Russ Gary

Interviews

Russ Gary

By Mike Robbie

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 [Doug, Stu, and Russ] Productions, or as an independent producer, Russ has always been involved in...

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Jerry Harrison

Interviews

Jerry Harrison: A Life In Music

By Photograph Harrison, John Baccigaluppi, Larry Crane

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 last four decades, he's helmed albums for Violent Femmes, Crash Test Dummies, The Verve Pipe...

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Eric “ET” Thorngren

Interviews

Eric “ET” Thorngren: Throwing Out Reality

By Larry Crane

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 "Addicted to Love," and re-mixing songs for Bob Marley's Legend album, and you have a pretty...

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Isabelle Banos

Interviews

Isabelle Banos: Opening the Door

By Lisa Machac
A producer, songwriter, and a founding member of the alternative pop band Caveboy,...
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Making the Box Set <i>Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982</i>

Interviews

Making the Box Set Blondie: Against The Odds...

By Photos Thompson, Larry Crane
When I heard my colleagues Steve Rosenthal [Tape Op#66] and Michael Graves [#125] had...
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MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

MARCH 12, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Is That a Track or a Stem?

Is That a Track or a Stem?: Sorting Out Audio Terms

BY GARRETT HAINES, LARRY CRANE

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 mean several different things, but generally the consensus among audio professionals is fairly clear. So, I started making a list of terms to help us all out.

MARCH 12, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Marta Salogni

Marta Salogni: Having that Knowledge

BY LARRY CRANE

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 on the path to sessions with Depeche Mode, Björk, Animal Collective, Circuit des Yeux, Holly Herndon [Tape Op #132], Goldfrapp, and black midi. Recently, the MPG (Music Producers Guild) awarded her UK Music Producer of the Year, among other previous honors, and her work has been nominated for Grammy Awards. I dropped her a line at her Studio Zona, and Marta's enthusiasm and dedication to the art of recording audio was enlightening.

MARCH 12, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Don Lewis 1941-2022

Don Lewis 1941-2022

BY IAN BRENNAN

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, 2022, Mr. Lewis peacefully passed away at the age of 81. It is an honor to help remember him now.

MARCH 12, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Herb Deutsch, 1932-2022

Herb Deutsch, 1932-2022

BY ALEX MAIOLO

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 scenes that change the course of history.

COLUMNS

END RANT by Larry Crane
What the F#ck is “Industry Standard”?
END RANT

What the F#ck is “Industry Standard”?

by Larry Crane

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 satisfactory and the singing beautiful, but the sound of the final product was not up to industry standard." Being...

GEAR GEEKING by Andy Hong
Gear Geeking w/ Andy...
GEAR GEEKING

Gear Geeking w/ Andy...

by Andy Hong

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 in the Ocean, my subsumption into the band wasn't much more than an unspoken assumption that I would be recording...

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

4K B Channel Strip Plug-In

BY 4K B Channel Strip Plug-In  |  reviewed by Gus Berry

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 made it available as a plug-in. Some of the unique features of this channel strip emulation include...

Gear Reviews

A7V Active Monitors

BY A7V Active Monitors  |  reviewed by Daniel Ryan Morse

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 hardiest acoustic consultant to tears. After a few frustrating experiences of working up a decent mix, only to hear it...

Gear Reviews

Clarett+ OctoPre ADAT Pre/Expander

BY Clarett+ OctoPre ADAT Pre/Expander  |  reviewed by Scott McChane

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 way to upgrade many project studio interfaces’ I/O count. Though in the box mixing and overdub-style...

Gear Reviews

Control Knobs, Switches, & Parts

BY Control Knobs, Switches, & Parts  |  reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

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 manufacturers have used this style of rubber coating on gear for years. However, after time and use, the...

Gear Reviews

DUB-1 Tube Direct Box

BY DUB-1 Tube Direct Box  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

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 unit, and how passionate owner/ designer/builder Steve Kollander is about tube gear, I was intrigued...

Gear Reviews

Joe Chiccarelli Signature Plug-In

BY Joe Chiccarelli Signature Plug-In  |  reviewed by Dave Hidek

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 Chiccarelli’s [#14] signal chains for kick, snare, bass, vocals, etc. Each profile has a unique GUI...

Gear Reviews

LiN76 Limiting Amplifier

BY LiN76 Limiting Amplifier  |  reviewed by Mike Kosacek

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 hardware clones, other similar hardware compressors, and (of course) the plug-ins, but I’m not going to do a...

Gear Reviews

London 10 Room Treatment Kit

BY London 10 Room Treatment Kit  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

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 space, primarily for mixing, but there will undoubtedly be the need for tracking at times. My last room...

Gear Reviews

Power-2 Power Conditioner

BY Power-2 Power Conditioner  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

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 and has a couple of additional useful features to boot. [See LC’s review of the Power-1 in Tape Op #147.] Why...

Gear Reviews

STEAMDRIVER Plug-In

BY STEAMDRIVER Plug-In  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

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 glimpse into a film about crazy equipment that can destroy sounds, and that’s exactly what this plug-in can do. In...

Gear Reviews

Surfybear Reverb Studio Edition

BY Surfybear Reverb Studio Edition  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

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 (we made many surf LPs at Jackpot! way back), dropped off the Surfybear Reverb Studio Edition, I was...

Gear Reviews

SV 14 EQ

BY SV 14 EQ  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

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 one slight gripe has been that I often want to cut or boost a frequency between the stepped frequencies on the...

Gear Reviews

Type 20 MK2 3-Way Monitor

BY Type 20 MK2 3-Way Monitor  |  reviewed by Tony Vincent

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 agree that when we like what we’re getting back from a set of speakers, we’re inspired, keep pushing, and...