Graig Markel: Recording Barton Carroll's Together, You and I

BY TRENT MOORMAN

Barton Carroll and producer/engineer Graig Markel set out to record Carroll's 2009 album, Together, You and I, entirely to a Tascam 34 4-track tape machine. Carroll, who has toured and recorded extensively with Eric Bachmann's Crooked Fingers, is a studio specialist and a fan of folk and jazz from the World War II era to the late '60s. Together, You and I, needed a classic organic sound that only tape could provide. But as time, budget, and the process wore on, he and Markel discovered how hard it is to stay out of the box these days. Together, You and I is a confessional of lost love, found love, and yearning. It's folk music, plain and simple, that cuts a frayed swath from open fields to lonely bar rooms.

Greg Norman (bonus): Life at Electrical Audio

BY LARRY CRANE

greg norman --> intern --> musician --> repair tech --> engineer --> greg norman Greg Norman has worn many hats. For 15 years he's worked for Steve Albini, helping build and run Chicago's Electrical Audio, but he also records at his home and takes on many other projects. And he's a nice guy.

Rupert Neve Designs: Behind the Gear

BY LARRY CRANE

We last visited the legendary console designer and audio guru Rupert Neve in Tape Op #26, over ten years ago. In 2005 Rupert Neve Designs presented the world some amazing new Neve products, with the Portico Range of equalizers, mic preamps, compressors and more. A few years later the 5088 Discrete Analogue Mixer [Tape Op #73] made its debut, and I became the very satisfied owner of 5088, serial number 27. I traveled down to the serene rolling hills of Wimberley, Texas, to meet up with a very gracious Rupert, Josh Thomas (Director of Sales and Strategic Alliances), and Craig "Hutch" Hutchison (Senior Design Engineer, formerly with Manley Labs).

Steve Albini (bonus): Nirvana, Pixies, Stooges, PJ Harvey

BY LARRY CRANE