When we interviewed him at 86 years old, Shel Talmy had no intention of retiring. He had continued to look to produce new artists that excited him. In December 2024, Shel passed away, leaving behind...
Finneas O’Connell is the youngest person to ever win a Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Rising to fame as the producer for, and collaborator with, his sister, Billie...
Gloria Kaba is a Ghanaian-American sound engineer, producer, mixer, and writer whose impact spans over a decade. Renowned for her contributions to albums such as A Tribe Called Quest's We Got It...
In a Pitchfork review of SML's Small Medium Large album, Matthew Blackwell wrote, “There were no rules at Enfield Tennis Academy (ETA). The tiny Los Angeles cocktail bar… became a...
Based in Tucson, Arizona, Michael Dixon runs what seems like a hundred businesses centered around lathe cut records, from cutting records for bands, to selling lathes and parts, to a training camp...
This is part 1 of a 2 part article, you can find the other part here: "A Practical Guide to Integrating Modular Synthesis in the Control Room" It seems but a distant memory now, but yet somehow...
I've been using Apogee converters in my studio since I bought my first AD 500 analog to digital converter in the early '90s. I've found all their gear to sound fantastic, work reliably, and inspire...
I first met Joe Reineke in early 1989, when he caught our band, Vomit Launch, on a middle slot between Nirvana and Mudhoney in San Jose, California. He had a band called The Mice (soon renamed The...
Fresh off releasing his first solo record, Zone Black, for Drag City Records, Emil Amos takes a break to talk about his production philosophies, home recording in the '90s, and what still keeps him...
In a nondescript office building out in Burbank, California, you'll find Audio Archiving Services, Inc. Run by Dan Johnson, these rooms are full of all types of audio playback devices, and Dan...
This is part 2 of a 2 part article, you can find the other part here: "Modular Synthesis in the Control Room" After reading Chris Koltay’s super fun and inspiring “Modular Synthesis in...
Malcolm, left, in Japan with Trident A Range console, 1974. Malcolm Toft [Tape Op #26] has a career spanning over 50 years in the professional audio industry. He started at CBS Studios in London...
We get a lot of email at Tape Op. It is typically from public relations firms, record labels, and gear manufacturers. I do my best to keep up with all of the interview pitches and requests for...
Prince’s “When Doves Cry” is often cited as the first modern pop hit without a primary bass guitar part. But, as great as Prince was, that distinction actually belongs to 10cc, and...
I’m frequently asked by friends and clients which audio interface they should upgrade to for their studio. My usual advice is to focus on features, as most modern interfaces deliver...
When H2 Audio reached out about getting their 0011 mic preamp/EQ reviewed, my good friend and session drummer Michael Urbano came to mind. Michael has worked on records with Todd Rundgren, Trina...
Whoa! A plug-in recreation of the Undertone Audio UnFairchild 670M II vari-mu compressor [Tape Op #125]? Sign me up. The hardware UnFairchild is a beast, ranking highly on my desert island gear list....
My home studio is very simple, and is mostly used for editing audio, prepping mixes before using my "real" studio, recording remote interviews, doing my voiceovers, and mixing in the box. An old pair...
Let's talk about gear snobbery behavior. "Tubes are better than transistors." "Transformers are better than servo-balanced circuits." "Discrete op-amps are better than integrated circuit (IC)...
Universal Audio recently released an update to all five of their flagship Apollo audio interfaces, so we got our hands on the new Apollo x8p Gen 2 for testing. The Apollo range has now been in the...
Throughout its nearly 20-year history, Orchestral Tools has established itself as one of the premier voices in orchestral and cinematic sample libraries. I’ve always viewed them as one of the...
The two-channel Carnaby HE2 is the new flagship version of the Carnaby Harmonic EQ® designed by Cranborne Audio. What do I mean when I say, “Harmonic EQ?” It operates like a multi-band...
Chase Bliss’ latest original pedal design, Clean, delivers an all-analog, two-stage stereo "creative compressor." I've been obsessing over pedals as creative outboard tools for some time, using...
Though there are many two-channel computer DAW interfaces on the market, I’m often a bit stymied when friends call and say they need a decent, affordable unit for themselves or for their kid...
Whether working in a live venue, a professional studio, or at home, every recordist knows the importance of having a reliable DI unit. I use a DI on almost every session, so I was excited for the...
Subtitled “Where cymbals go to die,” Silencer is a plug-in that claims to remove drum bleed on the individual tracks of a drum set recorded live, a problem I frequently deal with while...
Hex FX from Serato is a virtual multi-effects rack that works as an AU or VST3 plug-in and is compatible with Serato Studio, Ableton Live [Tape Op #160], Apple Logic Pro [#74], Native Instruments...
Universal Audio’s Topline Vocal Suite offers an entire vocal chain’s worth of UAD analog effects in a single Native plug-in. Rather than overwhelm you with options, Topline divides its...
Recently, I’ve been working on streamlining my studio setup, and part of that plan was to ditch my patchbays and integrate all of my beloved analog gear via hardware inserts. I don’t run a...
Subtitled “How Something Comes From Nothing,” this heavy, beautifully designed and written, 423-page book explores the “celebration of the art that happens when instinct meets...
Being a loyal Trident console user, I jumped at the chance to review Malcolm Toft’s [Tape Op #26, #165 online] new EQUATE: Eight channels of six-band EQ in a three-space rack unit built in the...
If you are a synthesist, we currently live in a golden age of instrument design. The original “East Coast” and “West Coast” analog synth designs that were supplanted in the...
I have seen the future, and it is this instrument. In an industry that overuses terms like “revolutionary” and “game changer,” Expressive E’s Osmose is an amazing new...
Like many, I’ve grown increasingly comfortable working on headphones ever since the COVID lockdown – to the point that even when mixing and mastering commercial projects in my studio, I...
Earthworks Audio has been known for its quality mics for decades, and they are my first choice for clean capture of sources without hype. I have always found them to be natural and detailed sounding,...
I have a list of microphones that I recommend for people looking for good quality that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Most of these people are hobbyists, making home recordings for themselves or...
For over a decade, I’ve been using a pair of Tascam VL-M3 [Tape Op #77] monitors with my Universal Audio Apollo Twin [#101] interface for in the box editing and overdubbing in my small home...
In Tape Op #159, we published an overview of the UAFX Pedal line. This summer, the UAFX Amp pedal line expanded with two new models: the ANTI 1992 High Gain, and the Enigmatic’82 Overdrive...
Hex FX from Serato is a virtual multi-effects rack that works as an AU or VST3 plug-in and is compatible with Serato Studio, Ableton Live [Tape Op #160], Apple Logic Pro [#74], Native Instruments...
