Interviews
Mark Howard: Listen Up!
by Roman Sokal
Born in the UK and raised in Canada, Grammy-winning veteran engineer/producer Mark Howard has traveled the globe, combining whatever vibe he conjures while oftentimes applying an experimental and...
Women in Audio
Annie Clark: Down the Rabbit Hole with St. Vincent
by Cian Riordan
From the early days of touring with indie luminaries The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, to releasing six albums as St. Vincent and recently wrapping up production on a record for...
Interviews
Andrew Sarlo: Sanctuary of Possibility
by Ryan Sommer
Andrew Sarlo's sense of being grounded, coupled with his simultaneous respect for personality and human emotion made for a unique and rewarding interview experience. Even with credits like Nick...
Women in Audio
Erin Barra: The Dream I Never Knew I Had
by Ainjel Emme
Erin Barra – nicknamed "Mamma Barra" by her many clients and students due to her nurturing, hands-on approach – is a woman of many hats. She is the founder of Beats By Girlz, an...
Interviews
Working Happy
by Justin Douglas
When I was an assistant engineer at a prominent studio – back when those two things existed – I worked a short stint with a well-known rock producer. After a long first day that featured...
Interviews
Greg Laswell: Writing, Recording, Golfing
by Larry Crane
The career of songwriter Greg Laswell may seem atypical, yet it fits in with how the music world works these days. From early on in his solo career songs seemed to magically get placed on popular...
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Ian Sefchick: This Issue's Master of Magic
by John Baccigaluppi
One of my favorite bands in the early aughts was Creeper Lagoon. I saw them live several times, and they were always amazing. They put out two great albums and then seemed to disappear. Then a few...
Remixing Restoring The Replacement’s Don’t Tell a Soul with Matt Wallace
by John Baccigaluppi
When The Replacements released Don't Tell a Soul in 1989, many of their fans felt like the record was too polished and too pop. Producer Matt Wallace [Tape Op #128] took a good portion of the blame...
Mark Hornsby: Serving the Song
by Jeff Touzeau
When you're young and picking a career, everyone always tells you to "do what you love." In the music industry however, sometimes such lofty platitudes aren't enough to pay the bills – even if...
Mixing It Up for Kids: What Makes Recording Children's Music Unique?
by Beth Blenz-Clucas
Since the technological and industry shifts in the ‘90s, a golden age of independent family music has grown up. No longer do parents have to suffer through simplistic, repetitive musical dreck....
Walls of Sound: Rudy VanderLans Locates 18 Classic Los Angeles Recording Studios
by Rudy Vanderlans
In 1971, when I was 16, I used to work as a grounds keeper at a tennis court complex just outside The Hague in the Netherlands. It was a summer vacation job, and my goal was to save enough money to...
Jim Heath is Reverend Horton Heat
by Larry Crane
Reverend Horton Heat has been pushing the rockabilly envelope since 1985. Lead singer and guitarist Jim Heath is certainly the focal point, but his pal, Jimbo Wallace, has been slapping the upright...
The Residents & The Odd Odyssey of Hardy Fox's Synthesizer
by Ego Plum
It’s been one year since the passing of Hardy Fox, primary songwriter and co-founder of The Residents. This story is about one of his most important musical tools, the ARP Odyssey synthesizer....
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End Rant
The Guessing Game
by Larry Crane
In issue #133 of Tape Op, I interviewed Andrew Scheps. "I take everything personally. I curl up in a ball," Andrew told me when we discussed dealing with mix revisions from clients. I've been...
Gear Geeking
Gear Geeking w/ Andy
by Andy Hong
Ever since I reviewed a silent, ionizing air purifier almost 20years ago [Tape Op #25], I've received countless requests to recommend an air cleaner for studio use. Just last month, I was asked this...
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Gear Reviews See more →
June-60 analog chorus pedal
by TC Electronic | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
Anyone familiar with the iconic Roland Juno-6 or 60, will know and love the analog bucket brigade (BBD) chorus effect that is part of that instrument. Now that classic effect is available as part of a...
FaderPort 16 Control Surface
by PreSonus | reviewed by Ben Bernstein
I recently received the PreSonus FaderPort 16 Production Controller to review. Since the biggest difference between this model and the FaderPort 8 [Tape Op #119] is the additional eight channels, I...
