The Creative Music Recording Magazine

NOVA WAV

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Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Rihanna, H.E.R.

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Van Dyke Parks
Brian Wilson, Verónica Valerio, arranging
Matthew E. White

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Spacebomb, producing, new solo album
Gary Kemp
Spandau Ballet, INSOLO, Nick Mason

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Godfrey Diamond

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Lou Reed, Desmond Child, disco
Sarah Tudzin gm
Illuminati Hotties, Macklemore, Weyes Blood
Nate Mercereau
recording Duets | Golden Gate Bridge
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Late Aster
recording True and Toxic
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Jerry Kee
Duck-Kee Studios, N. Carolina, Superchunk
Gear Reviews
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$ 5 . 9 9 N o . 1 4 5
O c t / N o v 2 0 2 1
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 Hello and
welcome to
Tape Op
10
12
14
20
26
Letters
Nate Mercereau
NOVA WAVE
Van Dyke Parks
Matthew E. White
#145!

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It feels like we’ve all been in a cold, dark, chilling era for
32 Sarah Tudzin the past 18 months and I hope we get out of it soon. I spent

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most of 2020 and half of 2021 working unattended in the
40 Gary Kemp studio, only doing a few select attended (masked up) tracking
46 Godfrey Diamond sessions last year. Thankfully, I’d been building up a steady
“remote mixing” career and clientele for well over 15 years
54 Late Aster

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p a g e

(especially once we could easily transfer files online), and that

58 Jerry Kee – along with freelance and staff sessions, virtual recording
62 Gear Reviews workshops, and careful budgeting – managed to keep Jackpot!
Recording Studio financially afloat for a year and a half.
82 John’s End Rant Coming out of this time, it’s been

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life-affirming to do actual attended sessions once
again. Like John mentions in his End Rant this issue,

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collaborating with others in real time, face-to-face, is
something I also find rewarding, and a process one is unable
gm to completely achieve while working remotely.
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My first attended session a few weeks ago was with local legends The Dandy Warhols, a group I had never Mixing at Jackpot! Recording Studio.
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had the pleasure of working with before. We ended up throwing a bunch of overdubs at a track, and, after they Thanks to Shady Cove for hand modeling.
left, I assembled an “idea” of what the arrangement could be. For our next session, we arrived at a wholly
different approach to the song and mix, via much input and experimentation. There was no possible way we could
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have gotten to that point without being in the same room, bouncing concepts around, and trying things out on
the fly. Body language, last minute overdubs, and reading the mood in the room can do so much more in finding
the potential of any recording than 20 emails or a single Zoom call. It felt like I was home again.
It was an incredibly challenging year, and there are many lessons I’ll carry forward with me from this time.
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But one thing I know for sure is that my appreciation of human connection will
never change. Let’s get together now, and create the best music we can.
Larry Crane, Editor & Founder
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 The Creative Music Recording Magazine

Editor & Founder

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

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Production Manager & Gear Reviews Editor
Scott McChane

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Gear Geek at Large
Andy Hong

Contributing Writers & Photographers

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Cover art by Alvaro Naddeo <@Alvaro_Naddeo>
Minea Bisset, Lisa Machac, EYEMJONARTHUR, Richard Parks, Shawn Brackbill,
Sadie Dupuis, Maddie Ross, Joe Magowan, Greg Di Gesu, Nina Meledandri,
Slater Swan, Dan Knobler, Dana Gumbiner, Jeremy Wurst, Eamonn Aiken, Will Kahn,
Brian Bender, Daniel Ryan Morse, Garrett Haines, Ben Bernstein, Adam Kagan,
Liam Nelson, Jesse Lauter, Garrett Haines, Jon Regen, Dave Hidek, Deadeye Press,

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Kim Ware, Carla Burgess, Jon Regen, Chris Hughes, and Chris Carnel.

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Editorial and Office Assistants
Jenna Crane (editorial copy editor), Jonathan Saxon (reviews copy editor),
Thomas Danner (transcriptions), Hazel Stanfield (online),
Maria Baker (admin, accounting), Jay Ribadeneyra (online)
gm 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.

Editorial Office
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(For submissions, letters, music for review. Music for review is also
reviewed in the San Rafael office, address below)
P.O. Box 86409, Portland, OR 97286 voicemail 503-208-4033
All unsolicited submissions and letters sent to us become the property of Tape Op.
(a

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

PO Box 151079, San Rafael, CA 94915.

Please do not email or call the rest of the staff about subscription issues.

Postmaster and all general inquiries to:

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

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

www.tapeop.com
8/Tape Op#145/Masthead
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I wanted to say how delighted I was to see the
article on Tom Wilson in the latest issue [“Tom Wilson:
An Unsung Hero of the Studio,” Tape Op #143]. Wilson
truly is an unsung hero, and I have never
understood why he never got
the credit he deserved . His knowledge
and musicality helped make albums that made history.
It’s a shame we lost him so young. Thank you, and kudos
Long time reader, first
time letter writer. Your
article about Tom Wilson is
one I wish everyone in the
world could read. He is
probably one of the least-
known pioneers of early
pop and rock, and he’s
produced some of my
favorite records of all time. Even
though rock, pop, and folk were not his musical
background, it’s obvious that he had a well-rounded and
flexible sense of what works in music, as well as a unique
knack for coming up with that thing that makes a record
great. Someone ought to make a movie about his life.
Randy Adams <www.adamsound.com>
I’ve it said before: if this magazine had still existed
and been on my radar in 1996 I’m not sure I would have
started Tape Op. But, then again, Re/p was obviously more
“pro” (yet very informative) and I did want to highlight
artists working at home, in small studios, and such. But
wow; these are always a treat to read. -LC
I just wanted to let you know I have an upcoming
voiceover project for a documentary I will be recording,
and I picked up two JZ Microphones based on the email
you sent out through the Tape Op mailing list. I picked
two very affordable but high-quality options; The Vintage
67 [Tape Op #133] and the Amethyst [#62]. Both mics
sounded great for voiceovers, so I will do my own side-
by-side comparison with the client. Thanks.
Rob Dew <funkyboypd@hotmail.com>
I’m a long-time reader and fan. I love the new issue

)
I was happily surprised to see a letter of mine
to Ian Brennan for writing the piece. All my best, published a few issues back [Tape Op #141], and I would [Tape Op #143], but I’m still trying to absorb a quote
from page 36. It reads: “Bill Bruford, bless him, but he

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Richard Barone <richardbarone.com> expect that fact alone might reasonably put me well at
couldn’t keep time.” Is Steven Wilson using his ears to
I was an active studio musician in NYC when Tom the back of the line before any consideration of this note
mix these records? Is there a context I’m missing? Tell me
Wilson was producing Bob Dylan and others. I cannot appearing in print would occur. However, in the unlikely
you challenged this bold statement in the interview and
think of any black producer who was “allowed” to produce event that I am the only one writing in to say, “Wow,

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then edited it out. Bill Bruford can’t keep time? I’m sure
white artists, other than Quincy Jones (who was not in amazing; thank you,” for the opening article in issue
many readers were baffled by his statement.
NYC). However, there were a couple of black audio #143 highlighting (and, frankly, probably informing most
John Westberry <mrjohnwestberry@gmail.com>
engineers: Ray Hall at RCA [Victor Studios] was a well- people about) the career accomplishments of Tom Wilson
respected engineer who did lots of jazz and other and his place in the world of recorded music, I must He said it. I was scratching my head as well! I think
sessions. There was also a young, black engineer named plead my case to be allowed to sing the praises I even laughed when he said it. But note the rest of the

l
Ed Rice who worked at a studio named Gotham where of this magazine yet again. Thanks! quote from our chat: “…speeding up and slowing down. I
they did jingles and records as well. Another related Stephen Bennett <slbennett@stkate.edu> love that about him. It gives this music a sense of abandon

thought: In NYC there were many black drummers, bass
players, keyboard and guitar players who played on pop
and rock sessions. The L.A.-based Wrecking Crew was
mostly white, except for drummer Earl Palmer and bassist
Jimmy Bond. I’ve often wondered where the other black
rhythm section players in L.A. went, and why so few of
them seem to have infiltrated the Wrecking Crew.
Dick Weissman <r2s@comcast.net>
Thanks for the review [Dan Alexander Audio: A
Vintage Odyssey, Tape Op #143]! I really appreciate it! I
wanted to clarify the reasoning behind including thegm
sales list in my book. When I started [writing], it was
called A Vintage Legacy, and compiling the sales list was
really the beginning of the project. There were a couple
of factors that motivated me to include it. Of course,
I’m pretty proud of my client list; it’s almost everybody
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and momentum that he’s speeding up. I made a couple of
records after that which do the same thing.” So, Steven
took something positive from what he claims to have
heard. Even with something as seemingly solid as timing,
there can still be room for interpretation. And he chose to
create more art with what he interpreted. After this
interview I found myself listening to Yes albums and trying
to find any poor tempos... nothing bothered me! At 18 I
saw Bill with King Crimson on the Discipline tour in a tiny

Thank you for your thoughtful letter, and for
mentioning more names. We all have a responsibility
to stop the erasure of Black culture in history. Tape Op
is committed to continuing to include these stories
and their brother. In comparison to today’s marketplace
(try to find two pairs of old 80-series Neve modules that
are even for sale!), we had lots and lots of stuff go
through the shop. I also thought it would be cool for
(a
club in San Francisco. Wow. -LC
Tape Op is my only magazine subscription and I
really appreciate the choices you

and interviews. –LC people to find their items by serial number, as well as maintain in the physical publication. The matte
to get an idea of where it came from. But I think the paper is so much more appealing to the eyes than glossy,
A side note on your Tom Wilson piece: Simon &
important thing about it is that it shows the and the progressive cover art and grimy typefaces make
Garfunkel and the Blues Magoos were both managed by
progression of prices in real terms. I am not aware of me feel like I’m among friends. The look and feel you are
Marvin Lagunoff. Tom Wilson signed the Magoos after an
any other similar listing in all the literature of guitars cultivating emanates outwards, informing funky ads like
audition in his office at Columbia. The name Bloos
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or studios. One can find original retail prices, but that Enac Mic Repair and Storybook Sound, while also
Magoos came to Marvin Laganoff in a Chinese restaurant.
doesn’t reflect the impact of time and fetish value. It’s generally encouraging a playful approach to the
At some point, it became Blues Magoos, perhaps when
interesting that different people seem to enjoy different sometimes daunting marketing tasks in our
the deal with Verve Folkways folded and the Magoos were
parts of the book and not others. I have been surprised communication endeavors. Thank you much.
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signed to Mercury. I’m not sure what other involvement

by the varied reactions. Also, reading the article in your Mike iLL <mutinyzoo.com>
Tom may have had with the Magoos. I was told that it
latest issue about Tom Wilson was mind opening; what
was Marvin’s idea to underdub the band on “Sounds of Thank you for reading! We love our subscribers,
an incredible career and talent! It is hard to imagine a
Silence.” Paul Simon hated it, and for that Marvin was readers, contributors, and supportive advertisers! – LC
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more diverse and seminal discography. It’s astounding

fired. In the meantime, there was actually a touring band
that he has not received more recognition. Seems like
(for about 20 minutes), which included Tom Dawes (the
there might be a book in that history.
Cyrkle) on bass and Alan Abrahams on drums. Simon
Dan Alexander <danalexanderaudio.com>
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hated that also, and so Simon & Garfunkel toured as a

duo. I saw them in the spring of ’66 at Stony Brook Here is some audio info gold: A link to PDF issues of
University with Paul Butterfield as the opening act, but vintage Recording Engineer/Producer magazine. Enjoy! Send Letters & Questions to:
that’s another story. < w o r l d r a d i o h i s t o r y. c o m / A r c h i v e - A l l -
editor@tapeop.com
in

Geoff Daking <www.daking.com> Audio/Recording_Engineer_Producer.htm>

Keith Rosier <keithrosier@gmail.com>
10/Tape Op#145/Letters/(Fin.)
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Not too many recording engineers get asked to record a bridge,
but that’s what artist Nate Mercereau asked engineer Zach Parkes to do; record
the “humming” of San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge, along with Nate playing
guitar, on his recently released EP, Duets | Golden Gate Bridge.
As Mercereau explains, “I saw a headline in the San Francisco Chronicle that said the Golden Gate Bridge
humming is driving people crazy, and a team of engineers are working to shut it up. When I heard
phone recordings of the sounds the bridge was actually making, I knew there was potential to reframe
these sounds as something unique and beautiful.” At this point, the bridge had been emitting a
“ghostly hum” for a year. Nate further explains, “Renovations to the bridge caused it to vibrate and
‘sing’ in high winds, reverberating loud tones throughout the bay, effectively making it the largest wind
instrument in the world. While I feel the pain of San Francisco residents who are constantly subjected
to this drone, there is nothing quite like hearing something so vastly large make that much sound
powered by nature. It’s an all-encompassing, immersive experience, even from a distance. The tones
Zach goes on to explain some of the complexities involved in recording
a massive vibrating bridge, “From the start, the main consideration was
location. The trick was finding a place that was close enough to hear the
bridge on a windy day, but also sheltered enough from that wind to get a
clear recording. When you’re recording something like a piano or a violin
in a regular live room, it’s common to move microphones a few inches at
a time and explore (potentially vastly) different tones. We employed
basically the same approach with this, but scaled up in a huge way because
our “piano harp” was about 9,000 feet long. So instead of moving a mic
a few inches, you wind up driving from San Francisco to Marin County.
We spent a lot of time exploring different locations and doing tests with
field recorders to find the ideal spot, and in doing so, realized that the
sound the bridge makes was just as much a part of the ‘sonic environment’
as the traffic driving across it and the planes flying overhead. We did do
some EQ’ing to bring up the frequencies the bridge is resonating at, but
we intentionally left in a fair amount of that ambient noise to, hopefully,

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smear and crescendo as the wind picks up, and it gets so loud that at some points [that] you can feel help give listeners the feeling of actually standing there on that hillside, on
your own body vibrate with it. To get inside and create sounds with something so large – and with that that afternoon, listening to the bridge sing. We had three microphones for

much history, including my own personal history of living in San Francisco – was an emotional
experience. I could [even] see my old neighborhood from the recording location! I hope that by
sharing these duets I can offer a recorded artifact of a world-renowned monument, and also an
alternate perspective on its reverberations as something special to be appreciated while it’s happening.”
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ambient sound that I mixed, using a blend of each. There wasn’t much
adjustment of the microphones necessary once I had them set in the mix
in an accurate way. All mix choices were made to preserve what it was like
to be there during the recording.”

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Nate Mercereau
Recording Duets | Golden Gate Bridge

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by John Baccigaluppi
photo by Minea Bisset
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On May 18th and 19th of 2021, Nate and Zach set up in the Marin Once they were done recording, Nate took the files back to his studio and worked on finalizing the
Headlands to record Duets in an old bunker off of Conzelman Road, EP. “The biggest production moves involved editing the hours of material. Throughout the recording
hiking down a dirt trail with their gear. The tracking was all done there were motifs I found myself returning to in the improvisations. We recognized these as being the
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live with no overdubs. Nate explains the setup, “I’m using a Godin themes that should be the Duets. As the piece progresses, similar themes return in different harmonic
Freeway guitar with a Roland GK-1 pickup installed, a Roland GR- and emotional contexts. There was some EQ’ing necessary in the low and high end so the bridge could
300 [guitar synthesizer], a Korg expression pedal [foot controller], sing through the wind. I slightly notched up the gain on the bridge frequencies to further bring them
an

a Digitech XP400, a [Gamechanger Audio] PLUS pedal, and a
BOSS ME-70 [Guitar Multiple Effects pedalboard]. I have a DI
after the synth to get the dry signal. We recorded into Ableton Live
through a Focusrite 8-channel Scarlett interface into a laptop. We
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out in the mix process.”
The end result of Nate and Zach’s work is surprisingly beautiful. It might be easy to dismiss as
novelty, but once listened to it holds up as a solid entry in the ambient music world in the Brian Eno
[Tape Op #85] and Daniel Lanois [#37, #127] tradition. At times it reminds me of ambient instrumental

had a Tascam DR-40 and a Zoom H2 as ambient mics, as well as an moments by Sigur Rós [#41], and at other times evokes Richard Wright’s synthesizer performances on
AKG Perception 200 surrounded by a tilted, foam-filled Pelican Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. It’s a fun record to play for friends; “Have you heard the new album
case with a blanket draped [over] for muffling. All microphones had from the Golden Gate bridge?” r
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windscreens or clothing wrapped around them, or a combination <natemercereau.bandcamp.com>

of both. Everything was powered by a car battery and an inverter.”
12/Tape Op#145/N. Mercereau/
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You’re known as a duo. How did you start interning at Grand Hustle Records [formerly Grand BJ: Things move at a much quicker pace here, like getting
in music and recording individually Hustle Entertainment]. It’s now called Hustle Gang into the spaces we wanted to get into. It is also a lot
before you met? Music. It’s T.I.’s record label. I was super unqualified more collaborative. There are so many different talented
Blu June: The way that I got into music, it’s something for the job. I was like, “Yeah, I know Pro Tools!” I just people. We started learning about so many things that
that’s been innate in my family. My mom was a picked it up on the spot. we had no idea about – especially in the pop world –
singer. My dad. My sister is musically inclined. My What did you find to be different once like sequencing and song structure. You think you have
brother. Once I graduated from college and I stopped you moved out to L.A.? it figured out, but then you get thrown into the fire.
playing sports, I thought, “Okay, cool; now I’m going
to dive more into my love for music and my passion
for it.” I started out as an artist. I wrote my music
because I thought that all artists wrote their own
music. Then I found out that wasn’t true. The artist
side of it wasn’t for me, because I didn’t like the
spotlight. I met this guy who said, “You should just
be a songwriter.” A lightbulb went off. I thought,
“That’s my calling.” I started concentrating on

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writing songs and learning more about the
songwriting process. That’s when I met Chi, through

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a mutual acquaintance.
Chi: I played alto saxophone in band growing up. I
remember my granddad and certain people saying

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that I would get on the piano and make up songs
when I was 3 and 4. I stuck with the saxophone from
6th through 11th grade. I was in marching band as
well. I remember being in high school and walking
through a hallway, and I heard this rapper. He was
talking about how he made his own beats on

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FruityLoops [now Image-Line’s FL Studio]. I went

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home and downloaded it. I’ve been crazy about
making music ever since.
I heard something where you said you
recorded your answering machine gm
messages when you were little?
C: I’d make up raps and songs for my answering
machine.
BJ: The golden days.
C: The golden days, yeah!
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You’re both from Florida, and then you

joined forces in Atlanta. How long
were you in Atlanta before you moved
out to L.A.?
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C: Maybe six years. She was living in Tallahassee and I

said, “Yo, if you quit your job and move to Atlanta, V
we’re going to be huge. Quit and move here!” She
was crazy enough to do it. We stayed there for six
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what happens.”
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BJ: Chi was sending tracks through email, and I would

record myself via [Apple] GarageBand. She even
een
taught me to use [Avid] Pro Tools screen-sharing. I
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didn’t know how to use Pro Tools, and Chi was like,
a c H U R u ne ” An g duo NO ing pair
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“You need to learn how to use something other than
GarageBand, because this doesn’t sound good.” by Lio by EYEM
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That’s how we started to work remotely, before I ney a e songwr Angeles, oncé, J y chatte urrent
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decided to move to Atlanta. hi” th os Bey rs. The t their c for
Chi, you started with FruityLoops, i t t a ny “C gether as ased in L s for othe ct abou nvision
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C: I started with FruityLoops, then moved to o .

for collabo de, H.E of Omni the fut
[Propellerhead] Reason, then [Apple] Logic, and has na Gran Machac k and mselves.
then Ableton [Live]. I found out about Pro Tools by Aria Lisa wor the
C: Being here, the accessibility to the artist is so different You have said that you’re looking forward who helped us skip some steps and taught us some
than anywhere else. To be able to say, “Hey, we’re going to mentoring younger folks someday. things. That would have been dope. But to be that
to do this song together today,” your chances of being C: We’re just getting into it. Our first one is going to be person, that’s humbling.
able to do that are a little bit greater than sending coming up with She Is The Music with Alicia Keys. How does being a duo impact your
tracks through email. That’s been fortunate for us. We’re We’re super excited to connect with her on that and workflow in the studio? When you go
in the studio with the Beyoncés, the Jay-Zs, and all to be a part of it. To have spent so much time to do to work tonight, what will that look
kinds of people. all of this on our own; we could have had somebody like from when you walk in the door?

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NOVA WAV/(continued on page 16)/Tape Op#145/15

C: Well, when we walk in, we always have a little bit of
conversation with the artist first. We’re very intuitive,
so any little thing that they say, we’re going to be
able to put it in the record at the end of the night.
We’re good at that. We always have a little bit of
dialog. Then we pray. We set the intention for the
day, and we get started on the track. We fill it out. It
depends on what we’re feeling. We’re starting with
the track, and then building out from there.
BJ: It’s usually building the track from Ableton. It
depends on whatever needs to be done. Usually
Chi’s going to sit down and start production. We’re
able to interchange; and then, from that point, we’ll
go to melody. Then we’ll chop melodies until it feels
like a song.
C: Yeah. Usually after the track is done in Ableton, she’ll
get on the mic and do melodies. We might switch
out. If she doesn’t like the beat, she’ll say, “No, you
go in there first,” until we catch the vibe. But, yeah;
we’ll do that, and then we build it out from there.
Are you starting with parts you’ve
already written on your own, or are
you working it up once you get
there?
BJ: Most of the time we start from the top. Sometimes
we’ll play with ideas – where we start with a hook, a
melody, or something – but most of the artists
usually like to start something from scratch.
C: Yeah. It’s a magical thing when you do it on the spot,
even though it’s super nerve-wracking.
I’ve listened to a lot of different
recordings you’ve worked on, and
you’re pretty percussion and beat
heavy. Do you dig into that first?
C: Yeah, man. Some of our biggest influences are
Timbaland, Lil Jon, and Mannie Fresh; those guys
that were drum heavy. We always want to push that.
We want it to bang. That’s important to us.
How have you seen your ability to make
more authentic-sounding beats
change with technology since the
FruityLoop days?
C: That’s a good question. It’s about keeping the core of
what we like in what we do, as well as our influences.
Say The Neptunes and Timbaland; taking some of the
things that we like that they did, but also knowing
how to infuse that with what’s going on for us. We
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never want to be behind. I know some producers
hate Splice [sound library] and samples, but when
you think about it, The Neptunes, Tim, and all of How are you writing the music in
those people, they sampled. So, yeah; it’s about
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incorporating the new thing with what they were C: A lot of it is getting on a keyboard and figuring it out. BJ: I think it’s regardless of gender. We get in and work
doing back in the day.
Once it’s time to lay down vocals
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and any instrumentation, what are
you using?
BJ: Definitely the Neve console, especially when we’re in BJ: You kind of just know it. I remember years ago,
the big studios. When we’re traveling or at home, it’s
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all plug-in based. We do have a Neve 8801 [channel
strip at home] which has the EQ and everything on
it. It’s super dope. Honestly, we’re really, really plug- “Follow.” And then she said, “Whoa, your ear! These Sometimes there’s such a speed and
in
in based. We’re on the move, all the time.
BJ: It’s more efficient.
16/Tape Op#145/NOVA WAV/(continued on page 18)
C: Yeah. Most of the time we’re making music out of
headphones. We’re the type of people who have been
doing it so long in headphones that they’ll rent us
the big studios, but we’re in there with our
headphones on.
How much mixing are you doing on the
spot, and how much are you doing
later?
C: We’re mixing for demo purposes. We actually got our
first co-mixing credit today, for a song called “Y” by
a group named Citizen Queen. We’re super excited
about that!
BJ: So excited.
C: We saw this from beginning to end. Wrote, produced,
and co-mixed it; all of it. Most of the time when we’re What did you create with that?
doing mixes, it’s just for demos.
BJ: Yeah, it’s demo purposes. Super light mixes.
What are you looking forward to learning
and doing next in your careers?
C: We want to start picking up some instruments.
BJ: Yeah, we’ve got a couple of guitars here sitting
around.
C: Yeah, a shout-out to Fender! They sent us some of
their limited-edition H.E.R. [Stratocaster] guitars.
We’re getting into using live instruments. We’re
calling people in right now to do that. It’d be dope
to learn how to do that. But, at the same time,
businesspeople don’t spend a lot of time learning
something that they can pay somebody else to do.
It’s a double-edged sword. We could spend time doing
that.
BJ: Or just perfect what we already do.
C: We’re expanding to bringing in people. People who
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are playing acoustic. People who are playing bass.
When you think about it, the greatest people we
mentioned before – Pharrell [Williams], Timbaland,
Rodney Jerkins, Quincy Jones – they had live
instruments. Even Lil Jon; when he was making R&B
t)
records, he was bringing in people to play guitar. He
still kept this balance.
BJ: Especially the type of artists we’ve started to work
with. We’re more in the pop genre now. We really
(a
write songs. To be able to do that, we need more of
those live sounds. They extract a different type of
emotion. We’re evolving in that way.
C: We want to pick that up. I would love to get more
into seeing something all the way through. The
writing, the producing, and the mixing. Eventually
getting into mastering as well.
your DAW?
A lot of times people who are geniuses at music, they
don’t really know the theory of it. They’re figuring it
out. Then, on top of it, sometimes things magically
find you. C: That’s just who we are, and who we want to be. We
before I even realized that I was semi-good at what
I do, I went and saw Jan Smith. She’s a vocal coach
in Atlanta. She was on the piano, and said to me,
notes that you know intuitively; it’s crazy.” It’s a
natural thing. I have no idea.
What keyboards are you using for
writing?
BJ: I’m going to be honest with you.
C: MIDI keyboards.
BJ: MIDIs all day.
C: I did have a Yamaha MO8 back in the day, and I loved
that. I love the [Roland] Fantom and the [Korg]
TRITON. That’s what guys like Lil Jon used to use back
in the day. I don’t have any room for it, but that would
be dope to use.
BJ: Also, the other thing that you made that one beat on
that you only used once. I liked that.
C: Oh, the Ableton Push [MIDI controller]. Love the
Ableton Push.
C: It’s a record that’s unreleased. We’ve got some big people’s
ears on it. I know Chloe Bailey uses it in Chloe x Halle.
)
It’s like an [Akai] MPC, but a new age MPC for Ableton.
I envy your confidence. So much in the
ot
audio engineering world is a focus on
gear and certain equipment, as well
as feeling like you have to know what
(d
everything is before you walk into a
studio. I like that you are, “We use
what’s there and we play.”
BJ: Yeah.
C: You can’t put too much pressure on it. Music is a very
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magical, creative thing. You can’t put it in a box. I
know what you’re talking about though. The pressure
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of knowing. I remember interning and the pressure of
knowing all the inputs, where I had to stick it in and
patch it. It was so insane. It’s like, “Let’s just get in
here and make the music.”
BJ: I’ll leave that for the experts.
C: As long as we’ve got a gain knob, everything else
should be fine.
I think it’s a form of gatekeeping. “We
know what this is, and you don’t, so
we’re going to keep you out of here.”
BJ: Yeah. That’s true.
C: You’re so right about that.
We’re all women in audio. I’ve heard you
mention not seeing a lot of people
who looked like you, coming up. But
it’s also thinking like you. I know I’m
very grateful and empathetic to
my clients. Do you think that’s
an inherently female quality?
Something that women are bringing
to the table? Or do you think that’s an
equal trait, regardless of gender?
with women who we can tell aren’t on that type of
wavelength. I don’t think it’s gender-specific at all, to
be honest with you.
want to show up and do “God’s work.” We’re not in the
way of it. We more believe, “Bring your energy here.
This is about you.” That’s who we are. We are there to
support the artist.
efficiency to it all that it takes the joy
out of it.
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 C: We never let people rush us doing music. We’re not trying to do five songs
in one day.
BJ: It’s always been about quality.
C: We’re definitely quality over quantity.
That’s the way to go. Do you feel more people are looking
more like us coming up in the audio world? Or are there
still barriers we need to overcome as women in the studio?
C: You would think we didn’t have any, but I think there are still barriers. I told
myself that I would stop saying that, but does that show up at times? Yeah, it
does. But I’m going to stop saying that so I’ll stop creating it in my reality. But,
yeah; it’s hard for us. Women, we gotta be ten times better. We can’t make a lot
of mistakes. If we do, it’s like, “Oh, it’s because you’re a woman.” You know what
I mean? Just trying to combat that. But we have been seeing more women come
up. We really have. It used to be a, “You’re the only one in the city” type of
thing. We’re super excited to see that [changing]. We know some amazing
producers and engineers who are women. Sometimes we’ll walk into the studio

)
and I’m like, “Wow, we have a female engineer today,” and it excites me. That’s
happened a couple times.

ot
BJ: It’s beginning to feel like you no longer have to ask, “Okay, so are you a
songwriter? Are you the artist?” At this point, you could be anyone. That’s super
dope to see.
One of my pet peeves is when people say only two percent of

(d
people in audio are women. That’s who’s winning the
awards, getting the big jobs, or topping the charts. But in
terms of the percentage, it’s growing and growing. If
we’re represented in the studio, then we need to be
represented in the magazines and the blogs too.

