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Death Cab for Cutie

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Visual Ideas

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MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

AUGUST 4, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Phill Brown

Phill Brown: Zeppelin, Sly Stone & more

BY PHIL BROWN

We interviewed Phill Brown in issue number 12 of Tape Op. Over the years he's worked with some of the greatest artists ever, like Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin, Robert Palmer, Bob Marley, Steve Winwood, Harry Nilsson, Roxy Music, Stomu Yamash'ta, John Martyn, Little Feat, Atomic Rooster, and Talk Talk. This is an excerpt from his book, Are We Still Rolling?URL, and we'll be running more chapters from it in upcoming issues. Last issue: Phill recounts the recording of the Rolling Stones' classic, Beggar's Banquet.

COLUMNS

A Mono Proposal
END RANT

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

386 Dual Vacuum Tube Preamp

by 386 Dual Vacuum Tube Preamp  |  reviewed by Rob Lodes

More and more the computer is becoming a part of the studio. In many studios it has even replaced the tape machine. Because of this many companies are putting a lot of effort in to creating tools for getting good sound in and out of the computer. This is a challenging job because there are things...

Gear Reviews

DMP2

by DMP2  |  reviewed by Rich Hardesty

One thread that runs quite regularly through the PC-based recording newsgroups I monitor involves mic preamps. Not, so much pertaining to "which ones sound the best?" but more often- "uh, what do they do and why do I need one?" Desktop recording these days is increasingly made up of people who have...

Gear Reviews

EZ- Bender Guitar string- bending device

by EZ- Bender Guitar string- bending device  |  reviewed by Pete Weiss

About five years ago I was one of the many folks who "rediscovered" the late Clarence White's super-cool faux- pedal steel guitar techniques with the Byrds and very much wanted to install a Parsons-White "B-Bender" in my old Telecaster. For those in the dark, a B-Bender is a system of levers and...

Gear Reviews

R-121 Ribbon Microphone

by R-121 Ribbon Microphone  |  reviewed by Steve Albini

The Royer microphone couldn't have come at a better time. With every electronic company in Christendom exploiting the availability of Chinese condenser mic capsules (and entire microphones) for OEM or rebranding, the market is absolutely flooded with nearly identical condenser mics. Their...

Gear Reviews

Spark XL

by Spark XL  |  reviewed by Barry Rudolph

Following on the heels of Spark 1.5, Spark XL is a new version for Pro Tools users who would like to use their TDM plug-ins inside of Spark. Spark 1.5 is a stereo, real- time audio editor with mastering processing tools for the MAC. XL adds the TDM FX window that allows up to four Pro Tools TDM...

Gear Reviews

SR-202W Reverberation Amplifier

by SR-202W Reverberation Amplifier  |  reviewed by Steve Silverstein

Pioneer seems to have designed this unit to add spring reverb to a home stereo. It uses RCA connectors and aesthetically matches Pioneer home stereo components of the era. While it lacks professional connectors or power supply and can introduce noise, especially on quiet signals, it effectively...

Gear Reviews

VFM Mixer

by VFM Mixer  |  reviewed by Steve Pogact

When studio recordists think of Trident, they envision the classic English console, a stately oak trimmed board, eleven feet long, suitable for the world's great studios and costing many tens of thousands of dollars. And most of the consoles bearing the triangular Trident logo live up to that...

Gear Reviews

VS-880EX digital multitrack

by VS-880EX digital multitrack  |  reviewed by Sam Coomes

My interest in recording doesn't go much beyond recording myself and or my own band. Consequently, my studio is not intended to be useful to any other customer beside myself. I have been involved in recording in a wide variety of contexts for well over a decade, but come at it strictly from a...

Gear Reviews

VSM 1

by VSM 1  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Several years ago I was looking around for a tube mic for my studio. There were very few "non-vintage" offerings out there, and I ended up buying a used Manley Cardiod Reference mic, which I never regretted. Nowadays there's quite a few tube mics on the market and they're affordable - like the CAD...