The Creative Music Recording Magazine

Jennifer Decilveo

m
Miley Cyrus, Hozier, Angélique Kidjo, SASAMI

co
Russell Elevado
D’Angelo, Animal Collective, Jon Batiste
Blake Morgan

)
ECR Music Group, musician’s rights

ot
Synthesis Focus:

(d
Steve Roach
the progressive ambient synth master
Lisa Bella Donna
modular synthesis in the Appalachian woods
l
ai

Are You Backing Up?

Mike Kosacek on backup strategies
gm

Dave Cerminara
on mixing Phosphorescent’s Revelator

Gear Reviews
t)
(a
99

$ 5 . 9 9 N o . 1 6 1
ox

J u n e / J u l y 2 0 2 4
yc
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
 Hello and
welcome to
Tape Op
10
12
18
Letters
Lisa Bella Donna
Steve Roach
#161!

m
26 Jennifer Decilveo

co
30 Russell Elevado
36 Blake Morgan
42 Gear Reviews
p a g e

64 Are You Backing Up?

)
68 Non-Recording Gear Studio Essentials

ot
69 Dave Cerminara & Phosphorescent
70 Larry’s End Rant

(d
It’s no secret that ever since the internet took over our lives that we live in an “I want it now” Mark Steve
culture. That is the opposite of how I started recording music and running a studio. It was 30-plus
years ago when I began a quest to finally learn recording. As an artist in a band, I’d made four albums
with other people producing and engineering (including John Baccigaluppi, my partner in Tape Op).
l
While setting a mic preamp level, using a compressor, or figuring out how to route the inputs and
outputs of a tape deck to a console were things I grasped the concepts of, I had no idea how others
ai

did these things or what the “right” way was to do them. Sure, I wanted simple and quick answers,
but I never got them. As I’ve stated before, I would go to the library for “recording” books, buy
magazines at local bookstores, and hope to find answers. I would read a whole book about
gm

microphones, yet I’d still be looking for information on techniques. It might not be what some of you
Bob Clarence
want to hear, but the reality is that amassing this knowledge took a
lot of time and effort.
I had a tape deck, a small mixer, and a few mics. I’d record my band and keep trying different mics PS: We recently lost our friend and collaborator
on the sources. When friends began trusting me to track them in my basement, I had to get better Mark Rubel (Tape Op #47), recordist/studio
fast. I made a lot of mistakes – I accidentally recorded over a few good takes or bumped against the
t)

owner/gambler Steve Albini (#10, #87), sound

tape flange during an overdub – but I slowly got better at my craft. innovator Bob Heil (#67), and ribbon mic guru
I was struggling to make recordings of the quality I wanted, but I still worked at my non-studio Clarence Kane (#116). These four exemplified the
job. It wasn’t until I quit my job, moved my home studio out of the house, rented a space, and worked best of what people in audio can be; supportive,
(a

non-stop in Jackpot! Recording Studio that everything started making far more sense and it finally empathetic, knowledgeable, and – above all –
became easier to get the sounds that I wanted. The key was to be constantly applying myself to the special humans that enriched all our lives.
recording process, and always trying to get better. Something I still practice, decades later. We’re sending much love and support
The journey taken to acquire the knowledge you need is very important, and it won’t happen to families and friends.
overnight. Maybe we can’t “have it now,” but we can make the time to learn, and that is the most
critical of all the steps towards making better recordings.
99

Larry Crane, Editor & Founder

ox
yc
 The Creative Music Recording Magazine

Editor & Founder

Larry Crane
Publisher & Graphic Design
John Baccigaluppi
Online Publisher
Geoff Stanfield
CTO & Digital Director
Anthony Sarti/BPXI/O
Sales & Operations Director
Corey Reidy

m
Production Manager & Gear Reviews Editor
Scott McChane

co
Gear Geek at Large
Andy Hong
Contributing Writers & Photographers
Thanks to Suzanne Ciani for cover photos
Carolyn Zaldivar Snow, Jaclyn Sosnowski, Frank Beissel, Meredith Hobbs Coons,

)
Brantley Gutierrez, Benjamin Chambers, Taylor Ballantyne, Alice Teeple,
Kirt Shearer, Scott Evans, Scott McDowell, Gus Berry, Matt Anderson,

ot
Danielle Goldsmith, Geoffrey Knecht, Adam Kagan, Garrett Haines,
Mike Kosacek, Matthew Houck, Tony Vincent, and Liam Nelson.
Editorial and Office Assistants
Jenna Crane (editorial copy editor),

(d
Jonathan Saxon (copy editing),
Tom Rogers & Mike Kosacek (transcriptions),
Hazel Stanfield (online), Maria Baker (admin, accounting).
Disclaimer
TAPE OP magazine wants to make clear that the opinions expressed within reviews, letters, and
l
articles are not necessarily the opinions of the publishers. Tape Op is intended as a forum to
advance the art of recording, and there are many choices made along that path.
ai

Editorial Office
(For submissions, letters, music for review. Music for review is also
reviewed in the San Rafael office, address below)
P.O. Box 86409, Portland, OR 97286 voicemail 503-208-4033
gm

All unsolicited submissions and letters sent to us become the property of Tape Op.

Advertising
John Baccigaluppi
916-444-5241 <john@tapeop.com>
Marsha Vdovin
415-420-7273 <marsha@tapeop.com>
t)

Corey Reidy
520-979-0406 <corey@tapeop.com>
Subscribe online at <tapeop.com>
(Notice: We sometimes rent our subscription list to our advertisers.)
(a

Subscription and Address Changes

All can be made online at <tapeop.com/subscriptions>.
Back issues can be purchased via <tapeop.com/issues>. If you have
subscription issues that cannot be fixed online, email
<circulation@tapeop.com> or send snail mail to
99

PO Box 151079, San Rafael, CA 94915.

Please do not email or call the rest of the staff about subscription issues.
Postmaster and all general inquiries to:
ox

Tape Op Magazine, PO Box 151079, San Rafael, CA 94915

(916) 444-5241 <tapeop.com>
Tape Op is published by Single Fin, Inc. (publishing services)
and Jackpot! Recording Studio, Inc. (editorial services)
yc

8/Tape Op#161/Masthead www.tapeop.com

yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m

It’s hard to put into words how much
Tape Op means to me. I’m a musician and songwriter whose
passion for music is balanced by a very mediocre degree of
talent and crippling indecision about my own music. Your
music – yup, I can produce, mix, and master it – but my
music? Heck! When I first got into recording, I subscribed to
every magazine and forum I could find, including the then
available (in England) paper sub for Tape Op. Every month,
I’d lust after new gear, digest tips and tricks, and produce
more crap. Over far-too-many years, I started to care less and
less about gear and tricks, even about sound, to a degree,
and started to care more and more about music again. Bruce
Lee famously described the journey through martial arts as
one that ends up where it starts, with the master being far
more skilled than the beginner but just as unfettered by
technique and expectation. Tape Op is full of interviews with
people I’ve never heard of, and whose work I will quite likely
never listen to, but who share the joy of their art. It
constantly reminds me that it’s okay to be an occasional
artist, to have the freedom to create something that might
end up being bad, that may be heard by no one, and that
will never earn me a penny or a clap – but just for the sake
of doing it. Sadly, the age of magazines is pretty much dead,
long form interviews are vanishingly rare, and most
publications have become so content-light that it’s hard to
keep them on the table. Tape Op is both a wonderful,
beautiful monochrome anachronism and a bright, vivid
shining beacon. Thank you.
Andi Picker <andip5150@gmail.com>
I was surprised to see Eblis Álvarez’s name on the cover
of Tape Op #158. I thought I was only one that knew about
the Meridian Brothers (not really)! Back in 2007, I was a
member of one those CD music clubs, where, in an email,
I saw The Roots of Chicha (Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru)
on Barbès Records. I ordered the album and was soon
hooked on chicha music. Later I watched the Meridian
Brothers on YouTube, live from the Boiler Room in London
and started looking for their music. Hopefully, readers of
this article will seek out their music as well.
Tony Houston <theprimetimebluesband.godaddysites.com>
(a
I was so happy to get my copy of Tape Op #159 and see
Lynne Earls’ name on the cover. The interview was
wonderful! Lynne is a brilliant and thoughtful engineer, and hanging sound absorbing panels. I installed a ledger strip
the recording studio she built in Tehachapi [California] is so around the perimeter of my room, and the panels simply
special. Thank you for giving your readers the opportunity hang from that. They are not fastened in any way; a piece
99
to get to know her and her work better. Much gratitude.
Amy Dragon <amydragon.com>
The cover on Tape Op #159 is my absolute new favorite.
In addition to the very cool “basic sound theory”
ox
background snippets, the [Tascam] Portastudio with the him say, “Oh, you’re a musician too? Have you ever heard of
altered model plate is sheer genius!
Bruce Coffman <touch33.com>
yc
Thanks to Jim Cork at <explorestudio.co.uk> for that art! -LC
10/Tape Op#161/Letters/
I couldn’t agree more
with Larry’s End Rant [“Do
You Really Need to be
‘Doing It Like a Pro’?”] in
Tape Op #159. If we were all
trying to sound “like a pro,”
the music industry would be
doomed. Nobody would buy
any new music, because there
would be no new music left to buy. From personal
experience, I know how hard it can be to emphasize
creativity over the desire to sound professional. As editor
of Electronics & Music Maker, Music Technology, and Home &
Studio Recording magazines in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I was
bombarded with ideas for “tutorials” that would show our
readers that one “killer” technique that would catapult
their act to the top of the charts. Yet, time and again, our
readers told us they didn’t want them – that if they wanted
to copy another act, all they had to do was listen to their
records and figure it out for themselves. As a marketer, I
understand the power of selling a dream. But it’s as true
today as it was back then: The only way to make that
dream a reality is by pursuing your own dream, not
someone else’s. Or, as Brian Eno [Tape Op #85] put it when
we asked him what one piece of advice he would give to
budding record producers, “Throw all the manuals away.”
Dan Goldstein <dgoldstein@avixa.org>
Thank you for all the wonderful years of Tape Op!
There is so much value in reading the
interviews and getting insight into how others work. It
truly is the “Creative Recording Magazine.” Your End Rant
in the most recent issue [Tape Op #159] spoke so much to
me. As a hobbyist with limited time, it is easy to fall into
the trap of thinking my practice is inadequate. I have
l
actively fought the urge to “need” better gear and all the
“right” techniques over the years, and doing so has
ai
definitely sapped some of the joy out of the recording
process for me. But I know that it’s all about the songs, the
album, and the process of making music. I’m not recording
to impress engineers, but to tell stories. Thanks for being
gm
part of my journey!
Chris Kilburg <c.kilburg@gmail.com>
This is for the letter writer asking for a way to attach
sound damping materials on their walls [Tape Op #159]. I
put Auralex panels up in my studio with T-shaped pins from
t)
the sewing department at Walmart. They have held well for
20 years and are easy to remove, leaving just a tiny hole
in the drywall.
Bill Kahler <billkahler@gmail.com>
I saw in the letters section there was a query about
of rigid fiberglass can be friction fit, and I can easily move
them to any location. They’ll even work in a corner.
Steve Chiasson <mainemusic.me>
As my mind slowly started fading to black, I could hear
Tape Op?” That was 20 years ago, and, thanks to that
anesthesiologist, I’ve been reading your magazine ever since!
Xio <xiomaro.com>
I’m an aspiring artist and producer working in Des
Moines, Iowa. I am a fan of Elliott Smith’s work [Tape Op
#4, #11, #118], and a Tape Op subscriber. It appears that
he recorded his vocals very quietly. As there is nothing
really pushed, this lends to very personal-sounding vocals.
It’s a good contrast to the belted gospel stuff
I work in, and something I’d love to learn and master now
that I have to sing all my own music. Any advice on signal
chain? Thanks so much for all you’ve shared.
Marion Robinson IV <robinsonivmarion@gmail.com>
It’s awesome to hear from you and that you enjoy my late
friend’s music. We miss him a lot around here, as you can
imagine. He did appear to sing quietly, but honestly he
wasn’t even as soft sounding as people imagine, though he
never approached gospel belter levels! Check out his great
earlier band, Heatmiser, to hear Elliott singing louder. I never
had to crank mic preamps up too high, and his little mouth
m
noises never overtook the parts we needed to hear (a sure
co
sign of a very quiet vocalist). He also projected very well at
gigs, even with a crummy PA – I know, as I once even did
his live sound. Way back in 1996 and 1997, his signal chain
was a Langevin CR3A mic into whatever mic preamp was
around, maybe even a Mackie console or a PAiA Tube
Microphone Preamp kit I’d built. All the best with your music,
)
and thanks for reaching out! -LC
ot
I just wanted to thank you for Tape Op #160. The
combination of Kyle Nicolaides’ “What is Success in Music?”
followed by John Baccigaluppi’s “One Degree” End Rant
was the most encouraging one-two punch and landed at
(d
precisely the right beat for me. I’ve recommended these to
a number of friends and colleagues that struggle and
muddle through lives in music (as we all do!), and I’m sure
I’ll revisit them when I need to straighten my head out a
little. Thanks so much.
Beau Sorenson <beaunoise.com>
That was a great article about “What is Success in
Music?” I would like to add a couple of points to Kyle’s
article regarding pre-internet and post-internet. Before the
internet, an artist had to rely on a record company for
promotion and distribution in order to get exposure for the
music. Of course, we all know that signing a recording
contact is often the worst thing an artist can do. Let’s jump
forward to the internet, and now the fact that music is free
to everyone. The is no money to sustain a career in music
unless you are a big act touring musician. Most of us are
not. We create songs (like we always have) and release
them to the world on the internet. The success is measured
in the control we have over our music. Coming up with an
idea for a song, recording, and finishing it, is – to me – the
highlight of success. We all know this feeling! One can post
the song and promote it through social media. If a few
people like it, fine. If many people like the song, even
better. If no one likes the song it doesn’t matter because
there’s another song in the works. Financial rewards do not
matter as much because the artist realizes that they have
to keep a day job. Maybe they accept this and even like
their day job which helps pay for recording equipment and
instruments. Or they could be retired, like me, where I can
devote most of my time to this success of producing songs.
In this regard, I consider myself a successful musician.
Terry Kempler <tgkempler@msn.com>
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m

On Parenting, Vinyl, and Patching Birds
by Carolyn Zaldivar Snow
photo by Jaclyn Sosnowski
Known as the Sonic Sorceress, composer and synthesist Lisa Bella Donna has a talent for fusing
the esoteric with the technical. Working from a remote Appalachian home-base, the composer’s
days are spent mapping sounds in dense woods, drinking cowboy coffee, and cooking tin foil
dinners on an open fire. Despite the rustic energy, Lisa’s studio dances between seasoned analog
gear and state-of-the art digital processing. Tape Op caught up with her and chatted about her
custom modular road cabinet, the synthesizer she bought her daughter, and her recent
collaboration with Psychic Temple.
You often mention “the source” in
your creative process. What does
that mean to you?
What’s the source? Well, for me, the source is living,
working, parenting, and creating in nature. When I
first started doing electronic music 30 years ago, my
first studio was in a small shack in rural, West
Virginia. I’ve lived in many cities since, but I didn’t
feel I was in tune with what was going on. Now, it’s
full circle. I’ve set up shop in a wonderful location
where I feel I am truly part of the source of where my
intentions with electronic music unfold and evolve.
My most fulfilling days of composing out here simply

m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc
entail going outside, having open ears, and listening. Walk me through how you play with
My albums, American Watercolors and Synesthesia,
were developed by exploring and learning the
passageways of the woods and landscapes here. I I’ve always been attracted to sound and fascinated by how
would pack supplies for the day, then, before sunrise,
I’d hike to a little camp I’ve set up in our woods and
listen intently from dawn to dusk. To listen to the
metamorphosis of a day out here unfolds much like a
great piece of classical music. There’s so much you
can learn about arrangement, musical, and sonic
placement by just listening for a full day. That’s the
source for me, to be out here in this environment. It’s
truly precious to my process.
How do you translate your experience in
My studio is small and cozy, but I have custom-built large
t)
(a
99
ox
yc
spatial audio and transpose your rural
setting.
sound works. It’s pressure, its distance, it’s space. It’s
when you stop and really remove yourself from
distraction; when you set out to truly release yourself to
deep listening. You learn what works in real time. So
many more elements unfurl clearly into view beyond just
the musical idea you’re intending to harness and create.
When I began working with synthesizers years ago, I
began by creating in a simple musically stylistic direction. Tell me about your custom modular
Then I moved more into 20th century atonality by
exploring stereo range, width, phase, and contrast.
Modular synthesizers offer an incredible celestial range,
both musically and sonically. I wanted to explore
something beyond that, where I could connect the The modular system is a custom construct I created with
listener closer to my music. I wanted to create a sonic
space, an electronic wilderness around my listeners so
that the music would reach them in a different way. As if
the music was a response to the stereo landscape. Over
time, I developed this process where I would venture out
with these big notebooks. I would take them and use
them to record everything that I would hear while
exploring throughout the many areas of Appalachia. On
one half of the notebook, there would be a selection of
frequency graphs to record audio data, including
duration, amplitude, modulation, position, panning, and
distance. On the other side I would have musical staves,
a keyboard all along the bottom of the page with its
(d
assigned frequency number. Then I’d included another
column for notes so that I can connect these different
elements with a compositional intention. I’d explore,
hike, and sometimes canoe to a location, set up camp,
then listen to each specific environment for hours. I’d
l
implement a stopwatch and a compass to help pinpoint
information I heard traveling throughout the valleys and
ai
channels. Pitch, repetition, modulation time, modulation
shape, and so on. I would experiment with quantizing
that information to the value of the nearest semitone,
then translate those calculations into musical dictation.
gm
Those would become arrangements and orchestrations for
other instruments, and of course modular synthesizers.
the woods back into the studio?
format 5U modular synthesizer cabinets that go all the
way around the entire studio. All the trunk lines and
outputs are wired to a patchbay that can be routed to
anywhere in the studio – tape machines, HD recorders,
and DAW. I have quadraphonic monitoring and mixing in
the studio at any time, which allows me to listen for the
kinds of detail and realism I’m going after when realizing
a piece. Being able to actually see every module from
each system allows me the freedom of choice to create
each detail of a sonic dimension or musical I heard you have an assistant that tours
development. The patchbay allows me to immediately
pick and choose which format I want to start recording
a piece with. Each format changes the process of my When out on the road, my dear friend and technical
muse. Sometimes, all I want is a 4-track reel-to-reel or
2-track DSD [Direct Stream Digital]. If it sounds great
there, then it’s either a finished piece or I will transfer
and take it into a multitrack for post-production.
L. Bella Donna/(continued on page 14)/Tape Op#161/13
Some of the tools I have here, such as frequency
counters, oscilloscopes, analyzers, and a wide variety of
different filter banks and systems, allow me to fine tune
and dial in what impressions I collect from the outside
world. It’s time consuming, yet a meditative and
rewarding process. On albums like Early Atmospheres, I
would spend many mornings well into the night, creating
different kinds of birds and developing beautiful scenes
of quadraphonic and stereo development. Modular
synthesis allows me to create and ornament an ever-
unfolding sonic environment for a participating listener.
cabinet and your touring rig that
recently made an appearance at
Luminous Abstract in Asbury Park,
New Jersey. What’s inside?
Peter Foley [<foleytronics.com>]. It contains my Moog
m
Mothership in a cabinet. I’ve used this system for the
co
videos I’ve collaborated on with Moog Music. In the
other cabinet – which is usually underneath – are a pair
of Doepfer modular cabinets that contain a wide
variety of Eurorack format modules – Moog, Doepfer,
4ms, Buchla, AJH, and Roland, as well as some custom
modules made for me by Rich Sherkin of Lower West
)
Side Studio in Canada. Rich is an incredibly talented
and brilliant synth builder. He has created many
ot
custom modules and modifications that are all
throughout my studio modular systems and live setups.
Rich is a wizard at creating modules for designs like
classic ARP 2500, Serge, Steiner-Parker, EML, and
Oberheim filters. He built me a custom complex
sequential generator and universal logic clock. He also
recently modified a pair of Hologram Electronics
Microcosms into a pair of 5U modules, each with true
stereo interfacing, MIDI, and more CV [control voltage]
control. He’s been a godsend to the welfare and quality
of my work. Both he and his wife, [actress, producer,
writer] Mari Sherkin, are both extremely inspiring and
talented artists. Next to the modular systems rests a
32-channel mixing console that I use to mix the show,
and it can also multitrack with ease if I wish. I have a
Mellotron M4000D, Moog Grandmother, and an ARP
2600 on top. The ARP 2600 and Moog Grandmother are
essential to my live performances. In front of me,
facing the audience, is the Moog One 16 voice
polyphonic synthesizer – the best sounding and most
versatile of all the modern polyphonic synthesizers. It’s
like packing a Moog Model 15, [Yamaha] CS-80, and an
Oberheim under one hood. Three poly-sequencers at
any time, multi-timbral presets, a wonderful mixing
section, and a sound that cannot and will not be
denied! [laughter] It crushes. It has pummeled a few
audiences on a few occasions. I’ve been touring with
the Moog One for five years, and it’s been a trooper.
with you to help set up, and you do not
patch until you’re at the venue?
assistant, Brandon Reisig, usually comes with me. He
is an amazing synthesist, so we speak the same
language. We also get on well, have the same sense of
humor, and are individual perfectionists. We do a great
 job of tackling the snags that come with each and every
live performance. We have our system down to a science,
which allows all the hard work to be fun and keeps the
spirits clear so great music can be projected to each
audience. It takes about four to six hours to unload,
unpack, set up, patch, tune, run lines, mix, and refine
before soundcheck. I prefer not to pre-patch. For me,
the creation of the setup each night is my favorite part
of touring and performing. I like to go into a situation
and feel out what the energy is, and what interests the
audience or students have. I try to stay open and
sensitive to that barometer. It provides me the freedom
to dial things up and create a beautiful constellation for
the night. Once set up, I throw on the headphones and
patch pretty quickly, and we will have arrived at what
the set will be in a couple of hours. After the show, it
takes only an hour to 90 minutes to tear down, pack up,
load everything into the van, and head to the next
concert, residency, or a dark, cozy, local bar somewhere
for an ice-cold beer. Brandon is family. We have great
systems in place for each other’s projects. When time
permits, Brandon will join me on stage for an interactive
modular synthesizer piece. It’s always a great contrast,
and great fun.
I’m not sure this is accurate, but I heard
you stole an ARP from an old job in
commercial work.
That is partially true. I mean, I would never steal anything
per se! [laughs] The studio I worked at in the late ‘80s had
an ARP Odyssey with about two inches of dust on it. I
cleaned it up, took it apart, and changed a few things,
and that’s the ARP Odyssey that I still use today. I just
had it refurbished and I spent about what they cost on
the market to give it a clean bill of health. I made a
decision at a certain point, after moving out here, to sell
off a lot of my vintage gear except for all of my ARP
synthesizers. I have two ARP String Ensembles and an
ARP Omni, as well as an ARP Odyssey, ARP Axxe, and two
ARP Sequencers. I still have my 1978 Moog Prodigy. I
finally sold the [Moog] Polymoog. All my vintage
[Sequential Circuits] Prophets, Roland, and Yamaha synths
I had to streamline, because it’s incredibly expensive to
keep vintage synthesizers in record ready condition. I
wanted to build an expansive modular system that aligns
with my musical intentions, needs, and my process. This
is why I went large format in the studio. It’s large enough
to do multiple projects at once and explore many ideas
simultaneously and efficiently. Most importantly, it’s
audiophile quality. It has to peel the paint off the walls
and shake the entire house when it’s supposed to!
(a
Early Atmospheres is a standout in your
catalog, particularly the track “Dawn
on Manitou River” really captures
these vintage machines and creative
process for me.
99
That was the most fun I’ve had composing a record! It
came after a long, brutal, writer’s block. I had been in
a pretty dark space for a long time. The beginning of
ox
last year took a toll on me and it made writing difficult.
My career is to be creative, and I couldn’t really get to
a place of inspiration beyond just being a sound
designer and educator. However, composing and
yc
recording is the core of it all for me. It’s what gives life
14/Tape Op#161/L. Bella Donna/(continued on page 16)
and clarity to everything else that I am doing. I finally Have you bought your daughter a
took five days offline and went to write and record that
record. I spent the first couple of days reading and [laughter] She has a Yamaha synthesizer. One of those
hiking to open the receptors.
What were you reading? Are these
instruction manuals or novels?
I went back and read Tom Brown Jr.’s The Journey, which is
an amazing philosophy book. I did read some technical
books about filters and filter design from the ‘70s and
early ‘80s, as well as Stephen Nachmanovitch’s Free Play,
Wyrdcraft by Matthew Ash McKernan, Trapline Chatter
[Life and Love with ‘Last Alaskan’ Bob Harte] by Nancy
Becker, Nik Bartsch’s Listening, and others by E.E.
Cummings and Piers Anthony.
How did you get yourself out of creative
burnout?
Patience. You have to stop and remember that many of the
great things that we do in life are not because of our
strides, but it’s because we enabled the capacity for those
blessings to come through our facilities as artists. It’s a
balancing act for sure. When I get into a rut or I feel
uninspired, I get away from the studio and get into other
activities. I love working in our yard. I love spending time should sound like, musically or sound design. That’s
with my kid. I’ll take on a project in the house. I love
being a homemaker, so I’ll deep clean, organize, and
rearrange. It’s therapeutic and allows me to build myself
in a new capacity. To manifest new life and process
matters of the heart. Soon, the music emerges from a
place of clearing. When silence isn’t working, I listen to
old radio programs or some great classical music. I find
(d
new reflections and observations about what is possible,
where else I can go with the music. Once the evocation
for a piece begins to happen, I’m ready to get in there and
get the studio warmed up and tape rolling. I tend to go
to bed later and get up earlier. That’s how many of my
l
records take shape. It’s the spirit of an idea taking shape
that’s more important than the idea itself. I’ll find my flow wonderful voice! I try my best to simply be a present
ai
with it and then the impressions soon transcend through
the stereo landscape. On my records, the performance is
eminent. I’d rather patch the modular system and dial in What can we look for from you coming up?
a mix for a few days first. I find my range, how much I’m currently trying to get the year booked out for shows
gm
headroom I have, then I hit record once and set forth on
the journey that awaits. If I am out of my own way, the
muse has much more room and clarity to make magic.
You mentioned your daughter. I’m a
mom, and when I go to an evening gig
t)
it genuinely takes a toll on our family
with the late nights. What is it like
being a touring, working mom?
You understand. It can be difficult. There are times where
I’m working double, triple time and it’s tough. Yesterday
I woke at 3 a.m to complete projects. Some days I have
that, and there are definitely times when it’s exhausting
– but I love spending quality time with my daughter. I
love being involved in her process and development. I’ve
certainly had moments where we sit down to watch that
movie together and ten minutes later, I’m out like a
light. [laughter] It happens. If she’s off to spend the
night with a friend or something, instead of doing more
work I’ll try to get proper rest and reset. That way I am
ready to be clear and present while she’s here. Since
becoming a parent, I no longer tour for more than two Speaking of putting out LPs, you choose to
weeks consecutively.
synthesizer yet?
stations with the speakers and everything, but it’s kind
of cool. It has its own filter, resonance, and reverb. It
has a song arranger, but also has an arpeggiator. She will
occasionally have these amazing bursts of musical
creativity. Over this past summer she wrote some songs.
So, we headed upstairs, and she played through this
amazing sequence of ideas. She’s remembering what her
chord inversions are, or whatever sounds like it makes
sense – then she dialed back the filter at the end. My
heart was exploding, so I asked, “Do you want to go
downstairs in the studio, and we can record it?” She
replied, “No, let’s go outside.” Over the pandemic, we
created an album together called Pilgrimage based off of
her storyboards. She’s more of a visual artist. Definitely
an avid reader for her age, which makes my heart full.
m
She began reading through a variety of book series,
co
many of them with elaborate character development and
illustrations. I feel these inspired her storyboards, and
she would describe in clear detail her ideas and what it
what Pilgrimage is. She titled each piece as well. We
would lay all of her storyboards out on the desk and go
)
through it as if we were scoring a movie or book. Once
ot
we had an idea in motion, she would sit on my lap, and
together we would dial up various sounds on the synths.
I still had my huge Yamaha synthesizer in here, the
SK50D. We had that hooked up from its various output
channels with various panning and effects, and it soon
had this playful orchestral galaxy going on. It was a fun
record to make. Then, that will be it. She’ll have no
interest whatsoever. [laughter] She’s now in choir and
drama at school. I love hearing her sing solo when she’s
drawing or painting in her room. She has such a
and supportive parent. I want her to develop into the
individual she wishes to be.
and workshops, and that’s going pretty good so far. I
haven’t had the time and opportunity to spend on
certain projects – Moogmentum was the longest that I
had spent on an album in a long time, which was two
weeks. That’s composing, recording, programming, and
mixing. For my releases in the coming year, I am going
to bracket off more time to refine them; especially to
truly utilize all of the many beautiful opportunities in
this studio and some of the new ideas I’ve been
developing. I have releases planned with Behind The
Sky Music and Imperial Emporium Sound Options. A few
other labels have expressed interest in working on
releases this year. Chris Schlarb [Tape Op #129] and I are
planning for another collaboration out in Los Angeles
with Psychic Temple. We’ve collaborated before on A
Universe Regards Itself. That LP came out in November of
2023, and it was a great session and a great experience.
We’re currently threatening to make more time to do
some other things and spend a little more time on the
next project together.
use vinyl as your preferred format.
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
 To me, vinyl is the way to the source. [laughter] It’s a format
that has lasted the test of time. As recording artists, we’re
allowed this timeless possibility to inspire people years
down the line. It’s amazing to know that the records you
do could be heard 50 years later and inspire someone.
Maybe they’ll take up an instrument, art, or simply think
about something different, or feel something profound.
Streaming is something we all do, so there’s no reason to
act like we don’t. It’s a portable experience; that’s about
all it’s worth. I don’t ever listen to it at home, but it is
amazing to have your entire world of music at your
fingertips. As for what streaming services have become,
how they marginalize the algorithm of what artists you
get to hear and what artists you don’t, and the way they
blatantly rip off artists, it’s unfortunate. However, that’s
the way it’s always been. When punk, metal, and avant-
garde music came out of the whole underground scene in
the ‘70s and ‘80s, that was a great opportunity to deplore

m
that whole thing. Those artists created a new space for

co
their music and a community that still supports and
circulates it. We need more of that.
Like with local tape trades?
Bandcamp has been a tremendous platform. It’s probably
destined for extinction, but it’s been a great opportunity
for me to release fifty albums there. Certain albums, like