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BJ: For sure.
C: That’s what we’re looking for too, to have more exposure so that people can see

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us. So, they can have an example of like, “I can do that? Okay, cool. Somebody’s
doing that? Maybe I can too.” More exposure.
BJ: We’re trying to get Producer of the Year [Grammy award]. That’s never been
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done by a woman, and it’s time.
C: Yeah. We definitely are looking for that.
You collaborate on lyrics. How does that work out?
BJ: We just flow with it. We trust each other and it works. If there’s anything we’re
unsure about we’re like, “Cool, let’s decide on something.” It’s never a power
struggle when it comes to creating. We never make it about one person. It’s
t)

about what works.

C: We know who does what best. We know that we’re never going to get in each
other’s way. That’s something we never want to do. We put our heads together and
(a

make a decision. “Okay, if you feel strongly about that, then I trust you enough
to make the decision. Let’s roll. If I’m sure, and you’re sure, let’s go with you.”
Putting your egos aside and working on your craft
together. It’s so lucky that you found each other!
BJ: I had to bury that ego.
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C: Yeah, you have to be humble, because there’s always somebody better. There’s
somebody better who’s never been heard of. We’re never bigging up ourselves.
We know where it comes from.
Any last words you want Tape Op readers to know about?
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C: I’d personally say to contribute something every day to your craft, even when
you don’t feel like it. Even when you’re thinking, “Man, I suck. This is whack.
This hurts.” Go and look up some YouTube tutorials. Contribute something to
your craft every day. Renew your minds.
an

BJ: I would like to add that you don’t have to know everything. Like you said, we
get caught up in that. Be great at something. Hyper-focus on something. Learn
here and there. And be self-sufficient. Know how to record yourself using Pro
af

Tools, because that’s the industry standard. But perfect your craft. r
Lisa Machac is the director of the Omni Sound Project, an educational community for
marginalized genders in audio. <omnisoundproject.com>
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18/Tape Op#145/NOVA WAV/(Fin.)

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Van Dyke Parks
Enjoying the Distraction of Collaboration
by Larry Crane
photo by Richard Parks
A chance to talk with the man who penned
the line “columnated ruins domino” in the
Beach Boys’ epic song “Surf’s Up”? Yes, please.
His recent collaboration, Van Dyke Parks orchestrates
Verónica Valerio: Only in America – Solo en América, is a
sonic treat, featuring Verónica’s vocals and harp
and Van Dyke’s unique arrangements, and is well
worth checking out. A conversation with Van Dyke
is a rollicking affair of big words, grand statements,
y3
history lessons, piano tinkling, and unabashed
humanitarian positivity.
We’ve seen so many changes in music
ir
technology over the last 50 years. How I assumed working remotely on
does this impact you?
I’m into a lot of geek stuff. It makes me feel good to
read the ads in Scientific American and see what’s
an
happening to us as we plunge into space. We’re all in
this together. Being a musician, or in any way
involved in the arts, to me is a crucible. It’s a very
af
difficult task. When this battle is over of the
pandemonium and so forth, we’ll all wear a crown; but
I think I’d give a special salute to anybody in music.
We always have to pivot a little to see
in
where the work is, as well as
constantly learning different ways of
working.
gm
When the Governor declared a state of quarantine I
t)
had to escape my cabin fever, and get out of the
box. I did it with a novel experience for me, that
long-distance love personified in what we did.
(a
Connecting the string players. Making sure that I
had the right vector to a studio I couldn’t go to. I
was forbidden to do that in quarantine. Everything
was either FaceTime or displaced time. It was all
remote, truly. And monastic as it could possibly be.
And yet, in spite of that, this pandemic produced a
great deal of musical invention for the survival skills
that were necessary to do an album; a short one, like
we have done with Only in America.
Verónica’s record was a challenge.
That’s an amazing, beautiful
release. Certainly, she’s got the voice
and the talent. Many of us work remotely these days.
Well, I think so. You notice there’s a certain amount of Here I am. Music is my passion. I have hyperboles that
rustication in her voice and the music of the
Mestiza/Mestizo culture that comes down. It has a
hierarchy. Pre-Colombian culture. Rhythms. Images.
And, of course, the amazing geometry of their
aquifers; the rivers that run beneath them that the
Mayans knew so well how to profit from and keep
clean. They didn’t have the toilet training problems
)
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that industry has today; for example of oil and other
grime that we’ve managed to tar the earth with. This
was a civilization worth exploring, the one that made
pyramids thousands of years before the Egyptians.
Here I was. I got an invitation to do a project with
basically a solo harpist. Sometimes she would have
maybe a fiddler come in for a solo, or not. Or maybe
she would have a percussionist, which, by the way, all
percussion was done in Mexico. I wasn’t about to tell
anybody how to beat a bongo south of the border! So,
there is a very controlled, disciplined… you might
even say circumspect for me. Why use a small word
when a diminutive one will suffice? To be circumspect
about the amount of Yankee doggerel that is the way
I would orchestrate around this woman. Here’s the
bit. Who asked me to do an album? She asked me.
Long distance. I have never met her.
I still stand by. A day without Bach is a barren day for
me. I really look for the lingo of music. That is my
understanding. That’s all church means to me. It’s not
the bubblegum that some chorister put under the
pew. No, it’s the music you’re listening to. This is what
got me in touch with the immovable dough, the
nature of who we are, beyond. The unanswered
 commented on when he wrote, “Pity the nation that
knows no other language but its own.” This is the way
I feel myself. I agree with that man who wrote that
poem when he was 98. What a treasure that San
Francisco beat poet was.
Certainly. We are lucky to have his
words.
His poetry so corrected me in my youthful folly. He’s a
lovely man. I miss him, and I agree with him that it
would be boring just to be stuck in our hall of mirrors.
Finally, I’m there. It’s not 1964. It’s not 1963 when my
brother [Benjamin] died; the man, my brother, who
served the United States so beautifully in the Cold
War. When Kennedy passed, and the Beach Boys
arrived with their first album, and the [Rolling]
Stones with 12 X 5; all of this revolutionary stuff. This Yes, please! I would love to hear more.
was like a benchmark. The year of 1963 was a You look at your work in a disciplined, organized way.
benchmark. I think we are coming into that
reawakening, that reinvention – hopefully – that will
get beyond this hall of mirrors and this pop sensibility
which is so immersed in self-adoration. And, to me, it
feels unapologetic in a way, and just plain loud, and
it’s lost its teeth. This record that I just did; on a first 1967. I had no idea how to do a record. I still don’t!
blush, it might look like I wasn’t doing anything.
“Boy, what are these songs? I want to hear about it.
I want him to make James Taylor weep. I want real
first world problems.” Well, you’re not getting it on
this record. You’re not getting any first world
problems. What you’re getting is something of
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supreme unimportance. A parallel universe. A
different feeling. One song, for example, talks about
what she looks at outside her window. It’s a simple
idea for a song. That’s as good a discipline in
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songwriting as I’ve ever heard. She approaches it and
starts it with a little poetry here. She says that she’s
looking out her window and can see a mountain, and
down the mountain runs a beautiful river that’s
coursing like a snake, and it’s filled with blood, the
question. This was the solution for me. Music. And I
t)
blood of her ancestors; her father and brothers. Down
keep at it every day. I’m just admitting. I’m 78, and I
here, past the window walk, these people are walking
feel very fortunate to have somehow gotten past the
north with their contraband. They have no shoes on.
mix, the investment of people. I want to speak to a
(a
Their shoes are useless, because they’ve come so far.
universal theme here, without immodesty or fear of
They’re going north. Then she breaks into her chorus.
condemnation. I am one of a sea of very able
That’s all in 7/4. I look at this thing, the girl gives me
musicians who are investing their own money to make
a harp loop. The Italians call them ostinatos.
music that hopefully will be to some common good.
Obstinate. This one is in 3/4, 4/4. So, it’s a 7/4
That’s lovely.
reality. This is not something that little honky
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That’s what it’s all about. These people aren’t in
hopefuls are going to immediately want to tap their
munitions. I’m in their numbers, and we’re all
feet to. They might want to listen to the scansion of
struggling. What I did was I decided one way to help
the poetry. The geometry of the songwriting and how
this girl is to give her seven string players. Put seven
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it’s constructed. It’s very wonderful. Then she breaks
string players around this solo harp and pick up what
into that four on the floor. It’s a beautiful sky. And
she’s putting down. Surround her with this most
everything is so ironic in this unimportance, and so
modest orchestral accompaniment to give her a
pronounced; yet it suggests large social events
an
pedestal. Something to work on. We’re not talking
beyond the intimacies of her poetry. I was quite taken
Madonna here. What we’re talking about is something
in. On that, you can hear the electric guitar does four
as transitory and as temporary as a butterfly corridor
notes. I’ve got four notes there. In anthropology they
from Michoacán of the Monarch. This is fragile stuff.
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have a way of measuring how long we’ve been there
Soon it will be gone with what is allowed in the first
and what effect it’s had on the environment. I think
world. The world we inhabit, that first world, has a
very much about how I have presented something for
pop culture which has, pardon me, come up short. I
the global village to satisfy my appetite to get a
realize that. I’ve been part of it. I’m complicit. I’ve
in
confection in our struggle for multiculturalism. Here’s
been with the fat and sassy. Yeah, what Lawrence
a clue. When you go to the ATM at your Bank of
Ferlinghetti, the late great author, might have
V. D. Parks/(continued on page 22)/Tape Op#145/21
America, you go to put your card in there, and it asks
you one question, “Do you want it in English or
Spanish?” So, let’s get the clue! There’s nothing wrong
with embracing the concept of multiculturalism.
That’s what I’m saying here. This is just wonderful.
Let’s do it. Let’s learn what’s on the menu. I’m doing
more work with Verónica today. More construction.
I’m providing the carriage for her. All the lyrics are
hers, and I’m doing all the music. This is different.
Yeah, I think this is a very good leavening. I enjoy it.
I know that as I slug my way forwards on records, and
I haven’t done a record in some time. It takes a lot of
work and stamina to do a record, and I plan to do
another one; probably solo on a piano, to be me. This
is not about me. I’ll tell you how it served me.
)
You’ve got people dependent upon your rationale.
ot
Well, I have one too. There’s always a backstory. In
every album I’ve done, there are people who hunger,
or maybe died. Each one of them is an epic tale, an
Odyssean voyage for me. I started my first one in
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I’m not a Presbyterian. I can’t tell you what it’s going
to be, boss. All I know is that I have to work. In this
album, and I would say the only exemplar, besides
this one, that does so much to embrace another
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culture and try to look at America outside of the box
was Discover America [his second album, 1972 -ed.]. I
get here, to this album, and not really as a
documentarian, but a participant observer. What it is
is my laughing place. This is where I want to be,
because of my modest skills as a musician, which I
worked very hard to do what I do. I work very hard,
and I love it. This is more redeeming to me than Will
Shortz and his New York Times crosswords. This is the
ultimate enigma. This is beautiful, this stuff called
music construction and arranging. I’ve noticed it all
my life, from [plays melody on keyboard] as a young
child. I heard the music. I heard the Spanish upstart
in Domenico Scarlatti of Vienna. I heard the kid who
couldn’t stand being in the shadow of his father, who
left Italy and went to Spain. I heard that. [piano
playing] You know. I heard [piano playing]. I mean, I
heard all this. Parlor piano music from Spain. I played
[Enrique] Granados. I’ve got all this shit, all of it
beyond the alpine winds. This is Southern stuff. These
are zephyrs. This is warm wind. This is what I wanted.
Look at the composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and
you’ll know what I’m talking about. Of course, there is
no one who precedes him, in terms of signature; his
vernacular that is, of American music of New Orleans.
He made this thing happen for Professor Longhair and
Allen Toussaint. I arranged a few instruments around
a Gottschalk piece for Allen. I introduced him to
Gottschalk, someone whose legacy he enjoyed, whom
he had not heard of. That was great. Folk music, that
is; music from the street to the elite. Music that
mattered. Music that had some social or societal
significance or was representative and emblematic of
an era. Gottschalk did that. There’re so many other
people. Thomas Tallis did it, or Ralph Vaughan
Williams did it when he went into those medieval
 modes to do his incredible variations. Percy Grainger, What I hope will happen is either I will get a chance to show. I found one that interested me when a Professor
the Australian composer who picked up that piece and go to Barcelona, for some fine Mediterranean finger of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania emailed me
made it for piano and a piano roll call, a theme from food after a concert, when I get to do maybe a piano out of the blue with no introduction. He said, “I’m
“Londonderry Air” (or “Air from County Derry”). And solo for one of the numbers. I’ll have to go with my doing an installation at the Chicago Art Institute.”
you know something? He called it “Danny Boy,” and wife on that trip and stay married for another 40 Well, I happened to know that if you’re not playing
he sold millions. Folk music has always been written years. But you know, the time is tight. I urge anybody L.A. or New York, Chicago is deep pocket; a big art
in literature. It has been a phenomenon to me. The who can to support this record to remember this: If scene. I got an offer to do music for an art installation.
idea is, of course, because it’s so transitory; we can’t you don’t spin vinyl, I don’t understand you, because People are going to be there. All right. They’re going
just rely on Alan Lomax to get this down. We need there’s nothing more superior. The only estoppel to be in a room, or rooms. Okay. So, it’s not binaural?
more. The stuff that’s permanent press has been being that stylus, of the fantastic reiteration of what No. It’s quadrophonic? Okay, basically quadrophonic.
brought into literature. The French Nation Anthem, just happened live. I just think that it would be There are just four different mixes. This is great, okay?
“La Marseillaise.” The Israeli National Anthem, stupid to throw this out. It’d be like throwing away So, dig it; I can put my woodwinds where I want. They
“Hatikvah.” I mean, we have “We Shall Overcome,” the brains just to eat the blubber. The real info is in can go here, and a little bit of strings here, and I can
and “This Land Is Your Land.” This is the way we vinyl. But if you don’t have a vinyl player, and you keep the bass in the center to keep things centered
preserve these things. Another way to archive these want to justify buying our record – me and Verónica and not be loud. Allow a man to come in and look at
things is with the convenience of literature. Here I Valerio called Only in America – what you do is a picture. If they want to talk intimately, allow people
am. I’m 78, and I’ve been wobbling between these unwrap it and you’ve got a great frisbee. [laughter] conversation. Couple a conversation pit with music

)
loyalties. One of them to extemporaneous processes. This thing can sail. I’m serious, man! that matters. That is coherent. That’s glued to the art.
The other to the premeditated rationale to support I’ve listened to your arrangements for And I did it. I pulled it off, and it was wonderful. It

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what is in the heart of the artist or the singer. That’s years. I love how your arrangements was a most profitable experience. And it suggested
my racket. I seek transparency, where I love being, can be very light and not dense. You another museum here, The Hammer Museum. It’s a big
admitting that I’m just in a reflected glory. I love don’t end up with huge, blundering museum in town. What I’m suggesting is this: go and

being the narrative force. I’d be the Greek chorus if I
could shine the light on people, because this has
been my good fortune, to be around people whose
abilities far excelled my own. I had some great
obligation to give my best.
chords filling up space. There’s an
incredible sense of playfulness with
ostinato, pizzicato, and little parts
that keep space in the music but keep
it moving. They play with what’s
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find your galleries. Find four people who want to jam
in an art gallery. I did it at conversation level. That’s
why I like the loop. I did a six-minute loop, with an
occasional symphonic. It was lush and full, and,
“Whoa!” To announce the thunder of that lightning

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So much of your career has been happening at the core of the song. that just snaked through the chamber, and the thunder
collaboration. Through collaboration, I’ve been accused of everything. One of my favorite that rolled around. I’ve got it all. I can punctuate

you can show support for things
that you’d like to see happen in the
world, and, like you say, shine a
light on them.
I think so. I think it’s good. The point is this: it should of critics who have judged music; great artists like
be entertaining to the ear. It’s the Phil Ochs maxim,
“In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.”
I believe that. That it is mawkish to say, “Have a nice
day,” and be gone. No, I don’t do that. I went into a
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books I keep in my small library, we live in a small things. I can stay relevant and remind them that this
house, is called Musical Invective [Lexicon of Musical is a musical composition. It’s a serious composition.
Invective: Critical Assaults on Composers Since And sometimes it’s an insistent reality.
Beethoven’s Time, by Nicolas Slonimsky]. It’s a history With the quad or the surround-type
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scenario you can provide a different
Bach, Beethoven, Robert Schumann, all the way down. experience, depending on where you
Everybody. Brahms. They all got lambasted. I was are in the room.
called the “Edsel of pop music,” somewhere in 1966. I’m not bragging here. I’m not boasting. I’m saying,
Of course, you can always remember the insults. But “Wasn’t I lucky to get an offer to do a quadrophonic
t)

hotel lobby with a guy by the name of Graham
Chapman. He was in Monty Python. Some elevator
operator opened the door, and as we were going in,
he said, “Have a nice day,” and Graham said, “I have
the thing is, I’m just so happy that I could do this
work. I’ve seen so much change in the technology.
Check it. The whole thing to me is colossal. It’s like
being at [the Colossus of] Rhodes and connecting
(a
project in an entirely different income stream called
the art world?” Any young musician who wonders how
to apply their talents, their great gift, to some
opportunity, I say, “Make that opportunity!” Go meet

other plans.” I always like to start my day with a smile
and get it over with!
That’s too funny.
The thing that interests me about your habitation is
that it’s so interesting to me how I dreamt. I miss
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things. You’re connecting the premeditated with the somebody else. Get interested in somebody else’s
extemporaneous. You can’t lose your spirit! You have work. Start finding out what horizontal relationships
to keep running around that urn to catch that lover. mean, darn it!
You know? But the thing is, you need to face facts. Well, your whole career has been
What you’re dealing with here is basically in a binaural certain pivots, and looking at very

rewind. I miss that. Wally Heider showed us the [Eltro] world, with a phantom there. Recently… can I take it different collaborations, whether it’s
Information Rate Changer? I remember that. I see off on a vector here? writing lyrics with Brian Wilson, or
how we’ve struggled into pitch correction. I’ve Yes. putting out solo records, or writing
ir

wrestled with it. If they’ve done it with Pavarotti, I I explored quad. Let me tell you how. I did Discover music for film, or early music films
can say I’ve had to do it with Brian [Wilson]. It’s what America in quad. It never came out that way, but I that you did with Warner Bros. A
the casual observer demands now that you do, spot- thought that people would one day be listening to bunch of very different things all
on. I’m very fastidious in my work. I’ll tell you music in their cars, and, if so, then quadraphonic was relating back to music, of course.
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something. I think I talked about this Verónica just the place to do it. But it didn’t happen. I was Yeah. We’re all trying to serve. I hate to be redundant,
project to a good benefit. This is my best work. This wrong. That’s okay. It’s in the vault, unless they’ve but I am, which is the danger of being 78 and having
record represents a triumph of the human spirit to me. thrown it away. Somebody asked me to do some music. a limited memory. I don’t forget that President Truman
af

It is outside the box, and anyone who wants to get This is maybe a lesson for musicians. You need income dropped the atomic bomb. It was his decision. That
outside the box and just relax with this dream escape streams. There is the arena for The Eagles. There’s the created a new geological era called Anthropocene. But
that has nothing to do with the rapidity of the arena for a lot of British groups who do the blues. man, this country. We have multiplied and subdued the
progress of profit. This is time off for good behavior. There’s that. Then, away from the groups that look like earth. That’s how they demark this new geological era;
in

I hope I meet the artist someday. red ants on watermelons, let’s get up close and the 1945 dropping of the bomb. I don’t forget that.
Eventually! personal. There’s the club flogging the merch after the But there was something which is, of course, I think a
22/Tape Op#145/V. D. Parks/(continued on page 24)
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 step of human hubris and a very sad thing that had to
happen. But Truman said something that has stuck to
me like needlepoint from some great aunt who left in
the parlor somewhere, and here it is: “It’s astonishing
what can be accomplished if you do not care who gets
the credit.” So here I am. Really. And you’ve got to
know how to eat crow. I think it takes humility to be a
shaker, and it takes humility to be a mover, and it takes
humility to be a musician and really enjoy the
distraction of collaboration.
Definitely.
Isn’t it terrible? [plays piano]
Well, it is a skill to build up to learn how
to see what could be brought out in
others with production, with
arrangement, with recording, and all
these things that we do.
Well, it’s amazing to me. In 1966, I got that little Moog
synthesizer, the phone jack patchbay, I got that thing
to say the words “Ice Capades.” I got myself ten
thousand dollars in a national commercial. I proved
that I was commercial when I could do that. That sound
interested me. Then we get to something like Orange
Crate Art with Brian Wilson in ‘95. They just came out
with a reissue of it, which I recommend to you if you
want to see somebody’s slip show, if you want to catch
me at my most vulnerable. One of the discs is without
Brian. I didn’t have the gauze of a vocal.
I haven’t heard that yet!
Now we’re down to the primitive, whatever it is. Why was
I using a [Fender] Rhodes on that? It has a certain era
or mark of time, but it has valor. I was scared to death,
because they said, “Yeah, you can do it,” and I allowed
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them, because I wanted to see it released. So, they
released it. What it did was show how I’ve always
struggled to get that 60/40 of the string section.
Maybe I would bump up the live strings to articulate
and enunciate, and, behind that bowing, maybe put a
t)
ghost that is MIDI-directed strings. I’ve always felt
that. But the thing is, it’s the proportionality of
acoustic events, arranged or not, to the premeditated
events that has been my nexus. This is where I work.
(a
This is my lab.
What do you consider your “lab”?
This is what I say. I’m 78. I went through McCarthyism. I
went through the Cold War. I’ve seen so much. After
this battle, we’ll all wear a crown, really. But we do need
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to support the arts. I do deserve your attention. You
and I face the same hegemonic enemy. It is not that
the government should have the arts wagging their tail.
No, it is the arts that are to wag the governments’ tails.
ir
We are to tell the vox pop, all of us who support these
aspects of the recorded arts. And, let’s face it, sir; that’s
why we’re here. That’s really my desire. To somehow
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create something durable as denim that’s in the
recorded arts. I hope that we can make that a conduit.
Keep the conduits to high fidelity. I enjoy that
expression. It’s not simply a matter of melancholy to me
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to want something that’s hi-fi. For seven years, I was
the American advisor to a place called the House of the
World’s Cultures in Berlin. It’s the largest arts
in
organization in Germany. Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
I was on their advisory board. There were eight people. <@thevandykeparks>
24/Tape Op#145/V. D. Parks/(Fin.)
Seven Strings & Inara George
On a break last week, my friend Inara George –
daughter of Lowell George, my dear late friend – I’ve
known her all her life, since the day she was born in
Cockeysville, Maryland. We recorded with George
Massenburg [Tape Op #54, 63]. A great engineer. She
wrote a song about a red-tailed hawk. She got close range
with an uncompromising red-tailed hawk on a limb of a
tree in her yard when she’d gone outside. It stood there,
the predator and the prey, with the prey within its claws.
So, she wrote a song about it. A very small thing,
supremely unimportant. This is the kind of stuff I love.
Take me to a quiet place, please. So, we went there to this
refuge in her yard. She spun a beautiful song. She sang it
and played it with guitar, very simple. [plays piano]
Something like that. Intimating, but not saying the
chords. They’re there, but she’s not playing them. The
)
melody, and her geometry in the song form; I’m talking
ot
about math, folks. We’re all connected by these numbers.
We see it! I’ve seen Chopin on an oscilloscope back in the
‘60s. Wow, look at that geometry! Perfection! I’ve seen
the synthesthetics of that, yeah. Music realizes sound, all
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my life. Inara said, “Would you put some strings around
this?” I said, “No, Inara. You don’t need a thing. I
wouldn’t.” She said, “No, you’ve got to. Please? I told
them I would do this song, if you’ll do the arrangement.”
Some guy wants to do a project for the Audubon Society
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to give them a whole bunch of songs by singers about
birds. So, I did an arrangement. I did what I was talking
ai
about. Seven strings. That’s what I do. Three violins, two
violas, one cello, and one bass. It took me years to learn
that. I adopted that approach to orchestration in about
1964. It’s easier than quartet writing, for you folks who
understand; you peers of mine. This is easier work if you’re
under a tight schedule. If they want it good and they
want it Monday, don’t give them the quartet. Give them
the septet and dedicate the bass to pizzicato. Anyway, it
was a triumph. What an opportunity for me!
I had nothing to say. I don’t know enough. The only
thing I did was one time make a speech about a century
of music and its monetization. But it is a very
interesting organization. They have over 100,000 wax
cylinders of cultures which are dead and songs which
haven’t been heard in our time. Over 100,000 waiting
to be digitized. They’ve probably got on to it now. They
also have the Berliner Philharmoniker. Why do the
Germans want a cultural institution to be so solid?
Because they want to embrace multiculturalism.
They’ve got to invent it. They can’t let Hitlerian
precepts and xenophobia ever destroy German logic and
cultural appeal. They’re looking to regain their position.
I learned so much. Multiculturalism; I’m not just trying
to use big words. Big words mean nothing, folks. We’ve
seen it. What’s his name, that square who occupied the
oval office, knew how to keep it simple so everybody
could understand, what Frank Zappa called the “mass
midget mind.” I think we’re doing a good job. I hope
people will get centered around the arts and start to
give discretionary time to the arts, which are central to
all I understand. r
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Matthew E. White
Spacebomb and Beyond!

by Larry Crane
photo by Shawn Brackbill

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Making his splash with his debut solo album, Big Inner, in 2012, Matthew E. White soon same, and the sound design would be similar. I tried
became in demand as a producer. As a co-owner and founder of Spacebomb, a to get at some of the essence of the song that wasn’t
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label/studio/aesthetic concept out of Richmond, Virginia, he’s gathered people around him, like the lyrics and wasn’t the form. I sort of based this on
the brilliant arranger Trey Pollard and the fine-tuned Spacebomb House Band players, in order [producer] Teo Macero and Miles [Davis’] work with
to bring the music to life. With his new album K Bay just released, Matthew and I caught up on Bitches Brew and On the Corner.
Cool.
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Zoom for a little history and philosophy of recording.

