I was fortunate to meet Dennis Weinreich several years ago while he was in San Diego,...
Interviews
MGMT: Making Loss of Life
By Geoff Stanfield, Jonah Freeman
Around the time of their 2024 album, Loss of Life, I sat down for a chat with MGMT's...
Interviews
Jennifer Nulsen: Put Your Ears Where It's Good
By Steve Silverstein, Kevin Bourassa
As an engineer who mostly works on rock and experimental music, classical recording...
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DECEMBER 4, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Ambrose Bye: Recording Poetically
Ambrose Bye laughingly calls himself a “nepo baby with a laptop.” As the son of internationally-renowned poet Anne Waldman, Bye practically grew up at the Buddhist-inspired school in Boulder, Colorado – now known as Naropa University – where Waldman and Allen Ginsberg started the writing program. Bye originally recorded on campus in “Harry's House,” where the elderly Harry Smith – celebrated music compiler, filmmaker, and occultist – had previously lived during the last three years of his life. Bye has released three Harry's House compilations – featuring collaborations between writers and musicians – which appear on Waldman and Bye's expansive label, Fast Speaking Music.
DECEMBER 4, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Behind the Gear with Tony Agnello of Eventide
On Temperance, a musical Reverb Formed in 1971, Eventide soon became one of the first companies to build digital delays and other future-shaping audio processers. Their H910 Harmonizer may have changed the sound of records forever. Their SP 2016 was the world’s first digital audio processor, introduced the concept of the plug-in, and its reverb algorithms remain popular to this day. I heard about Eventide's Temperance plug-in, an interesting new concept in reverbs, so Tony and I got on a call so I could learn more.
DECEMBER 4, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Ed Kuepper and The Saints: Australia’s Original Punk Band
I have a lot of favorite rock bands, but one that always puts a smile on my face was the original lineup(s) of The Saints. This Australian band released the first non-US punk single, “(I’m) Stranded,” in September 1976, even preceding some well-known London combos. The core of the original band was Ed Kuepper on guitar, Chris Bailey on vocals, Ivor Hay on drums, and Kym Bradshaw on bass, and they recorded the awesome debut LP in 1976, also titled (I’m) Stranded. By 1978’s second album, Eternally Yours, Algy Ward joined on bass, and this lineup went on to record the third and final LP, Prehistoric Sounds, in ’78 as well before disbanding. Chris Bailey formed a new version of The Saints, making some great albums for sure, but this initial trio of LPs with Ed Kuepper is what diehard Saints fans adore. I was excited to meet Ed via Zoom, and pick his brain about how he had envisioned adding horn sections to these early records, and to discuss The Saints ’73-’78 – his touring Saints project with Ivor on drums, Mudhoney’s Mark Arm on vocals, and the legendary producer and Bad Seed Mick Harvey on guitar.
DECEMBER 4, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Joy Oladokun: A “Fan First” Mentality
As a child of Nigerian immigrants, a queer Black person, and a proud advocate for social change, Joy Oladokun has been combating her “constant Little Sister Syndrome” to become a musical force in her adopted home of Nashville, Tennessee. With five studio albums to her name, including 2021’s in defense of my own happiness and 2023’s Proof of Life, she has risen to acclaim by weaving together folk instrumentation and avant-garde elements. Additionally, her albums have featured many guests, including Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton, and Noah Kahan. Oladokun self-produced her latest project, 2024’s Observations From a Crowded Room, highlighting her wide range of skills.
COLUMNS
A Great Kick Drum Sound
by Larry Crane
There’s a basic disconnect in how most people view learning the art and process of music recording and mixing. Say you get a new job, and they need you to place a widget in a bag, seal the bag, and place it in a container. On day one, someone will teach you how to do this task. There’s not a whole...
Gear Geeking - Issue 170
by Andy Hong
When I'm fixing things in my studio or cleaning house, I prefer listening to radio broadcasts instead of podcasts or auto-generated playlists. As a fan of commercial-free independent radio, I appreciate charismatic announcers who introduce me to new music and raise my awareness of local happenings....
GEAR REVIEWS
Gear Reviews
308P MkII active monitors
With the glut of studio monitors available today, it can be easy to forget that JBL was among just a handful of top-notch choices available in the not-too-distant past. I reviewed the JBL Professional 705P monitors [Tape Op #163] and was blown away by just how fantastic these compact units...
