What Makes A Good Recording Engineer?

Interviews

Deerhoof

Interviews

Matt Kelley

Interviews

Steve Berlin

Interviews

Juliana Hatfield

Interviews

MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

JULY 30, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Hugh Padgham

Hugh Padgham: The Police, XTC, Yes, Peter Gabriel, more...

Sometimes we interview people who have had extensive careers in recording, yet my record collection only contains a few things they have worked on. With Hugh Padgham the case is different. He's worked on some of my favorite records by the Police, XTC, Peter Gabriel [Tape Op #63], Split Enz, David Bowie and Paul McCartney — and that doesn't begin to cover his work with Sting, Genesis, Elton John, Phil Collins and many more. In fact, his work with Phil Collins on Peter Gabriel's third album is what became that drum sound — the gated reverb sound that haunted us all through the eighties. More recent history has seen his name grace albums by McFly, Mansun and 311. Not only does his resume boast many great bands, he's worked out of some great studios like Advision, Lansdowne, Townhouse, AIR Studios Montserrat and Sofa Sound Limited. What? Sofa Sound? Housed in a semi-industrial looking building in London Purchased recently by Hugh and a partner, the somewhat industrial looking building is home to several music and writing studio spaces, and a great rooftop view. Sofa is a modest yet powerful studio with an SSL console, small yet effective live room and racks of nice outboard gear. The "sofa is often sort of a focal point in a studio control room, so it sort of fit," says Hugh — and with acronyms like "State Of the F'ing Art" and "SSL" (Hugh's favorite consoles) there's a bit of fun going on as well. We visited Hugh one afternoon and had a pleasant chat in Sofa's upstairs lounge area. And no, I couldn't bring myself to ask him about that drum sound, though I did write up a sidebar to explain its origins once again!

JULY 30, 2025 INTERVIEWS
John Cuniberti

John Cuniberti: From the Dead Kennedys to Joe Satriani

John Cuniberti grew up in the sixties in East Bay, that oft-forgotten "other half" of the San Francisco Bay Area. An audio autodidact, he followed his muse from the archetypical teenage reel-to-reel sonic collages to recording one of the most famous instrumental records in rock, the whole time making it up as he went along. Currently the principal mastering engineer at The Plant in Sausalito, California, he talks about making records with the Dead Kennedys and Joe Satriani, as well as inventing, patenting and marketing audio hardware (the Reamp), and what it means to be a good recording (and mastering) engineer.

JULY 30, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Ted Fletcher

Ted Fletcher: Behind the Gear with TF Pro

Ted Fletcher can't get away from music. Originally trained as a civil engineer, he started taking gigs as a session singer at local studios. Before long, the gigs became full-time and he was working with legendary producer Joe Meek [Tape Op #100]. Combining his technical aptitude and love of audio, Mr. Fletcher began building his own gear. He started the Alice mixer manufacturing company, which became a prominent maker of audio desks. After a while he decided to get away from the music industry. He spent several lucrative years building custom technology for the financial services industry. In 1991 he tried a partial retirement — but you can only run from yourself for so long. Before he knew it, he was building a new compressor out of available parts and started the Joemeek series of audio products. Ted no longer runs the Joemeek line, and is now the man behind TF Pro — luckily for us, he's still going strong and is still really enthusiastic about audio. I was fortunate to catch up with Ted Fletcher at TapeOpCon 2006. I had so many questions I was dying to ask him — especially about that choice of green.

COLUMNS

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GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

8816 summing amplifier

by 8816 summing amplifier  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

To be honest, I never really thought I'd be in the market for a summing mixer. When Dangerous Music pretty much invented the category with their 2-BUS a few years back, I thought about it but decided on a small mixer instead-a Neve Melbourne broadcast console (Tape Op #37). But when the 8816...

Gear Reviews

ADL 600 tube preamp

by ADL 600 tube preamp  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

Before we move my studio to its new location this winter, I've been scouring the control room looking for gear that doesn't get much use and making plans to sell or put the units aside for rental use. One of the factors that might consign a piece of gear to this doom is what I think of as the...

Gear Reviews

Airfoil

by Airfoil  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

This is one of those fairly affordable, simple products that falls under the "how did I get by without this" category. Elegantly simple, the Airfoil is an anodized aluminum tray that holds your laptop at a slight angle with a wrist rest at the front. This makes typing and using the touch pad...