)
December’s Pentacle, Circulus, or Afterimages allowed me to
develop momentum. “Oh, I have an idea and I’m going

ot
write it, record it, mix it, and have it out in three days
from the moment it was conceived.” It’s a valuable
process that I don’t have with vinyl or with releases where

(d
I have to consider covering costs. I’ve also heard a lot of
amazing music that I wouldn’t have heard. I’m a huge fan
of Anne Sulikowski and Andreas Scotty Böttcher. Both
were great inspirations to me to consider releasing my
own albums again. I went through a long period where I
l
just wasn’t releasing stuff. Of course, I am always
composing and recording, yet I don’t necessarily need to
ai

have that circulation. I don’t release my music on the

streaming platforms unless I have an agreement with a
label that wishes to. If you really want to experience my
music, either listen to it at one of my concerts, kindly
gm

support it on Bandcamp, or listen on LP or CD. Or write to

me, and I’ll mail you a tape! I still love tape trading.
You really still are doing tape trades?
[laughter] Yes! I’ll absolutely mail you a tape. Everyone needs
to find their own way. I love the rapport I have with my
t)

listeners. Instagram has also been a wonderful part of that

circulation. There’s no one in between me and those who
support my music, and I think that that’s the most
beautiful part of it. I’m most grateful for that. r
(a

<isabelladonna.bandcamp.com> @lisabelladonna
Carolyn Zaldivar Snow is a musician and freelance writer in
Baltimore. She is communication director for DC’s Sound Scene
Fest hosted annually at Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and
99

Sculpture Garden, and curator of the Singles Series at label

Mystery Circles. Connect on Threads @tangent_universes.
ox
yc

16/Tape Op#161/L. Bella Donna/(Fin.)

yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
 Releasing his first album in 1982, Steve What synthesizers did you start out graphics on it! There was Sequential [Circuits] and E-
Roach has continued to make hundreds of with? mu Systems up north [in San Francisco and Santa
records in his personal Timeroom studios I started in ’78, and my first synth was a Roland SH-3A. Cruz], and Korg and the Japanese synths were
over the years, while also touring his I soon bought an [ARP Instruments] 2600, which I coming in, but Santa Monica was ground zero at that
music. Additionally, he produces records guess they call it semi-modular, but you patched it time for me and synth development. Marcus Ryle was
and collaborates with artists from all over too. It had the basic signal flow set, but I could designing a lot with Oberheim, and then went on to
the world. A lazy listener might lump his found Line 6. There was also 360 Systems and JL
override it with patches. In early photos, you’ll see
“progressive ambient” creations under the
that my classic setup in the ‘80s was the ARP 2600 Cooper Electronics. It was really a feeling of being at
onerous new age tag. However, having
been a fan of his albums for 40 years, I with three ARP Sequencers mounted together above the core of that.
can guarantee there is far more going on it. I had some other little modules that came from Polyphonic synthesizers were not
here than some tinkly massage guys that were making them at the time. And then available when you first started
background music. As the 40th anniversary it was the [Moog] Micromoog, ARP String Ensemble, playing, right?
of his sublime Structures From Silence and later I brought in the Oberheim polyphonic They were not. The ARP String Ensemble was the
album arrived, it seemed high time I synths. I was living in Culver City, [California,] and [Eminent BV] Solina String Ensemble from Holland.
dropped Steve a line at his home in the Oberheim was in Santa Monica at the time. I knew a You could play chords on it, but it was more in the
Sonoran Desert near Tucson, Arizona, to lot of guys designing there, so I was playing vein of organ technology. I was drawn to that at the
learn more about his recording and very beginning, because I heard a lot of the European
prototypes of the Oberheim Xpander with no
composition methods over the years.

m
co
Time Becomes Nothing

)
by Larry Crane

ot
photo by Frank Beissel

(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc
 and German school, like Klaus Schulze and Tangerine I remember seeing synthesists use little The early synthesizers weren’t cheap.
Dream, playing these beautiful chords on Farfisa lead weights to put on keys to hold How did you make that work for you, to
[organs] and some early string synthesizers. That’s down notes. be able to make a living and get by?
where we were getting the polyphonic component to Well, that’s the early hold button there. My frequent I came from a working-class family, and we didn’t have
the music at that early time. With the ARP 2600 and collaborator, Robert Rich, would use fishing weights, any money. But I was taught early that if you want it,
its three oscillators, I would tune it to a chord and and we’d all have our own little special icons that had you go out and work for it. At that point, I was working
then I would play the chord with one finger. enough weight to hold the plastic keys down. some factory job, and I took out a 25 percent interest
[laughs] Right. I’ve used masking tape, but then it lets go loan. I had to have an analog synth! Eventually, I would
Those early days of the one finger chord live on here accidentally! draw some instruments to me, because people would
now; so many of the new synths now have chord I also was in the tape school as well. Or matchbooks that see how passionate I was and that I didn’t have the
memory and you can load up as many notes as you you could stick between the black and white keys. If money. I had a guy loan me two EMS Synthi A, the
can cluster up on a chord, using both hands; then you you look at Klaus Schultz’s Moondawn album, as we did classic British synth. But, ultimately, my first big step
hit “hold” and have a ten-note chord that you can as young aspirants of the music, we would study it with into the void of it all was the ARP 2600, ARP Sequencer,
then do amazing work with. That all started in the a magnifying glass and see on the back cover that there [Moog] Micromoog, and ARP String Ensemble. I bought
early days, through the limitations of polyphonic and were certainly weights on some of the keys. That was it all. That was probably $4,000 or $5,000 back then,
having a three-voice monophonic synth that I would the universal “hold button” that we would all do on the with 25% interest!
then play through tunings like that. early analog keyboards. Ouch.
Something physical and simple. Nothing says, “I’m going to get serious about this” than

m
Yeah. With modern synths I see hold buttons, but having that looming over you. [laughter] But none of

occasionally I think, “Where’s the hold button?” You
can get a modular world going now with the
sophistication of the polyphonic synths, like the [ASM]
Hydrasynth, where they’ve got modular aspects built
into them now. It’s quite powerful and amazing. I have
a few of the Hydrasynths, and I’m quite fond of the
co
that got in my way. I realized that I had to have the
tools. I wasn’t cut of the cloth to go to an academic
world and work in a controlled environment with
people telling me how to do this or that. I went for one
and a half days at a local electronic course at a junior
college, and I walked out. I said, “I’ll still be here when

)
little Hydrasynth Explorer; it’s like a baby Xpander. Glen I’m 35 years old, waiting to get my ‘keys to the car’ to

ot
Darcey, who designed it, worked a lot with the Xpander drive it around.”
and wove in those components where you can have Breakthroughs happen by simply
matrix patching and go way beyond. It’s a great synth immersing oneself in the work.
for the sound: It has portability, sophistication, and the No question. Yeah.

(d
ability to put it in the hands of lots of people. I know you were living in a small house
You were accumulating keyboards, a in Culver City, and it was taken over as
mixing board, and effects. One of the a whole studio.
first things I discovered was that synths And, yes, my studio space is where I was five minutes ago
need some type of ambience – a reverb before we got online here. I’ve always had Timerooms.
l
or delay – to add texture and space. That’s what I call the studio; that’s where I enter into
As I started to pull the carpet back to see what was this realm of time and then time becomes nothing at
ai

happening, reading interviews, and through my own
immersion in the early days, the mixing board
immediately became essential. To me, the mixing board
is still the most important instrument of all that I have.
gm
that point. I’m in the flow. Now it’s actually the
Timehouse. I have a freestanding, separate house I
share with my wife, Linda Kohanov, and we have a
studio there as well. The Timehouse sits high on a ridge

My main studio console these days – that has all the
synths and hardware effects filling every channel – is a
Soundcraft GB8 with 40 channels. I have been using
various Soundcraft boards since the mid-’80s. I started
with the Series 200, then to Delta, Ghost, and a Series
t)
and looks out about 75 miles. Every room is a different
studio. There are essentially three studios set up that are
always up and running. They’re like easels for a visual
painter or a sculptor. I’ll have the modular in one room,
and that might be patched up and running for two

6000, modified by Tim Spencer of True Systems [Tape Op
#72]. The board and effects are essentially an extension
to the synth itself. I still take out the 32 channel
Soundcraft LX7ii; that’s my easel that I mix and perform
(a
weeks or longer. That’s where it’s evolving and I’m
recording it as it’s unfolding and evolving. Those early
days in Culver City were continuations of how I started
in San Diego. I migrated to L.A. and got immersed in

with. In the very beginning, I had a Sunn Magna mixer
from 1977, that was designed by Greg Mackie. As the
synthesizers were evolving, so were the portable, hands-
on mixers with lots of channels and pre and post sends.
Pre and post sends are big in how I work, so I can pull
99
the electronic scene there as I was meeting a lot of the
folks that were at the beginning of building all the great
gear with Oberheim. I was doing lots of concerts in L.A.
I played at the Troubadour in ‘79, and [owner] Doug
Weston reluctantly let us play as a three-synthesizer trio

sounds back deeper in the reverb or delays. The Roland on a Sunday afternoon as an experiment. There was a
Space Echo [tape delay/reverb] was an essential tool in lot of that going on, where we were breaking through
the early days. The [Yamaha] Rev 7 was the first coveted into a world that hadn’t thought of a band being three
ox

digital reverb that I put my hands on. At that the time,
the holy grail was a Lexicon. Eventually the Lexicon
PCM70 would arrive around the creation of “Dreamtime
Return” in 1987. Before that I would do certain final
yc
guys with synths. Through all of 2023, I was hosting a
series in Tucson on the first Tuesday of the month called
Ambient Lounge in a cool jazz club, Century Room, in
downtown Tucson at the Hotel Congress. We had

mixes in pro studios that had the Lexicon 224 or 480. ambient electronic experimental music going in a club
S. Roach/(continued on page 20)/Tape Op#161/19
 where you would normally hear traditional jazz. It’s a Yeah, or John Carpenter.
sacred space for listening, which is perfect for this The early analog sequencer experience had the energy of
music. I’m taking out a refined system that I could have
had 10 or 20 years ago. It’s a 16-channel mixing board,
Lexicon reverbs, and Eventide processing. No laptops,
no computers; just hands-on shaping, carving, and
responding immediately. That’s my approach to it. At
the same time, I’ll see someone doing amazing stuff on
a laptop, and I have respect for that as well.
Have you tried working only in a laptop
or a DAW format for performances or
recording?
Absolutely. I looked at soft synths and how to weave that
in. I lost interest pretty quickly. For me, the hardware
gear has something so visceral and so absolutely subtle
in the feel. Number one is the sound from the
components used in its creation. Even if it’s plastic and
metal, and it’s a synth with knobs and all that, there’s
always something often elegant and beautiful in the
way that they’ve chosen the right potentiometers.
There’s this sensual feel that I get used to. Having
grown up with Oberheim, it set the standard with that
quality of build. I recently got my hands on the new
Oberheim OB-X8. It’s fantastic. They brought all the
essence of the core of that up to right now. The sound
of it is unbelievably huge if you want it to be, or it can
be delicate. But again, there’s something visceral about
the hardware and I don’t get that feeling with DAWs Structures From Silence was your third
and soft synths. It could be just my own imaginary
perception of latency constantly within this gear. It’s
got to feel right. And that’s where the music and the
emotion and the subtlety is born from. I’m not It was basically the DSX, the Oberheim digital sequencer.
thinking, “Wow, this sounds almost like the 2600.” I’ve
got to have my hands on the magic.
Yeah. And the randomness of an ARP
2600.
Yeah. At certain times I would use [Native Instruments] It did change a lot.
Absynth. That was more of its own thing; it wasn’t Yeah. So, the MIDI sequencer then allowed me to sit at
trying to emulate something. I could find abstraction
or emotional sounds out of there that aren’t trying to
model something else.
You certainly recall how hard it was to
learn about synths in the late ‘70s and
even ‘80s. The first time I heard a
sequencer, I thought, “How’s that
person playing that pattern over and
t)
over so fast?”
Yeah, we could get off this interview and type in anything
we’re talking about and have a Wikipedia page for
reference. That’s how the early albums had a religious
(a
quality, where we would study them. That’s where I
learned about the ARP 2600 and ARP Sequencer, and
how those pieces sound.
A sequencer as a standalone, analog-
based unit that would do steps and
99
patterns is something our younger
readers might not even know about or Right.
understand these days.
ox
Yeah, the analog step sequencer has been around since
the dawn of analog synth time. That’s the one that you
hear that gets clichéd. It can be used creatively, or it
can be used in a more casual way. We would hear how
yc
Devo used it, and then how Tangerine Dream would.
20/Tape Op#161/S. Roach/(continued on page 22)
rock music. When we heard [Pink Floyd’s] The Dark Side
of the Moon [“On the Run”], the first use of the
sequencer in there, that was with the EMS [KS
Keyboard/Sequencer]. The analog sequencers, even
though they’re limited, as I began to explore that
world deeper and deeper, I realized that it’s not just
an 8-note or a 16-note or a 32-note or a 64-note
pattern, but I could combine sequences. I’d start
changing the length of each sequence, and then You can plug a synthesizer into an
combining those phasing sequencer patterns against
each other. Then, we were entering into the world of
Steve Reich [Tape Op #15], and that type of
minimalism where the sequences are going out of Right. I heard that early in an interview with Kraftwerk
phase and they’re creating this moiré pattern of
complete engagement. I can accelerate and create
these multidimensional spaces that feel as if we’re
hovering or physically moving somewhere. It steps
beyond any technical tool at that point, but it starts
to do – what I called one of my albums – “skeleton
keys.” To me, there’s no other type of music or
function that takes me to that place. The way I need
to hear sequencers, and the way I crave to hear it in
other music, is when it takes me, and it starts to do
these things in my consciousness. It opens up a door
with the “skeleton key” that is accessed through that.
album, 40 years ago, and a bit of a
breakthrough attention and sales-
(d
wise. How was it created?
MIDI had been out for about a year or so. I was at
the very first NAMM meeting [1983] where Dave
Smith [Sequential Circuits] announced MIDI, and it
l
was like some kind of biblical moment there!
ai
the Oberheim OB-8 and play my diaphanous, flowing,
and breathing chords, and play them as if I’m playing
them into, at that time, a Tascam 3340, which is what
gm
I recorded Structures on, partially. But with the DSX, I keep fine-tuning the tempo, and slowing it down,
could play that chord progression that is the title track and finding a little cluster here and there. I went into
for 30 minutes. Then I hit Stop, Loop, and it would
come back. At that point, I could participate with it
but in a way where it’s not on tape. I could change the
filters and add a few notes here and there. It’s similar engineered the session with me. I set up behind the
to playing with a collaborator, at that point. Once I
saw how I could do that polyphonically, that had
nothing to do with the Berlin school or sequencer-style
music – the way we were used to hearing it up to that
point. It was using it as a polyphonic device, basically notes here and there. I did have a second OB-8, and
what would later be revealed in the DAWs, where we
could create multi-layered, orchestrated music and call
it a sequencer; but really recording into a multitrack
digital workstation.
It wasn’t a matter of me not having the right tools, but
the kind of space that I wanted to create aligned
instantly when I got my hands on the DSX – the
polyphonic pre-MIDI sequencer – and the Oberheim OB-
8; this was the world I knew I wanted to paint in. I’m
coming from a visual perspective, where I could have
three or four long, atmospheric loops that are not
synchronized together. You’re lying on your back, and
you’re watching those shapes in the sky move against
each other and creating their own beautiful
synchronization organically that way. That really is what
has continued on for me all the way ‘til right now, that
style of music. Again, the mixing board has never left;
it’ll always be. In my mentoring of artists that I help
along I’ll say, “The mixing board is number one. This is
the first thing that you need to get your hands on.”
amplifier, like a guitar, but you
usually can’t even plug two into
one amp.
in Synapse magazine. I was one of their
correspondents in the early stages in the late ‘70s.
Again, that’s how we were getting a lot of
m
information; I still have a lot of those issues.
co
Kraftwerk were saying, “We create loudspeaker
music.” It was a revelation at that point, because the
music doesn’t do anything until we put it in a speaker.
The speakers become the acoustic body for the
Oberheim. That’s when I realized how important it
was to have speakers that sounded great, because the
)
better they sound, the better the Oberheim will
sound. But at the same time, if I wanted to hear them
ot
in a big cathedral space or in a canyon, eventually
digital reverb became the holy grail for doing
expansive, spatially placed electronic synth music. So,
that right there was Structures From Silence. It’s one
Oberheim, essentially. For the title track, we actually
recorded it at Gary Chang’s studio. Gary, a film
composer, was doing a lot of early films and came out
of the CalArts crew out there, and he had a great
studio in Santa Monica. For the title track, I knew I
had to get my hands on a [Lexicon] 224 [Digital
Reverb]. That was the sound that Structures... had to
live in. But since I had recorded Structures... into the
DSX, it was there in Culver City studio/home
bungalow for three or four months, alive. I would just
Gary’s with Kevin Braheny, who was a friend and
studio engineer who worked building a lot of the
Serge synthesizer modules at that time. He
console, and here was the sacred 224 sitting there,
and we dialed up the sound and recorded it. The
sequence is playing but I’m interacting with it. As it’s
playing, I’m changing the tempo and adding few
I added that in as it was going down. So, the 30
minutes that it takes to hear it is the time that it took
to create it, that moment. You’re hearing just a
moment; a live performance in the studio. I have the
[Ampex] 456 1/4-inch [tape] out in the garage. I
always remember going and buying the 456 reels at
the supplier in downtown L.A. I would get home, and
I was such a purist. I would want to just record the
piece one time on that tape and that would be it. I
had this whole fixation around not wanting to record
over it. A lot of what I’m doing these days carries on
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
 like this: I can get a whole universe of sounds
synchronized and playing, then interacting with them
live. I’m doing a lot of live recording down to a [2-
track] Tascam DA-3000 at 24/96. That little setup is
perfect for a lot of how I work. Then I’ll put it in a DAW
and add some parts if I need to.
That’s a nice way to work.
With what I do, it’s like when there’s a beautiful sunset or
a moment where everything’s aligning, and I’ll capture
it. I could break it all down; I could take the clouds and
fine-tune those and the mountain ridge and all that,
but then it starts getting convoluted. I’d lose the
energy and the way it all melts together. “Magic tracks”
is what I call them – these powerful tracks that have
some energy in them that I can’t explain. Those will be
great foundations to come in and add elements to, in
order to fine tune, orchestrate, or put some acoustic
instruments along with it. I have 40 years of magic
I don’t know if you want to call it courage, but there’s and it mutes the sphere, or you can put it in Creation
a certain amount of, “I’m going to do this, and I’m mode, and then it’s like you put in a random mode in
going to live with it for an hour because I need to an automated board and the faders start to move. We
feel it for myself.” But while it’s being sculpted and brought it back, as there was a demand for it.
created, there are subtle interactions at the board Have you encountered recording
where I’m slowly changing the EQ. If you look at the engineers where they didn’t
magic hour of sunset, how the light shifts over 20 understand working on your music?
minutes; I’ll use that as a metaphor in EQ and adding I would say I never have. Early on, when I was doing work
reverbs. I have a lot of listeners say, “I’ve been in L.A. in some of the big studios there that I would get
hearing this for 25 years, and it feels different when in in off hours – we even worked in the famous Capitol
I hear it from one day to the next.” That is cool. Studios [Tape Op #114] – I would always be with
Plus, perspectives of this music change simpatico folks that were there with me. I was also fairly
at different volumes. I have a little protective of my creative world that I lived in. I created
Sonos speaker next to my bed, and an envelope of safety to work in. Even when I had the
I’ll listen to some of your records early Tascam boards, I would gather the tools and go
as I’m drifting off to sleep. But into a pro studio for a night or two with an engineer;
they’re playing very quietly, so I’m people that were on the same page. Also, it was
only hearing a little bit of the important meeting up with Michael Stearns in L.A. He

m
tracks now. I’ve got cassettes, DATs, CD-Rs, and every fundamental tonal shifts. was doing the big IMAX films and had some great gear.

medium that’s survived the attrition of time.
Do you pull old ones out and see if you
can add to it and find something new?
That’s a cool question. Yeah, absolutely. Because it was
created 20 years ago doesn’t mean it’s any less valid or
vibrant. If I can hear it now and think, “Did I create that
Absolutely.
But I’ve cranked your albums on my
studio’s monitors with a subwoofer, and
then it wraps around me more and I’m
lost in it. Parts can now feel unsettling
on pieces where there’s a bit of a rub or
co
Of course, his philosophy was in line with mine, with the
whole expansiveness of the desert and all. I would
continue to gather the tribe around me that would be
there and not make me feel like I was on the wrong
planet. That’s where I continued to develop, to collect
and build my own Timeroom studio, and keep focusing

)
last night?” At my Bandcamp page I have an exclusive there’s a low rhythmic part. on all that. More collaborations came with people all
page where subscribers, for the cost of a couple of cups Absolutely. That’s the beauty of it. The absolutely over the world, like Jorge Reyes and Vidna Obmana [Dirk

ot
of coffee a month, can get access to my archives and to important piece is the level of how you administer the Serries] – folks from different countries, where we would
all this music I have from 40 years. Three days ago, I medicine there. share that together. I’ve worked in studios in Madrid,
released a new piece that’s 28 minutes long. It’s a Exactly! [laughs] Spain, and Germany with big SSL automated boards. We

beautiful atmosphere from 23 years ago with Parker Fly
guitar loops: They are textural, amorphous, and
evocative. I put it up in the studio a week ago, and
immediately started playing the new Oberheim to it. It
was like we were there together; the older version of me
and the current one had merged. I had the digital
sequencers running, and the mix playing back from the
(d
The way that I work is that I’m monitoring at low levels a seemed to always have engineers that were fascinated
lot of times. I’ll be very conscious about taking it down and open to this music. We would always set up behind
to the threshold of, “Is it there?” That’s another thing I the board, so we could be interacting with these giant
love about my studio here, is that I can create all of mixers. The board is so essential.
those zones that are running live; I can come in and It’s control room music.
l
keep recording. I’ll reel off another two hours of one It is. Because you’re the one in control!
space today, and then, in two or three days, it’s already Many of your sounds have such gradual
ai

original source. It was a CD-R, and I was playing it
directly through the board and EQ’ing it and treating it
live as well. I took all those elements, the live parts, and
just recorded it back to the DA-3000. Then three days
shifted into something else. I have these natural entries. Are those manipulations on
occurrences. The level of perception of going back to the console, or are they done via ADSR
evaluate that is another story, because I’ve got to spend [attack, decay, sustain, release]
the time to live with it. Here at my kitchen table, I have settings?
gm

later I put it up on my exclusive page, and it’s there right
now for everybody to hear.
Isn’t it great to have an instant outlet,
where you can get it directly to people
who want to hear it?
two small Yumi speakers, and I’m playing pieces quietly That’s really a good question. It’s a combination of
back when working here, and testing it out that way. creating these morphing, slow-motion sound worlds
Every type of music ends up being that are doing a lot within the patch itself. Different
background music, at some point. tunings are coming in and out, different chords, and
True. Music has become so functional, on so many levels. different amplitude levels. There’s slow-motion
t)

Yeah. It’s so cool. When I think back about all of the
drama of doing records through the traditional
labels… The way they would grab me, hold me, and
control me didn’t work for my kind of energy and the
(a
It’s interesting to interview people of all different ages automation that’s built into the patch. And then, as
about how they use music now. Music is everywhere. At I’m bringing it into the board or as it’s living in the
any moment you can just call it up on YouTube, Apple, board, there’s a great deal of manipulation at the mixer
or whatever, and you’re immediately hearing [Small as it’s happening. Like, especially as I was saying

rate at which I create at. They’d say, “You just put out
an album nine months ago. What are you trying to do
here?” [laughter]
With the compositions you do, a couple of
pieces can fill an album.
99
Faces’] “Itchycoo Park.”
Have you worked with anyone on
generative music apps?
Yeah, I have an app that’s called the Immersion Station,
created by Eric Freeman, who is really an artist, but he
before, with pre and post sends. It’s like the view out
my window; I can see 70 miles out into Mexico, but
there are mountains, then there are ridges, and then
there are different layers. It’s always a constant
reminder of how I can have sounds closer by having a

Right. Exactly. With the atmospheric and the amorphous knows how to write the proper coding to do this. He’s drier signal. Then I want to start to pull your awareness
pieces, there are so many ways to engage with it. It brilliant. We created this app 14 years ago, and it was down; deeper, and deeper, and deeper into the mix. So,
has to have a longer timeframe to settle in and reborn in 2022, with five different Immersion Stations. then I’ll start pulling that dry back in with that reverb.
ox

unfold to have its effect. I tapped into that out of my
own needs very early on. A 30-minute piece was
uncommon at that time. There were some coming
from the European school and, of course, Brian Eno
yc
Those are basically drawn from sound worlds from my And then, as the as the reverb is blooming out, I’m
Immersive series of recordings, and then some new also EQ’ing the reverb in real time and adjusting that.
material for the app. Basically, you look at it on the It’s similar to painting, where you’re constantly
phone and it’s got five spheres that you can mix and shading and bringing in a little color here and there.

