Heavy Music
Joey Vera: Recording Armored Saint, Anthrax and more
by Jonathan Saxon
I first learned about Joey Vera in the mid-1980s, when he emerged on the L.A. rock scene as the bass player for the band Armored Saint. Signed to Chrysalis and then Metal Blade/Warner Brothers,...
Behind the Gear
Ken Bogdanowicz: Behind The Gear with Soundtoys
by Walt Szalva
Ken Bogdanowicz is the man behind Soundtoys, the boutique software company known for their feature laden and very analog flavored effects plug-ins. Ken's history with designing effects goes back to...
Interviews
M.I.K.E: A Music Integrated Kiosk Environment
by Vijith Assar
Women in Audio
Gina Fant-Saez: Recording and collaborating online
by Larry DeVivo
I first met Gina Fant-Saez at an AES show where she was showing her new Internet-based start-up company called eSession.com. eSession has been in development since winter of 2004 and went into...
Interviews
Tom Dube
by Jason Hatfield
Tom Dube wears a lot of different hats. He has worked as a producer, engineer, mixer, tour manager, videographer, photographer and nanny. Tom has produced, co-produced and engineered records by...
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Giorgio Gomelsky: Recording the Yardbirds
by David First
At times it can be difficult to believe that someone like Giorgio Gomelsky actually exists. For almost fifty years he has been at the center of so many significant cultural events and initiated so...
Dr. Dog : Scott McMicken and Dr. Dog
by Nathan Sabatino
Scott McMicken is a founding member of the band Dr. Dog. Along with Toby Leaman, Scott began writing and recording songs in his Philadelphia basement with very primitive gear, like the Tascam 388....
Dr. Dog & Bill Moriarty: Build and use their own studio
by Nathan Sabatino
Bill Moriarty is an engineer based out of Philadelphia. He co-owns American Diamond (named after the cross streets nearby) with the band Dr. Dog. When he's not sharing tracking and mixing duties on...
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End Rant
Should I Record Myself? Help Me Record Myself
by Mike Caffrey, Larry Crane
I recently got two letters. The first one is from a good client (and nice guy) with whom I've done several album sessions in the past. The second is from a new reader in Scotland. I wanted to try...
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Gear Reviews See more →
Time Factor dual delay pedal
by Eventide | reviewed by Pete Weiss
When I heard that Eventide was branching out into the world of stompboxes, I was psyched. Several versions of the stalwart H3000 have graced my racks over the years, and I'm still the happy owner/user...
Native Effects V3
by Soundtoys | reviewed by Walt Szalva
The SoundToys suite of plug-ins was developed by a crew of ex-Eventide gurus headed up by Ken Bogdanowicz. [See interview on previous page.] Ken and the gang have been developing plug-ins for years...
Globe Vintage & Amethyst Standard large-diaphragm cardioid mics
by Violet Design | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Violet Design is a relatively new boutique microphone manufacturer founded by Juris Zarins, part owner of a facility that once manufactured mics for BLUE. Violet's microphones are all hand made and...
EX66 monitors
by M-Audio | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
Here's a pair of excellent nearfields from M-Audio. The EX66 is an MTM, or midrange-tweeter-midrange active monitor, with a 1" titanium driver centered between two 6" midrange/bass drivers....
DCS Remote Preamp
by Universal Audio | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
I'll admit, it took me a while to grok the UA DCS Remote Preamp. On paper, it didn't strike me as a piece of gear which fulfilled a specific need in my studio. In practice, however-totally different...
CoolSprings MINI-LE passive spring reverb
by Zerotronics | reviewed by Andy Hong
Last year I reviewed the CoolSprings passive spring reverb unit by Zerotronics (Tape Op #55). Not only did I love the smooth, analog reverb sounds, I also admired the efficient design (the unit is...
Tony Visconti: The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy
by Tony Visconti | reviewed by Larry Crane
For Tape Op #29, I sat down and interviewed Tony Visconti, one of my producing/engineering heroes for his work with Bowie, T. Rex, U2, The Stranglers, Paul McCartney, and others. What I found was a...
Frontman: Surviving the Rock Star Myth
by Richard Barone | reviewed by Larry Crane
For Tape Op #29, I sat down and interviewed Tony Visconti, one of my producing/engineering heroes for his work with Bowie, T. Rex, U2, The Stranglers, Paul McCartney, and others. What I found was a...
