Tommy Guerrero

Interviews

Tommy Guerrero

By Paolo Vescia and Monte Vallier

Tommy Guerrero may be best known as one of the members of the infamous Bones Brigade skate team from the '80s. A lot less people know that he has been playing music for as long as he's been skating. Now, a new generation of fans are coming to know him solely as an accomplished musician...

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Ray Barbee

Interviews

Ray Barbee: From the Bones Brigade to DIY recording

By John Baccigaluppi, Ben Clark, Thomas Campbell, Larry Crane

A few years ago, I was at the winter NAMM show, the insane dog and pony show of musical madness that it is. If you've never been, it's hard to imagine the spectacle of it all; death metalers bumping into the smooth jazzers hanging with the Goths talking to the bluegrassers while the aging...

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Zea

Interviews

Zea

By Larry Crane

Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world — plus some great music comes from there, like The Ex and Solex. While visiting there a while back, I asked Elisabeth of Solex who was doing interesting stuff recording-wise. She recommended I check out Zea.

Zea is a duo comprised of Arnold de Boer...

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Ill Ease

Interviews

Ill Ease: Motel Room Recording

By Pam Nicholas
Elizabeth Sharp records twisted bits of rhythm and melody under the name Ill Ease. After...
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SM57 Mod

Interviews

SM57 Mod: Modifying the Shure SM57 Microphone

By Steve McAllister

No description available.

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MARCH 5, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Hugh Pool

Hugh Pool

BY LIZ BUSTAMANTE, JODY SHAPIRO

In an anonymous garage on a residential street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn sits Excello Recording. It's been there for 13 years, long before the parade of hipsters crossed the BQE. It's an enigmatic space off a side street and recently, I got the chance to chill out and chat with Hugh Pool, one of Excello's owners/partners and it's chief engineer.

MARCH 5, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Jay McKnight

Jay McKnight: Behind the Gear with Magnetic Reference Laboratory

BY ALEX KOSTELNIK

Jay McKnight is the founder and operator of MRL — Magnetic Refer- ence Laboratory. If you've ever owned and maintained an analog tape deck you know MRL as one of the few sources for calibration tapes. Before that he worked at Ampex, Gotham Audio and Armed Forces Radio, to name a few. Jay helps people every day with their never ending questions about analog tape recording. Jay is a man you are lucky to come across — a tremendous resource. His place in audio history is assured. His hard work is behind so much that we take for granted.

MARCH 5, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Ken Scott

Ken Scott: The Beatles, Bowie, Elton John, more...

BY GEOFF STANFIELD, LARRY CRANE, BRIAN KEHEW

Being in the right place at the right time is sort of a mantra in the recording world — and a serendipitous moment that we all may hope for. Ken Scott has literally been in the right place a number of times, whether it was at Abbey Road Studios recording The Beatles, Trident Studios with David Bowie, in France recording Elton John, with Supertramp constructing their epic '70s albums, in L.A. recording and managing Missing Persons or producing DEVO. Ken has been at the ground floor of so many albums that we now consider classics — Transformer, Crime of the Century, "The White Album", Hunky Dory, ...Ziggy Stardust..., All Things Must Pass, Truth, Madman Across The Water, Honky Chateau, Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player, Son Of Schmilsson, Aladdin Sane, Crisis, What Crisis?, Emerald Visions Of The Pure Beyond. What more needs to be said?

MARCH 5, 2026 INTERVIEWS
Kurt Bloch

Kurt Bloch: The Fastbacks to Nashville Pussy and more

BY KEVIN JONES

So you say you know Kurt Bloch, guitarist/songwriter for the seminal '90s mega-pop band the Fastbacks. And maybe you know his involvement as the "junior" member of the Young Fresh Fellows. But did you know that Bloch is also a producer? I would frickin' hope so! The man has produced Mudhoney, Nashville Pussy, Flop, Sicko, Pure Joy and many others. Bloch is one of many Seattle-based producers that make being in a Seattle rock band so awesome. Phil Ek, Jack Endino, Conrad Uno... Bloch is in the same league. Not only is he a musical genius and master of the "live sound" recording, the man is fucking funny! To this day, he is the only producer I have worked with who gave me instructions with a French accent. This interview was done after Bloch released a collection B-sides and rarities from the Fastbacks called Truth, Corrosion and Sour Biscuits and the album from his new band, Sgt. Major, titled, Rich Creamery Butter. Both are released on his new label, Book Records.

