best option for some sources. But even fans know how low the output level of ribbons can be. Active ribbon mics have appeared in recent years, with a phantom-powered gain stage to boost the signal from the ribbon motor. However, most of today's...

Gear Reviews

NTR active ribbon mic

BY NTR active ribbon mic  |  reviewed by Andy Hong, Will Severin

When RØDE asked Tape Op if we wanted to review the new NTR active ribbon mic, I briefly thought of doing the review myself. But I quickly decided that with nine ribbons already in my mic cabinet, I wasn't interested in testing another ribbon, and I surely wasn't in the market to buy another one,...

Gear Reviews

SunVox Modular Music Studio

BY SunVox Modular Music Studio

I have had an ongoing relationship with computer music since I learned how to program PC speaker melodies in the scripting language in the old DOS shareware game ZZT, and while it waxes and wanes (after getting a bachelor's degree in it back around the turn of the millennium I was so burned out on...

Gear Reviews

X-15 stereo ribbon mic

BY X-15 stereo ribbon mic  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

The first ribbon microphone was co-invented by Walter H. Schottky and Erwin Gerlach in the 1920s, but the first "broadcast quality" ribbon mics were designed by Dr. Harry F. Olson for RCA. Prototypes of Olson's mics existed as early as 1929, but the first production model was the RCA PB-31,...