C700A variable-pattern mic
by Josephson | reviewed by Eddie Ciletti
The Josephson Engineering C700A doesn't look like any mic you've seen before, and that's a good thing because, psychologically, you'll be expecting something new, and I promise, you won't be...
Big Blue 2.1 monitoring system
by Blue Sky | reviewed by F. Reid Shippen
When the request went out for a review on the Blue Sky Big Blue speaker system, I figured what the hell. I've been toying around with the idea of stepping up to a larger pair of speakers for some time...
XONE V6 mixer
by Allen & Heath | reviewed by Brandon Miller
As the digital age showers the world with more and more buttons, knobs, switches, flashing lights, faders, cue point selectors, effects options, card slots, etc., it's nice when you find those rare...
A2D mic preamp/converter
by API | reviewed by Eric Tischler
For this review, I asked two of our contributing writers to send me their thoughts on the API A2D. First up is Joel Hamilton, whom many of you know from his popular appearances at TapeOpCon and his...
Sibelius Tutorial DVD Bundle
by ASKVideo Interactive Media | reviewed by David Hidek
Despite recent advances in virtual and synthesized instruments, nothing has the same sound and feel as a real piano, cello, violin, or brass section. Those with experience recording these types of...
MA-100 small-diaphragm tube microphone
by Mojave Audio | reviewed by Craig Schumacher
In a little over two years, with the success of the MA-200 (see Tape Op #55), Mojave Audio has shown what a company can do with a combination of good design, affordable manufacturing, and quality...
Ensemble audio interface
by Apogee Electronics | reviewed by
Apogee's all-in-one preamp, converter, and monitoring system offers all the essential features in a 1RU-height FireWire audio interface. There are eight analog inputs, four of which can handle mic,...
R-122V vacuum tube ribbon mic
by Royer Labs | reviewed by Craig Schumacher
By now, most of you who have read this magazine know that at WaveLab, we love ribbon mics. We record a lot more acoustic instruments than electric at times, and ribbons are always employed for their...
TubeFire 8 preamp w/ FireWire
by ART | reviewed by Joel Patterson
The majorly major thing that's cool about this excellently-realized single-rackspace eight-channel mic+line preamp/DI/FireWire computer interface/monitor is what I'd call the "Fairy Godmother" factor:...
Lmnopre limited edition mic preamp
by Little Labs | reviewed by Andy Hong
Jonathan Little, the man behind Little Labs, is one of my favorite persons on the planet. He is super sweet, has a great sense of humor, hosts awesome BBQs, and he looks and acts the part of a mad...
WaveLab 6.0
by Steinberg | reviewed by Scott Craggs
Seems like every time I get into a conversation about recording, it goes something like this. Me: "Blah blah room mics blah compressors blah." Them: "Yeah, cool! What program do you use-Pro Tools?"...
RL-10-D Raklite L-7/18-LED w/ Rakit mount
by Littlite | reviewed by Andy Hong
I'm sure many of you are familiar with Littlite gooseneck light systems, especially those of you doing live sound. Many sound reinforcement consoles, for example, have built-in jacks for plugging in...
22 47 LE tube mic
by Peluso Microphones | reviewed by Henry Robinett
One might say I've become somewhat of a connoisseur of Peluso microphones. I have several of their microphones. (See my reviews in Tape Op #44, #48, #56, and #59.) At this time, my favorite Peluso is...
DNA1 processor
by Weiss Engineering | reviewed by Larry DeVivo
The Weiss DNA1 is a 2RU-height audio restoration dynamo that performs several noise- reducing tasks via the DeClicker/DeCrackler and DeNoise modules, along with K-Stereo ambience recovery and M/S...
Bravo SE Disc Publisher
by Primera | reviewed by Andy Hong
As a co-owner of a small record label and several production facilities, I can understand why duplication facilities are losing business. Because of the popularity of online distribution for both...
monome 40h
by monome | reviewed by Josh Boughey
I came across monome in April, while trolling the web for information on step sequencers. I found myself drawn to the Spartan aesthetic of monome.org and the minimalist principles expressed there. And...
RX7 Recoil Stabilizer speaker platform
by Primacoustic | reviewed by Andy Hong
Every once in a while, an idea comes along that's so elegant in principle and brilliant in execution that when you experience it, you think, "Duh!" That's the Recoil Stabilizer. What it does is so...