I did it to the same BPM, creating different textures for me to
It’s good to finally meet! You’ve got a new album out, K Bay. I sample from, cut in, and use in different ways. Part of that
Yeah, it’s an honor, man! I’m a huge fan of the publication. understand you had a new process of process was connecting different interests for me, both as
an

We’ve been hanging in there. You’ve trying different takes of songs? a composer and a producer. A lot of my background is in
been hanging in there. Yeah. I recorded two versions of every song. One was the history of production outside of song-based production,
Yeah. What a year. more “normal” drums, bass, guitar, piano, and as well as the history of composition outside of songs. I was
You probably had a lot of shows and whatever. Standard instrumentation for the main trying to find a way to use that interest and use some of
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projects that were scheduled? vocals to be sung over. Then I did another version that skillset to intersect with more song-based music; to try
Yeah, yeah. I got lucky. I did have all that scheduled, that was a distilled composition, like guided to connect those dots for me. Then it was also to get out
but I also had a child in the beginning of March 2020. improvisation, that was based around certain pillars of the box of bringing up the song and getting from A to
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It was an odd time to have a kid, but, at the same of the song, whether it was harmonic material or a Z. I enjoy that process, but this was a way for me to try to
time, it was a little bit of a blessing in disguise. I got rhythmic ostinato like a bass line. Sometimes it was use my full width of interests and skillsets, and to get
to hang out with my baby for a year, which was nice. just pure colors. All the sounds would be exactly the something a little bit more unique to me.

A lot of your music and your productions
involve performing in a room and
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focusing on arrangements. Do you
need to expand, open up, and think
of other ways in order to keep
working?
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So much about this record was maxing out the “house
band” process. There were a lot of days in the studio
circling that concept in a lot of different ways, from
an
working really fast to taking a long time. I feel like it’s
not the end of the road, but from the development as
a beginner – on the first song-based records that I did
– it’s like some records need to take a long time and
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need to be teased out. Then some records you need
to make in a week.
Yeah, totally.
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This record felt like it was an end to a lot of this work
I’ve been doing with these guys for the past ten years.
Knowing how to use their different instrumental Yeah, tell me!
personalities and what they’re good at to get new ways Obviously, budget informs that a ton, but then, at the
to approach that “house band” concept that we’ve
been working on for a long time. The uniqueness of
that is all the water under the bridge. That is
important. I feel I would be doing myself a disservice
if I moved on from that. The fact that I have been
making music in a studio setting with those guys for
ten plus years at this point, there’s a built-in language accomplished musicians, or people who are on the
that we can get to. They trust me, and I trust them.
There’s a lot more experimenting that I can do now
that I couldn’t have done ten years ago, because we
have a bigger studio vocabulary to pull from.
The path that you took is so similar to
what was going on at Stax, Muscle
Shoals, Motown, Royal, and a
number of places across the country
from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s that were
working that way. Was that an
informed decision based on that Spacebomb was initially a studio in your
history? attic? Is that true?
It was based off of that, intentionally; primarily because Yeah. It started in my attic. Then we moved to another
I love that music. When you get to the bottom of how
that music exists – “Why does it work? Why does it
sound the way it does?” – it has to do with the
administrative format of the recording, for lack of a
better way to say it. The fact that those guys were in
there, in a blue-collar 9-to-5 way, doing it with so
many different people over and over again; that’s how
they got that sound. They weren’t changing up
personnel. They weren’t changing up studios. They
weren’t changing up the process. They weren’t
changing up the gear. They did do all of those things
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over the course of a long period of time, but not
session to session. They mic’d the drums the same
way with small tweaks. For me, it was a lot of reading
and research. Listening to the Otis Reddings of the
world. Reading a lot about it. The note choices and
t)
whatnot are all important, but so much of the reason
that they got to that is because of the way the label
and label contracts were organized. The way the
industry is set up has a lot to do with the music that
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comes out on the other side, which is an interesting
thing to think about. In my case, it was a happy I know the frustration very well.
accident that I live in Richmond, and I live in an Spacebomb is sort of an idea and can be anywhere.
incredibly high-achieving musical community that has
an incredible amount of talent in it. I don’t think I
could put together a house band that is as good and
as flexible as the band that I use regularly in most
communities. I’m lucky to work with those guys. That
was just timing. But the idea was definitely heavily
informed by ‘50s and ‘60s labels; small Southern
labels. Jamaican labels were also a big thing.
Oh, sure. Studio One [record label and
studio].
Yeah. A huge influence, how they worked and made records.
When you have an adept house band
and people you work with regularly,
then the focus becomes the songs and
the performance.
Yeah, definitely. You can get down the line a little bit
faster. It’s kind of cold, but so much of recording is
about time management.
M. White/(continued on page 28)/Tape Op#145/27
end of the day, for me, there is this intangible magic
that can happen in the studio that’s unrepeatable and
hard to find. It’s difficult, and everyone wants to get
there in their studio experience. But there’s also a
whole chunk of things that need to happen before
you’re getting to that level. When you have
same page, and who are good at their instruments,
you can get to that ecosystem where unplanned
magic can happen. You have to know how the songs
go. You have to know the chords and the parts. You
have to be able to play together. You have to know
what the BPM is. You have to know all the riffs in the
song, if there are any. All of that. With those guys, we
can get places pretty fast and get all of that out of
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the way. Then we’re at a place to start dealing with
the “dark arts” side that’s hard to pin down.
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location downtown that was smaller. We had to get out
of my attic. It was great, but it wasn’t professional. As
soon as we found ourselves on the precipice of being
actual professionals, it was like, “We’ve gotta get
somewhere that we can bring someone to that’s not my
house.” We went and moved to another small spot
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downtown, but we would do some work other places.
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There’s a studio called Montrose Recording in
Richmond. It’s an excellent studio, and it’s important to
mention in this interview because it is such a special
studio. When we were in the smaller studio, we would
often use Montrose for our bigger projects. Then for my
record, when we were building out what is now the
more “official” space in our studio – which is bigger and
can take on all of our projects – I used Montrose to
record almost the entirety of this new record. It’s a
special place. Adrian [Olsen], the owner and engineer,
is a great friend and wonderful collaborator. Things that
were recorded at Montrose will get said to be recorded
at Spacebomb, but they’re not. They were recorded at
Montrose. I’m sure you know how that goes.
Currently Spacebomb is a specific studio, at 106 South
Robinson in Richmond, but because it was under
construction while I was working on this record, and
because I love working at Montrose, we did this record
out there. For K Bay, my home studio [also known as
K Bay] was actually on that property in another
building. It’s like a sprawling farm with a bunch of old
buildings. Montrose is one of them and K Bay’s
another. It’s only been pretty recently that
Spacebomb has opened up and been public, in a way.
It’s hard for us to get that word out locally. You can
rent Spacebomb. The reputation of the 9-to-5 house
band, working in there every day, is not necessarily
the case all the time. But it didn’t start off as a public-
facing business. I went to school for jazz and for
arranging. Halfway through that experience, I was
like, “If I want my music to be heard, I need to
understand recording.” I had a 4-track growing up,
 but I wasn’t good at it. I’m still not particularly gifted For one thing, it depends on what people want from a
on the engineer front. It is shocking how much more
that I know now than I did, but it’s a trial by fire
because I’m not particularly a natural at it. I wanted
to get my music out there. I wanted people to hear it.
Recording is important. I can’t just know how to write
and play. I have to know how to record. I lived in this
place with an attic. I went to a recording friend of
mine and asked, “Can I buy all of your old shit? Can
you give me enough so that I can plug a mic into a
preamp and into something that will record it, so that
I can start off?” Just yesterday I got back the first
little board that was in the original Spacebomb. It’s a
Kelsey 16-channel live console. It looks amazing;
black with candy-colored knobs. It was that into an
[Alesis] HD24. It was a pretty gnarly setup.
Has the acquisition of gear been a slow
process of outgrowing equipment and
trying to expand your capabilities?
Yeah, it’s been in direct correlation to how much I
understand the art of recording. For me, it’s been
figuring out that there’s not a “right” way to do it. That
the way that one wants to make music needs a certain
kind of gear. You don’t really know what that is until
you run into problems. Like, “I need a fader for this!” A
fader does a thing; I want to “play” it in. There are so
many effects where I want to fly a fader up. To do what
I need to do, I need a certain amount of channels, or
a certain amount of buses. Or I’m listening to some Very true.
music, and it’s like, “How’d they do that?” I start asking There are practical decisions I make based on that. Then
questions. I remember when we got a [Lexicon] Prime
Time delay in the studio, and we started messing
around with that. I was like, “Holy shit! This is the
sound of so much stuff!” It’s been a slow build for me,
regarding where my interests go. I try really hard to not
get things that are in vogue. I’ve purposefully stayed
away from the [Teenage Engineering] OP-1 [keyboard]
because everyone used it. That’s not recording gear, but
it kind of is. I try pretty hard to keep it practical.
Honestly, I try not to spend a lot of money. I Yeah.
recommend trying to understand what you’re buying If I take care of that, then it can be more like, “This is
and dig into what you get and understand it as much
as possible. Use the things you have. So much about
recording for me is the process that a certain piece of
equipment will force you into. Like tape does sound a
certain way, but, more importantly, it forces you to
record a certain way. It makes you make decisions early
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on. That’s an important thing to me for the process; to
not delay decision-making. Don’t leave backups or extra
mics up that you may or may not use. Get rid of them.
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The process is informed by the gear you use, and the
process decides the sound as much as a piece of gear
might decide the sound. Again, once you get into that
world, it is a dark art of trying to swim and find your
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way to the top.
Totally.
It’s fun, too. That’s what’s so magnetic about it. It’s a
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very difficult thing to solve. It’s a never-ending
journey. Try to keep having fun with it.
When you’re producing someone, how
soon do you start formulating a
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vision for how it’s going to come
across at the end?
28/Tape Op#145/E. White/(continued on page 30)
producer. I try to talk about that early on. A producer
is a pretty open job description, and depending on
what music people listen to, and what process they’ve
used, people are bringing their expectations of what a
producer is into a session. A lot of times they don’t
know there are other ways of doing it. I try to tease
that out almost immediately. “What are you actually
looking for? Do you want me to be a heavy-handed
collaborator? Do you want me to do this music and you
sing? Do you want this to be a completely collaborative
work? Do you want me to just be someone to bounce
ideas off of? Do you want me to be an administrator
that makes sessions start on time, end on time, hand it
in on time, and give you the freedom to work?” When
I’m creatively involved, which is my preference – to be
as involved as an artist would like, the first thing I do
is I ask them to share a playlist with me that’s what
they want the record to sound like so we can get on the
same page as far as vocabulary. When someone says
“groovy” or “funky” or “dark” or “distorted” or “fuzzy,”
those mean a lot of different things to a lot of different
people. I try to get their aesthetic background. It’s nice
to know if their primary listening experience is from the
‘60s, the ‘70s, the ‘80s, or now. That informs a lot of the
decisions. What do they want it to sound like? If they
want to sound like Prince, then that’s different than if
they want it to sound like James Brown.
I try to get demos. I generally will make a text
document and write out thoughts for them before we
get in the studio of, “This is where I think this song
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could go. Here are some ideas.” I try to get the idea
of what the initial instruments that everybody’s going
to play are, so that if we have four band members in
the studio I don’t want to be thinking about, “Oh, is
Alan [Parker] playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar,
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or 12-string guitar?”
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how I want to start. Cameron [Ralston] plays DI P
Bass. Alan plays Strat with amp in the room. Pinson
[Chanselle]’s playing close-mic’d drums. Mic the toms
with overheads way off.” I’ll have an idea. And it can
all change, but at least we’re not talking about it
when we walk in. When we walk in, I want it to say,
“You do this, you do this, you do this, you do this.”
We’ll see how it sounds. If it sounds like garbage, then
we’ll change. I feel you can spend a lot of wasted time
in the start-up process. I try to keep a list of overdubs
that I want to do, or that the artist wants to do, or
that are on the demo. That way when we get to
overdub time, it’s not a free-for-all.
Oh, I know what you mean.
That’s one of my least favorite seasons of recording. “All
right, overdubs. What are we going to do?” “Hey, we
could do this!” If you want an overdub, tell me. I put
it on the list, and, as the producer, I get to prioritize
the list. Then we check it off. When we run out of
time, we move on. If we come back, then we know. It
is so important to leave room for improvisation and to
leave room to pivot. But it’s like you have to start
somewhere to even get to the place where you want
to pivot, or where you have those ideas. I’m like foot
on the gas when we get in the studio. “Let’s start
getting stuff down and start playing.” If we don’t like
an idea, we can change. I’m very comfortable with
that. For this last record, I’m obviously way more
heavy-handed on my own records than I can be on
anyone else’s.
You can be!
I like to do a three-song triangulation of what we’re
going for. For the first single that just came out,
“Genuine Hesitation,” it was ESG [Emerald, Sapphire
& Gold], Kraftwerk, and Berlin-era Iggy Pop. I’ll listen
to three songs and be like, “This is the vibe.” It’s not
a sampling thing, or like, “Play this exact drum part,”
but ESG has a certain way that they approach rhythm
section parts and how much space there is. It’s that
)
communication to the band of, “This is the language
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that we’re using.” Those guys are so flexible. At this
point, we have so much listening time together. I
lived with those guys. It was my 20s, where I was
listening to music all the time, as well as partying
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with other people listening to music with those guys.
Our language is deep. Sometimes with other peoples’
records, I’ll do that too. It’s a little bit harder. The
game of telephone gets a little bit longer.
Like ESG might be a reference that some
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people don’t have.
Yeah.
ai
I love the idea of a parallel universe
with the songs on K Bay. Are you
bringing in elements from the
secondary takes or second takes?
It doesn’t happen all over the record. But the first thing
you hear on the record, the first 30 seconds of the
first song, is the totally alternate universe. With Trey,
there’s actually less arranging on the record, but more
moments when the arranging is by itself. It reads as
orchestral, even though the main bodies of the songs
are stripped down and direct band tracks. On the first
tune, it was like, “Here’re some things I like about the
tune harmonically. Can you write an orchestral gesture
based on that?” It gives me the ability to be a little
bit more of a collage artist, along with being a
songwriter and more of a composer-producer, as well
as with being a lyricist and a singer. Production is
about bringing out this hard-to-get three-
dimensionality of when the sounds and the words
make a thing that is bigger than they are separately.
The first song is stacked with that. Then it happens a
couple of other times on the record. Sometimes it
worked and sometimes it didn’t. I had another record
come out six months ago that was a collaboration
with Lonnie Holley [Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection].
That record’s wild! I love it.
That record is all those other takes. It’s all the alternate
shit that didn’t get used. I had so much of it. I was
like, “What am I going to do with this?” I chopped it
up Teo [Macero]-style, and then built little
compositions out of it and asked Lonnie to sing over
it. It is on the record; however, the not-so-secret but
less-covered narrative is that it also turned into a
whole other record.
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 That record reminded me of the group How did that come about? them. There’s a night-and-day difference to how they
Can. Experimenting and letting the The first record [Big Inner] was such an odd recording hit. That has everything to do with Adrian. He’s got
overdubs be pretty free. experience and was mixed by Karl Blau, which was an old Flickinger console we used the shit out of. Not
There are no overdubs on that record. Yeah, the playing great. You can’t beat Karl; he’s incredible. But when I that it’s always about the gear, but sometimes it is!
is wild. That’s an example. There are songs on this made the second record, the label was like, “Would His studio’s stacked, man. It’s good shit and a good
new record, that if you listened to the new record and you mind if we got a more traditional engineer to mix vibe. He mixed the new record too. We’re getting great
then listened to the Lonnie Holley record, you’d be it?” If you’re reading this, Karl is incredible, but he’s results. When I say I want thumpy, tubby, close-mic’d
like, “Oh!” They’ve been released in backwards order. about as eccentric as you can get in terms of his drums, he’s like, “Okay, I get it!” He knows what that
Trey had more arrangements cut on this record [K Bay] approach to mixing and recording. It’s magic, but it’s means. I don’t have to play a thousand examples. We
than he’s comfortable with, I’ll tell you that much. definitely left-of-center. just did a record for this band Gently Tender in Wales
That’s not usual for him. Trey and I have a great Yeah, there are tracks that are a little at Rockfield Studios.
relationship, but there were different concepts out of phase but so interesting on I just reviewed the documentary
competing for space. And there were far more your first record. [Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm,
arrangements written on the record than that made it It’s crazy and it’s great. When I listen to that record, I’m Tape Op #144].
to the final project. Somewhere I’ve got beautiful like, “I cannot believe that this launched a career.” But That was the first time we’d traveled together to do
orchestral writing just sitting there. it’s also magic. I’d never be able to get it again. Karl something. That was really fun.
It’s so hard with any overdub, especially had a lot to do with that. When I was a beginner, I Are you getting hammered with

)
when you’re doing something like didn’t have a record label. Karl mixed it, because he was requests to produce people at this
point in time? Do you have to be

that which is more involved. It’s so
hard to relegate them to the dustbin,
so to speak.
I know. But you’ve got to. You can’t be swayed by how
the one there engineering it. We mixed it at his friend’s
house. Now the label wanted to pay for a mixing
engineer. A professional, credited, known engineer. I’d
never had the budget to do that before. I didn’t know
ot
selective?
I feel it goes in waves with the records. I haven’t
released a record of mine in five years. Right after

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much you spent on something. That’s such a recording anything about that world of mixing engineers. Domino each record I get waves of requests, and then it tails
lesson. If you pay for a player, pay for studio time, or Records had a budget. Pat’s name came up and I looked off a little bit. The best work that I do is my records
an arrangement, if you don’t like it, you have to feel at the credits. I loved that he had worked on a lot of and Natalie’s records. Natalie and I go back so far; we
free to get rid of it. You’ve gotta get past that. OG hip-hop in New York. That was a big draw for me. grew up in Virginia Beach together. When I put a
Nadia Reid’s album, Out of My Province, He had just mixed a record with a lot of strings on it. record out, that’s the best version of me, currently

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which you co-produced with Trey, is It was the fact that he had dealt with lo-fi, low-end where I am. It tends to attract people, and then
a completely different world from recordings and then also orchestral. People will there’s a feedback loop from that. Like the farther

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Lonnie’s record. absolutely do garbage mixes of orchestral music if from my records it gets, the more that I get people
Yeah! Definitely. Nadia’s great. It was special to have her you’re not careful. From a panning point of view and who are coming to me for things that are farther and
over here. We did that record the week before I compression, it gets bad fast if people don’t have some farther from what I am good at. I don’t necessarily
started recording my new record. We ended on a experience. I went up to New York and sat on his couch end up making the best thing that I can make. As a
Friday, and the next Monday I started K Bay. That
gm
for a couple of weeks. Mixed a song a day. It was great. producer, I’m a better match for some people than
record has Trey’s fingerprints all over it. I was there, He’s a pleasant guy to be around, and I like what he did others. There’s no way around that. I’m the best
and I was involved, but Trey was running the show. with the record. It was a good experience. match for myself. When I’m making the records, I
Some of the decisions are Trey-style decisions. Not With work these days, who’s doing have to turn down work. I can’t do both.
that I wasn’t present or involved. Because we were engineering and mixing? Yeah. You can’t be making your own
t)

starting K Bay the next week, it was fun to be there Adrian Olsen, who owns Montrose Recording, does all of record, jump into someone else’s for
and help make decisions and move things along. But, that. Adrian was an important collaborator for the a week, and then back into yours.
in terms of the prep for that record, that was Trey’s record. By no means am I a producer/engineer type of Writing songs is not natural for me. I really enjoy it, but
(a

work for sure. guy. I am aware of the sounds, and there are certain it’s like going to war a little bit with myself.
Is it handy to be able to be that fresh ear? sounds that I’m going for. But Adrian connects the Psychologically it’s hard. Obviously, I’m digging into
I think so. Hopefully for her sake it was helpful! It’s not dots for me, for sure. We have long conversations myself; but also it’s not easy. Production is way more
too often where I am in that position. That was about the approach, conceptual sound design, and natural. I can walk into the room tomorrow and do a
unique. She’s extra special. She was one of those what we’re looking for. He’s as important a pretty good job at producing someone’s record, even if
artists where I’d have a certain expectation of maybe collaborator as anyone on the record in terms of I’ve never heard anything before. I feel comfortable in
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what they’re going to be like, or how they’re going to getting the sound, and on that Lonnie record too. The that environment. But if I have to walk into a studio
approach things, and then we got into it and it was first time I worked with him was when Flo Morrissey and record a song tomorrow that I wrote on the spot, it
significantly different than I was expecting. Not in a and I did the duets record [Gentlewoman, Ruby Man]. would be a dumpster fire. It would be trash. When I’m
ir

better or worse way. It’s like the rhythm of this was That record’s cool. in the season of writing, I can’t do anything else. r
pretty unique. I learned a lot from being around her, That was the first time I’d ever recorded at Montrose and <www.matthewewhite.com> <spacebombgroup.com>
about how she approaches things, which is not down the first time I’d ever used Adrian. The Spacebomb
the middle at all. There are a handful of tunes on that team is really good, but we’ve never had an Tape Op is made
an

record that are just the scratch vocal. She’s an
incredible vocalist. Some people’s vocals, with the
way you can comp stuff now, it’s hard to tell who can
af
“engineer.” On Big Inner and Natalie Prass’ first record, possible by our
it’s all us. We know what we like, we have good taste,
advertisers.
and we know enough to not do certain things. But I Please support them and tell them
you saw their ad in Tape Op.

sing and who can’t really sing. But with her, it was
pretty jaw-dropping, vocally.
I know you’ve mixed with my pal Pat
Dillett [Tape Op #79] a bit.
in
would say those early Spacebomb records lucked into
success, from an engineering front. You can listen to
Natalie’s first record [Natalie Prass] and then listen to
her second record [The Future and the Past]. One’s
www.tapeop.com

Oh, yeah. I love Pat. He mixed the second record I did recorded by me in Spacebomb’s attic, and one was Bonus content online!!!
[Fresh Blood]. recorded by Adrian at Montrose. I produced both of
30/Tape Op#145/E. White/(Fin.)
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 Sarah Tudzin Were there other production heroes
when you started recording?
Finding Sanctuary for Creativity I got into reading credits; most of the ones who stuck out
to me were artists who produced, as well as engineers
by Sadie Dupuis who seemed to have more say in the production.
Susan, for example, started her career as a tech for
photo by Maddie Ross Prince and she became a real sounding board for him.
I was also into Justin Vernon [Bon Iver]; knowing how
he approached music as a writer and artist, and that he
did a lot of creative sound work. I loved Jamie xx and
finding out he made The xx records. Brian Wilson is the
obvious answer; someone who’s a weird freak and
touches every piece of those records, and makes a
difference in everything from the songwriting, through

Sarah Tudzin loves solving sonic puzzles, in a quest

to bring unexpected depth to her clients’ albums as
well as her own. With Illuminati Hotties, Tudzin’s main
songwriting outlet in which she is guitarist, singer, and
producer, she’s mined veins of punk, from tender
power pop to SoCal-indebted prog. This year’s release,
Let Me Do One More, sees the band dialing in spacy
sounds and crunched guitars to level up its heartfelt

)
whip-smarts. As an engineer, Tudzin soaks up tricks
from each of her collaborators. Considering her client

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list – !!!, Macklemore, and Weyes Blood are a few of
the many – she’s developed a multi-textured palette of
sounds. I was lucky to work with her on mixing my
recent Sad13 album, Haunted Painting, staying up all

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night to get the most out of Sonic Ranch’s SSL console
[Tape Op #94], and she’s my go-to friend when I need
production advice. Tudzin talked to me about how
working from home compares to Sunset Sound, finding
time for Illuminati Hotties when she’s engineering

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others, and the emotional intuition that’s become one
of her most essential production skills.

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Did you start playing music on drums?
Piano was my very first instrument. In middle school, I gm
got bored of practicing and watched the film
Drumline, starring Nick Cannon. I thought, “I wanna
be that.” I started drums in middle school band and
quickly found out my high school had a horrible
football program and no marching band. But jazz
band was the thing, so I played drums.
t)

But you went to Berklee [College of

Music] for drum performance.
Yes. In the music industry I thought you could only be
(a

an instrumentalist or a manager. I had no idea you

could be a writer, producer, or engineer. But when I
got to college, they had a nice studio program with
access to cool gear, and it occurred to me there were
people very creatively involved in records who
weren’t necessarily playing on them. I got bored of
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drumming eight hours a day all alone, and instead

wanted to be in the studio eight hours a day [with
others]. So, I moved into their production and
ir

engineering program.
Did you study with Susan Rogers [Tape
Op #117] there?
She’s one of my favorite teachers of all time. She’s a nut
an

about recorded music and science. She had a whole

psychology and music cognition career that came after
engineering Prince for 15 years. Another teacher there,
af

named Enrique Gonzalez [Müller], who has a Latin

Grammy and did a Dave Matthews Band record, really
got my organization and mix game up to speed and
made a big impression on me. Prince Charles Alexander,
in

who did a lot of ‘90s hip-hop, taught a lot more at the

forefront of popular music, which was also helpful.
 arrangement, and through sonic choices. Emile Haynie I played drums in a lot of Berklee kids’ bands. I It was very, very Boston. We’d play at random beer
had a production project. Ariel Rechtshaid [Tape Op didn’t do my own projects much. I was writing, festivals. It was cool to get paid for music. I did a lot
#111]; I was hip to him early on. On Vampire Weekend but not thinking I’d ever perform it onstage, nor of theater and pit band, because I could read music
and HAIM, he was so involved, in an artist’s way, even did I try. I’d do a gig that paid me on the well. As a kid, I played in random punk or ska things.
though those aren’t his bands. weekends, playing Irish rock. When you finished Berklee, I seem to
What kinds of bands were you in, back That sounds very Boston. remember you called around a
in Boston? bunch of studios to find work.

