Interviews
Primal Scream: Screamadelicans Lose Their Lease!
by Matt Frost
As I traipsed along the leafy streets of London's Primrose Hill, eye-spying an endless stream of high-end restaurants and million-pound houses, I began thinking I'd been given the wrong address. Could...
Interviews
Robbie Lackritz: Feist, Bahamas, Zeus
by Jesse Lauter
Discovering a brand-new head-turning rock song rarely seems to happen these days. Fortunately in early 2012, NPR Music posted Zeus' "Are You Gonna Waste My Time?" as their Song of the Day. For a...
Tutorials
Ken Caillat: Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Beyond
by Larry Crane
Producer and engineer Ken Caillat added "author" to his list of accomplishments last year when he recalled his time spent recording Fleetwood Mac's album Rumours in his book, Making Rumours. It's...
Behind the Gear
Jonathan Wilson: Roy Harper, Dawes, Will Oldham
by Nicolay Ketterer
Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, and solo artist Jonathan Wilson has worked as a session player with artists like Erykah Badu, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Robbie Robertson,...
Behind the Gear
John Peluso: Behind the Gear with Peluso Mic Lab
by Joseph Lemmer
John Peluso has been quietly providing classic-styled mics to some of the biggest names in music for over ten years. Peluso's line of vacuum tube condenser, solid-state condenser, and ribbon...
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Ben Harris: of Dirty Vegas
by Larry Crane
Ben Harris, along with Paul Harris and Steve Smith is one third of the UK-based group Dirty Vegas. I met Ben through his father in law, Snuff Garrett (Tape Op #73), and interviewed...
Playing for Change (bonus): Mark Johnson Records the World
by Vijith Assar
As the head of Playing For Change, Mark Johnson travels the world with a small crew, a high-end mobile recording rig, and video cameras, to capture buskers and other undiscovered musicians —...
Jonathan Wilson (bonus): Roy Harper, Dawes, Will Oldham
by Nicolay Ketterer
Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, session player, engineer, producer, and solo artist Jonathan Wilson has worked with artists like Erykah Badu, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Robbie Robertson,...
John Peluso (bonus): Behind the Gear with Peluso Microphone Lab
by Joseph Lemmer
John Peluso has been quietly providing classic-styled mics to some of the biggest names in music for over ten years. Peluso's line of vacuum tube condenser, solid-state condenser, and ribbon...
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End Rant
Getting Serious
by Larry Crane
I remember the day clearly. It was when everything that I thought was fun about recording got turned on its head. Until that point I'd enjoyed mucking about with tape decks as a way to document my own...
Gear Geeking
Gear Geeking #96
by Andy Hong
Most of you by now have read elsewhere about the new Pro Tools 11 release, and I imagine some of you have already upgraded and are benefiting from its many enhancements. There are, as you'd expect,...
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Gear Reviews See more →
600800 large-diaphragm condenser mic
by Monoprice | reviewed by Joseph Lemmer
In his best-selling book Predictably Irrational, MIT professor Dan Ariely describes an experiment he conducted with college students and beer. (Be patient, this has everything to do with microphones.)...
602700 & 602710 mic clips, 602400 folding sheet-music stand
by Monoprice | reviewed by Andy Hong
Here are three more super-affordable accessories from Monoprice's Pro Audio Series. The 602700 universal mic clip looks very much like any other "butterfly" clip that folds open to hold mics of...
Q4 500-series semi-parametric EQ
by Radial Engineering | reviewed by Andy Hong
This is a fantastic-sounding EQ. It's not a surgical tool, and given the density of knobs on the front of its real-estate- limited 500-series faceplate, setting the controls is not a precise affair....
Eris E5 active studio monitor, Eris E8 active studio monitor
by PreSonus | reviewed by Eli Crews
The first outboard mic preamp I ever shelled out for was the PreSonus MP20 [Tape Op #35], back toward the close of the previous century. I only sold it last year to help finance a cross-country move,...
A-10 four-channel attenuator
by GAS Audio Recording Equipment | reviewed by Andy Hong
While recording and mixing Boston band The Monsieurs (featuring members of Tunnel of Love, Shepherdess, and Fuzzy), I was serendipitously contacted by GAS owner George Balogi, Jr, who offered me a...
EQ2 500-series 2-band equalizer
by Mäag Audio | reviewed by Larry Crane, F. Reid Shippen
It's no secret that I love this Mäag stuff. I own a dozen ribbon mics and use the Mäag PREQ4 preamp on them all the time. And the EQ4 [Tape Op #88] is my go-to for mono drum sounds and...
Tune-Bot drum tuner
by Overtone Labs | reviewed by Joseph Lemmer
I have learned the hard way that the most important factor in achieving a good drum recording, next to the drummer, is proper tuning. Unless you're going for a garbage kit sound (which is a valid...
PL-DK5 5-piece drum mic set
by Electro-Voice | reviewed by Joseph Lemmer
This drum mic set has been serving me well for about a year now. It consists of four PL35 supercardioid snare/tom mics; four DRC-1 drum rim clamps; one supercardioid PL33 kick drum mic; one SAPL-2 mic...
R88 Mk2 stereo ribbon mic, RPQ500 mic preamp
by AEA | reviewed by Chris Koltay
If you have a pulse and have been making records during the last few decades, then you are aware that Wes Dooley and Audio Engineering Associates have been making the finest ribbon mics available. I...
GAV19T guitar amp
by Chandler Limited | reviewed by Adam Kagan
Wade Goeke of Chandler Limited has built his business on the solid foundations of vintage audio circuits with modern enhancements in both manufacturing and audio character. Chandler mic preamps and...
SparkLE hybrid drum instrument/controller
by Arturia | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner
With the compact and affordable little brother to the Spark, their "creative drum machine," Arturia seem to be continuing the practice they began with their Keylab synthesizers - bundling hardware and...
AMI T58 transformer for Shure SM57 & SM58 mic mods
by TAB Funkenwerk | reviewed by Mike Jasper
When Stephen Bright told me he wanted me to review a new microphone, I was excited. He's a pro audio dealer who always comes up with new, high-quality gear for me to try. But when I asked him what...
PM9 supercardioid dynamic mic
by Miktek | reviewed by Adam Kagan
Miktek is an American mic company that has quickly gained traction in both professional and project studios. Recently, Miktek attacked the live sound stage with an array of microphones for vocals,...
603410 Music Mount for iPad, 8267 V-Frame Desktop Stand
by Monoprice | reviewed by Andy Hong
The Music Mount is by far the best mount I've ever seen for the iPad - and I've purchased several over the past couple of years. Model 603410 is for the iPad 2, 3, and 4, while Model 603400 is for the...
Eclipse 384 stereo AD/DA converter
by Antelope Audio | reviewed by Adam Kagan
Antelope Audio's founder, Igor Levin, came on the scene in the early 1990s as lead designer of Aardvark, before most commercial studios even owned a DAW. By the mid-'90s, the AardSync was the de facto...
Calibrated Dayton EMM-6 mic
by Cross·Spectrum Labs | reviewed by Garrett Haines
A reliable measurement mic is something every engineer should have. However, high-end, certified models can be expensive. But can't you just buy a cheap measurement mic off the shelf from the likes of...