COLUMNS

END RANT by Larry Crane
No Glam Gear
END RANT

No Glam Gear

by Larry Crane

I just hit the ninth anniversary of signing the lease on my studio space today, and I'm in the planning stages for moving into a new building (courtesy of my landlord-to-be, Hamptone). Reflecting on the past, paying my taxes for last year and looking to the future has made me think about the...

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

1616M Laptop Digital Audio Systems

BY 1616M Laptop Digital Audio Systems  |  reviewed by Andy Hong, John Hong

My brother John has been recording music as long as I have (since the early '80s), but while I ventured into professional engineering, John's always been more of a musician than an engineer. With that said, his 4- track cassette recordings from the past are fantastic, pushing the technology and...

Gear Reviews

2032 mic preamp/EQ

BY 2032 mic preamp/EQ  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

The GML 2032 is a single-channel preamp/equalizer that draws from the designs of the GML 8300 mic preamp series and the GML 8200 equalizer, adds a high-impedance instrument input on the front panel, and does it all in a 1U-height chassis. With a street price around $2750, the 2032 costs about the...

Gear Reviews

2500 stereo buss compressor

BY 2500 stereo buss compressor  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

It's difficult to pigeonhole the API 2500 compressor for a specific purpose. In fact, it has found broad acceptance in mixing and mastering suites alike. In most part, this is due to the broad flexibility and depth of features, many of them unique to this 1U-height device. You'll find the standard...

Gear Reviews

ACC-10-XM mic cable

BY ACC-10-XM mic cable  |  reviewed by Joseph Lemmer

Accusound® Silver Studio Pro cable features silver- plated copper strands, unique winding techniques, and a black, braided nylon jacket. It's made in the USA and comes with a lifetime warranty. Do silver plating and custom winding techniques make a difference in the audio? Yes, absolutely. You can...

Gear Reviews

Cardinal condenser mic

BY Cardinal condenser mic  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

This is one of the first mics resulting from the collaboration between Electro-Voice and Blue Microphones. It's a medium-diaphragm (14 mm) condenser microphone in a beautiful and very functional form factor. The body is actually made of wood, is relatively small, and the mount has not one but two...

Gear Reviews

DAF-1 Dual Analog Filter

BY DAF-1 Dual Analog Filter  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

I've been trying to find more synths and modular synths to put into my studio, partially to play them as instruments of course, but also for all the possibilities of using them as audio processors for filtering audio and for triggering from audio. On a recent mixing session, I wanted to run some...

Gear Reviews

EMI TG 12413 Limiter plug-in

BY EMI TG 12413 Limiter plug-in  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

After last year's AES show, this was the one plug-in I was really excited to hear. We have one of the hardware Chandler TG 12413 limiters in the studio, and it has quickly become a favorite amongst the engineers here. Let's face it, the question for a plug-in like this one is, "Does it sound like...

Gear Reviews

Handmaster Plus exerciser

BY Handmaster Plus exerciser  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

Every January, I attend the NAMM show with John Baccigaluppi and Larry Crane, and we spend days walking like zombies through giant rooms full of instrument and gear manufacturers. Pretty much everything sold by the music industry can be found here (and there's also a ton of stuff that you can't...

Gear Reviews

iDrum & XRB iPak

BY iDrum & XRB iPak  |  reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

Face it. You need a drum machine. Whether it's for something as simple as generating a decent click for a drummer, working out song arrangements, or even for full-blown drum and percussion tracks, the basic drum machine has become somewhat of a staple in the studio. But who wants to wade through...

