Interviews
Margo Cilker
By Jen Borst, Larry Crane
I caught Margo on Zoom while she was gigging in Bozeman, Montana.
Interviews
What is Success in Music?
By Kyle Nicolaides
If there was a Grammy awarded for comparing one's life with others and then suffering about it, I'd be a superstar by now...
Interviews
Éliézer Oubda: Work With Whatever You Have
By Ian Brennan
When my colleague, professor Amandine Pras of The University of York, visited Mali to study the regional recording studio industry, she...
Interviews
Sera Cahoone: Protector of Songs
By Kyle Harris, Larry Crane
Known as a drummer (including the band Carissa's Wierd, for singer-songwriter Patrick...
Interviews
Mike Bridavsky: Bloomington's Russian Recording
By William Bridavsky, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez, Greg Saunier
In downtown Bloomington, Indiana, Mike Bridavsky owns and operates Russian Recording,...
Interviews
Jarvis Taveniere: A Collective Flow State
By Matt Correia, James Toth
Jarvis Taveniere is a producer, engineer, and musician working out of Los Angeles,...
MORE FROM THIS ISSUE
AUGUST 8, 2025 INTERVIEWS
John Morgan Askew
I dropped by to see John's studio, Bocce, and ask him about working with Sera Cahoone (see Sera interview here) and Margo Cilker (see Margo interview here).
AUGUST 8, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Matt Parmenter: With an Open Mind
Matt Parmenter is an Austin, Texas-based engineer and owner of Ice Cream Factory Studio, with over 20 years of experience producing, recording, mixing, and mastering music. He's been nominated for a Grammy and won an Emmy for his work with Austin artist Carrie Rodriguez [2018 Lone Star Regional Emmy Award for Audio Engineering]. Matt's studio is known as a welcoming place for both veterans and newcomers alike. Here he chats with Lisa Machac of Omni Sound Project about the history of the studio, his work to create an inclusive space, and his enviable mic collection.
AUGUST 8, 2025 INTERVIEWS
The Sphere Electronics Eclipse Type III Console Rebuild
In our interview with Mike Bridavsky (see Mike interview here) of Bloomington's Russian Recording, he mentioned his very unique, heavily modified Sphere Eclipse Type III console. I was curious about this console and the rebuilding project, so I dropped Mike a line.
AUGUST 8, 2025 INTERVIEWS
Where the Vibes Are: Kurt Reil and The House of Vibes
Every state and every region has its own unique music scene. However, it can be said that New Jersey has produced more than its fair share of popular music's most iconic, diverse, and influential acts. Frank Sinatra, (William) "Count" Basie, Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah (aka Dana Owens), Debbie Harry, and George Clinton are just a few. And that's not even mentioning Bon Jovi from Sayreville, or the Jersey Shore music community of Asbury Park. In the DIY era of indie groups that caught fire in the 1980s, New Jersey tenaciously held its own, with vibrant post-punk and power pop scenes splattered throughout the state, especially in Sinatra's hometown of Hoboken. (Yes, I too was there, in the front lines of the stylistic battles for the soul of rock 'n' roll with The Bongos.) In 1988, brothers Rick and Kurt Reil formed The Grip Weeds in New Brunswick, combining a Beatlesque melodic jangle with a punchy, New Jersey muscularity. Which brings us to the House of Vibes recording studio in Highland Park. Beginning out of the necessity to record home demos for The Grip Weeds in 1992, House of Vibes evolved into a full-service recording destination for the new breed of New Jersey bands, as well as artists who were passing through. Like its home state, the studio boasts a surprisingly diverse clientele, as well as a sonic output that packs a punch. I sat with Kurt Reil – Grip Weeds singer/drummer and House of Vibes' chief producer/engineer – to discuss the evolution of the studio, and how this house became a home of good vibes and exceptional recordings.
COLUMNS
GEAR REVIEWS
Gear Reviews
BOB Bass Optimized Bias Plug-In
As part of the McDSP Analog Processing Box universe (APB-8, APB-16) [Tape Op #134], the BOB Bass Optimized Bias is a plug-in based on the original BOB module from McDSP's 6060 Ultimate Module Collection. The BOB APB plug-in can provide a massive amount of low end around a selected frequency, and...
Gear Reviews
Coil Audio CA-70S Plug-In
Last year, at least once a week, I heard someone mention Coil Audio. Even a few engineers I knew who never hype gear were straight-up saying, "These are the best preamps on the planet.” My curiosity got the best of me, and I offered to do an extensive video review on the CA-70S and CA-286 preamps...
Gear Reviews
DM6 SeisMic Kick Drum Mic
Earthworks Audio has always been known as a maker of extremely high-quality microphones, historically aimed at studio use. I have used their mics for years, including the kick drum mic included with their DK7 Drum Kit System. I love that mic. It can be clean and punchy when used in a traditional...