[Tape Op #85] was doing the early slow-motion music. move around with your fingers. You can double tap it It’s so subtle, but the subtlety is what all adds up,
22/Tape Op#161/S. Roach/(continued on page 24)
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
 along with the slow manipulation and the hands-on of It’s dark emotionally, to a certain degree, but it’s also
everything. Plus, the patches are also alive, breathing that feeling of a womblike sense of safety or warmth.
and undulating, with LFOs [low frequency oscillators] Since all the highs are gone, it allows your awareness
slowly sweeping filters, moving VCAs [voltage to then hear other things that are not in that space,
controlled amplifiers], or modulating the pitch, even and within your own aural perception.
just a tiny bit. And tape hiss won’t exist!
I assume frequently you’re – with the pre I met Brian Eno in L.A. at an art opening or something.
and post aux sends – bringing in a It was right at the cusp of CDs coming out, and he
reverb before we hear the dry source. said, “I’m going to add tape hiss to my recordings.”
Yeah, that’s absolutely part of the landscape. I have the That was his reaction to CDs, when I asked what he
Eventide H3000 and H4000, and Lexicon 300 and thought about the incoming CD format. That was a
480L, and [PCM]70 reverbs. Those are my essential classic Eno comeback!
tools. Other ones come and go. But those favorite I know you used Alesis ADATs for
tools are constantly being interfaced together in multitracking for a while.
different ways; it’s a great, endless combination of Yeah, I lived through all of that. What was the big remote?
organic processing that I create more and more of a The Alesis BRC [Big Remote Control]?
language with over time. But what you said earlier Yeah. I started out with the basic ADATs and went to the

m
about synths and effects in the early days; a lot of gold face ones, and they had this great sound. I
people would get a synth and then I would hear them recorded an African group in Montreal, [Canada],

using it and it would be missing all of these elements.
Now we’re seeing a lot of synths where they put these
effects built in, with nice reverb, delays, and EQ; all of
that on the last part of the signal chain of the synth.
And aftertouch too: Settings that morph
into a second sound.
co
Takadja [Takadja: Music From Africa], that was
Senegalese, classic African trance music. I had three
ADATs synced together, and then I brought the tapes
back to Tucson, rented another unit, and did the mix
with those three all synchronized, locking up together.
I also did my first long-form multitrack piece with the

)
Certainly. The Hydrasynth has polyphonic aftertouch, ADAT, where I could offset the time on one to start 45

ot
so there’s a whole other layer of new subtlety with minutes later. I was running one, then the other one
that going on. would start, and I would crossfade at 45 minutes.
In your early years, was analog tape hiss That’s a pretty amazing trick.
bothering you, as far as it being a That’d make for long days when I realized that I did

(d
difficult thing to overcome when the something at about 40 minutes that I needed to do a
music’s quieter? do-over on! That’s when I first got into the DAW and
I never felt it was too bad. In the earliest days, I had a did my first multitrack sessions.
4-track Tascam, and I had the dbx [noise reduction] Do you think the non-linear way of
accessory that we would use. Eventually I had the 8- working with a DAW has allowed more
l
track Tascam 38, and it had dbx. I would use that to freedom for you to compose and try out
good effect. I would EQ tracks and I would be aware ideas quicker?
ai

of that range. If I needed to, I would put something I could feel it in the late ‘90s, when I shifted from linear
up there to mask it, or to have something to entertain recording to non-linear. I could feel it absolutely
your eardrums in that range. But it also developed a changing my perception in my consciousness. I was
gm

style or a sound in my music over the years, where I
would take that frequency and remove it completely.
With my long-form ambient work, such as Darkest
Before Dawn, the entire high end is gone. It creates
this psychological effect of being wrapped in a blanket
where it was kind of warm and soft. At one point I
t)
unlocked from linear time, and it was like holographic
time. I could move around. It was architectural. At
that point, I could start to feel how, as a person, I was
perceiving everyday reality. Or how I was analyzing or
hearing sounds, or looking at things outside of music.
It was having a profound effect on my perception that

punctured an eardrum, and I was quite scared at first. way. It continued to evolve, with these long-form
I went to the ear doctor, and he said, “You’ve got to pieces especially. The limitations of a CD certainly were
relax for a month. It’s going to heal and it’s going to there at that point, and now if I go straight to digital,
(a

take time.” I put cotton in the good ear, and I kept
putting the medicine in the bad ear. I took down the
whole frequency range in both ears. About two weeks
in, I had to start playing. I went in and I started
playing dark and deeper chords that I could feel
physically in my being. I could hear in the lower
99
it can go on for quite a long time. I love playing with
time. That’s one of my obsessions, obviously with the
Timeroom. And the music I do is about space and
altering time: Slowing it down and speeding it up, and
ultimately transcending time through this life in the
sound current. r

hearing range and feel those chords, and I could still <steveroach.com>
hear the UPS truck bringing gear. [laughter] As the
time started to heal, I pulled the cotton out and I
ox

would still hear at this certain threshold. I created the

piece [album and track] called “Darkest Before Dawn.”
It’s a conscious reaction to not being able to hear
above a certain threshold. It creates this incredible
yc

vortex; it almost pulls you into this dark space but not.
24/Tape Op#161/S. Roach/(Fin.)
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
 Jennifer
Decilveo
It Has to Have a Spirit
by Meredith Hobbs Coons
photo by Brantley Gutierrez

m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc
 About ten years ago, New Jersey-born producer and Well, every artist is different, and every song calls for a
songwriter Jennifer Decilveo pivoted from a degree and
career in finance to begin a life in the Los Angeles music
scene. Since then, she has collaborated with a
multitude of artists, including: Amos Lee, Anne-Marie,
Beth Ditto, Bat for Lashes, Ben Platt, Christina Perri,
Cold War Kids, Demi Lovato, Fletcher, Hozier, Lucius,
Miley Cyrus, Melanie Martinez, and Marina among them.
This work has racked up sales, nominations, and award
wins. Her songwriting and production on Andra Day’s
2016 album Cheers to the Fall and its single “Rise Up”
earned her Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album and
Best R&B Performance, respectively, plus a Soul Train
Music Awards’ Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award
win. Her composition work on Angélique Kidjo’s album
Mother Nature (2022) earned her a Grammy for Best
Global Music Album, and her songwriting and production
skills also contributed to Ivor Novello Award, Brit, and
Mercury Prize nominations. On speakerphone en route Do you have any go-to plates, plug-ins,
to the studio – and in the L.A. rain, no less – Decilveo
chatted with Tape Op about her eclectic career, as well
as her personal music-making philosophy.
Talk about the process with SASAMI
[Tape Op #157].
So basically, she wrote all these songs, she started demos
in [Apple] GarageBand on her [Apple] iPad, and she’d
bring them to me. Whether it was me going, “This is
great, let’s build upon this,” or, “You don’t have a
chorus. Go write a chorus,” or, “What is this about? I
feel like, emotionally, we could be pulling more in this
direction.” It was basically just looking at the songs in
their most demo form and either blowing them out, or
keeping them and keeping them calm. That was the
process. There are some things from her iPad that
made it into the final recording. I definitely did a lot While we’re on the topic of gear, I know
of overdubbing with synths, drums, and bass. We did a
lot of guitar tracking at my studio. We did BVs
[backing vocals]. It was wild, chaotic, 95-mile-an-hour I love the [Sequential] Prophet-6, the [Moog]
sessions for 10 hours a day. She’s the artist, so she
knows exactly what she wants. She’d be sitting behind
me on the couch, letting me do my thing, and then
she’d say, “Mmm... not that tone.” I’d say, “Okay.” And
then I’d try it again and she’d be like, “I like that.” It
was great; it was easy and fluid and awesome. I wish
every record was as easy, to be honest. It’s because we
t)
had trust – that’s a big part of it.
And did you establish that
relationship through the Cherry
(a
Glazerr collaboration?
We had met years ago, through the L.A. scene. She came What are some of your favorite strategies
to my studio; we did a session, and I was pretty sure
she’d never want to work with me after that. But we Honestly, it’s pedals, outboard gear, and good mics. It’s
reconnected two or three years later, when she was
making this record, and that was it. We hit it off. I didn’t
99
even actually know she was in Cherry Glazerr, but I love
Cherry Glazerr. I’ve worked with them, and I produced
“Big Bang” and “Rabbit Hole.” I love those songs.
ox
They are awesome. I’ve noticed that you
are a big fan of background vocals. It
seems like they’re a go-to when you
are producing.
yc
different arrangement. I can’t really tell you why I do
anything that I do when I’m doing it, because it’s
usually an emotional response. I think the
backgrounds can lend themselves as an instrument.
Sometimes they can be supportive, or sometimes they
can be the focus. For instance, in “Rise Up,” they’re
there in the background and then all of a sudden
they’re the focus. That was Andra [Day] and me doing
that together, coming up with a part that felt natural
and evolved from the main lyrics. I feel like Adele
does that really well too, where she’ll take a leap into
a different world of words, but then she still maintains
the thesis of the song in the backgrounds. I feel like
sometimes backgrounds can be really tight and not
reverbed out. They’d probably be... I guess, drier? But
[to create] lusciousness, it’s just stacks on stacks on
stacks with ‘verb. Whatever the song calls for.
or gear that you like to use for reverb
on backgrounds?
Yes, of course. The [Eventide Audio] H3000 [Ultra-
Harmonizer] for delay, but there’re a bajillion presets in
there that are just fabulous – the H3000 analog piece,
but also the plug-in by Eventide. Then [there’s] the AMS
[Advanced Music Systems] hardware, and of course the
UAD plug-in. And then everyone uses Valhalla, but it
works. I love the EMT 140 [plate reverb]. [There] are
parallels that we’ll create, like the Valhalla will be a
plug-in, as will the UAD. But when running it through
the H3000, I normally send a parallel and then we
blend to taste. There’s this saturation and depth that
exists with the actual physical pieces of gear. I don’t
know if it’s mind over matter, but I think it sounds
better. Those are my go-tos, for sure.
l
that you’re very proud of your
ai
keyboard collection.
Minimoog, the [Oberheim/Sequential] OB-6, and the
gm
[Roland] JUNO-106. Those are things that I use all
the time. I’d say the Prophet and the OB-6 are pretty
important for that dirty, gritty, crunchy sound – I love
that. Mellotrons are really cool for specific things.
Then, of course, we’re also doing weird stuff to an
actual grand piano, taping it down so that the felt is
plucky. I like to use a pencil to hit the note on the
string on the piano, as opposed to playing it with
hands on the keys. Just trying to come up with
sounds that are not stereotypical.
for the weird sounds?
a vocal through a [Pro Co] Rat pedal. It’s a snare
through a Rat. It’s everything that you normally
wouldn’t do. I think the reason that I do that stuff is
because I didn’t ever know the right way to produce.
I got into it later on; I was a songwriter first. I would
go around [to] sessions in L.A. and write lyrics and
melody, and then I was like, “I want to be making the
sounds.” That was ten years ago, basically. I didn’t
have a mentor; I didn’t have conventional schooling –
J. Decilveo/(continued on page 28)/Tape Op#161/27
m
co
SASAMI on Jennifer as Producer
Musical collaboration is a lot like love – it’s
exhilarating, messy, and there’s the personal
chemistry and romance of it all, but the timing is
just as important. We had tried to work together in
)
the past, but it took me producing other artists to
realize that the most important part of a
ot
meaningful collaboration with a producer is trust.
Jenn is an absolutely wild and emotional
producer/artist, and to work with her is to jump on
the ride, buckle up, and immerse yourself in the
(d
story she is trying to tell within the structure of a
song. We’re both Cancer suns, so while co-
producing we can get really deep and also play off
of each others’ excitement and vulnerabilities. I
have never worked with someone as intuitive and
quick and Jenn. She gets ideas like lightning bolts,
and then plays parts, arranges, and engineers
sections just as dauntlessly. She is the
producer trifecta; confident, brilliant, and
emotional. Not to mention, she is a next level
producer, songwriter, and engineer. The real
question is: Can you keep up with her?
-Sasami Ashworth <sasamiashworth.com>
which I know a lot of people don’t. I don’t know if it
was because I’m a woman or anything, but I
definitely had dudes I could call but didn’t call,
because I didn’t want to feel like an idiot asking,
“What does this do?” I tried a lot of YouTube tutorials
and a lot of [ideas] like, “The rhythm should be
guided by bass, but I’m just going to use a constant
kick drum.” I didn’t have any restrictions, which was
so beautiful because I just did what I wanted. I try to
keep that spirit alive when I’m making music now.
Beginner’s mindset.
Yeah. The spirit is to do weird shit and figure out how
to keep it weird and cool.
You started out in L.A. by teaming up on
co-writing for Macy Gray.
Yeah, I had a friend at NYU, and he introduced me to
his singing teacher who became my friend. She ended
up getting signed to Macy [Gray], and we wrote songs
 together. That was my first [foray] into the business.
From that, I started to meet other people – other
producers, other writers – and it just kind of snowballed
from there.
That’s really cool how you fostered those
relationships and the community that
you have.
Yeah, I feel like it’s about connecting. You become friends
with the people you work with, and you make music
together. If you have similar tastes, you come at it from
similar angles with the same goal in mind – which is to
make great music – and it ends up being really easy. It’s
like when you hang out with people, and it’s, “Oh,
yeah. I’m going to be friends with them.” Then
sometimes with someone else it’s, “Probably not gonna
see you again.” It’s really that simple. We’re meeting for
music, but it’s more than just producing a record. I have
to offer a perspective and a lens that is different and

m
bettering the art. Otherwise, what am I doing there?

co
It’s always awesome to meet new artists – and new
producers and writers – who you can collaborate with
that fill your cup.
What reference tracks do you like to use
that you keep returning to from project
to project – across genres, maybe, or

)
specific ones for certain genres?
I don’t necessarily use reference tracks. I’m always

ot
listening to Nine Inch Nails. On the flip side, I’m always
listening to Regina Spektor. I grew up listening to
[bands] like Creedence Clearwater Revival and REO

(d
Speedwagon, but also Tori Amos. The artists who have
worlds affiliated with their music, where I feel like [it’s]
an experience. Of course, you want the songs to be
incredible, but a lot of the time it’s just like, “This artist
gives me this feeling.” Regina Spektor makes me really
l
contemplative and in my feels, and Nine Inch Nails
makes me want to sprint a million miles an hour and
ai

rage. They evoke different things for me.

What grand musical dreams would you like
to achieve that haven’t come true yet?
I mean, I’d love to work with Nine Inch Nails, Regina
gm

Spektor, and Florence & The Machine, but anyone who

has a strong perspective and is passionate, spiritual,
and curious about their art is probably someone I want
to work with.
I like the way that you use “spiritual,”
t)

because that’s not necessarily a term

that might come to a lot of people.
Well, songs have spirits – if they’re done truthfully and if
they come from a real place. It’s creation; it comes from
(a

nothing. It has to have a spirit, right? [laughs] r

<jenniferdecilveo.com>
Meredith Hobbs Coons is a singer-songwriter (Lamb’s Ear, blue
ghosts) and freelance journalist (The A.V. Club, Aquarium
99

Drunkard, Talkhouse, The Washington Post). She co-hosts and

edits the podcast Wilco Will Love You.
<meredithhobbscoons.com>
ox

Tape Op is made
possible by our
advertisers.
Please support them and tell them
yc

you saw their ad in Tape Op.

28/Tape Op#161/J. Decilveo/(Fin.)
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
 We both started with analog tape at the
With a list of credits and Grammy
awards with artists such as D’Angelo,
The Roots, Kamasi Washington,
Well, yeah. I started interning in 1986. Pro Tools wasn’t
Common, Angélique Kidjo,
Alicia Keys, and Jon Batiste,
one might assume Russell Elevado is
a hard-working producer/engineer/
mixer. That assumption would be
correct. We caught up soon after he
finished producing and engineering
Animal Collective’s Isn’t It Now? and I
got to pick his brain about keeping
an analog workflow in this digital
age, as well as his quest for the
sounds he desires.
(d
yc Russell Elevado
l
ai
gm
oxThe Importance of Sound
t)
(a
99
by Larry Crane
photo by Benjamin Chambers
beginning. I know when you were
engineering D’Angelo, it was all
about working old school.
even a thought at that time. Then I worked my way
up from interning, to assisting, to engineering and
eventually I went out on my own. But back then,
when I was assisting, I’d put the calibration – tones
up, and align the tape machines. I’d “zero” the board,
make sure the patchbay was clean, and be ready for
the engineer to come. I’d be responsible for recalling
mixes, so I’d be documenting all the settings in the
outboard gear and console used. It was a whole
different world. When digital first started coming in,
Pro Tools specifically, it was when I was working on
[D’Angelo’s album] Voodoo. But I was still trying to
master analog, so there was no way I was going to
switch suddenly to digital; besides the fact that the
first Pro Tools system sounded like shit. [Alesis] ADAT
or [Tascam] DA-88 converters sounded way better. I
wasn’t about to switch. It became my thing. I
thought, “You guys are fooling yourselves.” The
workflow was different – looking at a screen versus
being more intuitive and done by ear. I’m all about
analog. I grew up on vinyl, collecting and listening to
albums. Vinyl still rules, as far as sounds.
I get irritated with it. We finish a record,
and then I’m listening to the test
pressing and there are all these clicks
and pops.
It pisses me off, too. It’s more prevalent nowadays. I’m
a stickler. I need to listen to the test pressings before
we give the okay. Absolutely. If I’m working on the
album, I try to make it to the vinyl stage. But if I
can’t make it, sometimes I’m disappointed in the way
it turns out, as far as surface noise or the quality of
the pressing. Most of the time I have been lucky, but
I have found moments on a couple of albums that
wasn’t up to par.
m
It’s frustrating.
co
It’s very frustrating. Even on older sessions. I worked on
an album by Common, Like Water For Chocolate. When
they pressed it, the CD had more of what I liked in
)
ot
 my original mixes than how it got transferred to Yes, that’s a good point. My manager at the time was waiting for everything to lock up. But locking from
vinyl. It’s disappointing. The quality control isn’t how telling me, “You should do your own Pro Tools studio.” the top of the song, and if you wait for the second
it was when vinyl was flourishing. Everybody was doing it. I wasn’t getting any work, machine to stop, to park, then press play and it’s
How are you working now? Are you able and there was this period where Pro Tools became the only a three second lag. But it’s the rewinding that’s
to do a lot of sessions on tape still? default and the standard. Clients were leaning towards the pain, because the second deck is rewinding
It varies from year to year. Sometimes it’ll be 50-50, but people that were doing it in the box because it slower than the main. The main will park first, and
it’s never 100 percent working on tape. Like Animal seemed like that’s where everything was going in the then you’re waiting for the other to park.
Collective, for instance: I was ecstatic when they said industry, and they didn’t have to book a studio One of the techniques I’m sure you were
that they would want to try to do everything to tape. anymore. For a three or four year period, I was not doing was to make a third reel of a
I said, “Yeah, let’s go.” Unfortunately, the budgets are that busy at all. I’m glad I stuck it through. I was still reduction mix and open tracks.
the worst these days. Some people have a problem not willing to do a Pro Tools studio. But I eventually Absolutely. Any time D’Angelo would do vocals we would
spending the extra money to budget to use tape, or had to do my own studio, because the budgets were give him his own 24-track reel; he always does vocals
even to print to tape. Luckily, with most of my clients, nothing. People were willing to pay my rate, but then to tape. We would give him two or three stems and
if I say, “I think this would benefit from printing it to I’d say, “Okay, what studio do you want to book?” And he would have the rest of the tape to do vocals.
1/2-inch tape,” they usually will go with my direction. they’d say, “What? Studio? We don’t have a budget to You guys taught D’Angelo how to do the
I guess most of the people that ask me to work with go in the studio. We have only enough for you.” punch-ins?
them probably want me to do tape in the beginning. Famously, you spent quite a long We did do it together when we first started working,
I’m lucky. I’ve carved a deep niche. time on D’Angelo’s Black Messiah. I during Brown Sugar, but after a while he said, “Let

m
But sticking with it to any degree, interviewed Ben Kane [Tape Op #139] me try it myself. Show me how to do it.” He knew he
through this era, takes a bit of a bit about some of that. He said, “I’d be

co
could be more efficient and faster, not that he was
of work. doing other projects, then that shy to sing around me! It was not that at all.
would pop up and take me away.” Less communication lag.
Yeah, me and Ben, we stuck it out through that whole Absolutely. Which takes away from the creativity.
thing. But it paid off because a lot of people like that Did you set him up with a remote out on
album. We got a Grammy [for Best R&B Album]. the floor or in the control room?

)
Ironically, if there was any project that would have He would sit right at the board in the control room.
benefited from being in the box with instant He could adjust his mix.

ot
recallability, it would have been that one because of all Exactly, yeah. Have the remote right there. Sometimes
the overdubs and the “mixing as we go” style that we’d be on an SSL where he could arm right from the
developed. Every time we changed to another song, console, which was nice. He still, to this day, only

we’d have to recall the whole board and change my
settings because on certain songs we were in a virtual
mid-mix scenario, where the mix would change slightly
with each overdub session. For a lot of the songs that
we knew were going to be on the album, every time
l
D’Angelo wanted to change it, we effectively had to put
the mix back up how it was the last time so we could
ai
(d
does vocals on tape. Isn’t that crazy?
Comping vocals in digital is something
I’d miss!
Yeah, it makes it easier, right?
What’s your process now with Pro Tools?
I only use it as a multitrack. I’ve never bought a plug-
in. It’s only whatever was stock when I bought it,

make further adjustments. Or come to find D’Angelo and I’m still using Pro Tools 10. [Pro Tools 10 was
liked a previous mix that was two or three versions old. superseded by version 11 in 2013. -Ed.]
The mixing process became part of the Oh my!
tracking process? I’m using the PCIe cards, not using any plug-ins, and my
gm

Exactly. It was pretty intense. We would make safety
copies of everything. We had a lot of safeties of
the multitracks. Eventually we had to lock Pro
Tools to tape. If it was going to go past 48
[tracks], we couldn’t squeeze anything else onto
t)
computer’s completely stable. I use the internet and
Pro Tools on it and that’s it. There was no need for me
to go to [Pro Tools] Ultimate and get the subscription
and all that. I’m using it as a multitrack. It sounds
great. I’m using Dangerous [Music] converters

the tape. We’d find any room on the tape. “Okay.
The hi-hat track is free for two minutes. We could
put the guitar solo there.”
Oh, yeah. I don’t miss that! [laughter]
(a
[CONVERT-AD], and their clocking is unbelievable. I
used to use Apogees before that. I compared it with
different clockings, and I even compared different
clocks with Dangerous, as well as the Burl Audio and

But we tried our best to stay on tape through the whole a couple of different converters. There are subtle
thing. Certainly, [with] Voodoo, we were mixing from differences. They all sound the same, kind of.
tape, but by the time of Black Messiah, in 2014, it It sure is different than comparing
didn’t make sense to try to kill ourselves. Everything tape decks.
hit tape, and we were locking Pro Tools to 48 tracks Exactly, yeah. Something about the Dangerous had a
99

of tape for the mixing. real tight sound. It seemed the most natural sound,
How long would it take for everything to to me. The bass is solid and precise, and everything
sync up? sounds more open instead of this digital sound that’s
ox

We had the [TimeLine] Lynx [Time Code Modules] for pressing against your face or something.
synchronizing the two machines together with time It wasn’t that the digital part of Pro
code [SMPTE]. The pain in the ass is when I’m trying Tools was bad in the beginning, it
to get a level that would only happen at the first part was that converters getting the
yc

of the bridge, and I’d have to keep rewinding and sound in and out.
R. Elevado/(continued on page 32)/Tape Op#161/31
 That was the main issue for me. I loved the editing. There are some cool plug-ins; the
ones that are doing something only a digital plug-in can do, like warping a sound,
sound correction, or surgical stuff; things that I wouldn’t be able to do with analog
gear. There are some spatial plug-ins I heard that make the sound seem like it’s behind
your head. That’s pretty cool.
Are you using a console with your Pro Tools rig?
It’s a hybrid. I have a Quad/Eight [Electronics] sidecar, a Helios [Electronics] sidecar, and
32 channels of summing, which is also by Dangerous Music [2-Bus].
And you have outboard gear?
Oh, yeah, I’ve got a ton of shit. [laughs] I even have two Studer multitrack tape
machines. I’ve been collecting compressors, EQs, mics, pedals, and tape echoes for
years. But yeah, everything is processed all through my gear, with no plug-ins at all,
and that’s it.
When you go to work in other studios, do you have to make sure
they have exactly what you want to work with?
Yeah. Normally these days, I look for a Neve console. Not that there are many J’s [SSL
9000J] left in New York. Electric Lady [Studios] has a J console, but since everything’s
moved so far into Pro Tools it’s harder for me to do a mix solely on the console. It’s

m
not as convenient to do revisions if I want to use the board for my automation instead

co
of running automation in Pro Tools. My only automation is really levels and mutes, so
these days I’m looking for a nice, fat-sounding console, which is normally a Neve. And
then I’ll make sure they have enough outboard. I do have a rolling rack and a box of
pedals that go with me to different studios. The rack doesn’t live in my studio. I’ll take
it if I’m at Electric Lady or The Bunker Studio. There are only a few studios that I really
work at in New York: The Bunker Studio, Electric Lady Studios, and Ben Kane’s studio,

)
Electric Garden.
Electric Garden is beautiful there, isn’t it?

ot
It’s an excellent studio. Ben’s like my protege, so he acquired the same taste in
equipment. He runs a tight ship.
And The Bunker too. Some great people work over there.

(d
Excellent staff. The [Neve] console is nice. We did the Animal Collective record [Isn’t It
Now?] there.
How did the process work with Animal Collective? I know they’d
generated a lot of the ideas during the previous record.
Yeah, they had been playing some of these songs live for about a year. By the time they
l
got in the studio, they just nailed it. They knew how to play them. As it was
developing during the shows, they were saving their patches that they had in the Nord
ai

[synthesizer]. The only things sequenced were some of the keyboards, so they were
playing to some of the keyboard beds. Then we’d either replace it or keep it, and I
would process it so it didn’t sound like a digital Nord – I tried to analog it. And other
parts that they had done we replaced with the keyboards they had at The Bunker,
gm

because they have a shitload of vintage keyboards.

Oh, fun.
There was a lot of replacing digital sounds with other analog keyboards. We did a lot of
cool reverse tape tricks, recording a lot of reverse reverbs and reverse echoes.
Those Nord keyboards are a blessing and a curse, aren’t they?
t)

I know. Exactly.
I can’t believe the amount of clocking noise and such that I
hear on those.
Oh, I know. I warmed them up a lot by processing them. I love guitar pedals and amps.
(a

If I’m looking for a tone I’ll put it through an amp, or I’ll put it through some pedal.
That’s one of the dangers right now. Many sources are direct or
virtual instruments. They’re all full range tones and they’re
not spatially oriented.
Yeah, absolutely. They’ll print the reverbs with it and I’m like, “Come on!” It’s the worst.
99

That’s what makes it cheesy, when they put the fucking reverb on.
You and I know that because we survived the ‘80s. [laughs]
Yeah, totally.
If you’re taking the Nord and re-amping, are you putting mics
ox

further away to get a little depth?

