The Creative Music Recording Magazine

Jimmy Douglass
Jay-Z, Gang of Four, Missy Elliott
Jeff Bhasker
Angélique Kidjo, Kanye West, fun.
Alvin Lucier
Experiments in Speech & Acoustics
Chris Carter
Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey
Suzi Analogue

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Samplers, Synthesizers, & Drum Machines
Sound Credit

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Credits and Getting Paid?
Richard Factor l.
of Eventide in Behind the Gear
Gear Reviews
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$5.99 No. 130

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Apr/May 2019
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Hello and
welcome to
Tape Op
#130!
10 Letters
12 Alvin Lucier
16 Suzi Analogue
20 Jeff Bhasker
26 Chris Carter
32 Jimmy Douglass
42 Sound Credit
46 Behind the Gear with Richard Factor
p a g e

of Eventide
48 Gear Reviews
75 Larry’s End Rant

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I’m John Baccigaluppi, the other guy at Tape Op and this issue I’m writing the
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intro that Larry, our editor, usually writes. I’ve known Larry for over three decades
now, and we’ve worked together on Tape Op for a majority of that time. We’re still
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good friends, and I continue to enjoy putting together each issue of the magazine.
After Larry sends me the editorial, I read through it, download photos from our
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FTP server, and get excited about the design and layout of each issue. Larry and
I will go back and forth a bit about an issue’s content, a few weeks in it’s mostly
laid out, and then I turn it over to Scott McChane. Scott helps with the pre-press
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stage of the magazine, and then a few weeks after this you, the reader, have a
print magazine in your hands.
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Easy, right? Well, there’s a bit more to it. We have some

great people helping us out with every issue, although the past two years have
brought a lot of change to the Tape Op family. Most recently, our best ad rep ever,
Laura Thurmond, left for another job after 17 years with Tape Op. We’re going to
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miss her a lot, but we wish her the best at her new gig and we know we’ll stay
Photo: Chambers, courtesy of Alvin Lucier.
friends with her and her family. Our other ad rep, Marsha Vdovin, is picking up the See his interview on page 12.
slack, and she’s off to a great start. Marsha also helps with our social media
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postings. Around a year ago, our resident “Gear Geek,” Andy Hong, stepped down
as the gear reviews editor to focus
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more time on his family, as well as Around two years ago, Dave Middleton stepped down as our online publisher after doing an amazing job in helping Tape Op develop
building a new recording studio in a meaningful and integrated online presence. It turned out it was impossible to simply replace Dave, so we had to find two new people.
Nashville. The aforementioned Our online team of Anthony Sarti and Geoff Stanfield have taken what Dave started, and built it up into something even bigger and better.
Scott McChane, previously Andy’s Let’s not forget our virtual office helpers, Jenna Crane, Maria Baker, Jay Ribadeneyra, Jordan Holmes, and Thomas Danner! We have one
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assistant, took over as gear more new member of the Tape Op family, Rich Catalano at Comag Marketing Group; our new newsstand distributor. Thanks to Rich and
reviews editor in addition to his CoMag, Tape Op is now available at most bookstores – like Barnes & Noble – and we now have newsstand distribution in Canada.
pre-press work. Andy is still This may sound like a lot of change, but it’s also part of the long-term, slow, careful growth for this magazine. I’m grateful to have been
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contributing as a writer, and Scott working with Larry all these years on Tape Op, and I look forward to many more issues. Oh yeah, while I’m sharing all this, I want to also
is doing a great job with the say I’m very grateful for my awesome wife, Maria, the only other person in my life for over three plus decades! See you next issue!
reviews section of Tape Op. John Baccigaluppi, Publisher
 The Creative Music Recording Magazine

Editor & Founder

Larry Crane
Publisher &!Graphic Design
John Baccigaluppi
Online Publisher
Geoff Stanfield
CTO & Digital Director
Anthony Sarti
Production Manager & Gear Reviews Editor
Scott McChane
Gear Geek at Large
Andy Hong
Contributing Writers &!Photographers
Cover photo: Music on a Long Thin Wire, courtesy of Alvin Lucier.
See his interview on page 12.
Jack Endino, Ian Brennan, Howard Hardee, Sebastian Kriz, Danny Turner,
Cosey Fanni Tutti, Stéphane Manel, Wes Lachot, Scott Evans, Dana Gumbiner,
Kirt Shearer, Tom Fine, Justin Mantooth, Will Severin, Kevin Friedrichsen,
Tony Vincent, Eli Crews, Christopher Koltay, John Bologni, Adam Kagan,
Garrett Haines, and Pete Weiss.
Editorial and Office Assistants

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Jenna Crane (editorial copy editor), Jordan Holmes (reviews copy editor),

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Thomas Danner (transcription, online),
Maria Baker (admin, accounting), Jay Ribadeneyra (online)
Tape Op Book distribution
c/o www.halleonard.com
l. Disclaimer
TAPE OP magazine wants to make clear that the opinions expressed within reviews, letters, and
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.
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Editorial Office
(For submissions, letters, music for review. Music for review is also
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reviewed in the San Rafael office, address below)

P.O. Box 86409, Portland, OR 97286 voicemail 503-208-4033
All unsolicited submissions and letters sent to us become the property of Tape Op.
Advertising
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John Baccigaluppi
916-444-5241, ([email protected])
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Marsha Vdovin
415-420-7273, ([email protected])
Printing: Alan Mazander & Matt Saddler
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@ Democrat Printing, Little Rock, AR

Subscribe online at tapeop.com
(Notice: We sometimes rent our subscription list to our advertisers.)
Subscription and Address Changes
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Can all be made online at <tapeop.com/subscriptions>.

Back issues can be purchased via <tapeop.com/issues>. If you have
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subscription issues that cannot be fixed online, email

<[email protected]> or send snail mail to
PO Box 151079, San Rafael, CA 94915.
Please do not email or call the rest of the staff about subscription issues.
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Postmaster and all general inquiries to:

Tape Op Magazine, PO Box 151079, San Rafael, CA 94915
(916) 444-5241 | tapeop.com
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Tape Op is published by Single Fin, Inc. (publishing services)

and Jackpot! Recording Studio, Inc. (editorial services)

8 /Tape Op#130/Masthead
www.tapeop.com
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 Thanks again for Paul, thanks for bringing up Dead Kennedys, Flipper,
putting together the best and The Avengers. These are some of my favorite bands,
recording magazine on the especially as a kid growing up in Northern California in the
planet. The physical copies late seventies. We did talk to John Cuniberti briefly about
from the halcyon days of working with the Dead Kennedys years ago [#55].
European publication still Attempting a thorough coverage of any music and/or
hold pride of place in our recording scene is something even an entire book would
London studio. Sam Patlove fail at, so when we interview someone like Kevin, we seek
[Letters, Tape Op #128] to find out what he did, and what his perspectives were
Amazing interview with SassyBlack in the #128 issue. makes a good point about the within this world. -LC
I love to read experiences of people like continuation of the loudness wars, at least on Apple I am a bit disappointed that a multi-page interview by
me, and the everyday struggles we Music, but I believe there’s cause for hope from another Tony Bongiovi [Tape Op #127] included in the print and
meet. I identified with that interview, instead of reading area of technology – noise-cancelling headphones. It’s online version of the magazine was rebutted eloquently by
superstar professionals talking about budgets and easy to deride the mastering engineers of yore, but in the Ed Stasium, but only in the [Tape Log] blog. I think the
equipment I will never get the chance to use. Keep those place where I fell in love with music – on the school bus truth needs an equal forum. I too have numerous “alternate
interviews coming. So glad I subscribed! in the ‘90s with my Walkman – only the loudest, flattest facts” relating to the interview, and correcting the
Alvaro Figue <[email protected]> records cut through the background noise to a satisfying statements about his long-time partner, the late Bob
degree. Having taken the plunge with a pair of noise- Walters. If anyone were to read the interview, the obvious
I’ve been mulling over something you discussed in Jack
cancelling Sennheisers a month ago, I can already attest take-away is that everyone was against Tony, and/or
Endino’s Tape Op podcast about mic’ing a kick drum with
that they’ve changed my listening habits when travelling incompetent. I must insist that though Tony was a driving
no port. You both talked about positioning the mic on the
for the better – no longer do I have to choose a record force, Bob Walters created a well-established organization
floor pointing up across the head to get more attack, and
that will drown out the dross! Noise-cancelling that thrived for decades, and besmirching his memory is
for the life of me I can’t understand the reasoning behind
technology is a game-changer for me. Could it be the unkind and blatantly unfair. I hope, at some point, an
it. I trust you both and I am excited to try it on a session
final nail in the coffin for the loudness wars too? updated and more pragmatic version of Power Station, as
at the end of the month with a band I’ve recorded
Giles Barrett <soupstudio.co.uk> well as its rise, fall, successes, and failures can be presented.
previously (I had to drop in a sample to get the attack I
wanted), but I’d love to know the “why” for my own sake. I’d like to take a moment to thank you for the pedigree Ed Evans <[email protected]>
I get that high-end acts like a laser beam, while low end of Tape Op as a whole, as a magazine and a community, but Check out Ed Stasium’s reduttal here: <tapeop.com/blog

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is pretty omni-directional, but with that in mind wouldn’t also as an information commons, contributed to by such a /2019/01/08/thoughts-tony-bongiovi-back-power-station> -LC
shooting the mic across the kick get rid of any high end fresh variety of people. I’m always grateful for

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I just renewed my subscription today, and thought I'd
information while still picking up all the lows? the insights into this world my modest (read: very take a moment to send my appreciation for my most
Damian Wiseman <[email protected]> cheap!) subscription fee affords me. I live in Australia, and favorite magazine of all time! I love the matte paper and
I don’t know any reasoning behind it; it just works. I my digital copies are something I look forward to as much style you introduced last year, and all the articles and
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have no idea why. Whenever I point the mic straight on at as tackling my engineer neighbour for that single copy of reviews continue to intrigue and impress. I've also loved
a kick drum with no hole, it just sucks. The band gets to Sound On Sound that arrives three months late to our only listening to your podcasts, even though I've read the
hear me whining and pouting about it, because newsagent. related articles. Hearing the conversation take place with
substituting a sample correctly can take way too much Jack Moffitt <jackmoffitt.com>
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all these folks really adds another dimension and energy. I
time. Then I try putting the mic on the floor really close, Please keep in mind that Tape Op is available for free love it! And while all of your covers and cover art are
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pointing up at a slight slant across the outer head, and as a PDF anywhere in the world, and all you need is an frame-worthy, having graduated as a liberal arts major
there it is: it sort of works. I still prefer a CD-sized hole email address. We also sell physical back issues, books, and decades ago, your "Ceci n'est pas une fader" cover [Tape Op
though, but then again, I’m recording loud guitar bands all access to 23 years of content via our website. #125] had me in "elitist" stitches for weeks. Thanks
the time. I’ve never had much luck mic’ing the beater side <tapeopcom> -LC again for the intelligent and passionate
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of the kick drum either. It should work but it almost never

Hey all, I am loving the Tape Op Podcast! Have you gift that your magazine is to so many of us.
does; instead I get pedal squeaks and snare rattle. Kevin Shaughnessy <[email protected]>
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ever interviewed John Goodmanson? He’s got some great

Jack Endino <www.endino.com>
stories and insight. I also studied art in college, and René Magritte was one
My technique sounds just slightly different to Jack’s. I’ll Andy <[email protected]> of my favorite surrealists. His painting, “The Treachery of
take a dynamic and point it from the side or above the kick
John was in issue #35, many years ago. We have a Images” – a painting of a pipe with "Ceci n'est pas une pipe.
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and across the front of the sealed drumhead. It sounds

standing date to do a Tape Op Podcast “update” next time (This is not a pipe)" written below – is genius. Just as a
different to me, rather than pointing head on to the kick. -LC recording is not an actual performance? Thanks to Chris
I visit Seattle! -LC
Thanks so much for doing what you do. I often find Dauray for that witty cover! -LC
I was really interested reading the interview with
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your articles are on gear and plug-ins I’ve been really For whatever reason, Joe Henry [Tape Op #129] has
Kevin Army about the East Bay recording scene [Tape Op
interested in knowing more about. I also love finding out never been on my radar. He certainly is now. Kudos to Bren
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#129]. Great interview! One thing I was hoping to see

about artists and engineers I’m unfamiliar with, only to
(and still hope to see) is going back even further into the Davies for helping to birth one of the most powerful and
find they’ve done many things I know well. It’s a pleasure
East Bay punk recording scene, especially as it relates to affecting interviews ever to grace the pages of Tape Op.
getting your magazine. Best of luck to you all in 2019.
such stalwarts as Dead Kennedys, Flipper, The Avengers, One line in particular really resonated for me: "But like a
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Martin John Butler <martinjohnbutler.com>

and Oliver DiCicco’s Mobius Music. I know it’s no longer lot of things in my life, I start walking forward and find out
Matt Wallace and Kevin Army, back to back, same issue around in the same form, but how can anyone gloss over that there's more possibility than I could have imagined."
[#128]. One word: Heaven. You guys are the best. I loved the Dead Kennedys and this early pre-digital era of East Hallelujah. Amen.
reading about Wallace and his wild Replacements times, Bay recording? Just a thought. I’m still an avid fan of Steve Chiasson <mainemusic.me>
jv

and Kevin talking about The Mr. T Experience. I don’t know Tape Op since my first issue. Thanks for a great resource!
if this goes in “Letters to Tape Op,” but I hope so. Paul Nixon <paulnixonvo.com> Send Letters & Questions
Jeremy Forman <[email protected]>
to: [email protected]
10/Tape Op#130/Letters/
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Alvin Lucier
Do
Som
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Original

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l. by Ian Brennan
Alvin Lucier is one of the most I was watching a chef on television who said, “Just let
influential composers in the post-John the pan do the work.” People are constantly stirring photos courtesy of Alvin Lucier
Cage era. Having authored over 172 and poking at the dish as they cook. I just let the
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people. I had an experience with my sine wave and
pieces for film, theater, television, and room do the work. I was working with an engineer to piano piece [“Music for Piano with Slow Sweep Pure
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dance companies, it is fair to say that he get the setup for my moon bounce piece. He was Wave Oscillators”]; the engineer just couldn’t stand it
is prolific. At the age of 87 he continues showing me all the various sounds you can get with and started tweaking and tweaking things in the
to produce new works, his latest pickups and so on. I said, “You’re trying to middle of the performance. I said, “Why did you do
involving sending his heartbeat to manipulate it.” The whole point of the piece is that?” It was all about ego. I had this student once
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the moon. His experiments and bouncing sound off of the moon. It will be hitting who would always get up in the middle of this big
compositions with speech and acoustics different spots as the moon spins around, hitting
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class and change the volume of whatever was

over the past six decades have changed each location with a huge delay. The sound should playing. It’s power and ego. That was just his idea of
the way we hear and utilize sound. His change, and I want to let that happen. If I start what he wanted to hear. I always like to set the
1969 sound art composition, “I Am fooling around with the sound before it even goes up volume and allow things to go by themselves, as they
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Sitting in a Room,” famously utilizes re- there, the whole piece doesn’t make any sense. are, and evolve.
recording of a spoken text into a Do you care about microphones, such as You have used the body in many pieces,
room or space, and continues as the using certain types or models? like galvanic skin responses and
recording quality, speakers, mics, and No, for me they are just a means. When I did my first brainwaves.
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room resonances mutate the material piece at Brandeis University, they used a special I’m not really interested in the body. I just want pieces
and sound into something new and binaural microphone, but I never asked for it again.
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of music. My brainwave piece [“Music for Alpha

fascinating. The piece remains the gold I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in other Waves, Assorted Percussion, and Automated Coded
standard for this type of project. phenomenon. I don’t have a favorite way of recording. Relays”] was simply a way to create beautiful,
How much resistance have you run into resonant, low thunderous sounds that activate
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How are you? from engineers who think they percussion instruments. That piece is more about the
I am just sitting here, outside, listening to the wind. know the “right” way to do it? response of certain instruments. A big tam-tam needs
It is lovely. We did a piece in France for 30 people. We set the a lot of energy to make it sound; only the loud pulses
You have an incredibly insightful speakers all very carefully on the ground throughout
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really make it work. A smaller drum, a snare drum, is

quote, “The best way to produce the audience, as we wanted it to be like they were very easy to make resonate. The birth of an alpha is
variation in the sonic phenomena listening at home. When we came back from dinner, uneven, and it causes instruments to vibrate in
was to pick a setting and leave the the engineer had moved and hung the speakers in all different ways. The most important thing about the
setup alone.” four corners of the room to project the sound at piece is that I didn’t exert any control. My skin
 galvanic piece [“Clocker] was that way too. When I enormously high notes that is really hard to reach. themselves, very quietly. You could barely hear it. At
make pieces now, I have to make sure that I do not You can hear his exertion – you know he is showing certain points you can even stop playing and just
exert personal control. I like the idea of non-control. you how hard he is really trying to do it – and that imagine that you are playing. I love that idea. I went
I had an early piece called “Carbon Copies.” I asked spoils the whole piece for me. Some composers love to a performance with another composer, and he said,
people to listen and play back exactly what they had when people notice how hard it is for the musicians “We are so far back. I can’t hear anything.” I said, “Of
heard. If a player starts improvising, you can hear it to play their music. [laughs] My pieces are not about course, we can hear it. Just lean in and pay
immediately and it spoils the whole thing. I just went bravura performance or ego. attention.” This guqin player was amplifying it in a
and heard a beautiful performance of one of my new You grew up in New Hampshire. I’m small hall with the cheapest RadioShack speaker. I
pieces. When you strike a pitch on the piano, two curious how the sounds there said, “Can you please play one song without the
strings start vibrating at the same time. I had the affected you? amplifier?” He said, “You won’t hear it.” I said, “I
piano tuned so each string was slightly off. When one I just went back there on my 87th birthday. I went to want to hear silk strings, nakedly. I don’t want to
piano plays against the other, there is a beautifully where I used to go to summer camp. When I was hear them through a terrible speaker. Don’t you know
complicated beating. Each pitch has a different cell. seven or eight, up in the woods, I heard this bird call about the degradation of sound, even through
While they were rehearsing the piece, the musicians modulated by the trees; this spatial echoing. That beautiful speakers?” So, a big question for me has
were playing like they were playing romantic music, was a big image for me; a major sound memory. I been when to amplify, and when not to amplify.
where they lift their hand up and then it comes remember reading a book, The Death of Virgil [by When do you think is the right time to
around and down dramatically. That distracted me; it Hermann Broch], about coming into shore on a boat. bring amplification in?
had more to do with trying to make a poetic gesture I’ve tried to hear what they were describing so I was watching a performance in Berlin, and I could
than the music. I said, “Don’t do that. You’ve gotta vividly. There is this one huge percussion piece, with hear the blurriness, even with a tiny bit of
just do the task at hand. Play the chord. And then everything but the kitchen sink, but you play it all amplification. You have sound coming from a middle
play the next one when you feel it.” I am learning with your fingertips – in contrast to European point, and the speakers are a hundred feet apart.
about performance practice in my pieces. bombast. The composer was on the beach, and he Things get blurry. I don’t think they should have
When you talk about not wanting to could hear the wind carrying little bits of sounds – amplified that performance at all. I sometimes have
exert control, why is that goal so hard transistor radios, laughter – and he was trying to to use amplification, otherwise certain sounds I use
to achieve? capture those fragments. I was chairman of the music don’t exist to the human ear. I had to use
I just got a recording of a piece for a cellist. The point department years ago [at Wesleyan University], and amplification for a “Music On A Long Thin Wire.”
of the piece is that players play against these sine we had a master come in and demonstrate the guqin, Without speakers, you couldn’t have heard anything.
waves that go down and then come back up. The last the ancient silk-string Chinese instrument. It wasn’t You have to be very careful; it’s become political now.

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note one of the wind players hits is one of those about projection of sound; they played for Everyone wants to be amplified. I was in Philadelphia

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with this big jazz guy. He had 11 players. All night,
as he played, he kept pointing to his speaker wanting
it to be stronger, but each time they’d have to lower
l. something else. It became a game of stupid. When I
was the chairman of the university music department,
the phone rang at ten minutes to eight one night,
and they said, “You’ve got to come in right away. The
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musician won’t play.” He was a north Indian tabla
player. They said, “The flautist has a microphone, and
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the master doesn’t have a microphone.” I said, “He’s

a percussion player. The flute is quiet.” They said,
“That doesn’t matter. He won’t play.” I got there and
the audience was sitting around waiting. I went into
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my studio and grabbed another microphone and a

stand. When I got onstage, I discovered that I didn’t
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have the right adaptor. So, I simply stuck the cable

under his amplifier and didn’t connect it to anything
– I cheated. But he was happy and he played. It was
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just ego. He wanted a microphone, even if it wasn’t

on. That’s my first confession in my book [Music 109:
Notes on Experimental Music].
You’ve worked a lot with phase
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interference between closely tuned

pitches and how they affect
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one another.
When two notes are very close, they begin to spin in
the space. They indeed move. The sine wave sweeps
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up from the low frequency to the high and as the

wavelengths get shorter and shorter. At about the
midpoint, you can hear as the waves are very close
“they felt the need to go somewhere out
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together; the movement from left to right, or right to

of their anxiety. They had to make a left, across your head, and it is natural movement.
change. But that’s the exact point when You can simulate that, but I don’t have to do that; it
you have to stick to the problem at hand.” happens by itself. It’s quite a beautiful phenomenon.
Mr. Lucier/(continued on page 14)/Tape Op#130/13
 You witnessed John Cage in Italy in 1962? measure space that way. I’ve always been interested
It blew my mind. I was on a Fulbright scholarship as a in space and time equations. I’m more a composer
neoclassical composer. While I was there, they let me than a theorist, though. I simply use elements as
I Am Sitting go to Venice. I went to this concert at the Teatro La triggers to then experiment with. I was in Boston for
in a Room: Fenice opera house. John Cage rose up with a piano my two pianos piece. I was sitting way up top of the
and David Tudor walked down the aisle, right under balcony. This piano tuner came in and was hitting
youtube.com/watc the piano, whacked it with a cane, and said, “Now I’m these high notes with a beautiful reflection. No one
h?v=fAxHlLK3Oyk a composer.” John Cage was crazy. It was the first else seemed aware of it. I’m going to make a piece
time in my life that an American guy was teaching for her; the piano tuner. No one ever talks about that
Europeans something. Everything I’d ever studied was as a resource. I love those extremely loud echoes.
[Béla] Bartók or [Franz] Schubert. To finally have an What are some sonic frontiers still to
American composer, who was giving these other be explored?
composers something to think about, was so I never liked psychoacoustics. It’s too controlling.
Close tuning strategically creates resonance. In my Like if you make a piece all with low frequencies to
inspiring. Cage came and told funny stories. Everyone
pieces, something has to move – usually the sine wave. try to make someone feel a certain way. That’s a
else would give all these serious talks and lectures,
Then the player has to start again before the unison. fascistic idea. Now it’s like gardening. With
“I’m a ‘composer,’” and this and that, talking about
The beats start fast, slow down, stop, and sweep up on technology, everybody has their own plot of land,
traditional music theory. John Cage was funny; it was
the other side. Those are the kinds of gestures that I and anyone can make pieces. People are doing
refreshing and wonderful.
can employ. I create these pieces where there is a kind
For someone who was studying such concerts in their own houses. One thing I don’t like
of beating. They are not just ornamental. I take
complex music in Europe in the early is extremely loud noise pieces – I think it’s a thing
something that you might hear for two or three-
1960s, how did you and your peers of the past. Maryanne Amacher talked about sound
seconds as an accident in a traditional piece, and
view The Beatles? coming from within your own ears. There was a
instead make it the center of the composition. piece where it’s all phantom images of a birdcall,
I was teaching at Wesleyan, and all of the students
It reminds me of the dynamic of but the whole piece happens inside your ear. It
suddenly wanted to write music. Especially the males.
“dangerously similar others.” Like can’t be recorded – the ear makes its own sound,
Overnight, it was an overwhelming change in interest.
how family members can often be at and each person has their own frequency
We were all knocked out by what The Beatles were
each other’s throats. Counter- responses. It’s all a surprise. John Cage came to my
doing. I just wish I could have related to it a bit more.
intuitively, there is often more school – they gave him a lot of money to visit – and
Moon Bounce

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tension, the more there is likeness. they said, “What if we started an experimental
That dynamic is a commonality During this performance, Alvin Lucier will have a

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music school. What would it be like in 15 years?”
studied in most genocides. dialogue with a spider and its web. Then Alvin Lucier’s
And he said, “I don’t know.” That didn’t go over too
Very interesting. I didn’t know about that. heartbeat will be picked up by a special sensor, routed
well with an institution. [laughs] People often
I heard that you studied with Aaron through the silk strings of a guqin, and transmitted to the
l. want to build a new space, but I don’t like that
Copland. Moon. It takes approximately two-and-a-half seconds for
idea. I like hearing music in various different
Only orchestration. each heartbeat to bounce back to Earth, depending on the
spaces. Once you settle, you’re locked into the
How did classical training benefit what irregularities on the surface of the Moon.
acoustics of that one hall for everything.
you do? Description from ON AIR: with Aerocene, symposium at
How do you feel about playing music
i
When I was at Yale, I had a teacher that gave me an Palais de Tokyo. <aerocene.org>
outdoors?
exercise. He gave me a piece with 40 voices and I had
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What popular music do you like? I tried having a player hundreds of yards away; it didn’t
to fill in 39 of them from hearing just one. I liked the work too well. I rely on reflections from somewhere,
I grew up with jazz – with Sidney Bechet, Duke
puzzle of filling in empty scores. You talk about and with outdoor sounds you have very little.
Ellington, and all those guys. My sisters were
discipline: my friend, Christian Wolff, studied with
teenagers in the ‘40s, so they were listening to a lot I think about Pierre Schaeffer, and how
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John Cage. Cage gave him an exercise to make an his experiments are now available to
of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. I try to keep up
entire piece with only three notes. It’s hard to write almost any kid with a laptop. How
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with the new guys that are happening. I heard a new

a piece where you are not all over the place. I taught has technology benefited and/or
piece by Pusha T that I thought was quite wonderful.
first year composition, and people would often hindered creativity?
I have been working with Yo La Tengo [Tape Op
suddenly go up an octave. And I’d say, “Wait a
#126], a little independent band. I didn’t think it was The pieces I hear coming out now are very elaborate,
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minute. That’s a different note entirely.” But they felt but they all sound very similar. I tell people that they
such a good concert, but the rock and roll guy from
the need to go somewhere out of their anxiety. They should sabotage the software programs and use them
The New York Times thought it was wonderful.
had to make a change. But that’s the exact point in a subversive way. Computers are a wonderful idea,
[laughs] I feel a little bit sad that I can’t connect
when you have to stick to the problem at hand. To but you have to do something original with them.
with the pop world, because my music is so specific.
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commit. To be precise. That’s my idea of making music – you have to do

Philip Glass and Steve Reich [Tape Op #15] can go
Sometimes when the options are too
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right into it. something original, or why bother? r

plentiful, they become restrictive.
Many people view physical matter as an <alucier.web.wesleyan.edu>
Yes. Igor Stravinsky was writing for [George Balanchine’s
obstacle. But you have used it as sound
ballet of] Orpheus. He asked how long it took the Ian Brennan is a Grammy award-winning music producer
transmission – exploring how walls
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character to die onstage. Stravinsky watched the (Tinariwen) and author. His fifth book, Silenced by Sound:
influence sound as filters, and more.
performer and counted 1-2-3-4-5 and timed the the Music Meritocracy Myth, will be published in the fall of
One early piece I wrote was about echoes. I had been
music to the character’s actions. That idea was 2019. His most recent projects are the Tanzania Albinism
witnessing the concerts in Piazza San Marco. The
demystifying. He was so exacting. He didn’t say, Collective’s 7-inch single for Jack White’s Third Man Records,
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orchestras of competing cafes would mimic each

“How does it feel,” or, “What is the emotion?” He and the Malawi Mouse Boys fourth album, Score for a Film
other. I decided to do a real echo instead. My
asked, “How many seconds does it take?” It gives you About Malawi Without Music from Malawi.
echolocation piece would have a pulse go out and
an idea of that level of precision. <www.ianbrennan.com>
bounce off a wall one-second later. I could then
14/Tape Op#130/Mr. Lucier/(Fin.)
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The Miami-based songwriter, producer, and fashionista known as Suzi Analogue lives
with synesthesia, a neurological condition that causes one sensory pathway (i.e.,
hearing) to influence another (vision). In her case, music and visual expression are one
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and the same. That explains why she gravitates to such innovative pieces of studio
equipment, such as Critter & Guitari’s ETC video synthesizer, which turns audio input
into live visuals, as well as other uniquely responsive gadgets like the StudioFeed
pr
SUBPAC – a vest powered with subwoofers. True to her stage name, she’s harbored
a lifelong obsession with samplers, synthesizers, and drum machines – all analog, of

by Howard Hardee
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course – and anything else with knobs she can tweak. She also has a history of
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Hit Record and Get It All Out
speaking out on the working conditions of women in the male-dominated music
industry, and uses her position as a successful touring DJ to help young women of
color develop the skills necessary to succeed in the studio.
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hardware begin?

