Tape Op Magazine - Issue #121 - issue-121

Looking Back at 50 years of Music and Family with John Golden

Interviews

Looking Back at 50 years of Music and Family with John Golden

By Ian Brennan

Beginning his foray into music as an artist, John Golden has been mastering records for nearly 50 years, a time span very few share. I started making records back in the 1980s, and had the good fortune to be referred to John back at the very start of my career by engineer/producer Kevin Army...

Finders of Focus

Interviews

Finders of Focus: Behind the Gear with Phil Dudderidge & Rob Jenkins

By John Baccigaluppi

Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. has been around for so long, it's easy to forget how many great products they've made over the years. We recently had a chance to sit down with the guiding lights of the company, Phil Dudderidge (Executive Chairman) and Rob Jenkins (Director of Product).

Mikey Young (Bonus)

Interviews

Mikey Young (Bonus): Australia’s Finest

By James West, James Vinciguerra, Aaron Turney, David West, Stephen Turney

If you've purchased an Australian rock record made in the past decade, there's a good chance Mikey Young had his hand in the final product. He's a member of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Ooga Boogas, and Total Control. When he's not touring, Young is busy recording, mixing and...

Tony Berg

Interviews

Tony Berg: Quest for the Zeitgeist

By John Baccigaluppi

Tony Berg has cast a long shadow over the pages of Tape Op , but in way that might not be...

Steve Addabbo

Interviews

Steve Addabbo: Still Tracking in New York City

By Richard Barone

Until the "authenticity" plug-in hits the market, we will have to settle for the...

MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

MARCH 3, 2026 INTERVIEWS

Bob Rock

Bob Rock: Metallica, Mötley Crüe, & More

BY JAKE BROWN

Bob Rock is a foundational pillar of modern day rock and metal production, the architect of a drum and guitar sound he pioneered on cornerstone releases, including Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood and Metallica's seminal The Black Album, which has sold over 16 million copies and took the heavy metal band mainstream. Looking back on 30 years, Bob Rock's approach to recording rock and metal has changed the sound of both genres forever. The following is from conversations spread over a few years between 2005 and 2012.

COLUMNS

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

2264ALB Compressor/Limiter

BY 2264ALB Compressor/Limiter | reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

The 2264A diode bridge compressor/limiter has been the stuff of audio drool forever. The original model was released in 1974, and aside from some faster attack times and the smaller form factor, it was very similar in sound to its predecessor, the 2254. The 2264A is easy to get a great sound out...

Gear Reviews

Apollo Twin MkII Audio Interface

BY Apollo Twin MkII Audio Interface | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

Universal Audio has been refreshing its line-up of Apollo interfaces over the past few years, and now the Apollo Twin compact desktop interface [Tape Op #101] gets what UA is calling a “ground-up redesign” with the Apollo Twin MkII. The new Twin MkII is a 2×6 Thunderbolt interface (for both macOS...

Gear Reviews

ATM350a Instrument Mic Systems

BY ATM350a Instrument Mic Systems | reviewed by Andy Hong

The ATM350a is a phantom-powered, small-diaphragm, electret condenser mic with a 12 mm × 38 mm cardioid capsule voiced for close-mic’ing instruments. In many recording situations, it’s an ideal mic for a few key reasons: it sounds neutral, even at close proximities; it can handle high SPLs without...

Gear Reviews

Auto-Align Multi-Mic Phase-Alignment Plug-In

BY Auto-Align Multi-Mic Phase-Alignment Plug-In | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

God, this is gonna read like another episode of “Grandpa Reviews the Latest Gizmo.” When I was really getting my act together as an engineer (recording bands through a dilapidated Trident console to tape), I often struggled with phase issues, specifically when multi-mic’ng drums. The bands I worked...

Gear Reviews

Automatonism

BY Automatonism | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

This is a very cool, free piece of software that implements a modular software synthesizer. If that’s all there was to it, I doubt I’d bother writing this review, as there are tons of modular synth emulations. What makes this so cool is that it’s written in a musical programming environment called...

Gear Reviews

CA-70 PS2 Mic/Line Preamp

BY CA-70 PS2 Mic/Line Preamp | reviewed by Adam Kagan

Coil Audio is a company in Lawrence, Kansas, that manufacturers retro, vintage-styled, industrial-looking mic preamps, audio transformers, and accompanying power supplies and chassis. Coil’s visual aesthetics and circuit topologies are firmly rooted in vintage 1930s and 1940s American tube...

Gear Reviews

CM 48T Large-Diaphragm Tube Mic

BY CM 48T Large-Diaphragm Tube Mic | reviewed by Kirt Shearer

It seems like the market has never been more saturated with various types of new recording equipment attempting to emulate vintage gear. Vintage microphone recreations are hot right now — especially modern takes on the Neumann U 47. Not true clones, but adaptations. Really, adaptations are the only...

Gear Reviews

Dynamic Spectrum Mapper V2

BY Dynamic Spectrum Mapper V2 | reviewed by Brad Allen Williams

For reasons that aren’t entirely logical, I find it easier to spend money on hardware than on software. Likewise, sexy products that excel at enhancement and color can often seem more exciting than workmanlike ones excelling at rescue and remediation. It’s no mean feat, then, that Paul Frindle’s...

Gear Reviews

E27 500-Series EQ

BY E27 500-Series EQ | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

When I bought my API 1608 console [Tape Op #81] almost ten years ago, one of the reasons I was attracted to it was the option to put different EQ modules in it. I had two vintage API 550A EQ modules, and I could only afford to buy six new 550A and two new 560 modules at the time. Over the years, as...