It depends on the sound. I’m more of a close mic engineer than trying to capture the
room. Because I find I’m not sure if I want that ambience to stay, so I’d rather have
yc

it as dry as possible.
32/Tape Op#161/R. Elevado/ So, you’re not adding ambience to ambience?
Exactly. Or if I’m distorting it, and distortion’s compressing that instrument, it’s
making the room sound louder. If I know I’m going for a big room sound, then
I’ll try to book a big room for drums. But if I know it’s not going to be a John
Bonham sound for the whole album, I tend to put the drummer in the booth.
Animal Collective is a great example of that, because
everything’s usually kind of tight and focused.
Definitely, definitely. But for this we wanted two different kits set up. It was one
kit in the booth, and then a smaller kit outside with everybody else. For certain
songs we would switch up the drums. The one that was outside was featuring
more of an old-school sound, with less microphones and more tone of the room.
We always had that set up the whole time – two different sounds.
Those are perfect options.
Yeah.
Listening to the D’Angelo or Animal Collective records
you’ve done, there’s a certain tone. It’s not a darkness,
but to me the transients on a lot of your material aren’t
spikey sounding or edgy.
Right. You can keep turning it up and it’s not going to hurt. That’s what I want

m
people to do. They can listen to it at low volumes, but if they’re listening really

co
loud it still works. When I’m mixing, I don’t like it when something is making
my ears hurt. That’s a real conscious thing that I have. I do a lot of riding [the
faders] for mixing. I don’t use anything on the mix bus, ever. All of my
transients and my dynamics are done with fader moves.
Compression plays a big role on how these transients act.
Well, individual compression on each instrument. But I’d never use anything

)
on the mix bus.
You’re one of the few people who doesn’t. I’m the same; if

ot
I’m mixing analog I don’t.
You don’t either? Really? That’s great.
In the box I do, but very lightly. On my console I stopped

(d
using bus inserts because one thing I want to do is to be
able to print lots of stems and then rework a mix from
the analog mix if needed.
Exactly. I don’t do a lot of hip-hop anymore, but when I would do a hip-hop
session, I would put the Neve or SSL compressor on the mix to get a little
l
more volume, and I’d make it a little edgier for the mix. But even then, I
would only put the compressor on towards the end of the mix. Besides that,
ai

I don’t like it because I feel I keep painting myself into a corner. I tried it,
because a lot of engineers that I assisted were doing it. But it didn’t work
for me, so I stopped doing it.
You went to IAR [Institute of Audio Research] way back,
gm

started interning, and then assisting. A lot of what you

learned happened during the assisting years, I assume?
Oh, yes, absolutely. I didn’t learn that much at IAR, but it definitely got me
in the door.
But they got you interning in studios.
t)

They got me into the door. Absolutely. The fact that I had that school on my
resume, they would probably choose me over someone just walking in the door.
But everything was learned through assisting. When I would try to work at a
(a

studio, I always wanted to make sure that if it wasn’t booked I could work on
my own stuff. That was a must, and that’s how I learned. I would stay for hours
by myself and record bands. I’d go down to the East Village to the music clubs
and bars and see if there was a band that was cool. I would ask them, “Do you
want to go into the studio for a night for free?”
Who wouldn’t?
99

I would record them, I’d have these tapes, and I’d mix these songs over and over.
That’s where I learned everything. I did learn from a lot of cool engineers:
Michael Barbiero, Bob Rosa, and Bruce A. Miller. I definitely had a good cross-
ox

section of engineers that were working on pop, jazz, R&B, and house music. I
cut my teeth on a lot of house mixes. That was a great experience, and thinking
back, that was a big learning time. I was working with David Morales and
Frankie Knuckles [Francis Warren Nicholls Jr.]. They’re like gods in the house
yc

music scene.
Totally. R. Elevado/(continued on page 34)/Tape Op#161/33
If I had to set up a mix for David or Frankie, I would set
up four different delay throws, all timed – dotted
eighth [note], quarter, whatever – and then I’d set
up a couple of different effects channels like phasers
and such. I’d set up a whole bunch of effects so that
if we needed it, he would have it ready to go.
Watching them use what I’d just set up for them,
and creating the remix right in front of me, that was
a big impact on me. I didn’t realize it was impacting
me until later, because I realized that I was doing
the same thing: Creating break moments, creating a
part in the music where, “Whoa, what’s happening
here?” Dropping the beat, for example. I feel I have
a good knack for when I can drop the bass down for
a second, or drop bass and drums down for a second,
to create this whole mood in the song. I definitely
learned a lot from that about creating moods in the
song, as well as creating a vibe.
That’s like an extension of dub mixing.
Exactly.
I know there must be people out there
doing it, but I don’t see a lot of people
working in live remixing. Print a few
passes and edit them together.
Absolutely. That’s a great point. Yeah, I never thought of
it that way. It’s exactly like that.
Performance-based mixing.
Absolutely. Yeah
You’re still working in this way, aren’t
you?
Oh, definitely. Because I hear it not being just a static
thing a lot of times. Sometimes, of course, it’s going
to be static: The guitar is going through a phaser.
But I know my gear so well that I know I could make How many days was that project?
it sound a little extra special and tweak it as it’s We tracked for only eight days. I prepped the mixes at my
going down.
You get hired because people love the
records you’ve worked on. But do you Yeah. That’s no D’Angelo record.
ever get pushback when they realize [laughter]
that that is how it’s going to go? No. Not at all. We were going through two songs a day
You mean like they thought they wanted my sound, but
then they’re like, “Oh, wait, maybe not.”
Exactly.
I have gotten that a few times. Not a lot.
With just specific parts of the song, or a
sound, or whole mixes? I assume that’s a co-production,
Luckily it wasn’t anybody that was too popular. It seemed
like there was a darkness to it that they didn’t like. I
was telling them, “Well, that’s how I’m hearing it. Let
me know if I could change it or anything.” But I think
(a
he was just taken aback from the whole approach,
because it was so radically different than what he had
in mind somehow. I don’t know. But, every once in a
while, I get someone where I went a direction on an
instrument or a vocal, and they’re like, “Oh, I was
99
hearing it a little bit cleaner or brighter.” I have no
problem changing that. But I have a good feel. Most
of my clients want me to do my thing, and I end up
ox
becoming a fan of theirs. I’m so lucky that I can say
that. The people that are coming to me make music
that I would probably end up really liking. I’m lucky
to be working on varied music as well. My third
yc
Grammy was with Angélique Kidjo. It was our third
34/Tape Op#161/R. Elevado/(Fin.)
album [Celia] together, that won in the World Music Yeah, I have asked that. It was a pretty big client, and
category [in 2020]. Recently, I won a Latin Grammy I felt disrespected because I definitely was a
for the Brazilian artist Xenia. And then there’s Jon producer on the album. There was no doubt about it.
Batiste. We Are was pretty much a pop album and I was sore about it, but I’m over it now. [laughter]
I got an Album of the Year Grammy. But it was a slap in the face. So, what if they don’t
Yeah, that was huge. It deserved it! get all the credit? Give me some of the credit
Oh, thanks. And then there’s D’Angelo, which is because I deserve it. I worked hard on it, and I damn
completely different. I’m lucky. I was trying not to well produced this with them. Even a co-producer
get pigeonholed, and I managed to do that. I had credit for a really good mixer – and I feel I am a
never even heard of Animal Collective. They called good mixer – I deserve it, and I shouldn’t have a
me, and I listened to their music before we had a problem getting it.
meeting. I was like, “Yeah, cool.” They wanted to do What have you been working on lately?
it analog, and I said, “Great. Let’s do it. You’re I was working with BadBadNotGood and a few artists
calling the right person.” And it came out great. It they’ve been working with. I’ve been helping to mix
was a great experience. a couple songs here and there for various different
What was your impression of their artists. I’m also in the midst of a very big project
previous records? that I can’t reveal yet. I’m constantly working. I just
I really liked their other albums; they were very varied finished another Kamasi Washington album.
m
as well. Nothing I heard was anything like what I What was your role with Kamasi
Washington’s upcoming album?
co
had worked on before. I was like, “Okay, so they
know some of my records. What am I going to do Just mixing.
with these guys?” It’s not soul music. I like it. It’s And that’s how you began working with
alternative rock, and I hear all the influences that him?
they’re doing, from the reggae groups to The Yeah, exactly. He called me to do an EP that was released
Beatles. I knew I could do something with them. I at a museum. We got to do a 5.1 surround mix of it.
)
was pretty excited, because it was so different. I Mixing him is challenging because there are two
wasn’t sure what to expect, but they were so cool drummers, sometimes there are two bass players,
ot
and very hard working in the studio that we got multiple horns, keyboards, guitar player, choirs, and
along really well. They were so on point. I barely had orchestra. It’s huge, but it’s great! r
to say anything, but they’ve been a band for 20 <analogypsy.com>
(d
years, so they really knew how to play together. They
have that certain magic that happens with so many
years of experience playing as a band.
l
place, and then we did another week or so together,
finishing up the mixes back at The Bunker Studio.
ai
during the recordings. I don’t think they ever did
gm
more than three takes. If there was a fourth take,
that was pretty rare. They knew what they wanted.
The sounds were coming along fast. It was a
pleasure to work on it.
t)
credit-wise?
Yeah, I’ve got a producer credit on it.
Would you prefer to always be producing
or co-producing?
These days, when I know I’m adding quite a bit to it and
I feel I deserve it, I will ask for it. I feel if you’re an
exceptional mixing engineer it’s like production these
days. The sound of the album is just as important as
the songs. A lot of people don’t realize that. Some
people do; they appreciate it and know what it takes
to make a great-sounding album. There are plenty of
people that don’t. They haven’t thought through it.
Have you been in the middle of a session
and thought, “I should be listed as a
producer or co-producer on this, at
this point.” Have you found a latitude
to ask that?
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/35

 by Larry Crane
portrait by Taylor Ballantyne,
studio photo by Alice Teeple

A fascinating person, Blake Morgan is a

songwriter, producer, engineer, studio

m
owner, recording artist, music rights
activist, and the owner of ECR Music

co
Group, an independent record label.
Living in New York City, he has built up
a strong following with his music. ECR
works as a sanctuary from the often-
treacherous music business, and,

)
alongside Blake, it’s also home to
Lesley Gore, Janita, David Poe,

ot
Jill Sobule, Blak Emoji [Tape Op #148],
Tracy Bonham, and Terry Manning
[#58], to name a few. His 2022 album,
Violent Delights, was released in the

(d
midst of a six-year run of sold-out
concerts at New York City’s Rockwood
Music Hall as well as hundreds of live
shows on both sides of the Atlantic.
Besides his own music, he’s produced a
l
number of artists, and I found his
thoughts to be quite inspiring.
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc
You went to Berklee [College of Music] and one of my dearest friends. And Terry, and his imprint You can’t do that without intention. I think that
then you got a deal with Phil Ramone’s Lucky Seven Records, are now signed to my label, ECR. “creativity” is vastly overrated and “artistry” is vastly
[Tape Op #50] N2K [N-Coded Music] It’s truly full circle, all these years later. underrated. Creativity is cool. It’s about exploring and
label. What would be the best way to Anger’s Candy sounds great. Thanks to it’s about allowing yourself to make mistakes. But
encapsulate those years of your life? Terry, it has such a timeless sound. artistry is about knowing when a mistake is beautiful,
Well, I’m often asked, “How did you get into music?” In He does have a timeless fingerprint, indeed. I think the when a mistake has merit, is virtuous, and knowing
my case, I can’t remember. I was in music school when reason is something fundamental that he taught me: He when to keep it. Artistry and expertise are not getting
I was five, and my relationship to music is identical to taught me to make decisions in the studio. What I the day in court that I wish they were, at this
my relationship with oxygen; I love doing it, I want to learned from Terry, more than anything, is to make particular moment in history. They’re being assailed,
continue doing it. But if I didn’t love doing it, it decisions. Have a vision, make decisions, and stand by are they not? Expertise is critical and artistry is critical.
wouldn’t matter because I’d still have to do it in order them. Print the effect. Choose a microphone and then So, when the CEOs of various “friendly” tech-overlord
to be alive. My “career” really began with Terry stick with it. Which I do to this day. One of the first corporations talk about embracing creativity, I know
Manning and the record deal with Phil Ramone. things I do on a record that I’m going to produce – either that they don’t know what they’re talking about.
Looking back, it’s all a wonderful experience that for myself or for all the artists that I work with – is I Musicians aren’t really after creativity. Such as I’ve
taught me an enormous amount. The record deal part storyboard the record as if it’s a film. We’ll do a experienced it, they’re after artistry. The records I love,
of it also taught me what not to do as a label owner. microphone test, and we’ll pick one. “Is this a [Neumann] regardless of the decade they were made in, are in
I’ve been lucky to have had powerful mentors in music; U 47 record? Is this an AKG C12 record? What works on possession of artistry, and artistry comes from intent.
I was able to apprentice under them and learn from this vocal?” Then I’ll try to use that microphone as much Absolutely.

m
them, and, eventually, I’d healthily disagree with them as possible for everything on that record, from the I’m convinced that if you’re in music because you’re

in certain ways so that my music and how I make it
would become my own. That’s what we’re all supposed
to do. Today, that chain of master/apprentice has been
broken, with people making music much more isolated
from each other. I feel lucky that right when my career
was starting, I was able to find myself under the wings
co
acoustic guitar to the far room mic on drums. He taught interested in serving the art of music, then you’re
me to make decisions and to stand by them, thereby going to have a great life. You’re one of those gals or
trusting one’s vision and one’s instincts. That’s one of the guys who can’t get away from it. It’s oxygen, right?
reasons that his work stands the test of time, because he But if you’re here to serve yourself, you’re cooked.
was coming at it from a timeless standpoint as opposed You’re making music for likes and follows. If you’re
to something more ephemeral. I wonder if you agree making music to try to get a big record deal or you

)
of Terry Manning and Phil Ramone. I also feel very with this, but in music – even with professionals, and want to play at Glastonbury, I think you’re in trouble
certainly with laypeople – I think people are from the get-go. All my heroes, whether they’re

ot
lucky that, of the people who are in my circle – my
friends, my crew, other New York City musicians that I fundamentally unsure of what a producer really does. producers, artists, drummers, or whoever, they can’t
know and love – I’m one of the only ones who got a Oh, certainly! stop being themselves for five consecutive seconds.
major label deal and made a record [Anger’s Candy in I think laypeople instantly understand what a film director They can’t get away from making music, because

1997] that I still love. Although Ramone’s label had
many problems, one of the irresponsible things they
did was they allowed me to make exactly the record I
wanted, with the person I wanted.
You got to record with Terry Manning
when he ran Compass Point Studios?
Yes, it’s really all because of Terry. Through a friend of
(d
does, but not what a record producer does. A record where would they go?
producer is to music exactly what a film director is in I remember asking a young artist once,
cinema, and a recording engineer is a cinematographer. “What do you want this recording to
The songwriter is the screenwriter. The recording artist is achieve for you?” She said, “I don’t
the actor. Inherently, we understand what those roles are know. Maybe make some money.” She
couldn’t give me one answer of what
l
in film. But even high-level music professionals don’t really
understand what a producer is. And Terry is a film director. she wanted the record to feel or sound
ai

mine, who was acting as my sort of manager, Terry got
a hold of some early recordings that I’d made and –
unbeknownst to me – he really liked them. Even more
unbeknownst to me, he got on a plane from Nassau,
There are some producers out there that revel in not having like, or what she wanted to express.
a fingerprint, and that’s completely valid. I am not one of I love that you’re asking those questions. Any time I start
those guys. I’m one of those producers that wants to have making a record I get out a stack of blank index cards
a fingerprint, and does have one. Those were my instincts and a Sharpie, I start talking to the artist I’m working
gm

Bahamas – where Compass Point was – and flew to early on in my career, but he validated it.
Miami, sat in Chris Blackwell’s office, and refused to We see a lot less commitment with
leave until he would meet with him, saying “You’re recording now because of the ability to
going to sign this guy, and I’m going to produce the have unlimited tracks. Records
record.” The same manager/friend went to Phil together piecemeal, as opposed
t)
with, and we start talking about what this record is
about. “What is it going to sound like? What are we
hoping for?” I start writing things down on these index
are put cards and throwing them on the floor and it becomes
a storyboard for what we’re doing. We may not know

Ramone, pitched me to him, and, when he heard that to meeting at the studio every day for where we’re going until we pull back and start looking
Blackwell was sniffing around, he made me an offer. four weeks. at these ideas on the index cards. During the sessions,
Phil was always lovely; a great music maker, and a I’m someone who’d rather hear a record that was recorded I put them back out on the floor so that we stay on
great musical mind. He treated me with love and on a Tascam Porta One that has intention than a record track. It can be 20 or 30 cards. I just made a record
(a

respect. Not the greatest label owner, he’d be the first that was recorded in an enormo-studio that has none. I
to say it, but a beautiful man. In our first meeting, like believe that there’s a profound difference between
a young and impetuous person, I said, “The two things recording and tracking. Recording is recording
I want are: I want to know that I’m going to be with Which, frankly, anybody can do. Tracking is the recording
this label for my entire career. And I want Terry of sound with intention, and specifically the intention
99
[Between Lightning and Thunder] with Miles East –
who’s been my long-time drummer – and he’s stepped
sound. out to make a beautiful singer-songwriter record. His
record is somewhere between Beck’s Sea Change and
Paul McCartney’s RAM. We had to talk about, “How are

Manning to produce the record with me.” I’d already that the sound you’re recording is going to be living next we going to do that?” Then we started bringing in
met Terry, and we’d fallen in “musical” love by that to other sounds that you’re recording. Tracking, to me, is elements; sometimes they’re technical and sometimes
time. Phil said, “Well, you’re out of problems. So, are like stacking bricks, whereas recording is just piling they’re just emotions or colors. I’m at a point now,
ox

you going to sign?” I did, and he signed me to a seven-
album deal having heard only six songs of mine. As a
label owner now myself, I have to tell you this was
terribly irresponsible, but it worked out! [laughter]
yc
stones. That intention is critical when you’re trying to luckily, where I don’t have to work with anybody I
follow through on a vision for a record. When you’re don’t want to. Usually, the first couple of conversations
trying to follow through on rendering some art that could get people straight, as far as what the purpose of the
move people or even raise people’s heart rates. record we’re trying to make is, which, in the simplest

Terry and I ended up making the record together. There are pieces of music that will just terms, is to make something great.
Lenny Kravitz sings a duet on it with me. Terry is still devastate me still. B. Morgan/(continued on page 38)/Tape Op#161/37
A lot of times people approach it in a paint-
by-numbers way. Sometimes I’ll go in a
studio and people will have a huge
piece of butcher paper up with all the
song titles, and they’re checking off
basic tracking and overdubs.
I can’t get away from the cinema thing. Alfred Hitchcock
famously storyboarded every film and every shot. There
were no surprises on the set. So, I work horizontally.
What does that mean? It means that we’re going to
talk about the drum sounds for a long time, then we’re
going to figure out how to render those drum sounds,
and then we’re going to cut them. Then we’re going to
do the same thing for bass, guitars, keyboards,
percussion, and vocals. Again, this is tracking instead
of recording. In that sense it is what you’re talking
about, but I do it a little bit differently. I’m not doing
it song by song. I would never say, “Let’s cut three
songs and we’ll come back and do another three.” It’s
very important to me to make albums that sound like
records. And the way to do that, in my opinion, is to
think horizontally. That’s why I’ll pick a central
microphone for the whole record. In terms of the
piecemeal thing that you mentioned, I think that as we
all increasingly work in the box, one of the real traps
that people fall into all the time is the amount that’s
available to them. One of the index cards that’s on the
floor in pre-production all the time is, “What’s the
console that we’re using?” Even if we’re working in the
box. I’m making a record with Chris Barron from Spin
Doctors, and it was very important to me, based on
coalescing that vision, that we were going to use
[Universal Audio] 610B preamps for tracking that
Miles East & Blake Morgan
at The Bunker Studio working on
Violent Delights.
(a
99
ox
yc
38/Tape Op#161/B. Morgan/(continued on page 40)
record. I don’t understand people who use one preamp
for the kick drum and another preamp for the bass
guitar. It’s like they never worked on a console. I want
my records tracked on a console. Miles East’s record,
that’s like a ‘70s record. So, that’s Neve 1073 preamps
all the way. If you do that in the box, those choices
begin to stack up and they read so that you’re making
an album that sounds like a record. I’m fortunate to
have come of age as a musician and as a studio person
working on the hardware versions of [Pultec] EQP-1A They’ll be totally different, for sure.
EQs, 610Bs, and API 2500 compressors, so while I’m We’re flying that plane differently, which is the beautiful
working with plug-in versions, I know what I’m
expecting. I use those tools not anachronistically; I
use them as one would expect, and then they actually
work better for me, especially in mastering.
I totally agree that there can be a When I don’t know what to do, I don’t do anything until
consistency, but I do pick certain mic
preamps for different elements when
tracking!
When we were all working on tape, one of the challenges
was trying to get definition and clarity. Everything was
bound together because it was all going to be on the
same piece of tape. In the digital world, it’s the
opposite. Everything is so disparate that I’m always
looking to bind sounds together, so they feel like we’re
entering a world. I’m not just choosing something; I’m
rejecting all the other choices on purpose so that the
record sounds like something. I like records that sound
elegant, and elegance, more than anything, is refusal.
It’s not gaudy. Another one of my mentors, Phil Nicolo
(d
of the Butcher Brothers, has taught me so much about
music, but the most important thing is that it’s not the
plane that gets you there; it’s the pilot. The most
l
ai
gm
t)
important piece of gear I have is right between my
ears, and in my chest, and in how I feel. That’s the
most critical thing. Also, when people ask me how I
made a record or how I’m doing something specific in
the studio, I always try to tell them, because there are
no “secrets” in music. You could make a record in every
single way that I make records and I could make a
record in every single way you make records, Larry, and
it would still never come out the same.
thing. Someone said to me last week, “You know,
Blake, you always have an answer. And sometimes that
answer is, ‘I don’t know.’”
Right?
I know what to do. That, again, speaks to intent.
Creativity versus artistry, right? Recording versus
m
tracking. As a songwriter, when I’m writing a song, I
co
rarely feel I’ve invented something. I feel like I’ve
discovered something. All those notes and all those
words were available to anybody, but I discovered a
way to combine them in a way that is new. Being a
recording artist and a songwriter is a huge advantage
as a producer. When recording artists produce other
)
artists’ records, it’s maybe not looked down on exactly,
but sometimes it’s given the side-eye a little bit. “Is
ot
this person really a producer?” Well, Jason Falkner
[Tape Op #35] and Daniel Lanois [#37, #127] are a
couple of my favorite producers. Being a recording
artist is a huge advantage in the studio in the same
way that I would argue being an actor is a huge
advantage in being a director, whether you’re Charlie
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/39

 Chaplin, Orson Welles, Ida Lupino, Spike Lee, or Robert How is ECR run these days? they need to be exposed to what is better in order to
Redford. An actor who’s a director can communicate We have a staff of six. Many of them are artists on the understand that. That’s actually a part of our business
with actors on a set in a special way: In a way where label. David Cloyd is one of our beautiful artists, and plan at the label: To make music that a wider audience
that director can be believed. If you talk to the artists he’s also our VP of Creative Operations. Janita is at this moment isn’t particularly used to hearing
that I work with, especially when producing a vocal, another one of our tentpole artists, and she’s also our because we’re using older production tricks that they’re
they feel that it’s an advantage that I’m a singer who Communications Director. We have an office in L.A. not familiar with.
can help craft a vocal because I know what it’s like. I with my dear friend, Tommy Merrill (who’s not a Studio Apartment Studio!
know how difficult it is. musician), and we have a new office in London that’s “It’s Valiant Recording, in Greenwich Village,
Being in there alone on headphones opening this year. I’m the President. What we do here NYC. It used to be my studio apartment that I
and feeling under pressure is scary. is we make the music we believe in, then we figure out lived in. I put a studio in my apartment and then
I almost wonder, with producers who aren’t recording how we’re going to make money and how we’re going quickly I realized I didn’t have a studio in my
artists, how they do it. There is huge responsibility that to win an audience for that music. The balance apartment, I had an apartment in my studio. Now
I feel when I’m making a record of any kind. I’ve had between art and commerce has always been a that the place is 100 percent a studio, I track,
people say that when I’m working on their records that challenging one, but that’s how we do this. This is a mix, and master everything there. I do go to
they feel like I’m bringing to it what I would bring to a label that is like the other historic examples I’ve given, another place if I need a string quartet, or I’ll
record of my own. That’s a wonderful compliment, but my one that’s about putting a roof over the music that I record drums at The Bunker in Brooklyn. It’s a
response is, “Your record is my record. My name is on it. believe in. Now, we have a new publishing division, a beautiful space with two different rooms. I love
I’m standing by it.” That’s where my record label came new artist-services division, and we have major label

m
the way that place sounds.”
from initially, and what it is today. After my major label distribution with The Orchard and Sony. We have a
major label attitude, paired with a fiercely independent What was the process like for your last

co
adventure, with my own music or the music that I was
producing for other people, I couldn’t hand it over to and fully autonomous heart. record, Violent Delights? It sounds
people who I felt were going to screw it up. I was There’s also I Respect Music and some great. When I first put on that record,
walking down the street with my mother, about to of the campaigns you’ve been it jumped out at me. The voice is clear.
showcase for other labels yet again, and I was like, “If I involved in. The energy is focused.
had any guts, I would start my own label on my laptop. Yeah, my artists’ rights activism arrived at my doorstep Well, thank you. That means a lot to me coming from

)
Our successes would be our own, and our failures would unexpectedly. But not really, because the record label you. That was the most fun I’ve had making a record
be ours and we could learn from them.” My mother said, of my own. It’s, wonderfully, the most successful record

“Yeah, if you had any guts, that is what you would do.”
[laughs]
She meant it lovingly. I remember, I was standing on
itself is an expression of artists’ rights, and how I go
about making records is an expression of artists’
rights. For anyone who makes music, being paid fairly
for that work should be a given and not seen as a
ot
of my career so far. It’s the embodiment of how I like
to go about making records. A lot of what we’re talking
about in this interview was brought to bear on that

(d
Fifth Avenue and 11th Street, I put my hands on my privilege. Broadcast radio in the United States has
knees, and I went, “I’m going to have to do that.” And never paid artists for radio airplay. We’re the only
I did. It started on my laptop and now it’s become a democratic country in the world that doesn’t pay
wonderful, successful, truly independent label here in artists for radio airplay.
New York City, built around my recording studio in I’ve found that to be mind-blowing.
l
Greenwich Village. Yes, for promotion. Yes, for Only Iran, North Korea, and China share the United States’
marketing. Yes, to win an audience for the records I position. And of course, there’s also the absurd micro-
ai
record. I’m playing all the instruments on the record,
except for drums, played by Miles East. People
sometimes ask, “Isn’t that hard being the artist,
producing your own record, and playing all the
instruments?” Again, I point to Chaplin, Orson Welles,
and beyond. It’s not a struggle. Often, as I am right
now, I’m working on five different records at the same

believe in, but also for protection. We can make the
music we believe in. It’s not a new story; it’s an old
story. It’s Johnny Mercer starting Capitol Records,
Berry Gordy starting Motown, and Ahmet Ertegun
penny remuneration that we get from streaming time and that helps me keep objectivity. I had a lot of
companies, one certain Swedish streaming company in fun making Violent Delights, and when I hear that
particular. Again and again, artists are often the canaries record I can tell. The process of making it was
in the coalmine when it comes to people not being paid everything that we’ve been talking about today. I
gm

starting Atlantic Records. Those are three musicians fairly. The downward pressure on independent musicians storyboarded the hell out of it. I picked guitars. I
who started labels because they wanted to put a roof – and middle-class recording artists like myself – is the picked amps. I held to those decisions. Something that
over the music that they were making, writing, and greatest of all. Pop music, in whatever form it’s come in, helped me on this record, as opposed to my other
that they believed in. ECR affords me the opportunity has always been an art form that has worked its way from records, is that I really knew the songs. I’d been
to stand behind the music that I’m making, from index the fringes, and on inward to the mainstream. That is singing those songs on tour for a couple years. I’ve
t)

cards on the floor to mic’ing the kick drum, to writing
the press release. That is exciting to me. I never
thought that I would wind up being a recording artist,
record producer, and label owner. It’s hard, but it’s a
(a
what we see less of today, and what at ECR we’re trying logged a little over 175,000 miles on tour since 2016,
to turn around a little bit. Artists have to be able to eat so when the time came for me to sing those songs in
and pay their rents in order to render something the studio, I knew what I wanted. I wanted that record
worthwhile. We’re living in a society that places less to be a cross between The Police’s Ghost in the Machine

lot easier than handing music over to somebody who monetary worth on music. Is it any surprise that we wind and AC/DC’s Back in Black. You’d never listen to my
doesn’t care about it as much as I do. up with more worthless music? record and hear any of that, but it’s in there. I wanted
There’s that dark cloud over many studio It’s also happening at the same time that it to be consistent in the tracking process, in the gear
sessions. We’re like, “This is great. it’s much easier to create and chosen, and in the performances. It was a good
This is wonderful.” Then reality hits, distribute music. There’s a hell of a demonstration of my methodology. And that’s the
99

and we have to ask, “What’s going to lot of music out there that no one whole point of having a methodology, isn’t it? That it’s
happen to it? Who will release it?” ever hears. there for you when you need it.
Right? That never happens in my world. If that was the That’s absolutely true. We hear these numbers, like One aspect that your working methods
fight against is this fear-based
ox

only thing that I was able to give an artist, that would
be a big thing. Fortunately, there’s a lot more than
that. Taking that pressure off and putting it on my own
shoulders is a responsibility that’s a heavy one, but
yc
93,000 tracks come out every day, but as a music
maker that’s why I want to make bold choices in the conservatism in the studio. “Oh, that
recording studio. That’s why I want to have so much reverb’s too wild,” or, “Can a song start
intention behind every choice that we’re making. with a chorus?” Fears that come up

also a beautiful one. Human beings know when something is better, but where I’m saying, “Of course it can.”
40/Tape Op#161/B. Morgan/
Or not wanting to have an intro in a song, because it won’t
grab people on streaming services. Well, you should
listen to Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album, because
the vocal comes well after eight minutes in. However,
you can make people feel something, and that’s what
we’re after. Aren’t we here to serve the art of music? If
you serve yourself, you’re going to be rejecting bold
choices. We’re trying to cause an involuntary emotional
reaction from a listener. That’s what record making is.
That’s the magic of it. That’s why my smile muscles hurt
when I talk about this. [laughs]
You know that’s when it’s working. When
it really feels like something.
Bold strokes, broad strokes, and brave strokes are the coin
of the realm. What’s the point? Where are we going
with this? Quo vadimus? r
<ecrmusicgroup.com> <irespectmusic.org>

m
Thanks to Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff for instigating this interview.

co
Tape Op is made
possible by our
advertisers.
Please support them and tell them
you saw their ad in Tape Op.

)
ot
www.tapeop.com
Bonus content online!!!