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cassette, and the radio. I was obsessed with playing

on – the boomboxes, the home stereo systems, the

Walkmans, the CD players. When I was nine or 10 and I
How did your lifelong obsession with music

My mom had a record player that was all-in-one. I was

music, as in the different machines you could play music

fascinated with the fact that it could play a record, a
had to go the mall, because they had all the new I think young musicianship is often You’re sponsored by some awesome
releases. I had a karaoke machine that had two interesting, from a gear perspective, companies, like Moog Music, Teenage
decks, so I was making my own karaoke mixtapes and because kids are really good at Engineering, and the DJ software
experimenting with dubbing tapes on blank making do with the best available company Serato. What are some of your
cassettes. I actually still have the machine; I’m instruments and equipment. favorite machines right now?
looking at it right now. I could input a microphone Yard sales were big, growing up. My mom would take me I’ve got the new Moog DFAM [Drummer From Another
and I could sing over an instrumental [piece]. In this thrifting on the weekend. I came by the Casio at a Mother]. That’s been really fun! It’s a synth that’s
process of becoming obsessed with technology, I yard sale and became obsessed with it, like I was more percussion. I guess you could call it a drum
found out I had a knack for already obsessed with the karaoke machine. I had machine, but it’s modeled as a synth. And I have the
communicating with it. If never been to a music studio, but I grew up doing Moog Mother-32; I can patch the DFAM into the
there was something wrong, choir so I knew the importance of recorded music. I Mother. That’s a whole loopy experience. I’ve also
I was able to maneuver it. listened to a lot of gospel music. In the ’90s, it was a been using the [TC Helicon] Ditto Mic Looper. You
I was never taught big deal to have your church choir recorded on a CD. press it, it loops, and you choose the level. I love the
electronics as a kid, but I assume you eventually moved on idea of repeating patterns. I’m always experimenting
I’ve always had a strong to messing around with DAWs on with how I can make a sound last longer; maybe that
sense of communicating your PC? comes from my frustration with pianos being so
with electronics. Yes. Personal computers were really expensive at the limiting. I use a video synth from Critter & Guitari.
Simultaneously, I was time. Eventually my mom got me my own personal Sometimes, when I’m playing, I’ll run the audio to
getting things to fuel computer. I made a lot of music pen pals from chat the synth. I have synesthesia, so it helps me when
my interest, like a rooms, and I had software like Cakewalk, [Magix] I’m making music. I like the black and white one
Casio keyboard Sound Forge, and GoldWave. Those were the first because I already see all these colors and such, so
with all these DAWs that I worked on, but I was still experimenting. the black and white one helps me focus on the
wacky sounds. I I couldn’t figure out how to get my audio from my movement of the sound. I hook it up to my
grew to love the keyboard and digitize it. It was so early on that it television, or sometimes I use a projector in my
sound, the was a luxury to digitize audio. It wasn’t until the era studio. Other than that, I have the ROLI Seaboard
aesthetic of it, of the laptop that I was able to figure it out. I got a Block [soft, pressure-responsive keyboard controller].
and I went Mac at the end of high school, and that’s when I was It’s not necessarily a synthesizer, but the tactility is

m
down a rabbit able to put it all together. I wanted to use a certain very futuristic – it has five dimensions of touch, so
hole from

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kind of mic, and I wanted to use pedals. I wanted the you can slide, strike, or tap it. Of course, I have the
there. more analog ways of making sound, but I wanted to [Teenage Engineering] OP-1. That’s my buddy; it’s my
“In this also digitize it. It’s taken two decades, but I’m finally go-to when I’m on the road and I can only fit one
process of where I can say, “Cool, this is what I was after.” I’m
l. piece of additional equipment. I’ll take the OP-1
becoming using synthesizers and recording digital – I’ve because the battery is pretty strong and it powers up
obsessed wanted to do this since I was a kid, but I finally have easily. It acts as a MIDI controller, as well as a synth.
with the tools now. Another thing that helps me in the studio is running
technology, I Do you value the tactile experience of all of my music through SUBPACs. When I have
i
found out I tweaking knobs on a synthesizer and someone with me, they’ll wear one too so we can feel
had a
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playing a keyboard rather than the beat of what we’re playing. It makes me happy,
knack for working strictly with software? because when I was a kid I was always like, “How do
communicating Yeah, that’s important to me. I grew up performing live I make this more real?” Now I have all these devices
with it.” music through gospel choir and both my parents to help me see the sound, and I can feel the sound
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loved jazz. I grew up with “jazz musicians are the very humanly. My controllers respond to me.
best musicians in the world”-type parents. I’m half a What’s your studio setup like?
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computer kid and half straight analog, because with My studio is in my house in Miami Beach. It’s the first
my parent’s generation I saw that hands-on time I’ve had a designated, separate space for a
musicianship. I realized I was obsessed with studio. In every house I’ve lived in, I’ve tried to work
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electronic sounds, sounds powered by synthesizers. it into another room or corner space somewhere. I feel
When I was in church I would lose interest in the like I’m just getting started. I just flew into San
piano after a while, because you can’t do anything Francisco and visited a studio called Tiny Telephone
with it. From the Casio, I knew there was the option [Tape Op #10], and the engineer there, Maryam
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to manipulate sound further, based on electronic [Qudus] – she works with tUnE-yArDs [#88] – she and
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communication. Having that awareness is what her partner have a home studio. I asked her how long
inspires me. Synthesizers naturally speak to me, it took to get her studio like that, and she said it took
because I’m not limited to an acoustic existence. about four years. I’m only entering year two of having
What do you love about my studio, and I’m still figuring so much out, but I’m
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synthesizers? Is it those crazy happy about the pieces I have now. I use them all. I
noises that don’t stay between the really try to take my time to make sure I like what I
lines – the messy sounds? have; I don’t want to have anything sitting there. I
They’re never the same twice. If you record a don’t want to be a wasteful creator and hoard gear I
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synthesizer, you can’t really get it like that don’t use. I’ll give it to the next person who might
again. It’s all about time and space. That’s want it. But I’m still looking to get a few more pieces
what I love about it. It keeps everything to round out my studio experiment.
Ms. Analogue/(continued on page 18)/Tape Op#130/17
fresh and fun.
 What musical projects are you working on?
I just finished up a bunch of remixes and I’m working on
finishing a film score. I’ve been working on it
throughout the year, but I’ve touring and performing
around the world, so I’m hoping I’ll have time to sit
down and actually finish it. I love working on the road,
but I prefer to finish everything in the studio. I’m
hoping it works out with the timing. I also [recently]
got some music into a video game for the first time.
You’ve spoken in the past about how
women in the studio are encouraged
to be involved vocally, but not on the
engineering and production. Messing
with recording equipment and the
techy side of music production has
historically been a boys-only club.
How does it feel to crash the party?
It feels good, because I know my stuff. I’ve taken my time
to learn about the greats, as well as the different
recording processes. It feels like I’m naturally on my
life path. But then I come to find out it’s a boy’s club.
It’s an issue, but in my own collective, Never Normal
Soundsystem, we have four women composers,
producers, and writers. These are people I’ve mentored
who are working on their emerging artistry. I know it’s
a great time for change to occur. I’m also working with
my collective, (F)empower, down here in Miami. We
want to create a workshop in inner-city schools for

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young girls of color to learn how to produce. I’ve

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worked with similar programs in New York, but I think
Miami’s ready to have a moment like that because I’ve
seen a slight uptick in women DJing here. How are
these girls going to tell their stories? That’s what I do
l. – I tell my story. These girls are going to be able to
access the skills they need to tell their stories with
recorded music. I’m seeing this happen from all angles
i
– from the overground to the underground – and I
know that in the decades to come there is going to be
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better representation, at least at the basic level of

women being able to tell their stories through music.
If they have the technical skills to do that, even better.
To me, that’s what’s important. I didn’t want to make
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music because guys were doing it; I wanted to make

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music so I could do it whenever I needed to. I want

young girls to feel like that as well – if they need to
hit record, they can hit record and get it all out. r
<www.suzianalogue.com>
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Tape Op is made
possible by our
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advertisers.
Please support them and tell them
you saw their ad in Tape Op.

18 /Tape Op#130/Ms. Analogue/(Fin.)

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JEFF BHASKER
A
ON PLANTING SEEDS AND WORKING WITH
A A

ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO’S COVER OF REMAIN IN LIGHT

A A

As the music director for Bruno Mars,

Kanye West, and Lady Gaga, Jeff
Bhasker eventually parlayed a keen
musical sense into a successful
production career, with credits on
iconic records by Kanye, Jay-Z,
Alicia Keys, fun., and Mark
Ronson [Tape Op #105]. In 2018
he produced Angélique Kidjo’s
cover album of Talking Heads’
Remain in Light, a wonderful
exploration of the
original release.

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by Larry Crane
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photo by
Sebastian Kriz
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How did Angélique’s record come around? recorded really well. We only re-recorded a few parts. You can take that album on a really surface
I met Angélique during a charity event that I was a In learning about the process of making Talking level, and get the chord changes and
music director for, and she was the honored guest. We Heads’ Remain in Light, it was interesting to find out the words, and maybe that’s the song.
hit it off; it was speaking to my past career résumé that a lot of times musicians were recording very out But you do have to understand the
as a music director for Kanye West and Lady Gaga. of context, and even made to think that the “one” layers and how it’s constructed to get the
Also, I come from a jazz background and so does she. was in a different place. It wasn’t very gist of it, don’t you?
We hit it off and stayed in touch. She said she wanted straightforward! I reduced everything to its essence. Yep. My engineer, Ryan Nasci, commented how he was
to do something together, and I suggested that we In a more songwriter aspect, or pop aesthetic, you listening to albums to prepare to do the session, and
do something in English, because she’d never done an want the song to be able to live on just piano, or how it’s a very difficult album to listen to. It’s not an
album in English. I think she kicked it around in her guitar and vocal. There shouldn’t be too much razzle- easy listen. There’s a lot of tension in there, and
head, and she’s said in other interviews that she dazzle on the production side to make the song live. there’s a lot of dark energy. In some places, we
remembered the impression that The Talking Heads’ Trying to reinvent that, I broke everything down to inverted that. “Once in a Lifetime” has a very
Remain in Light album had made on her when she djembe and her voice – took it all the way to Africa. celebratory feeling. “The Overload” is a very tender,
moved to France from Benin, Africa. She started Her percussionist, Magatte Sow [Fall], is an fragile piece, where on the original it’s a very
making these demos, adapting that music in her incredible talent and already has this connection brooding, ominous tone. But then on “Listening
style, and then she brought them to me. I intended with her. He was part of the original concert we did Wind,” I turned it into more of an ominous vibe. So,
to only do one or two tracks, but I thought it was together. Her guitar player, Dominic James, is also a we tried to keep the themes in there, but rotate them
such a special project that I told her I wanted to do whiz. I tried to reduce everything down to around. It’s almost like having different actors play a
the whole album. I actually brought it out on my percussion and guitar, and then started filling in the different part in a play, but the play is still the same.
record label [Kravenworks]. I went from hedging a blanks a bit with tracks from the old demo and Even the cover [is similar], which was shot by world-
little bit on the responsibility I wanted to have for replacing it, or having Tony Allen come in, or me renowned artist Kerry James Marshall. I really wanted
this project, to really buying into all of the themes putting on synthesizers. My trademark [Roland] a single image – to really say what hours of
and content. It was such an awesome opportunity to Juno-106 or Moog vibes on there ended up discussion between Angélique and myself about
combine the storytelling of these topics – representing technology and colonialism. That’s these themes and this album – to encapsulate that in
colonialism, racism, and heavy, political messages – really most apparent on the song “Listening Wind.” one single image. It took someone as brilliant as
and also collaborate with some legendary people, like It starts with this synthesizer wind, and there’s a Kerry to bring out this idea of shooting the cover with
Tony Allen [drums], Pino Palladino [bass], Alicia Keys, balafon and these synthesizer sounds. It’s like the UV black light. It’s not just remain in light, it’s remain
and Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend. People who clash of colonialism with traditional African values. in black light. There’s a light, where we think of things

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all have these connections to African music, and to That was the process. Not to mention just trying to in white and black, and white is bright and black is

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Angélique. That’s the trajectory the whole project figure out like, “Okay, how do you actually cover wrong. There’s this 400-year propaganda campaign
took. It was a real labor of love, and a special project these songs?” Like “Born Under Punches,” what is against the color black, virtually. I thought it was
in my career. Not to mention Angélique being such a going on in the bass line? It wasn’t until I dove into sheer genius for him to create that cover, as well as
powerhouse, and such an incredible person. After the YouTube videos of the live versions that I discovered
l. to take that title and reimagine it as thoughtfully as
first day I spent with her in the studio, I was like it’s actually two bass parts playing at the same time. we tried to do with the music. Parallels, mirror
“Wow, that’s the most fun I’ve had in a studio in a If you listen to the actual studio recordings, there images, circles, and cycles happening on this album
long time.” She has that effect on people. She’s also are a lot of mysterious elements going on that are that made it really fun to bring to completion.
Did you find it a real process of
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one of the most dynamic, powerful, and pure really hard to decode. I tried my best to deconstruct
performers. That was one of the first things I noticed what Talking Heads and Brian Eno had done, as well reduction to find the songs through
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at the soundcheck of the event; she puts the pedal to as how to re-approach it. I didn’t want to cover it all the parts? Was it a reductionist
the metal. She gives it everything she’s got in every like it was a surface-level thing. Some songs took vision to get to the mixes on that?
single performance. When you watch her perform, it’s longer to crack than others, but in the end I’m really
Yeah, absolutely. I was breaking it down to just the
obvious. It was a real thrill to work with an artist like happy with the result. It’s a really amazing project.
drums and her voice, then bringing the guitar back in
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that, who gives everything to what she’s doing. It was really great to hear David Byrne himself talk
and taking it from there to see what really, really,
You said she demoed some of the songs. about it. He wrote a piece about the circle of them
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really needed to be added. That was fun too.

Did she already have a vocal direction [Talking Heads] being inspired by music from Africa,
Sometimes I’d pop in parts from the old demos. Like
in how she wanted to present them? and how this release is full-circle. I think that’s a
in “Once in a Lifetime,” those horn parts are so wacky
It was really interesting approaching such an iconic really cool element to the whole project. and out of time; they almost don’t belong. It sounds
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recording. I hold Brian Eno [the original album’s I’ve interviewed Brian Eno and David like traffic going by. One might not have thought to
producer, Tape Op #85] in such high esteem. He’s an Byrne. David told me that on this record write the part in that way. It was sheer magic, a very
innovative producer in the field of recorded music. they would build pieces of music, and Eno-ian discovery.
David Byrne [#79] also. They’re second-to-none he’d go home and try to write words for The record is dense, and there’s a lot
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when it comes to really unleashing creativity on the them. They were building in a going on. You want to showcase that
completely opposite way from you
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recording process. Yeah, she had all these demos. in a different way, but not lose that,
Her husband [Jean Hebrail] is also a musician, coming back at it from the top-down, for sure.
producer, and used to play bass in her band. He’s also having a finished song to learn. Exactly.
familiar with Pro Tools and whatnot, so he mocked Wow, that is so cool that you mentioned that! I never Where did you end up doing most of the
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up various basic tracks for her to sing over, and she thought of that. That’s so true. recording and mixing?
also recorded all these African chants that go along You’re getting a glimpse of what he Well, we actually did it at my home studio, which is a
with every song. It’s like a dual song in every song. didn’t get to see until he finished it, house that was a studio. Actually, it’s more of a studio
starting backwards.
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They also had all these recordings, like field than a home. It was built to be a studio, and then I
recordings of Beninese musicians that they had That’s right. Man, that’s such a good comment. ended up living there. The reverb that’s in the large
compiled. He filled in the blanks with tracks from Everything is reversed. She was inspired by them, but sunroom ended up being the reverb on the
those sessions. Most of the vocals were already it is like a circle. That’s a good point. percussion. It’s this medium-room sound. “Wow, okay,
Mr. Bhasker/(continued on page 22)/Tape Op#130/21
 that’s really alive.” My engineer, Ryan, has the other. I’ve been part of both approaches, and like the the shows, the band or DJ would drop out and it
sensibility of having sounds very punchy and hard- results. I’m concept-driven when it comes to my would just be me playing keyboards and him rapping
hitting. He used some compression to make tracks approach to a project. I really want to help the artist and talking. We developed a connection that
really punchy and aggressive, and that house suited say something clearly. With Harry, what I heard him ultimately transferred into the studio. [We had] a
itself to that. That’s where we did most of the tracks. saying was, “This is my voice, and this is my band.” trust and a perfect symbiosis of him having incredible
We tracked percussion, tracked Pino. Tony Allen We put a band together and worked on the album vision – as well as a sense of design and artistic
recorded most of his parts in France, since it was with those parameters in mind. That’s why it ended expression – and me having a really great sense of
more convenient for him to do that. That was up being a small circle of people. It sounds different organization and support for his vision. I was trying
interesting. It’s almost like the electricity had a than those One Direction records. They have a lot of to inspire everyone around us to buy into that. I
different quality, in the way they mic’d that. I really the same influences, but it feels very different. Both ended up being a really good student of what he was
loved his part on “Houses in Motion.” Usually he’s approaches are very valid. I try my best to help the following, and I grew into my artistic skin through
quite in the background on those old Fela Kuti artist decide what they want to do, and then that process. I was very lucky to fall into that
recordings. He’s there, but there’s a lot of percussion encourage them to do that. The last thing you want situation of working with [someone] who I consider
and horn work that is more prominent in the mix. It to do is get muddled with your message and make it to be one of the most brilliant music and artistic
was like, “Let’s put Tony Allen in the front of less potent. You want this music to be impactful and forces of this era.
everybody. Let’s put him at the front of the stage.” clear, and [to have it] hit eardrums in a way that He’ll keep creating, but those are
Basically you’re inside his drum kit. It’s very stereo- wakes them up. It’s a cliché that I either want you to records that people have obviously
panned and modern. You’re really living inside. It’s so love it or hate it, but it’s really true. What’s the use responded to.
interesting to get his parts back. He re-wrote the of listening to it if you don’t get a reaction? How you Right. He’s always trying to do that, and he’s raising the
bass line. It’s like, “Well, I hear your bass line, but get there is okay. I don’t think it matters how many bar every time we’re making records. Have fun, but
the bass line should go like this.” We used his bass people are involved, as long as the message comes the stakes are high. Take your responsibility.
player [Rody Cereyon] on “The Great Curve” and across clearly. Maybe when there’re so many people, Ultimately we’re contributing something to society,
“Houses in Motion.” What he’s doing is unreal. Some it feels more difficult to get that clear message, but and the world. You are in service to the world in some
of that was done remotely, but mostly at my house. not necessarily if they’re talented. The different form, to do your best work and to do meaningful
Michael Brauer [Tape Op #37] mixed it. This was one processes are the way you achieve a certain result. work, even if people don’t agree with it.
of the final projects mixed in his Electric Lady room. It’s fun to play with that, and to try and make sure You’ve got to put it out there and be
Yeah. I was over at Michael’s new studio some message comes across. “What are you saying behind it.
recently. How did you start working with this music? What are we blasting on a huge Exactly. Be fearless. I think the artist always appreciates

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with your engineer, Ryan Nasci? megaphone to the world?” if I push them more, in the end. They might be a little
I met him through a producer that I signed and When you’re in the producer role, do

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uncomfortable at first. I have to remind myself of
mentored, Alex Salibian. He worked with him on a you find yourself really going in and that. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, and I
Young the Giant album [Home of the Strange]. I was digging into an artist’s lyrics and don’t want to be an abrasive person, but sometimes
like, “Wow, he’s really fantastic.” I wanted to work helping them focus? l. it feels like that when I’m trying to help someone get
with him on the Harry Styles album [Harry Styles] that A little bit. It’s more like therapy. Let them say it. Let out of their comfort zone. It’s uncomfortable, by
we did two years ago. He’s become my in-house them help themselves. Encourage them to create a definition. But I feel like that’s my job. I’ve learned
engineer, and he’s also worked with me on a bunch of safe place. It’s a fine line, because when you want to over the years that it’s my job. If I don’t do my job,
i
other projects. My old production was a lot of help you may not really be helping if you don’t let what am I doing there?
programming, from a hip-hop tradition. It was nice to them find it. It’s mostly about creating a safe place for Exactly. After Mark Ronson’s Uptown
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steer back a little bit towards an acoustic instrument ideas to flow. I learned a lot about that from Kanye Special came out, I interviewed Mark
approach, and an old-school approach to recording. West. He’s great at that, at bringing people together and ended up hanging out in
Microphones, channels, electricity, and consoles. I let and creating a safe place for ideas to flow. It also Memphis with Boo Mitchell [Tape Op
Ryan do his thing on the Harry album and this helps if the artist has an idea about it in the first #120] for an interview.
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Angélique album. I pushed back against it when I felt place, which is what was so great about the Angélique Oh, cool. Nice. That’s a perfect example. Actually, a lot
like it, because it’s a different approach than I’m project. She did the vocals. She added her own of that was up to Mark. He’s a connection master
o@

usually hearing: that bass-heavy, muddy sound with melodies. She added an African chant with a deep and knows all these people. But it was on me to
this big, sweeping, wide vision, like what I’ve done wisdom in another language. She encapsulated what push him a little more outside. “I’ll create some cool
with Kanye or Alicia Keys. It was fun to let him lead it did. It varies how far the artist is down the path of tracks and have cool guests on it, and it’ll be great.”
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the way sonically and chime in, and also to break out what their vision is; but, ultimately, we want to But to synthesize this story that goes through the
of my normal habits. Ryan also cut his teeth under encourage them to be brave in realizing their vision. album, it got overshadowed by “Uptown Funk.” I
Tony Maserati in L.A., before he worked with me. You initially got quite a break working wanted to encourage him to stretch out as an
The Harry Styles record was a tighter with Kanye West. How did you go instrumentalist and a writer, but he was so humble
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combo with a live band. I assume you from being a keyboard player to that he didn’t really toot his own horn or think
find that in stark contrast, as there collaborating in the studio with him?
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about. He was devoted to the old idea of a producer

are so many writers and producers You’re right, I really did. He’s one of my biggest mentors, who does not interfere with the writing process or
involved in a lot of records that artistically. I was the keyboard player, and then I was interject himself into that. He’s quite a skilled
you’ve produced or co-produced. the music director, so we kept aligning. Also, we musician, [plus he’s] a really intelligent guy; clever,
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That’s right. aligned in our way of looking at where he was at, and witty, and quick. I was like, “You can write this
It’s interesting to see how many fingers I where was at, which was being really excited about music!” He had all these ideas, and I said, “That’s
get in the pot on a lot of these songs melody. This is the tenth anniversary of 808s & great!” I’m sure a lot of his older music came from
and albums. How do you navigate
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Heartbreak, which was a melodic explosion. I was him too. But to break him out a little bit of this idea
that as a musician, as a producer, or transitioning into wanting to really hone my of, “I’m collaborative,” to feeling like, “This is your
as a writer? songwriting craft, and so was he. I started to add album! You’re an artist. You have control over the
I don’t necessarily have a preference, one way or the more and more melody to his material. Sometimes at narrative, and you’re like the source of the music.”
22/Tape Op#130/Mr. Bhasker/(continued on page 24)
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 That was a good example of what I was trying to do, which was push
him out of his comfort zone and go from being “Mark Ronson, the DJ
and producer” to “Mark Ronson, the instrumentalist and songwriter.”
It obviously worked, and it brought you full circle
with Bruno Mars, whom you’d worked with before
that, right?
That’s absolutely true. And full-circle with jazz and instrumental recording,
which set the tone to keep going forward with the Harry Styles sessions
too. Mark really inspired me to delve back into recording in a more
traditional way, as well as to embrace jazz harmonies and instrumentation
– really return to that. That was a special project to reinvigorate that part
of my musicality.
People may see you as a producer, but you’ve also got to
feed yourself, and keep yourself interested and
growing while you do this work.
That is so true! Perhaps some people are different, like the old-school
producers. Maybe it was a little bit more like an organizer. But if you do
have an artistic bone in your body, those bones need to be fed, for sure.
It would seem like, in the same respect, once our
careers take off, we start to pick and choose a little
bit more so that we’re not working on sessions that
are too draining but are still interesting and
creative to us.
You read my mind.
What is Kravenworks, your label about? What’s been
the focus of that?
It’s a good segue from what you said. It was an outlet to break out of this
system of making license plates in prison. It’s a pretty horrible analogy

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when you’re getting paid millions of dollars to make records, but for a

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creative person, it’s like you’re in prison for a little bit. Kravenworks is a
play on Dreamworks, and Billy Kraven was this alter-ego I made for
myself, as an artist/songwriter, who gave me permission to start writing
songs instead of just producing them. As Billy Kraven, I started writing
l.
songs and doing demos. Creating the label was also an extension of that,
to help redefine the type of music I want to be making, as you alluded
to, where my heart is creative. It’s learning the ropes of that. It’s an
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experiment. I have one other band, Vacation Forever, on my label, and I
have an imprint with Cam [Cameron Ochs] on RCA; she’s the first artist I
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signed. That’s a little more in their hands; how the marketing and
everything goes. In this new world, where the media game and
everything you can do is so much more powerful, you can do everything
yourself. It’s an exercise in figuring it out to be honest. You’ve got to start
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somewhere and take it from there.

Have you felt like you’ve worked on records before
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that unjustly disappeared into the void of the

record business?
Absolutely. Or not even disappeared, but when it got presented, it’s like,
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“Wait. This is not the right story being told here.” That’s like Kanye, with
him being in full control of how everything got rolled out. The packaging
and everything is a part of the whole experience. I’m definitely getting my
feet wet with how all that works. It’s definitely been a big learning process.
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Mostly I’m used to making records: they come out, and they’re either a hit
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or they’re not. It happens pretty quickly. If you get these artists, it takes
quite a while – like five to ten years – before people are [aware of them],
like fun. They won [a Grammy for] Best New Artist, but they’d been around
for years; all of them collectively, honing their craft. As a label, it’s also
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learning patience to let artists develop. You’re planting seeds. r

<www.jeffbhasker.com>
jv

www.tapeop.com
Bonus content online!!!

24/Tape Op#130/Mr. Bhasker/(Fin.)

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 Chris Carter
Throbbing Gristle to Chemistry Lessons
by Danny Turner d engineer for
artist and soun . Acting as
photo courtesy of Cosey Fanni Tutti y 50 -yea r career in mus
ic. While worki
th eory
ng
by
as a vi su al
building his ow
n synthesisers
mid-‘70s to form
d an extraord in ar
di o technology an d
ri stopherson in the on
orn Chris Cart er ha s ha
his fascinatio n for au e, an d Pe te r Ch Carter to focus
North London-b ions in England, he extended y Fa nn i Tutti, Genesis P-Orridg dissolved by 1981, enabling -in dulg ed his
televi sion stat rfor m an ce artists Cose m us ic genr e. TG had re ce ntly, Ca rter has re ra ck
various -up with pe al e
, Carter teamed of the industri s & Cosey. Mor strument and the TG ONE Eu
ro
lead synthesist ing Gr istle – a seminal band r Cosey Fanni Tutti as Chri Gene ra tin g In at ion of Ca rter’s
gr oup Throbb w ith partne rim en tal Soun d tim ely reaffirm
pion eeri ng d colla bora tions rter Ex pe ap es , is a
the
l solo works an creating The Di
rty Ca ambient landsc
crafting radica principles of circuit bending, e 1 – an albu m of immersive
lu m
fascination for
the istry Lessons Vo
ea nw hile, the release of Chem
module. M sign.
nt for sound de
compelling tale

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Did working as a sound engineer spark What were you actively doing during That period overlapped with me building my own circuits.
your interest in music, or did your your apprenticeship? I used to buy a magazine called Practical Electronics
passion predate that? I was working with a freelance film and television sound religiously and was always tinkering with the little
My interest in music predated that by quite a lot – engineer named Ted Ball. I did some television shows circuits they had in there before getting more ambitious
it probably goes back to when I was 10 or 11. My and documentaries at Elstree and Pinewood film and building bigger ones. One month, they put a whole
dad was a hi-fi buff and was always listening to studios. I guess it’s where I learned my craft. The first synthesiser design in the magazine, where you could
music. He had a reel-to-reel tape recorder and thing I had to do was learn how to use a Nagra tape build the filters and oscillators module-by-module. I
would make, what I suppose we’d now call, mix recorder, so I was thrown in the deep end, but it was started building my first synth around that period, but
tapes. One birthday he bought me a small a step in the right direction and it picqued my interest because I was also splicing tape for television and film
battery-powered tape recorder and a kit for working with professional sound. When Ted retired, I as an assistant sound recorder, I was working with these
making crystal radios and oscillators, so there went off on a tangent and worked for a photographer two different disciplines simultaneously. Then I started
was this mixture of listening to crooners on his in Soho. From doing sound for television and film to incorporating what I’d learned into what I was doing at
hi-fi, as well as doing all these experimental working in a darkroom was quite a career change. home with my own music. I’d record experiments with
circuits. When I was about to leave school, I was What did you learn during that period my synths and circuits onto cassette, because I couldn’t
offered an apprenticeship as a sound engineer, with Ball that initiated your desire to afford to have a Nagra tape recorder at home.
then things started to overlap. experiment further with sound? How rudimentary was this synth you
built? Was it akin to the Eurorack
modules that we see today?
It was very similar. They would publish a different module
each month, but the idea was that you’d put this thing
into one big cabinet, most likely based on a bigger
version of an EMS VCS3. Each month, they’d publish a
part of that design, so you’d build a VCF [voltage
controlled filter] one month, a VCO [voltage controlled
oscillator] the next, and then a modulator. I was
building all these circuits and putting them into quite
a big case. This was in the mid-‘70s, around the same

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time I met Cosey Fanni Tutti and Genesis P. Orridge, so
I took my creation down to their studio in Hackney,

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plugged it into the PA, and we started jamming.
Presumably there were synthesisers on
the market at the time, but well out of
your reach financially?
l. I wasn’t earning much, but I used to collect all the Moog
and EMS catalogues and I’d actually been down to EMS
in Putney a few times. At one point, when I lived in
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North London, I got an EMS VCS3 on hire purchase, but
couldn’t afford to keep up the payments. The only
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alternative was to build my own, so it was born out of

necessity. A lot of what we used when we were in
Throbbing Gristle was built by me or friends of ours –
even the PA was handmade.
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At that early point, did you foresee

electronic instruments initiating a
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musical revolution?
I don’t know if we were that forward-thinking. It was
obviously happening; synths were appearing all over the
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place, but it wasn’t new to us. Disco really embraced the

synthesiser and electronic sounds, so we went along with
that. As we got more successful, we’d buy gear off-the-
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shelf and incorporate it into our own. Once the Japanese

entered the market, the prices came down tremendously.
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Initially it was all very American-based – ARP and Moog

were the main players – but once Roland and Korg came
on board it changed the whole landscape. One of the first
synths I bought was the MiniKorg-700, which was
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relatively affordable. Then I got a Roland SH3 and started

buying modules and incorporating those with what I had
built myself. It was a slow process though.
Throbbing Gristle was a precursor to the
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whole industrial movement, but was

there a template for the music you
were making at the time?
Mr. Carter/(continued on page 28)/Tape Op#130/27
We invented the name and everything, but at the time TG regrouped around 2006, and we started doing Chris I tried that in the ‘80s when I did some television work,
the term “industrial” related to us being industrious & Cosey gigs not long after. It was a very intense but it was quite demanding. People can be very fussy,
rather than sounding industrial. Because we weren’t time and I needed something to do as a form of and if you don’t handle rejection well it’s not a good
musicians as such, I didn’t have a clue. Cosey had relaxation, so I set up a small workspace in the place to be. You can spend days working on a track
learned piano, so she had a good ear; but then she studio. I started building circuits again and for a piece of visual, hand it in, and they don’t like it
took up guitar, which she’d never played before. recording what I was doing. I gave it the project or want it changed and you’re back to square one.
Genesis hadn’t played bass, and although I knew how name Chemistry Lessons and started putting tracks That’s not the way I like to work. I know we have
to put a synth together and make noises, I wasn’t a online, but over the years I’d accumulated all these collaborated with an awful lot of people over the
keyboard player. We were making it up as we went different tracks and recordings, which bled into my years, but not so much with visual artists – it’s a
along, so we were creating the template as we were modular system and other gear. It was Cosey who different kettle of fish and I’m not sure it’s something
doing it. It was like the cart before the horse, or the suggested I had enough for an album four or five I’m entirely comfortable with, although I might
chicken before the egg, and because it was so years into the project. consider it for the right project.
rudimentary that gave it a raw edge. Do you feel that, despite it being a Your studio today comes across as an
I’m amazed that the term “industrial” did wholly electronic-sounding album, archive of everything you’ve
not relate to the sound of the music, it’s informed by your early collected over the years.
but rather to the process itself… experiments in the ‘60s? It’s funny, because I’ll use gear quite a lot on a project,
It was more conceptual. The term “industrial” is like Back in the ‘60s I used to listen to BBC radio a hell of a then, when I think I’ve gotten the most out of it, I’ll have
Frankenstein’s monster; we don’t really recognise lot through a small transistor radio, as well as shows these annual sales where I get rid of loads of it.
what it was from when we started. People took it far like Doctor Who on the television. With a lot of this, Famously, in ’99, I sold almost every bit of analogue gear
too literally and the genre now is all about making an the music, the idents, and the special effects were all that I had, including my modular system that I’d had for
industrial sound. done by the BBC years. I had this mid-life crisis, but by the following year
Back then, we were THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Radiophonic I was already building it all back up again.
a cottage industry DO NOT MUTILATE OR ALTER Workshop. At the What precipitated this crisis?
and wanted to do as time, I had no I thought we were going to go in-the-box and everything
much of the process as we could, including the idea about where the sound design element came would go through digital audio workstations, but I
distribution and production. That wasn’t entirely why from, until I found out it was all done in that one couldn’t have been more wrong and it was one of the
it was called “industrial” – our friend Monte Cazazza department. Listening to all that definitely influenced biggest mistakes of my life. I couldn’t even get some

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coined the phrase partly because we were in a very my taste in music and sound. A lot of people still of the gear back. I do still have some original gear
industrial area of East London, with factories all don’t realise how much material they actually put out. from the ‘80s, but not much.

