Revive Audio is a small company based in Boise, Idaho, that makes boutique audio gear under the Vintage Audio name [MSL VCA Bus Compressor, Tape Op #102] and also modifies a wide range of moderately...
I recently got a new iPad and my CME Xkey mobile USB MIDI keyboard [Tape Op #115] wouldn't work properly with it. It would function perfectly for a few minutes, but would then give me a, "This...
I'd like to suggest that this review be considered chapter five in a series of reviews I've written called Digital Synthesis: A Collection of Software Synthesizer Reviews [Tape Op #118]. In those...
In issue #121 of Tape Op, I wrote a review of Borderlands and GrainSpace, both pieces of software that use granular synthesis. I would suggest you read that review if you're not familiar with granular...
I am very picky about piano sounds, and, in general, my rule is that only real pianos sound like a piano should – so I don't like to use sampled or modeled pianos if at all possible. I've gone...
For a long time, I’ve been a fan of the iPad and iOS for electronic music performance. I love the 2D interface of the iPad touch screen, and I like that the iPad is a separate instrument (as...
Part of publishing Tape Op involves going to the NAMM show every January. It's nice to see our friends there, and there's always a lot of gear to look at, but honestly a lot of it is pretty much the...
Last year, I reviewed Audiority GrainSpace [Tape Op #121], a very cool plug-in that is doing something fairly new in the DSP world. Now, in total contrast to GrainSpace, Audiority has released Echoes...
Who needs another DI box? A quick online search turns up dozens of models — from units under $20, to high-end tube DIs like the Tonecraft 363 [Tape Op #103] for $1,495. And now, TELEFUNKEN...
Wow! This is one of the coolest pieces of software I've ever seen and its free! VCVRack is an open source modular synthesizer software platform developed by Andrew Belt that sounds great and is very...
I’m a reverb geek, and I’m always on the lookout for cool reverbs, both older hardware units and new plug-ins. I was poking around the web trying to find a plug-in version of the classic...
This is a very cool, free piece of software that implements a modular software synthesizer. If that’s all there was to it, I doubt I’d bother writing this review, as there are tons of...
Ever since I reviewed the Valhalla reverbs [Tape Op #111], I’ve continued to use these plug-ins on every session, especially Shimmer and VintageVerb. I was recently poking around on the Valhalla...