(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

B. Morgan/(Fin.)/Tape Op#161/41

Universal Audio
UA Bock 251 tube mic
At the last few pre-pandemic AES conferences I attended,
my brief conversations with David Bock centered around his
opinions about the classic microphones that were built
incorrectly. Most of his comments went over my head, but
what I took away was an impression of his passion, talent,
and ambition for making microphones sound the best they
could. I was excited when Universal Audio announced their
David Bock-designed large diaphragm tube microphones,
which include the flagship Bock 251 reviewed here, plus the
167 and 187. Yes, please! Send the flagship!
My first surprise was the size of the box the mic kit ships
in. Surprise number two was the heavy, two-toned,
upholstered, retro-styled microphone suitcase that celebrates
the style of the Telefunken case with added flare – the UA
version looks ready to be dropped into the trunk of a ‘57
Chevy for a ride down Route 66. Under normal circumstances
I don’t get excited about over-the-top aesthetics related to
audio gear, but I must admit I was getting pretty stoked.
Despite its classic stylings, the mic suitcase has the coolest,
super functional, built-in top opening side panel that houses
the dedicated Tuchel mic cable! Raise your hand if you are
tired of squeezing your custom mic cable into the small space
of your crappy case. The mic is further protected by its own
custom wooden box. Surprise number three was the light surf
green gloss automotive finish of the mic and its linear power
supply. We’re embracing the old school now.
Many consider the original Telefunken ELA M 251 to be one
of the finest production vocal microphones, and with less
than 4,000 manufactured, they’re extremely rare. Though I’ve
never spent time in the studio with an original ELA M 251,
my favorite vocal mics (that I’ve used on the regular) are
Sharkbite Studio’s pair of Lucas CS-1s (a take on the AKG
C12), which were incidentally repaired / “gone through” by
David Bock. I know; 251s and C12s are different (voltage and
distance between capsule and tube), so stop yelling at me.
(a
Like the Telefunken, the Bock 251 offers three polar patterns
(omni, cardioid, and figure-eight) on the mic body. UA’s
version utilizes a NOS (new old stock) ECC85 tube, while the
original ELA M 251 and 251E employ their coveted AC701k
and the 6072. The 6-micron German-made all-brass capsule
99
is hand-assembled and tensioned.
As expected, the Bock 251 is an insanely good vocal mic,
especially with female (but also male) singers. Three singers
with different ranges all agreed that their voices sounded
ox
perfect in the headphones during takes, which I know
contributed to comfort level and confidence that, in turn,
resulted in dynamic and inspired performances every time. I
never needed to give instructions on working the mic
yc
correctly; it just happened naturally in the moment. From a
42/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/
whisper to a scream, the Bock 251 captured the roundness of
the voice’s lower register with true-to-life overall
reproduction, topped off with that special pre-mixed sparkle.
Its proximity effect is addictingly lovely on voice, and the mic
takes close-up SPLs in stride (118 dB SPL with 1% THD),
recovering quickly when really pushed. In almost all
instances, plosives were manageable. Sibilance will happen,
and you may need some post-tracking correction depending
on the singer and their technique.
The Bock 251 is all business in the studio. Vocals aside, I
also achieved excellent results on acoustic guitar that gave
me that AKG C12-ish vibe – clarity and stellar harmonic
capture, but with less woofiness from lower register
fundamentals and overtones. Its custom-designed, multi-
sectioned transformers result in smoother low end extension
and response – and this mic can take that low end
surprisingly well while keeping it in its place without
sounding overly pronounced. We’re not big on exhaustive
mic comparisons, but Tape Op contributor Kirt Shearer can
offer deeper insight into the Bock 251, as he owns a
Telefunken ELA M 251. -SM
The Bock 251 is certainly designed in the style of the
original Telefunken ELA M 251, but seems intentionally
intended to be something more than an exact clone. I think
you can hear those choices in the character of this mic. The
edge-terminated CK12-style capsule unquestionably conveys
a recognizable 251 sound, but seems to be contoured
slightly differently than its vintage counterparts. Don’t get
me wrong, this is a fantastic microphone. It is tremendously
detailed and sounds beautiful. Obviously, Bock intentionally
designed some sonic differences. While some may think this
to be a compromise, or even perhaps blasphemy, it might
make the Bock 251 a more versatile mic. Considering that it’s
getting tougher to find a solid comparative baseline for a
vintage Telefunken ELA M 251, I’ll highlight some of the
subtle differences.
Echoing Scott’s findings, immediately noticeable is the
l
Bock 251’s extended low frequency response. While my
vintage Telefunken ELA M 251 isn’t thin on the low end, the
ai
Bock is a monster. Its fundamental low end extends deeper
than other 251s I’ve used. I found this particularly useful as
a drum room mic; there was a different element of depth that
my Telefunken didn’t have. This might not always be
gm
desirable for vocals, mind you, but for other applications it
can be very nice.
The other difference I noticed is the upper midrange. The
Bock 251 seemed a little smoother without as much of a
presence peak compared to the vintage Telefunken ELA M
t)
251s I know. Again, this is not at all a bad thing, as I
personally don’t like mics that are too “peaky” in that range.
If you need a bit more in the upper mids, the slightest bit of
EQ will get you there. Lastly, the top end of the response
seemed pretty much in line with the 251 I use. The Bock 251
certainly has plenty of sparkle on top, but it seemed like it
was just a tiny bit flatter – perhaps a dB or so down at 10
kHz compared to what I’m used to.
But again, these differences aren’t an issue for me, and
perhaps the Bock 251 offers many more uses than some of
the vintage options. The slightest amount of EQ will likely get
its response into more familiar territory if desired. The Bock
251 is a fantastic mic that absolutely has the vibe of a
vintage ELA M 251, with slight differences in the voicing. It
excels on vocals, piano, overheads, and room mics at half the
price of a new Telefunken. Power cable and fitted shock
mount included. ($5999 MAP; uaudio.com)
-SM & Kirt Shearer <kirtshearer@gmail.com>
oeksound
Bloom tone-shaping plug-in
Proclaimed as “an adaptive tone shaper,” Bloom is a new
plug-in by oeksound, known for the handy tone-fixers
Soothe2 [Tape Op #138] and Spiff [#137]. I constantly use
Soothe2 to fix tracks that have issues, and it gets a lot of use
on my remote mixing jobs, so I was curious what Bloom would
be. At the end of mucking around with it, I would sum it up
as a dynamically dependent, EQ-focused, tone-sculpting tool.
I hope that makes sense, and I will try to explain.
Remember those “loudness” buttons on stereo receivers in
the ‘70s and ‘80s? What did they actually do? The smart kids
in the room just raised their hands and said, “It was supposed
to negate the Fletcher-Munson Curve by boosting high and
low frequencies for playback at lower volumes.” Well, yes, but
since most people never turned the button off, it also
introduced what became known as a smiley-faced EQ at every
volume level – boosting highs and lows makes the midrange
m
seem quieter – so at higher playback levels, sometimes the
co
loudness button made LPs sound brighter, deeper, and
(maybe) better. Now, let’s review Bloom and keep an eye on
this “maybe better” concept.
There are four bands of EQ level sliders (lows, lo-mids, hi-
mids, highs), which can be wiggled left or right to change
frequency. I found it hard to find a frequency that needed
)
adjusting when soloing one of the four EQ channels. It
reminded me of a time when I was teaching someone: I saw
ot
them repeatedly solo tiny bandwidths of audio, and then keep
cutting these little bands down with tight Q widths all over
an EQ plug-in. I asked, “What are you doing?” to which he
replied, “It sounds bad when I solo them, so I turn them
(d
down.” My reply, “Yeah, but almost every tiny snippet of audio
sounds bad when soloed,” hopefully registered with him.
Alongside the EQ control is an amount knob, and when
it’s pushed past 7, Bloom goes into squash mode, where the
compression becomes level-dependent. This gets
aggressive, and is way easy to go too far on, so it’s worth
messing around with it to know what new sounds it can
generate. It’s also clearly indicated that you’re entering the
squash zone, so don’t worry!
My first test of Bloom was on an unmastered console mix
of a song I’d produced and recorded. First, I dialed in my
own idea of what might make the mix a little better, with
a little scoop on the lo-mids and a small boost of the highs.
It definitely approached a more mastered sound. I tried
Bloom’s Mix Buss preset, and this is where the “maybe
better” must be examined. Just like any mix bus processing,
I would recommend a healthy amount of time spent A/B’ing
the effect of this plug-in. The Mix Buss preset had some
good ideas, like using the M/S split setting to boost high
end more on the left and right sides of the mix. However,
the cut of -4 dB in the center lo-mids pulled a fair amount
of energy out of the mix, especially drums and bass. A
casual listen might have preferred the preset as it was
initially appealing, but careful listening revealed the need
for adjustment. This is not a negative point about Bloom,
but a word of caution about using an intensely interactive
EQ-shaping tool like this without always checking every
aspect of the results. Presets can be great starting points,
or – as I often find lately – educational tools so I can
understand the breadth of what a plug-in is capable of. But
they can also be an “easy way out” tool that ends up boxing
your recording and mixing into a corner without an
understanding of what just happened.
 After the mix experiment, I placed instances of Bloom on
the raw drum tracks, used only suggested presets, and listened
back. Comparing against the raw tracks it was easily an
improvement in overall sounds and how the tracks fit
together. This almost seemed too easy. As a starting point,
this was unreal. I’d need to stack a few plug-ins on each track
to start getting a mix close to what Bloom just did. I can
definitely see this being a go-to when used carefully. If I’d
simply left it where it was and started mixing, the presets
once again were pulling out a fair amount of lo-mid out and
needed a bit of undoing – this would be something to
continually watch for with Bloom. Luckily, the amount knob
can just be turned to the left, where it gradually reverts closer
to the unprocessed sound – in all cases, this helped the drums
retain a bit more power while still sounding better.
The stereo mode usually defaults to linked, but the above-
mentioned M/S split and L/R split can help a lot when needed.
Try some of the presets for M/S ideas if you are unsure what
that could be used for, such as clearing out mud in overhead
mic pairs or Leslie speakers.
I tried Bloom on electric bass guitar, and I’d need to spend
some time creating a preset that I liked for this – frankly, I’m
not sure I’ll be using it here, but I kept thinking it would likely
be amazing on upright bass tracks. On electric guitars, Bloom
can provide a quick way to soften abrasive tones, similar to how
I’ve been using Soothe2 but with much more elegance. Placed
on vocal tracks, it can lift the gauze we sometimes get after
compression, analog tape, or whatever else can mask a singer’s
track. I can see using this in many subtle ways for vocals.
Despite the prevalence of overdone presets, Bloom is
definitely a powerful tool that can help an engineer speed
up their mixing time and, when used carefully, can turn
rough sounds into polished tones. Just like the loudness
button mentioned above, with great power comes great
responsibility – so here is a tool that can make your music
sound a lot better if used carefully. Use wisely, and listen closely.
($209 direct; oeksound.com) -LC
Standard Audio
Level-Or Mk2 DUAL limiter
Some 24 years ago, my pal Craig Alvin [Tape Op #137] found
out that one of Tchad Blake’s [#133, #16] ubiquitous mix
distortion devices was the Shure Level-Loc. Level-Locs were
Shure’s attempt at a dummy-proof limiter for podium speakers,
even featuring a Distance Selector switch for how far the
speaker was from the mic, and by all reports they didn’t
dummy-proof them enough. Craig found one and dropped it
off at Jackpot! Recording, so I put it to immediate use on
t)
some songs I was tracking for Seattle’s Sick Bees. The sounds
were crazy, and the way I used it created far too many of the
Level-Loc’s slow-release compression artifacts. Phil Ek [#29]
had to mix the resulting songs for the album (My Pleasure),
(a
and he probably still thinks I’m a shit engineer. I later figured
out how to properly set up inputs, and how to overload it to
get some insane, blown out, crunchy, limited sounds, but Craig
(always the wheeler-dealer) came back to retrieve it one day.
These days, original Level-Locs are overpriced for what they
are; they are noisy, and you’ll have to figure out how to get
99
sound in and out properly.
In 2010, recording engineers Ian MacGregor and Thom
Flowers [Tape Op #142] founded Standard Audio and started
ox
making a 500 Series version of a JFET limiter based on the
Level-Loc, with ease of use, more controls, and some faster
release times. In Tape Op #78, Eli Crews [#88] favorably
reviewed the original Level-Or, describing it as “a piece of gear
yc
to help you make bold sonic statements.” The new Level-Or
Mk2 DUAL is essentially two of the later Mk2 [#129] type
units in a 19-inch rack with an internal power supply. New
features include stereo compressor detector circuit linking,
Mix (wet/dry) knobs, GR (gain reduction) and THD (total
harmonic distortion) metering, and Cascade, which
awesomely sends the output of CH1 to CH2’s input for
gloriously destructive overdrive tones. It’s been a long time
since Eli’s review, and all Level-Or units are Mk2 now, and
include the bypass switch Eli wished for!
I’d never owned or used a Level-Or, and I was excited to get
to try the new Mk2 DUAL. As it’s a stereo limiter (among other
functions), my first thought was, “Parallel drum bus, now!” My
usual limiters for this use are the Chandler Limited TG1 [Tape
Op #37], which I push hard to add some breakup, and the M
House Studios 5020 FET Limiter [#137], an amazing unit that
is seemingly no longer in production. I patched the DUAL in
on my console, fed it from pre-fader auxes and returned it to
two channels, then went to work. Finding the right settings,
with the Level-Or soloed, was fun. It was easy to go too far for
the stripped-down drum sound I was working with, but when
I switched from Crunch to Level mode, engaged the S/C Link,
and relaxed the Input levels, I was able to get the right bite
and snap on the drums (kick, snare, and toms tracks only) that
I use in order to keep the energy up in a rock mix. It definitely
added excitement to the drums in a different way – maybe
more dangerous sounding – than my other standbys.
The Level-Or has two modes: Level or Crunch. Level is the
crazy Shure-style JFET limiter, and Crunch is transistor
distortion without compression. The metering, mentioned
above, switches depending on mode, and the “speed” switch
changes release times in Level and can add in a LPF (low-pass
(d
filter) at 15 kHz or 8 kHz in Crunch mode. The LPF can help
tame scratchy overtones when blending wet and dry sounds to
add textures, like when messing with keyboard parts.
A crazy thing one can do is use the Cascade mode to Crunch
a sound, and then Level it with the second channel. Drum
room mics exploded, and bass guitar made crazy clicks and
l
fuzz in a fun way. Speaking of that, the DI input is pretty cool.
Bass in Cascade, as noted above, was wild sounding, and
ai
could be used in interesting ways. If you have a lifeless stereo
keyboard part, such as a Casio, plug it into the DI, and you
can track with a ton of sonic character choices.
As noted, drum room mics can offer up a new range of over-
gm
the-top sounds in the Level-Or, either in Crunch or Level
modes. It was amazing how cymbals got 20 feet closer, but
toms thundered in the room on some settings. Close kick mics
took to Crunch better than Level, and fast snare fills became
machine-like blasts in an exciting way. Mixing some dull
rhythm guitars? Toss them in Level-Or. The overt distortion can
get a bit sizzly/broken radio-sounding if pushed too hard in
either mode, but when carefully dialed back, it adds some grit
and tonal shift that could help when mixing. On vocals, it’s
been fun to hype them up and get some stressy-sounding
limiting, but you’ll likely need to clean up any click-y mouth
noises and turn down breaths as they become way louder!
Beyond the M House and TG1 limiters, we have several
outboard “harmonic generating” units at Jackpot!, including
Thermionic Culture’s The Culture Vulture [Tape Op #45], a
custom Hamptone dual JFET overdrive, and an often abused
vintage Spectra Sonics 610 Complimiter. It’s telling that staff
here asked, “Can we keep it?” within weeks of the Level-Or Mk2
DUAL’s arrival. It works, it’s fun, and it offers a versatile way
to achieve a wide variety of highly useable sonic mutations
quickly. I think it’s staying in the rack.
($1799 MAP; standard-audio.com) -LC
UnderTone Audio
UTEQ500 500 Series EQ
I’m an EQ guy and always have been. When I began working
in studios, the debate was whether or not to EQ to tape or wait
to EQ when mixing. Fuck that; get the sound the way you want
it when hitting the tape! Nowadays, the debate is about
whether hardware EQs sound better than plug-in EQs. If you’ve
worked with a good hardware EQ, then we’re probably in
agreement here. For the record, my all-time favorite EQ is the
Great River EQ-2NV [Tape Op #45]. It sounds excellent, is easy
to use, and is both musical and almost surgical (to use two
clichéd but useful terms). What are my favorite 500 Series
format EQs? The Avedis E27 [#121] is the best-sounding,
followed by the SSL 611 [#119], which is very versatile. The
UnderTone Audio (UTA) UTEQ500 is the latest addition to my
top three 500 Series EQs, and one of my top four EQs ever.
Note: I’m leaving passive broadband EQs I love, like Pultecs,
outside of this list as, to me, they’re different tools. The
m
UTEQ500 sounds fantastic and is the most versatile EQ I’ve ever
co
used. It would almost knock out some of my other favorites,
but for one minor quibble: It has a steep learning curve. I have
a studio with a lot of visiting freelance engineers, and –
unfortunately – gear that is a bit more complex often doesn’t
get used. However, once you wrap your head around the
UTEQ500, you’ll realize that this is not like any other EQ you’ve
)
used, and that there’s not much it won’t do.
This UTEQ500 is based on the EQ that Eric Valentine [Tape
ot
Op #45, #133] and Larry Jasper designed for the (rare) UTA
console, and was also in their now-discontinued single rack
unit MPEQ-1 mono mic pre and EQ channel strip. I’ve been
working with a pair of MPEQ-1s for a few years, and they
sound amazing and natural but are also able to get more
tweaky and surgical when needed. But, I’m a bit embarrassed
to admit that I never got around to reading the manual, and
simply “winged it” while using them though I still had great
results. Who needs to read a manual for an EQ? Well, while
writing this review I was forced to read the manual, and I have
now learned that I was missing out on a lot of features and
capabilities of UTA’s EQ design.
The UTEQ500 is a three-band EQ, but the midrange band can
be switched between a high and low range, so there are really
four frequency ranges available on the EQ. The low band ranges
from 20 Hz to 340 Hz, the mid is from 90 Hz to 6 kHz, and the
high spreads from 1.4 kHz to 22 kHz; there is a lot of overlap
if you need to tweak a few different frequencies in a
problematic range. Each band has four controls (via concentric
knobs) to adjust the amount and type of cut or boost. The
frequency control seems fairly obvious, but even that is a bit
different than most EQs. Underneath each frequency control is
a three-position switch that sets that band to Boost, Cut, or
Notch. This is somewhat similar to a Helios EQ. Set to Cut or
Boost, the Gain knob, which is typically turned clockwise with
no center detent, can then cut or boost the frequency you’ve
selected. In other words, instead of a center-detented pot that
you turn left or right to cut or boost, you switch between Cut
or Boost mode. The Notch mode is so unique that I’ll revisit it
shortly. In addition to frequency and Gain, each band has two
more controls: Shape and Q. Shape moves between peaking
and shelving curves, while Q changes bandwidth of the Cut or
Boost from narrow to broad. If that’s all this EQ did, it would
be an amazing-sounding and very versatile EQ.
The Notch mode is what separates the UTEQ500 from
basically every EQ I’ve ever used. I reviewed the dbx 530 EQ
in Tape Op #119, an affordable parametric EQ that also has a
notch mode, but sonically the UTEQ500 is much better –
Gear Reviews/(continued on page 44)/43
 especially when boosting – and its Notch mode is much more
usable. Let’s just look at the Notch in terms of what you’d
expect: It cuts a deep, narrow notch at the frequency selected,
but its bandwidth control remains active. You can vary the
bandwidth and Gain of the notched/filtered frequency and cut
by up to 50 dB! This is achieved by increasing the Gain knob
from 0 to 5, and at 5 (halfway position), you have the maximum
cut of about 50 dB. Now, here’s where it gets crazy. When you
increase the Gain to 10 (maximum position), the frequency
response of the band becomes flat, but the phase of the
selected frequency has been flipped 180 degrees. The
bandwidth control also becomes active at this point. I’ll stop
and let you think about that for a minute. Yep, that’s right; you
can use this EQ to vary the phase of any part of the audio
spectrum while maintaining full control over how much phase
is changed, what center frequency you are working with, and –
via the bandwidth – how many other frequencies you are
affecting. Wow. And this is all in the analog domain. If you’re
still with me, the applications of this mode should be apparent
when multi-mic’ing guitar cabs, multi-mic’ing drum sets, or
tracking bass with a DI and a mic on the amp. You can now
adjust the phase between these multi-mic’d signals in between
zero and 180 degrees yet only adjusting the phase on certain
portions of the frequency spectrum. The word “game-changer”
gets used way too much in pro audio and at trade shows, but
this really is a unique and useful feature of the UTEQ500.
I’ve used these EQs in the UTA MPEQ-1 for tracking and mixing
for several years now (albeit in a naïve way, I now realize), and
they’ve always sounded really good. They’re not the most intuitive
EQs, as they are fairly complex, but it’s hard to make them sound
bad – even stumbling around the way I had been doing. But now
that I had a better understanding of how they worked, I wanted
to explore the Notch and phase features, so I pulled up some
sessions with drums that I had tracked and put the UTEQ500s on
the overhead and room mics, then brought up the kick and snare
on separate inputs on our API 1608 console [Tape Op #81]. I put
the EQs into Notch mode, turned the Gain up to 10 on the bottom
l
end band, and started experimenting with the frequency, shape,
and bandwidth controls – I was pretty blown away. I could really
ai
carve and sculpt the way the kick or snare sounded in the mix
between the four inputs by simply tweaking these parameters,
and I was able to change the way the kick drum decayed in the
mix, for example, without using any dynamics processing (but by
gm
changing the phase of the low frequencies in the overheads). The
resultant mix sounded natural, and it didn’t feel like I was
applying heavy EQ, which was hard to wrap my head and ears
around! I have a pretty minimal tracking methodology; I almost
never mic bass amps (I love my Tonecraft Audio 363 tube DI
t)
[#103]), and I rarely put more than one mic on a guitar cabinet.
But if you do, I’m sure these EQs would be super useful. Bottom
line, the UTEQ500s are deep.
Though the UTEQ500 might not be an ideal “first” EQ in terms
(a
of its learning curve, if you take the time to learn how it works it
might be the “last” EQ you’ll ever buy; any other EQ will feel limited
in comparison. If you’ve already used a lot of other EQs but are
searching for something truly different, look no further than the
UTEQ500. They’re not cheap, but they’re deep.
99
Even if you have no intention of ever buying this EQ, I will
highly recommend reading the manual; it’s a detailed master
class on EQs in general, and illustrates how Eric Valentine and
Larry Jasper navigated the design decisions for this EQ. The
ox
manual also explains the difference between how bands on EQs
can work in series or parallel, and how that affects the output.
The UTEQ500 can do both. Most EQs – like SSL, Neve, and API –
work in series; and Helios, Quad/Eight, and GML work in parallel.
yc
44/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 46)
While developing the UTEQ500, Eric and Larry used precision
measurement equipment and software to plot the frequency
response of many well-known EQs, then used the controls of the
UTEQ500 to replicate those graphs and create “presets.” Using
this methodology, they even matched the sonic behavior of some
well known EQs like the API 550, Neve 1073, SSLs, and the Pultec
EQP-1A. I’m not suggesting you throw away your Pultec if you
buy these EQs, but those experiments demonstrate the versatility
of the UTEQ500. ($1195 MAP; undertoneaudio.com) -JB
Focal
Trio6 ST6 active 3-way monitor
I’m always reluctant to review speakers. It’s hard to do client
work on unfamiliar monitors. My room was tuned for my current
nearfields over ten years ago, and since then I haven’t moved
them an inch – mixing is hard enough already. But when asked
about reviewing Focal’s new flagship studio monitors, the timing
was right, so I agreed.
The new Trio6, an update of the Trio6 Be [Tape Op #114], is a
m
serious proposition: It’s a 3-way configuration with an 8-inch
co
woofer, weighs about 55 pounds, and is priced in the same range
as other high-end active nearfields, such as the Neumann KH 420
and ATC’s popular SCM25A [#101]. In other words, it’s not a
casual purchase.
I started with a long call to Focal. One of my concerns with
current high-end products is that although expensive, I need them
)
to be supported the way I’d expect for any professional tool. I asked
a lot of questions about parts and support, and Focal said they have
ot
parts in stock going back 20 years, and techs in Montreal who are
dedicated to pro audio. If a speaker fails mid-session, replacement
parts can be on the way quickly, and the components of
(d
the Trio6 are designed for easy swaps. That is exactly what I wanted
to hear. Other promising info from this call was that Focal builds
their drivers in-house, and they took four years to develop the
drivers in the Trio6. The power supplies are old-school linear,
amplifiers are Class G and Class AB, and Focal does their own US
distribution, which helps with pricing.
When two extremely large boxes arrived at the studio, Per
Focal’s advice I broke in the speakers with a few days of
moderately loud rock music. Then we hefted the Trio6s down
the hall to Amar Lal’s mastering room, put them next to his big
Neumann KH 420s (and his little Avantone Pro MixCubes [Tape
Op #88] – more on that later), and compared a ton of music.
This was not entirely a fair fight, since the Neumanns have 10-
inch woofers in bigger cabinets, but we were both impressed
at how well the Focals held up: Deep bass, excellent imaging,
great midrange.
The Trios include a feature called Focus Mode. A standard
TRS footswitch allows switching between full-range, 2-way
(midrange and tweeter), and 1-way (midrange only) listening.
Broadly, think of this as “Yamaha NS-10 mode” and “Auratone
mode.” Amar has the aforementioned Avantone MixCubes,
and, as we expected, they sound quite different from the 1-
way Focal mode – we’re talking a 6-inch vs. a 21-inch cabinet.
However, that’s not the point. Focus Mode was immediately
useful and presented the material in a dramatically different
light. Removing that giant low end tells us a lot! Bass guitar
and kick drum effectively disappeared on some songs.
Jumping between 1-way and 2-way was also interesting and
useful; How much information is being carried by the very
high frequencies, and what do you want to do about that?
Getting this without the cognitive surprise of switching to a
speaker in a different location is pretty cool, and I could see
using this often, maybe even starting a mix in 2-way mode,
then bringing in the lows later.
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/45

 Next, I brought the speakers to Jack Shirley’s [Tape Op
#115] Atomic Garden studio. Jack’s new Wes Lachot [#21]-
designed facility embodies the dream: Two first-class control
rooms and a shared live room. Both control rooms sound
phenomenal. We started in the West Room, which has a pair of
ATC SCM25As [#101], moved to the East Room to hear the
soffited ATC SCM150 SLs (good lord), and eventually had loops
playing in sync in both control rooms while we ran back and
forth to compare. Who gets to do this? Nobody. There was no
comparison to the big soffit-mounted 150s – we basically used
those as reference truth. But in both rooms, we liked the Focals
a lot, with its great low end and more midrange presence and
detail than the SCM25As. I expected to love the ATCs, but to
my surprise I preferred the Focals.
Finally, back in my little mix room, I moved my trusty ADAM
S3As [Tape Op #33] for the first time in a decade and installed
the Trio6s. The Trios arrived set up for vertical orientation, but
switching to horizontal is super easy. Remove four hex screws
from the midrange/tweeter assembly, rotate 90 degrees, then
replace the screws. I did a lot of listening and spent a few
weeks mixing on the Focals, and they were consistently
impressive and believable. Most notably, their low end
comfortably extends further than my ADAMs, making it much
easier to tell what’s going on in the sub-bass. When a drummer
quietly rested their kick pedal on the drum between beats, the
Focals told me. The midrange and treble were detailed, with a
respectable listening sweet spot. Focal says their tweeters have
a wide dispersion.
As I said, my mix room is small – about 180 square feet –
and the Trio6s feel like they’re on the cusp of being too big for
this room. I try to monitor no louder than 82 to 85 dB, and
the Trios seemed happiest running a little loud. In fairness,
small funky rooms will benefit from tuning, and my room was
tuned with a hardware EQ rather than something like
Sonarworks Reference [Tape Op #131] or a Trinnov system, so
I couldn’t re-tune for the Focals. But that’s how it is with
monitors. They’re a long-term commitment.
l
One note: For high-end pro audio tooling, some friends and
I found the web chatter surrounding the Trio6 to be mostly
ai
about Focus Mode, which is the inverse of what it should be.
Don’t be thrown off by any of this. I can confidently say that
if you’re shopping for speakers in this size and price range (or
higher), the Trio6 is well worth your time. ($6998/pair MAP;
gm
focal.com) -Scott Evans <antisleep.com>
PatchCAD
PatchCAD 3 patchbay label app
Folks, please label your patchbays: Not with a paper key
t)
that sits on top of the bays, not with a PDF on your
computer, but with labels on the patchbays. For years, I made
labels using a carefully crafted Excel spreadsheet. It worked
okay, but when I found PatchCAD 3 I never looked back.
(a
PatchCAD 3 is exactly what it sounds like: Dedicated desktop
software (macOS/Windows) for patchbay design and label
printing. It’s fast to launch, well-designed, and easy to use.
There are thousands of factory templates, the printed output
looks great, and it is absurdly cheap. If you’re a regular studio
rat, the non-pro version is all you’ll ever need. For installers
99
or wiring techs, even the Pro version is stupid cheap. Check
out the website to determine which version fits your needs.
I’ve also received fast and friendly replies from support
ox
emails. No matter how you make patchbay labels right now,
PatchCAD 3 is probably better. (£25 standard, £65 Pro direct;
patchcad.com) -Scott Evans <antisleep.com>
yc
46/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 48)
Apogee
Groove AE headphone DAC/amp
I’ve loved listening to music in headphones since I was a
child, but I’ve come a long way from those flimsy freebies that
came with my yellow Sony Walkman. As an adult, I’ve spent
weeks at a time earning a living in audio while primarily
clocking my hours in cans, and I’ve learned the hard way that
headphones are only as good as the amp (and DAC) that feed
them. The Apogee Groove is an integrated headphone amp
and 32-bit/192 kHz DAC that’s designed to be the perfect
partner for all your favorite headphones – and it’s tiny enough
to pack up with any mobile setup. The new Groove Anniversary
Edition raises the specs across the board from its last iteration
with even lower noise floor, greater dynamic range, and a
flatter frequency response, making music sound stunningly
intimate with my favorite headphones from Sony, Sennheiser,
Audio-Technica, and more. It sounds remarkably clear without
ever feeling dull. It renders music in a lovely, flattering way
m
without resorting to any of the gimmicky hype that makes
co
doing professional work difficult.
When I’m mixing away from my home studio, my setup
resembles my studio: I have two sets of monitors. My “mains”
are the Sony MDR-MV1s [Tape Op #160], and my “alts” are
old-school analog Apple EarPods with an 1/8-inch
headphone plug. Those old EarPods are so important to me –
)
I keep dozens of replacements stashed away. I want to travel
as light as I can, so for a while I just used the built-in 1/8-
ot
inch jack on my Mac. However, a certain OS update got
“smart” by exposing the Headphones as an available sound
option only when they are physically plugged in. This means
Pro Tools freaks out when I unplug my headphones to switch
(d
between my “mains” and my “alts.” This is solved by using
an external DAC, so for that reason the Groove Anniversary
Edition is now a necessary part of my mobile mix rig.
But now that I’ve taken the Groove Anniversary on a couple
of trips, there’s so much more to love! It’s so handy to have
a consistent reference that can power my favorite
headphones, whether I’m mixing on my computer or walking
around the house with my iPhone. The Groove is joyfully
simple to use. Once plugged in, there are two large buttons
for adjusting the volume, along with an LED meter that
displays level. The physical volume buttons are excellent, and
somehow communicate with my OS on whichever device I use
despite not installing any drivers. I love that! The Groove
Anniversary Edition is a USB-C device with a micro-USB
connector, and is compatible with most USB-C machines,
including newer iOS devices, Androids with enough power,
Macs, and PCs. Check Apogee’s specs for more details. One
minor complaint – I have to carry a USB-C to micro-USB cable
when I’m packing for trips, which is a small price to pay for
a rock-solid DAC that I can take anywhere. I thoroughly enjoy
spending a full day’s work listening through the Groove
Anniversary Edition, but even better, I also love to keep
listening for fun long after I clock out for the day. ($349
MAP; apogeedigital.com) -Scott McDowell <fadersolo.com>
Chandler Limited
TG Microphone Type L
When I was managing Jackpot! Recording Studio, I was
fascinated by Tape Op editor and studio owner Larry Crane’s
approach to gear-buying. The studio is mostly made up of new
equipment with a few vintage items. This is savvy, as new gear
doesn’t come with inflated price tags or unexpected (and even
impossible) maintenance issues. For a long time, it’s felt as if
all the quality new equipment was spendy and the affordable
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/47

 gear was always crappy. I believe we’re now finally entering an era where new recording equipment
can be high performing at low costs. Enter the new TG Microphone Type L from Chandler Limited.
I’ve had this mic for over three months, and I’ve used it on nearly every session since with superb
results – and it costs less than $800!
The Type L is essentially the little brother to Chandler’s larger TG Microphone [Tape Op #131],
in that both are solid-state, large diaphragm condenser mics with two tone voicings. But the
similarities end there, as the Type L has its own unique sound and is not simply an affordable
version of the TG Microphone. Because of how quickly I grew to love this mic and its attractive
price point, I’m going to make this review all about my great experiences using the Type L and
keep the tech talk to a minimum.
Upon its arrival, I was impressed by the sturdy bamboo storage box it comes in and was
surprised by the actual size and weight of the microphone – it’s small and light! Neither
observation bothered me after putting it to use, finding it very easy to place in tight situations
(thanks to the supplied swivel mount), and feeling comfortable with its weight on just about any
mic stand. The Type L is a fixed cardioid FET mic with simple controls on the microphone body –
a -10 dB pad switch and an A/B voicing switch. Voicing A is a mid-forward TG Microphone feel,
while voicing B is cleaner and more transparent with a slightly lower output than A. The B setting
is referred to as “ribbon-like,” which is what initially made me want to try out the mic.

m
How does it sound on sources? The first time I used the Type L was mic’ing up the exterior of
a hollow-body electric guitar to blend in with the amped signal. I don’t typically do this when

co
recording guitars, but the song we were recording had a Django Reinhardt vibe that made me want
to capture some acoustic, woody tone to add to the mic’d amp. I set the Type L to the B voicing
and placed it about a foot away from the f-hole on the guitar. I was stunned at how musical and
full the sound was. It gave me exactly the tone I was hoping to capture. After comping our guitar
part, it was time to record vocals. This song was a duet between a male and female vocalist,
singing face-to-face a few feet apart from each other. I decided to use a Klaus Heyne-modded

)
vintage Neumann U 87 on the man, and the Type L set to voicing A on the woman. While it’s
unfair to stack these two mics up against each other, I was once again stunned at how well the

ot
Type L stepped up to the challenge. The A setting helped bring a relatively mellow female vocalist
up front, with nice presence that was not harsh or thin-sounding at all. The back and forth
between each of the singer’s phrases ended up totally natural and complementary to each other.

