Tegan and Sara Quin released their first record, Under Feet Like Ours, in 1999, and in the decades that followed they’ve since touched on every pop sub-genre that excites them – punk,...
Years ago, I met John Plymale at one of our TapeOpCon events. He currently lives in Norfolk, Virginia, and has helmed amazing projects including the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Superchunk, and the Meat...
For over 20 years, the Toronto, Canada-based intellectual alternative pop/rock group Metric have been perking up listener’s ears with daring and blissfully created music. Fronted by...
A longtime staple of the Phoenix recording scene, Clarke Rigsby runs Tempest Recording out of a modest-looking but impressively outfitted space behind his home in Tempe, Arizona. He’s worked...
Xenia Rubinos could just as easily be on a bill with Flying Lotus and The Boredoms as she could with Erykah Badu and Esperanza Spalding [Tape Op #147]. Her unique genre-mixing of soul, punk, jazz,...
You might be most familiar with him as an actor, but Billy Bob Thornton has been playing drums, singing, and writing songs since he was a teen, long before he stepped in front of a camera. His early...
Gaelynn Lea is one of the most original musicians and songwriters working today. She also happens, by chance, to be a wheelchair user. Incredibly prolific, she has released three solo albums, as well...
When producing a record one of the main tenets I follow relates to how I get others to use their ears, brains, and – most importantly – their emotions when they listen back to...
I’m writing this just a couple weeks after the AES Show in New York City. This was the first major Pro Audio convention that I’ve attended since the Pandemic, and I very much enjoyed...
Neunaber Audio (pronounced “new neighbor”) is an Orange County, California, company best known for its effects pedals. However, it’s no ordinary pedal boutique. Founder Brian...
Overloud Audio Tools’ DOPAMINE is a recreation of the renown Dolby 361 A-Type noise reduction module, and the slightly lesser known, but still well-loved TEAC AN-180 (which utilized Dolby B-Type...
DIY recording gear isn’t always easy or cost-effective. Electronics chops are one thing, but few people have the means to do metal fabrication, powder coating, and silk screening. One-off custom...
Having recorded some of the planet’s top musical artists, such as U2, R.E.M., Daniel Lanois [Tape Op #37, #127], Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Waits, and Lucinda Williams, engineer/producer Mark...
There have been several beautifully designed and written coffee table books published in the last few years that focus on music gear, including guitar pedals, modular synthesizers, microphones, and...
I’m gonna come clean right out of the gate: I’m a big believer in Empirical Labs [Tape Op #33]. I have owned at least one EL8 Distressor [#32] in my personal studio since 2009, and it...
Over the past two decades, Rupert Neve Designs has been known in the recording community as a company that creates and builds a wide variety of high-quality pro audio equipment found in studios...
The makers of the pro audio market’s most popular entry-level studio monitors, KRK, have entered round two of the headphone game with their new closed-back KNS6402 and 8402 models. Over 15 years...
Grace Design has been making some of the most respected preamps and monitor controllers for nearly 30 years (and since has branched out into acoustic instrument preamps and processors). Their latest...
Denmark’s DPA Microphones have a decades-long history of manufacturing precision, accurate condenser microphones. My first DPA encounter was in Denmark, recording Copenhagen’s excellent...
SPL is back with a new 500 Series module called BiG, cleverly sub-titled “Stereo Image Bigger Maker” (yes, really!). Given that it is a stereo unit, the BiG takes up two slots in a 500...
The Volt 476P, Universal Audio’s latest in their line of low-cost-yet-high-quality USB-C audio interfaces, is the flagship of the Volt fleet. It has the same essential features as its little...
“Thank you for choosing Apogee! For complete set up instructions and software downloads...” You’re welcome, but I’ll skip all that, plug the USB-C cable in, open Pro Tools, and...
Reviewing speakers is a funny game. As engineers, perhaps we pick up on how to evaluate monitors in a new listening environment and how to work within the limitations of those conditions – but...
There is an entire market segment devoted to bus compression. While there are some unique designs in circulation, the concept and function is usually based upon the compressor module found on large...
As of this summer, I have been mixing fully in the box and loving it. Part of my new mix setup, however, does include two Radial Reamp Station boxes. This allows me to send audio to my guitar pedals...
Long a well-reputed maker of microphones, Australian company RØDE has jumped into the crowded, but red-hot headphones market with both feet. The NTH-100 'phones are closed-back and designed for...
Back in 2019, I reviewed Neumann's first foray into headphones, the closed-back NDH 20 [Tape Op #132]. At that time, its parent company Sennheiser was still in the consumer headphone business. Now...