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S. Tudzin/(continued on page 34)/Tape Op#145/33

 I graduated and briefly looked in New York City for boundaries to fit my vibe, if I’m producing? Every Since you brought up Collin and
studios. They were all like, “We’d love to have you good session has pushed me out of my comfort zone, Illuminati Hotties, I’m curious if
intern!” However, I could not move to New York with where an artist asks for something that’s never been you’re writing for that project in the
a zero dollar paycheck. I moved back to L.A. and asked of me. How do I do it in the most efficient way background of your day job, while
stayed at home. I started working at a big recording possible? There’ve been extenuating circumstances of you work producing for others.
studio; large-format, old school vibe. I don’t want to all-night sessions – well, in our case [on Haunted I’ve had to set aside time to do that. I generally
be disparaging, but it was a horror story. I was like, Painting] it was a good one. overbook myself. You might know about this crazy
“I can’t be cleaning toilets at 3 a.m. for the next Nice. Thanks. thing where you say yes to everything, and then can’t
three years.” I’d call different management But sometimes people are raging, nervous about finish any of it? [laughter] I love to work on as much
companies and make friends with the receptionists, finishing; that’s when the returns diminish by the as possible, and then things go over schedule, either
who were usually my age, and ask if I could email a minute. Suddenly it’s 4 a.m. and we haven’t tracked a because the project is flowing that way or it’s my bad.
résumé in case their clients needed assistant note. There’s a mental and physical comfort zone I’ve It’s not your bad! It’s your attention to
engineers. I ended up working for the producer Will expanded in order to work under everyone’s creative detail and your talent.
Wells – who went to Berklee – so I got in through best-case situations. Not everybody can pull an all- Totally. It’s the creative nature of things. Once you get
that connection. nighter, even if they have to. Some people prefer to in the woods, it becomes more consuming than you
And you worked on some music for do three or four hours and that’s all they can tap into originally thought it might be. I’m learning to set
Hamilton? for the day. time aside for Hotties. It’s hard to focus on both at

)
Will had worked with Alex Lacamoire before, the musical How do you gauge where to insert the same time. Working for Chris, it was more
director of Hamilton, so they farmed out a lot of drum yourself as a producer with a brand-

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automatic, technical know-how and less creative
sampling to us. They sent us GarageBand demos that new client? juice. It was easy to scheme in the background. Now,
were in disarray and asked us to remake the samples Some of it is catching a vibe. More than any technical if I’m producing or a head mixer, my attention is on
so that they’d sound cool and relevant. We dove or musical skill I’ve employed in a session, the most the artist at all times and it’s hard to turn that off

through a lot of hard drive samples and some Logic
samples and EQed and compressed them to sound
loud. We referenced a lot of old hip-hop and figured
out what drum machines they were citing. I worked
for Will until he left to tour with Imagine Dragons as
valuable skill is “hang factor.” Being able to be in a
room in a way that boosts that creativity. I’ve seen it
in other producers and engineers I admire; being able
to walk into the studio and catch an understanding
for someone else’s humanity. It’s also about trying
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when they walk out of the studio.
Because it’s still your creative vision,
even if it’s not your songwriting.
Exactly that. If I’m producing, it says something about
me as a producer. It’s my time, myself, my energy.

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an instrumentalist. As he was leaving, I got a call from stuff out. I can ask to push the tempo, you can say When the clock is off, I’m still thinking about
Chris Coady’s [Tape Op #113] management company. no, and I can see, “She knows what she wants. I finishing that thing. Working for others, I can feel,

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They offered me a job; it was perfect timing, and I won’t push ideas unless she asks.” Other people come “Thank god, I have time to work on my own thing!”
worked for Chris for three and a half years. When I first in more flailing and I know then that I have an But it’s been tricky for a couple reasons to generate
started working with him, it wasn’t that busy because opening to make a suggestion, and the artist will take new Hotties stuff in the recent past. I’ve been afraid
I was new and Chris was on a lot of mixing projects it or leave it. In some cases, artists are completely to get into my own thoughts a bit. On Free I.H. (This
and didn’t need me every day. I was also assistant reliant on the producer’s choices. Gauging the
gm Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For) I could be
engineering in Malibu at Woodshed Recording, which situation, deciding if the suggestion will wreck the hyperbolic and nonsensical and it wasn’t a product of
is run by a film scorer [Richard Gibbs]. It’s a beautiful vibe, going for it and seeing if they’ll choose it or emotional outpouring like the third record [Let Me Do
retreat on a point above Zuma Beach. Pop artists come not... I leave my own ego out of it. One More] was.
through, because you can stay there and rent the It’s emotional intelligence on top of the You’re one of the best mixers I’ve
t)

house. Writing and vocal sessions come through, and
Macklemore was one of those. They did some writing,
and there was a song with Idris Elba on it. We tracked
him singing, which was crazy.
technical training; such a deciding worked with. Is that high stakes
factor in whether it’ll be a good work attachment part of why you have
fit. Are there other producers who Collin mix?
feel like mentors or peers you can
(a

Totally. If I mixed Hotties it would never come out. I

What was it like moving between bounce those kind of ideas off of? take on a lot as the producer, writer, artist, and
projects of that scale, and bigger but Especially in the past year, I’ve been in the studio engineer. Having the accountability, as well as
still indie projects with Chris, such as completely on my own and I’ve missed having Chris needing to get it off my hard drive because Collin has
Porches and Weyes Blood? around, where I can look over his shoulder, see what he’s only so much time to mix it, has been helpful to
I loved it. I could flex my taste well: subversive, lower-fi doing, and pick up tricks and mold them into my own finish. If I mixed it, I’d spiral on it forever. I’d find
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or lower-budget type work, as well as top-of-the-top, thing. Where I get that info from now is from things to fix and I’d never get it to the point where
biggest names, biggest budgets, infinite time and collaboration and trying things out. I don’t wanna gas it was functional.
resources situations. It was cool to have a hand in both. you up, but you have such a cool approach to music, For mastering, you work with Jett
ir

It was really interesting to see what levels of music
create Top 40 and what are more fan-based projects. If
I was exclusively in the pop world, it’d feel formulaic.
Exclusively indie rock might be formulaic, in a different
an
songwriting, and production, and I learned a lot from Galindo [at The Bakery]?
those Sad13 sessions. I learn a lot from [my bandmate] Yes, Jett did the last two. Sarah Register did the newest
Collin Pastore who mixes all of [Illuminati] Hotties’ stuff. one. It was cool. I’ve mixed a lot of stuff that has
He’s open to my ideas; he’ll give me his suggestions if gone to her; she works magic.

way. At the end of the day, everyone makes music
similarly. It’s about what tools you have around you.
Did any of those sessions change your
approach to production?
af
he feels there’s production he wants to hear. We joke that What are you seeking out in a mastering
he’s a bit more square, whereas I’m more about throwing engineer?
random shit against the wall. Where we meet in the Generally, I want an open dialogue. It creeps me out

Every session I’ve done is different, and everybody works
with their own twist. I’m constantly morphing, even
today, to catch up with the artist’s requirements.
in
middle feels like a great place. Everyone, now, is also a when my last step is sending it to mastering and I
producer! So many artists do their own thing, in a cool never hear from them again. I like to be in on the
way. When I get demos, I’m opening them up, like, “How process, and for mastering engineers to critique
did you do this? I don’t work in this program. This mixes and give notes! I love to hear masters back

There’s a push and pull – how far can I push my own sounds fresh and unheard of.” I feel absorptive, and I that have the spirit of the mix but feel more buff. I
boundaries? How far can I push the artist’s pick up tricks wherever I can. don’t want to hear a completely different take on
34/Tape Op#145/S. Tudzin/(continued on page 36)
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 the song. That’s freaky. Some artists get it to where The [Shure] SM7 is up in my room at all times and I do I know there are tools you like in the
they want mix-wise and want to see what happens vocals through it. It’s a workhorse and I’ve never digital realm, because I always run
in mastering. For me, I’m like, “This is what the heard it sound bad. I also use it, lazily, to track my plug-in purchases by you.
record sounds like. Mastering is the fairy dust.” And random guitars. The [Sennheiser] MD 421s are another The [oeksound] Soothe [dynamic resonance suppressor];
Sarah Register is really good at that. She favorite. Whenever I put them on something new, I’m we’ve talked about that, and I use it on everything.
understands the soul of the mix, as well as the like, “Is this the only microphone I need?” I have a The [Aberrant DSP] SketchCassette [lo-fi tape plug-in]
decisions made in production, and she augments phone with a 1/4-inch output; using that on guitars has been my get out of jail free card. When an artist
those instead of adding aggressive EQ fixes. or rock vocals for a moment of flavor is a lot of fun. doesn’t know what to do, I’m like, “What about this?”
Your vocal range in Illuminati Hotties Is there a consistent vocal chain, or is And they love it. A session I mixed recently for Justin
spans widely – it can be aggressive, that tailored to your different vocal Courtney Pierre didn’t use much, plug-ins-wise, but
outlandish, sweet, or cartoony. characters and different clients? they used an Avid plug-in I didn’t have. It’s BBD Delay
What’s your tracking process on I switch back and forth between preamps on the – chorus, vibrato, looks like a guitar pedal on the
vocals? I know [pop artist] Maddie Equinox. I also use a little API rack depending on the computer. It sounded awesome and I bought it. I’ve
Ross engineered some vocals on your vocal. I was trading around and borrowing used that a lot lately; it’s spring reverb-y, probably
song “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA.” compressors for a while, but I settled on this Purple modeling an old Boss Chorus. I use FabFilter on
Yes. She also [engineered] vocals on a song called [Audio] MC77. It sounds really cool. Any time there everything. Their compressor and EQ are easy and
“Joni.” I asked her to hit record any time I didn’t are clones, I’m skeptical, because I’ve had the luxury transparent and flexible.

)
want to think about the computer while singing. to use the real deal ones. With Chris, we were at A lot of your recent production and co-
I assume you don’t want to deal with Sunset Sound. There are no realer mics than Sunset’s writing is with bands who are more

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other people when you’re doing some mics, compressors, and whatever vintage gear was your contemporaries, in terms of
of the more extreme vocal takes? around. It’s funny to try a [Neumann] U 47 clone – it’s touring and sound, like Pom Pom
Yes, 100%. Maddie is so non-judgmental in the studio probably a great mic, but often doesn’t sound like the Squad and Kississippi.

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and likes to go the extra mile. She goes overboard on real thing to me. That’s the unfortunate part of having It’s been great. When I was writing Kississippi tracks
a take rather than edging toward the line. She’d had my hands on the 50-year-old one from Germany! with Zoe [Reynolds], she had so many ideas and
rather hear or perform a vocal too much and then You’ve gotten spoiled. You work in and wanted someone to organize and reshape and build
decide what she likes. So, I was comfortable with that out of a lot of studios; are there all- them to the most powerful version. She wanted to be
setup. Weirdly, the sweeter stuff is what I can’t do in time favorites? poppier than the last Kississippi record. When I get to

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front of people. One of my favorites in L.A. is 64Sound, which Pierre de write with someone for their project, it’s cool working
That makes sense. When you know Reeder [Tape Op #109] runs. It’s one of the few on subject matter and phrasing that’s not my voice.

someone’s in the room, you project
differently. It gets hard to approach
the whispery register.
It’s hard, for sure. And I don’t have a setup with a
separate vocal booth. For Free I.H. I did a lot myself,
and it’s faster; but it’s a lot of starting and stopping
and piecing together as I do it. If I have someone
else running Pro Tools, I can do a full pass, and then
say, “Okay, I’ll do it again. I’m gonna think about the
ai
spaces I’ve been in that has a lot of vintage gear but
it’s all working! I’ve been to a lot of spots where I
walk in, “Whoa! Fairchilds!” And the guy is like, “Ah,
actually, a tech needs to work on those.” That sucks.
gm
Chris and I made a record in London at State of the
Ark, owned by a guy who wrote some Tina Turner hits.
They had an old EMI [TG12345] console that the
Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd and everybody tracked
on. It was one of the most amazing consoles I’ve
t)
I’m thinking about what Zoe would say, making
concessions to what she thinks is the better lyric,
instead of driving the train. For Pom Pom Squad – that
was a producing, engineering, and mixing [job]. I feel
I hit that project at a perfect time in their history,
where they had buzz and a few EPs out, but I’m not
sure they’d yet hit on the core of what [frontperson]
Mia [Berrin] wanted the band to be. Mia functions
from a cinematic, holistic perspective. She wanted to

chorus more.” heard. Sending drums through it sounded like a know how to smash all these sounds together and
It’s too easy to punch in when you have record already – immaculate, vibey. The faders were create a larger-than-life thing. That was exciting,
all the power. rocket ship levers you pull toward you. Very cool! doing a debut LP with a band that has so much vision.
Exactly, it’s too much power! I’ll punch in half a syllable! We both like Sylvia Massy [Tape Op #63] They just needed some guidance to accomplish it.
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Your home studio [Snack Shack] has some and her techniques. Do you have any Are there current trends you like or
circuit bent keyboards and a small bizarre setups you’ve loved? avoid in producing and mixing?
arsenal of gear. What are your faves Oh, yeah. I tracked Show Me the Body; we wanted to get Interesting. There’s nothing I’d purposely avoid. There
when you’re working from home? one part of a song to sound live. They had a show at are sounds that are tired. We’ve heard a wavy guitar
There’s a blessing and a curse with a small studio. My a DIY venue downtown, so I hung a mic in a cement with punchy, dry drums over and over again. It’s
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whole life, I’ve been working within my own budget stairwell with an amp ten feet away on the floor satisfying in a lot of contexts, but I feel myself trying
and it’s been a slow process of building up the gear I below. The lead singer plays banjo – plugged into that not to make that record, because there’s so much
do have. But it’s served me well. Go-to stuff on every amp, the feedback was crazy, a great sound I could more you can do. But I don’t avoid much, because I
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session: There’s a [Roland] Juno [synth] I got for half
price and it sounds awesome. The main piece of my
studio is this Shadow Hills Equinox [mic preamp];
everything I mix gets split out through there to hit
an
never replicate because I don’t record in warehouses want to learn as much as I can. There’s always some
much. That was a fun one. At 64Sound I did a record context where a sound is right. I’ve fallen into the
with Lou Roy. One of the songs was classic-sounding, YouTube trap and searched for inspiration recently. On
almost western. We tracked strings; it was natural and TikTok, I’ve learned a lot from random producers who

another stage of analog sauce. That circuit bent
keyboard you brought up is another favorite. It gets
crazy oscillating feedback if you patch it together the
right way, which I use more than guitar feedback.
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woody. I had her and the other guitarist sit and face will try something for lack of better knowledge, but
each other. I hung a ribbon mic above them, and two it’s a great idea, because it’s homegrown. I’ve tried to
mics on them, and some room mics far away. They get into Ableton [Live]; some parts of it are easy and
played live together and the blend of all those mics

natural. The only reason I don’t [get more into it] is

One of my favorite noisemakers is Hologram sounded so earthy, like you could reach out and grab I’ve spent so much time in Pro Tools, even though it’s
Electronics’ new Microcosm pedal, which sounds it. Hearing them play together, and how the mic setup harder to accomplish some things I want, like with
magical on everything I’ve run it through, drums and interacted, was a moment. I pulled up the mics and pitch. There are 16-year-old DJs on YouTube who are
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vocals included. didn’t have to do much, other than clever placement masters of that program, so I watch them make a
How about mics? of the players and the microphones. track, and try to do something similar.
36/Tape Op#145/S. Tudzin/(continued on page 38)
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 Has your workflow changed with all this time off tour?
More and more, I try to make things streamlined. One of my biggest hang ups
working on my own music is getting out of my chair and plugging things in.
Lately I’m setting things up in a clear, organized way: The vocal mic is always
through the compressor. An amp always has a mic on it. All my pedals go
through a little ten-channel Alesis mixer that’s a rack unit, and all my keyboards
are patched through that. I just pull up a fader. That’s been the biggest workflow
change; being ready to go, with very little motion.
So often I stay in the box because I don’t feel like going into
my basement and setting gear up.
I know you can approximate things with plug-ins in an amazing way, close to the
real deal. But if it’s all ready to go, it’s so fast to get the sound you really want.
That’s been huge, and being off the road… I don’t have as extensive a tour
history as you do, but I was on tour for 14 months before the pandemic. And
then it became studio time. I was able to get in and out of a few studios, and
it’s been fun to get out of my normal routine at home. It’s easy to fall into a

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trap where you’re pulling up the same sounds constantly and not innovating
things because it’s already set up in a way that sounds good.

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But if it works, it works!
If my amp wasn’t set up with a mic on it every day, maybe I’d pull out a different
amp or try some creative placement, like I do when I’m in someone else’s space

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because they have different things that are all reset to zero. But, overall, it’s
important to consider the room in which you’re functioning, physically or
metaphorically, and to honor it as a sanctuary for creativity! Whether it’s your
bedroom or a big fancy studio, creating music is such an awesome privilege we
have. Collaborating with others who love it is even greater. r

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<soundsliketudz.com> and <illuminatihotties.bandcamp.com>
Sadie Dupuis [Tape Op #142] is a songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer for her own projects

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Speedy Ortiz and Sad13, as well as with artists including Lizzo, Backxwash, and Ben Lee. She’s also a
poet and edits the Wax Nine journal. <www.sadiedupuis.com>

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www.tapeop.com
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bonus & archived reviews online!

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38/Tape Op#145/S. Tudzin/(Fin.)

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Gary Kemp
Ahead of the Game

by Larry Crane
photo by Joe Magowan

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Esteemed songwriter,
guitarist, and vocalist
Gary Kemp was the force

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behind Spandau Ballet for
many years, and currently
plays in Nick Mason’s
Saucerful of Secrets,
performing older Pink Floyd
selections. Gary’s recent solo

