Interviews
What is Success in Music?
by Kyle Nicolaides
If there was a Grammy awarded for comparing one's life with others and then suffering about it, I'd be a superstar by now. I have a long history of picking up a magazine, such as this one, comparing...
Interviews
Éliézer Oubda: Work With Whatever You Have
by Ian Brennan
When my colleague, professor Amandine Pras of The University of York, visited Mali to study the regional recording studio industry, she was shocked to hear the same person’s name come up again...
Interviews
Margo Cilker
by Larry Crane
I caught Margo on Zoom while she was gigging in Bozeman, Montana.
Interviews
John Morgan Askew
by Larry Crane
I dropped by to see John's studio, Bocce, and ask him about working with Sera Cahoone (see Sera interview here) and Margo Cilker (see Margo interview here).
Interviews
Albert Hammond Jr.: More Powerful Than Perfection
by Geoff Stanfield
As a member of New York City's The Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr. has been owning the downstroke for over 20 years. In addition to his work with that band, Albert has managed to find time to record five...
Interviews
Sera Cahoone: Protector of Songs
by Larry Crane
Known as a drummer (including the band Carissa's Wierd, for singer-songwriter Patrick Park, and in an early version of Band of Horses), Sera Cahoone received much acclaim as a songwriter once her...
Interviews
Mike Bridavsky: Bloomington's Russian Recording
by John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez, Greg Saunier
In downtown Bloomington, Indiana, Mike Bridavsky owns and operates Russian Recording, where he's tracked, produced, mixed, and mastered local bands and artists from all over, including M. Ward, The...
Interviews
Jarvis Taveniere: A Collective Flow State
by James Toth
Jarvis Taveniere is a producer, engineer, and musician working out of Los Angeles, California. His work with his own band, indie favorites Woods, as well as with artists like Purple Mountains, Surf...
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Sera Cahoone with Margo Cilker & John Morgan Askew
by Larry Crane
L to R: Rebecca Young, Sera Cahoone, Margo Cilker, John Morgan Askew - photo by Adam Levy Sera Cahoone Interview Margo Cilker Interview John Morgan Interview
Where the Vibes Are: Kurt Reil and The House of Vibes
by Richard Barone
Every state and every region has its own unique music scene. However, it can be said that New Jersey has produced more than its fair share of popular music's most iconic, diverse, and influential...
Matt Parmenter: With an Open Mind
by Lisa Machac
Matt Parmenter is an Austin, Texas-based engineer and owner of Ice Cream Factory Studio, with over 20 years of experience producing, recording, mixing, and mastering music. He's been nominated for a...
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End Rant
One Degree
by John Baccigaluppi
I’ve been fairly obsessed with Promises, an album by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra that came out in 2021. Maybe "obsessed" is a strong word, but I put it on...
Gear Geeking
Gear Geeking w/ Andy...
by Andy Hong
In 2023, I sold my Boston studio to Brian Charles, whose Zippah Recording facility was destroyed in a 2021 fire. Brian shared Zippah for many years with longtime Tape Op contributor Pete Weiss [Tape...
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Gear Reviews See more →
Live 12 Suite
by Ableton | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
The importance of organization, functionality, and preparedness is central to the work we do when making music with/for others. From my perspective, DAWs are getting more comprehensive and less...
Recirculate Echo Plug-In
by Newfangled Audio | reviewed by Larry Crane
Former Eventide coder/engineer Dan Gillespie, who runs Newfangled Audio (distributed by Eventide), has developed some pretty wild plug-ins. We've reviewed the fantastic virtual synth, Generate [Tape...
Stick Station
by Bopworks Drumsticks | reviewed by Mike Kosacek
For drummers, while playing it’s sometimes a challenge to change between brushes, sticks, and mallets. Of course, studio magic allows us to do that with punch ins, but if you are tracking live...
H44 Ribbon Mic
by Alder Audio | reviewed by Chris Koltay
The first thing you see when encountering Alder Audio’s H44 online is their slogan: A Better Ribbon For Less. This statement may seem underwhelming against the backdrop of today's pro audio hype...