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around us. You couldn’t say the music we were making The breadth of what they did was amazing, from Did you underestimate how much you
was industrial-sounding all the time because we were sound design to doing pop songs and everything in would miss the tactile element of using
also doing love songs, pop ditties, and all sorts. between. They had an amazing repertoire, and I loved hardware, or was it the timbre of sound
What did you think of the bands that them because of that. that wasn’t quite how you expected?
l.
spawned from that genre, such as SPK, Were the album tracks compiled with I guess it was both of those reasons. I love hardware
Portion Control and, later, the likes of the intention of being listened to as a because it’s so hands-on, although I constantly return
Front 242 and Nine Inch Nails? journey rather than a fragmented to a lot of software plug-in suites. It’s quite nice to
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They did amazing stuff, and it’s a great sound. Somehow listening experience? have that mix of using really nice hardware with a
the industrial tag got put on them, and I don’t want To be honest, I’m not bothered either way. We agonised decent digital audio workstation, but there’s something
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to diss them in any way. I totally get how people over the track listing with Mute Records for months to about recording hardware that I prefer to software
would label them as industrial, but it developed into make it sound more like a journey. My original track instruments. I’m not really sure what it is, but you’re
something completely different from what we started. listing was completely different, but because the tracks right that it’s to do with the timbre of the sound.
It’s as basic as record shops wanting to are so short it works quite well when they’re randomly I’ve had this debate with so many artists.
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compartmentalise everything, so it become a very selected. I’ve gotten used to listening to it in its present I’ve always believed it has something
to do with the flow of the electric
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wide genre, incorporating lots of sub-genres, like incarnation, especially on train journeys – it’s almost
industrial techno. conceptual the way the tracks merge into each other. current, which cannot be emulated
In 2000, you worked with Cosey Fanni It’s also very film soundtrack oriented, but by digital.
Tutti on some ambient remixes of your this is not really an area you’ve operated Having all those electrons scurrying around is definitely
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former album, The Space Between, as in previously and I wonder why? one aspect. You can turn gear on one day and it
well as some Throbbing Gristle tracks. In the last three or four years, we’ve had a lot of sounds great, but it’s slightly different the next. It has
Was that a reaction to industrial? television and movie placements for the Chris & Cosey to do with the hardware’s physical controls and
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That’s quite perceptive – not a lot of people got that. It catalogue. I guess people have been going back, resistance, but very hard to pinpoint sometimes.
was a reaction. We wanted to take our sound in a because there’s been this ‘80s revival going on. We Although I’m not an analogue purist, out of
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different direction and that was an idea we’d had for wouldn’t have thought all of that old material was everything we’ve got there are certain bits of gear I
a long time. When we were in the studio, we’d be suitable, but the people that place the music always go back to, like my old Elektron [Machinedrum
remastering or running old tapes and we’d start obviously feel otherwise. It was an area we could have SPS-1] synth drum, the Roland Jupiter-80, and the
putting them through different processes to get these developed, but because we were into playing the Roland V-Synth. I’ve got an Eventide H8000 effects
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nice drones and pads. By transforming the original high-energy, rhythmic material that we specialised in, unit that gets used on everything I do, because the
sounds, we thought it would be good to do a project we just continued down that avenue. But you’re not things you can do with that are infinite. It’s
based around that. the first person to tell me this, so maybe it’s an permanently patched into [Apple] Logic, so it comes
Which brings me nicely to your 2018
jv

avenue I should develop more. up as sends and returns. Then I’ve got my modular
release, Chemistry Lessons Volume 1 . Putting music to image is also a very system, which is constantly in flux, including sub
What precipitated this return to solo different way of approaching the systems of my modular system that I never touch,
work? recording process. other than for re-patching.
28 /Tape Op#130/Mr. Carter/(continued on page 30)
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What software DAW are you using, and What can you tell me about The working with a smaller system. Sometimes I come
which plug-ins do you most Dirty Carter Experimental Sound into the studio, look at the modular system, and it’s
frequently turn to within that? Generating Instrument? quite overwhelming – and I’m not the only person
I’ve stuck with Logic Pro for years and I like a lot of the I made that a few years ago with John Richards [Dirty who suffers from this. To get around that, I started
built-in plug-ins within that. Cosey uses Ableton Live, Electronics], who approached me asking if I wanted putting together these smaller cases, based on far
but we often transfer stuff from Ableton to Logic and to work on a circuit design. He specialises in making fewer modules so I’m more focused on the sounds I
work with that. I love the Soundtoys plug-ins – I these glitchy handheld sound generation circuits, want to get. I’ll always keep the big system because
have their entire suite – and I also use Eventide plug- driven by capacitance from your fingers depending on I can do some incredible patches on it, but for
ins all the time. Otherwise, some Native Instruments, how hard you press them. He’s worked with different anyone going into modular I’d say start small,
the [Ina] GRM plug-ins for experimentation, and the artists designing a circuit board, assembled by a team because you can lose focus when you have too much
TC FireworX is a favourite for effect signal processing. of students. We also did workshops where we would choice. It’s great that there are all these companies
Are your ideas generated by sound itself, supply the circuit boards and components, and making these modules because it brings people into
or do you have more clearly defined people would build them. At the end, we’d have small this experimental area.
ideas about the direction you want to performances with everyone running their circuits. He Software also gives you infinite
take with the music? took it to Mute Records, who made a different version possibilities, but people tend to get
I work primarily with Cosey, who reads a lot and often of it, and I’m glad I worked on that because it was lazy with it. You can’t really be lazy
has an idea for a sound that we try to emulate something I hadn’t done before. with modular, and everything you
somehow. But because I’m constantly tinkering in the What interests you: the fun of making a create is unique by default.
studio, I’ll tend to come up with sounds depending new technology, or trying to create Absolutely. Cosey and I used to have this spot-the-
on how my modular system is patched. I’ll often hear something that doesn’t exist within preset type of thing every time we’d listen to new
something in a sound I’ve created that can be used the electronic music realm? electronic music. Everyone uses the same drum
as the basis for a rhythm or melody. I do like adapting things. For years we would buy gear patterns or presets on a synth; they’re not even
Do you think that not being able to read and I would modify bits of it – in fact I still do that programming. The best thing about modular is that
music gives you an advantage now with the modular gear. You get interesting when you put some energy into patching things up,
because you treat sounds and chords results by making things do what they’re not always you’ll hear sounds that no one’s ever heard before. I
in a non-traditional way? designed to do, or combining things that you love it when I hear new music and have no idea how
I absolutely agree with that – I am musically dyslexic. I wouldn’t normally combine. they’ve done it. Because I‘m quite analytical in the
still have the notes written on my keyboard because Indeed. I heard you teamed up with way I listen to music, it’s great when I have no clue

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I often don’t see how the black notes are divided. Tiptop Audio to create the TG ONE how an artist got a particular sound.
Impressively, you master your

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They’re all evenly spaced to me, so I have to have the Eurorack module. I’m guessing that’s
letters written on with a chinagraph or I’ll forget. a crazy distortion-type module? own music. You don’t feel the
Cosey says I’ve sometimes got the advantage of not Not at all; it’s a sample playback module. They had an requirement for a second ear?
being held back by scales. She bought me a chord existing module called The One, which was really
l. We used to get the Chris & Cosey stuff mastered by
calculator once, but I didn’t get on with it – what I high-fidelity and could play back samples at 24-bit Porky’s Prime Cuts [with George “Porky” Peckham],
come up with comes out of nowhere. I know all the 96 kHz. It has a small memory card that plugs in the but it never quite turned out how we wanted so we
terminologies and exactly what I’m doing technically, front and you can adjust the pitch, volume control, invested in some decent speakers and I got quite
i
whereas she has no idea half the time what and a trigger – and you also have some CV [control good at it. Having said that, the new album was
everything is. She’s very good at mixing, because it’s voltage] inputs. They approached me last year mastered at Abbey Road, and I must admit that
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just basically faders, but that can also be an because it was the 40-year anniversary of the first wasn’t an easy journey. It’s that “letting go” thing –
advantage because she tries things that I wouldn’t, Throbbing Gristle album, and asked how we’d feel I wasn’t quite ready and I didn’t like what they’d done
in terms of patching modular cables into different about doing some sounds for their existing card. I with it at first, so there was a lot of sending files back
channels, and it usually sounds fantastic. made 128 TG sounds from our archive; they loved and forth, tweaking mixes, and getting the levels
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You worked with Peter Christopher on them and asked for more. Then they came back and right. I find it quite traumatic, but it’s come out
ways of developing artificial vocals sounding really good.
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said, “Why don’t we do a module with these sounds?”

using software and hardware, and Our module, the TG ONE, is a different colour to the The title indicates there will be further
continued that theme for some original but also has some typical TG functions, like a volumes?
tracks on the new album? random mode and a glitch mode, where the loop will Yes, when I put this together I had about 30-odd tracks
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Yes, this was before he died. He’d been working with glitch in TG fashion. That’s been really successful; recorded. We decided to max out at 25 on the first
some Japanese software called Vocaloid [by Yamaha]. people seem to love it, and there are some really volume, but we’ve got some more ready to go for
I always found it sounded a bit too artificial. He got good videos online of people using it. Volume 2. I have a lot of other projects on the go, so
good results for what he wanted to do, and we were How excited are you by the current it’s unlikely to come out for another year. Meanwhile,
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thinking of continuing that, but I went in a different modular realm and what it offers Mute has a three-year plan for Throbbing Gristle.
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direction with it by using hardware. I have used musicians today? We’re doing a box set with a DVD and some
vocoders, but the process is slightly different here. I It’s good. The only problem is that it’s very addictive. unreleased material on vinyl. It will come out this
used a vocoder and the Roland V-Synth to play the You see people bankrupting themselves because they year, or maybe next. r
samples, stretch them, change the pitch, and process want the latest module or the biggest system. That’s <www.chriscarter.co.uk>
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the sounds through the Eventide. Some of the vocals the downside of it, but the plus side is that there are
are from field recordings that I’ve collected over the some incredible modules available now. I’ve had
years, underpinned with a vocoded version of my modular systems since the mid-‘70s, so it’s not new Tape Op is made
possible by our
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voice pitched up or down and mixed together. Most to me, but I wish I’d had some of these modules back
of the time, the primary sound was an actual human then because people come up with some amazing advertisers.
voice, whereas with Peter the primary source was concepts. My system is quite big, but I’ve developed Please support them and tell them
software-generated. sub-systems and find that I’m far more productive you saw their ad in Tape Op.

30/Tape Op#130/Mr. Carter/(Fin.)

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J immy Douglass
The Sena tor Speaks
by Larry Crane
The career of Jimmy Douglass is incredibly interesting. Coming up at
Atlantic Records in the early ‘70s, he learned the ins and outs of studio life on the fly
while observing masters like Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin. In the ‘90s he began a long
run of engineering, producing, and mixing with Timbaland on projects like Jodeci,
Missy Elliott, Ginuwine, and Jay-Z. Not many recording folks can list credits
as wide as Foreigner, Björk, Snoop Dogg, Roxy Music, Gang of Four,
AC/DC, Donny Hathaway, and Kanye West. Jimmy’s wisdom and
open enthusiasm is obvious when you first meet him, and it’s no
surprise that he’s been a big part of our sonic landscape for decades.

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How in the heck did you end up as a for the stores. I’m like, “Buffalo Springfield? What is this? It really is different.
teenager working at Atlantic Records? People keep buying this. I need to see what this is.” I’d Everything is micromanaged and shoved down your throat
A schoolmate of mine’s dad, Jerry Wexler, was one of the check them out. Back then, when you bought a record it in a certain kind of way. To find those little caviars like
owners of the company. It wasn’t like I was chasing was a big deal. From being so young and not having I was talking about, you don’t find it anymore. It’s all
the record company, because I didn’t know what information, or being told, I learned so much. When I just fucking pushed into your face before you get to it.
Atlantic was! was working at Atlantic, the first session I ever walked Or the opposite side of that is that I’ll
Were you interested in music before that? into I didn’t even know what a studio was. The first work with young musicians who have
I played in bands, but the amount of information that session I saw was Disraeli Gears by Cream. I loved them. access to everything, so they’re
was given to us... There were groups out there who had Then they broke up, and they had this record that they listening to a really bizarre mix of
made it, but it was less information. put together with Eric [Clapton] and Ginger [Baker], Blind music. In a cool way it’s eclectic, but
You obviously had to finish high school. Faith. I remember they brought it to the mastering room, in another way there’s a vague sense
Atlantic Records had a studio, but I didn’t have that job and I’m standing there going, “Wow! There are no of focus for the artist.
first. I got a job in distribution boxing records to put into pictures of anything. It’s just ‘Blind Faith.’” Madison Totally. There is none.
the stores for an East Coast distributor. I didn’t like that, Square Garden was sold out, and the record wasn’t even When you started working in the studio,
but I learned a lot. I got to hear some really good product out yet! How clever is that? They’re mocking people, like, were you an assistant initially?
that I would’ve never heard otherwise. I was in a “You’re going to buy this shit just because of who we A runner?
warehouse full of everything, and not all of it sold. I knew are.” It was incredible. Now you read about everything. No, Atlantic Records had no runners. We got assistants in
that, because of the repetition in my cart of all the orders There’s no mystery anymore. the middle ‘70s, when the Rolling Stones and all the
English bands came around and insisted on having
assistants. If you were there, you did it, or you did
something else. I worked with Arif Mardin. It wasn’t
like, “Hang out.” It was, “Can you contribute? If you
can’t contribute, you shouldn’t be here.” Tom Dowd, the
same thing. I watched him on [Dusty Springfield’s]
Dusty in Memphis album. He let me be there every
night. That’s where I learned how to use the board. He
didn’t teach me; I’d just be there watching. I’d shut up,

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so he wouldn’t mind. I’d come in in the mornings and
think back, “What was he doing?” I started doing what

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I saw him doing until I got my flow going. I kept doing
it until I got to the point where I already knew what he
was going to be doing. One night he was working and I
was like, “Oh, here.” He looked at me like, “Whoa! How
l. did you know?” I was saving the good questions for him
that I couldn’t figure out. He has this reputation now,
but [at the time] he was just some guy I knew. I
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thought everybody was as good as him; I didn’t have a
bar. I’d collect all the things that I didn’t know, and
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come to him and be like, “Hey, this does this, but how
come this doesn’t do that?” He’d say, “How do you
know this?” He hadn’t taught me anything. As opposed
to now, knowledge is so abundant, as we discussed. A
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lot of the younger folks walk in the door asking

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questions. It’s like, “Shut up and listen. You’re going to

learn everything you need to learn.” But that instant
gratification thing? It’s the opposite.
They might even come in these days and
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tell you how something should be

done. Not even asking questions!
Don’t even start me… Especially with the DAWs, the
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thing they don’t understand is that they kept changing

the shortcuts every time they came out with a new
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version. In the beginning, I learned them, but I can’t

keep learning them. You can do it the slow way. They
go to college and they learn. They come into my
session, and I’m doing it the slow way because that’s
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the way I know how to do it. They go, “You know,

there’s another way to do that.” I’m like, “I know. I’m
not in a hurry.”
jv

I’ve had the same thing happen. I’m

making records based on what
I learned making them on tape;
that workflow.
Mr. Douglass/(continued on page 34)/Tape Op#130/33
 That’s really important to me. That flow is part of that laborious.” He says, “No, no, no.” Every time he draws
process, and how I think when I’m making records. me out; he’ll present a piece of old gear. “Look at
That’s not to say the way they’re making records now this.” I’ll go, “Oh man, that’s…” He’ll say, “I would
isn’t good. I respect it, and I’ve got to say it’s much have used something else. See? That’s why you need
quicker in the short run, but in the long run it takes to be doing it.”
a lot longer. I don’t give a fuck what you say; nobody My friend was helping him at United
ever commits. They’re constantly going back. As [Recording Studios], and he was
you’re doing that, your mind suddenly starts to amassing a lot of gear.
reprioritize what’s important. There is no “what’s He’s got gear I’ve never seen, or even heard about.
important” anymore. There is no discussion. Spending It’s crazy.
50 hours on one little part; it’s not worth it. “No, no. There are plug-ins now, but what is it
It’s got to be right!” “Okay. Back in my day we didn’t sometimes about certain pieces of
have 50 hours to do a whole fucking project. Doing equipment that’s going to spark
the part you’re doing right now is not going to be the something for you and me?
difference as to why it sells or not.” It’s not predictable. It’s the random occasional mistake
What do you see now, like when you’re that creates the magic. That’s what they do that plug-
working on something like Jay-Z’s last ins don’t do. The digital gear has accidents now and
record [4:44]? I’m sure there are 100 then, but with the analog stuff it’ll be a smooth
tracks or more on songs, and a lot of accident, where it makes you think differently. You
producers and ideas have funneled into can’t get it back again; it’s not recallable. That’s what
these projects. How do you help keep makes it special. While you’re chasing that, you create
your eye on the prize when mixing? something else.
I think one of the reasons people call on me is because I recently realized that you produced
I’m the guy who comes in and goes, “Don’t look here, Solid Gold for Gang of Four in 1981.
don’t look here, and don’t look here. Here’s the meat How in the heck did you end up with
and potatoes. All the rest of the stuff you’re doing is that job?
seasoning.” It may be, and it may not be. Depending I did that record in London, at Abbey Road’s Studio Two,
on how much time and focus we have, at the end of where The Beatles worked. That was so good. When I

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the day the main menu is what I came to do. was offered that job, my manager was a guy named
Focusing in on the heart of the song

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Bud Prager, who used to manage Foreigner. I mixed a
and what matters? bunch of those Foreigner records, and I was saying to
“Look, we’re having steak and potatoes. We have Bud, “Since you didn’t pay me right, the least you can
parsley, or whatever, but the bottom line is we’re
l. do is manage me.”
having steak and potatoes.” They spend all their time “Get me some work!”
saying, “Oh, that parsley leaf is hanging out wrong.” He got me this gig. I listened, and I was like, “Holy shit.
Nobody’s going to even eat the parsley. What the fuck would I do with a band like this?” It
How was it working with No I.D. on 4:44?
i
was just so out there. On that Monday I had to have
an answer, and that weekend John Lennon was shot.
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I’m a really good friend of May Pang’s [a former

girlfriend of Lennon’s]; she lived in my building. I felt
it through her, and I was so confused. When Monday
came, I said, “I’ll do it.” It was such an experience. I
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was trying to get them to write more [a more]

commercial and accessible [project]. They were
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writing about rich schoolboy subjects and politics in

London. It was like, “We’re never going to sell any of
this.” They said, “We don’t care.” Every day I’d be
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cramming that shit down their throats. There was a

guy on the couch who sat in the back; I didn’t know
who he was. I saw Hugo Burnham, the drummer,
recently. Hugo told me, “The guy on the back couch
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was Mick Jones of The Clash! He went and listened to

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everything you said and made those records.” I said,

Our dynamic is very interesting. Ernest [Wilson, aka No “Okay. At least somebody was listening.”
I.D.] is one of those people who knows history. We Gang of Four had a pretty staunch
have a lot of fun with that. I’ve been doing this for a vision, like, “That’s how it’s going to
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while; the old way and the new way. I’m still hanging be,” with that band. Those first two
in there making relevant records. I’m doing The records are really a certain style.
Internet and really cool groups. I’m always trying to With that band, I said, “There are four of you and one of
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improve myself and go into forward mode to me. Here’s the democracy. We’ll vote on whatever’s
understand how things are being done. With Ernest, supposed to happen.” If one didn’t like it, it didn’t
he’s always saying, “No, man. You know the ‘real’ shit happen. I didn’t care if it was four to one. I had a lot
that I want to know.” I’m like, “Dude, that’s of fun with those guys; I also learned a lot about
34/Tape Op#130/Mr. Douglass/(continued on page 36)
jv
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 producing and dealing with people who didn’t want Had he listened to some other references
to do it my way, which is very difficult. In America, before that to get a grip on it?
you want it done your way. The English are different. No, he just jumped right in. And a lot of bottles of beer!
That seems like an unusual project for Yeah. I interviewed Richard Lloyd of
you to end up on. Television [Tape Op #56]. He was like,
I think part of that was the fact that I’d worked with Andy “The first thing Andy did in the
Johns [Tape Op #39] on Television’s Marquee Moon. studio was order a couple of cases of
You helped him mix that. Was your role French wine.”
assisting? Talking to you, I’m realizing I’ve had some blessed
Yeah. Since we didn’t have assistants here’s what went experiences.
down. At Atlantic Studios, I got paid whether we did If you look at the more traditional
anything or not. There was a period where I was sitting Atlantic Records projects, you were
there; I didn’t have any real gigs. They were like, “Jimmy, seeing all sorts of sessions.
there’s this guy from London coming. Can you help him I was doing all this work. Basically we were not allowed
out?” I’m a proper engineer, at the time. I was like, “What to fail. It was just an unwritten law. “You’re here
the fuck. You’re paying me, whatever.” We had Studio B because you don’t fail.”
and Studio A. Studio B sounded like fucking dogshit. Did you see other people come and go
Nobody knew how to work it. We were a basic R&B, jazz, back in your early years at Atlantic?
and funk studio. Every now and then we’d get some rock No. There was this one English guy, Adrian Barber; he
in there. The sound of B was so weird; nobody could get used to do Cream. It was too much for him. He just
it. Andy comes in, and in my head I’m like, “Here comes kind of wigged out and walked away. Tom Dowd left
this English hotshot. What the fuck does he know?” First really early to go with Jerry Wexler, and Arif Mardin
of all, he’s Andy Johns; he broke me the fuck down. You was kind of left in house. We had another local kid,
know Andy, right? You’ve met him? Gene Paul, hired as an engineer. He’s the son of Les
I talked to him on the phone once. It Paul [Tape Op #50]. He was older than me, but
was interesting! everybody was older than me! Ahmet [Ertegun,
He had that English flamboyant thing that makes you Atlantic’s co-founder] hired him and was giving him
love him. He comes in, and I’m like, “Look at this guy. all this work. It’s like, “Hey, I was here!” Sometimes

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Is this the guy who’s so famous?” He starts recording I’d end up working with Arif to help mix a record.

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and doing this mix, and I’m listening on the big He’d say, “Mix this record.” He’d sit there and go,

l.
They come into
my session, and
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I’m doing it the
slow way because
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that’s the way I

know how to do
it. They go, “You
know, there’s
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another way to
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do that.” I’m like,

“I know. I’m not
in a hurry.”
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speakers and going, “That sounds like horse’s ass! “What do we do with this thing?” I’d say, “What are
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This is the guy?” He kept doing weird shit; he’s EQing you asking me for? I don’t know what to do with
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backwards and doing everything backwards. He says, this.” We’d sit there together, just grabbing knobs
“I’d like to hear this in the mastering room.” I’m like, to see what worked. That’s how you learned at
“Why?” In my head, it sounds like shit. We go up to Atlantic Records.
the mastering room and the shit sounded The best school ever. You kept busy
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unbelievable. I said, “That’s not what I just heard doing a lot during the ‘80s. Did you
down there!” But the bigger picture he taught me was go into a little bit of a break, doing
how to hear out of that room. From that moment on, more post-production and jingles?
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I had the key to mixing in that room. It was Andy. I It wasn’t by choice. It’s more like music changed, and
thought it was amazing. There was a certain way the what I offered was unnecessary. Plus, I didn’t have
speakers had to sound to make it right, which isn’t the vision of the new music.
normally the way that we’d perceive it. In what way?
36/Tape Op#130/Mr. Douglass/(continued on page 38)
jv
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 It was rap. Based off of what? To a man who sits there in Timbaland sound, a big part of it was basically tape
a studio, spending hours getting a great drum sound, compression. I was hitting the thing so hard. We must
and then someone walks in the door and puts a record have made about 300 records in those two years – we
on and talks over it? I’m sorry. What the fuck? It sounds were making them every day. That became the sound,
like crap because they got it off a record; there’s noise. just smashing the tape.
All the things I strived to be so excellent at, they were There’s a sound that happens with the
anti-that. And what they were talking about – their limiting on tape.
experiences in the hood – to me, that was not my That wasn’t saying we were going for that sound. It
experience. I didn’t grow up in the hood; I grew up in happened to us, and we knew how to let it be. People
suburban Great Neck, Long Island, in Kings Point. None don’t know how to let shit be now. Because we can go
of that experience made any sense to me. I didn’t have back, we’ll just do it again and take away the magic of
the vision of what was gathering in front of me, so I it. That was the era – that was the mistake. I grew up
became inefficient. in a world where time and energy is all about the
But you’ve come back around and moment. The moment’s more important than all the
worked with Timbaland and Jay-Z. rest of it. When you try to go back and recreate that
I taught myself the Synclavier [sampler]. Atlantic owned moment, that’s when the magic just gets worn away,
one, but no one knew how to use it. Pro Tools showed piece by piece.
up after that. I kept moving along with the technology, These days you have the Magic Mix Room.
the drum machines, and the keyboards. I just didn’t That’s your space?
know what to put it in; I didn’t have a reference. I ended Yeah. Down in Florida.
up out of work. I’d also left Atlantic Records. I got a Are you working partly analog and partly
partner; we got a tape machine and started hitting the digital for your mixing jobs? I mix all
streets as producers. We were trying to sell some songs the time too, and I wonder how do we
to people. They were like, “That song is really cool but do the amount of recalls people want?
get another singer, and we’ll give you a deal.” We got a I call them “breadcrumb trails;” I
deal as an act, but when it didn’t happen... want to be able to go back, if needed.
A lot of energy can go into that kind of Well, the thing is, you gotta go back. Every A&R guy in
project. the world, they’re all doing that. I got rid of my board

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And a lot of money. I was funding myself for three years. last year. I had a Neve VR. I was finding that everybody

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I had a family to support. I even stepped out of doing on the other side of this process cared more about
all that for a minute, but somehow people wouldn’t let going back in and tracing the breadcrumbs, as you call
me go. “Hey man, come do this record.” Then the it, rather than saying, “Wow, this is some extra special
Jodeci session happened for me in Rochester, NY, stuff. The sauce is amazing here.” They don’t give a
l.
which is where Timbaland was. They said it was going fuck about the sauce. They just want to be able to go
to be a four-month gig; instead it turned into two years back and change things because somebody said that
and the emergence of a whole new thing. this thing over here is not good. “Change it.” “Well, I
Timbaland seemed to have a real vision
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did 15 things to get to that point. Okay. It’s going to
for how he wanted to present the take me all day.” Then you do it and they go, “That’s
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music. Was that something you started great, but now go back and change this.” I can’t keep
to figure out? doing that. It was interesting, and I was excited about
it. It’s like playing a solo for the first time. Then you
play the same solo again and again; it’s lost its magic.
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If that’s what’s more important to them, the

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duplication of that solo, I’ll stay in the box. I can do

anything they want me to do, at any time, and I won’t
have any resentment about it. It’ll go a lot quicker.
It’s hard to keep the enthusiasm and
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perspective that we start with on a

mix. When I start getting micro-
managed afterwards, sometimes I
just lose the vision for my mix. How do
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No, it was the same concept as Atlantic. In Rochester, you maintain perspective through
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there was this “factory” going on. There were 18 acts this process?
up there with [Donald Earle DeGrate Jr.] DeVanté One of the great things about working with Timbaland is
[Swing, of Jodeci] kind of in charge of it all. There were that I was producing a lot with him. “Here’s this.” I
two of us engineering. I was trying not to burn out. “I would do what I do as a producer, like I would do the
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can do this, because I’ve done this.” They had one vocals for him. He’d have his input, but he’d let me do
analog machine upstairs and one reel-to-reel digital it. Sometimes we’d come to a part where I’d think this
machine. I would have done two analog decks, if I and he’d think that. Well, guess what? “You’re the
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could have. All the tracks we’re doing on analog, and producer. It’s your call.” I’ve learned how to do that.
then all the vocals we put on digital and then sync’d A&R people and so forth are like, “This would be really
up. That’s how we were making the records. That cool. We don’t want that.” I’ll say, “Okay, no problem.”

38 /Tape Op#130/Mr. Douglass/(continued on page 40)

jv
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 It’s not like back in the day, when I’d fight and say, “You’re wrong,” and we’d be in what they had without trying to be the star. I did start trying to make the kick just
the trenches. Now it’s like, “Okay! You’re driving the train.” I don’t have a problem kick ass – I’ve got to make my contribution somewhere. Then Jay came in… it was
with it. “Let me help you do what you’re doing the best.” one of the only comments he ever really made. He said, “The kick doesn’t fit in the
But our views become a little more analytical and a little bit record.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Listen to it. It doesn’t fit in the
less “gut feeling” as we’re working this way. record.” I was like, “Oh!” I was making it so important and so fucking kickass, but
It’s out the window. Part of the reason is also because you can go back in. Because you that wasn’t what the record was. When he said that, I was like, “I need to reapproach
can go back, your gut doesn’t matter. When you had to commit to tape or something, this record. I need to make myself fit in the record, and then enhance and expand
it was all about the gut. You’re rolling dice, one time. it.” Don’t change the main menu.
I was erasing tracks the other day on tape. “Let’s make sure it’s It’s a words record.
the right track!” There were butterflies in my stomach. It is a words record, and it’s a delicate record. You don’t want the kick competing with
“What if I do the wrong thing and erase the kick drum?” Jay-Z on the dance floor. The man’s begging to his wife for forgiveness. It’s a very
You know what’s interesting about that? You’re right, there are butterflies. But when sensitive product, man.
that’s all there was, you had no time. My thing was this; I have no time for you to How do you go about creating plug-in presets, like for the UAD
have butterflies. If you’re in the room, I know you’re not going to erase any of that Neve 88RS Channel Strip?
or you should not be there. That’s how I always thought. In the digital world, I fuck Oh, it’s really simple. I’m not really trying to put anything across. I’m busy working. I
up all the time. It’s indestructible. There’s no downside. In the digital world, you end up where I end up because I end up where I end up. Does that make any sense?
don’t have to pay. With tape, if you get it wrong, you’re paying. On tape, I’m looking I’m just trying to get from here to there, and I happen to go over here to get there,
at every single thing before I do it. I’m paying attention. You want to punch in a unlike some of my compatriots, who are amazing. When I sit with Tom Lord-Alge, he
vocal? I’m looking at your mouth when you’re ready to sing. I can’t say, “I thought said, “I’m going to do this, and it’ll be this, and then that.” I watch him, and I’m like,
you said you wanted to punch in here.” Missy Elliott does that all the time! “You’re so fucking good.” But that’s not how I work. It’s that Atlantic upbringing;
Fortunately, it’s on digital. “Punch this in.” I go boom. Then she says, “It’s not there was no teaching. You’d need to come up with a record at the end of the day,
there!” “But you said, ‘There,’ Missy.” Man, I’d get pissed at her. You want to and that’s all we cared about. It’s the same thing. “That kind of works. That sounds
communicate, you gotta communicate! better. Okay.” I use my ears a lot, and people [generally] don’t [do that] anymore.
I’ve been there with artists! They use their eyes and their idea of what somebody else did, thinking that it fits
When she was coming up, Missy would do some of the craziest stuff and make me nuts. their model. There’s different caviar man, all over the place. It’s still caviar, but you
First of all, we’re up in Rochester and there’s no help anywhere around. We’ve got this don’t treat it all the same! That’s how I do it.
Neve VR console. She would take drinks and set them on the console all the time. I’d Where’d you get the nickname “The Senator”?

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say, “Missy, please don’t do that.” One day she does it, and I yelled, “Missy, take the When we broke out of Rochester, we’d already done Ginuwine’s song, “Pony.” I was going
drink off the console! We’re in the middle of nowhere. If that thing goes in the thing, to help Timbaland. I knew all these people in New York, because I’d been doing this

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it’ll blow up.” She’s like, “Calm down Jimmy.” The reason to me that that’s a funny forever. They were brand new and didn’t know anybody. What I’d been hearing for the
story is because once she blew up [fame-wise], she’d come in and put drinks on the last two years was this Timbaland style, and I was sitting there thinking, “This is
console, and it’s like, “Okay, not a problem. Not a problem!” incredible, and nobody knows about it.” I went around to get him the deal for
Oh, man! I still want to pick your brain about Jay-Z’s 4:44. That Ginuwine. When we were doing the record, there was Ginuwine, Timbaland, me, and
record really kicked my ass. What kind of a mixing process
l.
Robert Reives. Rob, being a younger person, said, “I’m going to help you get your
was that for you? thing moving, man. You can’t be Jimmy Douglass.” I was like, “Why not?” Rob says,
The first part that was interesting was the dynamic with Young Guru [Gimel Keaton], Jay- “You can’t just come back and be the same guy that you were! That doesn’t work.” I
i
Z, No I.D., and me. I’d never worked with No I.D. before. We’d been trying to work was like, “Really?” He said, “Yeah, man. You gotta get something else.” I remembered
together. Jay-Z and I had worked together on many records – we know each other. on one record where some guy called himself “Commissioner” [Gordon “Commissioner
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You’ve got a dynamic with all these people. “What’s your contribution, Jimmy?” Gordon” Williams]. They said, “You should be ‘The President.’” I was like, “No, that’s
Somebody said, “We want to print to analog and mix it.” Somebody put me in a studio too fucking much. But I could do ‘Senator.’” At the end of the day, this record business
that Jay-Z didn’t ask for – it wasn’t No I.D.’s studio. I’m like, “I can mix in any studio.” is so fucking political! That’s where it stuck. r
Then Jay’s like, “You like this room?” I’m like, “It’s okay.” He’s not feeling the room, <jimmydouglass.com>
g

but I didn’t really know it. Then it’s like, “Oh, he’s not feeling the room so this isn’t Special thanks to Mix With The Masters for all of the portrait photos and the opening illustration
o@

going to work.” It’s like, “Why aren’t we in No I.D.’s studio?” “I didn’t know he had a by Stéphane Manel. <mixwiththemasters.com>
studio. Why aren’t we over there?” It was that kind of party. We couldn’t get people to The small photos w/Timbland and No I.D. are from <jimmydouglass.com>
align the tape deck. You think I’m kidding? Go to L.A., and go to most of the studios More info on Jimmy’s seminars with Mix With The Masters here:
and say, “I have a tape. Who can align it for me?” It’s a dead art. <weeklong.mixwiththemasters.com/jimmy-douglass-2013>
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<weeklong.mixwiththemasters.com/jimmy-douglass-2014>
Last time I was down there I couldn’t get the tape deck to
<mixwiththemasters.com/dm15>
rewind at the place I was working. <mixwiththemasters.com/dm24>
I’m not going to mention the name of the studio, but the
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kids I was with had never seen a tape machine, so it

was on me to remember how I used to align a tape
“In the digital world, I fuck up all the time. It’s
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machine before I even started mixing. Then when

I transferred it, “This is not what the rough indestructible. There’s no downside. In the digital
mix sounded like!” This is what I’ve world, you don’t have to pay. With tape, if you
learned in this “new world” we’ve been get it wrong, you’re paying. On tape, I’m looking
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discussing. Everyone wants to hear what at every single thing before I do it. I’m
they’ve been hearing. “I’ve been paying attention. You want to punch
listening to that for the last month.” in a vocal? I’m looking at your mouth
when you’re ready to sing.”
jv

When I finally settled in, mixing was

really simple. They picked what they -The Senator
wanted. It was a matter of expanding

40/Tape Op#130/Mr. Douglass/(Fin.)

