Interviews
Steve Albini: Nirvana, Pixies, Stooges, PJ Harvey
by Larry Crane
He’s just a really great engineer.Illustration by Miles Hermann In issue #10 of Tape Op we ran an interview with Steve Albini by my pal John Chandler. Being that the piece was actually done for...
Interviews
Greg Norman: Life at Electrical Audio
by Larry Crane
Greg Norman has worn many hats. For 15 years he's worked for Steve Albini helping build and run Chicago's Electrical Audio, but he also records at his home and takes on many other projects. And he's a...
Behind the Gear
Simon Trought & Soup Studio: London's Hippest Albums Beneath a Uke Shop?
by Larry Crane
A studio in the basement of a ukulele shop in London? It seemed like a nutty idea, but there it was, and owner Simon Trought, along with Giles Barrett, had been knocking out some of London's coolest...
Interviews
Beau Sorenson: Death Cab for Cutie, Garbage, Smart Studios
by Andy Brawner
Tutorials
What is Stem Mixing?: And How Can it Help Me?
by John Baccigaluppi, Barney Barnicott, Larry Crane, Jason Devore, Alexander Lawson, Thom Monahan, Dan Workman
You've just finished the mix of a song and printed it to tape or back into your DAW. You spent hours getting everything just perfect with your analog outboard gear and console. If you tried to write...
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Rupert Neve: Behind the Gear with Rupert Neve Designs
by Larry Crane
We last visited legendary console designer and audio guru Rupert Neve in Tape Op #26, in 2001. In 2005 his corporation Rupert Neve Designs debuted the amazing Portico Range of equalizers, mic...
Steve Albini (bonus): Nirvana, Pixies, Stooges, PJ Harvey
by Larry Crane
You've had the opportunity to record people you might classify as your heroes over the years. Cheap Trick... A fairly big project for them was rerecording the entire In Color album. At the time,...
Rupert Neve Designs: Behind the Gear
by Larry Crane
We last visited the legendary console designer and audio guru Rupert Neve in Tape Op #26, over ten years ago. In 2005 Rupert Neve Designs presented the world some amazing new Neve products, with the...
Greg Norman (bonus): Life at Electrical Audio
by Larry Crane
greg norman --> intern --> musician --> repair tech --> engineer --> greg norman Greg Norman has worn many hats. For 15 years he's worked for Steve Albini, helping build and run...
Graig Markel: Recording Barton Carroll's Together, You and I
by Trent Moorman
Barton Carroll and producer/engineer Graig Markel set out to record Carroll's 2009 album, Together, You and I, entirely to a Tascam 34 4-track tape machine. Carroll, who has toured and recorded...
Recordio: Home Recording in the 1930s
by Timothy Kastner
It started out as a favor to a friend. His father had died and left a collection of old records, stacked in cardboard boxes collecting dust on the back porch. My friend asked me, an audiophile, to...
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End Rant
Done Fast, Done Good, Done Cheap
by John Baccigaluppi
Maybe you've seen this triangle of wisdom at your auto mechanic's shop. That's where I first saw it: on a piece of paper scrawled with a Magic Marker and tacked up on the wall by my mechanic Dave,...
Gear Geeking
Gear Geeking w/ Andy...
by Andy Hong
In Tape Op #82, I wrote about my favorite way of staying hydrated without fear of spilling water on my gear — the Bite Valve-equipped Camelbak Better Bottle (www.camelbak.com). Luck would have...
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Gear Reviews See more →
581 500-Series mic preamp, IMOD transformer upgrade, CPS-501 powered chassis
by Chameleon Labs | reviewed by Thom Monahan
It’s nice to see something at this price point showing up in the 500-Series world. The 581 is a Class AB, discrete preamp based on the venerable Neve 1081 mic preamp design. It has all your...
C716 large-diaphragm condenser mic
by Josephson Engineering | reviewed by John Vanderslice
The C716 is the long-awaited addition to Josephson Engineering’s acclaimed Series Seven family of mics. It was developed and designed in the beautiful California coastal town of Santa Cruz,...
MA-300 large-diaphragm tube mic
by Mojave Audio | reviewed by Craig Schumacher
Mojave mics have quickly become a favorite of many studio owners and engineers. They are well designed and affordable, and they sound really good. The MA-200 (Tape Op #55) has been out for three years...
Symphony I/O
by Apogee Electronics | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
I have to confess that when I saw the early ads marketing Symphony I/O with its sleek Scandinavian hi-fi aesthetic and big rubber feet, it looked to me like something built for audiophiles or home...
731R dual short-ribbon mic
by Cascade Microphones | reviewed by Alex Maiolo
Olympia, Washington's Cascade is probably best known for bringing affordable ribbon mics to the masses. Sure, they offer condensers too, but a quick scan of their website quickly reveals their niche....
Pegasus tube mic
by Ronin Applied Sciences | reviewed by Andy Hong
As I mentioned in the previous issue's "Gear Geeking" (Tape Op #86), the Pegasus was one the most exciting products to be unveiled at the AES Convention. Unlike most tube mics on the market...
CMS 40 compact powered monitor
by Focal Professional | reviewed by Andy Hong
The first time I ran music through a pair of these tiny speakers, I had to double check to make sure I wasn’t listening to my larger ADAM P11A monitors (Tape Op #33). Bass extension in...
Space multi-effects stompbox
by Eventide | reviewed by Eli Crews
I admit to having been quite skeptical when Eventide’s most recent stompbox, Space, arrived at my doorstep. In the first place, I’m the kind of guy whose favorite pedals have a maximum of...
Liaison
by Dangerous Music | reviewed by Adam Gonsalves, Andy Hong, Jeff Lipton, Claude VonStroke
At first glance, the Liaison is not much more than an insert switcher. Plug in six of your outboard processors, and you can use Liaison’s front-panel buttons to switch your processors in and out...
SB4001 500-Series bus compressor
by Serpent Audio | reviewed by Garrett Haines, Dave Hidek
This is the sentence where we make some stupid snake joke, or worse, a juvenile double entendre. Moving on, this is a cool new 500-Series bus compressor. Last year, Serpent Audio released the SB4000...
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Music Reviews
Discovery, Immersion and Experience remasters and box sets
by Pink Floyd | reviewed by Jeff Slate
Who would have guessed that Pink Floyd fans would have John Coltrane to thank for the band opening its storied vaults to the masses? "We were always of the mind that whatever we put out in the day, on...