Gear Reviews

InspectorXL

BY InspectorXL  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

During one of my Recording Workshops a few years ago, while I was talking about using an RTA (Real Time Analyzer) to check mixes, a student piped in that there was a free plug-in online. So we downloaded and activated Elemental Audio's Inspector plug-in, and damn if it wasn't a great little helper....

Gear Reviews

PM5 Precision Monitor

BY PM5 Precision Monitor  |  reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

My first thought upon powering up these compact nearfields was, "Wow, these sound much bigger than they look!" After spending some time tracking and mixing through them, I'd have to say they give much pricier monitors a run for their money. They are powerful enough to complement most control rooms,...

Gear Reviews

Saffire FireWire interface

BY Saffire FireWire interface  |  reviewed by Rich Hardesty

My wants and needs in an audio interface today are very specific. I work solo 90% of the time, so I rarely ever need more than two analog inputs; these have to be XLR with phantom power. I want as small a device footprint as possible since space in my recording den is pitifully small. I like quick...

Gear Reviews

SONICEYE level checker

BY SONICEYE level checker  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

Fellow gear reviewer Eric Tischler sent me this helpful tool. It's a key fob with a 1/4'' plug and four LED's, one for power and three for -32, -22, and -16 dBu signal level. You plug it into a jack, squeeze the body, and read signal level. Great for finding a break in a signal chain. In the ideal...

Gear Reviews

Stereo Mic Positioner

BY Stereo Mic Positioner  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

This was one of the neatest things I saw at last fall's AES show, but after Wes Dooley was nice enough to give me one, it was lost in shipping coming back from the show. So, after seeing him at NAMM, Wes kindly sent me a second one. I love simple, affordable gadgets that do something you never...

Gear Reviews

Synth Legends Night DVD

BY Synth Legends Night DVD  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

This is a very cool DVD produced by and available from audioMIDI.com. Bob Moog (in his last public appearance), Tom Oberheim, and Dave Smith (of Sequential Circuits and Evolver fame) are the featured speakers at an event moderated by Roger Linn (who designed the LinnDrum, the AKAI MPC, and more...

Gear Reviews

Three-Sum Multi-Band Interface

BY Three-Sum Multi-Band Interface  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

Although most engineers tend to relegate multiband- processing to mastering or final mixing, I find myself using multi-band or frequency-selective processing on individual tracks all the time. For example, if you listen to Nedelle's first album, Republic of Two, you'll hear band-limited...

Gear Reviews

TM-1 Waveshaper & Ring Modulator

BY TM-1 Waveshaper & Ring Modulator  |  reviewed by Inverse Room

The TM-1 is a tube-based signal-processing device hand-made in California and housed in a heavy, yellow, Hammond-style case. It has five comfortable knobs and five jacks and runs on an AC power adapter. I wanted to open it up to check out the interior construction, but there's a warning sticker...

Gear Reviews

Truth B2092A subwoofer

BY Truth B2092A subwoofer  |  reviewed by Nick McCarthy, Bryan Cord, Ramsey Tantawi

While many excellent, low-cost, nearfield monitors have appeared on the market lately, studio subwoofers in our budget range that can accurately reproduce sound in the sub-80 Hz regime have been hard to come by, and decent low-end translation has been a consistent problem in the WMBR studio....

Gear Reviews

Tubelink2 limiter

BY Tubelink2 limiter  |  reviewed by Chris Garges

The Tubelink2 is an interesting two-channel variable- MU tube limiter. It is a Class-A/B design with custom transformers on both the input and output and a complement of readily-available tubes (12BH7, 12AX7, and 6AL5). The 2U-height faceplate has two VU meters, and there are controls for input,...

Gear Reviews

USB Phono Plus

BY USB Phono Plus  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

This affordable little box will hook up your turntable to your computer's USB port, thus allowing you to transfer vinyl LP's to digital. If this doesn't answer all those emails I've received asking how to do this, then I don't know what will. It can be powered from the USB port or an external wall...