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album, INSOLO, is a

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beautiful reflection on life,
love, and music, and I
jumped at the chance to ask
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and present.
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I’ve been enjoying the Rockonteurs Electric Warrior [T. Rex] still sounds sonically brilliant.
podcast you do with Guy Pratt [Pink That was the first time I ever saw Tony Visconti’s
Floyd/David Gilmour/Saucerful bassist]. name. That recording is clear and there’s clarity on it.
You both have worked with so many It’s all about the arrangement. Don’t overburden the
people over the years. arrangement in certain frequencies. A lot of people
I’m fundamentally a massive fan of music. There’s even a
track on this album that’s a homage to being a fan,
“Waiting for the Band.” It’s about thinking about the
fact that I still have my greatest musical moments as
a fan, as opposed to being on stage. I still get
goosebumps from being a fan. But I don’t get that on
stage. On stage, you’re going through a technical
process of playing and performing and worrying, and
all the things it takes to do a good show.
Absolutely.
The only euphoria you get is when you come off stage,
and that’s only an overload of adrenaline that has got
nowhere to go. Being a fan of music history, I grew up
in one of the most eclectic times to be around. I told
everyone I liked Bowie, but I secretly bought Genesis
and listened to Yes. I attended a grammar school that
was a mixture of working class kids and middle class
kids. I wanted to be in that little corner of the
playground where they were talking about Yes or
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and then I wanted to be over
there where they were talking about Rod Stewart and
The Faces. My collection is super eclectic. Whenever we
talk to anyone on Rockonteurs, I’m passionate about
what they do. There are very few genres that I wouldn’t
be interested in. One little gap in my musical area
would probably be heavy metal. Metal doesn’t really do
it for me. Led Zeppelin a bit, but those records still
sound quite thin when I listen to them. I’m interested
in the world, and I still read autobiographies; I’m
interested in how you got to where you were.
I watched the documentary on Spandau
Ballet, Soul Boys of the Western World,
for the first time last night. I’d never
seen so much video footage of that era.
Our generation was turned on by glam rock. On my album,
I can still hear me trying to be Mick Ronson at times.
That was the first guitar hero I ever fell in love with.
That sound that he made on his guitar; that sound on
his right hand, and the melody. Ronson, Steve Hackett
[Genesis], [Robert] Fripp, Micky Jones from Man, and
Peter Frampton; these people all go into my melting
pot. But the first thing that turned our generation on
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was glam. Here’s Marc Bolan, Bryan Ferry, [Brian] Eno
[Tape Op #85], and [David] Bowie. I come from a very
poor, working class background, and I was watching
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guys on TV that came from another planet! That’s the
theatrical benchmark. Music should always deliver
visually as well as sonically. All of my generation, when
it came to be our turn at the end of the ‘70s and
an
beginning of the ‘80s – and taking all of the eclectic
mix of the music that we loved – it went into a melting
pot, and you have the sound of the ‘80s.
It’s important that you used the word
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“sound.” Glam rock – especially
through Tony Visconti [Tape Op #29]
and Ken Scott [#52] – with Bowie and T.
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Rex, those records sounded exciting
and new.
of the singles were done like that. Then, when we
came to the second album, we did a 12-inch mix of
every track and put it out in a box set. When we did
“Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On),” we
sent it out to all these DJs and didn’t even tell them
work on computers nowadays. They tend to put up that it was by Spandau Ballet. Richard was an
keyboard sounds, give themselves millions of options, instigator in what became the norm for a few years,
and things stay around in the mix. They don’t get of doing 12-inch mixes, to the extent that I
edited out. They’re all wodging themselves around in remember arguing with a record company about
the mid frequencies. It becomes a big pudding. You doing the first one, because they didn’t want to do
should think about what you need. What’s missing in it. When we got to “True” and said, “We’re not doing
that little sonic area you’ve got there? That’s what a 12-inch mix of this,” they said, “But you have to!”
you want to aim for. Maybe you’ve got a bass that’s By the time you got to your third album,
playing in a certain area, so the piano needs to be up True, you were working with
an octave, not down there. Tony Visconti has been Nicholas Jolley and Tony Swain at
great with that clarity over the years. Then, in saying Compass Point Studios in Nassau
that, some of my most favorite famous Bowie records [Bahamas]. You had some success,
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are Ken Scott’s. especially in Britain, but this
Right. Your early first two records with became a career-changing record.
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Spandau Ballet had Richard James There’s a different vibe going on
Burgess producing. How did you pick with these songs.
him, and what did he teach you guys? Yeah. I suppose growing up as a Bowie fan, I was also
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We picked him because he’d seen us at the Blitz Club, taught that you don’t have to stay in the same
where we were sort of the house band. London is very genre. I didn’t want to be a Depeche Mode, and do
good at this. It’s always had youth movements and electronica forever. I was a kid; I was interested in
music genres beginning in a place. It might be the Eel different genres and how I could express myself
Pie Club with the Rolling Stones. It might be the UFO through them. Previously to True, we were in a
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Club where Pink Floyd and psychedelia started, with different kind of band, and America never really got
Joe Boyd [Tape Op #60] working the door. Joe Boyd, to witness that. For the first two albums, and in fact
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we all know, made some of the greatest records of all on part of the second album, we got a bit lost in
time. I particularly love what he did with Fairport some prog rock – believe it or not – on the second
[Convention] and The Incredible String Band. side. I kind of didn’t know which way I wanted to
…and Nick Drake. gm go. After having six hit singles, I realized that what
He was part of that scene. He understood that because I didn’t need to do was to hang onto any cult club
they moved that scene from the UFO Club to Middle scene that was going on in the center of London. I
Earth, which was a club in Covent Garden where needed to write something that was universal, that
Bowie and T. Rex started, and the folk rock scene was about the song first and not about the rhythm,
started as well. Then you might have punk down at not about the beat, or not about the riff. I was
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the Roxy Club with the Sex Pistols, and then we were going through a particular time where, relationship-
the house band of the Blitz Club. Inside there was wise, I was now listening to Marvin Gaye, Al Green,
our “Joe Boyd,” if you like. It was Richard James and to Daryl Hall and John Oates. I thought, “I just
Burgess. He was a jazz drummer who played in an want to write a great song.” I was still living with
(a
electronic band called Landscape, who had this song my parents and I was 22 years old. I hadn’t earned
out called “Einstein a Go-Go.” Here’s a guy who enough money to go and buy a flat. I wrote the True
understood music and understood the studios. He album, which inclueded “Gold,” “True,” “Lifeline,”
had a very close relationship with Dave Simmons and all those. It [True] was the song first. I’d take
who was developing an electronic drum kit. When we the song, I’d play it to the band, and we’d put it
were going to go make our first record, I said, together in a rehearsal room before we recorded it.
“Richard, can you give us a hand and help us out?” I wanted to go to Nassau, because I wanted to get
He did not want to embellish us too much. He away from London recording. I didn’t want to be a
wanted to keep us with the same live, garage-y “London band” anymore. I wanted to be an
sound that we had and not overdub too heavy. What international band. I knew that Nassau had a great
I did with Richard, as soon as I went into the studio, history of blue-eyed soul, like with Robert Palmer.
I loved when you’d mute channels and run the track. Talking Heads were there when we arrived. And Tom
I loved that you could suddenly change everything. Tom Club. And Chris Blackwell, who owned Island
I’d grown up buying a lot of disco records, imports Records and Compass Point had wanted to sign us,
from America, and elongated 12-inches. At that and he’d seen us play at The Blitz. True ended up
time, 12-inch records were mostly made by Black getting played on a lot of Black stations in America.
soul disco acts, right? Bands like ours weren’t making I don’t know what it’s like now, but at that time
any extended 12-inch mixes. I said, “Richard, let’s do there were serious divisions. The music stations were
a 6 and a half minute mix of ‘To Cut a Long Story either Black soul or white rock. We ended up doing
Short.’” We’ll put it out on a white label [an Soul Train.
unmarked/blank label] to DJs. For the first album, all I saw that clip.
G. Kemp/(continued on page 42)/Tape Op#145/41
 I think previous to us was Bowie, Hall & Oates, and Elton
John. We were the fourth white band to ever go on
Soul Train, and it was one of my proudest moments. I
loved doing it.
Was your new album, INSOLO, all made
during lockdown or did you get
started beforehand?
It got recorded during lockdown, to a large extent.
There’s a lot of reflection in the lyrics.
It’s a lot of reflection. I suppose the two lines that sum
up what I was trying to achieve are on that track “I
am the Past.” The chorus is, “I am the past, trying to
be here.” That’s the weight of your history – that’s
always on my shoulders. I was trying to be reflective
in the end. That’s not to say it’s not uplifting at times,
because there are uplifting things about it.
Absolutely. How did co-producer Toby
Chapman get involved with this?
Toby played keyboards with Spandau since the mid-
’80s. I’ve known him for a long time. I’d demoed
tracks with him in the end of the ‘80s and early
‘90s. When I did my first solo album [Little Bruises]
in ‘95, he did keyboards on that and sang backing
vocals with me. Finally, I’d got these songs and I
was starting to put them down as demos. I was
asking myself, “Am I brave enough to say I’m
making an album?” I was halfway through the
songwriting. What I did is think, “Right. I’ve got to
get out of my demo studio. I’ve got to commit by
going into a big studio, spending more money, and
getting some vocals done in a nice place, where he
[Toby] can sit on the other side of the screen.” I
don’t want to record my own vocals, ever. I don’t
like pressing the button and coming back to the
mic. No. I’d rather go to a studio and get into it.
Perform. It’s like the other side of the camera, like
being on stage. Make it the performance. Toby was
a great reactor. He would be able to give me
confidence, tell me what I was doing, and what I
should try. Once I started to do that, I felt, “I’ve
committed myself to a record now.” Unfortunately,
we went into lockdown.
Oh, brother.
But it was then me sending the tracks out to musicians,
and saying, “Let’s try and work with this.” Some of
those great guys have all got their own studios now;
[drummers] Ash Soan, Roger Taylor [of Queen], and
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Ged Lynch. [Bassist] Richard Jones from The Feeling.
Guy Pratt wasn’t great at doing it remote. He liked to
get in the studio with me and chat and to improv. I
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found the other guys were more doing what I’d
programmed, apart from Roger Taylor of course,
because that’s Roger.
Right. Was it a surprise to get his track,
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and the feel he put on it?
It was. What was a surprise was I’d written this song,
the last song that was written, which was about
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struggling through all that was going on in the world;
all the shit that was coming at me. I’d be listening to
artists on social media telling us how we should all
behave, and what we should be doing for the
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environment to save the planet, and I thought, “I
can’t write that song.” Sometimes I’d sit down and
42/Tape Op#145/G. Kemp/(continued on page 44)
think, “Should I be writing ‘Fragile,’ like Sting?” No, I It’s a big powerful guitar part that comes in at the end.
can’t! I want to write about how fucking frustrating It should be another voice. It’s a voice coming in. It’s
it is. I want to hide from it all and be with my family not, “Oh, now the guy’s showing us what he can do
and protect them and be with my wife. And that’s on the guitar.” It’s melody. It’s an operatic moment.
when I wrote “Too Much.” “‘Cause there’s too much in That is what it should be, and it’s done with a guitar.
the world. Too much.” When Roger put his drums on Right. The string arrangements on the
that middle eight – they’re big and they open the album, especially on the title track
door – to me that’s like, “Wow, now I’m really telling [“In Solo”] are beautiful. You
everyone. This isn’t a private message.” He delivered collaborated on those, right, with
that to the song. Toby and the conductor, Rob Taggart?
There’s a sense of drama in the way he I started that in my studio. The concept was I wanted it
plays; perfect dynamics. to have just strings and piano, right up to the bit
He did insist, “You’ve got to keep the ambience on where the drums and guitar come in. I wanted it to
the drums].” become synthesized later on. Toby and I then
Oh, cool. That makes sense. developed the arrangement on the strings, the wind
This is what you try and achieve. You try to get [instruments], and a French horn. Rob Taggart gave
everything into the mix, keeping the personality of us what we’d already put down, but it was real. You
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what you’ve recorded. That’s quite hard nowadays. can hear the wonderful ebb and flow you get with real
You can fiddle forever. What happened in the past is players. We did it at RAK. We only used ten players. I
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your options were much lower. You had that drum did a blend on some parts, here and there.
sound you got at the beginning, and you couldn’t With sampled strings?
fucking change it. Yeah, but mostly it’s just the strings. I was knocked out
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Or you’d be mixing all hands on a by how few strings you need to make it sound good,
console. if the arrangement’s right.
I did this all on [Apple] Logic. I’m not a Pro Tools I’ve done a lot of sessions with quartets,
person. I was throwing parts down on Logic, and then and it can sound quite big if you
I wanted to get real guitars on there. I substituted all double the passes up.
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the recorded faux-Wurlys and faux-Hammonds and Well, even twice as many is not twice as much sound. It
pianos; all of those turned into real instruments when blurs the sound. What I wanted was intimacy in some
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I went to RAK and Metropolis [studios]. The guitars of it. String arrangement-wise, a lot of this album
are mostly all through a real amp, using my pedals musically has bits of my ‘70s scrapbook in there.
and sticking a Hiwatt amp out in the studio. In There are bits of 10cc, Wings, Todd Rundgren, Elton
lockdown I had to do some parts quickly. I found that John, Steely Dan, Scott Walker, and Jimmy Webb. This
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I could get them going on the computer, but normally is an album about my life, and where I am at this
I prefer to get a real sound of something organic. stage now. I wanted it to have those elements of
I saw you with Saucerful of Secrets in what I like. So, there were some string arrangements
Seattle a few years ago, and I was from that period. Then the French horn I replaced
impressed with your guitar tones. with Matt Clifford from the Rolling Stones. I saw Matt
t)
I suppose the rack and the setup that I’ve got with play French horn on stage with the Stones; he’s the
Saucerful was my go-to sound on this album for lead second keyboard player. I sent the tracks to him. He
solos. As I said earlier, I love Mick Ronson. I love said, “Yeah, I’ll do some French horn.” Then he came
what he did, and that was definitely going on. back and said, “I didn’t realize you’d written an entire
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That’s always been a part of my playing. Maybe French horn symphony!”
some elements of David [Gilmour] have gone in It’s a lot of work! To wrap up the mixing,
there as well. Somebody else got the album and you got [Mike] “Spike” Stent to mix
said, “Oh, there’s some Gary Moore in there.” I think one of the songs.
what they mean is melodic. I’m a songwriter, and I He did the single [“Ahead of the Game”]. I have to say,
don’t like piddly solos. I like melodic solos. I want I liked the mix we did [before], but Spike is a
you to hum the solo. guaranteed “get you on the radio” sound. Everyone’s
Even going way back into Spandau fighting for the compression and the top end
songs, there were lots of rests with nowadays. When you’re up against everyone else
the guitar, and not constantly who’s compressing and top ending it, he was great at
playing. picking out what needed to be up. The backing vocals
You know what it was with Spandau? I always saw came back much louder when he delivered it. The
myself as a songwriter first. Not as a guitar player. arrangement was the same, but he put the bass up
I was delivering for the band. Here was the song, more. He lost the bottom end; there’s more punch and
now what best serves the song? It might be less middle in the bass. Of course, Richard Jones from The
guitar. That time it might have been more keyboard- Feeling played on that track. He’s a great player.
heavy. With this album, I wasn’t scared of putting His part is really good.
guitar on and being up-front with it, because I see All those fast runs are his. It was, “This is the first single
it as another vocal. There’s a track on this album off the album. Let’s see what Spike can do.” I was
called “The Haunted.” nervous when the guy from Columbia suggested it.
I love that song. He said, “We don’t have to use the mix. Don’t worry!”
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44/Tape Op#145/G. Kemp/(End.)
I was on the phone every five minutes with Spike. “Spike,
please keep the guitar at the front. I must have the guitar
at the front.” Because I thought, “He’s going to come
back and try to turn it into a Gary Barlow or Adele
record.” And he didn’t. I’m pleased with it. But what I
also am pleased with is that it doesn’t stand out on the
album as being odd. That is the danger of being mixed by
someone else on one track.
I love the way it came out. My favorite track
is still “The Haunted.” That and “In
Solo.”
Musically, obviously, they’re married together. There’s a
theme in the guitar solo from “In Solo” that begins “The
Haunted” because I’m saying, “This is the same story.”
These are the same two guys, and it’s later on in their
story. Of course, it is a story that’s happened to me once
in my life, that idea of building a song around a house,
)
initially, that is no longer, that once had life in it and
now no longer does. This album came out of my
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confidence and my journey that I’ve been going on with
Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets. Being accepted by that
Pink Floyd fraternity, who can be very forensic about their
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musicianship. It’s all about the tone on your guitar. “Oh,
my god. This guy from Spandau Ballet is going to be
playing Syd Barrett songs. He’s going to be playing David
Gilmour songs. This can’t be true!” Guy Pratt has
obviously been accepted into that world for many years.
A long time ago!
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It worked for me. People think they know you, and then they
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don’t know you. Can I just say this? There’s a lot of sexism
in rock music. More than any place I know currently. If a
band is liked predominantly by women, [society perceives
that] they can’t be any good.
Yeah.
That’s the general sensibility of guys. Pink Floyd are liked by
guys, so they’re good. It’s absolute nonsense, and it’s
sexism, of course! Here I was in a band, Spandau Ballet,
predominately liked by women, and now I’m playing in
this band predominately liked by men. I got accepted. It
gave me confidence to be more dominant on guitar. To
expand my musical arrangements in a way to embrace all
those eclectic, different styles that I’d grown up with in
the ‘70s, whether it be Floyd, Genesis, or folk music.
Oh, man. Yeah.
I’m an actor, so my world can be very theatrical. Let me
even add [Stephen] Sondheim to the mix. I’d reached an
age where I felt that I needed to understand what
relevance my past had to my present. How do I join the
dots between all those different people who I was? That
guy from Spandau Ballet, that guy who got divorced,
that guy who went to court, that kid who loved bands,
who dressed up and went running into Hammersmith
Odeon and fell in love with music. How do I join all
these dots up to a guy who’s trying to now write a song
at the piano? r
<www.garykemp.com>
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 I had the chance to sit down with
producer/recording engineer Godfrey Diamond at
his home studio, Perfect Mixes Recording in
Brooklyn, New York. Godfrey is known for his
production and engineering work with Lou Reed,
Billy Squier, Aerosmith, Frank Sinatra, Luther
Vandross, and countless others. An early shining
moment was playing drums at a young age on
The Andrea True Connection’s disco hit “More,
More, More.” We were able to indulge in his long
career, accompanying stories, and his successful
studio working methods.
How did you get your start?
I was very fortunate at the age of 19 to get a job at
MediaSound Recording Studio in New York City.
Everybody started in the shipping department. After
hours, I spent as much time as I could in one of the
four recording rooms, eventually assisting Tony
Bongiovi [Tape Op #127], Harvey Goldberg, Bob
Clearmountain [#84, #129], Ron Saint Germain, Alec
Head, and Mike Delugg. Later, I had some great
assistants; Michael Brauer [#131], Gregg Mann, and
Ramona Jan. There was a high bar to deliver great
sound fast to major label clients paying top New York
City rates. You either had to be good or get out. On
an average day, we’d be recording musicians like Steve
Gadd, Will Lee, Paul Shaffer, Bob Babbitt, David
Sanborn, Neil Jason, Elliott Randall, Bernard Purdie,
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46/Tape Op#145/G. Diamond/(continued on page 48)
Carlos Alomar, and Allan Schwartzberg; not to
mention brilliant singers such as Robin Clark, Luther
Vandross, Gordon Grody, and Lani Groves. I found
myself in this musical playground with some of the
best musicians in the world. I was laser-focused on
becoming a producer/writer, and it was obvious to me
that engineering was a path to this goal. But
engineering quickly became more than a means to an
end, it became another passion, especially in Your brother, Gregg Diamond, was
recording basic tracks, partially because I love
recording drums. Being a drummer myself, it
challenged me personally to play around with drum Right. I was a New York City kid, 15 or 16, and I’d go to
sets, mics, and tuning, as well as experimenting with
EQ and compression. To develop a well-rounded set of
skills, after sessions ended I would mix every night for 4 a.m. – drinking age was 18 then, so they’d let kids
hours and hours and figure out how to do it.
That’s the classic way to learn.
I did a couple of albums with Desmond Child & Rouge
back then. Desmond Child, as we all know, is one of
the most popular writers in the pop world. I recorded
both of his albums way before he penned “Bad
Medicine” and “You Give Love a Bad Name” for Bon
Jovi. Aside from the sessions, I learned a lot about
writing from Desmond. I think some of the players
from his albums liked the sound I was getting, and
word got out – I started getting calls. One day I was
doing a record at Media, and I got a call from another
studio, perhaps Sundragon. I used to moonlight In a lot of ways, a good record producer
there, so I knew the room pretty well. They said,
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“Listen, can you get me a drum sound? I’m
desperate! I’ve got a check for you right here.” I told
my assistant, “I’ll be back, ASAP. Keep this train a-
rollin’!” I ran down and got a drum sound super-fast,
made the producer happy, and got back to Media and
kept working without skipping a beat. A bit stressful,
yes; but this was when I realized I would eventually
need to go independent.
a writer and involved with the
disco scene.
Max’s Kansas City to check the New York Dolls and
watch the waiters carry out a smashed Alice Cooper at
in if you didn’t look 12. When my brother’s band, Five
)
Dollar Shoes, played there I would help lug gear, go
to rehearsals, and watch them work up tunes. Mike
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Millius, the lead singer and a great writer, would say
to me, “What do you think of this? Do you like this
part or that part?” Off the top of my head I would say,
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“You could repeat that chorus, or try a different
intro.” I would tell them what I honestly thought as
a kid and a fan – I didn’t think they would listen to
me. What I figured out later was that I was an
amateur record producer before I even knew what a
producer was.
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is also a good fan.
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Godfrey Diamond
Paying it Forward
by Greg Di Gesu
photo by Nina Me
ledandri
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 Exactly. Those early days gave me a solid background in
how to interact with musicians. As far as the disco,
that started later, in ’75 – we made a lot of disco
records at Media. My brother and I had the
opportunity to do a song for this movie More, More,
More, which was a flop porn film. We had $1,500 to
go in and do it. He called me one day at Media as I
was wrapping up microphone cables and said, “You
know that song we came up with and rehearse all the
time? Can you come over and play drums on it? I’ve
got two hours at Dick Charles Studio around the
corner.” I said, “Sure man! I have a break at 3 o’clock. would let them know. I think they appreciated that.
I’ll be there.” I went over and we recorded the song
“More, More, More.” I played drums, Gregg played
piano, and Jimmy Gregory played bass. We gave it to
Andrea True – who was a fledgling porn star and friend In reading over your discography, it’s
of ours – and it became a number one record for The
Andrea True Connection. Around the same time Lou
Reed’s Coney Island Baby became the 4 a.m. NYC club
closer. After that I found myself on this blurry Ferris
wheel, recording and mixing dance records all day at
Media and going downtown to hear punk rock all I think that I got all the crazies! And I’m saying that in
night with Lou.
Who were the engineers you were
learning from?
I learned a lot from Tony Bongiovi back then. You learn
what to do and not to do from a mentor. He totally
inspired me about making records, and inadvertently
showed me how to move smoothly from the
engineering chair to the producer chair. I think the
people who influenced me the most when I was
coming up were Tony, arranger Bert De Coteaux, Joe
Beck (Miles Davis’ guitarist) and, believe it or not,
Joni Mitchell. While we never worked together, we
did have a very long night talking in L.A. back in the
late ‘70s – I’ve never agreed so much with any artist
about recording philosophy; she’s a treasure. Harvey
Goldberg was also generous with his knowledge. We
spent a fair amount of time together recording Kool
& The Gang. But the reality is, it’s been my
experience that a lot of guys don’t give up their
secrets. They don’t share. One engineer I assisted (a
non-staffer at Media) would normal the board as
soon as the session was over! This was the climate
that I grew up in. You had to watch closely and get
what you could on the run, because nobody was
going to hold your hand and show you.
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I can see why you’re so appreciative in
mentioning those who didn’t covet
their secrets.
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I’ve probably had 15 to 20 interns and assistants over
the years and because of that, I tell them
everything. With some people it goes in one ear and
out the other, but others have become great
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engineers. Honestly, it’s very satisfying to pass it on sensitive to this, so you have to remind them – it’s
and pay it forward.
You came into it wanting to be
a producer, but also recognized
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that being an engineer and a mixer
would aid you in the production Although nowadays, you can go out on
process. stage, and everybody could possibly
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Absolutely. As an engineer, basic tracks are still my hear it again on YouTube and
favorite part of recording because I’m doing the elsewhere.
48/Tape Op#145/G. Diamond/(continued on page 50)
nucleus of the record. As a producer/engineer I also That’s right! It also goes for playing guitar or any
love overdubbing and mixing, because it’s always instrument. I learned something a long time ago
important to me to be part of the creative process in about guitar players and tone from Mick Ronson. I
making the record. It can be frustrating to only be on was in the studio and he popped in to say hello and
the technical end and not have any say on what goes asked, “Do you have anything you want a solo on? I’m
down on tape; when there was tape. I realized that a early for my gig downstairs.” I said, “Of course!” I
lot of the producers and arrangers who worked with pulled out a song that needed a solo, he sat down in
me wanted my input, not only on the technical level, the control room with me and plugged into an amp. I
but they wanted to hear my ideas. I had this alert sent the sound out to a cabinet in the live room and
system, these red flags that would go off when I he started playing. I didn’t even have the time to set
heard arrangements conflicting with each other, and I the mic at the sweet spot, but what he did made it
sound amazing. The way his fingers, the strings, and
It’s one of the reasons they would come back to use the fretboard came together produced this
me. Honestly, I think most good mixers and engineers magnificent tone. Voila! It was “Moonage Daydream”
share this gift. by David Bowie, all over again. Tone is king.
Get it at the source. You’re a producer
impressive how well-known the and engineer, however there is a
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artists are and their musical songwriter in there as well. I can
diversity. I think it’s important to attest to this through our own
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mention that you’ve paired up with collaboration.
some very challenging personalities. Oh, wow! I remember that song, “Million Dollar Face.”
That was a blast. I love collaborating. Some people
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a very affectionate way, because I love the artists I’ve don’t like to write with other people. I love it and
worked with. I worked with some artists who people encourage it.
have claimed were extremely difficult. When I started How do you develop an artist, from a
working with Lou Reed, this A&R guy said to me, “Oh, songwriting perspective?
my god. I can’t believe you’re working with him! He’s Usually what happens is that they’re playing a song and
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such an a-hole.” I said, “Well, I’ll keep that in mind!” it hits a section that I think might be either a little
But I gotta tell you, I had already had so much weak or might still need to be written. I’ll suggest
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training working with people who were hard to work something. It usually comes organically out of the
with. Lou was a walk in the park next to my brother. situation. Sometimes people come in and go, “Dude,
I was trained right from the beginning on how tough I have this song and I love it, but I don’t have a
personalities can be. When I began producing these bridge or a chorus. Can you help me?” We sit there and
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other artists, I was super prepared. I learned a long hammer it out together. It’s a challenge I enjoy.
time ago that amazing talent and self-destructive You’re a producer, engineer, and mixer,
instincts often coexist. It’s my job as a producer to get but then there are times you’ll work
beyond the problems in order to harvest the ideas with another engineer. I met you
that lie below the surface and come out with a record working at Waterfront Studios in
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that their fans want to hear. On the other hand, I also Hoboken, NJ, on a Piss Factory record
work with a lot of young artists, which brings a in the early ‘90s with Tim Hatfield
completely different set of challenges. In fact, I [Tape Op #67] as the engineer. In
created a mnemonic. It’s TCPPP. There’s a sign in my doing that, how does this relationship
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studio with those five letters, which stands for: “Tone, affect how you produce?
Confidence, Pitch, Phrasing, Projection.” I developed
That depends on the engineer. I was used to producing
this because it’s a great way to communicate with
from the engineering seat, so it took me a while to
younger artists as a producer when they’re in the vocal
develop the skill of working with an engineer by my
booth. As much as I love producing experienced
side who could interpret the sound that I wanted.
musicians and singers, I also enjoy working with
When I tried in the mid-‘90s using other engineers,
artists who haven’t done it all before. It’s a whole new
it took patience to be able to stand back and say,
world to explore. The reason tone is number one on
“Can you raise the vocal 2 dB?” and not reach my
TCPPP is because I find it is something I constantly
hand in and do it myself. I discovered rather quickly
need to remind some inexperienced singers about. I
that some engineers found that insulting, so I had to
want to hear great tone coming into the mic before
learn to think in measurements of sound and
the EQ or any processing. People are not always
articulate precisely what I was hearing, because I
had to ask. For me, engineering and producing are
not a gig where the audience is in and out and no one
very visceral; grab a fader and go. Luckily, I have had
will hear it again – they are recording something
great engineers such as Tim Hatfield, and more
they’re going to want to listen to ten years down the
recently Myles Turney, who are very accommodating
line and be proud of. if I am being more hands on, and that results in a
much different process. It creates a certain
synchronicity between myself and the engineer when
it comes to running the board, and that is a great
experience as well.
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 How long have you had your own studio?
After working in major studios all over, I got my first little
studio with my old buddy Sherman [Ewing], in 2001.
It was right after 9/11, and there wasn’t a drop of work
in New York City. You couldn’t get a job doing
anything, let alone making records. So, I felt this was
a good time to hunker down and learn Pro Tools.
Previously I had had my assistant running it. Sherman
had a little space above his apartment. We used to call
it The Dog Pound, because he was a dog walker [Club
Pet NYC]. We got a Pro Tools rig, and that’s where I
learned. My second studio was in Williamsburg. I
recorded a ton of Brooklyn bands there from about
2002 to 2006. It was a shared studio called MetroSonic
Studios, but when I was working there it was called
Perfect Mixes. They had a sweet Neve board already,
and I contributed with my HD Pro Tools rig and some
outboard gear, including my Manley compressor and
[Telefunken] V72 mic preamps, which I love. During
this period, I had my own Neve completely recapped.
Around 2006, my wife and I moved to Brooklyn. We
got a brownstone and I built a studio on the first floor
with a separate entrance for clients. It’s a nice size
studio with two floated rooms. The acoustic design
was done initially by Rod Gervais [at Sound Solutions].
Frank Comentale did the construction, adding a great
deal of his expertise to the project.
Instead of complaining about the loss of
analog, you are very forward-
thinking in how the technology can
facilitate the process. You’ve set up What is your mixing process like
your studio to keep the flow and these days?
concentration. I get Pro Tools sessions from all over the place. Some are
It’s so much easier and so much faster. The flexibility and
manipulation that is possible with Pro Tools is
awesome. No more aligning machines. No more
thinking about azimuth. No more dealing with take up
reels and lugging around 2-inch boxes. Yay! For me,
one of the strengths of Pro Tools that sold me initially
was the concept of the playlist. I embraced it early;
there was nothing in the analog world that gave you
so much flexibility while recording basics. To be able
to do a number of takes over the same section and
then jump from one to the next, choose the best
performance and comp it in was a huge time saver
coming from the world of razor blades and tape. That
said, I am very sensitive to the dynamics of the
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performance and value having musicians play all the
way through a song to keep the flow going. You may
have to fix a section here or there, but I see over-
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editing as a major problem with some of the sessions
with unfinalized edits that come into my studio. They
sound like a patchwork of performances with no
continuity of feel. Sometimes a little imperfection
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adds to the overall heart and soul of a song.
You’ve set up this little paradise; a
recording world for yourself.
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I love my studio. I record and mix almost everything
here, but I also dig working in other studios because
it opens my mind and forces me to do things
differently. I look at that as an opportunity to sonically
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try new ideas. If I’m producing a band where I want a
big drum room, I might go to Mission Sound Recording
50/Tape Op#145/G. Diamond/(continued on page 52)
in Brooklyn to get the bass and drums, and then do the
rest at my place. However, going back to creating my
own little paradise, a good example of this was when
I was in Montreal [at Planet Studios] doing a record
[Build a Storm] a few years back with Gabriella Hook.
She’s a great singer, playing beautiful piano and
accordion. It was a small, tight band with an upright
bass, drums, and a trumpet. I did the whole album up
there in nine days. They had a Neve room downstairs
and an older SSL upstairs. When I finished all the
recording downstairs, I had an extra day to do some
mixing in the SSL room. Everything was bussed to the
same channels I would use when I got back to my
place. I tried to use the same plug-ins I have in my
studio, but of course there are differences here and
there. I had recorded it with an eye towards how it
would be mixed and how I wanted it to sound, so it
was easy to do the mixes there while it was fresh on
my mind. When I came back to my room, all I wanted
to do was raise the lead vocal a dB; it was the only
thing that bothered me about the mixes. I put the
vocal through a Teletronix LA-2A, matched everything
up the best I could, and made it a little bit louder. I
sent the mixes to the band and they wrote back, “What
did you do? This whole thing sounds so much better!”
Honestly, the only thing that I did was bring it back to
my studio and run it thru the Neve and SSL Smart
Compressor. I use Pro Tools, but always come out to
the Neve. I’m guessing it’s the Neve summing that
made the difference.
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recorded well and are easy to mix; they could benefit
from a little sonic love and a couple of tricks. Others,
however, might be recorded in a guy’s kitchen in the
East Village, and the drums sound [like] shite. But no
matter what condition the sessions are in, I’ll put all
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the faders up and listen to the song a couple of times
to get a feeling of what it’s about. Then, I sit with the
bass, drums, and guitars, finding the pulse, looking for
that energy in the balance, and getting that feeling
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from the basic rhythm section. EQ, reverb, and delay
and all that is going to come, but I start with focusing
on the rhythm section and seeing if I’ve got those
tracks sitting where they want to be before I add in
other elements. You’ve got to focus on the chorus and
the lead singer, so at this point I may play around with
some delay and reverb and see what sounds best and
blends well with the track. I usually put the lead vocal
in right after the rhythm section. That’s also how I
record when I’m producing; it comes from the old
Motown days. You want to get the melody in there
before the players fill up all the holes. It’s key to carve
out a strong melodic path so everybody knows where
they’re going. If you wait until the end to record the
lead vocal, the singer might not have “room.” You
want to give them space to do whatever they want,
and then all the other instruments should complement
and support the lead vocal. Going back to the mix; my
wife’s a painter, and I am constantly thinking about
the sonic landscape as the composition in a painting.
You got a tree there, a pool here, a mountain over
there, and you need a way to tie these elements
together into a single vision. A synth pad can be used
to tint the canvas slightly, or I might leak the returns
into each other to create a woven layer of color
underneath it all. These are pieces of the puzzle in the
mix. When I’m mixing, I focus on this whole scene at
one time. I always ask for a rough mix before I start,
because it’s very important to know what they’ve been
listening to all this time before giving them a new mix.
That’s how I look at mixing without getting into the
minutia of every compressor and EQ.
Their feedback is usually going to be
based on that original “mix.”
Yeah. I call this “rough mix damage.” They need to go
through an adjustment period to hear the new mix
that you’re doing as opposed to what they’ve been
listening to for so long – finally, after a couple listens,
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they never wanna hear the rough again.
What recording consoles do you favor?
ot
When I started out, MediaSound had two old Spectra
Sonics that were sagging in the middle. I don’t know
what from, I guess people leaning on them. They
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sounded great. We recorded a lot of great records on
them, but I gotta say it was a game changer when we
got our two Neves in studios A and B; both big 8068
consoles. In the engineer’s lounge – which became
Lounge Studio at Media – we got an API. Throughout
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the ‘80s and ‘90s, it was my preference to work in
studios where I could record on a Neve and mix on an
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SSL. It was the way to go back then. I was also happy
to use an API 500 Series to record. They had a sweet
one up at Dreamland [Recording] in Woodstock. I love
the way the API preamp sounds. I also made a bunch
of records on Trident [consoles]. They had a nice
Trident A Range at The Record Plant, NYC.
And at Waterfront Studios, where we
met, we worked on an A Range.
Oh, yeah; right. They’re all great boards and they all
sound different. The beautiful thing about recording is
that once you understand signal path, you can run any
board. It’s fun to explore their unique characteristics.
You came up during the time of classic
record deals on major labels as the
model for releasing music. What do
you see now as the predominant
model for artists getting music out?
When I started out there were major labels spending
$175,000 to $400,000 on a record, with lower-level
budgets around $30,000 to $75,000. If you could sell
50,000 to 100,000 albums, you would get a second or
third album, but you had to get the numbers to stay
on the label. That’s a simplified version of the past.
While there’s still a record label path for bands, in the
past 10 to 15 years – with the advent of social media,
the ability to crowdsource funding, and the growing
number of streaming platforms – bands have DIY
avenues that they can pursue to reach an audience.
Now, with the rise of the bedroom studio, more control
is in the artist’s hands and it’s become easier than ever
to release your own music. If you’re lucky, you will get
picked up by an algorithm and a few million hits later
you’re on the charts.
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What are you currently working on and excited about?
I’m usually working on two or three records at the same time, all in different stages.
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I’ll be recording and doing overdubs on one while mixing another. What’s coming
up is I’m actually doing my own record! After years and years of working with
everybody else, I’m finally doing a record for me. It’s going to involve the people
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in my life who I’ve worked with, and who want to play or sing on it. Some
famous, some not famous. I’m co-writing it with various people. Marisol Limón
Mart’nez is one of my co-conspirators in this, and she’ll be singing some of the
songs. I’m not singing on it. It may not ever sell a record, but that’s not the
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point; this one’s for me. It brings me a lot of joy and it’s going to be a blast. I
already have 14 songs written and a lot of it laid down. I will be calling on some
great cats to play, like Joe Russo [drums], Dave Dreiwitz [bass], Robbie “Seahag”
Mangano [guitar], and other people I love to work with. I can’t go into all the
names, but they’re all fantastic singers and musicians.
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Any other projects in the works?

