Working With a Mix Engineer

Interviews

Working With a Mix Engineer

By Larry Crane

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 someone else to mix, and even studios and producers that wanted to see what an outsider could bring...

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Mary Lattimore

Interviews

Mary Lattimore: 47 Strings and the Truth

By Rachael Cassells, Sam Retzer

Mary Lattimore's music exists somewhere far above us. The angelic tones emanating from her Lyon & Healy harp, often looped live through a Line 6 DL4 pedal, are at once distinct and eternally familiar. Once you start an album it's hard to turn off. Blending her classical background...

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Brian Tarquin

Interviews

Brian Tarquin: Playing Across the Genres

By Larry Crane, Michael Photography

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 spans contemporary/smooth jazz, heavy metal, hard rock, lo-fi jazz, fusion, and more. Add in...

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Hand Habits

Interviews

Hand Habits: Circumstance Informs the Art

By Harrison Whitford, Meredith Hobbs Coons
For almost a decade, Meg Duffy has weaved intimate lyrics with imaginative melodies as...
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Donald Tardy

Interviews

Donald Tardy: Obituary Keeps it Real

By Tim Hubbard, Avinash Mittur
Tampa, Florida's Obituary have been making meat n' potatoes death metal since...
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Remembering Richard Davis

Interviews

Remembering Richard Davis

By Ian Brennan
On September 6th, 2023, the world lost one of the great session players of all-time,...
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MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

FEBRUARY 28, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Eblis Álvarez

Eblis Álvarez: A System of Economy

BY STEVE SILVERSTEIN, MARIANA REYES

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, I first discovered the band through recordings of 11 unique and amazing albums. The combination of classic salsa and cumbia with psychedelic, indie, and African guitar influences resembles nothing else, and they continue to evolve in creative and surprising directions. All of the music on Meridian Brothers' recordings is created by Eblis Álvarez, who also mixes and masters other bands, writes chamber compositions, and contributes electronics, guitar, and cello to other artists' albums. I enjoyed talking to Eblis on a Zoom call when he got a break from the group's incessant tour schedule, where I got to learn about his influences, mindset, and approach.

FEBRUARY 28, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Prince Paul

Prince Paul: Happier Than Ever

BY SAM RETZER

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 young, he bursts into the room with a big smile, wearing a coordinated blue hat, windbreaker, and New Balance sneakers. Born Paul Edward Huston in Amityville, New York, on the South Shore of Long Island, he leaned into his outsider status and his parents' record collection to create a playful and colorful production style all his own. Through a trio of classic albums for De La Soul, the horrorcore of Gravediggaz' 6 Feet Deep, and his conceptual solo album, A Prince Among Thieves, Paul cemented his status as an iconoclastic genius behind the curtain. Fresh off a taping connected to the Biz Markie documentary he'd scored [All Up in the Biz], we sat down in New York City's Hell's Kitchen to talk about his fascinating journey… and the SP-1200.

FEBRUARY 28, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Wes Maebe

Wes Maebe: "My job is my hobby."

BY DAVID A. ELLIS

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, UB40, New Model Army, and Beverly Knight. He has mastered over one hundred albums, is a member of the Music Producers Guild, and also writes reviews for Mix Magazine.

COLUMNS

END RANT by Larry Crane
When is a Mix Done?
END RANT

When is a Mix Done?

by Larry Crane

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 colleagues to see what others had to say. -LC When you can listen all the way through and there's nothing you...

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

Gear Geeking w/ Andy...

by Andy Hong

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, processors, and whatnot. Often enough, the fix is nothing more than an intermittent solder joint or a...

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

Apollo Twin X USB 3.0 Interface for Windows

BY Apollo Twin X USB 3.0 Interface for Windows  |  reviewed by Corey Reidy

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 word of mouth and reviews. But now, Universal Audio has released the Apollo Twin X USB 3.0 interface!...

Gear Reviews

Clyde Stubblefield - The Funky Drummer Bundle

BY Clyde Stubblefield - The Funky Drummer Bundle  |  reviewed by Corey Reidy

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 (especially his drum break on James Brown's "Funky Drummer" single from 1970) has been sampled and used...

Gear Reviews

DDK4000 Drum Mic Kit

BY DDK4000 Drum Mic Kit  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi, James Neil

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 overheads, and three 4099 compact mics for toms. DPA has been making high headroom, low noise,...

Gear Reviews

GroundControl SPHERE Monitor Control App

BY GroundControl SPHERE Monitor Control App  |  reviewed by Adam Kagan

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 monitors. This controller should include DSP for speaker calibration, time alignment, volume, and...

Gear Reviews

H90 Harmonizer Multi-Effects Pedal

BY H90 Harmonizer Multi-Effects Pedal  |  reviewed by Jonathan Saxon

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 fit for you? That depends on how comfortable you are with studying a user manual. Eventide...

Gear Reviews

JZ Microphones: BT202 SDC Microphone Pair

BY BT202 SDC Microphone Pair  |  reviewed by Geoff Stanfield

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 with an offering that has an interesting look and sound. I cannot decide if they resemble something...

Gear Reviews

LVX Modular Delay Pedal

BY LVX Modular Delay Pedal  |  reviewed by Dan Knobler

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 in how to package a profound, deep, and powerful set of sonic tools into an easy-to-use box. It’s almost...

Gear Reviews

PolyMAX Synth Plug-in

BY PolyMAX Synth Plug-in  |  reviewed by Dave Hidek

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 they’re capable of more than mixing magic; they can deliver innovative music creation tools as well. The...

Gear Reviews

Pro-G Gate Plug-in

BY Pro-G Gate Plug-in  |  reviewed by James Neil

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 us drummers wield is amazing! We are able to adjust the vibe of a song by leaning in or out, or by...

Gear Reviews

PSP BinAmp Preamp Emulation Plug-in

BY PSP BinAmp Preamp Emulation Plug-in  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

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 1960. Utilizing six 12AX7/U7 tubes, the real Echorec 2 tonally changes instruments run through it....

Gear Reviews

PUMP 500 Series Compressor

BY PUMP 500 Series Compressor  |  reviewed by Scott McDowell

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, the Distressor [Tape Op #32], the PUMP makes it easy to dial in smooth and transparent VCA-style compression or...

Gear Reviews

Remix Stem Separation Plug-in

BY Remix Stem Separation Plug-in  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

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 handful of apps that do this recently, but Remix is the first I've seen that can be inserted on a...

Gear Reviews

SK10 Subkick Simulator Plug-in

BY SK10 Subkick Simulator Plug-in  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

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 the amount of sub frequency desired via the Mix knob and set the Lowpass frequency (200 Hz down to 10...

Gear Reviews

SR117 Supercardioid Condenser Mic

BY SR117 Supercardioid Condenser Mic  |  reviewed by Geoffrey Knecht

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 in mind, Earthworks Audio's SR117 is exemplary. I love how natural this microphone sounds. First,...

Gear Reviews

Tweezer 500 Series Compressor

BY Tweezer 500 Series Compressor  |  reviewed by Scott McDowell

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 plug-in, which became an immediate go-to for my mix sessions in any style. Since then, they've continued...

Gear Reviews

Voca Vocal Processing Plug-in

BY Voca Vocal Processing Plug-in  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

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 plug-in and going back to my analog-inspired workflow. That is, until Sonnox released Voca. First...