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 Want Your Credits? Want Money Owed?
$ound Credit & You As a musician or a studio owner, what do I need to do?
If you’re working in a studio, you should make sure that you’re entering credits into
the Sound Credit Tracker plug-in as they accumulate. One of the big problems with
credits is that we don’t get them down in the moment, and if you’re trying to remember
by Larry Crane something from six months ago, or longer, it’s very difficult to remember those details.
If you get it down in the moment, that really helps to make sure that information is
captured correctly.
Tracker is a plug-in. Does it exist on each track that’s in the
As creative people in the music industry, many of us fail or succeed based session, or just on the whole session?
on our credits. The music we work on and the artists we engage with often On the whole session. You can put it on an AUX channel or the master bus, and it
define our value to others in this field. Gebre Waddell is the CEO and co- passes audio right through. There’s no effect on the audio.
founder Soundways [Tape Op #119], makers of Sound Credit, so I queried him Where does that data go?
about their plans to aid us. I also spoke with Tony Brooke, a DDEX board Once you have the credits collected in the plug-in, you export in the RIN format.
member and Pandora Content Systems Product Manager. They were both kind You can load the RIN files into the Sound Credit Publisher, which is the first desktop
enough to help explain aspects of this crazy puzzle. editor software designed for working with music credits. It’s a larger interface, so you’re
not just in the plug-in window at that point. It’s the fully-featured editor for Sound
What is Sound Credit, and why do we need it? Credit. You can also upload to the Sound Credit website and database using Sound
There are $1.4 billion in unpaid music royalties every year, because the music Credit Publisher.
industry has never had a system for collecting music credits and getting those It goes to your database online, but then where?
credits where they need to go. Beyond the financial aspect of it, there’s also the There are two sides to the Sound Credit website. The Sound Credit consumer-facing
fact that people don’t get recognized for their work. You put your blood, sweat, part of the site delivers that experience of credits, liner notes, and album art to the

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and tears into an album, and then it comes out and your credit is not listed. That’s consumer. Behind the scenes, we have a back-end API [application program
interface] that makes that information, plus deeper information that’s entered into

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a really big deal for folks. Another part of it is that humanity has always created
art and signed it. From the Tang dynasty, to the Mayans, to the Renaissance the Publisher, available for Enterprise customers who need to have that. That could
painters; humanity naturally creates art and associates themselves with the art be anyone, from performance rights organizations to streaming services that would
they create. Associating yourself with art you’ve created is as human as blood need deeper information.
l.
vessels and having a heart. It’s what we do. This is a problem the industry has Is this metadata that attaches to the files?
known about for decades now. DDEX [Digital Data Exchange] was formed in 2006, It is metadata. With DDEX, the decision was made that the information for the
and they were working on standards for credits and information. They published recordings would be in a separate file: the RIN file that this information is contained
the RIN Standard to try to address this problem. in. The ISRC [International Standard Recording Code] is contained in the RIN file, and
i
What is RIN? it’s also embedded into the wav file. That is effectively the link between the two.
Sound Credit is in the middle of all of this?
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RIN is Recording Information Notification. It’s a format for storing music

credits. There’s so much more to the problem. There’s the database and the way Yeah. We make all of that possible and easy.
the information would be collected, and so much more to it, but RIN was getting
all those interests at the table for DDEX. DDEX included Apple, Amazon, Universal, DDEX & RIN
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Spotify, Warner, ASCAP, BMI, and around 30 others. Many of the music giants were Our profession had dropped the ball when it comes to keeping detailed notes about
at the same table working to create a format that would get to this problem and what happens in a studio session. Originally, we would write it all down and we’d
o@

address the issue. Once they published it, if no one implemented it within a year, have every bit of info about what was used: the people, the microphones, the mic
the RIN standard was going to go under review; it would expire. We didn’t want pre, and everything about the tape. That was back in the day of budgets, when we
that to happen, so we created the free Sound Credit Tracker plug-in, originally had assistant engineers. When those budgets went away, and it’s just one person
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called RIN-M, to implement the standard and get it out there. We had no idea that on the gig, there isn’t as much time to document. That was understandable, at first.
we would have users in 64 countries in the first two weeks after release, and that But after a while, our tools advanced to the state where we can do hundreds of
it would be the biggest viral software product in music history. tracks in the box, we can synthesize the sounds of a cathedral, and we can emulate
It is free? microphones, but we weren’t even writing down the name of the musicians who
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Yes the plug-in is entirely free now, including the options that used to be in played on the track! So, at DDEX we surveyed hundreds of studio people to
determine how they are collecting this info and getting it to the label. It was all
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our paid Pro version. Publisher is the only thing that requires payment, $99 a year,
as a security measure that is part of a larger architecture that sets us apart from over the map: 77% said there was no formalized process, and 65% said the labels
crowdsourcing. We are doing our first deals to have Sound Credit Publisher included didn’t require it. So, it falls on somebody later at the label, an intern or someone
with certain software and as part of membership in certain organizations. In the that wasn’t in the studio, to call a bunch of people and ask about the musicians,
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coming year we plan to expand that. It’s all about opening up access to crediting who engineered it, and who mastered it. A project at DDEX, through the Studio Data
to all legitimate industry professionals. We thought it would help with our Working Group, set out to create a data exchange standard, so that independent of
Soundways software brand. We didn’t know it would take over. With that, we were the tool that you use to collect all of this data, it will spit out a standard file format.
at the center of the conversation about music data around the world, and we got Then labels and artist aggregators can ingest one format. After many years of work,
jv

a lot of insights that we baked into the full Sound Credit platform that we have we launched RIN, the Recording Information Notification. Ask for software that
today. exports a RIN file, and deliver it with your masters. <ddex.net> -Tony Brooke

42/Tape Op#130/Sound Credit/(continued on page 44)

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#130/43

 How much would it change my workflow if I’m
producing or engineering a session and somebody WHAT’S ISNI?
says, “I want to do Sound Credit”? The International Standard Name Identifier is an identifier that is very widely adopted in the
Our goal in this was to make it as fast as possible, because no one gets publishing industry and has also been populated with info for the music and film industries. ISNI is
into music so they can become an accountant for music metadata. With an identifier that concretely identifies the creators, whether they’re a person – an artist, engineer,
checking in with the plug-in, it can take 30 seconds to check in a whole or producer – or they’re a creative entity – like a band. It can even identify a record label. Right
band once you’ve set up the profiles for people. It’s comparable to labeling now the ISNI system already contains hundreds of thousands of music industry-specific identifiers
your tracks as guitar, bass, and drums. About the same time, once you for contributors. The music industry is now adopting this identifier. And the more we get the
have the profiles set up. identifier in the delivery chain, there will be less guesswork to figure out who a person is. Everything
What’s the future of all this? can be automatically associated with the right person. I recommend that everybody go out and look
The research and development behind Sound Credit has been up your ISNI, or create one at isni.org.-Tony Brooke
tremendous. We’ve got about five years’ worth of work for a typical
company done in about a year. Now we’re in a new era of partnerships and
“Humanity has always created
integrations. We thought that it was going to be very challenging, but so
art and signed it. From the Tang dynasty, to
far the meetings we’ve had, and the people we talk to at a really high level
the Mayans, to the Renaissance painters;
– from Silicon Valley, to Nashville, to New York – we’ve been met with
humanity naturally creates art and associates
nothing but very open minds and a willingness to partner.
themselves with the art they create.”
For someone like me, as a producer/engineer/
-Gebre Waddell
mixer, could there be more visibility for what I’ve
worked on in the future?
Absolutely. I think for everyone who plays a role in the music industry,
from producers, to engineers, to musicians, to everyone who has
constantly missed their credits as they’ve gone about their work. We make
that easier, more streamlined, and available.
Can I put a link on my studio website to my credits?
Yeah. With Sound Credit there is a link you can provide to any
dimension of the database, from the track-level credits to the song-level
credits, or for any individual credits on the site. I think you’ll see a lot

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more Sound Credit links appearing in people’s email signatures, websites,

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<soundcredit.com>
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44/Tape Op#130/Sound Credit/(Fin.)

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#130/45

 You’re talking about instability.
Behind The Gear
Richard Factor of Eventide
Not so much instability as mortality. You put in 100,
and 10 of them are dead by the next day and two are
dead by the next day and one is dead by the end of
This Issue’s twister of time the next week, and then you’ve got a good chance of
by Larry Crane having a reliable product. What we found out
subsequently was that the chips were “seconds.”
Everything they couldn’t sell to IBM they sold to us.
One day they accidentally sent us a shipment of IBM
chips. They said IBM on them, and they were perfect.
You had to pay a lot of attention to
bandwidth and frequency range
because that was going to steal your
memory, right?
Absolutely.
One of the original founders [the bad ones] for me. I built this pitch change unit,
With the voicing of a lot of these
of Eventide Clock Works Inc, Richard and it worked. It was only voice bandwidth. I was
circuits, what went into that to make
Factor has seen a lot of changes in thinking you could speed up listening, to get people
sure that they were euphonic and
the world of audio and electronics. to talk a lot faster. Anyway, this was in the very late
felt musical?
Eventide’s time-based effects units ‘60s, but I dropped all that. You really couldn’t do it
Interestingly, we used an A-to-D converter that we built
were some of the first to open up new with your own money. It had to come from the
ourself. It wasn’t the best A-to-D in terms of
sounds and effects. government. We started building analog gear. We
distortion or dynamic range, but what it was was
demonstrated a lot of empty boxes at AES. They had
perfectly linear around the zero crossing. It was
I know there was a connection with knobs and lights but were full of empty.
absolutely monotonic based on the design, which
Eventide to Sound Exchange studio Just the concept?
used a really high-frequency clock and a counter.
in New York. How did that happen? A lot of people said, “That phaser looks like it could be
Because of that when your signal levels got lower,
My buddy Steve Katz was running the studio. It had an good.” I don’t remember if I called it the Instant
even though it was only a 10, 11, or 12 bit converter,
[Ampex] MM 1000 and a whole bunch of stuff against Phaser at the time. I built one, and people started

m
it didn’t start sounding crappy when the signal levels
the walls. Really, all you could do was move around buying them. This was strictly analog. It used
went down.
in a swivel chair and that’s it. operational amplifiers, field-effect transistors, and a

co
The resolution just disappearing?
Boxed in? bunch of capacitors. Just by varying the resistance on
Not so much disappearing. Because it was monotonic,
That’s exactly right. He couldn’t get the tape deck under the field-effect transistor, you’ve got an all-pass
you’d get a quarter step and then a three-quarter
control without an assistant, so he’d have to waste a lot network where the phase goes from zero to
step. These things were very linear. Then we used dbx
of time. He said, “Wouldn’t it be great if I had an
l.
approximately 180. Put enough of those in series,
and it’s not really proper delay, but there’s some sort
compression, thanks to David Blackmer who was
autolocator?” About the time of the MM 1000 there was selling us those modules. He was a wonderful man.
the Ampex Video Recorder, which did have autolocators. of delay in there. It’s a small fraction of a millisecond,
He gave me some hints. He was 10 or 20 years older
He got the Ampex sales guy to give him a roller, sort of but the phase changes, and that’s where you get that
i
than I am. He just had so much analog experience
like a capstan, but not quite as firm. He said, “Can you effect. We didn’t do bucket brigades until Panasonic
that, to an extent, I took advantage of.
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use this thing?” It was an optical encoder, and came out with that chip in the mid-‘70s. That’s when
The compression was working to keep
integrated circuits were just coming into use. I said, “I we did the Instant Flanger. I didn’t actually design
the levels up at a certain level going
could design that for you.” It was kind of primitive, that. Another buddy of mine who’s in France right
into the conversion?
using a sort of hunt and peck instead of proportional now did that.
Yeah. That would make the dynamic range 90 or more dB
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control. You couldn’t quite do that yet; they didn’t have Eventide was one of the first companies
with a 60 dB converter. The fact that it was totally
computer chips. So, I built an autolocator. He had the to work a lot with the digital time-
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monotonic around zero crossing made it sound good,

Ampex salesperson come in and say, “I bet other people based effects.
even at lower levels. It sounded pretty good, but you
could use it.” So, we started selling autolocators. That I can tell you exactly how the 1745 delay in 1971 came
could hear artifacts, especially with the sine wave,
turned into a business. to be. There was a trade journal, I think Electronics
that you don’t hear today. As you know, everything in
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It was just third-party autolocators to News. One day I opened it up, and the centerfold had
engineering is a compromise of one sort of another.
use with Ampex? a shift register. 980 bit. Not kilobits. Not gigabits.
We made the compromise so that it sounded good
Yeah. We sold them to Ampex, and Ampex resold them 980 bit shift registers. I think they were under $10
even though the specs might not be ideal compared
with the MM 1000s. We probably sold 100. This would each. I did the math and I could build a delay line –
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to something you make today.

have been 1970. 100 or 200 ms – for a few thousand dollars. I could
I think that’s one of the keys some
When the 16-track decks were first build a delay line with those, and that’s exactly what
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people forget.
coming out. How did that lead into I did. If it weren’t for that chip, maybe a year or two
For example, the Instant Phaser. We’re making a plug-in
time-based effects development? later, another chip came out which was 1024 bits and
right now. I think we released a previous plug-in.
It was a bit of a path. I had actually built an incredibly was somewhat more reliable, to the extent that we
They don’t sound exactly the same. Some of the
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primitive, terrible sounding pitch changing unit in didn’t have to ship spare chips with the delay lines.
things that you have to simulate in the plug-in have
‘69. I was working in the military-industrial complex Did you have to have everything socketed
to do with component tolerances and perturbations,
at the time. They had some incredibly expensive ICs, so you could just swap them out?
possibly due to power supply changes on the control
like a flip-flop for $70, and 256-bit shift registers. I They weren’t socketed. They were easy to solder and
jv

voltage. The fact that all the FETs could not be

managed to get enough bad ones, because you’d test unsolder. You could actually see components in those
perfectly matched, even though I did my best with a
something, and it’s got four sections but one days. They were visible. They were both pioneering
little homemade tester. As they get older, some of the
section’s bad. Out it goes. I had the techs save them and very troublesome.

46/Tape Op#130/Mr. Factor/

 characteristics may change a little, because it’s all Was it a really neat thing to see your I don’t know that there’s any connection there. I’m a big
analog stuff and wasn’t built to military spec. I products in use and new creativity? science fiction fan and know a lot of theories about
actually took some data from one of the guys on the We were thrilled, obviously. I’ve been a rock and roll fan time travel, which are totally conjectural, but the
old one. I made this automated thing, measuring the forever. I’ve personally gotten involved in some effects we did with time base were things you did
clock frequency from time to time. That was with a Grateful Dead stuff and Led Zeppelin in concert. because you could. Somehow if you could do a space
flanger. If you really want something to sound old, Hearing bands like that play through things that I warp, we’d do that too, but it takes too much energy.
you have to work at it. had touched is quite the thrill. You can warp time.
The advances in electronics were I also know you got into broadcast stuff, Yeah.
leapfrogging all the time. Was it like delay lines for censorship. That Has it been reassuring to see the
frustrating at times to be like, “Now makes a ton of sense. company move on and do things like
that that chip is out, we could have Yeah. Actually my personal background is not in the H9 pedal and all sorts of
designed this much more recording but in broadcast. interesting ventures?
economically, or done more with the Like in radio? Sure. I love that stuff. I try to test it. I’m obviously not
memory”? It happened relatively fast. Yeah. I worked at WABC for a few years. as attuned to the industry now.
It did. For example, the 1745M digital delay took I didn’t hear much about Eventide in It’s amazing to see how much processing
advantage of that. We came out with three units. The the early-’90s or maybe mid-’90s and power can happen now in a small
1745, which is the horrible shift registers, the 1745A didn’t know what was going on. Was pedal. In our phones! They’re more
with a better control, optical encoder, slightly better there a time when it was on the back powerful than a big computer a
shift registers in ‘73, and then in ‘74 the 1745M, which burner? handful of years ago.
finally took advantage of memory chips instead of shift Yes and no. To some extent we were resting on laurels. I know. It’s getting to the point where you’re not even
registers. That gave us plenty of opportunity to To some other extent, we got involved in other going to want a computer. The most recent Galaxy
improve things. I remember midway through the product lines that were becoming really successful. Note 9 can have a terabyte of nonvolatile storage. It
production of that the 16k chips came out. We changed Aviation. One of our major business right now is has easily enough power to be a computer, so you put
the board with the memory, and suddenly you’ve got public safety recording. Logging recording for police it in your pocket, and all you need where you go is a
four times as much delay for about the same price. In stations, 911, air traffic control, all of that sort of little adapter and a screen.
this business as in any electronics business, nothing thing. I was kind of scattered. We were in New Jersey, What do you think Eventide’s biggest
lasts forever. You keep redesigning it. You design new and I wasn’t visiting studios every day. Fortunately legacy will be with music at the end
of the day?

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things as the technology makes it possible. Tony Agnello rejoined us back around 2001. He’s
What year did the first Harmonizer, the running the company at this point. Well, I sort of would like to say the early years, only

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910 come out? Especially with his brother being such a because we were it. If you look around now, almost
That came out in ‘75. Tony Agnello did the design on wonderful producer/engineer, he’s everybody’s making plug-ins, and there’s a handful of
that. There was a pitch change module for the delay always had his foot kind of in the companies making hardware. Back then, if you were
line. I saw an ad for a FIFO chip, first-in-first-out. It music end of it. a time-based effect, it was pretty much us.
l.
had an input clock, an output clock, and it made Yeah. Well, you know John started his career with AMS is a few years later, and it’s one of
doing pitch change really easy. But this was a module Eventide. the few.
that cost a lot of money, and a delay line that cost a I heard he almost burned the place AMS was later. And to be fair to Lexicon, they had a
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lot of money. Everything sounded great, but we knew down! digital delay about the same time that we did, but I
we weren’t going to sell vast amounts of them, If he almost burnt the place down, I don’t want to know don’t think a lot of rock and rollers got involved in
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because no one could afford it. So, Tony designed the the details, because I might get annoyed with him. that. We were more attuned to the music industry. r
H910. That used memory chips and a lot more It had something to do with somebody <www.eventideaudio.com>
complicated logic, because it didn’t have the FIFO. lighting up the flux remover vat.
The H910 happened to be in the sweet spot in terms Was that him?
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of capability and money. Suddenly we couldn’t make Yeah, that’s what he told me. Tape Op is made
possible by our
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them fast enough. That was a great product. It still is Those were the days when 1-1-1-trichloroethane was not
a great product.
While you were designing these, were
a known carcinogen. And we all seem to have advertisers.
survived! Please support them and tell them
you working with musicians and The march of electronics technology, you saw their ad in Tape Op.
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studios and getting feedback the the breadth of what you’ve seen is
whole time? pretty wide, going from the transistor
Yeah. We were originally in the middle of Manhattan. The era into the ICs into where we are
company was born downstairs from the studio. My with subminiature.
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buddy with the control room was upstairs, and then When I was born, there was no such thing as a
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we had the main floor with a pool table and an office transistor! I’ve lived more than half the life of radio,
or two. Then downstairs we had workbenches and, and almost all of the life of television. It makes me
this being New York City, rats and leaks. We could get very unhappy that I can’t live forever. That’s really my
immediate feedback just by walking upstairs and goal. I’m curious. I want to know about cosmology. Is
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saying, “Hey, try this.” That worked nicely. Being in the universe really going to continue to exist? There
the middle of Manhattan, there was Record Plant and are a lot of theories about that.
Sound Ideas. I and others just walked this stuff over. Most of the Eventide gear is time based.
jv

Someone was just telling me the story of going down What was the intrigue with that
to Electric Lady Studios. I think that was Tony’s which led to doing so many products
brother, John Agnello [Tape Op #14]. Delay line under in that realm?
the arm.
Mr. Factor/(Fin.)/Tape Op#130/47
 Walking through the factory, we saw lots of consoles at Just above the channel strips are the 500 Series slots,
various stages of their manufacture and testing. Looking at a which can be fitted with API 550A, 550B, or 560 [Tape Op
2448 and a Legacy AXS side-by-side, Todd pointed out how #26] EQs, as well as other 500 Series modules. Above the
all of the buttons and switches are now the same throughout 500 Series section is the meter bridge, with its very well
the API line, giving a consistency to the look and feel of the thought out VU metering system. You can globally switch
consoles while streamlining manufacturing. He noted that it the main channel VUs to meter the Large fader source, the
was the decision to use parts of the 1608 platform, including Small fader source, or the Direct Output. Additionally, the
the 8-bus architecture, the metering system, and the center first eight VUs can be switched to meter the Summing bus
section layout, that allows the 2448 to be built to a very outputs. There are eight smaller VUs for metering either the
competitive price point compared to what the price would eight Aux Out masters or the four stereo Aux Returns. The
have been if the 2448 had been designed as a 24-bus left and right Master VUs also function to meter channels
console. I believe that API has made an astute choice by that are being soloed.
doing this in order to keep the price down. For many users, Like the metering system, much of the 2448 center
not having 24 summing buses isn’t that big of a deal, since section is carried over from the 1608, with one crucial

API direct outputs are often used to route to the DAW (or tape).
And while the Legacy AXS does have a host of additional
upgrade: API has reconfigured the Aux Return section to
provide four stereo automated returns instead of eight mono
2448 recording console features compared to the 2448 – things like a more returns. Each of the stereo returns has switches for Solo,
Since API introduced the 1608 [Tape Op #81] discrete comprehensive center section, full 24-bus architecture, 12 Mute, Safe, Mono, Insert, 500 Series Insert assign (for the
analog recording console a little over a decade ago, it has Aux buses, variable filters, and slots for compressors on every eight additional empty 500 Series slots located above the
become something of an industry standard in its class – channel – the lack of these features won’t be deal breakers center section), Aux In (routes the Aux Out master to its
highly respected for its build quality and for API’s unique for a lot of people looking at the 2448. corresponding Aux return), Program Bus assign, and
combination of sonic transparency and analog warmth. Now The 2448 console is available in 24, 32, and 40 channel Summing Buses 7/8 assign. The nice thing about the eight
the company is upping the ante with its latest analog frame sizes. API also offers optional 24-inch and 30-inch empty 500 Series slots is that they can be switched into the
console offering, the new 2448 inline console, which has wide DAW buckets for controller and wide-screen monitor, as Aux Returns, or they can be patched to any channel on the
been the talk of the town since it was released at the October well as a 19-inch patchbay bucket, so you can configure the console. So, we decided to fill ours with 560 EQs (which our
2018 AES convention. console pretty much any way you want. For example, the engineers love, so now they can have one on any channel)
The 2448 fits into the API product line between the more console center section can be either to the left or to the right and a few 565 Filter Banks just for fun and to make up for
utilitarian 1608 (which has been updated recently to the of the DAW section. (We ordered ours as a 32-channel with the lack of sweepable filters on every channel.
1608 II) and the more upscale, full-format Legacy AXS. The the center section to the left of the DAW section). The remainder of the center section was derived from the

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addition of the inline feature to the 2448 – the crucial Each inline channel on the 2448 provides two independent 1608 and manages to squeeze a lot of functionality into a
difference between the 1608 and the 2448 – is an important audio paths, the large fader and the small fader path, so, for a relatively modest footprint. Zooming in, we start with the

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one. With an inline console you have twice the number of 24-channel console, that’s 24 large fader channels plus 24 Aux Bus Master section, which provides controls for each of
inputs to the mix bus; doubling the number of inputs on an small fader channels assignable to the mix bus (plus an the eight Aux buses, including Gain, Solo, On, VU, and
analog console is a big deal. Considering that the premium additional four stereo returns). Most commonly, the small fader
l. Talkback (routes Talkback to the Aux sends individually). An
class Legacy AXS was previously API’s most affordable inline path is used for mic inputs in tracking, leaving the large fader External Input switch lets you sum the external input to a
console, the fact that an inline 2448 can now be had for path available for monitoring off tape/DAW. During mixdown bus at unity gain. Next is the Summing Bus Master section,
around one half the cost of the AXS has a lot of people the 24 small faders can be used as additional line in channels. where you’ll find gain control, individual left/right program
talking. As the co-owner of a commercial studio myself, I was The 500 Series EQ slot associated with each channel is bus assignments, and Solo and On switches for the eight
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impressed enough by the features of the 2448 to order one normalled to the large fader path but is switchable to the small Summing buses.
as a replacement for our trusty 32-channel 1608. fader path, and you can also switch the eight Summing buses, To the right of the Summing Bus Master section is the
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Since I live within driving distance of the API factory I the Direct output, and Aux sends 5-8 to the small fader path. Monitor Control section, with control room monitoring for
decided to pick up the new console in person, and to The biggest innovation of the 2448 console is the new Stereo or 5.1 Surround, switchable from three separate 6-
everyone’s amazement it just barely fit into the back of my 648C channel strip, so let’s look at its layout in more detail. track playback sources. There are provisions for control room
Honda Odyssey minivan. While I was there I got a chance to Starting from the top, there is a 212 mic pre with gain knob main monitors plus two sets of stereo nearfields, with Cut,
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discuss the 2448 console with its designer, API’s Director of and peak indicator, with 20 dB pad, +48V, and Alternate Line Mono, and Dim switches (with Dim level trim). The last
Engineering, Todd Humora. Todd walked me through the
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In switches (for accessing the additional small fader Line In module of the center section contains a solid albeit basic
similarities and differences between the 2448, 1608, and channels during mixdown). Next are the routing switches for Solo Master section and a Talkback Master section with
Legacy AXS, pointing out that all three consoles use the same the Summing and Program buses and pan-pots, then comes routing to Buses, Auxes, or All. Also in this strip are some
key components, including the classic 2520 and 2510 op the excellent Auxiliary Send section (adapted directly from basic utility functions like the Oscillator, Peak level
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amps, and API’s proprietary transformers. Microphone inputs the 1608), with four mono and two stereo sends, switchable adjustment, VU Masters, and Headphone level. Just above
and all outputs, including insert sends and returns, are to pre-fader in pairs. There is a button that lets you route the the center section, API left a space for the optional 529C
transformer balanced on the 2448, just as they are on the Aux 7 and 8 outputs to Summing buses 1, 2, 3, and 4, which stereo bus compressor. This unit is based on the company’s
AXS. Todd also noted that while the 1608 channel strip had can expand the number of available Aux buses, or provide popular 2500 compressor [Tape Op #52], with switchable
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been designed with one eye on the earlier vintage API 1604 extra stereo buses for surround mixing – a nice feature! Next feedback and feed-forward compression, soft-knee control,
and its “upside-down” channel layout, the 2448 was is the Small Fader section, with gain and pan knobs, and and Thrust circuitry.
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designed taking a fresh approach to the channel strip switches for Solo, Mute, Safe, Phase, Insert, and HP Filter. All of the I/O connectors are on the rear of the 2448, just
configuration, and I think they have come up with a very Three additional switches allow you to assign some of the as they are on the 1608 (another cost saving measure
logical and functional layout. There are a whole lot of buttons large fader’s features (EQ, Auxes 5-8, and the Summing compared to the AXS). I was pleasantly surprised at how little
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and knobs, but your fingers never feel like they’re being buses) to the small fader path. Rounding out the channel rewiring we had to do when swapping the cables to the new
squeezed. The 2448 channel strip layout puts the most strip is the Large Fader section, with Pan knob and switches 2448 from the old 1608. The only new cables we needed were
important hands-on controls for both the large fader and for Solo, Mute, Safe, Phase, Flip (which flips the inputs to the for the 32 Alternate Inputs, plus we had to rewire the Direct
small fader paths right up close where you can get to them, small and large faders), Insert, HP Filter, Line Pad, and Direct Outs (which are now on D-sub connectors), but that was it.
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while seldom changed mic preamps and output assignments Out to small fader. Keep in mind that all of these switches None of the normalling needed changing at the patchbay,
are up nearer to the EQs and VU meters. (there are 40-something switches per channel) light up when according to wiring guru Thom Canova.
engaged. It makes it easy to see what you’re doing, plus it
looks pretty cool when you turn off the room lights.
48 /Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/
 The 2448 is available with or without automation. API’s
Final Touch automation system is now consistent Grace Design Universal Audio
throughout the line, with implementation customized for m801mk2 8-ch mic preamp Apollo x8p
the different consoles. This system automates all mutes, First introduced in 1994, the 801 series eight-channel mic Thunderbolt 3 interface
inserts, and fader levels for the channel large faders, stereo preamp set a standard for quality, value, and unique design that Universal Audio – knock it off, already. We could probably
returns, and stereo master faders. Two dedicated Group still resonates in all the excellent products that Grace Design end this review right there, and most existing Universal
Master faders provide control for an unlimited number of now offers. This two rack space unit has simple to use preamps, Audio/UAD users would get the point: the release cycle
Fader Groups. The system is self-contained, does not require with each channel sporting a single stepped gain control, a from this company is nothing if not consistent in its ability
an external computer, and features DAW control for easy level indicator LED, and buttons for phantom power, polarity, - to disengage one’s better judgment from, ahem,
integration between digital and analog workflow. The 20 dB pad, and RBN – a ribbon mic setting with no phantom sympathetic management of one’s wallet. The latest trio of
automation system is controllable from the built-in 7-inch power, higher impedance, and a 10 dB boost. The rear panel has Apollo X generation interfaces is no exception to this
touch screen, and there are even tape machine style XLR ins and dual XLR outs (you can feed two inputs principle. The Apollo range, initially taking flight in (what
transport controls for Pro Tools – a nice touch. simultaneously). Differences between this unit and the original seems like prehistoric) 2012, has made a considerable
So how does the console sound? A couple of days after Model 801 and the 2006 m801 upgrade include an onboard impression in professional and project studios across the
getting everything up and running, producer/engineer John power supply, lower noise floor, and wider low end bandwidth. globe, leading the industry with a price-to-performance
Plymale brought The Connells into the studio to cut some I’ve had a pair of Grace m501 500 Series preamps, which ratio that is unparalleled.
tracks. It was evident from early on that the console sounded feature similarly-designed circuits with different features, for Although other manufacturers have, on occasion, inched
just like our 1608, and that’s a good thing! Everything we several years now. I’ve always liked the neutrality of these ahead of Universal Audio in the spec space race, the Apollo
love about the sound of API consoles – the extra headroom, preamps, and the ones in the m801mk2 work in the same way. Xs have come roaring back, with dynamic range figures that
the transparency, the deep, focused bass, and the bigger than I’m not the kind of engineer that counts on my mic preamps are stellar at this (or any) price point – Apollo x8p boasts 129
life sound field – it’s all there, but now we have twice as to provide color when tracking. In fact, I have turned around dB of dynamic range, with signal-to-noise spec’d at -119 dB
many channels. Subsequent sessions with other bands and and sold many that I thought were too finicky with their levels THD+N. Specs are specs, of course, but add up all of the
engineers have brought similar rave reviews. This is one or added too much of their own character to the source being additional features and refinements made to this third
seriously professional console. recorded. But my studio has also become a haven for at least generation of Apollos, and you have a pretty compelling
API’s move to build a high quality inline analog console 16 different brands (and different types) of preamps, meaning reason to, I don’t know, skip a mortgage payment or two in
that is affordable for a wider range of studios will give more that the engineer has to pick and choose which to use on each favor of a studio upgrade.
engineers exposure to the creative and sonic possibilities of source. Sometimes this is great, like when a preamp mic combo Let’s start with the I/O – of the four available new X-
mixing outside of the box. Let’s face it, as flexible as the comes alive on a certain instrument, but other days it’s a bit flavors of rack-mount Apollos, we’re looking at the x8p
1608 is – and I loved mine – its lack of inline monitoring more of hassle, and we have to think about how every preamp variant, which is a direct replacement for the previous-

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does subtly encourage engineers to mix in the box (despite reacts to transients, certain mic levels, and other subtleties. generation 8p [Tape Op #111]. Like the 8p, this particular
the fact that they’re working on an analog console) because That’s where a product like the m801mk2 comes in. Here we