MicroFreak Algorithmic Synthesizer
by Arturia | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
The French brain trust at Arturia has done it again with MicroFreak; yet another brilliantly designed instrument that's intuitive, highly playable, and builds on some classic designs – but one...
Cinema Round Premium Acoustic Panel & Super Bass Extreme Bass Trap
by Vicoustic | reviewed by Jessica Thompson
Last winter, I set up an extra room in my house as a digitizing and restoration studio. I don't master in this room, but I still need it to sound good sothat when calibrating my tape machine,...
FlexBase25 Subwoofer System
by Amphion | reviewed by Lars Fox
If you really think about it, choosing studio monitors is strange – they shouldn't sound like anything. They need to be capable blank slates. We base most of our decisions on monitors, but if...
Professional 1 Series 104 Powered Monitors
by JBL | reviewed by Tom Fine
I wanted some small-format speakers for monitoring a transfer chain I set up to digitize a medium-sized pile of old NTSC videos. These videos weren't great quality in the first place, but I wanted to...
DOUBLEWIDE II 500 Series Tube Compressor
by Retro Instruments | reviewed by Geoff Stanfield
I have been the proud owner of the original Retro DOUBLEWIDE mono variable-mu compressor for several years now. It's a handsome, timeless, and classic-styled module that delivers character-filled...
Cloud-Based Invoicing & Accounting Software
by FreshBooks | reviewed by Scott McChane
Money and I just don't get along. Sound familiar? We're engineers, not accountants. Though it may be a tad pricier than QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks is very similar and a little dumbed down for us...
Livemix Personal Monitor System
by Digital Audio Labs | reviewed by Eli Crews
I reviewed the Aviom A320 & A360 Personal Mixer system [Tape Op #108] (quite glowingly) on these pages four years back, have been happily using that system ever since, and have been recommending...
Successor Stereo Bus Compressor
by Heritage Audio | reviewed by Eamonn Aiken
Admission: I was first drawn to Heritage Audio's new Successor stereo compressor because at first glance everything about it screams "Neve" – metal knobbed 33609 and 32264a models are among my...
Brush Panel
by Networx | reviewed by Garrett Haines
Many of you have run into this situation. You have audio cables that need to connect to jacks on the rear of gear and out to the front of a rack. I've drilled holes in blank panels, filed the sharp...
551 500 Series Inductor EQ
by Rupert Neve Designs | reviewed by Geoff Stanfield
Ah, Neve EQ... the stuff dreams are made of. Famous for the 1073 and 1081. Fixed EQ points and basic controls. Warmth, silky smoothness, robust and solid lows. What if you could have all this in a...
FLEA 12 Tube Condenser Mic
by FLEA Microphones | reviewed by Larry Crane
We had this mic at Jackpot! Recording Studio for a while before I got a chance to try it out, so I dropped a line to our manager and Tape Op contributor, Gus Berry, to ask him what his impressions...
B4 Mic/Line Input Card
by BURL | reviewed by Larry Crane
As BURL's Mothership B80 [Tape Op #84] has gained popularity with serious recordists as a flexible system to build your own AD/DA converter interface, there's been need for more daughter card modules...
RedNet X2P Interface
by Focusrite Pro | reviewed by Adam Kagan
If you've been to Focusrite's website lately, you may have noticed that under the "Products" navigation menu, there is a "Focusrite Pro" tab. This tab brings you to into the realm of their RedNet...
Capitol Chambers Plug-In
by Universal Audio | reviewed by Don Gunn
The eight reverb chambers built under the parking lot of the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles are some of the most highly revered, and closely guarded, environments for generating natural...
TF51 Tube Microphone
by Telefunken USA | reviewed by Brad Allen Williams
In any discussion of large-diaphragm tube condenser mics, five models seem to get mentioned more than all others combined: the Neumann U 47, U 67, and M 49, the AKG C12, and the Telefunken ELA M 251....
APB-16 Analog Processing Box
by McDSP | reviewed by Scott McDowell
The most remarkable thing about McDSP's APB-16 is just how simple it is to use. One of their ads says, "The Future is Here," and they're not wrong! It really feels like Colin McDowell and his team has...
Apogee Native FX Plug-Ins
by Apogee Digital | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Hey, look! Unique low-latency plug-ins from Apogee Digital, the same folks that have brought us such stellar hardware interfaces over the years. Though it may strike some as a late entry into a...