Gear Reviews

Anthology II plug-in bundle

by Anthology II plug-in bundle  |  reviewed by Adam Kagan

I've had a lot of fun with this bundle! I think this may be the first time that I found a plug-in bundle to beat out the physical processor that it models, not only in versatility, but also in sound quality. The Eventide Anthology II bundle is an upgrade package that adds some cool new effects to...

Gear Reviews

Avantone Mixcubes

by Avantone Mixcubes  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

First off, let me state that I am a huge fan of using the original Auratone 5C Sound Cubes for mixing. My usual methodology when mixing is to get tones on my ADAMs while switching my Event subwoofer in and out to reference the bottom end. Then when I feel I have the tones pretty much dialed, I move...

Gear Reviews

Biz mic preamp

by Biz mic preamp  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

I've run out of room in my 11-space 500-series chassis to hold all the mic preamps I'd like to put into it. And my rack isn't big enough for a second chassis, so I end up powering down my chassis and swapping preamp modules as needed. But with the recent addition of two Purple Audio Biz preamps to...

Gear Reviews

CoolSprings passive spring reverb

by CoolSprings passive spring reverb  |  reviewed by Pete Weiss

Playing the much-appreciated role of "poor man's plate reverb", spring reverb units have been enjoying a renaissance as of late. Thankfully, they've taken their place among a growing set of tools that battle the cold, unforgiving world of digital. I've had a Tube Works Real Tube stereo unit for...

Gear Reviews

Equinox mic preamp, summing buss & master section

by Equinox mic preamp, summing buss & master section  |  reviewed by Jim Roll

The Equinox represents all that is right about Peter Reardon and his Shadow Hills Industries products. It's beautiful, it's functional, it's innovative, it's a throwback to another time that anticipates the needs of the future, and it's not cheap; but it's probably worth triple its price. The...

Gear Reviews

Everything I?m Cracked Up To Be: A Rock & Roll Fairy Tale

by Everything I?m Cracked Up To Be: A Rock & Roll Fairy Tale  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

This book is sadly hilarious. Jen Trynin was a rock singer/songwriter from Boston whose 1994 self-released debut CD set off a huge bidding war between all the major labels. She ultimately signed with Warner Bros, and then essentially flopped after one almost-radio-hit and disappeared after her...

Gear Reviews

Fat Head ribbon mic

by Fat Head ribbon mic  |  reviewed by John Huebner

Like many readers, when I receive Tape Op, I thoroughly take in every page. One item I came across recently was a very small ad for Cascade Microphones. For a while now, I've wanted a ribbon mic to fill the need for different sounds other than what my small collection of condensers and dynamics can...

Gear Reviews

FeQ-50 parametric EQ

by FeQ-50 parametric EQ  |  reviewed by Raymond Richards

I use all outboard preamps in my studio, and none of them has an EQ section. I really didn't know what I was missing until I borrowed a friend's 1073 module and discovered what a difference a little boost or cut here and there can make when they stack up over an entire mix. Gone were the tubby mid-...

Gear Reviews

Guide to Home Recording on a Computer (DVD)

by Guide to Home Recording on a Computer (DVD)  |  reviewed by Mark Weissburg

Home recording can be a lonely endeavor. There are great websites, books, and of course magazines to give you ideas and encouragement, but there will always be times when you end up staring at the screen wondering, am I doing this right? Former Byrd, Roger McGuinn (Tape Op # 34) comes to the rescue...

Gear Reviews

HDS-16 & HRM-16 Headphone/Audio Distribution System

by HDS-16 & HRM-16 Headphone/Audio Distribution System  |  reviewed by Larry Crane

I've been searching for the perfect headphone amplification system for tracking live bands in the studio for years. Realizing that sending a single mix out to more than one musician would not do, I began using the aux outs on my console to send several different mixes, but even then, bassists...

Gear Reviews

Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles

by Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi, Larry Crane

Geoff Emerick is a legend among engineers and producers. He was the young "balance engineer" for The Beatles on Revolver through Abbey Road, with a spell off for later White Album and Let It Be sessions. Geoff went on to work on many other landmark albums, including the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle...

Gear Reviews

K35 FET condenser mic

by K35 FET condenser mic  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

Karma is a new microphone brand based out of Cupertino, CA. The units are produced in China according to Karma's specifications. But let's make something clear right away: this is not another line of vintage mic clones. Both in sound and appearance, Karma microphones are clearly setting out on...