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rocket ship veers towards live tracking, with eight XLR combo
there’s no easy way to monitor off tape while tracking have eight channels of a high-quality preamp, with proper jacks, two front panel Hi-Z TS inputs, and TRS monitor
without burning up a ton of channels. This is really ironic, controls to get a quick level on any mic. The single LED outputs. Like the 8p, the x8p also features four ADAT
because one of the greatest things about a nice analog metering helps immensely, and I was able to intuitively get a
l. (S/MUX) optical ports (two in and two out). The first
console is how good it sounds to mix tracks through it, and sense of level off them via color changes and brightness; a well significant physical change to the back panel is the presence
it partly defeats the purpose if you end up mixing (or even implemented feature. Please note that with this many of two DB25 connectors – one each for line outputs 1-8 and
monitoring) in the box anyway. With the inline 2448, you channels, the cost per preamp drops to around $500 per line inputs 1-8. The older 8p combined the line and mic
can be in analog mix mode all of the time, by tracking channel, which is one heck of a deal. inputs on one combo jack per input (although perhaps not
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through the small faders and using the automated large I started the review unit out on a 16-track tape session with patchbay friendly, that is still an option for the x8p if
faders to keep a mix always up. Cotton, a rockin’ songwriter-based project, and put all the drum desired). The 8p also sported the eight line outputs on TRS
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Everybody knows that sometimes the best a song ever mics through it for a stress test. Once I determined if pads were jacks, two of which were dedicated to the monitor path. In
sounds is on the day it’s initially cut, so imagine being able to needed, levels were quickly set via the gain knob, phase contrast, the addition of the DB25 patch points on the new
save all of those early rough mixes, every time you track! This checked, and we were on our way. Transients from the dynamic x8p is a welcome sight and makes it so much easier to wire
is the way it should be. All things considered, API seems to mics on kick and snare came across perfectly, and details from
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up to my D-sub patchbays.
have a winner on their hands, and I think that for a lot of the tube, small diaphragm overhead mics came through clearer The new Apollos are now Thunderbolt 3 enabled, which is
than ever. I tried the m801mk2 on guitar amps, percussion, and
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studio owners looking at a console upgrade the 2448 is going again a welcome sight for anyone who has purchased a
to be pretty hard to resist. (starting at $86,400; apiaudio.com) vocal overdubs with great results. My next session was a string computer over the last few years – as Thunderbolt 2 has been
-Wes Lachot <weslachot.com> trio layering up orchestral-style overdubs for an upcoming M. retired (primarily on Mac hardware) in favor of Thunderbolt 3.
Kendall Howard Ward record. With close mics and a pair in the room, we were Thunderbolt 3 has twice the throughput of Thunderbolt 2, and
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capturing different levels of detail and the m801mk2 once (on the Apple side of the fence at least) is backward-
10-32 Rack Screws again performed flawlessly, and the layered tracks of strings compatible with Thunderbolt 2 devices (provided you have
Oh lord, he’s reviewing rack screws. I’ll make it quick: these never sonically cluttered up the mix. I’ve kept using these Apple’s ridiculously pricy adapter dongle or a compatible
are some nice rack screws! The pilot point makes them much preamps on every session since and have grown quite enamored dock). I tested the x8p with a 2017 MacBook Pro and a TS3
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easier to start than the hardware store screws I’ve used with them; in fact, I now own the review unit. These mic Plus Thunderbolt 3 dock from CalDigit. I attached my Apollo
forever, and they’re smoother to screw in and out too. Better preamps simply never got in the way of working fast, and no Twin MkII [Tape Op #121] directly to the second Thunderbolt
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tolerances? I don’t know, but I put all my other screws next source ever sounded lacking in clarity or punch. 3 port on the x8p via the Apple Thunderbolt 2-to-3 adapter as
to the studio’s couch (where all the other free stuff is). Made The attention to detail in the design of this preamp shows. mentioned above – everything was immediately recognized by
in the US by a company that makes server racks and cabinets No electrolytic capacitors in the signal path, true differential the Console app, and I was on my way to the requisite out-
and seems to care about little details. Surely Andy Hong has
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amplifier circuitry, and a transimpedance (current feedback) of-the-box firmware upgrade, which was applied with nary a
something to say about this… gain stage result in all the detail of my many microphones hiccup. Using this setup (with other USB peripherals attached
(100 pack, $17 street; kendallhoward.com) coming through. And the pre comes with a 20 year warranty to the dock) keeps my studio desktop Marie Kondo-approved
-Scott Evans <antisleep.com> (no joke). I could work with two or three of the m801mk2 – I have a single Thunderbolt 3 cable to plug into my Mac
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units as my only preamps at Jackpot! and I’d be totally happy

www.tapeop.com
which provides instant, full-throughput, low-latency
for the rest of my career. And I could stop worrying about connections to the interfaces and other studio knick-knacks
which mic preamp to use…
bonus & archived reviews online! all while providing power to the laptop. Huzzah!
($3990 street, gracedesign.com) -LC
Gear Reviews/(continued on page 50)/Tape Op#130/49
 One of the flagship features in the new Apollos is the Although I have yet to record and mix with an Apollo that
upgrade in DSP via the inclusion of six cores (“HEXA Core”) – sounds “bad,” the AD/DA conversion has improved yet again
all flavors of Apollo now come with this bump in processing with the X line, and I can say with Professional Certainty™
power. This is significant for users who have invested in the that my ears are happy, and my clients’ ears are happy too.
UAD platform, and especially useful for the x8p in that I can In fact, I’ve been tracking an upcoming solo EP for Greg
now instantiate even the most processing-intensive Unison Brown (CAKE/Deathray) who has always been skeptical of
plug-ins across all eight preamp slots. Real-time zero-latency digital recording. At day two with the x8p, when he
96 kHz tracking through eight Neve 1073s or 88RS channel remarked on how good it sounds and how it has been the
strips, with Pultec EQs and Empirical Labs Distressor [Tape Op closest in feel to an analog workflow (and resulting sound)
#126] plug-ins scattered throughout? Thus far, it seems this that he has yet experienced, I knew my wallet was in
single rack unit can do all the heavy lifting. Paired with my trouble. TL;DR – just take my damn money, again.
Twin MkII Quad-core, however, I now have a crap-ton of ($2,999 street; uaudio.com)
available processing headroom when mixing – I have yet to see -Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com>
the dreaded “DSP load limit exceeded” message. Give me time,
of course, and it’ll happen for sure – but it’s nice to have the
Cranborne Audio
extra horsepower available. As the UAD platform continues to Camden 500 preamp
develop for Analog Devices’ SHARC silicon, it’ll be interesting to If you are newer to audio production, you may have asked
see the evolution. Eight and twelve core Apollos are surely this question – and if you are a veteran of audio production
certain future releases, but will Universal Audio move to a you have absolutely been asked this question – “What
different, potentially more efficient chipset in the years to preamp should I buy?” The answer is far from easy. These
come? And how will that affect their existing userbase? days we have a huge selection of available mic preamps at
Speaking of under-the-hood improvements, Apollo X units almost every price point with every conceivable type of
now use two discrete crystals for clocking (as opposed to a circuitry. But we are always looking for the one that is going
single in the previous generation). One clock does the math for to give us “that sound” (however that translates to us
44.1 kHz and multiples (88.2, 176.4), and the other for 48 kHz individually). If you have the means to fully equip your
and multiples (96, 192). Everything in the conversion path toolbox with enough preamps to cover all of the sonic
starts with stable clocking, and jitter across the entire Apollo X characteristics available, it will likely cost you a small
family is less than 10 picoseconds – so yeah, this is premium fortune. With all of the circuitry options (Class A, tube,
rocket fuel in the tank. electronically balanced, transformer-isolated, FET, etc.),

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There are many smaller, but significant workflow there is much to purchase in order to cover all the bases.
improvements implemented throughout, including a built-in Cranborne Audio is trying to make this quest a little simpler.

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front panel talkback mic. Similar to the Twin MkII, the mic is They have released the Camden 500 (500 Series) preamp with
also available in the UAD Console app as an input, which is a the goal of being able to fine tune the character of the preamp
neat trick. The addition of 7.1 surround monitoring support is to suit your needs in the moment. The design idea was to make
a preamp that can be completely clean and transparent when
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cool. While it future-proofs my control room to some degree,
I’m not currently mixing in 7.1 and thus couldn’t test it. But I needed, while offering the ability to dial in some extra
was happy to see that UA’s Console app now includes some harmonic information, to emulate transformers, tubes, or tape.
basic speaker calibration features (even for “old-fashioned” That’s pretty cool. There have been preamps that have
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vanilla stereo monitoring) – you can now swing your monitors employed companion plug-ins to accomplish this, but very few
left/right in 0.1 dB increments if needed. It would be have used only analog hardware circuits to deliver these
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interesting and helpful to see Universal Audio wedge something various vintage sonic characteristics. So, this type of analog
similar to Fuzz Measure [Tape Op #118] or Sonarworks gear would likely be priced so that only the elite can afford it,
Reference 4 into its Console app for basic acoustic/frequency right? Here’s the best part: The Camden 500 sells for $349!
response measurement, or even DSP-based room calibration. That is a rock bottom price for any good preamp, let alone
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Back to the nerdy details: the Apollo X line now offers for one that claims to be the “…most astoundingly clean,
linear, transparent preamp you’ve ever heard.” Using the 500
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switchable headroom for the line inputs, line outputs, and

monitor outputs (from +20 dBu to +24 dBu) – so, for instance, Series rack format surely helps to keep cost down, since
tape transfers and interfacing with analog outboard can be power supplies and full chassis are not required.
managed at the appropriate levels. Fairly often, I do like to Nevertheless, delivering this preamp at this price point is
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process DAW tracks with a couple of different 8-track machines impressive. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s first talk
(I’ve grown pretty fond of the sound of a particular ‘80s’ Tascam about the Camden 500’s features.
cassette 8-track) and found that having this additional 4 dB of The basic preamp controls are pretty straightforward. You
output headroom on the line outs to be very useful. One have a preamp gain control, but no output control. You
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interesting consequence of bumping your headroom up is that have, of course, a +48V phantom power switch, as well as
when recording new tracks with +24 dBu headroom through the an 80 Hz high-pass filter. Additionally, there is a polarity
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Console app (in a session previously created at +20 dBu), you switch, and a Mic/Line/Hi-Z switch. The 1/4-inch front
will need to add increased gain to the UAD plug-ins in order to panel input completes the standard preamp controls, but it’s
get them to sound the same as UAD plug-ins allow for analog- the extra adjustments that make this unit interesting. At the
top of the faceplate is a rotary knob labeled Mojo and a
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style gain structures (and all the non-linear analog-like

behaviors which come with gain staging). switch that selects between Thump or Cream. This is where
Speaking of gain staging, another nice little workflow the Camden 500 gets its versatility.
improvement to the front panel of the Apollo x8p are the Gain I had the opportunity to use the Camden 500 for a few
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Stage Mode indicators – when in Gain Stage Mode, you can quickly weeks on various sessions. In addition, I did some direct
see which of the two or three gain parameters you’re tweaking comparisons against various well-known preamps, and I wasn’t
with an indicator to the left of the monitor levels (U1, U2, U3). exactly fair. Keeping in mind the Camden’s $349 street price, I
put it up against preamps that were much more expensive.
50/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 52)
 m
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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#130/51

 I listened to the Camden 500 initially with the Mojo settings exaggerated higher frequency response. I was concerned at
off and then with various amounts of Mojo. First, let’s talk about first, but after using the preamp for awhile, I started viewing
recording a kick drum. With Mojo off, I liked the sound of the this trait in a similar way that I view a ribbon mic. Generally,
Camden 500’s transparent preamp. As compared to another a ribbon mic has less high end than a condenser, but, with a
transformerless transparent-style preamp, the Camden 500 did little EQ, you can get a characteristic from the ribbon that you
indeed sound very natural. At first, I thought the Camden 500 can’t get from a condenser. I found that by adding just a
might be lacking a little top end on the attack, but, the more I touch of EQ to the Camden 500, I could get a sound that is
listened, I did get the feeling that it was just a natural, un-hyped smoother, yet more detailed than what I might get with a
sound, with plenty of fullness in the lower mids. Engaging the preamp that had more “sizzle.”
Mojo’s Thump mode made things interesting, however. According I should mention that the build quality is excellent. The
to the manual, in small settings Thump emulates transformer knobs and switches are solid. Gain is controlled by a 12-position
harmonic content and is quite subtle. As you crank the Mojo switch that toggles in discrete resistors at exactly 5.5 dB
knob clockwise, the effect gets obvious. Aside from the subtle increments, ensuring the exact gain value at each position for
transformer emulation, it starts adding a good deal of additional a total of 68.5 dB of gain in Mic mode. Is this a preamp that
harmonic content below 100 Hz. I found that this works wonders makes your outboard rack of vintage preamps obsolete? No, of
on low frequency sources such as kick drum or bass guitar. In course not. There will always be preamps that do their specific
this case, I could dial in an incredible low end on the kick, “thing” like nothing else can. But consider this: At a street price
without it sounding synthetic or out of place. As with many of $349 you could put a pair of these in a 500 Series rack for
things in life, it was certainly possible to go too far by adding likely less cost than a single channel of many other preamps.
absurd additional low harmonic content at extreme settings. But Then you’d have the ability to dial in neutral and transparent
with some restraint, it can certainly make a wimpy kick drum tones, thunderous low end tones, or thick harmonic tones
work well in a mix by adding a solid fundamental note. Keep in depending on what was needed. As a bonus, selecting the line
mind that this isn’t being accomplished with EQ or digital effects level input allows you to run your entire mix through the Mojo
but rather by using analog circuitry to create additional circuit. Pretty cool! So, the next time someone with a limited
harmonic content. The other preamps I tried could not match budget asks what preamps they should buy first, you’ll have a
that same effect. The transformer-based Class A preamp that I really good answer. I don’t know another product with this
compared it to had a bit more initial fullness to the sound, but range of versatility anywhere near the Camden 500’s price point.
I found that the Camden 500 could be dialed in to the same ($349 street; www.cranborne-audio.com)
ballpark, with the option of a huge low end as well. The tube -Kirt Shearer <[email protected]>

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preamp I tried in comparison had a rather less linear mid to high
end contour than the Camden 500.
Mag Instrument

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When recording electric guitar, I had an opportunity to play Mini Maglite Pro LED flashlight
with the Camden 500’s Cream control. According to the manual, I’ve been a Maglite man since I was in college. They are
this control starts with a similar transformer effect to Thump built to be dropped, don’t die under most rain conditions and
the beam-focus feature has always been useful, especially for
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while on subtle settings but takes a very different direction when
dialed up. When pushed, it deals more with the mid and high end tasks like finding a black screw dropped on a dark-colored
frequencies than Thump does. You start to hear more high floor under an equipment rack. I just did a big transfer job of
frequency harmonics, and greater articulation in the mid microcassettes (yeah, it was as lo-fi as it sounds, but every
i
frequencies. As you turn it up further, you do start to get a slightly word was made audible), so I had a pile of left over, half-used
fatter lower frequency feel as well, but that is secondary to the AA batteries and I decided to spring for a two AA battery
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mid and high harmonics. Cranking this control to extremes really Maglite, noting that they’ve upped the lumens game on
starts to bring in a good deal of compression and harmonics and the Mini LED model in recent times (now 272 lumens), with a
can be useful to punch up less than ideal guitar tones. It is not 163-meter throw distance (that’s 534 feet). On the package,
a distortion or gain box, but the harmonic content can definitely it also boasts 2.5 hours of on-time per battery pair (less than
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make electric guitar tones more interesting. that from my half-dead pile). It’s shatterproof up to a one
meter drop onto a hard surface. Like previous Mini Maglite
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I don’t have the page space to detail every instrument and how
it performed with every preamp in the world, but I did track models, it’s designed to balance on its end and shine upward,
piano, kick drum, snare drum, drum overheads, electric guitar, in “hands-free candle mode” as it’s called on the package.
and electric bass with the Camden 500. While comparing it with Maglite is too old-school to call this thing “tactical,” but I will
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other preamps, some common traits came through. The Neve- (especially since this model is offered in a modern “digital”
style preamp I compared it to offered more focus in the mids but camo color scheme).
less overall clarity. By dialing in the Cream setting I could start Holy moly, is this thing bright for its size and weight! Yep,
to approach a similar sonic signature – not exact, but similar. The it’s LED so you can’t really see the colors on resistors correctly,
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other transformer-based Class A preamp sounded initially fatter but for anything else it’s the cat’s meow. I also noted in the
than the Camden 500, but was obviously much less linear in Amazon user reviews that Maglite uses built-in circuitry so the
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clarity and articulation. Dialing in Mojo yielded better overall LED burns full strength until there’s not enough amperage in
results, depending on the source. You could dial in the fatness on the batteries – meaning it doesn’t fade out over months like
the Camden 500 but with slightly more natural mids and highs. the typical cheapo LED light. Given the battery life, and the
fact that it came with a pair of brand-new alkaline AA
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Listening to drum overheads, I noticed one of the only

characteristics about the Camden 500 that some people may batteries, it’s going to take me a long time to use up that pile
not completely love; in comparison to other preamps, it has of half-dead ones. I just put fresh AAs in my old Maglite
no trace of hype in the higher frequencies. At first, it can incandescent version, and shined both into a dark room. It’s
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sound as though it is lacking a bit of higher frequency detail, literally like dusk and midday levels of light, dusk being the
especially with Mojo off. It is just conjecture, but with their Edison legacy bulb and midday being the modern LED. BTW,
goal to make the Camden 500 neutral and clean, they may Maglites are still made in California, including the belt holster.
have designed it to avoid anything that resembles ($30 direct; maglite.com) -Tom Fine <[email protected]>
52/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/
 Drawmer For a drum bus, I often reach for fast FET compression and
saturation, and I usually do this processing parallel – the 1978
1978 compressor is a one-stop shop for all these things. You know how a fast
I’ve been considering a new hardware compressor for my release can make a kick and snare sound killer but make the
drum bus, and the Drawmer 1978 compressor has recently cymbals sound all trashy? Even under super aggressive
intrigued me. It’s a stereo FET compression design with many settings, I can tame the cymbals to some extent with the 1978
extra creative features packed into a single unit rack space, by using various character button combinations with the high
and it sports the same look and feel of Drawmer’s 1968 stereo shelf sidechain EQ. And after all that, I still have the Wet/Dry
compressor [Tape Op #44] that I’ve used many times. knob to dial in as much as I want. Did I mention there are also
The 1978 is broken up into three sections: Compression, external sidechain inputs for further control? Geez.
Character, and Shaping. The compression section incorporates I gotta say, the 1978 has a pretty great set of features and
controls for usual suspects: Threshold, Ratio, Attack, and a price that won’t break the bank!
Release. The Character section gives you the option of ($999 street; drawmer.com)
changing the compression flavor, with the ability to engage -Justin Mantooth <justinmantooth.com>

Humanscale
four different settings individually, or all at once. These
options are labeled; PGM, Smooth, Rel. Curve (release), and Ch.
Link (channel link). Here is where I recommend referring to the Freedom Saddle stool
manual to understand exactly what’s happening with this I’ve had one of these chairs forever. Its design is simple; a
compressor. For the most part, each button alters the release triangular cushion, a pneumatic cylinder to adjust height, and
to smooth out heavier compression settings, which can help a 5-wheel base – no arms. No back. There are tons of saddle
minimize pumping or low end distortion from fast settings. chairs on the market, including some that look more like actual
When Ch. Link is engaged, the left and right channels are saddles, but I like Humanscale’s design. It doesn’t look too
partially summed before the sidechain, which Drawmer claims weird, and since the cushion is symmetrical you can sit down
produces a wider image under compression. The Character any which way from any approach angle.
section also has a variable Saturate knob that adds a Most studios have big-ass executive office chairs in front of
combination of second and third order harmonic distortion. the mixer. I’ve never liked that. They’re too big to roll around
The Shaping section is a two-band sidechain EQ. As you raise in comfortably or quickly, the chair back cuts you off from the
the level of the low or high bands, the compressor becomes other people in the room and blocks their view, and it’s hard
less sensitive to those frequencies. The low band and high to play guitar in any chair with arms. Saddle seats solve all

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bands can both be set to shelf or bell curves at six different these problems. Mine is compact enough to roll under my
frequencies for each band. Rounding out all these features is mixer when I’m not seated. It also makes me sit “actively”,

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the mix section that includes a Wet/Dry knob for parallel using my core muscles, which one may or may not consider a
compression and a Gain pot for makeup. Whew, that’s a lot to feature. I’ve compensated by inventing novel ways to slouch.
think about for one compressor! Luckily, I found the options After 14 years with my Humanscale Freedom, why write a
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very easy to navigate. I’ve often used compression with a review now? Because a few months ago it finally broke. The
sidechained high-pass filter but have not seen anything with plastic seat base gave up and cracked, probably thanks to me
variable shelf or bell curves. In use, the 1978 is much more constantly leaning down to reach effects pedals. As I was
than just a stereo compressor. It’s really a tone shaper in the ordering an identical replacement, I noticed the 15-year
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frequency, and dynamic sense. The sidechain EQ lets some warranty. Could it be? I called and sure enough my chair was
sounds through while clamping down on other parts of the covered, no questions asked. I sent some pictures of the
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frequency spectrum – kind of like a simplified, inverted, damage and soon after I had replacement parts in hand. The
multiband compressor. design has changed since 2003 (!) so they had to replace
There are many creative ways the tone shaping section can about 75% of the chair. Now my chair is good as new and I’m
be used. Recently I was working with an acoustic guitar track
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a customer for life. Try getting that kind of support for your
that was performed far too aggressively. With the 1978, you $6000 studio monitors!
can clamp down with compression, then start letting
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Humanscale makes high-end ergonomic office gear, so their

everything below 500 Hz back up. This takes it from an stuff isn’t cheap. They offer a lot of fabric choices at different
unbalanced, transient heavy sound, to a more full-bodied price points, along with different finish, cylinder, and caster
sound with the right amount of attack. I found that dialing in options, but the base model isn’t too expensive considering
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the Threshold with one hand, while adjusting the Wet/Dry how well it lasts. I have the high cylinder and foot ring, since
ratio at the same time helped in finding the right balance I find that I sit higher in these stools than I would in a normal
when compressing a signal. This idea can be applied to about chair. You might not want a control room full of these, but as
any source with the 1978. You can reshape the body or bite of an engineer’s chair I think it’s perfect.
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many sounds with the sidechain EQ. Using a low and high shelf (starting at $299, $399 as reviewed; humanscale.com)
simultaneously allows the compression to focus mostly on the -Scott Evans <antisleep.com>
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midrange while using a wide bell curve at both 400 Hz and 3

kHz, will let more mids pass through if desired.
Release and Attack times can be super fast, which allows the www.tapeop.com
see more of our
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1978 to be a quite formidable bass guitar distorter. The fast

attack combined with the saturation circuit and extended
release options offer more than just one flavor of saturation. bonus/archived
Perfect for controlling dynamics while adding grit. These tonal
reviews online!
jv

options really help the bass guitar find its place in a dense mix
– so well I wish Drawmer would make a mono option for this
purpose alone.

Gear Reviews/(continued on page 54)/Tape Op#130/53

 Gear Geeking w/ Andy… Antelope Audio So how does this thing work? The Edge Duo is essentially
a neutral, clean, and flat capturing mic. The source signal
Recently, I was recommending a soldering iron to a Tape Edge Duo Modeling Microphone is then processed via Antelope’s mic emulator software to
Op contributor who was excited to start fixing cables on his A single microphone that allows you to digitally create the sound of the classic mic model you’ve selected.
own. I suggested the Weller WLC100 40 Watt Soldering emulate famously expensive mics of yesteryear and today The mic itself has a natural sound that’s useful even
Station <weller-tools.com>. There’s a reason why there are at a fraction of the cost? It reminds me of the advent of without using a model. For getting the most out of the
so many near-exact copies of this iron available everywhere. guitar amp modeling, and how far that technology has modeling microphone software, Antelope recommends the
The Weller’s form factor is classic. The iron is comfortable in come since first being introduced. As a guitarist, I’ve use of their own preamp/converter for ease and best
hand, and it’s wired to a stable base that integrates a coiled seen amp modeling go from a so-so novelty to a “can’t results – though you can use your own interface and
stand, a tip-cleaning sponge, and a power-adjustment tell the difference” solution. I think that Antelope has process your mic through Antelope’s mic emulator plug-ins
knob. This consumer model is not a true temperature- made a big leap forward with their new mic modeling (VST, AU, AAX – both Mac/PC). Antelope’s interface
controlled iron, but that hasn’t stopped me from using it to technology, and a few other companies have also jumped provides for zero latency with the mic modeling, as
solder all sorts of things, ranging from tiny surface-mount into the mic emulator arena – including Slate Digital and everything is processed before it gets to your computer via
chips, to high-current 12-gauge wire. I actually own two of Townsend Labs. their FPGA engine so as not to tax your CPU. If you do go
these irons — once each for home and studio. The first one For this review, Antelope sent their large diaphragm, the third-party interface route, you’ll need an iLok 2 or 3
I purchased many years ago; it came with a selection of dual membrane condenser modeling microphone; the Edge and there may be a little latency to deal with. Installation
tips, and the cable that interconnects iron to base is fixed. Duo (along with their Discrete 4 interface). But there are is slightly cumbersome, but once I got everything
The second one I purchased a couple years ago; its also two other microphones in the Edge series: the Edge downloaded and installed, the system was rock solid.
interconnecting cable can be unplugged, but it only came Solo (a fixed cardioid, large diaphragm condenser mic at I recommend investing in at least their Edge Strip
with a chisel tip. I purchased a bag of three pointy tips for a lower price point of $695), and the pricier Edge Quadro package, which gets you the Edge Duo mic with an analog
just $10 more. The WLC100 is available on Amazon or in- at $2,995 with four outputs and 360 degree stereo discrete interface and some mic plug-ins to get the most
store at Home Depot for $40, so it’s an easy purchase, recording capability. out of the emulations. But that being said, experimenting
especially if you’re just learning how to solder. What if you Antelope’s packaging is very attractive and sleek. The with other mic preamps may yield a unique flavor. When
want an iron with greater temperature precision? Well, mic comes in a black, square-shaped suitcase. Upon using the plug-ins in your DAW of choice, you aren’t locked
there’s the Hakko FX-888D <hakko.com> for $100, which flipping the two front latches and opening the top of the into the sound that you get when tracking as you can
is the darling of countless electronics tinkerers on YouTube. case, the mic, windscreen, and shock mount are revealed change the mic models after the fact, or even in real time!
I thought of buying one but instead, I decided on a DC- snuggly tucked into a heavy-duty, custom foam housing. I put the Edge Duo through the paces on an intensive
powered iron that was more portable, because I sometimes Underneath the top tray lies the included oxygen-free back up vocal session for the new record by progressive
find myself working away from a convenient AC outlet. I XLR Y cable. The mic is housed in a clean, flat black metal band Infinite Spectrum, and I loved the option of

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already had a no-name 7.5 Watt USB soldering iron, which metal body with a red grille. There are no switches for tonally changing the character of the tracks to better
I bought online for less than $8; I can power it from a patterns, pads, phase, etc. as this is all done via complement the material after the fact. The Edge Duo got

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laptop or a battery-powered phone charger, but I wanted software. The shock mount is a heavy-duty affair with used on acoustic guitar and guitar amp tracks with nice
something with digital temperature control and higher two attachments: one for your mic stand and the other results. When I A/B’d a vocal take through both Antelope’s
available power. I settled on the SainSmart Pro32 for the wind screen. modeled 414 and an actual AKG 414 from my mic locker, I
<sainsmart.com> for $70, which can run off an included
19 V, 2.1 A wall-wart, or any 12–24 VDC source that can
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The mic itself is a large diaphragm condenser with a 6-
micron gold-sputtered dual-membrane capsule that feeds
found my particular real 414 to be richer in tone, but the
modeled version was definitely in the ballpark. My feeling
supply enough power, up to a maximum of 65 W. (The Pro32 dual XLR outputs (via the included Y cable which is 5-pin is that though this may not be a replacement for a real mic
is a rebrand of the “generic” TS100 portable iron. Like to 3-pin XLR). Antelope explains that this is to recreate locker, it can be a welcome tool for adding more flavors to
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everything else that SainSmart sells, you can purchase the the characteristic of the on/off axis response and your tracks without breaking the bank.
same product from other Amazon Marketplace sellers, but proximity effect accuracy of each mic model. The mic itself Regarding the accuracy of some of the more high-end
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I’ve had great experiences with SainSmart in the past.) I has a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, with a software models, I have to admit that I don’t have many of
power mine with multicell Li-Po batteries for my radio- sensitivity of -35 dB, and a THD+N of -116 dB. these imitated mics in my personal locker for a side-by-side
controlled aircraft. Buttons on the side of the iron allow you Polar patterns are variable, meaning that you get the comparison. So, I reached out to my frequent collaborator
to adjust the tip temperature from 100° to 400° C, which usual settings (cardioid, omni, figure-8), plus you can (and Grammy-winning engineer) Chris Theis <ticemix.com>
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is clearly displayed on a built-in OLED panel, and the tip tweak the software to get settings between patterns. Want to get some thoughts on detailed comparisons between the
reaches temperature within seconds. If the iron remains a little more omni with your cardioid? No problem. You can
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modeled stuff and their real-world analog counterparts.

still for 3 minutes, it enters sleep-mode and drops its tip use both sides of the mic for two vocalists, etc. It will Chris felt that the vocal mic on its own sounded decent
temperature to prolong tip life and save energy. When you capture each side discretely, which is super handy because with a spot on low end and midrange, but the top end
pick up the iron again, it wakes up, and the tip reheats to you can treat each side as an individual track with separate seemed slightly sibilant. With thoughts to the modeled
operating temperature within a few seconds. This reheating
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EQ, compression, etc. When using the sides discretely you mics, what he anticipated hearing was what he heard –
action is seamless and quick enough to feel like magic. can’t engage the modeling (remember that earlier bit with most of the modeled mics sounding close to the real-
There’s even a micro-USB port on the iron for flashing about on/off axis and proximity effect modeling?) – but I world mics they emulate. We agreed that the Vienna 414
alternate open-source firmware. In a hilarious (but kind of found it to be a useful feature nonetheless. model, compared to the original 414, was not as warm but
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geeky-cool) attempt at explaining how the heating element There are a number of mic emulations currently had a nice midrange presence that was clear and pleasing.
is controlled, the second half of the product manual is available for the Edge Duo, and Antelope plans to add to The Vienna 12 and the Berlin 67 models were favorites as
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dedicated to listing and annotating the actual C code. their mic model library. Currently 11 models are included they imparted the flavor of the classics’ signature tube
Note also that a grounding screw on the side of the iron with purchase. These include models of classic German warmth with a fat roundness.
can be utilized when working on sensitive electronics. My condenser mics dubbed the “Berlin” 47 FT, 49T, 57, 67, Economically speaking, the Edge Duo practically screams,
iron came with two heater/tip elements (chiseled and
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87, and M103, as well as the “Vienna” 12 and 414, and “Buy me!” The flexibility of not being locked into one sound
pointy), which I can swap out using the included Allen the “Tokyo” 800T condenser models. A few ribbon and being able to transform mic flavors during the mix is a
key, but I’ve seen other packages for sale with different emulations including the “Oxford 4038” and Sacramento needle mover. I felt that the models offer more than just a
tips and accessories. Another portable soldering iron “121R” [We’re scratching our heads on this one, as token change in color of the source, as it feels and sounds
worth considering is the TS80 (24 W max, 9–12 V USB
jv

Sacramento is a long ways from Burbank. -LC]. The plug-in like you tracked with a different mic! For those with limited
Quick Charge 3.0), available from various Amazon interface is straightforward and clean, with design microphone resources, this is a good solution to “virtually”
Marketplace brands for $70–$110, depending on the elements that harken back to the respective heritage (and expand your mic locker. ($1095 MSRP; antelope.com)
accessories included. –AH likeness) of each mic. -Will Severin <willseverin.com>
54/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 56)
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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#130/55

 iZotope changes the 12AU7 tube’s bias points to enhance the harmonic
structure. An orange, jeweled LED illuminates when power is
RX 7 Advanced Restoration Suite engaged, a backlit meter displays gain reduction and on the
I’ve reviewed various versions of iZotope’s RX plug-in since back there are XLR input and output connectors plus a stereo
RX 3. I really like this software suite and use it all the time. link jack. The true bypass still has the signal being loaded by the
With the amount of home-recorded music I end up mixing, I input transformer, so dB reduction will be shown on the meter
have my job cut out for me with extraneous noises, bad edits, even when the compressor is bypassed. On the inside there are
reverb-y rooms, cheap vocal mics, and other sonic problems. three steel Edcor transformers for the input, interstage, and
RX has helped me fix and prep these tracks for mixing, with output as well as through-hole components on a printed circuit
functions like Mouth De-click, Spectral Repair, Spectral De- board. The Weight Tank utilizes both a 6BC8 and a 12AU7 output
noise, Gain, and Fade getting constant use; in Tape Op #123 tubes. The 6BC8 tube is a medium-mu, semi-remote cutoff twin
last year I spelled out in detail where I utilize this amazing triode that was initially intended for television receivers. In this
software. So, what is new in RX 7? Simply put, it keeps getting review unit there were RCA and JJ tubes, respectively.
more intelligent. Really. The best example is the new Repair All of Locomotive’s products are made by hand in St. Louis,
Assistant, which will detect audio problems and automatically MO, and are built with American components. This unit borrows
offer up three sets of solutions for the user to preview. I found concepts from Locomotive’s own 14B [Tape Op #107], Universal
this to be helpful, but obviously not as intensive as the hands- Audio’s 175B, and Altec Lansing’s 436A compressors – all
on type of repairs I do on vocal tracks. I do see this as a great wonderful inspirations for such a design. This is the second
way for a new user to get a handle on what RX 7 is capable of, revision of the Weight Tank, and though the differences may be
since there are over 40 different repair function modules subtle, they are worth mentioning. Revision B has slightly more
within RX 7 Advanced at this point. harmonics with a fixed ratio of 3:1 versus Revision A at 4:1;
A lot of the new modules could aid in music production but however, a variable-mu compressor, by design, changes the
are likely more useful for our pals working in post production ratio as the input is pushed further past the threshold. Revision
audio (Dialogue Contour, Dialogue De-Reverb, Multichannel B’s faceplate has also been updated with a different logo and
support), but there are several fresh ones that will see use in is flat black compared to the glossy black finish of the original.
my world. The new Variable Time and Variable Pitch modules The balance feature was moved internally, requiring adjustment
allow time and pitch modification options; helpful with lining only with new tubes or if there is another issue.
up tape-based recordings with various speed issues. The real In the studio I found the compressor complimentary to most
problem-solving tool introduced with RX 7 – and the one most instruments, but specifically acoustic guitar, piano, bass, some

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people have asked me about – is Music Rebalance. This module vocals, and room mics. With all variable-mus the results vary
allows one to change relative Voice, Percussion, Bass, and widely depending on the source material and how much signal