(d
Next, I tried the Type L on a session where we were overdubbing brass instruments on choral music
that we had recorded in a beautiful cathedral in downtown Portland. The goal was to capture clean
and honest recordings of each instrument in a way that could later be mixed with a healthy dose
of reverb to match the sound of our cathedral recordings. First up was French horn, which I’ve
found difficult in the past because of how mellow the tone is. I started with the Type L set to the
B voicing, no pad, about two feet away from the bell. It was a nice sound, but still very mellow
l
and getting a bit lost in the track. After a couple takes I remembered I could simply ask the horn
player to switch the voicing switch over to A to see if that made much difference. There was
ai

thankfully no loud “pop” with the channel open while switching. We did one more take and
listened back. Both the horn player and I looked at each other and said, “Wow, that sure helped!”
Suddenly there was enough midrange presence to help it cut through the mix but without losing
the gentle tone of the horn. Next up was trumpet. I switched the mic back to B, engaged the -
gm

10 dB pad, and placed the mic a little over a foot in front of the trumpet. Because I was working
on limited time with union symphony players, I set a quick level and started rolling takes. The
whole time I was a little bummed I didn’t have time to switch preamps, as my record level was
just slightly too hot to my liking. I was worried it might be a tad too bright (not harsh, just too
present), even on the softer B setting. But when it came time to mix these songs, I was pleasantly
t)

surprised again. After turning down the trumpet about 10 to 12 dB in the track and drenching it
in some lovely cathedral-like reverb, the presence in the recording was exactly what it needed to
cut through in the mix and required zero EQ’ing. Amazing.
Now onto where I believe the Type L really shines – kick drum and guitar amps. This mic is my
(a

new go-to for an outside kick mic. With the pad engaged and the voicing on B, I immediately get
that satisfying pillowy low end punch that I crave on a kick drum. The sub frequencies are nicely
controlled and roll off before getting out of hand, but the proximity effect helps keep the low end
punchy and strong. I’ve been thrilled with the results I’ve been getting during tracking and mixing
using the Type L for outside kick. Guitar amps are the other place this mic totally shines. When
99

overdubbing electric parts on a number of songs, the guitarist was primarily using his Gibson ES-
335-style electric into a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. I had the mic set to voicing A with the pad
engaged and got a quick level, and the guitarist immediately asked what mic I was using. He said
he’s so used to the sound being a bit thicker/muddier in the low mids and requiring some EQ to
ox

open up the tone. Instead, the voicing on the mic took care of that for us! It was mid-forward,
the way electric guitars like to be in a mix, and full sounding without ever getting muddy. When
we needed to switch to a Fender Telecaster for a song, I ran out and switched the mic to the B
setting. It brought a little more weight to the twangy sound and mellowed out some of the Tele’s
yc

icepick upper mids that I’m used to battling during a mix. Again, success!
48/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 50)
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/49

 I’ve grown so fond of using the Type L on guitar amps and
kick drum, that I’ve neglected trying it out in other spots on
a drum kit. I can’t wait to try it out as an overhead and on
toms (great, now I’ll need at least two of them). Chandler set
out to make a studio workhorse, and that’s exactly what they
did. It’s simple, to the point, and sounds excellent every time
I put it to use. The fact that it has two different but equally
musical, tonal voicings makes it a no-brainer purchase for any
studio owner. It makes overdubbing fun and easy since I can
double track guitar or vocal parts using the different voicing
settings, and have it sound as if I was using different mics
for each part. The Type L can handle crazy loud SPL before any
audible breakup, as well as pick up sensitive details in quieter
recordings. At this price point, I’m excited about this type of
affordability with new gear that can excel in professional
settings. I will be keeping this microphone, I plan to buy a
second one, and I’m putting the Type L at the top of my list
whenever friends reach out asking me for advice on an
affordable studio microphone that sounds good on
everything. ($789 street; chandlerlimited.com)
-Gus Berry <gusberry.com>
Pulsar Modular
P455 MDN Sidecar plug-in
Pulsar Modular’s P455 MDN Sidecar plug-in was designed
in conjunction with engineer Marc Daniel Nelson. Although
there’s definitely some API style inspiration involved,
they’ve taken a much broader and, in my opinion, much
more useful approach to creating a tool that will probably
replace entire mix bus chains. The Sidecar plug-in recreates
Marc’s analog mixing chain, starting with his vintage
hardware API sidecar from the first eight channels from the
API console that was formerly installed at the Record
Plant’s Studio B in Sausalito, California (Fleetwood Mac,
Stevie Wonder, Grateful Dead) through the end of the chain
to emulate a few of his favorite ADC converter choices and
analog processors. There’s a lot packed into this
emulation, with plenty of ways to move between
transparent and colorful.
At the top of P455 MDN Sidecar’s GUI, you’ll see a
representation of Marc’s vintage API sidecar with the
choice of running the summing section in two or eight-
channel mode. The two-channel mode provides color from
a stereo center section and offers the cleanest path of the
two options – a good starting point for most mix bus
duties. The eight-channel option emulates all eight
channels of Marc’s analog sidecar by recreating the sonic
effects of summing through multiple channels of API
circuitry. Don’t be afraid to use this option on the mix bus,
but if you find the effect too strong, you have the option
to back off on the Input stage, tweak the Bias, or switch
back to two-channel mode. Holding down the shift key
(a
while adjusting the Input stage automatically level
matches with the left and right Output faders – always a
welcomed feature.
Next is an API-inspired EQ section (also included as its
own separate P450 MDN EQ plug-in when you purchase
the Sidecar). I’ve loved API EQs for tracking purposes, but
99
never got along with them on the mix bus. Ziad Sidawi at
Pulsar has implemented some excellent tweaks to the
curves that make the EQ section a lot more versatile, and
ox
I found myself getting along with it really well for basic
boosting and cutting. However, it’s still very capable of
being a problem solver that can home in on specific
issues. You also have a familiar three-way gain multiplier
yc
that adjusts how broad the stepped gain amounts are.
50/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 52)
The various low and high-pass filters are fantastic, too.
I’m constantly experimenting with boosts and cuts in
parallel with the filters. It’s an effective way to give
yourself a little more top or bottom without things
getting out of control.
Before you get into the compressor section, it’s important
to crack the manual open and take a look at the signal flow
for the P455 MDN Sidecar plug-in. In essence, summing goes
into the EQ, the EQ passes back into the summing section,
which goes to the Line Amp, which feeds the compressor
section, then through the EQ filters into the Analog section,
finally routing to the Output faders. Trust me, the manual’s
diagram is easier to follow! There are various ways to gain
stage in and out of each section of the P455 MDN, so you can
make this as complicated or as simple as you wish. Although
the compressor seems simple with two fairly low 1.2:1 and
1.8:1 ratios, they can still offer color options considering the
various ways you can gain stage in and out from different
points in the plug-in’s virtual signal flow. Even applying half
a dB of gain reduction can make your mix sound noticeably
better. You can definitely stomp the compressor on a drum
bus if you want, but I suggest adding it in subtly to provide
a sensible amount of weight and glue. That’s where I feel like
P455 MDN Sidecar compression section shines.
The Analog and Line Amp knobs are typically the final
parts of the chain. Analog offers a selection between Marc’s
two favorite ADC converters, which are represented by his
two dogs: Willie on the left and Atticus on the right. Willie
is strong, forward, and punchy while Atticus is more laid
back with great imaging. Line Amp (On/Off) emulates the
analog side of things and takes into account all the various
tubes, transformers, and whatnot in the collective modeled
analog path. Although you’re probably going to want to
leave Analog engaged most of the time, there have been a
few instances where I realized I overcooked everything a bit
at the end of the process. Analog is also an ideal single-use
option for the P455 MDN Sidecar plug-in. Although Analog
l
and Line Amp don’t offer any adjustment parameters, they’re
affected by the plug-in’s signal flow, and the interaction of
ai
its sections. That’s critical to getting the most out of the
plug-in, as how you gain stage in and out at different points
can make a big difference.
Being that this is the first plug-in I’ve tried from Pulsar
gm
Modular, what stuck with me the most was how open Ziad is
to feedback, and how quickly he implements changes and
fixes problems. Immediately on launch, a handful of users
inevitably ran into some bugs and issues. Ziad was
responding to them within minutes and had fixes and
t)
updates implemented within a few hours. It’s a small
operation, but it’s clear that they care and listen. I know
there were some comments about the imaging shifting in the
P455 MDN Sidecar at certain settings, which wasn’t a bug but
rather a byproduct of its operation. In all honesty, it was a
feature that I thought was a bonus (and was probably quite
hard to get right while designing the Sidecar). Sound is an
objective thing though, and they’ve already implemented a
few updates. It’s always hard striking a balance between what
you think will sound good, and what everyone else will find
helpful. There’s plenty to tweak on the Sidecar plug-in, but at
its heart it’s straightforward and familiar. I think everyone’s
going to be a bit shocked at how great the P455 MDN Sidecar
sounds, and how quickly it can replace a chain of other plug-
ins packed onto your output bus.
($225 direct; pulsarmodular.com)
-Matt Anderson <millsounds.com>
Recording The Masters
RTM SM900 analog tape
The name of this magazine is Tape Op, and we know that lots
of people still love working on analog tape machines. We also
know that there are a lot of people who have never worked
with tape machines yet love the idea of working with tape.
However, I want to talk about the elephant in the room; the
tape itself. When I first started working in studios in the early
1980s, there were not a lot of options for tape, and we usually
used the Scotch 206 or Ampex 406 and 456 formulations.
Ampex 456 was considered the “pro” tape at the time; it could
handle a +3 dB hotter signal before saturation, and the signal-
to-noise ratio was improved over the older 406. Over the next
two decades, more tape formulations came to market with
increasingly higher output levels. Scotch 250 and 996 (+6 and
+9), Ampex/Quantegy 499 and GP9 (+9), and the
AGFA/BASF/EMTEC 900 series (+9). In some ways, this was the
golden era of tape, even as it was simultaneously being
m
replaced by the emerging Digidesign Pro Tools systems. The one
thing I remember the most about those years, however, is that
co
all of the tape brands and formulations were generally quite
good and very reliable. I found that certain tapes worked better
on my machines than other tapes. For instance, my 2-inch, 16-
track MCI deck seemed to sound best with EMTEC 900, but my
Studer 1/4-inch machine liked Ampex 499 better. Then, in
)
2005, Quantegy closed its USA factory and stopped
manufacturing analog recording tape. Scotch had already
ot
stopped making tape, and EMTEC soon followed. The next
decade is what I call the “dark age of tape,” although
companies such as ATR Magnetics eventually began
manufacturing new tape formulations. Tape became difficult to
(d
find, and I had several experiences using tapes of inconsistent
quality. These reels could be hard to calibrate to, sometimes
had drop outs (where signal simply doesn’t get recorded), and,
to be fair, some were earlier formulations of RTM tape. A few
years ago, I had some RTM reels at my studio, and though it
seemed a bit thin it held calibration well when I lined up our
Studer A812 for a mix client. The RTM tapes come from the
original AGFA/BASF/EMTEC formulas using the original EMTEC
coating and slitting equipment, which RTM now owns, in their
factory in France.
I recently had a mix project with artist Claire George, and we
decided to mix to tape on our 1/4-inch Otari MX5050 (the
Studer is sadly in the shop for an extended repair). I thought
it would be a good time to try the latest RTM SM900
formulation. RTM provided us with two reels of the SM900, and
when it arrived I dug into calibrating the machine’s bias and
levels. I was favorably impressed by both the packaging of the
tape and the sturdy metal reels that held it. The tape itself felt
solid, not thin or flimsy. Some of the new tapes in the 2010s
(including early versions of RTM) did not seem as robust in
comparison. Analog tape is not cheap, and when working with
it a sturdy take-up/storage reel and durable packaging are
expected. An advantage of tape is that, if properly stored, it is
a smart archiving medium, and the packaging should reflect
this use – the new RTM does an excellent job of it. I was
running my MX5050 at 15 IPS (inches per second) with the IEC
(International Electrotechnical Commission) calibration curve
and applied a +3 dB overbias as recommended for my machine
on the RTM website. On that note, this site is a surprising
resource, providing not only calibration info but a section with
links on buying and maintaining tape machines. If you’re
curious about getting into recording on tape, this is a good
place to start. The rest of the calibration went smoothly, and
10 kHz came back very stable on the high end calibration.
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/51


Gear Geeking w/ Andy…
As we all know, aging ears and sustained exposure to high
SPL (sound pressure level) can lead to permanent hearing
loss, chronic tinnitus, or both. I’m at the point in my music-
making endeavors that many of my colleagues and clients
are four decades into playing music on stage – often at
extreme volumes. Therefore, I’m often working with
musicians who hear things differently from me. These
discrepancies seem to become most apparent during
attended mix sessions. For example, comments that present
themselves as aesthetic judgments, such as, “The bass is
louder than my guitar,” or, “The percussion needs to come
up,” could turn out to be indicators of hearing loss. Perhaps
the sound of the guitar leans heavily into higher-order
harmonics from exaggerated distortion, or the percussion
tracks are comprised of bells and shakers with bright, high-
pitched transients – and the commenter can’t hear the high
frequencies? And what happens when another band
member thinks the opposite? “The guitar is too loud,” or,
“The percussion is too piercing”? Several years ago, one
musician kept asking for the tambourine to be mixed louder.
Everyone else thought the tambourine was overwhelming
the mix. That’s when I played back another song that I’d
recorded years prior for the same band – a song that also
had a tambourine on it. The guitarist couldn’t hear the
tambourine in the older song, but absolutely remembered
liking how it sounded when we mixed that song. Other
times, the solution isn’t so easy, especially when the
opinions are more subtle. I had a guitarist point out that
the drums and bass had lost definition after the mixes came
back from mastering. Meanwhile, the drummer felt that his
drum tracks were the best he’d ever heard, and the bass
player felt that the bass had gained definition. What would
you do as the engineer if you were presented with a similar
dilemma? In the earlier case of the tambourine, after we
listened to a familiar recording together, I played test tones
for everyone in the room. We quickly determined that each
of us had different limits to our high-frequency hearing,
and that the guitarist couldn’t hear anything above 4 kHz.
••• If you really want to understand the health of your
hearing, you should visit an audiologist; and if you’re
suffering from tinnitus, consider an otolaryngologist [Tape
Op #39]. Meanwhile, there are countless online tests that
offer a rough estimation of the extent of any hearing loss.
I tried several, and all of them required me to interact with
test tones at a self-calibrated level (i.e., not truly
calibrated). These tests only use a small set of frequencies,
and different ears (as well as different playback systems)
may or may not have problems and inaccuracies at those
specific frequencies. Caveat aside, I preferred Soundly
<soundly.com/hearing-test> on desktop and mobile, and
their test can be easily shared with clients who aren't
computer savvy. Meanwhile, anyone with a DAW can load
their favorite tone-generator plug-in, or run a test program
(a
like Room EQ Wizard <roomeqwizard.com>, to play sine
wave sweeps in order to gain a more detailed
understanding of your ear’s frequency-response. Set up a
logarithmic sweep from 2 kHz to 20 kHz, at a duration of
20 sec; and if you can, listen at a very low volume on a
single nearfield speaker, while blocking one of your ears.
99
Another option is to use headphones, but I’ve found that
closed-back headphones have bigger swings in high-
frequency volume than nearfield monitors do. Granted,
what we perceive in frequency-domain is not the end-all to
ox
how we hear sounds in a mix, but it could explain
disagreements over mix balance, especially when there’s
significant hearing loss involved. Email me
<andy@tapeop.com> your techniques for working with
yc
aging musicians while making mix decisions. -AH
52/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 54)
Over two days of mixing and monitoring off the playback
head, and then transferring to hi-res digital, I was impressed
with the sound of the SM900. It does everything I want tape
to do by imparting a bit of subtle compression, packaging the
bottom end nicely, and adding some light coloration and glue
to the mix. Moreover, it didn’t have any technical issues. In
some loud passages with a lot of bottom end, the tape took
the signal well with no bottoming-out overloads or audible
distortion. The seven song EP we were working on also had
some quiet sections, but at no point was tape hiss or noise an
issue. Looking for reliable analog recording tape in a solid
professional package? I definitely recommend the RTM SM900,
and I’ll be using more of it in the future.
(pricing varies; recordingthemasters.com) -JB
Push the Right
Buttons (book)
by Neil Kesterson
With the subtitle “A Practical Guide to Becoming and
Succeeding as an Audio Engineer and Producer,” the goal of
this book should be obvious. But where many books of this
ilk usually fail, this book excels. Why is that? Because Neil
Kesterson (owner of Dynamix Productions, Inc. in Lexington,
Kentucky) brings his 40 years of real-world experiences into
the different sections here, we get true stories of getting
jobs done, and what to do better next time. The worst books
of this type simply rattle off a list of different pro audio jobs
and schools, like something a lazy high school career
counselor would offer up. This book dives so much deeper
than that.
When I began reading, the personalized tales initially
made me wonder, “Why didn’t this guy just write an
(d
autobiography instead?” But as I read more, it reminded me
of Tape Op interviews and how I try to learn how people
think about their work more than simply how they work.
With references to the learning processes depicted in Karate
Kid, Neil pulls the same stunt, and soon, the reader is
l
understanding the fine points of many audio jobs, and how
to carry oneself in this career.
ai
Push the Right Buttons covers quite a bit of pro audio
beyond music-based recording studios like mine. We learn
about all sorts of sound for film and television, sports
broadcast, post production, music production, live sound,
gm
and advertising. Although Neil and I are likely working on
very different types of audio jobs most of the time, all the
advice in this book is entirely in line with how I run my
business and studio, how I interact with clients, how my
studio manages bookings, and even how I dress. Neil’s little
t)
Tech Tip sidebars are all worth reading on their own, as each
one is a chunk of needed knowledge.
Don’t think for a minute that this book doesn’t also cover
the nuts and bolts of recording. The basics of acoustics,
capturing sound, EQ, digital editing, mixing, etc., are all
covered in depth. Seriously, if I think back to the early ‘90s
when I was reading everything I could get my hands on
about recording, I am almost angry that this book didn’t
exist then. Chapter 21, A Sound Education, is a good
example of this, as it contains over 100 pages of the history
of recording, radio, and more. It should be required reading
for anyone interested in an audio career or hobby.
Here’s an example of how real and perfect this book’s
advice is: “When someone is nervous, time speeds up for
them. They will read, sing, or play too fast.” Right? How
many times have I asked a band or group of musicians to
slow down? It’d be in the thousands, and it took me a few
solid years behind the desk to become hyper-aware of this.
The next time someone asks me for advice on a career in
pro audio, I will immediately recommend this book, but with
a few instructions: Do not skim through it. Read every one
of its 585 pages, and then read it again. Take notes. Take
more notes. Follow every single suggestion about how to
behave in professional situations. Learn how to dress
properly for the job, and how to take care of your body when
the long days occur (and they will) – and do all of this with
a smile on your face and a positive attitude.
(eBook $9.95 direct, paperback $43; dxaudio.com) -LC
Milab Microphones
Pearl ELM-T BM Signature Ed. mic
Pearl Microphone Laboratory is one of the longest-running
and oldest microphone manufacturers in the world. Their
former production manager, Bernt Malmqvist, has been
building quality microphones since 1954. It goes without
saying that his expertise and experience is unparalleled.
m
Recently, Pearl released a new large diaphragm tube
condenser that represents the crowning achievement of
co
Bernt’s career prior to his retirement. The Pearl ELM-T Bernt
Malmqvist Signature Edition tube microphone shares the
same proprietary capsule design as Pearl’s other microphones
in their ELM series. With its rectangular shape and a height-
to-width ratio of 7:1, the capsule offers some unique
)
advantages to the more traditional circular-shaped capsules
found in most microphones. The large surface area of the
ot
capsule contributes to the mic’s impressive signal-to-noise
ratio, a feature that is especially valuable in a tube
microphone. Another feature of this distinct capsule design
is its directionality and smooth off-axis response, which
makes it an excellent tool when extra isolation is needed.
The ELM-T BM features a continuously variable polar
pattern from cardioid, to omnidirectional, and figure-eight,
making it quite versatile. The frequency response ranges
from 20 Hz to 25 kHz with a max SPL of 126 dB. When I
received the microphone for review, I was immediately struck
by its visually interesting design. I could see the tall
rectangular capsule through the grill. The microphone itself
has a smaller body diameter than other tube microphones
I’ve used, making it easy to place in tight spaces.
I immediately wanted to try the ELM-T BM with a live
ensemble to test its directionality. I had a group of
saxophone, clarinet, and cello players come into the studio,
and set them up in the same room to play together live. I
switched the polar pattern on the power supply to cardioid
and placed the ELM-T BM on the cello. I immediately noticed
the mic’s robust low end response, which complemented the
instrument very nicely. It captured the instrument’s warmth
without sounding too boomy. The upper region sounded very
smooth and pleasing as well. The bleed from other
instruments in the room sounded natural and was quite
useable in the mix, with no strange peaks or dips in
frequency. Even from the side, the sax and clarinet sounded
well-balanced. I could easily see myself using the ELM-T BM
as a room mic because of how balanced everything sounded
from all directions.
Next, I tried the ELM-T BM directly above the kick and
snare on a drum kit. Even as a mono drum overhead, it
captured a balanced picture of the entire kit. When I
compared it to a Neumann U 67 tube mic in the same
position, I noticed the ELM-T BM was much darker. It was
tonally more like a ribbon microphone than expected, and
the transients from the cymbals and snare were softer than
with the U 67. I found myself wanting to boost the upper
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/53

 mids and highs in order bring out the brightness and sizzle of the cymbals and the attack of
the snare. The ELM-T BM took EQ quite well. Even with the boost in the upper mids, nothing
sounded overly harsh, but I definitely preferred the sound of the drum kit with EQ.
On the acoustic guitar, the ELM-T BM performed beautifully. It brought out the woody tone
of the acoustic. It was full-bodied, yet detailed in the low end, which can be difficult to get
right on acoustic guitar. Once again, it reminded me of a very nice ribbon microphone but with
the added bonus of a very low noise floor, which was nice for the quieter fingerpicked parts.
I flipped the mic into a figure-eight position and had the guitarist strum the acoustic while
singing simultaneously. I was able to achieve a good amount of isolation for the guitar by
pointing the null points of the mic toward the singer’s mouth. On vocals, the ELM-T BM wasn’t
as open in the upper midrange and top end as the U 67. It was quite dark, and I found myself
wanting to reach for the EQ again to bring out some extra brightness and air.
Overall, I thought the Pearl ELM-T BM was quite a unique mic, with its rectangular capsule
design and warm tonal characteristics. I found it to be most pleasing on the cello and acoustic
guitar, and while I didn’t get an opportunity to try it on other string instruments, I can
imagine it would perform just as well. Its natural-sounding off-axis response was quite
impressive, and I could see this mic being very useful when recording an ensemble or live
orchestra. For a tube condenser, it’s a darker mic than I expected, but its richness in the lower

m
midrange complemented certain instruments quite beautifully. I would definitely recommend
the Pearl ELM-T BM if you’re looking for a clean and natural-sounding microphone that leans

co
toward the warm end of the spectrum. ($5,605 MAP, $10,615 matched pair; milabmic.com) -
Danielle Goldsmith <daniellegoldsmithaudio.com>

Roswell Pro Audio

Mini K67x condenser microphone
The need for flexibility is paramount in many recording situations, and affordably meeting

)
that need is a challenge. Fortunately, Roswell Audio’s Mini K67x cardioid large diaphragm
condenser mic nicely balances colorful harmonic saturation (from a transformer-coupled

ot
circuit) and sparkling clarity, achieving this while remaining very affordable. I’m suspicious of
tools that promise too many uses. Past trauma has taught me that effective musical multi-
tools are typically too good to be true. The Mini K67x is a notable exception. One of the first
things I noticed was how it added beautiful harmonic saturation to a source’s top end without