Gear Reviews
Analog (book)
Many words have been written over the years in Tape Op about the pros and cons of analog and digital recording. Based on the VU meter pictograph on the cover of Analog by Robert Hassan, you might think you would find more discussion on that topic, but you would be wrong. Though there is some...
Gear Reviews
BF-700 bass amp/preamp/DI
I don’t love dealing with bass amps in the studio, and often prefer to run the bass guitar direct. However, many engineers and artists disagree with that approach and prefer to mic up an amp. To that end, we have a vintage Ampeg SVT head at Panoramic Studios for folks who want to use an amp for...
Gear Reviews
BIG stereo width plug-in
BIG stands for "Binaural Image Generator," and that's what it does. Via a 5 to 30 ms left/right split dual Haas Delay Spread and a 5 to 25 cent dual micro-pitch shifter Detune, it adds a "width" to tracks. Overall, BIG brings a certain ambience that is fairly addictive and sometimes exactly what is...
Gear Reviews
Carbonphone RU80 microphone
When Placid Audio released their debut Copperphone [Tape Op #42] in 2003, it seemed destined to become a future classic. I have since seen them on concert stages and in studios, and in front of Jack White [#82], Norah Jones, and other notable artists. The success of the original Copperphone enabled...
Gear Reviews
CRBN2 electrostatic headphones
Although I monitor on loudspeakers for mixing, I do spend a significant amount of time doing detail work on headphones, and Audeze’s LCD-Xs [Tape Op #119] have been my first choice for several years now. They provide a fantastic amount of detail, are comfortable, and have been operating without...
Gear Reviews
DAW-specific ASCII keyboards
Raise your hand if you've spent a considerable amount of time memorizing, or at least creating, your own personalized cheat sheet that catalogs the vast number of keyboard shortcuts for your DAW software of choice. I've had to do it twice: First when learning Steinberg’s Cubase [Tape Op #137]...
Gear Reviews
DVA Tube Mic Pre/DI, DNE PWM Compressor, and DLC Tube Equalizer
From day one, Hazelrigg Industries has been knocking it out of the park with their variants of classic D.W. Fearn [Tape Op #37] hardware, such as the VLC-1 preamp & equalizer [#117] and the VNE tube compressor [#147]. However, many have been hoping for 500 Series versions of this gear. With the new...
Gear Reviews
Easy Listening amp sim pedal
Years ago, I was advising a band on how to track their gothic metal home recording project. They were using several "housemate-friendly" techniques, such as electronic drum pads to capture the percussion patterns and DI'd electric guitars into amp simulator plug-ins. After checking out their...
Gear Reviews
Expedition instrument cases
I recently had to fly across the country for a recording session, and this time I needed to bring a bass. Normally, I would just use whatever was on hand in the studio, but circumstances demanded otherwise. Excitement for the trip was quickly followed by dread; how was I going to get my bass to a...
Gear Reviews
FuzzBillion fuzz pedal
Like Teaching Machines’ first product release, the Wellspring spring reverb [Tape Op #155], their new beast of a product is also jam-packed with features and functionality. FuzzBillion is a fuzz pedal, but that may be the understatement of the year. Though initially it may have been intended to be...
Gear Reviews
Heartbreaker: A Memoir (book)
Growing up, Tom Petty was always part of my life’s soundtrack. Into adulthood (especially when the Wildflowers LP came out), I began to appreciate his music more; the deceptively simple arrangements, awesome harmonies, and catchy hooks. Many of those catchy hooks were courtesy of Tom’s longtime...
Gear Reviews
Model 2A Active Ribbon Mic
Mesanovic Microphones is a somewhat newer company from Detroit, eponymously named for its founder, Deni Mesanovic, who built and designed his first ribbon mic for his senior thesis in college. In the decade since, the company has also added to its line of microphones two models of 3-way active...
Gear Reviews
NU-24K FET microphone
I generally steer clear of microphones specifically marketed for vocals. Past experiences have taught me that vocal mics are typically not “my thing,” as many in this category tend to be fairly bright and aggressive in the high end. There are obviously exceptions, but I personally prefer a...
Gear Reviews
WH-1000XM6 closed-back headphones
Headphones are a very personal choice – different heads, different ears – some like them hefty, some like them light. I know people who love certain headphones that are not a good match for me personally, and some of my favorites are unloved by people whose ears and opinions I respect. Another...