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“Other” levels in a mono or stereo mix and will also allow you feed them. It can result in the same source being
isolation of these elements. I performed a number of overdriven, grabby, or smoothed depending on the character of
experiments with Music Rebalance, and it does seem rather
l. each model. I found subtle compression with Drive mode
magical when used with restraint. As far as creating an enabled really opened up the top end of the piano without
instrumental mix of a track, it does tend to leave artifacts, exhausting the dynamics. On acoustic guitar the performance
especially from vocal parts or effects with stereo content. If was smoothed out while adding a little euphonic top end to
you create a “vocal stem” by cutting levels of the other tracks, help the rhythmic elements of the performance pop. With
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it too will have some artifacts present, though if you built a gritty-sounding vocals, I first sent the signal through a
mix around it I bet some of the sounds would meld into the Universal Audio 1176-style compressor to catch just the
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background. I see Music Rebalance as a tool to help with fixing transient peaks before going to the Weight Tank. With the signal
tracks that cannot be remixed, like a stereo live board reigned in by the 1176, I enabled drive mode to further saturate
recording or archived mixes with no multitrack. It works well the vocal, which yielded a totally different type of tone. I have
when not pushed hard and could really save the day. found many creative uses for the Weight Tank in my studio, The
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I’ve turned many people onto RX in the past, and I will Grey Room, while recently working on a lot of electronic music
continue to utilize RX 7 every day, until RX 8 comes out. This
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projects – using it to pump rhythmic elements to help the

sort of deep control over sound is the future of digital audio, bounce of songs. Another use was adding sustain to 808 hits
and iZotope are creating one of the best tools out there for any and long release time drum samples. This isn’t limited to
recordist or mixer. (RX Elements $129, Standard $399, electronically derived sounds either – the added sustain on
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Advanced $1,199; www.izotope.com) -LC electric and acoustic bass is fantastic! I would definitely use a
Locomotive Audio pair for busing duties on certain instrument groupings, but
would proceed very light handed if using a pair on the mix bus.
Weight Tank Compressor While remakes and famous compressors are available, there
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Variable-mu compressors are renowned for their soft, gooey is not much in the variable-mu department under $1000 –
compression. A few of the heavyweights that come to mind are I’m only aware of the Grove Hill Liverpool [Tape Op #115].
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the Fairchild 660, RCA BA6A, and Gates Sta-Level. All of these The Weight Tank has tapped a niche with its original design and
come with a hefty price tag to go along with that sound, but price point, operation is simple, and the layout is clean. It’s
what about a sub $1000 variable-mu? There used to be the solidly built and can handle lots of different source material. This
Dizengoff D864, but that only exists on the used market. Enter
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may not replace some of the high-end variable-mus that offer a

Locomotive Audio’s Weight Tank, a variable-mu compressor polished, silky sound, but the Weight Tank appropriately provides
that lives up to its name. heft to the source material by adding harmonic color while
The layout of the black powder coated enclosure matches the smoothly clamping down the dynamics and extending sustain.
jv

simple workflow of this compressor. On the Weight Tank’s The Weight Tank compressor is worth having in your collection
faceplate are four variable control knobs for Input gain, Output during tracking and mixing; I’m excited to check out
gain, Attack, and Release. There are also three switches: Power, Locomotive’s other offerings. ($899 direct; locomotiveaudio.com)
Bypass (true bypass), and Round/Drive. The Round/Drive switch -Kevin Friedrichsen <[email protected]>
56/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 58)
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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#130/57

 Vanguard Audio Labs
V4 condenser microphone
I was first introduced to Vanguard Audio several years ago by an industry veteran who
would periodically tell me about “a microphone that was still in development…” and that
“…I would not only be blown away by its sound but that the price-point would leave me
purchasing more than one.” The mic he was telling me about was Vanguard’s V13 [Tape Op
#119] large-diaphragm valve condenser that hit the market in 2016. He was right. I was
indeed blown away at how the V13 sounded. Its smooth top-end was never harsh, and it
always retained a richness no matter which polar pattern I used or what source I put it in
front of. It was a beautiful piece of gear, and the only reason that I didn’t purchase more
than one was because I was getting ready to have my first child!
When I heard that Vanguard was making a mono version of their stereo V44S FET condenser
mic, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one. The microphone is simply called the V4, and it’s
aesthetically just as beautiful as their other offerings: the same signature pinot noir-colored brass
body, finished with a zinc alloy Vanguard badge. You can easily feel that there were no
compromises made in the production of this mic. It’s heavy, solid, and the nickel accents are
incredibly tasteful. The V4 is a FET condenser with three polar patterns and a switch at the rear
implementing either a -10 dB pad or 120 Hz roll-off. One thing that intrigued me initially about
Vanguard Audio is that many specific electronic components within each of their microphones
are treated with a deep-cycle cryogenic process that “improves the lifespan, efficiency, and
performance of critical electronic components.” Cryogenic treatment is the process of exposing
components to temperatures below -310 degrees Fahrenheit in order to remove residual stresses
and improve wear on metals. This microphone comes with a five-year warranty, but I’m willing
to bet that the V4 will last many, many years beyond that. Vanguard ships this mic in a sturdy
(black) travel case which includes their VLSM shock mount, designed with an open front so that
you can get as close to the sound source as possible. The mount uses aerospace-grade suspension
rings that I’m predicting will last way beyond the life of most engineers and/or their studios.
With a list price of only $399, how does this V4 sound? I auditioned this mic on four

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sources: male vocal, female vocal, acoustic guitar, and percussion. I ran the mic through a
Chandler Limited LTD-1 preamp/EQ into Black Lion Audio modded Universal Audio Apollo

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[Tape Op #95] while tracking in Logic Pro [#74].
The first thing I noticed was how quiet this microphone is – serenely quiet. The
manufacturer attributes this quietness partly to the cryogenic process mentioned above, but
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more importantly to component selection and the implementation of a superior quality JFET
transistor. On male vocals there was a warm richness with a gentle silkiness at the top end
that gave the voice good presence. I made no EQ adjustments (apart from a high-pass filter
at 100 Hz), yet the vocal sat brilliantly in the track we were working on. Female vocals were
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clear and crisp while never feeling harsh – this mic is perfect for female pop/rock vocals.
Note: the vocalist I worked with was also a voiceover artist, and her spoken word vocals
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between singing takes also sounded incredibly good – present and upfront with a tamed
sibilance. If you have experience in the “V/O-world,” you know that there are really only two
standards of mics that you’ll find being used. I know both of those mics well, but after re-
listening to what I tracked, I’m proposing that the V4 could become a new standard in that
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segment of the recording industry; full stop.

With the V4 positioned about a foot away, slightly toward the neck from the sound hole, an
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acoustic guitar sounded round, present, and well articulated. I could clearly hear each string
when arpeggiated, and with each strumming pattern, chords felt lively and in-your-face when
listening through my pair of PSI studio monitors. A slight bit of subtractive EQ at 220 Hz made
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the guitar sound just right. Lastly, I played three shakers (each a foot away from the mic) and
two tambourines (at two feet) and was surprised that no EQ was needed for any of the
percussion tracks. There was none of the harshness that usually accompanies these instruments
(requiring some low-pass EQ nine out of ten times in my experience), and they essentially mixed
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themselves into the track. I imagine the V4s would serve well as drum overheads – but my NYC
neighbors wouldn’t allow me to track a full drum kit that afternoon!
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I’m shocked at how well this microphone performs, and when I consider its price tag I am
absolutely blown away. I’m admittedly a microphone snob, but I whole-heartedly recommend
this microphone, and have a strong feeling that this will be my go-to FET in most situations.
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($399 MSRP; vanguardaudiolabs.com) -Tony Vincent <tonyvincent.com>

tapeop.com
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Bonus & archived

reviews online!
58 /Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/
 Triad-Orbit
Starbird SB-1 mic stand
We unfortunately live in an age where many of the tools we use are poorly made, disposable,
and destined or even designed to end up in a landfill. As a studio owner and working engineer, I
enjoy the tools I own that have stood the test of time, are decades old, but still work as well as
they did the day the were made. One such tool that gets used on almost every session here at
Panoramic is our vintage Starbird mic stand. Every fitting and every part still work perfectly several
decades after it was made. Compare this to your average mic stand, with a life expectancy of a few
years before it’s been stripped out, its parts start to break, and it joins its buddies in the broken
mic stands part box in the corner of the studio. The Starbird stands will hold any mic – no matter
how heavy and how high in the air you want to get them – without drooping. Given their
considerable size the Starbirds are surprisingly easy to move around the studio, with large wheels
that also still work perfectly decades later after they were made.
So, it’s nice to see that the nice folks at Triad-Orbit have decided to re-launch the Starbird mic
stand. We ended up buying one for Panoramic, and I wanted to share my thoughts on the stand
and how it compares to our vintage Starbird. If you’d rather cut to the chase, I will say that I
am infatuated with this stand; it is a useful tool that will endure the test of time.
Rather than make an exact clone of the original Starbird, the Triad-Orbit engineers decided to keep
the basic look and the functionality of the classic Starbird while taking advantage of improved
technologies and manufacturing possibilities. But despite quite a few improvements, every part of the
new Starbirds are interchangeable with the vintage Starbirds and the Manley versions of the stands,
plus you can buy the parts individually to repair older stands that need work. From 20 feet away our
vintage and new Starbird stands look similar, but as you get closer the first thing you’ll notice is the
much larger counterweight on the new stand. As you get even closer, you’ll notice the anodized
aluminum quick release that adjusts the weight’s position and looks like it belongs on a high-end
mountain bike. In fact, every part of the new Starbird is pretty high tech despite the overall look still
nodding to its vintage inspiration. Starting at the base and comparing it to our vintage Starbird, the
newer unit takes up about 20% more floor space for increased stability, but first impressions can be

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deceptive as the newer unit has retractable legs that, when fully retracted, have a footprint that is
50% less than the vintage stand! So, depending on how much stability you need or if you’re storing

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the stand, you can adjust its footprint to match your needs. While we’re looking at the base, let’s take
a minute to admire those hospital-grade wheels, with foot-activated locks that keep the stand from
moving once it’s in place. I should mention that when the Starbird was shipped in two large, heavy l.
boxes and required assembly, I waited until I had a few hours to tackle the assembly, as I was dealing
with PTSD visions of assembling barbecues and IKEA furniture. It turned out that I was worrying for
no reason; It only took about 30 minutes. With the easy-to-follow instructions stand assembly was a
snap, including unpacking the many small boxes inside the two big boxes (which was a bit like the
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studio version of a Matryoshka doll). Additionally, while assembling the stand yourself, you’ll gain an
understanding and appreciation for how beautifully engineered and designed this stand is.
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A neat feature of the new stand is the pneumatic assist when you raise the height of the stand,
which also keeps the boom under constant pressure, making operation safer – especially with heavier
mics. Everything about this stand is easy to use and well thought out. The angle of the boom, for
instance, can be continuously adjusted or moved in five degree increments with a locking pin that
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keeps the boom from moving (even if the locking knob is loose) allowing for repeatability. Finally,
at the business end of the stand (where the mic meets the stand), there’s Triad-Orbit’s IO Quick
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Change OA ball joints that allows for 360 degrees of movement, is easy to adjust, and is extremely
secure when locked into place. All of Triad-Oribit’s stands feature this technology as standard
equipment. The IO and OA connections allow for quick interchange and can adjust the position of
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not just a single microphone, but a Decca Tree and/or stereo bars with multiple mics – or cameras,
monitor screens, and lights. Even heavy mics like our AEA R44 are easy to quickly mount and un-
mount to the Starbird thanks to the quick release, and the stand holds these heavy mics securely in
any position or height. Specification-wise the Starbird has a height range of 102-inches and the
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boom can extend 98-inches further for a combined overall height of over 16-feet! The ceiling at
Panoramic is pretty high, but even at the highest point I couldn’t fully extend the Starbird. Now if
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they could just make a robotic light bulb changing attachment for the stand, I’d never have to drag
our big ladder out of the shed again! Is there anything not to like on this stand? Well, it is expensive!
But if it lasts as long as my nearly 40 year old Starbird stand, then it’s a bargain. I can’t promise you
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that it will last that long, but it seems like it will as everything on it seems solid and well built. The
only aspect of the Starbird that gave me minor concern was the pneumatic assist. My old 1981
Mercedes wagon [Tape Op #54] had pneumatic door locks that started to fail after a few decades of
use. But it turns out the pneumatic assembly on the Starbird tested to 80,000 uses, and even if it
jv

did stop working, it’s not a deal breaker and besides it’s a fully replaceable system that takes about
10 minutes to fix. I suspect this stand will last several decades without any issues. In the month or
two we’ve had the new stand, the Starbird gets used on just about every session at Panoramic, and
engineers have made a point to tell me that they think it’s the best mic stand they’ve ever used.
($989 street, www.triad-orbit.com) -JB Gear Reviews/(continued on page 60)/Tape Op#130/59
 FLEA Microphones
SUPERFET 47 & 48 microphones
Yes, I’m with you. Do we really need more Neumann U 47 and U 48 clones in the market?
Apparently the Slovakian company FLEA Microphones thinks so, and has produced a pair of
solid-state mics that they claim sound like the tube stalwarts among the holiest of grails in
the vintage mic collection world. I was curious to hear them since FLEA has a solid reputation
for harnessing vintage German and Austrian magic with their tube Neumann U 47, Neumann
M 49, and AKG C12 clones.
Out of the box, I was immediately disappointed with two related issues. The first is that
I am highly critical of spider-style shock mounts. Any microphone that still comes with a
contraption utilizing elastic bands (that can break) and jutting elbows of metal (that hinder
exacting placement) gets a couple points off in my book. (Having said all of that, these feel
like above-average-quality versions of this style of mount.) Second, the sturdy and beautiful
wooden box that holds the microphone doesn’t have room for the shock mount inside. Any
included protective carrying case should have room for all of the components that come with
the microphone, in this reviewer’s opinion. The lack of space for the shock mount meant that
when dragging the mics around for testing at various studios, I had to keep them in their
enormous cardboard boxes, which was bulky and inconvenient. These are petty gripes, I’m
aware, but they did color my impression of the product and I feel compelled to share them
with you, dear reader.
The microphones themselves have the right look and feel to inspire confidence with both
engineer and musician. They have good heft, and it is nice to not have to deal with a bulky
cable and power supply, since they both possess regular XLR connectors and take standard +48V
phantom power. The differences at a glance are that the head grille on the SUPERFET 47 is
shiny chrome while the SUPERFET 48’s head grille is matte. Also, the little selector toggle for
the polar patterns is cream and black on the 47 and yellowish and red on the 48.
Functionally, the differences between the two mics are simple. The 47 sports cardioid and
omni polar patterns, while the 48 is cardioid and figure-8. When in cardioid mode, FLEA

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reported that the two mics should sound identical, and while testing I confirmed that for
myself, I could not distinguish between the two mics when I set them up side-by-side in

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cardioid on a number of sources.
Since the FLEA mics are marketed as being more sonically similar to their Neumann tube
counterparts than FET microphones, I tried them first on vocals. My initial impression on a
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deep-voiced male vocalist was that the mic was extremely dark. I felt like I had to boost a ton
of high end and cut a bunch of low end to get the presence and definition I wanted. I quickly
realized that the mic has a pretty serious proximity boost, and if I asked the vocalist to just
back off the mic a couple of inches, I got a much more even sound. Still, I had to boost a lot
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of highs and ended up getting a sound that worked okay in the mix. However, once the high
end was boosted, I did have more issues dealing with sibilance than I do with other Neumann
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U 47-type mics I regularly use. Michael Coleman, another engineer at Figure 8 Recording, had
similar issues, and felt like he couldn’t use the mic on male vocals at all due to its boominess.
However, as a counterpoint, Figure 8 Recording engineer Sam Owens had this to say: “Overall
it is darker than I expected, but that said, it’s a great option for vocals. I ended up loving how
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the vocal sat in the final mix after several stages of compression and EQ. (Male vocal, breathy)”.
I trust both of these guys’ ears implicitly, so clearly the mic will work for some vocalists (or
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engineers) and not for others. Personally, I had an easier time with the mic on female vocals.
I had already discovered the pronounced proximity effect, so asked the great Katie Von
Schleicher to sing just a little bit back from the mic and ended up with a clear, beautiful, open
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sound (which still needed some lows cut and highs boosted). When she really went for it, I had
to scoop a little bit out of the 1.5 to 3 kHz region, but I think that would have been the case
with any other mic in front of her powerful pipes.
For instrumental recording I didn’t find an instrument I didn’t like tracking with the SUPERFET
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mics, except one: upright bass. I found the sound too flabby and indistinct, at least on that
particular bass/player. On everything else (grand piano, acoustic and electric guitars, drums,
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percussion, Farfisa organ, and saxophone) I thought the microphones did a fantastic job.
Standouts were acoustic guitar and drums. My notes contained phrases like “three-
dimensional,” “excellent sense of space,” and “wide, balanced frequency response.” The pair as
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drum overheads gave me an extremely solid picture of the whole kit, greatly reducing the need
for close mics on the toms (or snare!). Cymbals sounded natural and balanced and never harsh.
Using one as a front-of-kit mic in cardioid, again I felt like I had a really beautiful, balanced
picture of the whole drum set, even in mono. From Sam Owens: “It sounded amazing in front
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of the kick drum – its overt darkness helped deal with cymbal bleed and other harsh drum
realities that can be a headache when using a condenser two feet in front of the resonant
head.” At this point an educated reader may be thinking what I was – these mics might actually
be closer in utility to a U 47 FET than to a tube 47. (I think you may be on to something…)
60/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 62)
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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#130/61

 Having the different patterns on the two mics was certainly handy. I found myself
scheming which mic I’d use on an instrument in order to be able to try the figure-8 or omni
patterns out. Omni sounded great on acoustic guitar and also helped reduce the proximity
effect a bit when I wanted the mic really close. The figure-8 pattern was great for bringing
an electric guitar room mic into a bit more focus, whereas omni in the same position would
have given me a little too much of the room. I do think if I only bought one of the mics, I’d
choose the SUPERFET 47, since I already have a bunch of mics which sport figure-8 patterns
(including ribbons, of course), and I liked the flatter response of the omni pattern. If you’re
doing a bunch of simultaneous duo vocal recording, or regularly need the off-axis null
properties of a bidirectional mic, the SUPERFET 48 may be more up your alley.
To summarize, there is no doubt that these are great sounding, well-built mics with very
little self-noise. However, as with any piece of gear, they have their strengths and
weaknesses. Ironically, the SUPERFETs’ biggest weakness in my opinion was where you often
hear real Neumann U 47s shining the most – as a vocal mic. On almost every other source I
loved them and can recommend them wholeheartedly as excellent all-purpose microphones.
($2195 each; flea-microphones.com) -Eli Crews, www.elicrews.com

PreSonus
Studio 1824 USB interface
Here’s a 24-bit, 192 kHz audio interface that’s a ridiculous bargain at this price point. The
Studio 1824 has plenty of analog and digital I/O, plus an 18x8 DSP mixer with low-latency
monitor mixing. That’s all well and good, and to be honest we’ve tested many comparable
interfaces – some with more bells/whistles, some with less. However, the price on this
interface is crazy low, especially when you consider that it includes a license for my new go-
to DAW of choice, Studio One [Tape Op #86]. You get Version 4 in an introductory “Artist”
version that can be leveled up to the full kit for around $299, but the Artist version is still
robust and has some gnarly integrations with the 1824. Side note: I’ve spent the last few
months transitioning from Pro Tools to Studio One Professional, and thus far I haven’t looked

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back. Studio One is stable, extensible, and has an incredible creation and mix-friendly
workflow. I love it!

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The 1824 interface purchase also includes the UC Surface touch-control app, which runs
not only as a Mac or Windows native application but also on current iPads or Android tablets.
If you use this interface with Studio One, you can use UC Surface on a tablet to act as a full-
featured remote. Oh, and you get a free bundle of damn fine plug-ins from Arturia, Lexicon,
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Output, SPL, and others.
The I/O is plentiful and even includes MIDI in and out, which is rare for a single rack space-
sized interface. There are eight mic/line inputs on XLR combo jacks, with the first two channels
accessible from the front left of the panel, and the remaining six channels on the rear. I like
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this particular design choice, as it means I don’t have to reach for a snake to patch a mic in
quickly when inspiration strikes. The outputs are all TRS, with eight individual line outs plus
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two dedicated monitor outs. S/PDIF and 8-channel ADAT Lightpipe are present as well.
The mic preamps are what PreSonus refers to as “our famous XMAX Class A preamps” and
they sound great – transparent, with no coloration and lots of headroom. Each pre has a
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dedicated gain knob on the front panel, so there’s no toggling through to get to your input
gain. Impressive again for this price point is the conversion, which boasts specs that rival
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interfaces costing four times what this one does.

Gripes? Not really. Well, maybe one subjective one – the design of the front panel looks less
like a serious piece of studio gear and more toy-like than I care for, personally. The curved silver
fascia matched with bright blue alloy knobs – it just doesn’t look super tough. Not every rack
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piece has to be military-grade with Bakelite knobs and old-school VUs, but the looks just aren’t
my cup of tea. Okay, one more: the 12V power supply is a barrel-type, but doesn’t lock – it does
have a cable catch, I guess, but I’d like to see something a little more substantial.
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Minor gripes aside, I seriously have no idea how PreSonus is developing hardware at this
level, bundling it with a ton of valuable freebies, even throwing in an entry-level edition of
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a heavenly DAW, and then selling the whole caboodle for pennies on the dollar. It feels like
theft at $499! As of this writing, PreSonus just announced a new version of the 1824
interface at NAMM this year, the Studio 1824c, with the same exact I/O and specs – only
with a USB-C connection instead of the USB 2.0 port on our review model. Oh, and it has an
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updated front panel in (mostly) black that looks way tough, too! So, there’s that – but for a
hundred dollars less and the same guts you can still get this one!
($499.99 street; presonus.com) -Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com>
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62/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/
 Eventide
EuroDDL Eurorack delay
As an engineer in my mid-40s, Eventide is one of those iconic companies I grew up with. First
seeing gear ads in magazines and studio shots, and then hearing stories about Brian Eno [Tape
Op #85] or Tony Visconti [#29] and his famous “fucks with the fabric of time” quote. I was in high
school at that time, and gear like that seemed so magical and esoteric – ten feet tall and out of
reach. Even once I started working in studios in my 20s, it wasn’t like EVERYONE had an Eventide
H3000 – the few times I did get to really use Eventide gear were mind blowing. Nothing I’d ever
heard sounded like that. I remember soloing the H3000 on a vocal and feeling so excited that I
could hardly contain myself. Upon releasing the Solo button, I was stunned by how small my mix
sounded in comparison. I learned about placement and processing that day in a profound manner.
There’s truly great gear, and then there’s gear that teaches you something while elevating your
process. Every Eventide device I’ve used has done so, and thusly became profoundly essential
equipment in my life.
A decade and a half (or so) later, I was lucky enough to get one of the first Eventide H9
Harmonizers [#107] while mixing FOH on a Deerhunter tour and immediately starting using it for
performances. That night I texted Eventide mainstay Ray Maxwell and begged him to ship another
one to the next gig. The rest was history. That box has been sitting next to me pretty much ever
since. From Eventide’s SP2016 [plug-in, #129] to the MixingLink [#102], these guys have changed
the face of audio engineering countless times, so when I saw the EuroDDL at NAMM last year I
flipped! I had only briefly heard the DDL-500 [#111] 500 Series delay, but main homie and fellow
Tape Op Reviewer Eli Crews told me (and all of you) to get one. I’d been using Eurorack modules
in the studio and in FOH applications for a few years so the EuroDDL was right up my alley.
The EuroDDL incorporates the delay approach of the very first digital delay Eventide made for
The Grateful Dead at Watkins Glen in ’73. Yes, you heard correctly. Eventide made the first digital
delay that delayed the sound of extension speaker towers at Watkins Glen some 200 feet from the
stage to give the stage sound time to travel through the air and catch up to the electrical signal
hitting the towers. We take this for granted now, BUT… Eventide invented it, and did such an

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insane job, so they decided to bring back this minimally digital approach 45 years later. So how
does it sound? In a word: stunning. This is due to the fact that the circuit is 100% analog, aside

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from the delay. It seems to impart beauty and class to everything I send it.
So once my EuroDDL arrived, courtesy of the heroic Nalia Sanchez at Eventide HQ in New Jersey,
I literally threw it into my Make Noise Eurorack skiff and got to work. On that day I was mixing l.
the new Bars Of Gold album for Equal Vision Records. I began by sending vocals, and the
occasional snare or organ stab to the EuroDDL in typical fashion. The result was totally pleasing
and unobtrusive. The high quality of the delay is immediately apparent, but never sterile or typical.
I then began to dig deeper. Using a clock and envelope from Make Noise’s MATHS synthesizer
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module, I was able to get choppy and strange chirping effects, beautiful looping sounds both
forward and backwards with a whole host of other effects ranging from super pleasant to way out
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there. All this is due to the insane amount of flexibility via CV control on the front panel.
The EuroDDL ranges from .0011 to 10 seconds (!) of delay at 192 kHz. This stretches to 160
seconds as you downsample via the combination of the Multiply button and the Encoder knob.
The Encoder knob also adjusts delay time by the millisecond, making it a vibe-y sounding
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Phaser/Flanger at short delay times if you have an LFO on hand. Hold and turn the same knob
while adjusting delay time coarsely. Press and hold the Tap button while turning the Delay knob
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for instant tap division access that stays LOCKED as you adjust. Do the same with the Multiply
button to set the multiple of the delay time. You get a few octaves of pitch down via sample rate
when you do this while looping via the Infinite Repeat button. Applying a tempo synced
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sequencer to the Multiply jack in this state is particularly gratifying. Realizing that much of this
is switchable via gate or trigger, and controllable with CV, starts to open up all kinds of synced
processing possibilities. Syncing this to a DAW by using a Roland SBX-1 Sync Box or a Mutable
Instruments Yarns interface is a snap. There’s also a Reverse button, a Feedback invert button, a
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switchable low-pass filter that sounds gorgeous, and a Kill button that mutes the input to the
delay buffer while leaving your dry signal untouched (super handy for letting trails and tails fade
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naturally). All of these controls are also switchable via trigger or gate signal. There’s a 20 dB boost
as well, and it sounds killer when pushed. There’s also a post delay, pre LPF, and a pre feedback
insert that’s handy as hell. EuroDDLs have ton of super useable features that are easy to
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understand and access, thanks to its simple, uncluttered design and layout.
Control voltage theory is beyond the scope of this review and I’m certainly no expert, but I’ll
give you an example of what I get into. Let’s say you send a piano part to the delay, tap (or clock)
the perfect tempo into it, and set the feedback to your liking. Then let’s say you send a gate signal
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to the Infinite jack or engage via its switch looping what’s in the delay buffer. Once this happens,
you tap Multiply for your preset delay change. Push and hold the same button and turn the Encoder
knob counter clockwise to pitch shift it down while reducing sample rate. Another trigger signal to
either jack defeats them, and the thing syncs to changes with no artifacts. The above applies to
the Tap button (clock in jack) too. I’ve NEVER used any delay EVER with a more stable tap circuit, Gear Reviews/(continued on page 64)/Tape Op#130/63
and while holding the Tap button and turning the encoder, you can access tap divisions. Again,
it’s never even once exhibited ANY of the typical digital artifacts associated with most digital DIY Recording Equipment
delays. I’ve pushed this box hard, in crazy directions, and it’s never even flinched. This makes the OLA5 500 Series compressor
EuroDDL hands down the most musical and accurate delay I’ve come across. It literally never skips I’ve followed DIYRE since reviewing their Colour 500 Series analog saturation platform kit [Tape
or hiccups, and when it does jump, it’s a human error thing and sounds musical. Op #107], and they’ve been busy. They’ve released three or four new kits since 2015: a Colour
The few examples above are but a microscopic scratch on the surface of a new universe of mkII with a lot of solid improvements (I bought and built a pair); a Pultec-inspired passive EQ;
sonics. If this all seems over your head, it’s not: this delay has taught me about control voltage a Colour-loaded mic preamp; and the OLA5, a 500 Series optical compressor based roughly on
and clocking! Having something tactile that you conceptually understand (such as a delay to the Urei LA-4. With the idea that the LA-4 has a superior compression detector bolted to a
feed different modular signals into) is a fantastic Rosetta Stone into a limitless and seemingly lackluster audio path, DIYRE used the LA-4’s sidechain circuit and a newly designed signal path.
abstract world. At $399 you could easily buy the EuroDDL, a Eurorack skiff, a MATHS module or They’ve also added some welcome utility features: a high-pass sidechain filter and a blend control
similar, and a MIDI to CV module that combined would give a very powerful time-based for easy parallel compression. There’s also a “vintage” output gain option, adding an API-style
production tool of the highest order for less than what a decent rack-mount box full of presets discrete op-amp that feeds a custom-wound output transformer. A jumper on the PCB selects
will cost you. I absolutely LOVE the EuroDDL! Chapeau (hats off) to Eventide for making another the “vintage” or op-amp-based “modern” output stage. One last cool feature: DIYRE sells
fearlessly innovative and inherently musical device that retains a nearly infinite array of sound horizontal faceplates for $15 each, in case you want a pair of side-by-side compressors in a single
while remaining totally intuitive. Indeed it is a beautiful portal into the vast world of modular rack space unit. (They also sell a 2-unit horizontal rack kit).
synthesis, and by opening this door the EuroDDL proves finally that the Eurorack format can be DIYRE sent me an assembled review unit with the “vintage” option, and an unassembled kit
inclusive rather than daunting and exciting rather than intimidating. The EuroDDL is a direct link to build if I chose. Of course, I couldn’t resist. I’m a dummy with circuits but I like building
from the origins of digital delay to the undreamed of the future! Space is the Place! things, and soldering together a kit can be quietly therapeutic. This kit has about 150
($399 MSRP; eventide.com) -Christopher Koltay <highbiasrecordings.com> components, making it DIYRE’s most involved kit to date. But it’s not actually that complex –

RME
just lots of resistors and a few caps and ICs, with a small daughterboard to drive the 10-LED
meter. As with the other DIYRE kits I’ve built, the parts are extremely well organized (in 14 small,
Fireface UFX+ interface & ARC-USB remote numbered plastic zippered bags, which is easy to understand but seems like a lot of waste) and
The original Fireface UFX has been the centerpiece of my mixing studio and mobile recording the build instructions are crystal clear. My build took about five hours, including turning over
rig for nearly eight years. The unique feature that sold me on the original UFX was its built-in records every 20 minutes (The Breeders, Cheap Trick, Heart, The Pretenders, Judas Priest, and
DURec recorder, which allowed me to record all 60 channels of I/O onto a USB flash drive as a Kiss’ Alive II). The good news: my build worked on the first try and sounded great. The bad news:
multitrack WAV file. This feature has saved my butt a few times when my DAW crashed while okay, it didn’t entirely work. My meters were glitchy. After a few emails with DIYRE founder
recording a live concert, so I was very pleased to see this carried through and improved upon Peterson Goodwyn, I swapped my daughterboard with the board from the prebuilt unit I was
with the new UFX+, which is now capable of recording up to 76 channels simultaneously! sent. It worked fine. Intriguing... I swapped the LM3916 chip that drives the meter and that did
The original UFX, which connected to a computer via USB 2 or Firewire 400, had a combined it; a faulty part was to blame. At least it wasn’t my soldering!

