Michael League

Interviews

Youth = Martin Glover

Interviews

Lee Herschberg

Interviews

Gina Birch

Interviews

Drew Vandenberg

Interviews

MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

JULY 26, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Will Putney

Will Putney: Sounds of a Graphic Nature

In the past few decades, something wicked has crept out of the Central Jersey swamp, slowly rising into the foothills and beyond. Horrific sounds that meld flesh and circuitry in a cyber-metallic world of one man's creation. Well, one man and his trusty staff of engineers, the musicians, and the machines. Will Putney has helped usher in a modern heavy music golden age through his ground-breaking production work with the likes of Vein.fm, Knocked Loose, Thy Art Is Murder, and his own bands Fit for an Autopsy and END. If anyone has perfected the science of modern precision combined with old-fashioned bludgeon, it's Mr. Putney. He even won a Grammy with Ice-T's Body Count in 2021. We sat down at his Graphic Nature Audio in Kinnelon, New Jersey, to try and make sense of the audio carnage, as well as the surgical skills required for maximum impact.

JULY 26, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Evelyn Glennie

Evelyn Glennie: "Sound can be the most subtle thing, but the body does need to slow down in order to connect with it."

Experimental and classically-trained percussionist Evelyn Glennie has released almost 50 albums and collaborated with the likes of Björk, Mark Knopfler [Tape Op #97], Fred Frith, Béla Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, and fellow Scot, filmmaker Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire). Evelyn became deaf at the age of 12 and she is currently the only deaf artist known to have ever won a Grammy – which she has done twice, as well as having been nominated three other times since 1988. She also received Britain's Polar Music Prize in 2015, and the Leonardo da Vinci International Award in 1987. Amongst other honors, she has been awarded the title Dame by the Order of the British Empire (the female counterpart to Knighthood). Ms. Glennie was the focus of the 2004 documentary feature, Touch the Sound, and even appeared on an episode of Sesame Street. The author of two books (Good Vibrations and Listen World!), Glennie's stated mission is to "teach the world to listen."

JULY 26, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Julie Last

Julie Last: The Technical With The Emotional

With a start at New York City's Record Plant in the mid-'70s, Julie Last continued with her career at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles. Now living in Woodstock, NY, she runs her own Cold Brook Productions. Along the way she worked on sessions for Talking Heads, Cheap Trick, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Lou Reed, Brian Eno [ Tape Op #85], Joni Mitchell, and Rickie Lee Jones.

COLUMNS

Open Minds, Open Ears
END RANT
Gear Geeking w/ Andy...
GEAR GEEKING

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

10-Inch 2-Way Active Studio Monitors

by 10-Inch 2-Way Active Studio Monitors  |  reviewed by Adam Kagan

Wayne Jones' career as a successful bass player led him to develop a line of well-respected bass amplifiers and cabinets for the stage and studio, utilizing his custom-manufactured Kevlar-impregnated eucalyptus pulp 10-inch driver. Building upon his cabinet and loudspeaker design expertise, Jones...

Gear Reviews

1973 Condenser Mic

by 1973 Condenser Mic  |  reviewed by Kirt Shearer

This is going to be shorter than my usual overly wordy review – not because the product doesn’t warrant the page space, but because the message is fairly simple. So, let me give the conclusion right up front and then explain what I actually mean: The Soyuz 1973 is an excellent mic, especially if...

Gear Reviews

AKG: C414 XLII Multi-Pattern Condenser Mic

by C414 XLII Multi-Pattern Condenser Mic  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

Ah, the AKG 414. There are so many iterations of this mic. Every studio worth its salt has at least one, and if they’re on their game, they own several. We see them often used as drum overheads, room mics, on acoustic guitars, and percussion. However, I have placed them on all sorts of sources –...

Gear Reviews

BV-1 MkII Tube Mic

by BV-1 MkII Tube Mic  |  reviewed by Tony Vincent

Avantone began making microphones close to 20 years ago, and has recently updated their BV-1 large-diaphragm tube condenser microphone to the BV-1 mkII. First off, this upgrade comes as a significant design change. The original BV-1 was in the form of a large lollypop, whereas the mkII looks more...

