When you ask someone in the recording business who the top engineers and producer are, you won't have to wait long before hearing the name George Massenburg. His recording and producing credits...
Looking at the world of professional producing, mixing and engineering, one could be excused in thinking that certain people only work within specific genres of music. Names get associated with...
Contemplating the fullness of his schedule and the richness of his life in music, Richard Barone posits the notion that "a producer's work is never done." From his childhood days in Florida as The...
The garbage can do what? All around your home are lots of great musical aids that you can't buy in a music store. The garbage can is one of my favorites, especially a large metal one. Be sure to...
Classical recording engineers rarely get the same attention that their pop and rock counterparts do. While pioneers such as Robert Fine [Tape Op #90] (Mercury, Fine Sound), Kenneth Wilkinson...
When Frank Swart, bassist in The Billy Nayer Show (and who engineered The Pixies' first recording, is responsible for many of Morphine's fat tones, and continues to record his band Post Junk Trio),...
Once upon a time, there was a company called Stephens Electronics. They went head-to-head with Ampex, MCI, Studer and 3M, building tape decks that some folks still worship as the best sounding in...
My client Ken is a treat to work with. He brings in sessions off his standalone digital multitrack with each song on a CD-R, clearly labeled, a binder with track notes including how everything was...
In a world where 1073 is not only a model number, but also the number of clones said model has inspired, the Dangerous Music S&M is a standout for its originality. While Chris Muth (the S&M's...
The Gas Cooker is a dual-channel, all-valve mic preamp and DI from Ridge Farm Industries in England (formerly of Ridge Farm Studios, the rather famous and beautiful countryside residential studio, now...
Native Instruments, known for their unique, high-quality software instruments and virtual studio solutions, have just introduced a distinctive hardware controller/software host called KORE, which they...
For all of you audiophiles out there, let me begin this brief review with a disclaimer: I am not, nor will I ever, be a recording engineer. But, as Tape Op's Copy Editor, John seemed to think I would...
Yes, I realize that cars are not recording gear. But since buying this 25-year-old car last spring, it's the piece of gear I'm most excited about lately. Give me a few paragraphs, and I'll do my best...
Tune is a pitch-correction plug-in that's so easy to use, even a non-musician can get "perfect" takes. Why the quotes around perfect? Because I find that most pitch correction schemes kill the life of...
The original TG Channel (Tape Op #43) was a TG2 preamp (Tape Op #39) combined with a 3-band EQ. The TG Channel MKII Abbey Road Special Edition incorporates a number of enhancements. In a way, cosmetic...
When Lynn Fuston, publisher and coordinator of the 3D Audio comparison series, walked up to the Tape Op booth at the New York AES, I immediately started railing on him. "Oh, look, it's Lynn Fuston....
If I had to pick one desert island reverb, this would be it. Either as a plug-in if I had a DAW in my luggage, or as a standalone application running on a laptop if I somehow salvaged a great console...
About six months ago, the fine folks at TAPCO (um... Mackie), sent me an awesome computer recording bundle that consisted of the Link.USB two-channel audio interface; Tracktion 2 software for...
In his review of the J99 and C84 preamps from Seventh Circle Audio, Chuck Hanning touches on the design and assembly of SCA's preamp kits. The first time I met SCA founder Tim Ryan at TapeOpCon a few...
I have a confession to make. David Royer got me started on something. After performing his tube upgrade to the MXL 2001 mic (Tape Op #25), I became thoroughly hooked on all things DIY. Later, I...
Since receiving these mics a few months ago, I've used them on every recording session to date. And I've got a large collection of mics, with some of them costing many times what the most expensive of...
I first heard about Class-T amplifiers not from recording engineers or audiophiles, but from friends seeking my vaguely "professional" wisdom. I could not offer any advice, as I hadn't even heard of...
Schoeps is a family-owned German company that's been producing top-quality mics with a minimum of fuss for over 50 years. They make a huge variety of small- diaphragm capsules and transformerless...
On the other side of the spectrum is this fancy hardcover ("coffee table") book. Mostly photos and little text, it depicts 27 current-day hip-hop creators in their personal studios. Shelves full of...
Subtitled Hip-Hop Wax Facts, Straight From the Original Artists-The '80s, this book spends its time examining 21 hip-hop albums from the mostly mid-to-late '80s-talking with the artists about how the...
A couple years ago, internet retailers were blowing out Alesis's ModFX effects boxes at absurdly low prices. The ModFX were flimsy DSP desktop units with goofy names and lousy switches, but a few of...
For years now, I've been a huge fan of MXL microphones. I'm particularly fond of the MXL 2001 cardioid condenser for its smooth, warm and accurate tone. So when the opportunity came around for me to...
Remember the first time you used an Eventide H3000? In 1988, that was the hottest effects processor out there! In 2006, the H3000 is considered "vintage" by my favorite repair shop in Los Angeles, but...
Brad Avenson appears to like simplicity. His excellent reputation based on the success of his STO-2 microphones is well deserved, so I was excited about his new active, FET-based direct box. When I...
Earlier this year, we at WMBR Radio discussed replacing our trusty Soundcraft Spirit 328 digital mixing console. After many years of regular use, it was starting to show its age. Plus, we decided our...
