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Issue No. 24

Jul/Aug 2001

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Welcome to issue #24 of Tape Op.

Sit down for a minute, I've got something on my mind. I think I finally have an idea of what it is that makes the people we talk to in TAPE OP tick. It's passion. Whether it's Eddie Kramer pushing the limits of recording student's endurance, Steve Albini busting his ass to make Neurosis (As seen above) sound as amazing on record as live, or Plaid searching for new sounds — it's something that drives you to put in long days and overcome technology in order to make a work of art. Passion. Now that I've determined that, feel free to kick my ass if this magazine is ever devoid of passion, okay? I mean it. Thanks!

-Larry Crane

— Larry Crane, editor

In This Issue See more →

Interviews

Phill Brown: Stomu Yamash’ta/Rock Follies 16th February 1976

by Phill Brown

We interviewed Phill Brown in issue number [#12] of Tape Op. Over the years he's worked with some of the greatest artists ever, like Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Jeff Beck, Led...

Interviews

Universal Audio

by John Baccigaluppi, Eric Broyhill

After a pretty damm good surf session one fine sunny day in Santa Cruz, California, my friend and fellow recording engineer, Eric Broyhill and I stopped by the Universal Audio offices to talk with...

Interviews

Universal Audio

by John Baccigaluppi, Eric Broyhill

The 1176LN and the LA-2A are two examples of classic compressors which use very different techniques for gain control. The 1176LN uses a field effect transistor as its gain reduction element, while...

Interviews

Universal Audio

by John Baccigaluppi, Eric Broyhill

When Bill Putnam, Jr. mentioned to me that his brother Jim was in the Radar Brothers, it didn't really sink in 'till a few minutes later. When it finally did, I rudely interrupted him and Eric with...

Interviews

Steve Albini: Recording Neurosis and more

by Roman Sokal

Interviews

Eddie Kramer: Recording Hendrix and teaching future engineers

by Alex Kostelnik

Eddie Kramer worked humbly with the students of Terry Setter's Advanced Audio Engineering class at The Evergreen State College for four days. Regularly throughout the year he travels to schools and...

Interviews

Unwound: Their Haunted Home Studio

by Dewey Mahood

On an unusually cold and rainy Pacific Northwest winter day I found myself driving up I-5 to Olympia, WA. After narrowly escaping death from a couple of speeding 18-wheelers, I pulled into downtown...

Interviews

Plaid: Beyond Techno?

by The FezGuys

Plaid might be most well-known for their many remixes, especially those for Bjork and their own earlier trio, Black Dog. But it's the current duo's unique approach to the "techno" genre that sets...

All Features

Digital Mixing: Notes on the conversion from analog to digital mixing

by John Baccigaluppi

I recently finished recording and mixing a five song EP that, for the first time, I transferred into a computer and mixed digitally. It was one of the most interesting, fascinating and (mostly)...

Columns See more →

End Rant

On Top Of The World

by Larry Crane

I was at a large music conference when, after being introduced to a fellow engineer who's work I greatly admired, I found him asking me if there were any "world-class" studios in Portland, Oregon....

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Gear Reviews See more →

Dynamics, Effects, Interfaces, Signal Processors

FATSO Jr model EL-7

by Empirical Labs | reviewed by Andy Hong

FATSO is an acronym for Full Analog Tape Simulator and Optimizer. When digital multitracking first became affordable, it took only one session using 16 tracks of ADAT to convince me that I didn't want...

Effects

Seek Wah effect pedal

by Z-Vex | reviewed by Pete Weiss

All right, this thing is really cool. Sadly, it's also very expensive and is an extreme example of a "one trick pony." But what a trick, man! The Seek Wah sends your signal through a series of...

Interfaces, Mic Preamps, Recorders, Signal Processors

D2424 Hard Drive Recorder

by Fostex | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi, Chema Salinas

Last year saw the introduction of several competing 24 channel, 24 bit stand alone hard drive recorders from Tascam, iZ Technology (Radar), Alesis and Mackie. As all of these units sound good and...

Dynamics, Signal Processors

Opal DPR-944 2+2 compressor/gate

by BSS | reviewed by Andy Hong

Many of us don't have the means to afford a rack full of processors to do all the things we need to do as practitioners of our field. So instead, we end up making compromises, oftentimes buying gear...

Effects, Signal Processors

MoogerFooger-102 Ring Modulator

by Big Briar | reviewed by JD Foster

I gotta say I LOVE Bob Moog's MF102. I got one when they were first released and I have used it on something on every project since. I've had the best luck using it as a mix effect on shakers, hi-hat,...

Dynamics, Mic Preamps

MX-60 Front End One

by Drawmer | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

I've had this in my studio for a few months now but didn't have much chance to use it until recently. To be honest, one of the reasons I didn't use it much is because I have several other mic...