Currently, I am mixing a new America’s Sweetheart album, which I produced and did
some co-writing on. It features the new song and video, “Face to Face,” which has
been put into rotation on MTVU. There are also a couple of very new bands that I
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am working with who I am excited about, but more on that later. They’ll all be
coming out in 2021.
Any last studio stories that pop into your head?
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I’ve got plenty of stories, but the best ones involve all-nighters in the ‘70s and ‘80s
with legendary rock stars, brilliant musicians, and copious amounts of illicit drugs.
Hey, what happens in the studio stays in the studio! r
<www.perfectmixes.com>
af

Greg Di Gesu is a singer-songwriter and recording engineer living in Atlanta. He spent years as
a staff engineer at Waterfront Studios in Hoboken, NJ, and Loho Studios in NYC. He currently
plays guitar in the Atlanta-based band, Lynx Deluxe who just signed to Drivin N Cryin Records.
in

<www.lynxdeluxe.com>

52/Tape Op#145/G. Diamond/(Fin.)

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Late Aster
Recording True and Toxic
by John Baccigaluppi
photo by Deadeye Press
I listened to a lot of music during the pandemic. One of my favorite things was to search out
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new music as I really enjoy the discovery process. As winter turned to spring in 2021, one of the
albums that caught my ear and got a lot of digital rotation, was Late Aster’s True and Toxic. The
album is a great mix of jazz, pop, rock, and classical influences. I’m not usually into projects that
are a pastiche of different musical styles, but this record grabbed my attention. Although this is
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the group’s first release, all the members have known each and played together for years. The core
of Late Aster is Aaron Messing and Anni Hochhalter, songwriters, vocalists, and horn players. Aaron
plays trumpet, Anni plays French horn, and they both utilize electronics in the form of rhythm
machines, synthesizers, and an array of processors. Both Aaron and Anni are classically trained on
their horn instruments and have extensive performance experience in the classical music world.
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Late Aster is a collaboration between the duo, as well as Brooklyn-based Cameron LeCrone on
drums and percussion, and Charles Mueller, who plays guitar and bass and is the group’s primary
audio engineer at has his own studio, Tiny Panther, in Brooklyn. Anni is also a principal in the
WindSync wind quintet. Additionally, Aaron got a law degree from Georgetown University in 2018
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and became an environmental attorney. He currently works for the EPA in San Francisco, CA.
Aaron met Charles and Cameron in Chicago in 2012 when he was a student at Northwestern
,getting his music performance degree in classical trumpet performance. Charles and Cameron were
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also getting music performance degrees on classical guitar and film and jazz drums, respectively.
The trio played in a variety of bands with different names and stayed in touch, playing music
together even as they graduated and began to move around the country. Charles left Chicago to get
a Master’s degree in music engineering at NYU. Aaron and Anni, who has a classical French horn
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degree from USC, met in 2013 and began to collaborate on music. It was later that Charles and
Cameron were folded into those projects.
I met up with Aaron and Anni at my Panoramic House recording studio recently on a warm July
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day, and we sat out back under an old oak tree for a chat. They’re clearly long-time collaborators
and will sometimes finish each other’s sentences and thoughts as the conversation moves back and
forth between them.
54/Tape Op#145/Late Aster/
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Can you walk me through how a song starts?
Aaron Messing [AM]: “True and Toxic” is the first song on the album that
starts with a trumpet riff. I think that’s a quintessential...
Anni Hochhalter [AH]: ...Microcosm of the process.
AM: Yeah, I was thinking about some of the Dave Longstreth songs that
have these really difficult guitar parts that do both melody and harmony
at the same time. You can tell that it’s almost too hard for him to play.
I was trying to figure out how to do that on trumpet.
AH: And you did it! It’s almost too hard for you to play.
AM: It’s hard to do! I just tracked what I thought was some scratch
trumpet parts with the main part and then some background parts.
Then, as we’ve done over the decade that we’ve been collaborating, I
sent it over to Charles [Mueller] and went, “Hey, here’s this idea.” He’s
our guitar player and a recording engineer; he has his own home studio
in Brooklyn too. He took it and built upon it. He sketched out a B-
section to that song. Simultaneously, I’m writing vocal parts and
thinking about other harmonies and things like that. So, the song
builds upon itself as Charles and I are sending it back and forth over
this long-distance musical relationship. At some point I sent it to Cam
[Cameron LeCrone, drummer], and he composed a beat that went
throughout the song, and it all kind of came together. I think this song
is emblematic of our process, because we often do things with the
intention of changing them substantially. Whether the part’s going to
change, or the harmony’s going to change, or we’re going to change the
lyrics or something like that. For the trumpet part, I went up to New
York, and we ran it through a Moog Minitaur, and then a couple other
filters. We felt like that was a good place to stop for the day, and then
we’d fix it next time we got together. That was it. It became the song.
We grew around that sound and came to like it. The same with the
drums. Cam wrote a drum part with these scratch drum samples, and
those were the samples we ended up using.
Where did you come in on this whole process, Anni?
AH: At some point tracking vocals. That song’s a good example of one of the first ones
where we weren’t in New York to do it all together, so Aaron and I built out a small
studio in our house. We got some nicer mics and preamps and all that stuff. So,
then at some point, middle of the way through, we were doing all the vocals and
horns at our home recording space.
You’ve also integrated more electronics into your music as
well.
AM: Yeah, I think the gateway drug was Radiohead. Everything spirals out from there.
I think most of what we’ve learned about electronic music is out of necessity for us
to be able to perform. I knew about synthesis and how to work synthesizers, but as
we’ve been performing together I’ve dug deeper into it. For this album I went to the
vintage synthesizer museum <vintagesynthesizermuseum.com> a couple of times and
recorded on their [Roland] Jupiter 8 for one of our songs. I recorded the same part,
like 20 times, and then Charles chopped it up and created this web of Jupiters.
AH: Synths just sound so cool! It’s so awesome for brass instruments to play over. In
the classical music world, you play over acoustic piano. For example, as a music
student, Aaron would stand up and play a trumpet sonata with a piano. But a piano
doesn’t actually blend that well with a trumpet. They don’t sound the same. The
piano has a percussive sound. It dies after you hit it. With synthesizers, we can
change the feel of the sound, all of the different controls and envelopes, so that it
can support a brass instrument really well. That’s been really awesome. We’ve also
been experimenting with a lot of pedals and stuff. I’ve been using an Elektron
Model: Samples.
You mentioned using the Moog Taurus and some
Moogerfoogers. What are some of the main pedals and
synths you’re using now?
AM: Besides the Elektron I use a Korg Minilogue and I’ve got a pretty big pedalboard.
My most used pedals would probably be the Gamechanger Audio PLUS sustain pedal,
Boss RC-30 Loop Station, Meris Enzo, Red Panda Particle, Malekko Sneak Attack, and
a Moogerfooger Phaser.
What’s your home rig, in terms of mics and preamps, and what
software are you using?
AM: It’s pretty simple. We use Pro Tools. That’s what Charles is most comfortable with,
and I had to accommodate to that. We have a Focusrite 18i20 interface and a (A-
Designs Quad Eight) Pacifica preamp. Then for mics we’ve got a [Shure] SM7B, a
Soundelux U195, and an AEA N-22.
Any compression or anything?
t)
AM: I don’t have any compression on my end. Charles has a bunch of compression.
So, you’re tracking everything at your place without any
compression then and sending him uncompressed tracks?
AM: Yes
(a
So, the Pro Tools files are just moving all over the internet
basically?
AM: Yeah, we have like four different Dropboxes and Google Drives.
It’s so great that you can do that now.
AH: I know!
y3
And Charles mixes everything, right?
AM: Yeah. I started in Logic, and I only knew Logic. Charles moved to Pro Tools when
he went to get his Master’s degree. So, I’ve been learning Pro Tools and starting to
ir
help him place things a little differently than I was in the past, where I was having
to tell him, but now I can get in there and change things around. Definitely the
bulk, and certainly the finishing touches, are all Charles.
Are you guys keeping everything in-the-box so that you can
an
keep the Pro Tools files intact while you pass changes back
and forth? Or, once he starts mixing, are you out of the
picture in terms of working with the Pro Tools session?
af
AM: Well, no; he can commit things. Whether it’s a guitar part or taking a trumpet
part and running it through stuff on his end, he’ll just commit that. He’ll email that
audio track, and then I’ll put that in my file. So, now I have his parts in my mix.
There’s a lot of bouncing back and forth as you all slowly work
in
towards the mix?
AM: Yeah.
Charles Mueller on recording and mixing True and Toxic.
Charles Mueller is a Grammy winning audio engineer with extensive
credits on jazz, classical and rock albums. Besides playing in and producing
Late Aster, he has worked with a variety of artists including Glenn Kotche,
Maria Schneider, Miss Grit, and Jennifer Koh. He works out of his own Tiny
Panther Recording in Brooklyn, as well as working as a staff engineer at
Oktaven Audio in NYC. He also works out of Virtue and Vice, Studio G, and
Carriage House in Stamford CT.
After chatting with Aaron and
Anni, I reached out to Charles for
a bit more info on his process on
True and Toxic.
ìThe version of the studio where
we worked on True and Toxic is in
my basement in the Crown Heights
)
neighborhood of Brooklyn. The
main room, which is also the
ot
control room, is around 250 square
feet, and there’s an iso booth
that’s around 70 square feet. All of
(d
the live drums on the record and
most of the vocals on the record were in the little booth. The piano tracks
on the Late Aster record that aren’t Aaron’s upright are the Hamburg
Steinway D at Oktaven. The trumpet tracks and most, or all, of the vocal
tracks for “Hole in the Wall” and “Potomac” were at Seaside Lounge in
l
Brooklyn before it closed.
We tried to get as much of the song on the recording side as possible.
ai
So, we committed lots of EQ and compression, and did a lot of recording
things through guitar pedals and stuff like that.
I have a pair of the Avedis MD7 mic preamps which, besides being great-
sounding pres, have an FX loop for guitar pedals. It makes using pedals
gm
super easy, so I use those a ton. I don’t remember exactly which pedals
were used on what, but the Rat and EQD Aqueduct were almost certainly
used on a bunch of the synth tracks. Another go-to for me when recording
synths or really effect-y acoustic things is this Allison Labs 2ABR
hipass/lowpass filter. It has a really unique sound. I had mine modded to
give it a resonance control, which is really useful for synths in particular.
So, a lot of things were tracked through that, or tracked clean and then
printed back through it.
The trumpet, horn, and vocal tracks I think we captured more cleanly and
then manipulated a lot in post, though there were definitely some tracks
that we went straight for a really processed sound. We also did a lot of
editing to create some of the horn textures that blur the line between
acoustic and electronic sounds. For at least one song, we sampled Aaron
and Anni playing long tones and then chopped them up, stacked them,
reversed them, and so on to build “synth” pads and sequences.
For drums, we did a lot of mixing samples with the live recording. I never
figured out how to use plug-ins like Drumagog, so I do this really stupid
thing where I put on a tab to transient and manually go through and drop
in samples one at a time. It’s tedious, but it does have the benefit of
forcing me to listen more closely, and I can easily add some variety to the
triggered samples as I go along with clip gain.
Once we had everything close to where we wanted it, I did the final mix
in the box. There’s a fair amount of reverb and delay on the album. The
main plug-ins I was using are the UAD Lexicon 224 [Digital Reverb] and
EMT 140 for reverb. I also used Soundtoys’ EchoBoy, Crystallizer, and Primal
Tap for delay-based effects. Finally, my mix bus processing chain for
everything on the record was the UAD Fairchild 670, Lindell 254e, and
Waves J37. r
<www.cmuellermusic.com>
Late Aster/(continued on page 56)/Tape Op#145/55
 This record is all over the map, but in a AH: I listen to everything. The band that was a
good way. It’s got jazz, pop, hip-hop, connector at the very beginning of this project,
trip-hop, classical, and minimalist which doesn’t really make any sense, was this
elements. On paper it shouldn’t work, group that we all liked, Land of Talk. It’s Elizabeth
but it does. What’s your range of Powell’s project. I got into it because I love her
influences that got you to this spot? songwriting and singing, but apparently Cam was
AM: I think a lot about Van Gogh and how you can also really into this drummer she was working
look at Van Gogh paintings from different periods with. It’s fairly simple but done really well.
of his career, and you almost wouldn’t know they’re Everybody working on the records did a really good
Van Gogh. They’re all kind of different. You can tell job.
that it’s him, but they just look really, really AM: We recently learned that Bon Iver [Justin
different. I think some of my favorite bands have Vernon] was producing her early music, and that
that ability. Radiohead has that ability. You can made sense. We’re also a fan of his; he’s another
listen to a Radiohead album, and every single song influence.
sounds like it’s not the same band, except the You’ve had several different versions of
individual parts are the same. I think that’s what this group under different names.
we’re going for. I think we have a classical group Does this one feel like it’s going to

)
of influences. We have a jazz group. And we have stick?
some type of rock, indie rock, alternative group. AM: Yeah, I think it’s sustainable in a way that other

ot
The goal with this EP, and what we’re trying to do projects weren’t. I think we’ve maybe hit upon the
moving forward, is trying to make them all speak thing that most closely resembles us. Before we
at once. We’re trying to articulate the whole body were just trying to be a rock band. But Cam’s a

(d
of our influences at the same time. really good jazz drummer. I play trumpet, and Anni
When you guys say classical music, it’s plays French horn. What we have now more closely
such a broad term, because you have resembles our strengths and who we are as people.
everything from Brahms to more post- AH: The name change fit, timing-wise. It was us
modern stuff like Philip Glass. Did you having a little more clarity. It’s funny. I guess the

l
lean in any one direction in your music is all over the map, but we actually feel like
influences there? we’re clearer about what we’re trying to do.

ai
AM: We were both orchestrally trained, so we tend to It’s stylistically all over the map. There
think in orchestral music. At least that’s our are so many influences. It’s cohesive
background. But now Anni does chamber music. I’d though. I feel like a lot of people
say there’s a big orchestral music influence, there’s
gm trying to do that don’t succeed, and
some [Gustav] Mahler in there. And then there’s the end result feels very cut and pasted
influences like [Claude] Debussy, and I’m also really and not very organic.
into [Dmitri] Shostakovich preludes on the piano. AH: When those various styles are brought in, I think
He has a full series of piano preludes and fugues it’s because it actually feels like it should be there,
that I really like. I’ve learned a number of them. not because one of us is saying, “I want this to be
t)

You aren’t doing a lot of the post-modern
repertoire then?
AH: Well, I’m in a wind quintet, which is a traditional
classical music ensemble. That’s my full-time,
(a
a pop song right now,” or, “I want this to sound
like Philip Glass.” We’re classical music majors, so
we have this incredible palette of sounds. There is
also a very deep interest and knowledge of film in

touring gig and my group commissions new works.
Honestly, I consider Late Aster a vein of new
classical music at this point, because new music in
the classical music world has shot off in so many
different ways. Classical music for us was not about
y3
the group. I think film scores have lent really
amazing musical motifs and interesting ideas.
Also, we’re not often in the same room, and so
what Aaron ends up doing is writing a lot to
Charles. It’s amazing to see Aaron write this novel

being inspired by a certain composer or a genre of to him and then see Charles interpret it. It’s
classical music or a time period. It was just this amazing on both ends. To see Aaron articulate
incredible palette and training ground for us to what it is that he wants in a sound with words, and
ir

learn how to play at a really high level. The sonic
worlds of orchestral music are so amazing. It’s just
such a fun sandbox to play in. There’re so many
cool piano pieces and really amazing works of art
an
then to see Charles grab all those words and make
something sonically that Aaron’s going for. Or
sometimes not, and he comes up with something
different! I think that’s actually a very cool thing

to sit and linger in. They’re just incredible. But I about distance. r
think that both of us really also enjoy other music, <lateaster.bandcamp.com>
like indie music and rock; probably just as much,
Late Aster also has a Youtube channel with visual
af

or more.
What are some of your rock influences, accompaniment for several of True and Toxic’s tracks:
besides Radiohead, that you guys are <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM2ws4wdCVU2Ag
IZhNoLG0Q>
listening to?
in

AM: The Dirty Projectors are definitely in there. Son

Lux is in there as well.
56/Tape Op#145/Late Aster/(Fin.)
 )
ot
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l
ai
gm
t)
(a
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an
af
in

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#145/57

 When I first sat down with Jerry Kee of Duck-Kee
Studios in Mebane, North Carolina, I didn’t even
realize we were coming up on the 30th anniversary
of the recording of Superchunk’s self-titled debut
album, helmed by Kee. Many would point to that
album as the one that led the indie music world to
first take notice of Chapel Hill, NC, the small college
town in which Superchunk were formed. Duck-Kee
has tracked the likes of Polvo, Sorry About Dresden,
Tift Merritt, The Strugglers, The Kingsbury Manx, and
many others. Having known Jerry for nearly 20 years
now, I know he’s far too modest to take any credit
for even having a small part of the creation of a
Chapel Hill “scene,” but his history speaks for itself.
I spoke with Jerry about that history, the fire that
nearly destroyed his home (in which Duck-Kee is
located), and what he’s been up to recently. While
we had this conversation pre-COVID, it’s interesting
that we got into a few things that resonate even
more today: The power of communities, working from
home, doing more with less, making do with what
you have, and, ultimately, being grateful for
whatever that might be.
Jerry Kee
Duck-Kee Studios
By Kim Ware
photo by Carla Burgess
y3
ir
an
af
in
58/Tape Op#145/J. Kee/
How did you first get into recording? By the time I started to become aware
I definitely got into it from the aspect of writing of you, you had been recording for
songs and wanting to record them. Recording about 20 years.
other people wasn’t particularly an ambition. A Yeah, I started doing the 4-track, reel-to-reel in the
friend of mine had a 4-track reel-to-reel – a late ‘70s. And then I bought studio gear in the
Dokorder – I used to borrow it and record on it. early ‘80s. That was the one thing with the studio
When I got out of college, I could afford to buy – it was fun meeting the people, but with all the
some gear. I was recording myself, and some of money I would make recording I’d just buy more
my friends, but mostly myself. I was playing all equipment. I had a part-time job that covered my
the instruments and learned how to do it as I rent, but anything else I made went back into the
went along. studio. It made it that much more fun, I guess.
Then did you move into helping out [laughs]
more friends? When you were first getting started,
It mostly came about from knowing Matt did you have any mentors?
[Matthews, of Schoolkids Records]. I recorded My friend back in West Virginia that owned the
one metal band before that, in ’85, which was Dokorder, he got me into playing guitar and got
)
pretty funny. I was in an apartment when I first my foot in the door writing songs. His name was
moved to Raleigh, and they all came over to sing Rick Lee. I did take a workshop around ’85 or so;
ot
vocals. It was these five guys singing “Oblivion!” it was in Zebulon [NC]. It was half-business and
at the top of their lungs,; a policeman walked up half-studio, and the business guy was the guy
the steps and into the apartment, and we said, that had managed Nantucket and those kinds of
(d
“Oh, hey!” [laughs] But that was the only time bands that were big in the ‘70s. He basically told
that happened. stories. [laughs] Then we would go to the studio…
l
ai
gm
t)
(a
 that was the first time I ever got a book on
mic’ing, as well as actual advice about recording.
I wound up working there for a little bit, and
even taught the workshop one time. So, that
helped a lot; seeing what can happen. That was
my first time in a nice, 24-track studio. That
opened up my eyes a bunch.
You had a hand in albums that put
Chapel Hill on the map back in
the ‘90s. Was there a feeling that
something was about to happen?
Well, there was a lot of music, so I never thought
of it as something that “bloomed.” It seemed like
something that was going on, and I became more
aware of different people [making music]. I met
Mac McCaughan [Tape Op #76] in a band called
Wwax before he was in Superchunk. That led to
another band he was in, Slushpuppies; it was a
funky, funny band. I’m not sure where exactly we
met, but Wayne Taylor and Brian Walsby were also
in that band, and I started meeting people
through Matt at Schoolkids. I gave him a tape of
a band I was in, and we talked; he was into
recording. He brought over a group called
Blackgirls, with Dana Kletter. From there, I
started meeting more people and one group led
to another. There was a lot going on already, and
the whole “scene” thing was just outside people
becoming aware of it. Superchunk were pretty
young. I guess they were teenagers. Angels of
Epistemology… they were just out of high
school. I guess everybody was pretty young, and
it was all beginning, in a way.
It’s cool that they’re all still involved
in music.
It is pretty amazing. That’s the best sign of success,
as far as being content with what you’re doing.
I’ve noticed the incarnation of
Duck-Kee always has numbers
referring to the version of the
studio. What number are you on
now?
Since the fire I was calling it 8.5. 8 1/2 is one of my
favorite movies; it’s a Fellini movie. I guess when
I was in Bickett, before this place in Raleigh, I
needed a name for the studio. I was recording
other people; I thought about it, and it was about
y3
the seventh place I had been set up to record. A
couple places in Annapolis, in my parents’ house
when I started, a couple places in Raleigh. I
ir
thought, “Seven is a great number,” so I called it
Duck-Kee Number 7. Then I moved here, and
called it 8, and talked about going to 9 after the
fire. But then I thought, “8.5 sounds good.”
an
What was it like as recording started
moving out of analog and into
digital?
af
Well, it wasn’t sudden; it was kind of easing into it.
At the time, I had a 16-track, 1/2-inch machine. Where was it happening?
Most of that work from the late ‘80s and early I think it originated in the control room,
‘90s, up to about 2000 or something, was
in
recorded on it. Digital was coming out and I got
one of the digital 8-tracks and synced it up to the
16-track, so I was kinda both for a little bit. I would
have 16 tracks – well 15 tracks – of analog and 8
tracks of digital. I remember doing that for a bit.
The next thing was I went further into analog and I
got a 24-track MCI machine. Then I started using
software to record the mixes – just 2-track – so I
could make a CD for somebody. I don’t remember
when I went ahead and got a multitrack version of
the digital recorder, but it was in there somewhere People responded in a big way. How
that I had the 24-track tape deck. Digital recording
had become much better, and computers were more It was pretty amazing. I’m kind of an introvert. I’ll
affordable. For a while I used both, and then as
analog tape got more expensive, I would start a
project on analog and move it to digital. We reused
the tape. But tape got so expensive, nobody had
the budget for it. I was using it less and less, and
when the fire happened it was something I couldn’t
replace. I had thought about trying to sell the MCI
before that, since I wasn’t using it so much, but the
resale value was not very good.
What do you think gets the best
sound?
My first thought is that digital sounds fine to me.
But in reality, I probably do think the 24-track
was more cohesive. There was something about it
that glued everything together; that talk about
tape saturation. But I don’t have any problems
with the way digital sounds. It’s definitely gotten
ai
better and better. And then there are the benefits
of being able to have a track with just the
tambourine, instead of the backing vocals and Did the fire force you to do anything
the tambourine and the lead guitar on the same
track. Mixing is much easier.
gm
Yeah, and probably a lot faster?
I think so. Although some people miss that thing
of three people at the mixing board, where you
have to turn this on and off, you have to turn
t)
this from 5 to 0, and have to turn the EQ off here.
That was fun, in a way. But someone would take
the mixes home and say, “Man, it’s great, but I
(a
wish I had done this on the second chorus.” It
would be so hard to recreate what they took The studio is also your home. Living
home. On digital, it’s easy to recreate. There are
definitely big pluses to it.
You mentioned the fire. How long as well?
ago was that? I’ve always liked it a lot, and still do, but I realize
It was the end of January 2018.
I imagine that had to be a traumatic
thing. Did you wake up to it
happening?
Yeah, it was a Saturday morning, and I had done
sound the night before. I woke up around 7 and
was like, “Well, I can go back to sleep. I don’t
have to get up.” I sort of smelled smoke, and
almost went back to sleep, but I got up. It wasn’t
a huge fire, but I freaked out. I tried to put it
out, but I did a lousy job. [laughs]
underneath the window to the studio room. It
was stupid human error. I had a heater I left on
J. Kee/(continued on page 60)/Tape Op#145/59
that I shouldn’t have. This friend of mine, Kenny
Shore, that I’ve known since the ‘80s was working
on a solo album. He was scheduled to record the
day of the fire. He lives in Winston-Salem and I
couldn’t get in touch with him. He showed up
about 1 o’clock, and the fire was basically done.
He’s also a psychotherapist, so he was the perfect
friend/person to be there to hang out with
through the afternoon and talk with.
did that feel?
meet a lot of people, and we have a lot of fun
while we’re recording, but I don’t necessarily keep
up with them. The studio had slowed down, so I
wasn’t recording as many people as I used to. I
had had a day job for about a year. Friends like
)
Sara [Bell] and Nathan [Brown] came over and
ot
were helping me clean out right after the fire. Sara
took some pictures. She’s in a band with Kirk Ross,
who does a lot of writing, and she talked with him
about it. His opinion was, “Let the people do a
(d
benefit for you. It’s a community thing.” It was a
little bit hard to say yes, but I wasn’t sure what I
was going to do. It was more than I expected. The
benefit was at a couple different places, on a
couple different nights, as well as the online
l
thing. The response was incredible. One of my
sisters said, “Well, you got that little bit of
insight, as far as what people may say about you
after you die, but you didn’t have to die.”
differently, and maybe better?
I went ahead and committed more to digital rather
than try to duplicate what I had with the mixing
board and the recorder. I went with the basic
computer, interface, and some preamps. It’s much
simpler than it was before. I used to have a lot
of different kinds of preamps, and now I have
three or four different ones. So, it was simplified.
One benefit of that is location recording is easier
and better.
so close has some benefits, but I
suppose there are some drawbacks
there are also drawbacks. I love being in the
middle of everything. I love being able to reach
for a guitar and being able to record whenever I
want, or get up in the morning or in the middle
of the night and play with a mix. I’ve always
enjoyed that. As far as a business goes, it was
not the best choice. I guess I got into the
business through the back door; I already had the
equipment, and I met people to record. I didn’t
think about going to another location to record,
or to get a storefront. I wasn’t making that much
money. Over the years, I’d think about it every
once in a while. I guess the main thing is that
I’m a bad business person. I think you have to have
some business chops to organize, to lease a place,
 rebuild it, and get the funds needed to do that. Yeah… even Amazon is selling them; it’s weird.
I never had that much money together at once. It They were around $345, and now they’re selling
was easier for me to continue as I was. When I them for $100. They’re way worth it. It’s a perfect
moved out to Mebane, we did more construction mic to have for doing vocals. Blue [Microphones]
than I’d ever done. A large booth, a small booth, has also been a favorite. I had this Blueberry that
caulking up the holes everywhere, and doubling I used a lot for vocals and it always sounds good
up the walls. I felt more professional; I could do in a mix, so I use that a lot. Sometimes the mic
more that way. But still, I was rescuing cats there you always go to doesn’t sound good on a
for a while, and that’s not the most professional particular person, so it’s great to have choices.
thing to have in a studio! Some people don’t like You’re a drummer and a guitar
cats, or they are allergic. player. What are you doing
I’ve always preferred the home currently, as far as playing music?
studio setting, because I like that I play drums in a band called Stray Owls. That’s a
relaxed vibe. trio without a bass player; instead it’s two guitars
Yeah, it goes well with the way I record, and the and drums. We have a record that we’re just about
way I want to record. I don’t want it to be a high- finished with [Versus Time and Space]. I still play