Gear Reviews

H251 Tube Mic

by H251 Tube Mic  |  reviewed by Anthony Gravino

Clones of classic vintage tube microphones have become a common occurrence in pro audio. As a result, I have had the opportunity to hear and compare many different reproductions of famous mic designs next to their predecessors, such as the Neumann U 47 and U 67, AKG C12, and Telefunken ELA M 251E....

Gear Reviews

Kurt Ballou Drums Sample Library

by Kurt Ballou Drums Sample Library  |  reviewed by Dave Hidek

Kurt Ballou [Tape Op #76] is known for making incredible records both as a producer/studio owner (God City) and as the guitarist for hardcore/punk band Converge. Now, Ballou has released his second signature drum sample library, six years after releasing his first, through Room Sound Premium Drum...

Gear Reviews

MBOX Studio USB-C Interface

by MBOX Studio USB-C Interface  |  reviewed by Adam Kagan

The new MBOX Studio demonstrates why Avid remains at the top of the heap for music production professionals. After spending several weeks with this interface, I can attest that it brings unparalleled professionalism to gear at a project studio price point. The team at Avid truly addressed every...

Gear Reviews

PC-100A Rack Mount Power Strip

by PC-100A Rack Mount Power Strip  |  reviewed by Mike Kosacek

I like to think of my mixing desk as the control center. I hate running around the studio, behind racks, or bending down to search for a power switch, which is why I have several power strips in racks situated right on the desk. One is a standard surge suppressing strip with a single switch and...

Gear Reviews

PSP 285 Semi-Modular Delay Plug-In

by PSP 285 Semi-Modular Delay Plug-In  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

I made sure to start this plug-in delay's review without touching a single preset. Despite the feature-filled control panel, I understood and utilized most functions without reading any manuals and ignoring the tool tips. Right away, creating stereo delay lines was simple, and setting up times and...

Gear Reviews

Pyra-Sum Summing Mixer

by Pyra-Sum Summing Mixer  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

I still believe that analog mixing sounds better than in the box mixing, and I enjoy the workflow more as well. I’ve been mixing with a hybrid analog/digital setup and process for years now, and feel like I get faster, better mixes working that way. Fewer and fewer people still mix on large format...

Gear Reviews

Select SV12 500 Series Compressor

by Select SV12 500 Series Compressor  |  reviewed by Scott McChane

We’re all super excited over here at Tape Op when API introduces new gear, and the enthusiasm doubles when said equipment is priced affordably. Additionally, a joyous hysteria breaks out “around the office” when our industry shows signs that supply chains are beginning to normalize. All of this is...

Gear Reviews

SmartLink Trinity USB 3.0 to SATA II & IDE HDD & SDD Adapter

by SmartLink Trinity USB 3.0 to SATA II & IDE HDD & SDD Adapter  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Many of us might be familiar with this scenario: A client brings in a hard drive of old DAW sessions to remix. You plug the hard drive in (likely needing some weird cable and adapter), and nothing appears on the computer's desktop. Many HD issues like this are simply due to the electronics in the...

Gear Reviews

Studio One 6 Professional DAW

by Studio One 6 Professional DAW  |  reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

Folks, let's chat about PreSonus Studio One Professional, now leveled up to version six. I tend to “DAW-jump” these days between Ableton Live [Tape Op #143], Universal Audio LUNA [#138], and Studio One Professional (based on the project's needs) – Studio One has become my go-to for complex mixing...

Gear Reviews

The Extraordinary Journey of Jason Miles (Book)

by The Extraordinary Journey of Jason Miles (Book)  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Did you ever wonder who some of the first people to integrate sampling, drum machines, and sequencing into R&B, jazz, and pop were, and how they did it? Well, Jason Miles was one of those people, and this book tells his story over the decades. Subtitled, A Musical Biography, Jason – a talented...