(d
adding any unpleasant harshness.
Furthermore, this vintage vibe isn’t noisy or ham-fisted, nor does this microphone’s
character sound antiquated. Capturing an array of sources resulted in recordings with smooth,
saturated, shimmering highs, and well-contained mids and lows. The Mini K67x has become
my go-to for tracking guitar and vocals, especially for R&B, country, folk, etc. Its added
l
harmonics handsomely flatter lower-register voices, allowing them to sit inside dense mixes
without heavy-handed EQ or other harmonic treatments. Voices in higher registers are similarly
ai

enhanced by those saturated highs without ever sounding brittle or harsh. This microphone’s
complementary balance between harmonic saturation and clarity is super helpful for many
different vocal types. Using the Mini K67x for some ADR work resulted in a surprisingly radiant-
yet-contained spoken word recording. This microphone’s well-balanced nature helps acoustic
gm

guitar, banjo, and other acoustic stringed instruments shine by keeping unruly highs and
boomy lows in check while delivering impressive harmonics in a natural musical way.
Additionally, the Mini K67x provides a subtle excitement and glimmer to soft, low-volume
sources. In other words, it makes small things sound huge and illustrious while keeping
quarrelsome frequencies focused and composed. Electric guitars and amplified synths are also
t)

well-served by this microphone, giving them a larger-than-life quality. These elements, which
initially impressed me, were brought to bear when I began using a matched pair of Mini K67xs
as drum overheads (matched pairs include an internal -10 dB switch specifically for this) and
they sounded excellent for this purpose. The attack from drum and cymbal hits was immediate
(a

and smooth, and the tails were wonderfully saturated, delivering a sound akin to vintage mics.
Using this microphone to capture natural percussion, like shaker and tambourine, yielded
similarly impressive results. These mics are unapologetically flattering and colorful, which
makes them useful for many diverse applications. In dense mixes, they respond to subtractive
EQ beautifully, and can support a fair bit of additive EQ too. Classic vintage microphones have
a well-earned reputation for capturing a source’s colorful detail while delivering subtle
99

harmonic saturation and warmth. However, this reputation comes with the additional costs of
added fragility, inconvenience, and expense. For me, the Mini K67x has filled a unique niche
by producing a modern, balanced, vintage microphone sound at a fraction of the cost. The Mini
ox

K67x is a remarkable offering to anyone looking for that distinctive, classic sound. Available in
Roswell’s standard metallic gray finish, with multiple custom color choices available. Includes a
Roswell Cutaway shock mount and aluminum flight case. (one $479, pair $1099 direct;
roswellproaudio.com) - Geoffrey Knecht <geoffreyknecht.com>
yc

54/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 56)

 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/55

 Ginger Audio
iRender binaural monitoring plug-in
Those of us who have tried mixing music in Dolby Atmos understand the challenges of
learning a new skill. Some of those challenges lie in creative dilemmas, such as “What should
go in the overhead speakers?” Yet, the most exasperating struggle lies in predicting the
audience’s experience when listening to our mix. Two primary issues affect our listeners. First,
a large percentage will listen to our immersive mix on headphones rather than speakers. Second,
a significant portion of these listeners will encounter our mix with Apple Music’s Spatial Audio
processing instead of Dolby’s Atmos Binaural representation. To clarify, Dolby provides Atmos
mixers the capability to incorporate spatialization that defines how close an object will sound
to the listener’s head when an Atmos mix is played back through stereo headphones, as opposed
to a multichannel speaker system. Four user-specified render modes (near, mid, far, off)
determine the level distance model (convolution reverb) applied to each object or bed channel
during a particular song. This is known as the binaural render of an Atmos mix.
Apple Music does not utilize the Dolby-specified binaural metadata; instead, it employs its
own algorithm called Spatial Audio. This means that Atmos mixes heard on headphones through
Apple Music will sound different from the same mix heard on Tidal or any other digital streaming

m
service that honors Dolby’s Atmos Binaural metadata. The binaural settings applied during a mix
ultimately affect how “reverby” certain sounds render in an Atmos mix on headphones versus

co
speakers, so the challenge in mixing for headphones is finding binaural settings that work well
in Spatial Audio playback as well as the standard Atmos Binaural playback.
During a mix, the Dolby Atmos Renderer and some DAWs allow us to seamlessly audition re-
renders of our immersive mix in formats including Atmos Binaural, stereo, 5.1, 7.1, etc. However,
to listen to the Apple Music Spatial Audio mix, one either needs to mix in a recent version of
Apple’s Logic Pro [Tape Op #74] or export the Atmos mix as an MP4 file, import it to an iOS

)
device, and then play the file not through the Apple Music player, but as a movie from the file
system. This workaround makes it difficult to quickly assess how a mix in progress will translate

ot
to different playback environments. I find it extremely useful to loop a section of a song and
compare how the mix translates between speakers, Spatial Audio, and Atmos Binaural
headphone playback, but I couldn’t until now. Ginger Audio, the developer of GroundControl

(d
SPHERE monitor control software [Tape Op #158], has introduced the iRender plug-in. This plug-
in enables real-time monitoring of an Apple Spatial Audio version of an Atmos mix. What’s more,
the iRender plug-in is available free of charge to SPHERE owners.
I’ve been using SPHERE as my monitor control software via an Elgato Stream Deck + for
hardware control for about a year, and it has proven to be an excellent choice. The integration
of iRender now saves me quite a bit of time and hassle during Atmos mixes, while allowing me
l
to reassure nervous clients that the time and money spent on their Atmos mix will yield a result
that translates well to headphones on every streaming platform. Keep in mind that Spatial Audio
ai

playback is supported not just on Apple and Beats headphones and earbuds, but also when using
the built-in speakers on many iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, iMacs, the Apple Vision Pro, and certain
Android devices with compatible headphones.
Here’s how it all works for me: Input A of my SPHERE monitor controller receives the signal
gm

from my 7.1.4 Atmos mix, either from the Dolby Renderer or from the DAW. This signal is routed
to various speakers via SPHERE’s output section. SPHERE also provides aux sends from its input
section, and I can use Aux A to send the Apple Music Spatial Audio mix to my Bluetooth Apple
AirPods. In my setup, Output A is my 7.1.4 speaker system, Output B routes to my stereo
monitors, and Output C goes to my regular stereo headphones. Additionally, the Aux A output
t)

feeds the built-in output of my Mac’s audio system, which can be set to the headphone jack or
the Bluetooth output.
I should mention that any of SPHERE’s inputs, outputs, or aux channels can host an AU plug-
in. The iRender plug-in is inserted on the aux send from Input A, allowing the Apple Music
(a

Spatial Audio signal to be routed to my Mac’s Bluetooth output. With this setup, I can instantly
select an output to audition my mix in various formats: as a multichannel speaker setup (Output
A), a stereo fold-down on speakers (Output B), Dolby’s Atmos Binaural headphone mix (Output
C), and Apple’s Spatial Audio (Aux A). The only inconvenience in switching from the Atmos
Binaural to Spatial Audio mix is the switching from my wired headphones to the AirPods.
99

iRender supports music and movie modes, dynamic head tracking, and personalized HRTFs, so
you can audition Apple Music Spatial Audio in the manner that you are used to. iRender’s input
meters display the 7.1.4 channel levels, and a LUFS meter lets us monitor the overall loudness
of our mix. Once the plug-in is set up, it really never needs to be open while monitoring the
ox

Spatial Audio signal or any of the other monitor formats.

Ginger Audio continually updates the features and functionality of SPHERE, and iRender is just
one of the reasons why I consider SPHERE a crucial component of an immersive mixing workflow.
iRender comes integrated with GroundControl SPHERE and is currently available in macOS only.
yc

(included w/ SPHERE [$399]; gingeraudio.com) -Adam Kagan <mixer.ninja>

56/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 58)
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/57

 TASCAM
Sonicview 24XP digital console
It’s clear that TASCAM made no compromises when designing the Sonicview 24XP digital
recording and mixing console. While its virtually endless features should make it attractive to
seasoned engineers, the Sonicview is exceedingly simple to set up and use for those with less
experience. Its unique balance of useability, flexibility, affordability, and power make it an
excellent choice for anyone involved in broadcasting, theater/worship, touring sound, studio
audio production, or any combination thereof. Before launching into technical jargon and
features, I want to emphasize that the Sonicview sounds impressively natural.
Regarding inputs, the Sonicview’s excellent sound is partially due to its 24 built-in HDIA
(High Definition Instrumentation Architecture) mic preamps with a max input level of +32
dBu. These preamps sound exceptionally clean and transparent, which highlights why the
Sonicview is not only an excellent live console, but also a fantastic recording interface. In
addition to the 24 mic/line XLR inputs, the unit features eight channels of dedicated balanced
TRS line inputs, with two TRS inserts, two stereo RCA aux inputs, and an XLR talkback input.
That’s 40 mono input channels and two stereo input channels for a total of 44. Notably, it
features two redundant (primary and secondary) Dante interface jacks that support Dante
Domain Manager, allowing the Sonicview to essentially be Dante plug-and-play.

m
Sonicview features 16 XLR line outputs, plus a stereo analog monitor out. It has 22 separate

co
output buses and a main L/R bus, each with an independent 31-band graphic EQ. The unit
also boasts four digital FX engines, four FX send buses, and four FX return modules.
The biggest factor in Sonicview’s remarkable audio quality and stability is its 54-bit float-
point FPGA mix engine, and its 32-bit/96 kHz HD resolution. All of this results in ultra-low
latency within the mix engine, and ultra-low roundtrip latency. I mention the Sonicview’s
stability for a reason. During my own use, I always took a moment to simultaneously send

)
all active channels to the four FX built-in digital multi-effects processors. Keep in mind, each
channel has its own independent compression, gate, EQ (parametric and graphic), and de-

ot
esser settings. My expectation was that I’d notice a discernible drop in audio quality as a
buildup of channels began to overwhelm the FX modules. I was trying to identify the
breaking point of Sonicview’s DSP, but, to my amazement, I noticed no changes in sound
quality; pretty damn cool.

(d
The Sonicview is surprisingly easy to use but doesn’t skimp on deep features and dense
customization. This makes it a perfect choice for anyone just getting started in audio
production, as well as experienced engineers who desire deeper functionality. Its custom
snapshot feature allows for tons of flexibility, lock protection, recall, and control, especially
when dealing with teams or individuals with varying levels of skill and experience. Its ease
l
and useability are largely due to its VIEW (Visual Interactive Ergonomic Workflow) system. The
24XP features three separate 7-inch full-color, user-customizable touch screens and buttons,
ai

allowing for easy access and control over an array of different settings. In Channel Strip View,
each screen displays key information for its eight corresponding adjacent channels – it looks
similar to a classic channel strip. A touch of the finger or stylus allows a user to dive into
each channel’s respective Module View, gaining control over a given channel’s granular
gm

settings for de-esser, compression, EQ (with RTA bands), aux/effects, sends, pans, and more.
However, each screen can also be used to monitor and manipulate independent selections and
functions via the Individual View. This means a user can tweak compression settings for a
vocal channel on one screen and monitor levels for all channels on a second screen while
watching output meters on a third. Furthermore, the easy color-coding and labeling of
t)

channels, along with the large, well-lit scribble strip, allows users and teams to stay on top
of organization and avoid potential confusion.
Organization and control are further enhanced by Sonicview’s fader layer system. This
system allows users to access, customize, and recall multiple virtual fader layouts, including
(a

the Sonicview’s eight DCAs (Digitally Controlled Amplifiers), allowing control of channel
groups. Speaking of faders, the 24XP provides three banks of eight motorized channel faders,
plus a main bus motorized fader.
One of my favorite features is the 32-track SD recording capability. The IF-MTR32 multitrack
recording card is only included in the US version of the Sonicview, but it is a worthy option
99

for a couple of reasons. First, while the Sonicview can be connected to a DAW via USB-B (2.0)
and used as an interface for multitrack recording, the integrated SD capability eliminates that
need. I’ve always favored workflows that keep me focused on the way something sounds.
Recording on a laptop can be distracting: Email and message notifications, prompts for
ox

software updates, issues with licenses, juggling USB dongles, or a need to be constantly
connected to Wi-Fi. The Sonicview’s multitrack card simultaneously writes 32 tracks directly
onto SD cards, preserving the potential option of post-processing while eliminating the need
to have a DAW running during the performance itself. The second notable SD multitrack card
yc

feature is something TASCAM calls Virtual Sound Check Mode that allows engineers to play
58/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 60)
 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/59

 back previous performances in order to get a live mix up and running without actually having
performers on stage. While additional tweaking is usually necessary once the performers
return, this mode can act as a fantastic jumping-off point when dialing in a mix. The Sonicview
can also be controlled via free TASCAM Sonicview Control software. Thankfully, the UX of this
software essentially mirrors the UX of the actual Sonicview viewscreens, making it seamless to
utilize once familiar with the unit. The app is supported on MacOS, Windows, and iPadOS.
Being able to tweak mixes from anywhere in a room is a clear benefit, and keeping the UX
consistent via both platforms is an obvious, yet smart, decision. Ultimately, the Sonicview 24XP
mixer boasts way too many features to list in this short review, but it does so without bogging
down the user experience or intimidating new mixers. The best tools for any job add efficiency
without ever getting in the way of the work, and TASCAM’s Sonicview 24XP embodies this
philosophy perfectly. ($6999 MAP; tascam.com) -Geoffrey Knecht <GeoffreyKnecht.com>

Soundcraft
Notepad-8FX mixer
The Soundcraft Notepad-8FX is an entry-level mixer that seamlessly connects as a USB 2.0
interface to your laptop, tablet or phone. It has two mic/line XLR combo input jacks (one of
which has a selectable Hi-Z input option for DI sources like electric guitar or bass) with +48V

m
phantom power, four additional 1/4-inch TRS line inputs for stereo inputs or mono use, and
a stereo RCA line input for a total of eight inputs in all. The RCA/USB input channel is also

co
the “playback channel;” The RCA inputs and USB audio from the DAW are summed here.
Additionally, 8FX has XLR master stereo outputs, plus a single headphone and aux output. The
manual is easy to understand and covers the device’s features, as well as some console
concepts / routing basics.
The first two channels have a Gain control, simple 3-band EQ, and a 100 Hz high-pass filter.
Channels three and four have a Trim control and EQ. Channels five through eight offer Trim

)
without EQ. All channels have an Aux/FX send, Pan, and Level knobs. The Master bus has a
single fader with a four-segment LED output metering, plus a headphone volume control and

ot
a Master/Aux monitor switch. The onboard Lexicon DSP effects are limited to a simple delay
(with a very handy tap tempo), chorus, and reverb. The associated rotary knob changes the
character of each effect. The unit consists of hard plastic sides and body, with a metal

(d
faceplate and back. The control knobs are plastic but have nice resistance and feel like you
can make small and accurate adjustments.
I like having small mixers around and always have a use for them in the studio or on stage.
Tons of great records have been made on Soundcraft consoles, so when the Notepad-8FX
arrived, I wasn’t put off by its compact size or form factor. I immediately liked that it was
small enough to throw in a backpack, could offer easy versatility for use on the Tape Op
l
Podcast, and would work well for sketching out quick song ideas. The fact that it’s a mixer and
an interface is cool.
ai

When I connected the Notepad-8FX to my MacBook Pro via USB, it showed up right away
as a class-compliant device in the input menu in Ableton Live [Tape Op #160]. For Pro Tools,
I simply configured the I/O setup using “Aux I/O” section. The Notepad-8FX is limited to
sample rates of 44.1 and 48 kHz.
gm

The mic pres are nothing extraordinary character-wise but are completely usable and have
plenty of clean gain. Like the preamps, the EQ is not going to blow your mind either, but its
functional and musically useful. With the mics I used for testing (DPA 4060 and Earthworks
ETHOS [Tape Op #146] and SR117 [#158]), I had a hard time making things sound terrible,
even with extreme EQ settings.
t)

The simplicity of the 8FX makes it an excellent little device for a complete newbie to
understand the basics workings of a mixer without being overwhelmed. In fact, I gave my 16-
year-old son a quick tutorial, and he was using the preamps, EQ, and effects to record vocals
on some hip-hop tracks within minutes. It brought up questions about how to use EQ, and I
(a

was able to explain techniques like thinning out one of the takes of his double-tracked vocal
or changing the tonality of different parts for effect.
The Notepad-8FX is simple enough to avoid getting into too much trouble, but has enough
features to be creative. I made a quick demo using both primary mic preamp channels for
acoustic guitar tracking, plugged in my electric guitar and keyboards direct, and, with very
99

little fuss was capturing ideas. For a beginner or seasoned pro who just wants an inexpensive
small-format mixer with a built-in audio interface, the Notepad-8FX is an excellent option.
($199 MAP; soundcraft.com) -GS
ox
yc

60/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 62)

 m
co
)
ot
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/61

 Sennheiser
HD 490 PRO Plus headphones
We’ve all grown far too accustomed to the head puckering,
bass muffled, ear-smushing, insulated fake spaciness of
crappy small speakers strapped to our skulls masquerading as
headphones. I’ve been escaping into under-engineered
closed-back headphones since I bought my first copy of Pink
Floyd’s The Wall the same year of its release. With audio work
I’ve done my best to stay away from headphones, but this
never fully took. I own upwards of 18 flavors of conk bonkers,
and don’t love any of them. Still, I know there must be
headphones out there for me.
The HD 490 PRO Plus open-back headphones come tucked
neatly into a lightweight (but sturdy) proprietary softshell
dark gray carrying case with two styles of comfortable
earpads, detachable six and ten-foot cables, a spare
headband cushion, and a 1/8 to 1/4-inch adapter plug. The
HD 490 PRO is the same headphone without the case,
extended cable, and jack adapter. Though definitely
lightweight (nine ounces), I wouldn’t characterize them as
the lightest headphones in the room – likely due to their
sturdy build. That’s a tradeoff I’ll make any day of the week.
They are snug, but not head-suckingly tight, and are
comfortable enough to even fall asleep in. Open-back
designs don’t boast passive noise reduction as an inherent
feature, but the HD 490s feel a little more private than other
open-backs I’ve used/reviewed, and for a chronic closed-
backer like me, they were an easy transition into a different,
but welcomed, headspace.
On first use, it was obvious that the HD 490 PRO’s drivers
needed some breaking in. After a few days of casual
listening, the lows filled out, the highs found their detail,
and the sound began to bloom. I plugged into my trusty
Little Labs Monotor [Tape Op #117], and worked through
some balancing maneuvers on an ongoing mix project,
including tweaks to the upper midrange and low end
boominess of a plucked acoustic upright bass, pulling the hi-
hat into the mix, getting the harmonics right on a picked
acoustic guitar, and making effects buses feel more natural.
I quickly fell into a state of trust with HD 490 PROs, and after
a few hours, my ears were not feeling that headphone drag
(no noticeable fatigue or ear soreness). However, I believe
that after an hour of audio work, one can normalize their
hearing to almost any audio situation. So, I went back and
listened with my go-to closed-backs: the Audio-Technica
ATH-M50xs [#113]. This is not an A/B, nor an apples-to-
apples comparison, but my immediate reaction was that the
mix choices I made with HD 490 PROs rendered groovy,
vibrant, and correct. My secondary reaction was that the
Audio-Technicas were more fun, which can be dangerous with
headphones. C’mon, man! I’m trying to get some work done.
(a
The HD 490 PROs also translated well to my studio
monitors, but I’m temporarily mixing from the dining room.
My acoustics are wrong, and my bass management and sub
setup is problematic. However, I trust that my room and bass
management suck, and I know how it sucks, so I can
99
compensate. But here’s the thing: The mix adjustments I
made with the HD 490 PROs translated better, pretty much
everywhere than the original mix from my studio monitors.
This blew my mind, and shifted my perception of what
ox
headphones could achieve for audio work.
Before we all do a victory dance, I need to say that I
wouldn’t characterize these headphones as fun (in a
“funsumer” way) – neither are Yamaha NS-10s or Auratone 5C
yc
Super Sound Cubes [Tape Op #111]. You get where I’m going
62/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 64)
here. The HD 490s offer the accuracy of a relatively flat-
sounding driver below 1 kHz (when using the fabric ear
pads), without the inherent hyped low end and prickly highs
found in some of our favorite headphone designs. The
dynamic drivers feel super responsive and full without
fluffing the sound – there’s not that cloudy overt driver
compression and rarefaction that thins out the sound. These
Sennheisers give me the dynamic accuracy to make informed
choices while allowing me to work for my mix. Even when
plugged into my MacBook’s headphone jack, the HD 490s
never felt pushed or underpowered.
We’ve normalized our auditory collectors to accept what
headphone manufacturers are selling us at premium prices,
then thanked them for deliberately diminishing our sonic
expectations in trade for convenience or, much worse,
fashion. The HD 490s are affordable premium studio
headphones that you can wear for a full day’s session without
overworking your ears. This is the headphone for me, and I
won’t be sending them back to Sennheiser. None of this
means I’m abandoning my studio monitors (of course).
However, reliable/professional headphones have now become
a must-have tool for nearly every audio worker; I recommend
you consider the HD 490s. Of course, I did end up listening
to The Wall on these, and enjoyed the record in a way I
never had before. I could more clearly hear the production
and mixing choices, which, in the end, was a ton of fun.
($399 MAP PRO, $479 PRO Plus; sennheiser.com) -SM
apulSoft
apTrigga3 sample trigger plug-in
apTrigga has been around since 2004 (and it was good
back then!). In 2015, apulSoft released a full rewrite of their
sample trigger plug-in that included AAX support, which I
grabbed immediately and have used regularly since. I realized
this plug-in has never been reviewed here, and I wanted to
give it a shout-out. The interface is simple and fast, making
it easy to throw together samples on the fly. For instance, if
l
I have a dozen kick drum recordings on disk, it takes
probably 90 seconds to load them, trim, add fadeouts, create
ai
a group that triggers in random order, then dial in triggering
with filters using apTrigga3’s simple GUI. The other trigger
plug-ins I’ve tried feel excessively heavy, and designed for
full-kit sample sets, which isn’t my thing. apTrigga3 has lots
gm
of deep features, but my usage is 100 percent throw-and-go
when I need to do some simple augmenting or replacement,
and even though I don’t find that task fun, I do enjoy using
apTrigga3 – one of my favorite plug-ins, and it’s cheap!
($69 direct; apulsoft.ch) -Scott Evans <antisleep.com>
t)
TME Recording Products
AC1STB94 Splicing Tabs
If you’re just making a few edits on open reel tapes, or
attaching a leader to tops and tails, it won’t kill you to cut
off a piece of leader tape from a spool. But there are times
where I’m doing a lot of edits, such as repairing failed splices
on post-baked stock or setting up several reels for a project.
It’s an inefficient pain in the rear to stop, go to a different
block, try to peel the tape from the spool, and grab scissors
or razor or trust a dispenser to give a clean slice to work with.
That’s not to mention the variable length or questionable
angles that can be created this way. TME, a maker of editing
supplies, sells their ubiquitous blue splicing tape with
segments pre-die cut, so I ordered a 100 tab sample for 1/4-
inch tapes. TME items come in double-sealed bags with
freshness dates, but I’ve had rolls of their products last for
years. Each AC1STB94 piece is a uniform 1.25-inch long,
features clean 45-degree cuts, and dispenses easily. It’s not
m
scientific, but I estimate I completed joins three to four
times faster, not to mention much less splicing tape saved
co
compared to the random length segments I make. I wish I
had found this earlier, and I’m buying more. ($12.98;
usrecordingmedia.com) -Garrett Haines <treelady.com>
Head Voice (magazine)
issue #1, Autumn 2023
)
With mottos like, “You’re doing nothing wrong” and,
ot
“Nothing is wrong with your mix,” Head Voice arrived last fall
as a mission statement and an “audio recording zine focused
on creativity.” Founded by musicians Donovan Quinn, Ben
Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance), and James Toth (James &
(d
The Giants, Wooden Wand, Tape Op contributor), the mag
steers us towards “unorthodox sound production.” Its digest
size format might remind some readers of this magazine’s
origins, but at 84 pages, it’s bigger than we ever were back
then, and it is seriously full of interesting content. This initial
issue features articles on Matt Valentine (The Tower
Recordings, MV & EE), the late Peter Laughner (Rocket From
The Tombs, early Pere Ubu), Naomi Yang (Damon and Naomi,
Galaxie 500), singer/songwriter Cheval Sombre, Kristen
Gallerneaux (author, museum curator), and engineer Jason
Quever of Papercuts (espousing his love of the old Shure Model
565 mic). If all of this sounds as interesting to you as it is to
me, grab an issue and dig into some engaging interviews and
thoughts about recording music. I’m really enthused to see a
magazine like Head Voice, and I am waiting for the next (bi-
annual) issue! Issue purchase includes access to the
magazine’s Discord server. ($15 direct; head-voice.com) -LC
 m
co
)
ot
Panoramic House (d
l
a place for creating and collaborating
music/sound/art/building
ai