Gear Reviews

GrainSpace Granular Reverb Plug-In

BY GrainSpace Granular Reverb Plug-In | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Granular synthesis has been around for a while, but it feels like its moment in the sun is upon us. In short, it is described as a method by which sounds are broken into tiny grains, which are then redistributed and reorganized to form other sounds. Greek composer Iannis Xenakis first worked with...

Gear Reviews

Infinite iOS synthesizer

BY Infinite iOS synthesizer | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Wolfgang Palm invented wavetable synthesis in the late '70's which he used in the PPG Wave synthesizer that was hugely popular in the '80's with artists like Thomas Dolby and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He later went to work at Waldorf who ended up continuing to develop wavetable synthesizers....

Gear Reviews

LYD 48 Active Monitors

BY LYD 48 Active Monitors | reviewed by Don Gunn

Ah, monitors... I’ve gone through more than my fair share of them over the years in my pursuit to find ones that I feel comfortable working on for long days, and that also translate well so I don’t feel like I’m being lied to or fooled into a sense that I’m hearing something other than what is...

Gear Reviews

MA-1000 Large-diaphragm Tube Mic

BY MA-1000 Large-diaphragm Tube Mic | reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

I have been a Mojave mic owner since the company released the MA-200 back in 2005. It was David Bianco [Tape Op #104 bonus] who turned me onto Mojave’s offerings, saying, “You really should check these mics out.” They are solid workhorse mics that are rich in character and useful in a ton of...

Gear Reviews

Matrix Brute Analog Synthesizer

BY Matrix Brute Analog Synthesizer | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Rather than do the usual review discussing the feature set and my qualitative judgments of how this synthesizer sounds, I'm going to list eight reasons why I think this instrument is one of the best pieces of new gear for making music that I've seen in the last ten years. 1. Price. When I first...

Gear Reviews

Neutron Intelligent Mixing Plug-In

BY Neutron Intelligent Mixing Plug-In | reviewed by Andy Hong

If I had to choose a single channel-insert plug-in for mixing, iZotope Neutron would be at the top of my list. Neutron, at its heart, is a multi-module channel strip. It includes four modules — Equalizer, Compressor, Transient Shaper, and Exciter — that can be enabled, disabled, and reordered in...

Gear Reviews

Orbit Turntable

BY Orbit Turntable | reviewed by Garrett Haines

So I was at the studio holiday party a while back. All the kids were looking at the vinyl releases on display. Out of curiosity, I surveyed, "What turntable do you use?" To my surprise, only one person of the two dozen I asked actually owned a record player. The rest purchased vinyl to support the...

Gear Reviews

Protoverb Room Simulator Plug-In

BY Protoverb Room Simulator Plug-In | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

I’m a reverb geek, and I’m always on the lookout for cool reverbs, both older hardware units and new plug-ins. I was poking around the web trying to find a plug-in version of the classic Quantec Room Simulator when I stumbled across the free u-he Protoverb plug-in, which works similarly to the QRS...

Gear Reviews

PS-2 Power Station Reactive Load + Tube Amp

BY PS-2 Power Station Reactive Load + Tube Amp | reviewed by Walt Szalva

Sometimes the simplest of tools can have a significant impact on one’s creative output. One such tool for me has been a guitar amp attenuator — a.k.a. a “hotplate” — which I’ve used in a variety of recording and live music scenarios. So, when my trusty but well-used attenuator bit the dust, I knew...

Gear Reviews

Pure Plate Reverb Plug-In

BY Pure Plate Reverb Plug-In | reviewed by Scott McChane

Plate reverb is undoubtedly my favorite choice for ambience. It’s the agent of antiquity and the steward of soul. Sound is driven into a metal plate, then recaptured as rich clangs and resonances that transport us to and from the past. It can be haunting and dark; yet at the same time, it can...

Gear Reviews

Q8 Video & 4-Track Audio Recorder

BY Q8 Video & 4-Track Audio Recorder | reviewed by Jonathan Saxon

If you are looking for a handheld audio/video recorder, and audio performance is a priority, the Zoom Q8 may be your best bet. This little unit, with its seemingly endless options for making high-quality audio recordings, is unmatched by its competition. Simple to set up and operate, it's great for...

Gear Reviews

SpaceModulator Flanger Plug-In

BY SpaceModulator Flanger Plug-In | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Ever since I reviewed the Valhalla reverbs [Tape Op #111], I’ve continued to use these plug-ins on every session, especially Shimmer and VintageVerb. I was recently poking around on the Valhalla website and found SpaceModulator, which is free to download if you’ve purchased at least one plug-in...

Gear Reviews

SR-1A & SR-2N Ribbon Microphones

BY SR-1A & SR-2N Ribbon Microphones | reviewed by Adam Monk

There are certain criteria I look for in gear that I choose to use and write about. It has to have excellent value and be useful in a wide variety of situations. Let’s face it. Money is tight for most of us in the business of music-making these days, and we need to invest smartly. I prefer to buy...

Gear Reviews

TT to XLR Patch Cables

BY TT to XLR Patch Cables | reviewed by Scott Evans

Every studio needs an easy way to patch audio originating from a stereo 1/8’’ jack. Phones, iPads, laptops, and instruments like the awesome mini synths in Roland’s Boutique series have 1/8’’ outputs. (I love my Roland JU-06, a faithful JUNO-106 emulation that weighs 3 lb and runs on four AA...

Gear Reviews

Witnesses of Words: How 20th Century Microphones Made History

BY Witnesses of Words: How 20th Century Microphones Made History | reviewed by Larry Crane

This book certainly screams, “Place me on the studio coffee table,” with its luxurious hardbound cover featuring photos of rare and/or fascinating looking mics from the author’s personal collection of hundreds (thousands?) of mics manufactured in the previous century. Detailed photographs of his...