Effects, Signal Processors

Vortex effects processor

by Lexicon | reviewed by William Bernhard

In 1993 Lexicon came out with a couple of effects processors, the JamMan and the Vortex, that seemed to be here one moment and gone the next. The former is an incredible looping delay, possibly one of...

Direct Boxes

Evil Twin model 90 tube direct box

by Eclair Engineering | reviewed by Henry Robinett

I've been a fan of the Evil Twin for several years. This is a great, warm tube direct box. You might wonder about the questionable extravagance of an $850 direct box. Well if you think of it as merely...

Converters, Interfaces, Recorders

Radar 24 digital hard disk recorder

by iZ Technology | reviewed by Jaye Barr, Scott Colburn, David Huber, Julian Martlew

Twenty-four bit recording is here, and now it nearly approaches the beauty of analog! I recently had the pleasure of test-driving the newly improved Radar 24 System by iZ Technology. The basic system...

Accessories, Health, Tools

E-A-R Earmuff

by Peltor | reviewed by Andy Hong

Quicker than inserting earplugs (and waiting for them to expand). Bright red and big - they're hard to lose. Put them on like headphones and walk into any tracking session without fear of blowing your...

LDCs, Microphones

MK 219

by Oktava | reviewed by Martin Chittum

Russian microphone manufacturer Oktava has been around since the 1950s. The MK 219 (a.k.a. MC 219) has been one of their most known and respected models for quite some time now, and is considered a...

Interfaces, Recorders, Software

Cubase VST 32 Version 5

by Steinberg | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi, Shaun Lopez

There are quite a few different recording programs available now, and they're all really pretty amazing. It would be hard to say that one is drastically better, or even different, from another. I...

Accessories, Tools

Refillable Duster

by ReAir | reviewed by Andy Hong

Instead of paying big bucks for prepackaged air check out the ReAir refillable air sprayer. With about ten strokes of a standard bicycle pump, you've got a canister full of compressed air to blow crap...

Direct Boxes

ADP-1 Professional Active/Passive Direct Box

by Raven Labs | reviewed by Larry Crane, Ezra Meredeth

How do you review a DI box? Here's what we did. We set up a passive DOD 265 DI ($20), the Raven Labs ADP-1 ($349) and Avalon Designs Ultra 5 Direct ($1450) in a row, all patched into the same mic pres...

Dynamics, EQs

Platinum MixMaster

by Focusrite | reviewed by Andy Hong

In my living room studio, I mix on a Sony DMX-R100 digital console feeding my 24-bit Alesis Masterlink via a digital link. Therefore, I don't have much of a need for an analog mixdown processor....

Effects, Signal Processors

MPX-500 Effects Processor

by Lexicon | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

We recently installed a MOTU/Macintosh hard-drive recording system into our studio. While some of the plug-ins sound pretty good, the reverbs generally leave something to be desired. Or, if they sound...

Music Reviews See more →

Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.

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Jul/Aug 2001

Latest Issues

Welcome to issue #24 of Tape Op.

— Larry Crane, editor

In This Issue See more →

by Phill Brown

by John Baccigaluppi, Eric Broyhill

by John Baccigaluppi, Eric Broyhill

by John Baccigaluppi, Eric Broyhill

by Roman Sokal

by Alex Kostelnik

by Dewey Mahood

by The FezGuys

by John Baccigaluppi

Sponsored

Columns See more →

by Larry Crane

Sponsored

Gear Reviews See more →

Dynamics, Effects, Interfaces, Signal Processors

by Empirical Labs | reviewed by Andy Hong

by Z-Vex | reviewed by Pete Weiss

Interfaces, Mic Preamps, Recorders, Signal Processors

by Fostex | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi, Chema Salinas

Dynamics, Signal Processors

by BSS | reviewed by Andy Hong

Effects, Signal Processors

by Big Briar | reviewed by JD Foster

Dynamics, Mic Preamps

by Drawmer | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Effects, Signal Processors

by Lexicon | reviewed by William Bernhard

by Eclair Engineering | reviewed by Henry Robinett

Converters, Interfaces, Recorders

by iZ Technology | reviewed by Jaye Barr, Scott Colburn, David Huber, Julian Martlew

Accessories, Health, Tools

by Peltor | reviewed by Andy Hong

LDCs, Microphones

by Oktava | reviewed by Martin Chittum

Interfaces, Recorders, Software

by Steinberg | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi, Shaun Lopez

Accessories, Tools

by ReAir | reviewed by Andy Hong

by Raven Labs | reviewed by Larry Crane, Ezra Meredeth

Dynamics, EQs

by Focusrite | reviewed by Andy Hong

Effects, Signal Processors

by Lexicon | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Music Reviews See more →

by Fontanelle | reviewed by Roman Sokal

by Torrez | reviewed by Roman Sokal

by ISIS | reviewed by Roman Sokal

by Unisex | reviewed by William Bernhard

by Tool | reviewed by Roman Sokal

Sponsored

Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.

Sponsored