Gear Reviews
Footprint03 Powered Monitor Pair
Many studio monitors are based on what we call "2-way" configurations, featuring a woofer/driver (usually a cone speaker) and a tweeter handling the low and high frequencies, but a growing number of nearfield monitors use "3-way" setups, with a midrange driver handling frequencies between the...
Gear Reviews
Gorilla Midfield 3-way Monitors
In 2002, during an internship at Electrical Audio in Chicago [Tape Op #87], I was introduced to Bowers & Wilkins hi-fi (consumer) bookshelf speakers being used as studio monitors. Working on them in Electrical’s Studio B was the first time my mixes translated well. I scored a secondhand pair for my...
Gear Reviews
Grandchild 670-500 Compressor
There’s an age-old philosophical question in the audio community: “If a Fairchild compressor/limiter falls in the woods and loses over two dozen tubes and transformers, is it still a Fairchild?” Where does innovation end and compromise begin, and is it even worth attempting to pull off something...
Gear Reviews
H44 Ribbon Mic
The first thing you see when encountering Alder Audio’s H44 online is their slogan: A Better Ribbon For Less. This statement may seem underwhelming against the backdrop of today's pro audio hype machine – touting plug-ins that turn you into Chris Lord-Alge or sample packs that contain Bernard...
Gear Reviews
Live 12 Suite
The importance of organization, functionality, and preparedness is central to the work we do when making music with/for others. From my perspective, DAWs are getting more comprehensive and less specialized. Most modern DAWs (digital audio workstations) can help with every stage of music creation,...
Gear Reviews
Loudspeaker Design Cookbook
For those that don't know, Vance Dickason has been the editor of Voice Coil Magazine ("the monthly periodical for the loudspeaker industry") since 1987, and the author of the Loudspeaker Design Cookbook (LDC) volumes since 1978. LDC is "the world's most popular book on loudspeaker design." With its...
Gear Reviews
MDR-MV1 Headphones
A few months ago, I was hired to work on the audio engineering team at a production camp put on by Sony. One of the events at this camp was a demo of Sony’s immersive audio tools, and this was my first experience with their MDR-MV1 headphones. Sony’s immersive audio team has been pushing hard to...
Gear Reviews
Mercury 666 MKI Limiting Amplifier
The single-channel, three rack space Mercury 666 MKI is inspired by the Fairchild 666, a later cousin of the Fairchild 660/670 limiters. Unlike those units, the 666 was a hybrid solid-state and tube design. Mercury took that concept (and some characteristics of the original 666) to create something...
Gear Reviews
MR3eq 500 Series EQ
As noted in my review of their new 32Classic console [Tape Op #159], in the of classic records, Harrison Audio had just as formidable a studio presence as console standard-bearers like Neve, MCI, API, and SSL. By the mid-‘80s, Harrison Audio had pivoted almost entirely to film and live sound, but...
Gear Reviews
Recirculate Echo Plug-In
Former Eventide coder/engineer Dan Gillespie, who runs Newfangled Audio (distributed by Eventide), has developed some pretty wild plug-ins. We've reviewed the fantastic virtual synth, Generate [Tape Op #140], and the Elevate mastering suite [#133] before, and now he takes on a tour of what he...
Gear Reviews
Scarlett 4i4 Interface
We live in a time where ADC conversion is quite good. I remember when our studio was first getting into digital recording, the sonic differences between analog to digital/digital to analog converters were extremely noticeable. We did listening tests on various units and found huge differences –...
Gear Reviews
Sling-Shock RSM-Series Shock Mounts
Anyone who owns a few large diaphragm microphones has likely seen the common trouble with many shock mounts – failing elastic or rubber bands that cause the mic to droop, clamps that don't securely hold mic bodies, bulky sizes that get in the way of placement, pivoting joints that slip or are hard...
Gear Reviews
Stick Station
For drummers, while playing it’s sometimes a challenge to change between brushes, sticks, and mallets. Of course, studio magic allows us to do that with punch ins, but if you are tracking live with a band that’s usually not an option. Fortunately, now we have the Stick Station from Bopworks...
Gear Reviews
Subloom Kick Drum Plug-In
Ostensibly a drum mixing tool especially built for kick drums, Subloom is one of those plug-ins based on a mixer's workflow, specifically Jesse Ray Ernster [Tape Op #151], and combines several functions in a single "two-channel" GUI. When I look at my own plug-in chain for kick drum mixing, I...
Gear Reviews
V120 Monitor Ceiling/Wall Mounts
In what might possibly be the sexiest review ever published in Tape Op, let’s talk about monitor mounts! I was recently in need of upgrading my Atmos monitoring, and I required a better solution for the four height speakers mounted on the ceiling of my studio (I mix Atmos in a 7.1.4 configuration)....
Gear Reviews
Vocal Reverb Plug-In
Call me an AI pessimist, but my initial reaction was lukewarm when I considered trying out the Vocal Reverb plug-in from Antares Audio Technologies. Haven’t I already got enough reverbs? How is this new one going to win me over? Once I dove into it, I realized it was challenging me unexpectedly,...