DM6 SeisMic Kick Drum Mic
by Earthworks Audio | reviewed by Geoff Stanfield
Earthworks Audio has always been known as a maker of extremely high-quality microphones, historically aimed at studio use. I have used their mics for years, including the kick drum mic included with...
Vocal Reverb Plug-In
by Auto-Tune | reviewed by Scott McDowell
Call me an AI pessimist, but my initial reaction was lukewarm when I considered trying out the Vocal Reverb plug-in from Antares Audio Technologies. Haven’t I already got enough reverbs? How is...
MDR-MV1 Headphones
by Sony | reviewed by Scott McDowell
A few months ago, I was hired to work on the audio engineering team at a production camp put on by Sony. One of the events at this camp was a demo of Sony’s immersive audio tools, and this was...
Grandchild 670-500 Compressor
by Heritage Audio | reviewed by Matt Anderson
There’s an age-old philosophical question in the audio community: “If a Fairchild compressor/limiter falls in the woods and loses over two dozen tubes and transformers, is it still a...
BOB Bass Optimized Bias Plug-In
by McDSP | reviewed by Larry Crane
As part of the McDSP Analog Processing Box universe (APB-8, APB-16) [Tape Op #134], the BOB Bass Optimized Bias is a plug-in based on the original BOB module from McDSP's 6060 Ultimate Module...
Gorilla Midfield 3-way Monitors
by Telegrapher Loudspeakers | reviewed by Mike Bridavsky
In 2002, during an internship at Electrical Audio in Chicago [Tape Op #87], I was introduced to Bowers & Wilkins hi-fi (consumer) bookshelf speakers being used as studio monitors. Working on them...
Sling-Shock RSM-Series Shock Mounts
by Royer Labs | reviewed by Larry Crane
Anyone who owns a few large diaphragm microphones has likely seen the common trouble with many shock mounts – failing elastic or rubber bands that cause the mic to droop, clamps that don't...
Coil Audio CA-70S Plug-In
by MixWave | reviewed by Matt Anderson
Last year, at least once a week, I heard someone mention Coil Audio. Even a few engineers I knew who never hype gear were straight-up saying, "These are the best preamps on the planet.” My...
Subloom Kick Drum Plug-In
by Mixland | reviewed by Larry Crane
Ostensibly a drum mixing tool especially built for kick drums, Subloom is one of those plug-ins based on a mixer's workflow, specifically Jesse Ray Ernster [Tape Op #151], and combines several...
Mercury 666 MKI Limiting Amplifier
by Mercury Recording Equipment | reviewed by Larry Crane
The single-channel, three rack space Mercury 666 MKI is inspired by the Fairchild 666, a later cousin of the Fairchild 660/670 limiters. Unlike those units, the 666 was a hybrid solid-state and tube...
Loudspeaker Design Cookbook
by Vance Dickason, author | reviewed by Larry Crane
For those that don't know, Vance Dickason has been the editor of Voice Coil Magazine ("the monthly periodical for the loudspeaker industry") since 1987, and the author of the Loudspeaker Design...
V120 Monitor Ceiling/Wall Mounts
by IsoAcoustics | reviewed by Don Gunn
In what might possibly be the sexiest review ever published in Tape Op, let’s talk about monitor mounts! I was recently in need of upgrading my Atmos monitoring, and I required a better solution...
MR3eq 500 Series EQ
by Harrison | reviewed by Dan Knobler
As noted in my review of their new 32Classic console [Tape Op #159], in the of classic records, Harrison Audio had just as formidable a studio presence as console standard-bearers like Neve, MCI, API,...
Scarlett 4i4 Interface
by Focusrite | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
We live in a time where ADC conversion is quite good. I remember when our studio was first getting into digital recording, the sonic differences between analog to digital/digital to analog converters...
Footprint03 Powered Monitor Pair
by Barefoot Sound | reviewed by Gus Berry
Many studio monitors are based on what we call "2-way" configurations, featuring a woofer/driver (usually a cone speaker) and a tweeter handling the low and high frequencies, but a growing number of...