Gear Reviews

LO-2B quick-release

by LO-2B quick-release  |  reviewed by Allen Farmelo

The Atlas LO-2B is a quick-release mic clip adapter that basically eliminates forever the need to thread another mic clip onto a stand. One piece threads into the mic clip and stays there. The other piece threads onto the stand and stays there. Once installed, mounting a mic is only a matter of...

Gear Reviews

MA-200 condenser mic

by MA-200 condenser mic  |  reviewed by Craig Schumacher

David Royer and his company Royer Labs have a great reputation for their fine line of ribbon mics. When the time came to manufacture David's designs for non-ribbon mics, Mojave Audio was formed to create and market that brand exclusively. The MA-200 is the new company's first production mic. It's a...

Gear Reviews

Neon HR linear-phase EQ plug-in

by Neon HR linear-phase EQ plug-in  |  reviewed by Garrett Haines

PSP recently released a truly mastering-grade linear-phase EQ plug-in called Neon. Two versions are on the market, Neon and Neon HR (high resolution). The HR version offers the following enhancements over the standard version: the ability to operate at sample rates up to 192 kHz, mid-side...

Gear Reviews

Nice Pair mic preamp

by Nice Pair mic preamp  |  reviewed by Pete Weiss

The fledgling No Toasters company, headed by Boston-based tech-whiz Bo Dixon (who says he's willing to repair anything except toasters), has combined clever Class A, J-FET circuitry with a quirky overdrive option to come up with a refreshingly singular boutique device: the absurdly good-sounding...

Gear Reviews

P-1, EM-Silver, EM-Red & EM-Blue preamps

by P-1, EM-Silver, EM-Red & EM-Blue preamps  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

Wow, am I in preamp heaven or what? For the past few months, I've had a bunch of awesome mic preamps in my studio from Seventh Circle Audio (Tape Op #54), Purple Audio (see review in this issue), and A-Designs... supplementing my already decent collection of outboard mic preamps. You may recall...

Gear Reviews

PCM-D1 portable recorder

by PCM-D1 portable recorder  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

I saw this sucker for the first time over a year ago at one of the annual gear conventions. I was immediately impressed with its utilitarian but attractive design. It seemed to have all the right controls and displays in all the right places, it was extremely portable, and the Sony reps were...

Gear Reviews

PreMaster CD 1.1

by PreMaster CD 1.1  |  reviewed by Larry DeVivo

PreMaster CD is Sonic Studio's entry-level, host-based software for creating DDP masters and standard Red Book Audio CDs. I was anxious to try PreMaster CD for a number of reasons. I've owned a dedicated mastering facility for over a decade now and pretty much have always run Mac- based systems....

Gear Reviews

PRO16 Series personal mix system

by PRO16 Series personal mix system  |  reviewed by Ian Lawrence, Andy Hong

While designing The Lodge's music production facility in NYC, I originally spec'ed a Furman HDS/HRM-6 system (Tape Op #38). I showed the studio design to producer Jason Carmer, and he insisted that major-label musicians (unlike the indie-rockers I record) need more personal control over their...

Gear Reviews

S8R studio monitor

by S8R studio monitor  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

I love attending sessions at Peerless Mastering with Jeff Lipton (Tape Op #34). His "A Room" is the most accurate listening environment I've ever experienced. The room is so well designed and treated that it imparts very little of its character on what you're hearing in it; and the monitoring...

Gear Reviews

Silverbox 4 tube preamp

by Silverbox 4 tube preamp  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

Here's a funny story. Some years ago, the only outboard mic preamps I owned were Brent Averill-refurbished Neves and APIs. I recorded direct to a TASCAM MS-16 1'' 16-track and mixed on a Panasonic DA7 digital console. When Larry Crane recommended that I check out a Hamptone Silverbox 4, I talked to...

Gear Reviews

STA-LEVEL Gold Edition compressor

by STA-LEVEL Gold Edition compressor  |  reviewed by Craig Schumacher

The vintage craze is far from over. The more we try to make audio perfect, the more we realize that imperfection makes more interesting recordings. In many ways, tubes are far less superior to solid-state, so why are tubes still hanging in there? Could it be the sound? It's true you can record...