Interviews
By J.J. Wiesler
When I first walked into Barefoot Studios, a shark and a beautiful mutt greeted me. Elsie, at times affectionately called "the Pooper", runs off to announce my arrival. Welcome to the world of Eric Valentine. Any misconceptions of a flashy Hollywood producer's private studio are dashed...
Interviews
When I first met Jacquire, he was working at Toast, a studio in San Francisco. He had already developed a reputation for being the ...
Interviews
John Parish is a well-respected musician and producer. He has made records for and with PJ Harvey, Sparklehorse [Tape OpRead More →
Interviews
For over thirty years, the legendary, prolific and influential art group known as The...
Interviews
There is an epidemic sweeping the music industry. No, it's not an STD or computer...
One afternoon, late last summer, I found myself walking down a dead end street, two blocks off the famous Waikiki beach in Hawaii, looking for the address where I was to meet the owner of a local studio for an interview. In a small condo I found Chazz Lyons with a collection of recording gear and digital drums set up in a spare room, along with his friendly parrot Koa. Chazz's unassuming Janisha Music has turned into a casual yet productive career, serving not only local songwriters and singers but also people traveling from the continental US and Japan. It's a nice perk when you have the fabulous beaches, weather and Mai Tais in between your recording sessions!
Chris Muth of Dangerous Music knows his stuff. Formerly a mastering gear designer at Sterling Sound in New York City, Muth now co-owns Dangerous Music with partner Bob Muller, a unique combination recording studio/boutique gear manufacturer. The Dangerous studio has recorded artists ranging from the Rolling Stones and Rosanne Cash to free-jazz monster Charles Gayle, whereas Dangerous the gear-maker provides a line of über-high-end analog summing, metering, mixing, and monitoring boxes. Tape Op spoke with Muth about his design philosophy, as well as the nuts and bolts of attaining perfection in audio.
The B4 has been one of my most regularly used and cherished VST plug-ins, so just for the sake of nostalgia, I took a look back in the archive of Tape Op reviews and saw that my original review of the B4 was published nearly four years ago. For some reason, I never quite associated VST's or...
Before I built up my own studio, I used to carry around a portable case with original Neve 1272 and API 312 mic preamps that Brent Averill Enterprises had racked for me. These now sit permanently installed in the console desk at my studio, alongside my Sony DMX-R100 console and preamps from Great...
This set of 16 plug-ins works in RTAS (Pro Tools LE), HTDM (Pro Tools HDTM/TDM), VST (Cubase, Nuendo), and AU (Logic, Digital Performer) and will run on MacOS X, Win98, NT, 2000, and XP. It seems like they've covered a lot of bases, and six more plug-ins have been added since v1.0 of the bundle....
The DD-2 K-Stereo Processor is referred to as an "ambience recovery device" in literature and on the Digital Domain website. The brainchild of mastering engineer Bob Katz, the DD-2 is built using K-Stereo technology, a patent-pending process that extracts ambience from a recording and allows the...
In true DIY style, UK-based engineer/producer Mike Pelanconi has been building up his Drum Drops catalog via word of mouth over the last few years to become the premier online source of top quality drum loops, tracks, and samples for musicians, producers and remixers worldwide. What sets Mike...
David Bock is very serious about microphone making. In ten short years, he's built up a reputation as a builder of some of the best sounding mics you can buy. His primary focus has been on large-diaphragm condenser mics based on vintage classics. Recently, he introduced two new members to his line:...
First off, a story: I was tracking some songs in New Orleans this summer, and Dan Kennedy of Great River was cool enough to send me this new EQ to the studio I was at; plus, he sent one of his MP-2NV preamps (which I'm familiar with as I already own and love one). So the gear shows up, I plug it in...
The Folcrom RMS216 is a 1RU passive summing unit with standard D-Sub connectors providing 16 balanced inputs on the back and two XLR connectors for balanced outputs. Each input can be assigned to Left, Right, Center or Nothing via a line of 32 latching switches on the front. Since the summing is...
I have to admit to a certain amount of amazement when I first plugged in the ISA 430 MkII and heard what was coming through my speakers. There was that clarity and professional sound that I had been trying so hard to get by tweaking my budget gear. Clear shimmering acoustic guitar, warm clear...
One of the coolest things I saw at the AES show this past October is this little inline XLR barrel that's both a pad and EQ designed for kick drum mic'ing. For rock drums my go-to scenario is an AKG D 112 into a Millenia Media Origin STT-1. It always sounds great, but the mic usually overloads the...
The name Geoff Daking has become synonymous with quality-built, great-sounding studio recording gear. He is well respected for his FET Compressor II, Mic-Pre/EQ, and custom consoles. He recently entered the multi-channel mic preamp arena with the Mic- Pre IV. The Mic-Pre IV is attractively priced...
This inexpensive 25-key MIDI keyboard was a perfect solution to a small problem in my studio. Virtual instrument plug-ins are getting better and better these days, particularly some of the ones we've reviewed that I've used from Arturia, Native Instruments, SampleTank, and MOTU. But the way my...
As most people know, Mackie has become a leading manufacturer of affordable audio products. The company is perhaps best known for its great line of simple but clean- sounding mixers. The company has gone back to the drawing board with the introduction of the Onyx series. Onyx is the name they have...
What is this box? I've had it for almost a year, and I'm still not sure how to answer that. For one, it's basically two channels of tube circuitry that can be run in normal or overdrive modes. The circuits can be switched as far as the distortion types (I never remember which is what and just...
Recently, I was asked to record a private concert featuring acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Paul Cantelon (who is also an accomplished violinist and composer). The concert took place in a New York City loft as part of a birthday celebration. Given the nature of the performance, I didn't want...
Finally, someone has introduced an affordable DAW controller that has enough faders and virtual input strips that it can handle a typical record/mixdown session and feel like a real mixing console-without lots of bank switching. The TASCAM US-2400 controller is a USB device that sports 24...
The VAC-6c pop screens provide a unique solution to the "How do I tame those damn plosives?" dilemma-you know, the overbearing "P" sounds that create huge low- end peaks on vocals when mics are in cardioid or figure-8 mode. Their Variable Acoustic Compression (VACTM) system utilizes two separate,...
You may have noticed from reading the last few issues of Tape Op that we have a soft spot in our hearts for vintage synths, with interviews of Malcolm Cecil (keeper of TONTO), Bob Moog, and Larry Fast. I personally credit my days as a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, working...
When Larry Crane emailed me about reviewing the Groove Tubes VIPRE, I was very excited. I had used this unit when it was first introduced several years ago but never had an ample amount of time to fully evaluate it. This 3RU, single-channel tube preamp is Groove Tubes' intro into the preamp market....
I've been a big fan of Radial Engineering ever since Pete Weiss reviewed the JD7 DI and amplifier interface in Tape Op #38. Radial makes great problem-solvers for both the stage and studio, and their products are bulletproof and easy to use. I recently purchased two new products in their line. The...