)
pressure thing. I knew it was a bit of a drawback, drums in Regina Hexaphone, with Sara Bell. We
but I didn’t worry about it too much and I carried don’t get together regularly, but we play a few

ot
on. times a year or more and that’s always fun.
Recording drums can be so I’m curious if there’s anything you
challenging. Do you have a can think of that you’ve worked
standard way of recording drums? on that didn’t get the due that you

(d
I do have certain things that I usually do, but that think it deserved?
we can change depending on the drummer. I Two big ones come to mind. I was in a band [Dish]
agree with you that the whole drum thing… with Dana Kletter back in the ‘90s, and she is
every session is a little different and you don’t someone that’s such a tremendous musician,
know what it’s going to be like. The drums songwriter, and singer. We made an album that

l
themselves, and how they sound; but also the we loved [Boneyard Beach]. It was on Interscope
drummer, how they hit and how they play. Are Records, and it went nowhere. I wish things

they busy? Are they simple? Since I’ve had a little
more room, I’ve been doing that Glyn Johns [Tape
Op #109], three-microphone thing: one overhead,
gm
one in the front, and one on the side. And also
recording a close mic of each drum. So, I’ve got
choices; I can have more of the room mics or the
close mics. Some people like to have more mics
up, like the bottom of the snare drum and the hi-
t)
ai
would have gone smoother for her. But she
wound up teaching and she wrote a book. She’s
doing fine. The other would be Geezer Lake. Did
you know those guys?
Heck yeah!
[laughs] I love those albums! We did three, and
each one of them is different. They’re all good,
and I love that band. That was the first “heavy”

hat. I don’t always do those, but if somebody
wants to, that’s fine. Or maybe if the snare
sounds a little funky to me and that’s the best
way of getting some snap, I’ll do that. Some
(a
band that I got into.
I always think of Superchunk when I
recall that time, but what was the
first record you worked on that

people want less mics and want to keep it as
simple as possible. That’s fine with me, too. But
yeah, I do have mics that I go to, probably more
than others.
What are your go-to mics for drums?
y3
started to get some notoriety?
Probably Superchunk’s “Slack Motherfucker” single.
It seems that got attention. But Polvo was really
good and made a big impression.
I just looked up Superchunk, and

I love this little clip-on Beyerdynamic [TG D58c] for
snare drum. I love the way it sounds. It’s a little
condenser, and it’s easy to locate; it doesn’t get
in the way. I never have to put much EQ on it.
ir
you’re coming up on 30 years ago,
this January, that their debut
album was recorded in your studio
in Raleigh.

Sennheiser MD 421 is pretty standard on toms, It’s hard to get my head around all of this
and I like them a lot. I’ve been using this King sometimes! r
Bee mic from Neat. I bought one for location
an

recording; it wasn’t very expensive and it <duckkee.net>

sounded good using it for drums, vocals, and
acoustic. Then I realized that the prices were
coming down, and now they only sell them for a Tape Op is made
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hundred bucks. I’ve been telling everybody to get

one! [laughs] Now I have three of them. That’s
possible by our
what I use for the room mics for the drums; for
advertisers.
Please support them and tell them
in

the overhead, front, and side.

I’ll check those out! you saw their ad in Tape Op.

60/Tape Op#145/J. Kee/(Fin.)

 )
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in

Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#145/61


Avedis Audio
MA5 500 Series mic preamp
My expectations were high going into reviewing the Avedis
Audio MA5 – several engineers I trust had been talking them up
for years. This preamp blew my expectations out of the water.
Within minutes of using the MA5, it was clear that Avedis Audio
pulled out all the stops with the design and build of this preamp.
Years of experience restoring both British and American modules
informed the concept of the MA5, a unit that beautifully bridges
the gap between the characteristic sound of early ‘70s British
consoles and modern, high-end microphone preamps.
The MA5 is a 500 Series mic preamp equipped with a single-
ended Class A amplifier, a UK-made Carnhill St. Ives factory
input transformer, and a custom-designed Jensen output
transformer packed into a fairly straightforward layout. At the
top of the MA5’s faceplate is a Marconi-style Gain control knob,
stepped in 5 dB increments. Near the bottom is an Output level
pot, muting the MA5 when turned fully counterclockwise.
Between the input and output controls are two standard LED
buttons: 48V phantom power and phase polarity. A third LED
button, simply labeled “28k” is unique to the MA5 and
definitely part of its magic. When engaged, a 6 dB boost is
given to an EQ shelf at 28 kHz. This boost is applied to
frequencies outside the human hearing range, but the impact is
special – it focuses the high end in a musical and silky way
without adding any harshness.
When directly compared to Neve (1073s) and API (312s), the
Avedis preamps definitely hold their own. They’re fast like APIs,
but have the rich and full sonic character of slower preamps like
the Neves. The MA5s bring out the character of the original
signal more than imparting their own preamp vibe onto the
source. Whether using the MA5s on overheads, kick, snare, bass,
guitar, piano, or vocals, the impact was similar: Whatever was
running through the MA5s stood out in the mix more. This can
y3
be generally useful, but like many preamps, the MA5 shines in
specific applications. For example: If asked to record a string
quartet where the goal would be to hear each voicing clearly, I
would reach for the Avedis preamps right away. If asked to
ir
record a large choir, where a blend of the voices is more
important, I would reach for a slower preamp, such as a Neve.
The same concept was true for drums – the Avedis excelled on
an
kick, snare, and toms, while I preferred something slower and
less punchy for the overheads.
As I’ve said, the Avedis MA5 greatly exceeded my already high
expectations, and two channels in my studio will simply NOT be
af
enough. They are harmonically rich, punchy, offer focused
mids/highs, have that magic “28k” button, and feature an
extended low end that can reach down to 10 Hz (approximately
-1 dB at 6 Hz with 40 dB of gain). If you’re looking for a
in
modern twist on the early ‘70s British sound, look no further.
($850 MSRP; avedisaudio.com) -Slater Swan <anjunarecording.com>
62/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/
Zeppelin Design Labs
Cortado MkIII contact mic
It’s been a long time since a microphone has given me the
thrill of being a kid playing with my first 4-track, but when a
pair of Cortado MkIII contact mics showed up for review from
Chicago-based Zeppelin Design Labs, I quickly became giddy
with excitement. I have used contact mics before, mostly for
sending acoustic guitars without pickups into amps and
pedals, but this mic is in a league of its own. A contact mic
can be counter-intuitive – it captures the physical resonance
of an object, whereas everything we’ve learned as engineers is
thinking about how to record sound waves as they move in
space – but as I became acquainted with the Cortado MkIII, it
was joyful to let go of my preconceptions and put the mic on
different surfaces to listen to its response.
The sensor of the unit is a silver disk, just over an inch in
diameter, attached to a 6-foot cable to a small phantom-
powered preamp circuit with an XLR output and four DIP
switches. The sensor can be affixed using the included putty,
or with an additional attachment kit that includes clamps and
several means of permanently installing the sensor to a source.
The putty included with the Cortado MkIII is fantastic – it
happily stuck to any surface I tried, was easy to remove, left
no residue, and could be rerolled and reused when it got dirty.
The capsule feels indestructible, and I had no hesitation
putting it anywhere, including drums. My lone complaint with
the unit is the four DIP switches, which control a -10 dB pad
and a Bass Boost (aka a bypassable 125 Hz high pass filter).
Both of those features are incredibly useful, but I would have
preferred a simple on/off switch for the Pad and Bass boost –
I had to consult the manual a few times to remember which
combination of the 4 switches turns each feature on and off.
Testing the Cortado MkIII began with some straightforward
gm
uses, such as capturing an acoustic guitar source in a room
with a lot of bleed, which this mic excelled at. I managed to
get a full and robust acoustic guitar sound in a small room with
loud drums using only the Cortado MkIII affixed behind the
bridge of the guitar. It’s helpful to have headphones on while
you place the mic, but using your hand to find a particular spot
t)
with a lot of resonance can usually be a good starting place.
On a baby grand piano, I placed the Cortado MkIII on the
soundboard near the hammers with its Bass Boost off, and got
some cool, filtered articulation – almost like a tack piano – and
(a
blended that in with a pair of beyerdynamic M 260 ribbon mics
for an interesting sound that I would not have stumbled upon
using only “normal” mics.
What most excited my inner child was the sense of
experimentation with this mic. I began sticking it anywhere to
see how it would react. I put the Cortado MkIII on a Leslie
speaker, on guitar amps, on a Wurlitzer, and on a semi-
hollowbody electric bass. Not every sound was usable for its
given project but many were, and almost all were inspiring in
one way or another. The most fruitful experimentation was with
drums. Putting a Cortado MkIII on the bottom of a snare gave
a sharp and tight explosion of noise each time the drummer hit
the snare. Inside the hi-hats yielded a gated 8-bit sound, and
affixing the sensor to cymbals gave deep and gigantic metallic
resonances – as if the listener were inside a Richard Serra metal
sculpture and someone whacked it with a giant mallet.
The Cortado MkIII is an equally valuable tool for both
controlled captures in noisy/bleed-prone environments and
for sonic experimentation in general. It’s by far the most
flexible and friendly contact mic I’ve used, and has a price
point that will encourage you to keep a few of them floating
around your studio. ($159 MSRP; cortadomic.com)
-Dan Knobler <danknobler.com>
Universal Audio
UAFX Starlight Echo Station pedal
Universal Audio recently entered the stompbox pedal market
with their UAFX line of DSP-based analog-modeling pedals.
Overall, this new trio of pedals is an exciting application of UA’s
DSP and development – affordable and high-quality
stompboxes that maintain the same vintage essence and
extensibility that UA has brought to their other emulations.
Think of them as fantastic multi-effect software plug-ins – but
those plug-ins now come in little metal boxes with knobs and
switches you can touch with your actual human fingers. Cool,
right? Of this new trio, the Starlight Echo Station made its way
to my mixing desk, and I eagerly gave it the beans.
As one might guess from the name, the Starlight is a
multifunction delay, with lots of hands-on control via six high-
quality pots, two stomp switches, and three selectable
emulations (plus one bonus model activated through the
)
companion UAFX Control mobile app over Bluetooth or via a
ot
wired USB-C connection to a computer). There is also a purely
“digital-style” delay option for cleaner tones – that’s four delay
types with radically different characters in one stompbox!
The Starlight’s Tape EP-III emulation of the Echoplex EP-3
(d
tape delay is awesome, with adjustable wow/flutter and noise
with plenty of opportunities to drive it into saturation. The
second emulation, Analog DMM, recreates the classic bucket-
brigade delay sounds of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, with some
enhanced elements like longer delay times (up to 1 second).
The Precision delay mode is a clean digital delay with some
l
extensive modulation options. Interestingly, if you register
the pedal with the UAFX Control mobile app, you can add an
ai
emulation of the UREI Cooper Time Cube as well, which is just
as fun as the UAD version.
The Starlight is housed in a solid, chunky metal enclosure,
has stereo unbalanced I/O, but can accept mono signals for a
dual mono or mono-to-stereo signal path. The stereo effects on
this pedal are quite satisfying, even when using it with mono
sends. In particular, the chorus mod options available in
the Analog DMM model are super thick. Those options can add
unique character and width to mix elements such as guitar
buses or background vocals.
I initially set the pedal up with a DAW session as an effect
send and return using the Radial Engineering EXTC-Stereo
Effects Reamper and my patchbay. Like most pedals, the
Starlight operates at instrument level only, so you’ll need to do
some research before configuring pedals for line level mix
duties. This external bus setup allowed me to leave the
Starlight’s Mix knob on fully wet, utilizing the Radial EXTC-
Stereo’s Wet/Dry blend to taste. My audio interface and DAW
allowed me to compensate and offset any latency on my
external hardware bus (shout-out to Presonus Studio One’s
Pipeline XT plug-in).
I later direct-patched the Starlight into a long effects chain
bus. One note: I found myself adapting a bit to the taper of
the Mix knob, mainly when using the Tape EP-III mode.
Initially thinking this was a “traditional” mix blending knob
where the dry signal gradually is reduced from the noon
position to fully clockwise, I noticed the Mix knob curve
seemed to taper rapidly at the edge of its range (just before
full clockwise). The folks at UA kindly explained that the pedal
has zero latency due to its analog-dry-through design, and
that means that the dry signal can only be fully on or off, not
lowered. Thus, the Mix knob is more of a wet level control with
a kill-dry at the end of the taper – this makes sense, and in
fact I found that when I used the Starlight as an effects send,
the fully wet position was the most logical setting in that
context. Perhaps the mix knob taper/curve could be adjustable
in future versions of the UAFX control app? I could see future
iterations of the UAFX app offering other firmware unlocks such Solid State Logic While it’s an all-around handy companion for tracking or
refining mono sources, the ULTRAVIOLET was made for stereo.
as new features via in-app purchases and more. ULTRAVIOLET stereo EQ I love the ganged controls, and the Trim knob is an appreciated
I can’t wait to see what’s next here, and have welcomed the The ULTRAVIOLET EQ from SSL is a 500 Series format creature comfort for little tweaks, balancing buses, or finessing
Starlight into my rack drawer of external mix and re-amp tricks. expansion of the Fusion processor’s [Tape Op #131] Violet EQ. gain into a following device. I got outstanding results with the
Love it! ($399 street; uaudio.com) It retains the high-pass filter and four-position stepped high ULTRAVIOLET over the drum bus and on grouped acoustic
-Dana Gumbiner <danagumbiner.com> and low bands and builds upon it with two parametric guitars, and surprised myself with how much I liked it on the

IGS Audio midrange bands. The ULTRAVIOLET goes one step further with
the addition of a Focus switch on each band, further
mix bus – a place I’m usually not doing anything more than a
gentle presence lift. I found myself making very small,
RB 500 ME passive EQ narrowing the Q while increasing the amount of available intentional moves in the midrange that, when bypassed, left
This past year I’ve been on a low-key “Pultec quest.” I’ve boost/cut from +/- 9 to +/- 18. There’s also a convenient the mix suddenly feeling a little sleepy. Equally adept at
always loved the sound of the famous blue passive EQ – the output Trim control and an In button for bypass. It’s easy to making dramatic changes as it is doing a lot with a little, the
big curves, simple design, and ease of use has always appealed overlook one of SSL’s great achievements with the ULTRAVIOLET’s ability to fine tune what you want – and give
to me. So, in my research for a new studio tool, I found myself ULTRAVIOLET, precisely because of how well they did it – you the tools to find what that might be – makes it an
on IGS Audio’s website staring longingly at the Rubber Bands there are 15 controls jammed into a two-space 500 Series exceptional entry into the 500 Series field. ($1299 street;
500 Series Mastering Edition passive equalizer, or RB 500 ME. I slot! SSL has laid out the controls of this EQ incredibly well. solidstatelogic.com) -Eamonn Aiken <thebastillestudio.com>
wanted to check it out for tracking and mixing duties, and after You won’t notice how much has been packed in there because
getting in touch with the incredibly friendly Igor Sobczyk at it never gets in its own way. It reminds me of the first time Prism Sound

)
IGS, I was able to get my hands on a demo unit for review. I worked on an SSL console – an immense 72-input 9000J OVER-KILLER inline
Once I received the two-space unit and unboxed it in the that quickly won me over – from terrified to enthralled – with soft clip limiter

ot
studio, I was immediately impressed with the build quality of how welcoming its layout was behind the intimidating Simply put, the OVER-KILLER is Prism Sound’s soft clip
the RB 500 ME. The EQ comes equipped with four robust IGS expanse. Well done, SSL. limiter circuit from their vaunted line of converters, made
Audio custom-made transformers on both the input and the The high and low bands are a pretty straightforward affair into a passive, standalone device. It is housed in a

(d
output of each channel. The transformers have some serious – shelves with 4 frequency positions each that SSL refers to Switchcraft XLR barrel, has no controls whatsoever, and is
weight to them – when I initially picked up the box, I as “minimal phase shift” equalizers. While I didn’t bring up one of the easiest ways I’ve found to increase maximum RMS
wondered for a moment if Igor accidentally sent me two any testing software, they sound clear and forgiving. These without sacrificing the perceptual impact of the transient
units! The faceplate, knobs, and internal components are all aren’t equalizers that assert themselves (particularly in the content of your mix. It also importantly addresses the need
made from high-quality parts – it doesn’t feel flimsy or cheap highs) the way some “vibe” EQs do; I found boosts with the for a high quality soft clip limiter circuit in the analog
by any means. The EQ has stereo-linked top and bottom ULTRAVIOLET to feel true to the source in a way that domain and retails for around $200.

l
shelves, and attenuation controls for both channels: Pretty highlights what’s there rather than adding a new character. The learning curve is nonexistent. You simply plug it in,
straightforward. Once I stopped ogling at the EQ, I plugged While that can seem underwhelming in cases where you’re

ai
and the red lights go away. Bypass is achieved by unplugging
it in and put it to work. turning to the EQ and hoping maybe that’s where the magic it. I tested the OVER-KILLER with a range of source material
My first tracking project with the RB 500 ME was with Omaha is going to be (come on, we’ve all been in that unfortunate from one-shot samples, to unmastered mixes, to
grungy rock band The Dharma Rose. While tracking drums, I place), it does mean that as a general tone shaper, you’ve got commercially released mastered albums. Mastered material
gm
put the IGS on kick inside and out. One feature I enjoy about lots of room to work, comfortably knowing the EQ isn’t going
this EQ is that the attenuation bands don’t have to be fixed to to start adding new harshness to your decisions. As a
was the most ruthless test, since that source material will
have likely been compressed, limited, and clipped at several
the frequency selected on the boost, which is usually the case bus/group EQ, in particular, that’s a definite positive in stages already.
with this style of circuit. So, I gave the kick mics a low boost helping finesse positions in a mix that are already taking I found the OVER-KILLER to be entirely transparent at lower
around 20 or 30 Hz, but then cut a little bit at 240 where it shape. The high-pass filter is handy to have, and something overall RMS. Two copies of the same file, one dry and one
gets a little wooly. Same approach up top: I can give a kick I wish was included with all equalizers that are shelf-only on processed through the OVER-KILLER, nulled completely when
t)

drum a solid boost at 5 or 8 kHz for snap, but then gently the lows. It’s a feature that buys you a lot more usable range playing back out of phase, even after the D/A to A/D loop
attenuate some of the zingy cymbal bleed and excess top at on the low EQ dial, knowing you’ve got an attenuation curve inherently required for this test.
12 or 16 kHz. The end result was beefy and punchy. On later to play against and control for bass-heavy sources. Louder files naturally had more subtle reactions, as
projects, I used this same method with the RB 500 ME on snare The two mid bands introduce some possibilities we don’t
(a

more of the audible spectrum is pushed towards the

top and bottom, swapping out 30 Hz for 180 Hz on low tuned often see – particularly at this price point and in 500 Series threshold. I was still able to get a huge amount of gain
snares or 240 Hz for a higher tuned snare. I had similar positive format. The ULTRAVIOLET is fully parametric, so it brings a reduction in a null test, but experienced increased
results with toms, bass, and vocals. plug-in-like ease to sweeping for troublesome resonances broadband artifacts left behind based on the overall
Having tried several Pultec-style EQ units in this price range, and notching them out without otherwise drastically loudness of the incoming signal. Put another way, as the
one thing that the RB 500 ME excels at in comparison to other altering the tone of the source. The Focus switch really overall loudness going into the OVER-KILLER increased,
y3

clones is bottom end thump. The massive transformers are drives this home, and aside from being a useful problem- more low end tended to appear in the resultant null test.
definitely adding some beef to anything you send through solving tool, also opens up some creative processing Prism describes the OVER-KILLER circuit as it exists in their
them. During mix, I liked it on my bass sub-mix – adding a effects. With the gain cranked, the Focus button engaged, range of conversion as a “progressive limiter,” and I
dash of 100 Hz with some midrange note definition at 5 kHz. and Q fully narrowed, you’re essentially sweeping a resonant believe these observations are consistent with that
ir

I also used it on the mix bus a handful of times to add some peak across your sound. The frequency spike is so narrow design. However, I wondered how much of that circuit can
60 Hz weight with 10 or 12 kHz of air up top. The stepped pots that the gain control feels almost like a blend, which you be ported directly into this passive, standalone platform.
make it super easy to recall any setting, plus you can download can use to dramatically change the character of sources. I This curiosity led me to open one of the barrels, naturally,
a handy recall sheet from the IGS website.
an

was able to dial in pointed tones on otherwise normal and I was equally delighted and chagrined to see the
For a stereo passive EQ with stepped pots and big fat upright piano recordings to simulate a hardened-felt saloon circuit buried in goo like a Bill Finnegan-made Klon
transformers, the IGS RB 500 ME seems well worth the price. I sound with the low mid and an almost tack-piano tone with Centaur overdrive pedal.
don’t think I’ve seen or heard any other 500 Series unit that the high mid. Unfortunately, the low mid band doesn’t go Qualitatively, I quite enjoyed the sound of the OVER-KILLER
af

specs out this well for this kind of a bargain. My only problem quite low enough to create deep, synth-like kick when I’d hear it working. I found the increasingly sharp
is that I need more than two channels for kick, snare, toms, resonances, but there’s certainly room to explore here. Of edges of the soft clip limit approaching the clip point to be
bass, and stereo mix bus duty! The IGS RB 500 ME is a massive course, the midrange is also excellent for your usual EQ pleasing on the right source material. I will buy this pair and
bang for the buck, and would be a fantastic tool for any studio. needs – defining the crack of a snare or bringing a vocal am excited to add this inexpensive and incredibly useful
in