www.panoramic-house.com
gm
t)
(a

Be here now
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/63

 Are You Backing Up?
by Mike Kosacek
There is an old saying: “Only back up what
you can’t afford to lose.” As musicians and audio
personnel, I believe most of us can’t afford to lose any of our product
(aka data). Whether making music is a hobby or a profession, the
material being created has significant value and cannot simply be
repeated or re-recorded. With some planning, it’s pretty easy to make
sure that nobody loses data, especially when backing up digitally. These
days, given the cost of digital storage and media, there is really no
excuse not to make a backup!
When there was only analog tape, making a physical copy of your
tapes was the backup (aka “safety copy”). One problem is that this is
not actually an exact copy. The backup goes through multiple stages of
analog circuitry and cabling, and it ends up residing on a totally
different magnetic tape – all factors guaranteeing that it won’t be
exactly the same as the original. Due to tape deck discrepancies or
incorrect settings, the copy could even sound different than the
original. It also took the industry many years to realize that analog
tapes (primary or backup) might not last forever, and, due to poor
storage and sticky-shed syndrome, many old tapes have been pulled out
of storage only to have them disintegrate and self-destruct!
Over very long periods of time, magnetic media can demagnetize (or
re-magnetize) itself as the magnetic regions attempt to realign to their
natural entropic state (this applies to both tape and hard disk media),
causing dropouts or loss of data. Of course, magnetic media can be
affected by environmental factors (heat, humidity, cold) and
contaminants (flooding, dust) as well. Making periodic new backups of
the original tapes can be costly. Additionally, it puts more wear on the
originals, and (as mentioned earlier) it is not an exact copy. Many
analog tapes (reel-to-reel, cassette, and more) are being converted
these days to digital in an attempt to preserve the audio for the longer
term. Of course, the initial conversion won’t be an exact copy either, as
tape deck heads, circuitry, and analog-to-digital converters (which only
keep getting better at their task) will affect the initial sound captured.
So, digital recordings (and other data) will last forever, right? If only
it was that easy! There have been many forms of digital data storage
over time, most of which are already obsolete. It’s fairly easy to back
up to a drive today, but will that same drive technology work in 20
years? Try to find a current computer with a PATA (parallel ATA, aka IDE)
t)
or SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) today. Zip drives or floppy
disks, anyone? Note that computers no longer have built in CD
players/burners, let alone half the ports we might need. You can
certainly count on technology to change, and often it changes rapidly.
(a
And if you can no longer retrieve your data, then it’s like not having a
backup at all.
One thing that digital has going for it is that it does not degrade
when transferred properly. Therefore, we can transfer safely from older
technology to newer technology when it is available. Digital files are,
99
in their most basic form, just 1s and 0s. So, as long as the transfer is
not corrupted, then it will be exactly the same on all copies. There are
ways to verify this programmatically, such as using CRC and MD5
ox
checksums. Some transfer (copy) utilities will verify automatically, but
many require explicit instructions (as it is slower, and it puts more
burden on the CPU to do these calculations) and you may not realize it
until it’s too late. (So do your research!) Many backup applications have
yc
a “verify” function, but that may be optional too.
64/Tape Op#161/Are You Backing Up?/
So, digital recordings (and other
data) will last forever, right?
If only it was that easy!
Backups of digital data can be made to myriad devices such as drives, digital tape, CDs, DVDs, Blu-
m
ray discs, NAS (Network-Attached Storage), or the online cloud. As the owner of a small project studio,
I prefer to start with local hard disk drives (HDD) and solid-state disks (SSD). I have a “dock” that I
co
can slide various raw drives into and software that will automatically run backups when I plug a drive
in. The software makes periodic “full” backups and daily “incremental” backups. An incremental backup
consists of only the changes that occurred since the previous full backing up. This saves space by not
having to make multiple copies of the data, if it has not changed since the previous backing up. The
software allows restoring data from any of the full or incremental back up points that exist. I also rotate
)
my backups across different HDDs or SSDs, and periodically move one or more from the studio to my
home. Note: Take care when handling raw drives (avoid touching open components or circuit boards)
ot
and store them in anti-static bags, out of sunlight, and in normal humidity and temperatures. Also,
make sure you physically disconnect your backup drives from your computer after the backing up is
complete. This may prevent a computer failure (or virus) from taking out your backup drives.
(d
This is all a good start, but if a real disaster (fire, flood, etc.) occurs, it is still possible to lose
everything! An easy preventive is to make a periodic full backup and then store it “offsite.” This means
taking it away from the studio or home – far enough away that if a disaster occurs, it won’t be affected.
Another option is uploading it to a cloud data service. I do not recommend relying on cloud storage
as your only backup. If you read the fine print (indemnification clause) of many consumer-level cloud
l
storage providers, they do not fully guarantee the safety or integrity of your data. This is all the more
reason to keep copies of your data in multiple places. If you ever have to restore from an offsite copy,
ai
you might be missing some recent data (anything that has changed since you made that copy), but it
could be better than losing everything! Enterprise-level cloud storage providers may have more robust
guarantees, but you will certainly pay more for that security.
gm
SSD or HDD Drives?
While SSDs are popular these days and dropping in price, they might not be the best
choice for long-term storage. SSDs use NAND memory, which eventually loses charge while
stored offline (powered off). The amount of time before this occurs varies greatly. NAND, or
Flash, memory can only be programmed a finite number of times, so SSDs will eventually
wear out, but most typical users won’t see this happen in normal use. Each SSD has a
percentage of extra NAND (over-provisioning) that is rotated to extend the life of the drive.
Most drive manufacturers specify 3 to 12 months of data retention at end of life. End of life
(EOL) means the maximum program/erase cycle count has been reached. (In other words,
it’s worn out – this is usually specified as Max TB written and can equate to overwriting the
entire drive 1000x or more – that’s a lot of data!) A typical client-grade SSD that is not at
EOL may keep data for ten years or more without any issues. However, if the drive is at EOL,
was very heavily used (near EOL), or is exposed to extreme temperatures, its offline data
retention expectancy could drop to as low as three months. Many SSD manufacturers provide
utilities that help monitor the life expectancy of an SSD. When an SSD is powered on it can
verify the data integrity in the background (but may take several days, depending on how
full the drive is). If an SSD does experience a failure, it may force itself to a read-only mode
(when it has reached end-of-life). Or it may fail to initialize or signal a fault (if it detects
internal corruption). If this is your main drive, then hopefully you’ve made a backup! If this
is your backup drive, then that’s why you need multiple backups!
 Commercial studios typically generate a lot of data to back up every day, and hopefully
most have a larger back up system in place. If you are using one of these facilities (as a
freelance engineer or client), you should enquire as to how your data is protected while you
are working there. Some studios may require or suggest that you bring a portable drive and
make a copy of your data after each session or day. In this case, you are responsible for
protecting your data (and you should make copies of your backup as soon as possible!). Even
if they don’t require it, you should make a daily copy anyway. Larger, commercial studios will
likely have an integrated solution to automate the daily (or more frequent) back up process
and/or send copies offsite or to a cloud storage provider, but you might not know for sure
without asking.
For the home recordist, using a back up application that captures an entire disk image or
system can be a lifesaver, especially if you don’t have a clear understanding of where your
DAW (digital audio workstation) or OS (operating system) stores files, or if you have files on
multiple drives. This may help avoid that empty-pit-in-the-stomach feeling when you go to
restore files and realize you never actually backed them up. That brings up another point:
Don’t forget to test your backup! At the very minimum, make sure you can restore a file (use
a temporary location). A backup is worthless if you can’t restore it!
RAID (redundant array of independent disks) arrays can be great as primary storage or back
up targets. When configured properly they can provide built-in redundancy over at least two
hard drives. However, they are not bullet-proof, and they are not your backup. Although it
is less likely to happen (due to the redundancy), RAID arrays can fail just like any device.
Just because you have all your data on RAID storage, do not fall under the belief that you
are fully protected! You still need backups – multiple backups – as well as offsite copies in
order to minimize the risk of data loss.
Drives and back up software (paid or free versions) are readily available and can even run
your back ups automatically for you, leaving you time to take care of other tasks. Cloud
storage is relatively cheap and accessible (but should not be your only backup). Whatever
method you choose for backing up your data, make sure you have multiple backups, in
multiple locations, and that updates are getting made often! Don’t forget to keep track of
any long-term backups, and to make sure that you have those on media that is accessible
with current technology. (And transfer them as soon as possible before you lose access to
the older technology.) Keeping a log or journal of the devices, locations, dates created, and
other pertinent data may be helpful in keeping track of your backups. If all of this makes
your head spin, then you may want to bring in professional help. While that may seem costly
at first, consider the fact that not losing data can be priceless! r
ai
<doubledogrecording.com>
gm
t)
Tape Op Magazine is proud to partner
(a
with our friends at GIK Acoustics to
bring you six curated issue covers as 242
Acoustic Art Panels.
Made from 100% recycled materials,
they offer a handsome choice for
treating early reflection points,
flutter echo, or general decay.
99
Available now @ gikacoustics.com
ox
yc
Monheim Microphones
Royalty tube mic
I’ve had the opportunity not only to sing and play into many sought-after
microphones, but I’ve also been able to use even more mics on artists and
instrumentalists as a producer and engineer. I recall the first time I ever performed
into a vintage Telefunken ELA M 251E. I was young and didn’t really “get” what I
was about to sing into. My first thought was that the microphone was utterly
unattractive, with its creamy greenish color. My perceptions immediately changed
when I heard myself back in my headphones. Singing felt effortless, and my vocals
immediately sounded like a record.
This review, however, is all about the new Monheim Royalty tube condenser
microphone, which is visually a vast departure from common brushed nickel or
black microphones. Andrew Monheim has purposefully designed the exterior of this
mic to pay homage to Prince – “The Purple One” – so the all-brass microphone
body has been custom painted (in collaboration with one of Snoop Dogg’s auto
body painters), and its multi-layer custom purple with gold sparkle changes
brilliance depending on the light. Adding in a 24-karat gold-plated grill housing
and bottom bell, I have never seen any microphone that is quite as visually
m
dazzling! Even the shock mount is coated with the same purple and gold sparkles
co
as the microphone body.
While the sonic reference gives a nod to the classic Neumann U 67, Monheim’s
Royalty features a K67-style capsule tuned to their specifications, enhancing the
low end compared to traditional K67s, resulting in a richer sound. When the high-
pass switch is engaged, it puts the vocal or instrument performance on top of the
mix without sounding thin. Like the U 67, the Royalty also runs on an EF86
)
vacuum tube.
The microphone employs a special grill lining, designed to function as an
ot
acoustically transparent internal pop filter. A “proprietary metal fiber” lines the grill,
and while it is not going to stop excessively heavy plosives or spit, it allows for a
clear top end. The switches on the mic body give a nod to the U 67, including a
pad and high-pass filter on the rear, and polar pattern selection (cardioid,
(d
omnidirectional, and figure-eight) on the front. The microphone, gold anodized
power supply, shock mount, and all cabling are shipped in a huge, robust black
Pelican-style case.
I used the Royalty on male and female vocalists (with and without a pop filter),
on acoustic guitar, and as a mono drum overhead. On the male vocalist, there was
l
a lovely, silky top-end with very clear midrange. Even with the Royalty’s bottom end,
there was never any boominess – with or without the high-pass engaged. I have
always liked U 67s on female vocals, so I was glad that the Royalty performed
incredibly well in that regard. Regardless of whether the female was using her lower
register or falsetto, the warm bottom end was a perfect complement to the slight
airiness of the microphone. While the Royalty was never brittle, I did notice a few
moments when the microphone broke up slightly. Backing her off the mic a few
inches solved the issue and didn’t audibly change the mic’s tone. I did need to do
a bit more de-essing on the female vocalist, but I feel this is typically required at
mix regardless of what microphone is being used.
A 67-style mic wouldn’t be my first choice on acoustic guitar, but being that
Monheim touts the Royalty as optimal in this application I gave it a go. With
the high-pass switch enabled, the microphone performed really well – especially
on an acoustic guitar and vocal track. It captured the lower strings with detail
and presented the top end with a bit of lift that required very minimal EQ’ing.
For denser tracks, I would EQ the mic’s natural roll-off a bit higher to sit in a
good place within the pop track I was working on. While I had only one Royalty
to use as a drum overhead, its mono track sounded extremely good! The sonic
roundness of the microphone allowed the cymbals to really be present while
never sounding harsh.
The only real issue I had with the Royalty was that I wish that the included purple
shock mount was a bit more robust. Being that the mic carries a good bit of weight,
I found that I really had to crank down the pivot point – and I never like to over-
tighten screws for fear of stripping. But the Royalty is an excellent microphone
that captures the spirit of a U 67 with a character all its own. I really enjoyed
the mic as a drum overhead, on acoustic guitar, and on the male vocalist. Could
this be a single mic solution for all your (mono) tracking needs? It could indeed.
($3000 direct; monheimmicrophones.com) -Tony Vincent <tonyvincent.com>
Gear Reviews/(continued on page 66)/Tape Op#161/65
 Louder Than Liftoff
Silver Bullet mk2 plug-in
The Louder Than Liftoff [Tape Op #122] Silver Bullet mk2 plug-in is my new favorite in the box
processor by a wide margin – and that’s kind of hilarious, considering that my trusty hardware Silver
Bullet mk1 is the analog centerpiece of my personal studio. The thing is, the mk2 plug-in has new
features that my hardware unit doesn’t, so I’m able to add that extra functionality to my existing rig.
While every mix still passes through my hardware Silver Bullet, I’m augmenting in my DAW with the
software version, leaning on both Aspect Ratio (a glorious and subtle widener), and a little bit of edge
via their Hitmaker 4000 module in the C Mojo Color section; an emulation of an ‘80s VCA console’s
saturation (see SSL 4K). It’s the best of both worlds, and it’s on pretty much every mix now.
But let me back up: At the heart of the original Silver Bullet’s design are two circuit topologies,
now emulated in the mk2: A and N (drawing inspiration from classic API and Neve circuits). A Mojo
A-N button allows the user to select between the A and N circuit models, or cascading combinations
of both. It’s remarkable how different the effect can be depending on gain staging (A and N stages
have individual Gain and Out controls) but also based on order. I found driving N into A tended to
bring a tad more dimension to my mixes than the other way around. That said, I was working on an
outlier tune that was arranged quite differently than the balance of that particular project – in this
instance, I found driving A into N the preferable Mojo setting. The most impressive feature of this
plug-in is that it invites experimentation in the most rewarding way. Just don’t put it in bypass;
you’ll be bummed out.
The original Silver Bullet mk1 hardware unit includes a super useful, two-band Baxandall EQ and
filters. The mk2 improves upon this, offering a three-band Baxandall (LF, HF, and AIR) with Pultec-style
HF Sheen, Brite, Pres, and Mids, plus LF Body, Bass, Sub 1, and Sub 2. Because I love the sound of
liberal amounts of this EQ on my master bus, I try not to “double-kiss” my individual tracks with the
same EQ choices as it quickly creates frequency buildup. With the added bands on the mk2, I have
more options than I used to. And yes, I could instantiate an instance of FabFilter Pro-Q 3 [Tape Op
#132] to carve out some of the buildup; the curves and EQ points on the Silver Bullet are really magical,
so I’m careful with my choices.
Just like the updated hardware Silver Bullet mk2, the plug-in version includes a Mojo C Select
expansion slot that models the Hitmaker 4000 modules. Four emulations of Unfiltered Audio’s Mojo
Modules – exclusive to the plug-in version – can also be activated on the C slot. With the Mojo C Select’s
built-in Drive and Mix knobs, you can get weird (or subtly more interesting) with an expanded palette.
Driving the VCA console saturation of the Hitmaker 4000 module can bring just the right amount of
edge to a track. It’s funny how much we chase warmth, only to need to bring back brightness and or
a hint of edgy presence, but I digress. The Silver Bullet mk2 has a host of selectable modules for the
Mojo C Select section, including Bitmaker 1200, Vinyl Saturation, Helical Scan, and VHS AF, which
combines Vinyl Saturation and Helical Scan. These are a really flexible set of audio sweeteners and
weirdeners – after months of testing, I’m still finding more and more uses. Brad McGowan and co. at
Louder Than Liftoff have really put a lot of thought into the mk2 and have included some interesting
ai
features. In Circuit Bend mode it can be pushed into “mis-wired broken and distorted textures.” Love
it! They’ve also added a Headroom control to the mk2 that adjusts internal operating levels; a handy
in the box feature that I wish my hardware Silver Bullet had.
gm
I can’t tell you precisely what’s behind Louder Than Liftoff’s Dyna Realism™ approach to modeling,
but according to their materials, it makes use of a “Virtual Parts Bin and Serial Number systems,
meticulously constructing unique static and dynamic models of analog circuits across a broad
spectrum of variation and realism.” I honestly wouldn’t typically read something like that on a
software website, but based on how good this plug-in sounds it’s worth including. As an owner of
a hardware Silver Bullet, I do believe Louder Than Liftoff when they say they’ve stumbled on a cool
t)
and different way to make a plug-in sound realistic. Dyna Realism is working for me in the sense
that if you asked me to do a mix with one plug-in and no outboard, this is the one I’d use because
I know I can push it hard while keeping things sounding super musical. Plus, as I said earlier, the
mk2 offers a ton of tonal options: EQ, saturation, and more. Basically, it’s a pretty darn good
(a
compressor without specific ratio controls.
Rather than A/B’ing the Silver Bullet mk2 plug-in with my mk1 hardware unit, I simply tried to spend
a ton of time using both in concert with one another. I’m honestly completely bored with the hardware
versus plug-in debate, as both are inextricable in my workflow. Whether on program material or on a
drum bus, the mk2 consistently impressed, based on my longstanding relationship with my mk1
99
hardware. The hardware gives me that instant gratification of tactile operation. The mk2 plug-in offers
consistency and recallability without any noticeable sonic compromise. It also has some excellent
features that are not available in my hardware unit.
It’s crazy – go on any audio forum, and people are stressing out about whether their converters
ox
are good enough. Basically, current pro audio tools (digital and otherwise) are amazing, and yet
nobody is happy. Chalk it up to modern life, but the fact is, we’re all running out of excuses. With
the Silver Bullet mk2 plug-in, a standard interface, and a decent mic, you could seriously make great
recordings. Now all you need are good ideas. ($350 direct; louderthanliftoff.com) -Liam Nelson
yc
<howlandtheband.com>
66/Tape Op#161/Gear Reviews/(Fin.)
Ultimate Ears
UE 150, 250, & 350 in-ear monitors
For most live performers, the days of wedge floor monitors are a thing of the past. IEMs
(In-Ear Monitors) have become the new standard for stage monitoring, and for good reason.
A monitor engineer can take preferred mixes from venue to venue and recall monitoring
preferences with the push of a button on a digital console. The benefits are massive; a
performer’s levels can be kept in check, the room sound (especially that of large venues) can
be all but eliminated, and mixes sound more like a recording.
A few months ago, I was part of a studio session that had us all in the same room playing
live. I love this setup, and I feel like communication is better this way than with everyone
isolated from each other. The only problem was that the drummer was loud, and monitoring
with standard headphones was not so great. To get decent levels of instruments over the live
drums, amps were stashed in iso booths, and other instruments were direct. The headphones
had to be cranked up, and by the middle of the session I was feeling a bit beaten up by the
volume, cymbal smashing, and snare drum cracking. It seemed to me IEMs would provide
some degree of isolation, clarity at lower volumes, and a more precise monitor mix.
Custom molds for high end IEMs are not cheap, and although that may not be an issue
for a big pop star, it is certainly a consideration for working musicians. Ultimate Ears has
m
long been a manufacturer of high-quality, custom-fit IEMs, but they have recently released
three universal fit in-ears “with Perform Fit design”: The UE 150, UE 250, and UE 350 models.
co
They are all but identical in look and feel, but the UE 150 has a single driver, the UE 250
has two, and the UE 350 – you guessed it – has three drivers. All UE models have both foam
and silicone universal fit ear tip options in sizes ranging from extra small to large. I tended
to like the foam as it expanded to fit my ear canal for a snug fit while providing the most
isolation, but the silicone tips were also comfortable. The units are designed to sit flush in
)
your ear with the thin but sturdy, 50-inch removable/swappable clear IPX Earloop cable. It
took some fiddling around to get them seated properly, but after that, they stayed put.
ot
Without any audio playing, it was like having foam earplugs in, and the outside noise
reduction was pretty impressive.
The UE 150s sounded like good earbuds, and in my opinion, the performance between
the three UE models seemed to improve as the number ascended, or at least, each model
(d
had a different character. I picked the UE 350s to test first. Each of the three UE models
comes with a compact carrying case, the ear tip options above, and a proprietary 50-inch
cable (a 64-inch cable can be purchased for studio use). My first tests were at home, using
my laptop with a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ [Tape Op #131] converter/headphone amp for
evaluation. The three-driver UE 350s have a tight low end and was the most spacious
sounding of the three models. With a dense mix, I felt the UE 350s provided more clarity
l
and definition of individual elements. They are not overly bright, which I appreciate. In
addition to use on stage or studio, the UE 350s would be my choice of the three models for
personal/recreational listening.
The UE 250s have a more pronounced low end and are slightly brighter than the UE 350s.
Not in a good or bad way, just different. The UE 250s offer an enhanced low end, and are
marketed as the choice for drummers and bass players who want a bit more thump. I
expected the UE 150s to have a significant drop in quality, but they also performed well.
Although they were the most neutral, and perhaps “flat” of the three models, they were more
than suitable for effective monitoring in any setting.
But how do they perform in the studio? This was my main interest, so took them to my
studio for some tracking. I had to use a 1/8-inch mini plug to 1/4-inch adapter with an
extension cable to connect them to my studio headphone setup. I work in a single-room
space, with the console and monitors in the same room as the guitar amp I am recording,
and I don’t have an iso box for the amp. The UE 350s provided excellent isolation from the
amp, and I was able to judge (with some additional accuracy) the amp’s tone and how it
was working in the track, with some protection from the volume required to get the Vox
AC30 to bite and break up to my preference. I like this! For the real test, I wanted to stand
next to a drummer while recording in the same room. I gave the drummer the set of UE
250s, I kept the UE 350s for myself, and we were off to the races. We both enjoyed the
isolation, ear protection, and the level of detail of the mix. I could hear more clearly how
the microphones captured the room, instead of hearing the room awash with drums and
guitar. When we were finished with our quick takes, I was able to go back to the main
monitors, and actually hear them because my ears had been protected and not destroyed
by loud headphone levels and drums in a fairly live room.
Over-the-ear headphones are not going away anytime soon, and I still enjoy checking
mixes on my Audeze LCD-Xs [Tape Op #119], but a solid pair of IEMs are a fantastic option.
The Ultimate Ears UE 150, UE 250, and UE 350 models all performed well, and each has a
sonic signature to suit individual preferences and budgets. Get them for the studio, stage,
airplane, or for tuning out your carmates on a long drive. ($199, $299, $399 direct;
pro.ultimateears.com) -GS
 Clarence Kane
ENAK Microphones
August 2, 1926
- March 28, 2024
Our beloved friend, Clarence
Kane of ENAK passed away late
March of this year. Clarence
not only expertly restored and
repaired many ribbon
microphones for RCA and his own
company, ENAK, he also touched
our hearts with his good
natured demeanor and kind

m
TRACKNG words. He will be missed. The

co
family owns the ENAK name and
HI-HATS will determine its disposition,
LIKE A they further want you to know
enakmic.com is currently
PRO pointing to the wrong website.

)
hihatpro.com Rest In Peace Clarence

ot
-Curt Vincent, an apprentice,
friend and admirer of
Clarence for over 40 years

(d
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#161/67

 Non-Recording Gear
Studio Essentials
Part 1: Instrument-Related
Congrats! You have a solid collection of mics and mic
stands, a battery of plug-ins, a few pieces of outboard gear for that extra special sauce,
a great pair of monitors and stands, and even some stylish acoustic treatments along with a
nice large rug for the live room. You are now a studio owner. Not so fast, friend! There will
inevitably be those times when things go sideways on a session. Ever notice that most
studios have several drum kits, amps, percussion, guitars, and other items around? These are
for quickly solving common issues, providing inspiration and, most importantly, keeping the
session moving forward and on track. (Look for “Part 2, Human-Related Essentials,” in a
future issue of Tape Op.)
Drums: A full drum kit or – at minimum – a kick and snare drum that you know always
sound great. Have some fresh drum heads of varying sizes, as well as stands for snares and
toms on hand. Also, have drumsticks, brushes, mallets, drum keys, snare wires, Moon Gel, tea
towels, and gaffer’s tape. Many young drummers have bad cymbals, and if I could take all

m
the cymbals away, I just might! But in lieu of that, have a couple of options for crash, ride,
and even hi-hats around.

co
Percussion: Have a large tub with a variety of shakers, tambourines, noisemakers, bells,
claves, and frame drums ready. Run the tonal gamut from bright to dark and clanky to shimmery.
Bass: Always have an electric bass that is well set up with good intonation. If you can
have two basses, put flatwound strings on one and roundwounds on the other. Not sure where
to start? A Fender Precision bass is a good all-around choice. Find one that resonates and
vibrates nicely without being plugged in. Given time, you can still find an inexpensive “Made

)
in Mexico” bass that is great. You can always upgrade the pickups for better tone.

ot
Amplifiers: I have a never-ending need for more amps. My inventory includes small, low
wattage Vox and Fender amps, a Vox AC30, a 50-watt Marshall JMP combo, and a ‘60s Ampeg
Portaflex bass amp, and they get used all the time. Many clients have crappy sounding amps,
so good amps save the day on a regular basis.

(d
Electric Guitars: Most artists bring their favorite guitar, but I still like to have options. A
well set up electric guitar with humbuckers plus another with single coil pickups provides
more options in the tonal toolbox.
Acoustic Guitars: Not all acoustic guitars are created equal. Some sound great for strumming,
others for fingerpicking. Some sound great live but are less great in the studio. Having a couple
of options around is smart. Keep one strung up in Nashville tuning for good measure.
l
Oddball Guitars: Consider baritone guitars, Fender VI-style basses, electric sitar guitars,
ai

ukuleles, 3/4-size acoustic guitars, mandolins, dulcimers, autoharps, and anything else with
strings that most musicians might not own or bring to sessions.
Guitar Extras: Straps: “Dude, I forgot the strap to my Keytar!” Always have guitar straps
ready. Picks: I have a little hardware storage carrier made for nuts, bolts, screws, etc., and
gm

several of the sliding drawers are filled with guitar pics of different thicknesses and materials.
Felt picks are great for bass and ukulele. Eddie Van Halen once showed me his collection of
rocks that he used as picks on occasion, so I have some rocks, too.
Cables & Connectors: In addition to having a bunch of standard mic and guitar cables (of
all different lengths), you’ll want to have reducers, couplers, extenders, splitters, turnarounds,
RCA to 1/4-inch, TRS to XLR, mini to 1/4-inch headphone adapters, and more. This includes
t)

all those random hard drive USB connection types as well.

Extension Cords, Power Strips, IEC Cables, Ground Lifts: Not glamorous, but very useful.
Power Supplies: Wall warts for 9V and 12V pedals are a must, but there is a wide array of
(a

power needs out there. I have a huge bin of these, all labeled with voltage and amp rating.
Multi-voltage wall warts can be handy as well. You must also have AA, AAA, and 9V batteries
on hand for pedals, controllers, and other items. Those flat 3V batteries (2032, 2016, etc.)
for headstock tuners are important, too.
Effects Pedals: Looking for inspiration? “Try this one out!” Look for ones most players
won’t have, plus a few classics.
99

Synthesizers & Keyboards: This also includes having at least one MIDI/USB keyboard
controller. I have two, and they get used all the time. Have room for a piano? Bonus! There
are so many great pianos for free or cheap on Craigslist. Hire a tuner to service it regularly.
Music & Instrument Stands: If you are hosting bands, have at least one of those folding
ox

rack stands that holds five guitars/basses, plus a couple of sturdy music stands. They’ll get
used more than you think.
Small Mixers: For multiple keyboards, extra headphone stations, etc.
yc

-Geoff Stanfield w/ -LC

68/Tape Op#161/Non-Recording Essentials/

Mixing Phosphorescent’s Revelator with Dave Cerminara
One of my favorite records of 2024 to
date is Phosphorescent’s Revelator. It’s a
beautifully recorded album, featuring
Matthew Houck’s timeless songwriting
and lyrics plus gorgeous arrangements. I
was hooked the first time I heard the title
track. I recently picked up a copy of the
vinyl LP, and as I was reading the credits
I noticed that the album was mixed by Tape
Op contributor Dave Cerminara, so I
thought I’d drop him a line and find out
more about the mixing sessions. -JB
(a
99
ox
yc
“We mixed Revelator throughout last July and August [2023] from my Assistant engineer Clint Welander,
studio in North Hollywood. I live in L.A. and Matthew is in Nashville, so we Matthew Houck, & Dave at Sunset Sound
worked remotely, which is not at all uncommon anymore, but it was
extremely collaborative in a way not all mix gigs are. We’d have a few daily
calls to talk through different things from the previous day. It’s a dense
record, instrumentally, it’s one of the aspects I love so much about it. A lot
of the process became getting that amount of harmonic information to
coexist. I’d make a lot of mutes and edits, maybe duck one thing and
highlight another event, and Matthew would call and say, ‘I think you
muted my favorite string line of that section.’ We would go back and forth
like that a few times, just whittling away. I’m grateful for the amount of
trust and freedom Matthew gave me to dig in like that.
At the end, Matthew came to L.A. and we went to Sunset Sound to
It was a great way to finish the album
finish the mixes. I mix predominantly in the box, with an analog mix bus
because after four or six weeks of talking to
m
chain and sometimes an insert across the vocal. We took that chain to
this guy every single day, we finally hung in
Sunset’s Studio 1, split everything out on their custom console so it
person, and by that point it was like seeing an
co
matched my latest mix verbatim, then made small little tweaks together
old friend. I love how the album came
and printed to tape. I’d replace certain plug-ins in the box with an analog
together; it was a challenging one for sure, but
piece; sometimes it was better and sometimes it wasn’t. On almost all of
when I listen now it sounds so effortless and
the songs we replaced my ‘verb with the Sunset chamber; that sounded
natural. I don’t hear the work. That’s always
phenomenal and unique. It’s a trip mixing a record almost to completion
the best result.” r
)
in one room then taking it somewhere else. My ears hear everything so
differently, and I need to resist the urge to change too much, but it’s fun -Dave Cerminara <davecerminara.com>
ot
going that microscopic. -photos by Matthew Houck
<phosphorescentmusic.com>
(d
l
ai
gm
t)
D. Cerminara/Tape Op#161/69
 One Size Doesn’t Fit All
by Larry Crane

I do a fair amount of one-on-one remote “teaching,” many times working with folks running small studios, as well as a wide range of
home setups. It’s always fun to face this educational challenge, as many times the skills I have built up over the decades as an engineer,
producer, and mixer are ones I simply apply without questioning “why” in most cases. But when I stop and explain to someone why they
should be doing something a certain way, I realize I need to be able to explain my working methodologies. Even though they are second
nature to me at this point, it’s still important to be able to pull back and question what I’m doing.
One of the mixing “tricks” I’ve been utilizing involves some fairly drastic EQ work and other processing of kick drum track(s).* A few
months ago, I was working with an excellent client, mostly helping him gain the confidence and skills to mix his own music. One day, via
Zoom, after we’d collaborated on mixing a number of songs, he said to me, “We didn’t ever find one EQ plug-in setting that always worked
on all the kick drum tracks.” I had never thought of this being an option; that there could be some magical combination of settings that
always delivered amazing results every time. I told my client, “Of course not!” and we discussed all the reasons that these settings would
be a constantly moving target when moving from song to song. Even if we’re changing an EQ emphasis on the exact same kick drum that’s
been recorded in the same way across multiple songs, we have to decide if the sound we are getting fits the tempo, the song’s key, the
varying intensity of the player, what the bass instrument sounds like, the mood of the music, the amount of room or overhead mics in the

m
mix, the bleed into the snare mic(s), and many other determining factors.
Really Using Presets

co
But the number one reason – the most important and (likely) obvious one – is that
we always have to be listening and reacting when recording and mixing music. I find From reading this main piece, one might
there are very few times that I don’t have to question everything involved in the suspect that I am “against” toggling through
tracking or mixing of a song. I’ll critique every track being recorded. I’ll check every presets when using plug-ins. In most cases, this
phase relationship. I’ll think hard about tempos, and whether the main melodies or cannot be farther from the truth. Currently
vocals flow across the top of the music properly. Every piece of gear used is questioned, there are so many amazing digital audio tools

)
and if there’s a better EQ point or compression setting to be had, I’ll look for it. When available, and in a lot of cases simply turning a
we are doing our work well, this is what we do. few virtual knobs on a plug-in doesn’t access

ot
the combinations available that can create a far
As noted in the intro for this issue, we live in the “I want it now” culture these days.
wider variety of sounds. In some situations, the
But when we’re dealing with making art, there is no right or wrong. Everything is a
product has so many controls available that I
choice that will change the outcome, and figuring out what works best goes beyond

(d
cannot even begin to fathom what they all do,
picking a preset out of a dropdown menu. One size never fits all. r
so running through a few presets might cause
*Those details will not be divulged here. Hire me to teach you! <larry-crane.com> me to land on something that works for the
music I’m dealing with. But none of this is to
suggest I don’t continue to tweak the settings
l
a bit once I’ve found something I like, or that I
don’t load other plug-ins before and after in
ai

order to morph the tones into something more

along the lines of what I’m searching for! A
preset can be a great way to learn and explore,
but – once again – it has to fit the music you
gm

are working on, and be a thoughtfully

considered choice.
t)
(a
99
ox
yc

70/Tape Op#161/End Rant

yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m
yc
ox
99
(a
t)
gm
ai
l
(d
ot
)
co
m