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total of 30 inputs and 30 outputs at single sample rates (44.1/48 kHz): 12 analog, 16 ADAT, and The OLA5’s opto cell is worth mentioning. As you probably know, optical compressors work
(roughly) by using audio amplitude to drive a light source, then using a light-sensitive detector

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2 AES. The new UFX+ has been upgraded to USB 3 and Thunderbolt connectivity, boasting a total
of 94 inputs and 94 outputs at single sample rates while still retaining the single rack space to control the amount of gain reduction. This creates interesting, non-linear attack and release
height of the original UFX. The number of analog, ADAT, and AES I/O remain the same as the curves. (If you’d like to learn more, there’s plenty out there to read on this topic). A few off-the-
original, while the additional 64 inputs and 64 outputs are achieved with the addition of MADI shelf optocouplers exist, but, rather than use one, DIYRE designed their own discrete opto cell:
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I/O. At double sample rates (88.2/96 kHz) both the ADAT and MADI channel counts get cut in an LED on the PCB is covered by a small piece of black plastic tubing, with a light-dependent
half for a combined digital + analog total of 56 inputs and 56 outputs, which is damn impressive resistor (LDR) on the other end of the tube. Four spacers and some screws hold it together. It’s
for its size. Both BNC and optical connectors are provided for the MADI I/O. The handy bonus of simple and clever, and you can really see how it works (in fact, if you remove the LDR you can
having both these connections is something RME calls “automatic input selection.” This means watch the LED blink in time with your input signal). There are actually two of these cells on the
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that if one of the MADI inputs fails, the unit automatically switches to the other input in less PCB, one for the detector and one for the meter.
than a sample; meaning it’s click free switching. The two MADI outputs can also operate in Okay, so how does it sound? Very good. Vocals are the first obvious choice for an opto comp.
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“mirror mode,” sending the same signal out both outputs – redundancy is definitely a plus with The OLA5 has two compression modes, “compress” (2:1) and “limit” (4:1 or 12:1 depending on
live recordings! RME also sent me their ARC-USB (Advanced Remote Control): a clever little a jumper). The 2:1 mode adds density to a vocal take without any unwanted artifacts, even
remote that puts many of the functions of TotalMix FX (RME’s wonderful software routing system) digging into 8 to 10 dB of gain reduction. Limit mode is heavier-handed and more obvious, but
I like it a lot when combined with the Mix control – probably my favorite setting for vocals. It
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directly at your fingertips with a satisfying tactile feel. The ARC-USB is bus powered via USB 1.1
and will work with USB cables up to 10 meters in length. And, in classic RME fashion, the ARC- brought a few dynamic vocalists under control without making it sound like too much
compression was happening. Since I had two units I could easily compare the “modern” and
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USB is backwards compatible with all RME interfaces released since 2001. All 15 buttons can be
custom assigned, giving you quick access to a number of features like cueing headphone mixes, “vintage” output options. The “modern” output is closer to the input sonics, while the “vintage”
starting and stopping the DURec recorder, or assigning the jog wheel to adjust the gain on the version beefs up the low end a bit and tilts the signal darker. It’s not night and day, but it’s pretty
UFX+’s four built-in preamps. The most common use for the ARC-USB is as a monitor controller noticeable. Which you want really depends on what you’re aiming for. On vocals “thicker” can be
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– you can easily set up a main output A/B in TotalMix FX to toggle between two pairs of a good option, but sometimes you want to leave room for everything else. It’d be nice to have
monitors. Knowing this, RME ships the ARC-USB with talkback, speaker switching, and dim a switch for this up front, though nobody loves a crowded 500 Series panel.
functions assigned to the bottom three buttons by default. I don’t have any opto compressors in my studio, so I called Jack Shirley [Tape Op #115]. Jack
I used the UFX+ on several recordings; including a live concert recording of the Sacramento just finished building an incredible new studio in Oakland, and I like making excuses to visit. We
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Choral Society & Orchestra with a full orchestra and 100-plus choir. For each recording the UFX+ patched up some very nice compressors (a Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, a vintage
Universal Audio LA-2A [#26], and an LA-3A [#49]) and ran lots of sources through all four
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performed much as I would expect the original UFX to perform, which is to say wonderfully.
Notable upgrades to the original UFX that I noticed are the improved dynamic range of the compressors. Vocals, bass, drums, room mics... this kit totally held its own. The compression itself
converters, the increased gain of the four redesigned built-in preamps (which just plain sound sounded great – a slightly slower attack than some of the other comps, which served it well on
better than the originals do), and the dramatically lowered impedance of the two headphone sources like bass guitar – and the audio sounded good too. The front panel is clean and simple,
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amps. This last feature made quite a difference with high impedance headphones, like my 250 and fairly easy to navigate. Two-knob compression is enjoyable. The four toggle buttons are
ohm beyerdynamic DT 770 PROs. black-on-black, which are hard to see. Illuminated buttons would be ideal, but even lighter-
With the UFX+ RME takes the original concept of a transparent sounding, multi-faceted colored caps would make it clearer when a button is depressed. Recalling settings is pretty easy
interface in a single rack space unit format, and runs with it. The only things I’m going to miss – the knobs aren’t numbered but, like the Colour mk2, there are markings at clock-like positions
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about the original are the two handles on the front panel, because this thing will be going in from 7:00 to 5:00 in half hour increments. I use clock notation to write down recalls. The OLA5
and out of my mobile and studio racks all the time. is a respectable compressor for very few dollars. I wouldn’t recommended it as your first kit build,
(UFX+ $2799 street, ARC-USB $179 street; rme-audio.de) -<johnbologni.com> but don’t be scared either. I’m buying my review unit and adding the “vintage” option.
($300 direct, $379 w/ vintage output; diyrecordingequipment.com)
64/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 66) -Scott Evans <antisleep.com>
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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#130/65

 Novation include sequence/song data as well). A standalone, offline
version of the Components app is available for download from
A 14-segment LED meter displays the signal level or the mic
preamp gain setting as well as overloads and the amount of
61SL MkIII keyboard controller the Novation web site, and I tended to prefer that over the onboard compression. The soft-knee, RMS compressor,
This is a future-proof controller that’s really more of a studio online version which only ran on my Mac when using the controlled by only one knob, has a 3:1 ratio of compression
“director” or “headmaster-in-charge of all things bleepy- Chrome browser. with fixed attack and release times. The attack time can be
bloopy” – not your grandad’s MIDI controller, no sir. The SL The SL MkIII offers DAW control for any HUI-compatible further controlled by elysia’s Auto Fast function, which
MkIII is easily the most utility-driven, feature-full MIDI app via InControl mode, which is convenient and works well optimizes the attack time for percussive sounds. The variable
controller/sequencer I’ve yet to test drive. And although it out of the box – I tested with Pro Tools [Tape Op #126] and low cut filter is sweepable from 10 Hz up to 375 Hz with a 12
handily bridges a massive gap between the world of Ableton Live [#126], and with minimal setup I was selecting dB/octave slope. Clearly labeled 48V, phase reverse and mute
DAWs/virtual instruments and the world of analog and arming tracks and using the faders and encoders for buttons are also provided.
synths/modular setups, it can take a little patience to fully automation moves within sessions – cool! The SL MkIII comes The centerpiece of the skulpter 500 is its tone shaping circuit,
grasp its real potential. Novation has done an excellent job of with Ableton Live Lite, plus 4 GB of samples from which provides harmonic saturation and two selectable EQ
making this rather complex controller as easy to use as is Loopmasters, so that adds value for you bedroom producers curves. Tonal coloration is provided by the Shape knob, which
possible, but if you don’t RTFM (Read The F’ing Manual), you’re out there. behaves as a mix control between the clean signal and the
probably missing out on some gnarly features. If you do put The sequencing features are amazing on the SL MkIII, and processed signal while a push button chooses between Shape
in a little time to learn the ropes, your studio will be far more using the 16 velocity-sensitive RGB pads (which all feature 1 and Shape 2. Shape 1 provides harmonic saturation plus a
cross-functional, better centralized and just plain cooler. polyphonic aftertouch) to program patterns on the fly while high frequency roll-off while Shape 2 provides the same
At first glance, the SL MkIII presents itself in the familiar switching to another connected instrument to add tracks in saturation plus a high-mid EQ boost of up to 10 dB. This tone
49 or 61-key MIDI keyboard form factor, with a synth-style real-time is a blast. Having the ability to sequence my shaping can be applied while recording mic or DI signals, or
semi-weighted keybed, pitch and mod wheels, etc. Power it modular and old school synth gear without a computer (the may be used as a mix processor to provide saturation and tone
on via the included wall wart, (bus power is not an option) SL MkIII can act as a stand-alone controller sans computer) is control to line level sources.
and you immediately notice the five color LCD screens plus a freeing. Add to that the ability to split the keybed into eight I used the skulpter 500 on a variety of vocals, acoustic and
healthy assortment of endless encoders, pads, buttons, different zones, and suddenly I’ve lost track of the days I’ve electric guitars, bass guitar, and drum mics. My favorite recording
transport controls, and short-throw faders – most of which are been locked up in the control room. Sorry world – I’ll be in uses for the skulpter were DI bass guitar, DI acoustic guitar, and
colorfully lit up with RGB LEDs (even the mod and pitch here with the SL MkIII getting my John Carpenter on. snare mic. The DI on bass and acoustic guitar felt solid, punchy,
wheels are backlit for cryin’ out loud!). The keybed has a (61SL MkIII $699 street, 41SL MkIII $599 street; and well balanced, without the slowness or dulling that some
“light guide” similar to the Native Instruments Komplete novationmusic.com) transformer-based DI boxes exhibit. The mic pre is extremely
Kontrol S-series of controllers [S49, Tape Op #108], and lest -Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com> clean and detailed, which I would describe as truly transparent,
you think that all of these beautiful Christmas lights are just
elysia as opposed to, for example, a GML 2032 preamp [Tape Op #52],

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for decoration, they start to reveal some meaningful and which is extremely clean but also has a recognizable
helpful touches as you dive deeper. Most notably, each control skulpter 500 characteristic sound. While recording I typically avoid committing

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changes color based on which Track you have selected in the Elysia, just over a decade old at this point, boasts over a to too much processing, but sometimes a light amount of Shape
internal 8-track sequencer (more on that in a bit). The LEDs dozen hardware products and more than a half-dozen plug-ins 1 or 2 would bring a bass or guitar sound to life with added
on the keybed (again, similar to the NI S-series) change in in its catalog. Their flagship Alpha Compressor and its plug- dimension and depth. During mixing, I experimented with the
in version are fantastic mastering compressors, with unique
relation to selected song modes, scales, or note zones, and
chase the notes being played when using the built-in
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features and outstanding sonics, and the rest of their product
tone shaping circuit on all kinds of drums, synths, basses, and
vocals and I was able to create subtle or drastic saturation effects
arpeggiator or sequencer. line is filled with unique and colorful audio processors. The that enhanced almost every sound that I auditioned. The Skulpter
For me, the expansive connectivity (and the potential it newest addition to the product line is the elysia skulpter 500 500 handled both mic and line level signals well, although during
i
represents) is really where the SL MkIII starts to shine: USB mic preamp. The skulpter 500, as its name implies, is a 500 testing I did find at that the maximum preamp gain setting the
MIDI; 5-pin DIN MIDI In/Out, plus a third MIDI port that acts Series module preamp with some effective tone shaping unit seemed noisier than at lower settings. The noise only
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as Out 2 or Thru; Analog clock out; and two sets of CV Pitch, features. The skulpter 500 features a Class A mic preamp, a became apparent at the highest gain settings, and I never
Gate, and Mod outputs. The CV connections (standard 3.5 mm JFET DI input, a variable low cut filter, onboard compression, needed that much gain with any of my instrumental recordings.
jacks) can effectively act as MIDI-to-CV converters, and with and a dual-mode sound shaping circuit. Phantom power and The high-pass filter could be adjusted to effectively remove air
all the various I/O available, the idea is that you can route phase reverse round out the skulpter 500’s features to create conditioning rumble all the way up to where it seemed to affect
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just about anything anywhere you want. For testing, I a powerful, unique mic preamp and processor. as high as 700 or 800 Hz on vocals and guitar.
connected via USB to my computer and wired some 3.5 mm Also unique is the look of elysia’s gear in general. The
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The onboard compressor with only one knob proved useful

cables to connect my modest modular setup (plus a Korg skulpter 500 has a bold blue faceplate with large silver knobs on drums and behaved similarly to a dbx 160 when I found a
MonoPoly synth from the ‘80s) to the CV connections. I also and houses a sophisticated microprocessor brain that controls mostly transparent setting with an occasional tap of a dB or
hooked up a few pieces of MIDI gear via the 5-pin DIN its routing, metering and settings. The mic preamp is a two on loud hits. The attack and release seem to be in the
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connections, including some newer keyboards and even a few tranformerless, Class A design that employs audiophile gain relatively fast range, so that on vocals and bass the occasional
Chase Bliss Audio pedals [Tape Op #118] via a MIDI converter staging by utilizing electronic relay switching of fixed loud peak would cause the compressor to clamp down and
box. Note that the SL MkIII also has sustain, expression, and resistors for setting the preamp gain. This type of circuitry is affect the tone a bit too much for my taste. I found the
footswitch inputs as well. precise, using 40 switched gain steps from 3 dB up to 65 dB. compressor to excel at moderate dynamic control, especially
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Earlier versions of the SL controller line used Novation’s Every skulpter 500 unit is matched so that any two units can on percussive sounds where it provided even levels and a
Automap protocol, but that has been deprecated in favor of a be used as a stereo pair. Toggling the phantom power switch “sticky” attack to staccato piano and percussive guitar parts.
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Templates paradigm, whereby each of the eight available automatically mutes the output to avoid loud pops. No pad is The compression meter is a single LED that effectively
Templates represents a complete mapping for an individual required as the mic preamp can accept very hot input levels displays the amount of compression via its intensity.
piece of gear. Want to switch from controlling (or sequencing) and starts with a very low gain setting. Additionally, the input Overall, the mic pre and DI sound extremely clean and
impedance is extremely high for a mic pre (13 kiloohm),
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your modular gear to controlling your virtual instrument natural, while the tone shaping circuit provides an extremely
within your DAW? Just press the color-coded button below allowing virtually any microphone or line level device to wide range of saturation and tonal control. I would highly
the instrument’s on-screen name and every encoder, fader, happily feed the preamp. The DI input uses a high-impedance recommend the Skulpter 500 as a mix processor as well as for
pad, and key switches over to that device. Out of the box, (one megaohm) JFET circuit to please passive guitars and obvious mic and DI applications. elysia specs the Skulpter 500
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Novation prepopulates the eight template slots with some basses but can also accept balanced TRS sources. The preamp well within the VPR Alliance power consumption specs for 500
popular hardware and software instruments, and you can use and DI have independent gain settings, which are retained Series modules, so there is no risk of taxing any 500 Series
a tool called Components to edit and create new Templates or even after powering down the unit. chassis with a full rack of Skulpter 500 modules.
organize groups of Templates into Sessions (all which can ($879 street; elysia.com) -Adam Kagan <mixer.ninja>
66/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/
 Roland the included step sequencer. While it is powerful, with per-
step parameter sequencing and lots of other possibilities, the
to massage curves smoothly by ear is often more desirable than
the gain jumps that might occur with stepped pots. On a
SE-02 analog synthesizer interface and step input just seems awkward. I found this to surgical EQ (like Maselec, GML, Sontec, et al.) stepped pots make
Here’s a surprisingly powerful new analog synth developed be true of the Moog Mother-32 as well – maybe it’s just the a lot of sense, but on a tone box; less so.
in collaboration with Roland and US-based synth designers size of the unit and the need for multiple button presses. I Here are my usage notes, observations, and opinions: First,
Studio Electronics. This little box is the first of what Roland will concede that patience is indeed rewarded with the where the Michelangelo is placed in the signal chain matters. I
calls its “Boutique Designer Series” synthesizers and is in the sequencer, as the per-step parameter changes, gate time and tried to have it at the end of the chain as a sort of polisher,
compact and now-familiar Roland Boutique form factor. When glide all lead to some radically wild sequences. however, small control changes were too drastic, prohibiting me
I say compact, I mean tiny – for all the feature-rich Another note: the documentation for the SE-02 is severely from using the full power of the unit – no point in having a race
complexity of this desktop module, it’s only about the size of lacking. Perhaps this was intentional, to give the user a sense car you can only drive 25 miles per hour! I moved Michelangelo
a bento box. of, ahem, extra reward with discovery? But in my opinion, the towards the front of the signal chain, which proved to be a
The SE-02 doesn’t come with a keyboard but does have included manual is way too light on substance – so light, in better batting order for the unit. Hendyamps started as a guitar
MIDI connectivity (both five pin and USB). It can also use the fact, that one frustrated user named “Sunshine Jones” made tube amp company, hence those topologies surely influenced
Roland Boutique line of portable keyboard docks like the K- their own manual. Fortunately, it’s widely available for the designer. As expected, the Aggression knob is similar to the
25M, which is interchangeable with the entire Boutique line download – just search for “Users guide for SE-02.” I’d highly input gain on a guitar head, and minimum values tend towards
(I’d probably recommend buying the K-25M with the SE-02 if recommend any SE-02 users getting a copy of that PDF; it’s cleaner results while moving clockwise quickly adds harmonic
you plan to use this synth on the road). Given the backpack- detailed and excellent. Despite those minor criticisms, this is distortion. Though it lives close to minimum most of the time,
ready size, it would’ve been nice if the SE-02 could be battery an excellent and super deep analog synth with some there have been projects where getting wild and driving it to 1
powered (like the majority of the Boutique line), but perhaps genuinely unique character and grit, and it’d be a mighty seemed to work. On a release for the Brooklyn-based band
the fact that it features actual analog VCOs and VCFs, plus so handsome addition to any synth nerd’s studio. Pegasaurus I was able to drive it to 5, but that was a special
much knob-per-function action makes for higher power draw ($500 street; my.roland.com) case. Regardless of aggression, having the trim control at the
requirements – I dunno. -Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com> end allows users to make sure you’re not blasting past where
The SE-02 sounds phenomenal – although the physical
layout and topology resemble a mini Minimoog, it doesn’t
Hendyamps optimal output should be. The rest of the chain thanks you.
For tone shaping, setting the EQ bands to 5 (noon) is rather
sound like a Model D clone to my ears. Certainly, Model D-like Michelangelo stereo equalizer neutral. Simply running things through Michelangelo adds a
sounds can be built, and the 24 dB ladder filter has a tonality The Michelangelo is a discrete, Class A, all tube, full-stereo slight transient bite or dimension. Shaping with Low, Mid, and
that’s very similar to the classic Moog ladder filter, but the SE- equalizer with Jensen input and output transformers. Each unit High seems to be active while Air is more like a passive EQ,
02 has its own character – and it can get downright nasty! I is hand-made in Texas on a first-come-first-served basis. Go resulting in a top range affected by calibration and aggression
love the dedicated feedback knob in the mixer panel (a little ahead and order one now, then come back to read the rest of settings. But in general, the best practice is to close your eyes,

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too much) – it’s a go-to for squelch and drive. this review. I’ll wait. turn the knobs until it sounds right, jot down the settings, print
The ability to save and recall full patch presets is similar to Michelangelo is the original design of owner Chris Henderson, a test tone (for recall), and you’re set. In one instance when I

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the design of the Juno 106 patch system, but you have 384 rather than a clone of a classic unit, so it is worth going over was done exploring the gain staging and the low/high shelf
available slots to save your sounds (the Juno only had 128) the controls. From left to right: toggles offer true (hardwire) fun, I was able to dig into the mids. It seems that the mid
– very handy for capturing your late-night noodling. The SE- bypass, two calibration pots (sans control knobs – for a reason control covers more spectrum than high and low do. Getting
– once set you don’t want to accidentally bump them) allow
02’s oscillators themselves are flexible and diverse, with a
pitch envelope available on Osc 2 and lots of crazy cross-mod
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precise gain L/R matching. The remaining are ganged stereo
really advanced requires exploring the bottom row of toggles.
The Vintage switch really alters the tone here. It’s like
possibilities. After a recent firmware upgrade, there is now controls: Aggression alters the drive in the circuit for extra comparing a ribbon mic to a condenser, and in the right
true Pulse Width Modulation via a dedicated PWM LFO, which saturation. Low, Mid, High, and Air shape respective EQ bands application it could be a lifesaver. The other shifter toggles add
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is accessible using the Patch > Setup function. Although a while adding more harmonic content on larger gain changes. more flexibility when the default band frequency needs to be
menu dive is a little less immediate than a dedicated front Finally, Trim acts as a level interface for the next piece of gear moved from the default value.
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panel knob, it is really nice to have the possibility of slow in your chain. Staggered above and below the tone knobs are Although I used the Michelangelo for mastering, I must say
pulse width mod available for every patch. Oddly, I couldn’t four toggles allowing even more flexibility. Low Shift changes that mixing and tracking engineers should consider it as a short
find a way to sync the PMW LFO to tempo and, as it seems to the emphasis of the low-shelf from 150 Hz to 80 Hz, Mid Shift list audition piece. My main complaint is that I want to use this
be a secondary function for each patch, the rate and depth alters the response of both Low and Mid. According to EQ on every project even if it is not appropriate to do so. I will
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are only expressed in values of 0-127. Also, note that the Hendyamps, this can effectively assign the low-mids to either caution that the Aggression circuit is seductive – a little goes
PWM is applied to all three oscillators (there is no way to control. High Shift alters the curve of the high shelf. Likewise,
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a long way, so keep that in mind. I often send review gear down
apply it to just one or two that I can find). It is encouraging Air Shift does the same for its corresponding band. Finally, the the hall to the mixing guys to test, but there was no way I
to see that Roland can add features like this as firmware Vintage toggle provides the choice between the hi-fi sounding dared do this with Michelangelo. They would never give it back,
updates, and hopefully, we’ll see further updates bringing modern mode and a darker/old-timey vintage flavor, which even with my crazy green faceplate.
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additional levels of control. gently alters the High and Air controls to give them an old- ($2650 and up; www.hendyamps.com)
The LFO is digital and can lock to tempo via MIDI clock or school vibe. -Garrett Haines <www.treelady.com>
analog clock sync. It has nine waveforms available, which is Under the hood are three easily replaceable tubes, four Jensen
excellent – I especially like the random pulse waves I/O transformers, and a substantial power choke. A massive
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modulating the filter section. Another nice touch on the power transformer juts out of the back. There are many ways to
sound design front is the onboard delay section, which, yes, design tube gear, and they don’t all require 16 valves to get great
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is digital, but accurately emulates analog-style feedback. Like results. Ultimately, the circuit design and interplay among the
the LFO, this can be tempo synced, but unlike the LFO, there components matter the most. In that regard Hendyamps have
doesn’t seem to be a way to modulate it with other sources. done their homework. Since the units are built to order, the
manufacturer offers some customization in terms of knob and
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While we’re talking about sync, the back panel of the SE-02
has CV inputs for pitch and filter frequency, as well as trigger panel color. Most people choose standard black or blue
faceplates, but I thought it would be a good idea to go with a
in and out, so the SE-02 plays well with any modular rigs or
green color not found in nature – no worries, I’m not returning
Tape Op is made
other vintage gear. I hooked it up to my Juno-106 and Korg
possible by our
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Mono/Poly; 1980, meet 2018! the review unit! Stepped controls are available as a cost option,
The 1.1 firmware update mentioned above also added some and I had originally specified them. But while conferring with advertisers.
Chris Henderson, we agreed that full-range pots are both less Please support them and tell them
new sequencing options like real-time recording, etc., but I’ll
you saw their ad in Tape Op.
just go ahead and say it: I’m not a huge fan of programming expensive and more useful in real-world application. The ability

Gear Reviews/(continued on page 68)/Tape Op#130/67

 Avid number of years back), which has an accompanying EuControl
application that runs in the background allowing it to speak
so maybe it was unavoidable, but it does seem like an odd
placement. Another issue is that there are no digital displays
Pro Tools | S3 & Dock to Pro Tools or a number of other DAWs. I will only discuss for these buttons, so I’m either committing them all to
control surfaces how it interacts with Pro Tools in this review. That also means memory or using good old-fashioned console tape.
I will start with the bold statement that I feel solidly I won’t get into any of the uses of the S3 as a live sound It should be noted that there is also an entire analog I/O
qualified to weigh in on Avid’s latest control surface offerings, controller, which it is designed to be able to do. Back to portion of the S3. This includes two mic inputs and two line
the Pro Tools | S3 and the Pro Tools | Dock, having purchased EUCON for a second though; it’s important to point out that inputs, as well as two stereo outputs. There is also a 4-in/6-
the very first control surface available for Pro Tools – the it has a much higher resolution than MIDI, somewhere around out interface that connects to the computer over the
Mackie HUI (Human User Interface) – way back in 1999. Even eight times as high, you really feel the difference when aforementioned Ethernet cable at sample rates up to 48 kHz.
when I was just starting out making records, the thought of making small fader rides or long slow fades. There are a whole The top row of knobs can split to give you control over the
doing it without knobs, faders, and buttons seemed bunch of other advantages that EUCON has over MIDI, like gain for the mic pres as well as the hardware output levels, so
incomprehensible. Since that original behemoth died an higher channel count, lower latency, longer track name you can use the S3 as both a front end for your DAW as well
untimely and gruesome death, I have since owned a Mackie support, etc. Additionally, Avid is adding new features to the as a simple monitor controller, complete with a talkback
MCU, a Euphonix MC Control [Tape Op #76], and an Avid Artist protocol regularly. The taper on the rotary encoders is circuit. It also has an onboard headphone amp, which I found
Mix. I was an early adopter of both Neyrinck V-Control Pro and velocity-dependent, which is really smart. This allows for to be pretty noisy. I tested all of these functions, and they’d
Avid’s Pro Tools | Control iPad apps. In addition, over the years super fine-tuning when turning them slowly, but thankfully if be handy to use in a mobile situation or in a pinch, but I
of working at various studios, I’ve used the PreSonus Faderport you’re changing the value quickly by a bunch, you’re not prefer to use my external mic pres and a dedicated monitor
[#59], Behringer BCF2000 [#46], as well as (pre-Avid) turning the knob forever. Like I said, responsive and pleasing, controller.
Digidesign’s Command 8, Digi-003 [#59], Control 24 and C|24, and super compatible with all of the plug-ins I use (UAD, Overall, the first peeve I had with the S3 was the fact that
not to mention their old flagship ICON D-Command surfaces. FabFilter, SoundToys, Eventide, Softube, etc.). The only it’s confusing which set of Select and Record buttons go with
My current main mix setup at Figure 8 Recording includes an learning curve is figuring out whether you press the encoder which channel fader – two other engineers made the same
SSL AWS 900+, which is an analog console that, with the push itself, hit the In button, or the Sel button to activate a given comment while working at my place. They seem closer to the
of a switch, snaps into digital mode, acting as three ganged switch on a plug-in – but it’s still eons more widely integrated fader to their left but are paired with the fader to the right.
HUIs and allowing 24-channel banks of fader and rotary than any other control surface I’ve used. Next, I had intermittent problems with the Solo and Mute
control via MIDI over Ethernet. Okay, now that I’ve outed Speaking of the rotary encoders, there are two rows of switches’ responsiveness. Sometimes they would double-
myself as both old and heavily into tactile control, let’s dig in. them: one right above the faders and one closer to the top of trigger when I hit them once, and sometimes they didn’t seem
I’ll address the S3 first. When it arrived, it was a good deal the surface. Each control has a scribble strip clearly telling you to respond at all. Another bummer is that there is no
smaller than I expected, both in terms of footprint as well as what it’s controlling and what the value is, as well as two indication on the S3 that a track is inactive in Pro Tools. HUI
thickness. This is a good thing, as the whole reason I was switches labeled Sel and In for performing various toggle-type protocol shows an “@” symbol before any inactive tracks, and

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interested in trying out the S3 is that I’m setting up a part-time duties. The top row allows you to spill out a number of I’d love to see something like that in an update for the S3. If
parameters for a given channel while the bottom row can you hide the tracks in Pro Tools they don’t appear on the

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home studio in the Catskills (Spillway Sound). I’ve been looking
for a solution bigger than an Artist Mix – which overall I enjoy either stay attached to the specific channels that they are surface, so that’s the workaround for less confusion. Other
using – but not as big as an actual console, so I can be closer over or enter Channel Mode for a different set of parameters. than these few things, the S3 is pretty amazing. Since the S3
to my speakers and computer display while still having room for This splitting of tasks over two groups of controls really makes
l. is so deep, there are a myriad of cool features I’m skipping
my computer keyboard in front of it. My one ergonomic issue for a smoother experience since you don’t have to back out of (like the many wonders of VCA Spill), but I have to save some
with large-format analog desks – and I still enjoy working a given parameter field as often. As for what the rotary room to talk about the Dock!
regularly on them – is the distance they put me from both controls can control, there’s the normal stuff: pan, aux send Simply put, the Dock is a way for you to use your iPad
visual and auditory information. (Don’t even start telling me to level, and plug-in parameters. But you can also make aux and (check Avid’s website for compatible models) and the (free)
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put the computer display and keyboard to the side; them’s I/O assignments, quickly insert your default EQ and dynamics Pro Tools | Control app to build much of the functionality of
fightin’ words. I favor listening to my mix with both ears at the plug-ins, and manage group assignments and group on/off the discontinued Artist Control, which was a pretty great
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same time.) So, the size of the S3 is a really nice in-between statuses. I know these last few features are available on other controller for its time. The Dock has nine rotary encoders, but
zone for me, since it fits perfectly on my desk. The thin profile control surfaces I’ve used, but I always found using them only a single channel of Fader/Solo/Mute/Record-enable
meant I had to prop the back up with a small piece of wood to more cumbersome than just grabbing my trackball – not so control. There’s a big Jog/Shuttle wheel, dedicated transport
with the S3. Even with just a couple of months of use, I’m controls, and a whole slew of buttons (almost all of which can
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give myself a better angle to reach the controls and read the
scribble strips, but that’s a pretty easy hack to get the thing using the control surface for all kinds of things I used to find be user-assigned – I counted 45 of them). The top 16 of them
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into my comfort zone. Its housing is a pleasing sleek black faster with the keyboard or trackball. are meant to interface directly with the iPad, that is, they
matte, with stylized silver fader caps and bright yellow clear Of course, there are still some things I find faster with the control Soft Keys within the Control app that you can set up
text on its 32 individual OLED channel displays. The LEDs above keyboard, such as using transport controls (since I use a yourself in EuControl. The functions are labeled on the iPad,
the displays are multi-colored to indicate either their current keyboard with a number pad), zooming, etc. However, the S3 and each Dock button glows the same color as the associated
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function or the color of the associated track in Pro Tools (or at has a number of user-assignable buttons that can replace Soft Key. The color-coding is definitely helpful, since my iPad
least an approximation of that color). Overall the S3 boasts a simple key commands but can also select any menu item mini doesn’t have the right scale to line up perfectly with all
timeless, unassuming look (which I really can’t say for the (including things that there aren’t key commands for) such as of the buttons (I assume a full-size iPad would). The rotary
company’s previous ICON/VENUE aesthetics that looked a bit opening up the Playback Engine dialog. I’ve missed having encoders also work in tandem with the iPad. When you’re in
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like they were trying to appeal to toddlers more than to user-assigned controls since my MC Control died a few years the Channel page of the Control app, there are eight boxes
professional engineers). The only visual oddness is “that thing” back, and the S3 has a lot of them – I counted 26 in total, that show values, and turning the corresponding knob
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that happens with LEDs when you move your head fast. The including dual-layer buttons. On top of that, you can save changes your value for pan position, send level, plug-in
otherwise handy 10-segment bar-graph meters kind of trail and different configurations in the EuControl software for various parameter, etc. These are also not aligned properly for the
blur in your peripheral vision, which makes me just a bit dizzy, tasks (i.e. a tracking configuration versus an overdub iPad mini, and don’t have LEDs to help, but it only takes a
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especially in low light. configuration) and recall them instantly. One problem with second to adjust your thinking to ensure you’re turning the
Functionally, the S3 has 16 faders and 32 rotary encoders, the soft keys on the S3 is that the Touch Strip soft keys are right knob.
which are all touch-sensitive and feel a good deal more right under your palm when you’re operating the right-hand The Dock also has an Ethernet connection, and theoretically
responsive and pleasing to use than any fader or knob I’ve yet faders, so it’s too easy to accidentally trigger the functions you can jump it off of the second Ethernet port on the S3.
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experienced on a digital control surface. It connects to the that you assign to them. The default function is transport However, I found that it made my whole system extremely
computer via Ethernet and uses Avid’s proprietary EUCON controls, but only when the Surface Shift button is depressed. laggy (running Pro Tools 2018 on an iMac with an i7 processor
protocol (purchased along with the company Euphonix a I guess they’re trying to fit a lot features into a little space, and 32 GB of RAM). Hooking the Dock up instead to the

