Pall Jenkins

Interviews

Great Lake Swimmers

Interviews

Death & Black Metal

Interviews

Dan Garcia
Vic Keary & Nick Terry

Interviews

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JULY 29, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Andy Gill

Andy Gill : Gang of Four, Chili Peppers, Killing Joke, more...

Sometimes you get to meet people who were your heroes back when you were a teen. The first time a 16-year-old me heard Gang of Four, a "post punk" band from Leeds, England, the directness of the vocals, the taut rhythm section and slashing, stuttering guitars of Andy Gill made a huge and lasting impression. To be sitting in Andy Gill's personal recording studio (in the Beauchamp Building, London) nearly 30 years later and finding him to be an engaging and interesting person was a treat. Not only is Andy an inspiring guitarist, but along the way he became a producer — not only with Gang of Four, but also on albums with The Jesus Lizard, The Futureheads, Michael Hutchence, Killing Joke, Red Hot Chili Peppers, We Are Standard, Asyl, Detlef Zoo, The Stranglers and The Young Knives.

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

Analogue ToneBuss

by Analogue ToneBuss  |  reviewed by Thom Monahan

Switching between in-the-box mixing, external summing, and console mixing has been a project-by-project reality in my personal world for a long time now. There are merits to all of these different approaches; my personal preference is to mix on a console, but it's not always an option. I've had...

Gear Reviews

C720 variable-pattern mic

by C720 variable-pattern mic  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

The C720 Anniversary Special commemorates Josephson's twenty years in business. Like many other large-diaphragm condenser mics employing a two-sided capsule, the C720 has multiple, user-selectable pickup patterns, including cardioid, hypercardioid, subcardioid, omni, and figure-8. But what's unique...

Gear Reviews

CM-47 large-diaphragm tube mic

by CM-47 large-diaphragm tube mic  |  reviewed by Kirt Shearer

It used to be that you couldn't get a large-diaphragm condenser mic for under two grand, and there weren't that many choices anyway. Then some less expensive mics started appearing, and it seemed like every day, the price for an LDC dropped some more. Unfortunately, many of these less expensive...

Gear Reviews

CMS 65 Monitors

by CMS 65 Monitors  |  reviewed by Allen Farmelo

If you work in a purpose-built, acoustically-treated studio in which room anomalies are at a minimum, then the acclaimed Focal SM6 series of monitors (Tape Op #60, #61) is a first-class choice. However, if you work in a tiny bedroom, a vast loft, a low-slung basement, an oddly-shaped attic, an...

Gear Reviews

FutzBox plug-in

by FutzBox plug-in  |  reviewed by Dave Hidek

FutzBox is a brand-new distortion and noise generator plug-in for mashing, destroying, and making low-fidelity versions of your tracks. The main interface offers configurable "futz" effects, including filters, EQ, distortion, noise generation, and gating. Along with these tools, McDSP has included...

Gear Reviews

JZ Microphones: BH-1 Black Hole condenser mic

by BH-1 Black Hole condenser mic  |  reviewed by Pete Weiss

JZ Microphones is a new Latvian company started by mic designer Juris Zarins, who at one time worked closely with the company BLUE. JZ's promotional literature touts its old world, no-compromise manufacturing methods, and it's easy to see why. The Black Hole is meticulously crafted, with a...

Gear Reviews

M-Five Ribbon Microphone

by M-Five Ribbon Microphone  |  reviewed by Scott McChane

Most of us at one time or another have owned or thought about buying an ART product. In my opinion, they offer one of the best price-versus-performance product lines on the market. At the January NAMM show, ART introduced their new M-Series line of microphones, including three FET large-diaphragm...

Gear Reviews

Mic Pre One

by Mic Pre One  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

We have a Daking console here at The Hangar and a pair of his FET compressors that see near constant use, so when Geoff Daking and Brad Lunde at TransAudio Group offered to send us a pair of Mic Pre One preamps to try out, we jumped at the opportunity to use and hear them. We were in the middle of...

Gear Reviews

REQ-2.2 Resonance Equalizer

by REQ-2.2 Resonance Equalizer  |  reviewed by Larry DeVivo

I recently sold my beloved solid-state Pultec EQP-1A3 equalizers, so I was in the market for a new unit to fill the empty void left in my mastering rig. Unlike my old Pultec program equalizers, this time I wanted something with more surgical precision to it. If at all possible, I wanted something...

Gear Reviews

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

by This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Recently, I have come across many references to the balance of art and science in the creation and production of music. The most inspiring and insightful Tape Op interviews in the last few issues have some of the most well-regarded studio engineers insisting that only a small percentage of their...

Gear Reviews

V67N small-diaphragm mic

by V67N small-diaphragm mic  |  reviewed by Mike Jasper

Since November, I've been working on a huge shootout of small-diaphragm condenser mics; I might have mentioned this in my last review. Frankly, I might mention this in every review forever, since it appears the SDC test will never end. Frankly, there's a part of me that wants to keep it going,...

Gear Reviews

X-M omni mic

by X-M omni mic  |  reviewed by Mike Jasper

Since November, I've been working on a huge shootout of small-diaphragm condenser mics; I might have mentioned this in my last review. Frankly, I might mention this in every review forever, since it appears the SDC test will never end. Frankly, there's a part of me that wants to keep it going,...