68 /Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/

Ethernet port of a Thunderbolt expansion hub seemed to solve
the lagging problems. You need either wi-fi or the Lightning
to a small ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox Junior Amp, futzing with
the tone and overdrive. The combination of the two very Native Instruments
to USB Camera Adapter kit [Tape Op #128] for the iPad to different sounding amps was a bit bizarre and very 3D! With Crush & Mod Pack plug-in bundles
communicate with EuControl on the Pro Tools computer. To be its three functionally different instrument outputs, I could see I’m really digging these lightweight and discovery-laden plug-
perfectly clear, you don’t need the Dock to run the Control app the Dakota County allowing for almost limitless studio guitar in bundles from Native Instruments; the fun-to-cost ratio is
on the iPad; I’ve been using it for years when I need to tracking scenarios. highly disproportionate! Each of these packs features three 64-
control Pro Tools from the live room (or the couch). I The actual sound quality of the delayed signal is really bit plug-ins (VST, AU, or AAX) that offer a surprising amount of
definitely think of the Control app as a much more robust and sweet – very creamy, round, and surprisingly hi-fi sounding for creative potential for such a low cost. I was a little skeptical at
attractive solution when paired with the Dock, however, using an analog delay. There is a real assertive presence to this first – I mean, who needs more distortion and modulation
touchscreens only goes so far towards making me feel like I effect that is missing in other analog delays. The Feedback effects? One could argue that most DAWs include stock chorus
have full tactile control. control knob, as expected, can provide seductive and easy-to- and distortion effects groups that sound great, so why bother?
I could go on with many more details about both of these control self-oscillation. Additionally, the Delay time knob has To answer both questions straight away – everyone needs more
control surfaces, but I will sum up my position on both here: a nice amount of play to it, within the “rockabilly zone,” to distortion and modulation effects if they are designed with the
they’re both totally amazing, but also both feel overpriced to make setting just the right delay a snap. same level of creative potential of these packs.
me (and to the other engineers that came through my studio A slight problem I had with the unit is that the pedal’s true- Let’s look at the Crush pack first. Bite is a bit
to test the S3 and the Dock). If you have dough to spare, they bypass switch seems to be wired after the delayed signal, crushing/downsampling effect with pre- and post-filter options
will make your daily workflow easier and more pleasurable – rather than before. Not an issue if you’re using this pedal as and a unique Jitter control to dial in a level of stereo clock jitter
I’m sure of it. At five times the price of an Artist Mix, the S3 an “always on” or “always off” per-song effect – or as part of and chaotic noise. Dirt is the closest that the pack comes to
doesn’t feel like it has five times as much functionality once your regular sound. But if, for instance, you want to have a including anything remotely traditional-sounding in regards to a
I subtract the things I won’t be using it for (interface, monitor long, cascading feedback-y echo at the ready to kick in on the distortion effect, while managing to provide a ton of flexible,
control, and live sound controller). It does have twice as many end note of a flurry of notes, because the delay is constantly creative options by way of two blend-able circuit-modeled diode
faders, four times as many knobs, and a whole truckload of processing (even though the bypass switch is not letting the clipping stages, plus tilt and bias controls. The third plug-in in
buttons to speed up everyday tasks, but if it were closer to signal out), you would get a long cascading echo of ALL the the Crush bundle is an insane ring modulation and frequency
60-75% of its current price, I’d recommend it to everyone notes before the note you want to delay. In other words, the shifter effect called Freak. Freak alone would be worth the price
without hesitation. Likewise, the Dock is pricey, especially bypass switch simply mutes the output of the delay (which is of the bundle – its sonic palette includes everything from nasty
since you have to own or buy an iPad to use it. But even with constantly processing the incoming signal), rather than what AM radio warped oblivion, to tempo-locked amplitude
that financial caveat, these are both extremely cool products, most delay pedals do, which is to mute the input to the delay modulation, to subtle stereo widening. My experience? Bass
and I hope enough people buy them to keep them on the signal so that the delay is “engaged” rather than “unmuted” sounds and drum buses cower in fear before the Crush effects.
market until I decide I can afford them. when the switch is stepped on. This is a design oversight that Each of the Crush pack effects benefits from an easy to

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(S3 $4999 MSRP, Dock $999 street; avid.com) can sometimes yield jumbled chaos rather than an intended, understand, semi-flat UI with a bright, primary color background
-Eli Crews <elicrews.com> targeted delay tail. I spoke with Sioux Guitars head honcho and bright graphics. I couldn’t feel more at home with these

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Sioux Guitars Ryan Meyers about this, and he acknowledged he may change
the design or implement an interior DIP switch to allow
designs – they definitely aren’t skeuomorphic, but also don’t fall
into the almost Scandinavian sterility of other modern software
Dakota County choosing if the bypass switch works pre- or post-effect. He UIs. It seems dumb to say it, but this porridge is just right and
analog delay pedal
Iowa-based Sioux Guitars has been making very cool, very
l.
did explain that the design was intended to allow the delayed
signal to constantly be running from the Wet output for
invites discovery of semi-hidden features and sonic tweaks.
On to the Mod pack: Choral is a four-mode (you guessed it)
colorful, and very rock ‘n’ roll guitars, amps, and pedals since potential multi-amp fun, as mentioned above. I do hope the chorus effect that offers voicings ranging from ‘80s Roland Juno
2007. I have long admired their stuff from a distance – always bypass switch issue is addressed – it would make an already synth or string synth sounds to bucket brigade style effects
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hearing positive things but for some reason never finding a amazing-sounding pedal with a unique feature set just a bit (apparently inspired by the Roland Dimension D). Flair is a wild
chance to try any of it myself, so I was psyched when given more versatile. take on the time-tested flanging effect with four separate comb
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the opportunity to try their new analog delay pedal. ($150 direct; siouxguitars.com) filters that have many synchronized parameters that alter their
Known as the Dakota County, this pedal is a bit of a stunner -Pete Weiss <www.weissy.com> harmonic relations with one another – think arpeggiated
with a helpful combination of slightly unusual features. Like
all the Sioux products, its beefy housing is painted a blazing
Arturia flanging chords with feedback! And last, Phasis is, yup, a
phasing effect instrument – I use the term instrument here
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red and white. In addition to the expected Delay, Feedback, Synclavier V because it has modulation and frequency range potentialities
(Re-Synthesis Update, V2) that reminded me more of an FM synth than just another phaser.
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and Mix controls, this pedal also features a very handy Level
knob that controls the overall output level. While this may When I reviewed Synclavier V [Tape Op #118] last year, I Like their cousins, the Mod pack plug-ins benefit from a clean
seem fairly ordinary, I’m always surprised that more pedals ended the review by saying that the software didn’t include and simple UI with generally no more than eight or nine
don’t feature such a knob. Delay (and tremolo, for that any of the Synclavier’s sample library and that it couldn’t do controls. I loved this stuff on vocals and really just about any
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matter) effects can have a tendency to blur signal, and when resynthesis. Well, that’s all changed with the updated release higher-frequency information in my mixes.
engaged, make it seem to be quieter than it actually is. It’s Synclavier V, which now brings all of the features and Both the Mod and Crush packs are clearly optimized for NI
very handy and effective to combat this sonic phenomenon capabilities of the original instrument into the hands of Komplete Kontrol controllers or Maschine – I used them with my
with a simple output boost when the effect is on. For today’s music creators at an affordable price. The entire Kontrol S49 keyboard MK2 [Tape Op #109] and they were a thing
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example, when playing guitar through the Dakota County, I original Synclavier sample library is now included, and you can of functionally precise beauty on the high-res color screens. This
found boosting the Level output knob to about two o’clock also import and edit your own samples. But more importantly, is not to say that the plug-ins require a MIDI controller or
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(noon seems to be about unity gain) helped to avoid you can now use FFT analysis with multiple frames to re- keyboard at all – they can be used in your DAW just like any
vagueness in a heavy slapback part, while continuing to be synthesize an additive waveform from a sample. You can even other plug-in (I had no trouble using them with Ableton Live,
present in a live band setting. Of course, the Level knob can tempo sync the analyzed frames. With this new feature on top with or without a Push controller, for example). But for users
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be pushed further for overdriving the amp input for fun. of the Synclavier V’s already very powerful FM/additive sound who have bought into the Komplete Kontrol or Maschine
The Dakota County further sets itself apart from typical engine, the possibilities for sound creation really do seem ecosystems, these plug-in packs are ideal. For others, I’d
delay pedals by featuring three separate instrument outputs endless! All of the sampling and re-synthesis options are consider these packs a substantial upgrade to the stock
(Mix, Dry, and Wet), which allows for all sorts of multi-amp or accessed in the terminal window of Synclavier V and are easy distortion and modulation effects groups included with any DAW.
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multi-pedal patching experimentation. I had fun connecting to access and fairly intuitive. All of these extra features are a Well done, you German software guys!
the Dry output into a Fender Reissue Vibroverb with heavy free update to Synclavier V owners and the synth is also part ($69 MSRP, $49 crossgrade, native-instruments.com)
tremolo and reverb engaged. I then connected the Wet output of Arturia’s V Collection. ($149 direct, www.arturia.com) -JB -Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com>

Gear Reviews/(continued on page 70)/Tape Op#130/69

 Arturia formant filter, a comb filter, a phaser, and a multimode
filter. The multimode filter can be used in 12 different
years ago, I didn’t have as much space and the m902 was
a bit awkwardly on its side edge as I didn’t have room for
Pigments combos of LP, HP, BP and notch modes so there are actually it to lie flat. So when I was chatting with Eben Grace at
This latest soft synth moves in a totally new direction for almost 20 different filters available and you can use any the recent AES show and he was showing me the new
Arturia as it’s not an emulation based on a vintage two simultaneously. m900, which is much smaller than the m902, I was curious
hardware synth (that’s been thier stock in trade for over a So how does it sound? Bitchin! Pigments is a great synth to check it out for my home set-up. The m900 is a bit
decade) – it’s completely original. But concurrently to their for complex evolving sounds. I feel like I could get a job simpler in terms of IO than the m902, but was all I needed
soft synths they’ve also been making their own unique scoring moody horror movies by using Pigments exclusively. for my home rig with a USB input – one unbalanced analog
analog hardware synths like the Brute series, so Pigments And, this is a very fun instrument to play. I’ve been running output and two headphone jacks on the front panel. There
seems like a logical evolution for them. most of my soft synths (including Pigments) in Windows 10 is also a S/PDIF and TOSLINK optical input. A big bonus in
All that modeling, designing and building of analog gear on my Microsoft Surface Pro, and with a few minor my book is that it is bus powered when using a USB input
has put Artruria in an ideal position to release their first exceptions Pigments works great when using the touch so you don’t need a power cable or wall wart which is nice.
“from the ground up” soft-synth, and it’s a winner! screen, which is nice as not all soft synths do. If you’re into But there is a second USB input for power only so you can
Pigments is a mega synth with two completely different synths, you’ll really want to check this one out for sure. use an external wall wart supply if using the other inputs
synthesis engines and two separate filters that emulate a Hats off to Arturia for successfully expanding into a new or an Android of iOS type mobile device that won’t supply
variety of classic filters. One of the two synth engines will instrument category. power via USB. A volume knob sits on top of the elegantly
be immediately familiar to most synthesists, as it’s a basic ($199 direct, arturia.com) -JB spare, small three-inch square black box. It’s hard to really
analog synth oscillator that behaves in the way people are
used to oscillators working. The really cool new tech with
Grace qualitatively AB test converters without a pretty involved
set up that I don’t have in my living room. I will say that
Pigments however, is its new wavetable sound engine. m900 & m902 the m902 always sounded great to my ears, but I feel like
Wavetable synthesis is not new, it’s been around since DAC/Headphone Amplifier the m900 sounds even better on playback of sources I
Wolfgang Palm developed PPG Wave. But Pigments is a very Note: I was using this product and was so excited about know well. In particular the bottom end sounds tighter and
robust implementation of wavetables that’s both complex it, that I wrote this review. Then as I was finishing it up, more focused. The m900 is also 32 bit and supports sample
and user friendly. Wavetables are basically tables of single I remembered Tom Fine already reviewed it a few issues rates up to 384kHz PCM or 256x DSD.
cycle digital waveforms that can be cycled through in back [Tape Op #124]. I went back and re-read Tom’s review The other really cool thing about the m900 is that when
different orders. As such, it’s a digital form of synthesis, but and in the end I think we both said different things about you push the volume encoder in you can access some
PPG Wave paired it with real analog filters which gave that the m900 and even more interestingly, Tom’s one minor pretty extensive ‘bonus’ features. Crossfeed can be turned
instrument a hybrid feel that could be straddle the best of gripe about the m900 was implemented by Grace by the on or off for the headphone outputs and you can switch
both worlds; realistic, complex (sampled) waveforms paired time I got my m900 a few months later. That’s a pretty between four different DAC filter settings for instance. But,

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with warm analog filters. You can read my review of responsive company! what I think will be of the most interest to a lot of Tape
Wolfgang Palm’s Infinite soft synth [Tape Op #121] for more About six years ago I bought a Grace m902 headphone Op readers is the ability to switch monitoring modes,

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info on the PPG history. amp/monitor controller/DAC [Tape Op #68]. It’s not similar to the Little Labs Monotor [Tape Op #117] for
Pigments takes Wavetable synths to a new, more refined something that I use every day in sessions, but when I do instance. There are seven different monitoring modes
and mature level than any other implementation I’ve seen use it, it’s one of those tools that you’re thankful you have,
l. available: Mono, left minus right, left and right swapped,
to date. I think one of the key features of Pigments is it’s and like all Grace products, you can’t help but be impressed left on both channels, right on both channels, left only,
GUI, in that it makes the wavetable engine very user with it’s sleek industrial design. At first glance, the 1/2 right only and of course normal monitoring mode. I have a
friendly and while providing a dynamic real time visual rack space m902 is a headphone amp but as you look Monotor at Panoramic and it’s amazing for checking mixes
indication of what’s happening in a patch, all in a laptop closer it does quite a bit more. Sure it has two headphone on, so having these functions on the m900 is really useful.
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friendly sized interface. The upper left hand half of the GUI jacks and a volume knob, but when you look around back I would highly recommend either of these units. The m902
is dedicated to the two sound engines – one of which can you see how much functionality is packed into the m902. is no longer in production but can be found on the used
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be displayed and manipulated by choosing it’s tab. The There are two analog inputs, balanced and unbalanced as market. The m900 is in production, and while it’s a bit
upper right hand side of the GUI displays both filters. well as a USB input. Besides the headphone outputs on the more money than the Dragonfly type USB DACs, it’s a
Across the full width of the middle of the screen is a narrow front panel, there are also two analog outputs. I recently substantial upgrade in terms of functionality while still
band that displays real time information on all of the being portable and bus powered. (m900 $499 street;
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put together a remote recording rig for artist Avery

controllers for the synth like LFOs, envelopes, S&H, etc. and Hellman and engineer/producer Robert Cheek and we used gracedesign.com) -JB

Arturia
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below this, selectable by tabs, you can edit each of these the m902 as the centerpiece for monitoring the session.
across the bottom of the screen. The sound engine has a Our usage is a great example of the versatility of the m902.
real time graphic display of the wavetable, while the filters The stereo output of our RADAR rig running Pro Tools went MiniBrute2, MiniBrute2S,
have real time displays of the filter curve and how it’s to the balanced input of the m902. We had an 1/8” stereo Rackbrute
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modulated. It’s a brilliant GUI that allows you to see almost jack going into the unbalanced input for Avery’s laptop When Arturia introduced a new series of Brute synths and
the entire patch in real time, thus making it much easier to and phone and a USB cable for Robert’s laptop. This made a Eurorack/power supply system at NAMM last year, we had
edit and construct a sound. This synth is deep and I’m not it easy to bounce between sources as they were listening several reviewers asking about them. Thom Monahan is an
going to try and point out every feature it has, but suffice to music in pre-production discussions. Robert brought a experienced analog synthesizer user and wanted to review the
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it to say there are a lot – you can download a demo at trusted pair of headphones for critical listening (we were MiniBrute 2S, which has an onboard step sequencer but no
Arturia to check it out for yourself. There are, however, a in a barn) that plugged into the front of the m902 while keyboard. Geoff Stanfield who is completely new to analog
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few key features should be pointed out. First, the wavetable one of the analog outputs fed a pair of Yamaha HS8 synthesizers wanted to review the more traditional keyboard-
engine allows you to import your own wavetables which monitors and the other output fed a small pair of M-Audio based MiniBrute 2 and the RackBrute as he also wanted to
has not historically been easy or even possible to do on computer/reference monitors. So with one small half-rack explore Eurorack processing. Let’s start with Geoff’s review.
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other wavetable synths – this will really get deep sound unit, we had a high end headphone amp and multiple –JB
tweakers and creators excited. The engine also implements source/destination monitor control. I’ve used the m902 on I am not a synthesizer aficionado or expert, but if you are,
FM, phase modulation, phase distortion and wave folding similar remote recording gigs over the years and it’s you probably already know that Arturia, the French company
into its sound generation possibilities. Secondl, the filter perfect for that, but would be equally at home in a small that began making software emulations of classic synths,
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section is like a modular synth full of filters stuck on to the studio situation. And, in-between remote gigs the m902 moved into the hardware realm several years ago and is now
side of Pigments. It has eight different filters including the went back home with me and acted as a DAC between my making high-quality analog synths with price points well
Oberheim SEM and Matrix 12 filters, the MiniMoog, a laptop and my Jolida tube amp. But since I’d moved a few within reach of small studios and independent musicians.

70/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/

 What do I know about synths? Some basics, but not much. Brute Factor is a cool feature that creates a feedback loop Noise. In addition, my friend Graig Markel from Seattle’s
Fortunately, Tape Op’s own John Baccigaluppi knows a lot producing a range of distortion from smooth and harmonically Recovery Effects (effect pedals, pro audio and modular device
about synths. He learned on a Buchla Modular system, an ARP enhancing (when used moderately) to full blown chaos when manufacturer) brought over his Bleeding Hearts, Cutting
2600, and an EMS Synthi AKS during his time at Evergreen cranked. In this section there is also a Master Volume, Global Room Floor, and Oscilloscape modules – I already need
State College in Washington. He has a substantial collection Tune control, and an interesting ATT2 > Amp that controls the another rack!
of old analog synths, and an enviable modular setup, so I AD envelope (and the amount its stays open) –useful for After my tutorial, I asked John to explain the integration
figured he was qualified to get me started. drone sounds or patches that are continuously evolving as of the Eurorack modules. He just told me to get cozy with the
Arturia sent me their MiniBrute 2 analog synth and the parameters are being modulated via the patchbay. synth, then get back to him in a few weeks once I got
accompanying RackBrute case to house Eurorack modules. The The Oscillator Mixer is just that, offering slider level comfortable. I felt like the Karate Kid trying to learn how to
MiniBrute 2 is their next generation mono synth with the controls for the four basic waveforms (saw, pulse, triangle kick some ass while John was my Mr. Miyagi telling me to
addition of semi-modular architecture for integration into the and sine). Level control for the second oscillator is also in “wax on…wax off”. While John wasn’t paying attention, I did
Eurorack ecosystem. this section along with a level control slider for an external some exploring and experimenting on my own with the
It’s an excellent stand-alone beginner synth but is also audio source (if there is one being inserted via the Eurorack. The RackBrute unit itself is a sleek unit made of
expandable, with a perfect control center for a Eurorack patchbay). The output of the oscillator mixer feeds the filter aluminum with wood side panels and includes a +12V/-
system.On a call with John he walked me through the basics section of the synth. The ADSR sliders of the EG effect, the 12V/+5V power supply. It’s available in two sizes: three rack
of subtractive synthesis. To over simplify, subtractive synthesis filters, and the AD filter effect the Amplifier section by space 88 HP and a six rack space 176 HP. It can be attached
is the foundation of analog synthesizers – the process of taking default. The two switches in the AD Envelope section seamlessly to the MiniBrute (or not) and can be laid flat or
a complex waveform and altering its sound by removing or (Gate/Trigger and Once/Loop) determine the behavior of the upright. For transport, the bottom support rail doubles as a
attenuating its partials using voltage controlled filters. John envelope after it has been triggered. These functions are all handle that protrudes from your travel bag. Because some of
explained Voltage Controlled Oscillators (VCOs), Low Frequency re-routable via the 48-point patchbay. Plus, there’s a the modules I started with were wider than a standard single
Oscillators (LFOs), Filters (VCFs), Amplifiers (VCAs) and separate VCA for modulation routings, Sequencer and module, I filled up the provided three unit rack almost
Envelope Generators (EGs). It was fantastic to get a Arpeggiator, and is sync-able to an external clock via MIDI, immediately. I suggest seriously gauging your module needs
personalized introduction on the subject of synthesis, which USB, or CLK. Other connections include a USB port (for use before selecting which size RackBrute is best for you. I’ve
helped to give me the knowledge I needed to start creating with a DAW), plus audio and headphone jacks – there’s even come to terms with the fact that I have a gear habit problem,
sounds on my own instead of relying on presets or just blind an external audio input so you can process audio through so I’ll have to buy a six unit RackBrute to go along with the
tweaking. I am not a fan of small screen menus and sub-menus MiniBrute 2’s filters and VCA. This gives you all the control three unit Arturia sent me. There are some good websites like
typically found on today’s synths – the MiniBrute is the polar voltage and audio inputs and outputs you’ll need to interface Modular Farm and Modular Grid that can aid in visually
opposite in this regard. There is not one screen to be found on MiniBrute 2 to a larger modular setup. Also, a nice tweak is planning and building your rack ahead of time – before you
the MiniBrute 2. It does come with a Cookbook that has a the positioning of the mod and pitch wheels, which make go shopping. For me this is a new universe of fun and

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handful of settings for beginners. more sense to the left of the keyboard rather than above it unknowns, which sometimes can be exactly what’s needed to

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The MiniBrute 2 sports two LFOs, two VCOs (the first having like they were on the original MiniBrute. Whew! dig myself out of a creative trench – how could anyone not
controls for Fine Tune, Glide, Pulse Width Modulation, FM The modules mentioned above are internally routed as want to get busy with all those cool looking modules? I’ve
synthesis, and modulable Metalizer). Metalizer takes the peaks Arturia deemed best but, with patch points on the right of the used the RackBrute multiple times to process audio while
of the basic triangular waveform and folds them downward to unit, you can re-route to your liking. The manual has a great
l. mixing, by adding interesting and unique intros, outros, and
create more complex and jagged waveforms rich in high introduction to the basics of synthesis, which for a relative transitions. There is a lot of exploring to be done, but even a
harmonics. The Metal Mod knob sets the modulation range for newcomer was a thoughtful and interesting read without short distance down the trail has yielded results.
the Metalizer knob. VCO 2 has a more limited control set with being overly technical. Once I understood how things were Arturia’s MiniBrute 2, and their accompanying RackBrute
three wave type selectors (Sine, Sawtooth, and Square) and a laid out, everything became so much more accessible. I look Eurorack cases are a well-built, turnkey solutions for entering
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Range selector that sets the tuning range of VCO 2. The pitch at it this way; non-audio folks may look at a massive SSL desk the world of analog synthesis without going broke –also
of VCO 2 will track that of VCO 1 by default, but there is an and ask, “How do you know what all those buttons do?” perfect for complementing a growing collection of synths and
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input on the patchbay that allows VCO 2’s pitch to track Maybe you explain (or not!) that it’s just the same redundant modules. In a world filled with more and more presets, a lot
another source. The pitch of VCO 1 can be modulated by the channel strip 72 times over? Same deal here. The MiniBrute is of what we hear sounds the same. It’s an asset to have the
pitch of VCO 2 with the FM knob in the VCO 1 section. But a good first synth to learn the basics on, but it also sounds skill to dial in your own unique sounds and settings. I am
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there is also an input on the patchbay that allows VCO 1’s great while being versatile and expandable. You’ll probably miles from some of my pals that are experts in the synthesis
pitch to be modulated by another source, and VCO 2 can be keep it as you grow into a bigger rig, unlike that first cheap- realm, but diving in makes me appreciate what they do even
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used as an additional LFO. The MiniBrute’s two LFOs each have o mixer you couldn’t wait to get rid of once you learned what more. Even if you don’t have plans or feel that you may not
waveform choices of sine, triangle, sawtooth, square, or two a good piece of gear was all about. have time to dive deep into analog synths or modular
types of random waves. Each LFO has its own Wave selector If you are new to creating your own sounds from scratch synthesis, it may be worth getting a small powerful rig like the
and Rate control switch that determines whether it will run on a keyboard as opposed to scrolling endlessly through MiniBrute 2 and/or RackBrute for dabbling and take your
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freely or synchronize to the master clock. There’s a secondary patches for sounds, and then maybe modifying them to your music production to the next level. -GS
Shift function for each LFO that lets you decide if you want liking, there is a bit of a learning curve. But with the help of Now, let’s dig a little deeper with Thom and the MiniBrute 2S.
an LFO to retrigger when a new note is played. friends, family, and a few YouTube videos, you’ll be off and The acid test for any synth really comes down to the
The filter section on the MiniBrute is a Steiner-Parker running. Practice makes perfect. The effort will reward you oscillators. There’s kind of no way around it. You can overdrive
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multimode filter with FM synthesis and RM (Resonance with sounds that are unique to you and the situation. and modulate, filter and manipulate, but when it’s time to
Modulation). There are four selectable modes (Low-Pass, Now, on to the RackBrute! So, you want to be a modular provide deep tonality, if the oscillators don’t cut it, you’re
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Band-Pass, High-Pass, and Notch) and offers -12 dB/octave synthesizer expert? Yeah me too. I have long been fascinated hitting a major functional limitation no matter what the
slopes for low and high- pass filters with -6 db/octave slopes by those massive walls of Pink Floyd-looking modulars with all feature set may be. Based around a pair of gorgeously
for band-pass and notch. Users will also find familiar controls their blinking lights, wave shape selectors, faceplate wizard sonorous oscillators, the Arturia MiniBrute 2S semi-modular
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for Cutoff and Resonance with the aforementioned RM and etchings, and the rainbow spaghetti of all those patch cables. analog sequencing mono-synth reboots the heart of this
FM controls. All hardwired connections on the MiniBrute are RackBrute is Arturia’s Eurorack format housing with a built-in beast; this thing rules – sounds bonkers – just wonderful.
noted on the panel (printed in blue). In other words, you can power supply that is completely independent of MiniBrute Building off the control architecture of the popular original
change this connection in the patchbay if so desired. The while designed to work next to MiniBrute as an integrated MiniBrute (featuring simply two oscillators with dedicated
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AMP section is the final output stage of the MiniBrute. Eurorack modular rig. On John’s recommendation, I picked up waveform modifiers, a Steiner-Parker multi-mode filter, ADSR
Everything happens before this stage, ahead of the audio a few essential modules (LFO, Filter, I/O), and a few fun pieces and loopable AR envelope generators, and a BruteFactor
output connections. like Mutable Instruments’ Clouds and Morphagene from Make output feedback loop), the MiniBrute 2S ditches the keyboard

Gear Reviews/(continued on page 72)/Tape Op#130/71

 for a comprehensive and intuitive multitrack step sequencer
with 16 pressure/velocity sensitive pads, corresponding Synclavier Digital
endless encoder knobs, and an extended CV patchbay. The rear Synclavier Go! iPad app
of the 2S is relatively simple, with a mono 1/4-inch If you’ve been following my reviews in Tape Op, then you
unbalanced output, a 1/8-inch plug for headphones (signal is may have already read my reviews of several virtual software
mono and has no dedicated level control), DIN MIDI jacks for instruments based on the original Synclavier hardware
input and output, a USB port for computer connectivity (no synthesizer [Tape Op #118]. If not, you can read those to get
streaming audio), and a power connector. This revamp boasts more background on the Synclavier and it’s unique approach
more than just a few added features. The functionality to synthesis.
provided by the patchbay can easily become the centerpiece Synclavier Go! is the latest software version of the
of a larger modular system. Additionally, the 2S offers the same Synclavier developed by Cameron Jones, the original coder
mounting points as the keyboard version MiniBrute 2 for the and one of the co-inventors of the Synclavier. And much like
corresponding RackBrute powered Eurorack case, making for an Arturia’s Synclavier V that Mr. Jones collaborated with Arturia
aesthetically pleasing and ergonomic setup. Arturia is totally on, Synclavier Go! uses all the original code and programming
peddling a gateway drug to modular here. This is a lot of bang from the hardware Synclaviers. One of the features of the
for your buck. It would be hard to put together a system of original and beautifully elegant Synclavier ORK keyboard
separate modules with all this functionality for this price. (made of hand polished hardwood), was its aircraft grade
Surprisingly heavy and well built, with respectable wood buttons that illuminated bright red when they were pressed.
ends, the knobs, encoders, and pads sturdy and expressively You could swipe and engage several buttons at once, which
playable, the MiniBrute 2S feels great under the hands. The made programming the original instrument fairly easy and
patchbay is like most – respect it and it will last longer. If intuitive despite its deep complexity. Later the terminal
there was a small quibble, really more of an observation, it’s option was added and Arturia’s Synclavier V has implemented
that because the patchbay is horizontally located (due to the a very deep version of this feature set. In contrast, Synclavier
ergonomics), it makes the patch points vulnerable to dust. Go! has only the red buttons that fill up the iPad’s screen,
Covering it when not in use is probably a good idea. Shipping and I have to admit I was a bit intimidated by this as I found
with a handful of cables to get you started, the internal pre- the terminal screen much easier to use than the virtual ORK
wired patching of the 2S is thoughtfully labeled across the unit screen within Synclavier V. But, once I downloaded Synclavier
in blue, under the corresponding controls and patch points. Go! from the app store and started to play around with it, I
was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I was able to figure

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The inputs and outputs on the patchbay have their own easy-
to-read labeling, which makes the 2S and some of its useful out the touchscreen ORK interface and how easy it was to

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quirks remarkably simple to learn quickly. edit and create sounds on the iPad without the visual
Recordable in step and in real time with multiple playback feedback of the computer screen in terminal mode. In some
modes, the sequencer records up to 64 steps and has ways it’s easier and forces you to use your ears. It’s almost
essentially four tracks of control per sequence, with 16
l. analogous to the different ways of working and listening
sequences per bank for four banks (labeled A through D). The when you’re tracking to a tape machine instead of a DAW. It’s
four tracks are primarily Pitch, Gate, Velocity, and Pressure. The clear that Mr. Jones put a lot of time and thought into the
two last tracks have their own dedicated CV outs in the very well implemented GUI of Synclavier Go!, and the multi-
patchbay and are capable of assignment to a dizzying array of touch interface of the iPad is the perfect launchpad for this
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options: additional Pitch, Gate, Pressure (great for paraphonic latest re-launch of the Synclavier software. The app comes
sequencing of OSC 2, or external gear), CV with ranges from 1- with over 900 preset sounds with the option to create and
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8 V/Oct, Envelope Steps with adjustable Attack and Decay per save your own presets as well. I met Mr. Jones at NAMM and
step, or a multi waveform LFO that can change speed synced he said they expect to release more presets – or Timbres as
or un-synced with every step. There’s an onboard Arpeggiator he refers to them – in the coming months, and will be
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that can be recorded, assignable ratchets per step – the LFO inviting other designers to create sound sets for the
and Envelope Step capability alone is so rich with modulation instrument. It’s exciting to see this once cutting edge
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possibility, it makes the unit worth having just for the instrument get a re-launch, because as I mention in my
ergonomics and depth of the sequencer. Synclavier V review, there is still nothing else like it in the
Kudos to Arturia. Easily patchable, intuitive to use, marketplace. I said it in my Synclavier V review, but it’s worth
capable of deep, deep programming with an inventive saying again: this is a lovely sounding instrument, both
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modern sound design while totally ready-made for “system simple and deeply complex at the same time. I also like that
shaking” house rocking. This is a synth of affordable raw Synclavier Go! doesn’t have a bunch of delay and reverb
beauty. - Thom Monahan effects built in. The timbres sound great without them and
In conclusion, if you’re looking to get started with analog you’re left to your own devices to create treatments for them.
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synthesis, all of the Brutes are great entry level synths in terms Plus, in a nod to the positive effects of Moore’s Law, it’s
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of price, but also deliver serious sonics and flexibility well worth mentioning that this app does everything (and more)
beyond what you’d expect from an entry level unit. These than the original Synclavier II did that cost a little over
would make a great addition to an existing system like Thom’s $14,000 in 1982. Now that’s a significant price reduction! So
studio or, if you’re just starting out like Geoff, are not likely go ahead and give this amazing synth a try, I think any
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going to be something you’ll want to replace as you get deeper musician or studio will find it extremely useful and it will
with synths. At every price point Arturia is delivering gear that cost you less than filling up your car with gas.
exceeds expectations. For another viewpoint, check out my ($39.99 from the app store, synclavier.com) -JB
review of Arturia’s flagship synth, the MatrixBrute. -JB
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(MiniBrute2/2S -$649 RackBrute 3u/6u Eurorack case:

$259/$359 www.arturia.com)

72/Tape Op#130/Gear Reviews/(Fin.)

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74/Tape Op#130/Please Support Our Advertisers/
At the Feet of the Masters
by Larry Crane
Last year I bought The Beatles’ super deluxe 50th anniversary box set
edition of The BEATLES (commonly known as “The White Album”). The new
mixes that Giles Martin [Tape Op #103] – son of the album’s original
producer, George Martin – produced of the main album with mixer Sam Okell
are awesome (I’m actually a big fan of the increased clarity and sound of
these), but it’s the outtakes and studio chatter that I really find important.

In this day and age, it’s nearly impossible to learn the

craft of recording and producing music as an assistant (or
tape op) in a professional studio, and, of course, one would never
be able to intern under engineers Geoff Emerick [#57] and Ken Scott [#52] at
Abbey Road, or Barry Sheffield (at Trident Studios), and watch this record’s
songs getting worked up and tracked. But here we have hours of one of the
most important bands ever working their way through a myriad of songs,
making decisions on how to play them, how to sing them (even what to sing,
in some cases), what to overdub, and much more. Examining one song from
the “Esher Demo” to the final mix is essentially a master class in record
production. Notably, the issues they encounter along the way are no different
than what people I work with in the studio deal with, and the ways to enhance
the songs or solve the problems can be enlightening.

Years ago, I listened to hours of The Beach Boys’ The Pet Sounds Sessions
box set, in awe of how Brian Wilson changed arrangements for the players on
the floor, incorporating their ideas (and mistakes!) on the fly while dialing in

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every instrument’s sound and part. I’ve also been listening to Prince’s Piano &
A Microphone 1983, amazed at how the core of these songs is so strong, yet

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the final arrangements are so different and important as well.

If you aren’t making the time to dig into these archives made public, and
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hear important music like this being created, you are missing out. The masters
have left us the best work to study from, and we should learn all we can from
the past. Keep learning. r
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The illustration at right is a diagram of

The Beatles’ studio set up at
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Abbey Road during 1968, from the book

Recording The Beatles
by Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew.
Another great resource for studying
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The Beatles’ recordings.

<www.curvebender.com/rtb.htm>
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End Rant/Tape Op#130/75

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