($1195 MSRP; igsaudio.com) right to the front of the speakers is no problem, and the gadget to the analog tool kit. ($229 MSRP; prismsound.com)
-Jeremy Wurst <coyotefacerecording.com> constantly variable Q with Focus disengaged gives a -Brian Bender <brightandguilty.com>
rewarding amount of flexibility for general use. Gear Reviews/(continued on page 64)/63
 Focal
Alpha 65 Evo powered monitor
I was already stoked with my Focal Alpha 65 powered
monitors [Tape Op #104] before their updated replacement
model, the Alpha 65 Evos arrived at my door. In my review
of the original Alpha 65s (which I ended up buying), I raved
about the quality of Focal’s aluminum inverted dome
tweeters that offered a natural high end with a wide
dispersion / sweet spot. Though this same HF design is
continued with the new Alpha 65 Evo, the incorporation of
Focal’s Slatefiber recycled carbon woofer cone is what gives
the updated model an edge over its predecessor.
Additional features/changes to the original Alpha include
the incorporation of a Class D amplifier (instead of Class AB),
a disable switch for the standby power mode, removable
driver grilles, and rear-chassis inserts for wall fastening
(ideal for surround or Atmos setups). In addition to XLR and
RCA inputs, Focal has added a TRS input. Like its
predecessor, HF and LF shelving controls (+/- 6 dB) and an
overall +6 dB Sensitivity switch for level matching are also
found on the backplate. Also similar to the original, the
Alpha 65 Evo is enclosed in a thick MDF cabinet with hearty
side panels and internal braces, but adds rounded corners
and a single, large laminar bass reflex port for optimum
performance in cramped spaces.
Initially, I was scratching my head at the choice to
incorporate a Class D amplifier over Class AB, but Focal says
when compared to similar Class ABs in the same price range,
The Class D performed better. Class “D” does not mean
“digital.” The Alpha Evos are 100% analog (including the
crossover). Botom line: The new Alpha 65 Evos sound better
to my ears across the frequency spectrum, and when I crank
them up loud, the balance between the tweeter and woofer
can take some abuse if needed!
gm
remain constant, without minimal breakup/distortion – these
Aside from its earthy Slatefiber woofer and single port
design, the new monitor looks pretty similar to the old
one, but there are differences. While nearly every monitor
takes some getting used to, when I set up the new Alpha
t)
65 Evos – boom. They just sounded right immediately.
Sure, I needed to break them in for a while, but overall
they were as close to perfect for my small project studio
as I’ve ever had. The biggest difference in my opinion was
(a
in the low end, which was noticeably tighter and better
balanced within the overall frequency spectrum. In my
review of the original Alpha 65s, I said “The tweeter’s wide
dispersion seems to complement the woofer’s sweet spot
better than any nearfield monitor I can remember
y3
hearing.” I’m hearing an overall improvement with the
Alpha 65 Evos in that the tweeters and woofers were
working together more harmoniously – I never had to
reach for the HF/LF shelving adjustments.
ir
The Alpha Evo’s Slatefiber cone woofer is the story here.
After four years of research and development, in 2019 Focal
featured this technology in their Chora hi-fi home speakers.
an
It’s a composite of recycled non-woven carbon fibers and
thermoplastic polymer. The carbon fibers offer high rigidity,
resulting in increased accurate bass response, and the
thermoplastic polymer bonds the fibers, which also
af
improves damping. Because carbon fibers are very light in
mass, the resulting speaker driver’s sensitivity is also
optimized. Focal finishes off the Slatefiber cone for the
Alpha Evo with their M profile voice coil membrane. Voilà –
in
much more than just magical papier-mâché, Focal’s
Slatefiber technology is a coup d’etat!
64/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 66)
So, how did this work out in mixing? I found that compared
to their predecessors, and two other much more expensive
monitors, the new Alpha 65 Evos are easy to work with in the
low end department, minimizing ooze and adding definition
with a deeper extension to my ears – the manufacturer rates
frequency response at 40 Hz to 22 kHz. Quite happily, I worked
for a few weeks without a subwoofer, and with good decoupling
from a desktop or stand, I can wholeheartedly recommend the
Alpha 65 Evos without a subwoofer for editing suites and
project studios, and they sound even better with a sub.
My favorite qualities of the old Alpha 65s were its high end
and midrange, which carried through in a familiar way to the
new Alpha 65 Evos. Many ported designs allow you to feel the
weight of the low end, but I’ve found that they can also lead
the listener towards a fundamental low note rather than a true
spectrum of the bass frequencies. In my opinion, this is the
difference between the old Alpha 65s and the new Evos,
making it easier to balance the bass guitar against the kick
)
drum. The Alpha 65 Evo’s low end just breathes more naturally
ot
than similar monitor designs.
Yes, the high end is beautiful and non-fatiguing. Yes, the
mixing sweet spot is wide. Yes, these monitors sound balanced
when placed close to a wall. Yes, my Alpha 65 Evo mixes
(d
translate well – we always say that when we like a monitor. So,
what’s the difference here? Answer: I got “there” faster. Good
monitoring instills confidence. In his latest book, Zen & the Art
of Mixing 2021 [Tape Op #142], Mixerman says “Mixing is a
game of confidence. If you’re confident, you’ll mix great. If
you’re not, you won’t.” I’m getting oodles of confidence from
l
this affordable monitor. Thank you Focal for giving the audio
working class a choice instead of a compromise!
ai
($449/each MSRP; focal.com) -SM
Fredenstein Audio
Artistic 500 Series EQ
When I recently reviewed the Fredenstein Bento 8 500 series
chassis [Tape Op #144], the company kindly included a clutch
of their own 500 Series units to demo as well. I had fun
tracking and mixing through all of them, but the Artistic EQ
emerged as the most useful and cost-effective of the lot. You
can snag four of these for less than a single channel of the API
3-band EQs (that I love). For this reason, I see the Artistic EQ
appealing primarily to people like me, with home/project
studios that are looking to add some transparent outboard EQ
without breaking the bank. However, if you have a larger
console with empty 500 Series slots, you might consider
springing for a pair of these as well.
The three filter bands offer 14 dB of cut or boost: 2 to 20 kHz
on the top, 30 to 300 Hz on the bottom, and 300 Hz to 3 kHz
for the midrange. You can select between shelf and bell curves
for the high and low frequency adjustments. Given there are
only three frequency bands at play here, I generally use plug-
ins for subtractive sculpting, then use the Artistic EQ for broad
boosts, but I appreciate the ability to switch to a bell curve and
boost or cut more selectively – which is especially helpful on
drums and vocals. The midrange frequency band conveniently
overlaps with the high frequencies and – most usefully – allows
you to carve out some 400 Hz mud in the low mids while still
boosting lower frequencies. As a result, I found the Artistic EQ
to be a good candidate for kick drum and floor tom duty.
With the return of in-person (but limited-capacity) live
shows, the Holland Project – Reno’s all-ages arts and music
initiative – recently handed me a bunch of multitrack files to
mix. Thus, I had plenty of opportunities to put the Artistic EQ
to use. Local band Bug Bath is reminiscent of early Pavement
[Tape Op #15], but with heavier guitars. Bassist Bijou Bell
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 plays a Fender Bronco, recorded in this instance with a
Shure SM57 in front of the amp. To ensure her bass didn’t
get lost in a sea of distorted guitars, I boosted below 50
Hz, brought out some body with some 300 Hz, and tamed
some pick-related harshness at 8 kHz. The Girls Rock Reno
summer camp recently concluded with an inspiring
showcase, expertly tracked by in-house engineer Allison
Clift-Jennings. For the mix, I put the Artistic EQ to work
on the snare drum, attenuating high frequencies (creating
a shelf at about 15 kHz) while adding a little body at both
200 and 300 Hz. While mixing the new Fine Motor album,
on the other hand, I was glad to have an EQ for singer
Casey Bell. Vocals are a rare instance when I’ll boost high
frequencies, and a small boost above 9 kHz on the Artistic
EQ brightened and lifted the vocal without making it
sound harsh. The lighted hard bypass labeled “EQ IN” on
the front panel made before-and-after comparisons easy.
To my ears, the Artistic EQ sounded a little thicker,
stronger, and more musical than making the equivalent
moves with my plug-in EQs. Working with the Fredensteins
made me excited to incorporate more outboard into my
hybrid workflow, especially now that I have a few trusted
compressors – I generally prefer to EQ after compression
while mixing.
In addition to handy EQ curves, the Artistic EQ also
incorporates a socketed OPA2 discrete op-amp that can be
swapped out for other pin-compatible modules (API 2520,
Jensen 990, etc.), and an American-made, steel-core
output transformer.
That said, I have a few complaints. Though you could
use the high shelving filter as a low cut during tracking,
a dedicated low pass filter would be nice. Fredenstein
sticks out from the competition not only with its
affordable prices but also with a design philosophy that
gm
values clarity over color. Perhaps in anticipation of this,
Fredenstein added a Color mode switch to the faceplate
that when engaged “emulates tube amp characteristics.”
But even in Color mode, it’s not as colorful as some might
wish – I found it to be too subtle for my rock and soul
taste. On the other hand, engineers working on jazz and
t)
classical records would consider this a blessing. Or, if you
get the color you want from your compressor, the Artistic
EQ will complement and enhance the signal without
(a
getting in the way. Even considering my minor gripes, I
remain floored by the affordability of these EQs. At this
price, you can add a bunch of outboard EQs to your hybrid
setup and get a little closer to the large console sound.
($250 street; fredenstein.com)
-Daniel Ryan Morse <danielryanmorse.com>
y3
Leapwing Audio
Al Schmitt Signature Plugin
Our community lost a titan when Al Schmitt passed
ir
recently. I suppose if there is any consolation, it comes
from knowing that Al shared his experience through tools
such as his Pro-Channel for Oram Pro Audio, Ultimate Ears
in-ear monitors, and some of his best signal chains in the
an
form of Leapwing Audio’s new plug-in.
Designed for mixing, the Al Schmitt Signature Plugin is
optimized for six track types: Vocal, Piano, Bass, Brass,
af
Strings, and Mix (bus). The interface is streamlined,
displaying only essential controls depending on which of
the profiles you select. For example, Vocal has six controls:
one for Compression, three for EQ, and two for Echo. Mr.
in
Schmitt called reverbs “echoes,” so his label remains.
Finding good sounds is straightforward and immediate.
66/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 60)
Like other Leapwing titles, the fidelity is superb. Should
you work in a genre Al Schmitt favored – vocalists, jazz
trios, big band, pianists, choirs, (the original meaning of)
divas, virtuosos, or pop – you should run (don’t walk) and
buy this plug-in. It’s like opening an egg with an anvil.
Imagine some of Mr. Schmitt’s landmark recordings –
Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, George Benson, Ray Charles,
Toto, Paul McCartney – this plug-in shapes music to sonics
the way these iconic tracks sound in your mind’s ear.
Horns are smooth while maintaining punch. The Piano
profile includes soundboard resonance while retaining
string harmonics. And don’t get me started on vocals.
Goodness, this plug-in is worth it for the reverbs (ahem…
echoes), alone. You know the proverb that it’s hard to
make a Neve 1073 EQ sound bad? This is the plug-in
version of that adage.
Even for those who don’t necessarily swim in those jazzy
stylistic waters, I suggest downloading the Al Schmitt
)
Signature Plugin demo anyway. Then do what audio
ot
engineers do: Apply a tool in a way it was never intended
to be used. Try the Brass profile on guitar solos, the Bass
profile on loops, the Piano profile on a drum kit. Examine
what the Mix Compressor does for backing vocals. There is
(d
no need to use all of the effects in a profile. Come for the
vocals/stay for the harmonic distortion. I’ll state it again:
the echo from the Vocal profile should be in your shortlist
when reaching for your best reverbs.
Excluding audio quality, the most significant advantage
of the Al Schmitt Signature Plugin is session efficiency.
l
Suppose you have four hours to mix a song. Going through
every track to instantiate appropriate plug-ins will consume
ai
valuable minutes. Instead, supporting elements can be
locked down by the Al Schmitt Signature Plugin. Load the
profile, customize settings for the track at hand, and you’re
on to the next instrument. Does this hurt the client? No,
because I can use the time to concentrate on critical
elements – vocals, guitar leads, bass lines, and whatever
the specific song requires. If I need 30 minutes to audition
compressors, reverbs, or spatial effects, I can. Operating
under time and budget constraints, your clients will be more
comfortable if you provide showcase tracks with the time
and consideration they deserve.
At one time, I dismissed “signature” plug-ins as a
marketing gimmick. In a more negative estimation, some of
my friends think they’re aimed at lazy people who can’t mix.
I’ll concede that some may be in those categories, but a
well-done title, such as the Al Schmitt Signature Plugin, is
an example of what is attainable within this format. This
title is ideal for teaching students or helping engineers
examine unfamiliar genres. Technically, it conserves
processing power – one instance may draw from multiple
plug-ins while using a fraction of the resources that loading
all of them would drain. The streamlined ones force us to
focus on the ideal sound rather than which knob to twist
on the third EQ, for example.
I’m bummed out that we can’t coax more profiles out
of Al Schmitt, but a teacher can’t spoon-feed every
answer. It’s up to us to explore, innovate, and expand our
production skills. Leapwing took a risk doing a signature
collaboration, but they can be proud of this title. In our
over-complicated / infinite choice era, it’s easy to drift
away from our core responsibilities. Try mixing with
fewer controls. Devote more attention to your ears rather
than your screen. This plug-in is a perfect place to start.
($159 direct; leapwingaudio.com)
-Garrett Haines <treelady.com>
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 Ear Trumpet Labs
Nadine upright bass mic
Love at first sight – make that love at first listen. Nadine,
where’ve you been all my life?! Seriously, I play, record, and mix
upright bass a lot. It is my Achilles heel. Especially since I have
an affinity for my ‘70s Kay plywood dog house, which I consider
the “Fender P Bass of uprights.” I also don’t ever change my
strings. Needless to say, I’ve wrestled with the angel when it
comes to achieving upright tone nirvana in my recordings.
Nadine is a blessing to the upright bass. This mic takes the best
of the thump and midrange clarity you want out of an unwieldy
instrument, then sets it in the mix right where it belongs – plus,
you don’t even need a mic stand! A few notable users include
Christian McBride, Missy Raines, and Chris Wood. I had the good
fortune to work with The Wood Brothers once, and their FOH
engineer told me they ditched a competitive mic in favor of the
Nadine that Ear Trumpet Labs had given them to try out.
The Ear Trumpet Labs Nadine is a medium/large-diaphragm
hand-made microphone with a unique appearance, and an easy-
to-use mounting system designed specifically for upright bass.
It utilizes a permanently attached 14-inch Mogami cable and
washer-mounted head to fit all sizes of upright bass. The
“capsule and electronics are tuned for live use with excellent
feedback rejection.” It incorporates internal shock dampers and
comes with a 30-day full return policy and lifetime warranty. Ear
Trumpet Labs had both live and studio applications in mind
when they designed this mic.
The Nadine was simple enough to mount on my upright bass
after watching a short instructional video on the Ear Trumpet
Labs’ website. In the studio, I didn’t feel the need to use a DI
to complement the Nadine – it has an awesome presence and
thump with a slightly roomy sound even though it’s close mic’d.
This could be an issue live, especially with loud drums. But man,
you can really hear and feel the wood! One of the best design
features is that the Nadine is mounted directly to the
instrument, so your mic placement never changes. I for one like
to move around once I’m in the groove, so this is awesome!
I had an opportunity to use the Nadine on a session with Hot
Buttered Rum, a local San Francisco Bay Area Americana act. We
were recording upright bass with drums and piano in the same
room, so I saw this as a good test of the mic’s rejection ability.
There was some bleed from the drums but not too much; just
the right amount to make it sound live. I do think this scenario
requires a sensitive drummer. The Nadine captured bassist Bryan
Horne’s tone perfectly. The bottom end was round and bouncy,
but not muddy, and I only had to scoop a small amount of low
mid out to place it in the mix.
Following the session, Bryan took the Nadine on a gig. Here’s
y3
what he had to say: “I used it at one gig. I sent it to the house
and not to my rig/cab and the FOH guy used it in the house. I
wasn’t able to get the mic to my amp, just sent it to the house
guy. If I could blend both mic and pickup together (you can do
ir
this with a Grace Designs FELiX2 acoustic instrument and mic
preamp) and try that I think it’d be cool to try but I don’t have
one of those yet.”
an
Once I got the mic back I tried just that with a Raven Labs
PMB-2. I plugged my David Gage String Instruments Realist
pickup into one channel, and the Nadine into the other, then
the amp. The mic alone sounded excellent through the amp, and
af
feedback rejection was good. I was able to get a fair amount of
gain without a squelch, so I see this as a viable option for live
performance. Blending the mic with the pickup created some
interesting tone possibilities, ranging from boomy bluegrass
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thump to jazzy midrange. Clearly, Ear Trumpet Labs has worked
hard to tune this mic for the stage, but as stated previously, the
68/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 70)
success of the Nadine in live settings depends largely on your
drummer’s musicianship and your FOH engineer’s skills. I would
be mindful of putting it in the monitors.
Just for kicks (pun intended), I put the Nadine in a bass drum
to see what it would do. Since there’s no way to put this mic on
a stand, I set it on a blanket inside the drum. The recorded
sound was pretty punchy with a fair amount of attack. I did pick
up a noticeable amount of the rest of the kit, but a low pass
filter remedied much of that. So, it’s also useful as a kick drum
mic if you are thinking of buying one, but don’t record a ton of
upright bass. The Ear Trumpet Nadine is an incredible mic! If you
play, record, or mix upright bass, you should own one.
($599 direct; eartrumpetlabs.com)
-Ben Bernstein <benbernsteinmusic.com>
DrAlienSmith
Alien8 figure-8 dynamic mic
When DrAlienSmith started teasing a new transformer-balanced
microphone design (loosely based on the fabled beyerdynamic
M380 and AKG D30) with two headphone drivers used as mic
capsules shoved in it, I practically threw my money at him! I’ve
connected headphones to a DI box a few times and had a ton of
fun with drums, so it was nice to see someone take that idea and
finally try to do it right.
Alan Smith originally prototyped the mic with a single
headphone driver. Like a ribbon element, there’s a natural figure-8
pattern to a headphone driver. One side sounded darker than the
other though. During testing, he had two prototypes on the same
source, with each facing a different direction to more easily
compare the sonic differences between each side. Inevitably he
ended up listening to both of the mics combined and had a “why
not both?” moment. Because each 50 mm headphone driver sits on
top of one another facing different directions, the bottom driver had
to be phase reversed in order to play well with the top one when
gm
using both drivers simultaneously. If dual headphone drivers weren’t
cool enough, a three-way switch on the side of the microphone can
also select single top driver mode or single bottom driver mode.
Sonically, the front facing/top driver sounds brighter and picks up
more attack on your kick drum. The rear facing/bottom driver sounds
darker and definitely has more body to it. On kick duties you’ll
t)
probably want to start on the dual driver setting (middle position on
the switch). If you’re a metal head, or you’re pulling out the double
kick pedal, the top capsule might clean things up a bit and give you
a crisper attack. If you want to go more mellow and feel your kick
(a
more than hear it, the bottom capsule is really beautiful. On my
trusty 22x20 Gretsch kick drum, with the Alien8 positioned a bit
closer to the beater head than I would normally put something like
a Sennheiser e602, I absolutely loved the dual capsule setting. Keep
in mind that this mic is a figure-8 microphone, so it’s picking up the
back of your resonant head as well. To compensate, I found angling
the Alien8 down towards the bottom of the drum helped balance out
the resonant head while compensating for the added attack from
moving it closer to the beater head.
Although it’s voiced to be a kick drum mic, you’re also going to
be pleasantly surprised when you hear this thing on a guitar cab.
The Alien8 has a bit of a roll off starting around 10 kHz, but still
manages to sound alive and open when in dual driver or top driver
modes. When I put up a Shure SM57 for comparison’s sake, dual
capsule mode on the Alien8 made the SM57 sound broken in the
low end and harsh in the higher frequencies. By switching to the
darker sounding rear-facing driver on the bottom, you’ll definitely
loose a little bit of clarity. However, I will say that the smoothness
and body were reminiscent of a ribbon on that setting, so it
definitely has its place depending on what you want to hear. ($350
AUD direct plus shipping; draliensmith.com)
-Matt Anderson <millsounds.com>
Avantone Pro
Planar headphones
Avantone Pro has dropped a new pair of headphones that use
planar magnetic technology. Unlike the standard cone
technology used in dynamic headphones, a planar is a thin
electrically charged membrane-like driver that is sandwiched
between two magnetic arrays. This design creates a diaphragm
where the entire surface moves uniformly and extremely quickly.
As a result, planar headphones sound very different from
dynamic headphones.
To quickly sum up my impression of the Avantone Planar
headphones – they sound excellent. Until this pair, I couldn’t
find a truly high-quality planar headphone for under $1000. The
Avantones retail for $399, including a detachable cable and
carrying pouch. The Planar’s retro styling will be the first thing
you’ll notice, and it’s available in black or red. The earcups are
rectangular boxes with perforated metal backs. A thin steel
)
frame hovers above its comfortable vinyl-covered headband. The
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replaceable cord connects to either earcup via 3.5 mm plugs and
comes with a 3.5 mm to 1/4-inch adapter for the amp side.
Weighing in at about one pound (0.5 kilos), these headphones
are relatively heavy, which puts them at almost twice the weight
(d
of many studio headphones. The square earcups are cloth-
covered and sit snugly and comfortably over my ears, even while
wearing eyeglasses.
The first sonic quality you’ll notice with planar technology is
the bass extension, which not only stretches into the sub
frequencies, but the low frequencies give the sensation of
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moving air, much like a loudspeaker. Deep lows feel powerful.
These ‘phones have a well-balanced frequency response, making
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them not only fun to listen to but totally useful for production
and mixing. I usually work on Sennheiser HD 650s [Tape Op
#43] with Sonarworks SoundID to optimize their frequency
response. For the Avantone Planars, there is not yet a preset EQ
curve for SoundID, so I created one based on extensive
listening. I found that I needed to reduce a few areas between
500 Hz and 3 kHz a few dB to flatten out the typical midrange
congestion common to headphones with planar drivers. Once I
set that EQ, I could completely trust these ‘phones for mixing,
and even for checking masters.
The Avantone Planars produce a three-dimensional quality that
I don’t hear with my dynamic headphones. I don’t get the sense
that sound is coming from a speaker, but rather from a direction.
The lows appear to be physically lower, and the highs are
physically higher in the soundstage. I also don’t feel the need to
use Goodhertz CanOpener (crossfeed algorithm to simulate
speaker listening) when mixing on these phones, as the stereo
sound field is much wider and more defined than with my
dynamic headphones. Kick drums on dance songs, like Dua Lipa’s
“Don’t Start Now,” hit hard and seem to have a physical presence
in front of the groove – similar to how kicks sound on good
studio monitor systems.
The clarity of these cans is outstanding. I can clearly
distinguish different effects in a pop mix – like which reverb is
on the piano versus the guitar. Each instrument’s tonalities are
well defined, and any distortion, tick, or pop will be easily
heard. Well-recorded classical music sounds wonderful on these
headphones, and I found myself listening to Bach violin
concertos as well as my vintage jazz collection with fresh ears
again. These headphones are neither clinical nor hyped. They
are both accurate and fun to listen to – an exceptional
combination for studio headphones.
My studio headphones are powered by a Hafler P1000
power amp (via a Simon Systems CB-4 volume control) or
the CAPI HPA500 headphone amp (available as a kit only).
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Gear Geeking w/ Andy…
I’ve been very grateful for the handful of in-person
tracking sessions I’ve hosted during the pandemic. I’ve also
felt greater appreciation for the gear that I consider crucial
while working in my studio. When I wrote my review 8
years ago of the Lauten Audio FC-387 Atlantis large-
diaphragm condenser mic [Tape Op #94], I praised the mic
for its wonderfully natural sound and its ability to pair with
preamps of any flavor to offer a range of characters, thanks
to its onboard voice and gain controls. I also explained
how the FC-387’s well-tamed proximity response gives
singers confidence, because the mic is easy to “work” in
achieving the desired volume, dynamics, and intimacy of
the performance. I now own two of these mics; they are my
favorite large-diaphragm condenser mics in my collection.
I’ll go even further to say that the Atlantis is almost always
my first and final choice for recording vocals. Don’t take
this as an absolute; there are reasons to own other vocal
mics, and in many instances, other mics will offer a more
appropriate sound and recording experience. But with that
said, let me dig deeper into my resoluteness. You can’t go
wrong with an Atlantis, because whatever you record will
sound amazing through it, regardless of your recording
chain or post-processing strategy. Moreover, even if you
employ a “meh” preamp and apply zero processing, the
Atlantis can still capture a bigger-than-life sound. I’ve
started every one of my vocal recording sessions with the
FC-387, and I’ve also placed it countless times on other
sources — front-of-kit, acoustic guitar, guitar amp, cello,
saxophone, room, percussion, etc. — often alongside other
mics for comparison. Most of the time, the Atlantis has
ended up as the keeper. ••• On the other end of my
recording process is the monitoring chain in my studio,
which I can’t appreciate enough, especially after too many
hours working from home. My purposely designed control
room is furnished with acoustic treatment from Artnovion
[#120] and RealTraps [#36, #38, #48, #85], as well as two
PSI Audio AVAA C20 active bass absorbers [#114]. I listen
through a pair of HEDD Type 30 active monitors [#118].
Revisit the reviews of these products if you want to look
back on my journey to achieve a neutral and inspiring
listening environment using these impressive products.
Meanwhile, feeding the speakers is a well-integrated
system from Dangerous Music, controlled by a Dangerous
Monitor ST [#34, #43, #75]. A testament to the genius of
Chris Muth and the longevity of his designs, the Monitor ST
was released almost two decades ago, yet it’s still a relevant
product that facilitates modern, hybrid workflows. I have
mine seamlessly configured with a Dangerous CONVERT-2
DAC [#109], allowing me to switch between my many
analog and digital sources — all from the Monitor ST’s
comprehensive remote control. Moreover, I employ a
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miniDSP DDRC-22D Dirac Live audio processor [#133] for
frequency and time–domain room correction. What’s
amazing is that I can easily toggle the DDRC-22D into and
ir
out of my listen-chain via the source-selection buttons on
the Monitor ST’s remote, because the processor is patched
into the AES Thru / AES 2 digital “insert loop” of the
CONVERT-2. Meanwhile, my Dangerous CONVERT-AD+ ADC
an
[#126] serves as the master clock for my studio, distributed
by a MUTEC MC-3+ Smart Clock [#106]. More often than
not, I record at 48 kHz, but when I insert the upsampled
96 kHz miniDSP or choose the free-running optical output
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of my Google Chromecast Audio — again using the
Monitor ST’s remote for source selection — the CONVERT-2
automatically switches from word clock sync to source lock.
Importantly, my Dangerous Music system sounds pristine,
in
and it works flawlessly, without any thought beyond
choosing which source or insert I want to monitor. –AH
70/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 72)
Both of these amps effortlessly drive the Avantone
Planars, while the headphone output on my Avid Omni
interface easily powered the ‘phones to a comfortable
volume, but with a bit less detail and a more midrange-
focused color. Regardless of the amp, I found that I
needed about 8 dB less gain to drive these compared to
my HD 650s or beyerdynamic DT 770s. The included
braided-nylon headphone cable is a bit stiff, which
keeps the cord from tangling but also transmits handling
noise to the earcups if it rubs against my chair or
clothing. These ‘phones are generally comfortable, but
their weight can become tiresome, and I often need to
take a break after about 90 minutes – which is probably
a good time to rest your ears anyway!
The Avantone Planars are open-backed headphones, so
others around you will hear your music, and thus may not
be appropriate for some tracking sessions. For voiceover
artists or performers who do not need a click track (or
loud monitoring), the natural ambience that these
headphones impart may be a welcome benefit, so I
wouldn’t rule out the Avantone Planars for certain
recording duties. Overall, I would highly recommend these
headphones for studio use due to their accuracy and price
point, but also for listening pleasure. Be sure to give them
several hours to break in so they can sound their best.
($399 MSRP; avantonepro.com) -Adam Kagan <mixer.ninja>
Serrano Audio
Serrano 87 mic
The first time I went into a “real” studio, the engineer
had me sing into a Neumann U 87 and then quickly got
inside my head about mic technique, making for a less
than stellar performance. It was an unfortunate moment
to try and learn while paying $50 an hour (a princely sum
gm
in the ‘90s), and as a teenager, I was hardly ready. In
hindsight, I don’t blame the mic, I blame Lawrence, the
ponytailed engineer.
Flash-forward a decade or so, and I’d scraped together
a tiny budget to make a record with some of my favorite
people. We rented a Neumann U 87 to run through the
t)
Quad Eight Electronics preamp I’d scored on eBay. That
mic and preamp combo netted me some of the best vocals
and acoustic guitar sounds I’d ever recorded. I still have
(a
the mic pre, and now, thanks to the good folks at Serrano
Audio, I’ve got another “87” to play with.
The first thing you notice when you take the Serrano
87 out of its wooden case is that the body and grill are
reminiscent of, if not precisely resembling, a real U 87.
Some clones take more license here, but I prefer the
classic look. The thread-on shock mount is a nice
aesthetic touch that’s quite sturdy in use. The mic
features a K87 capsule that’s “made by hand, one at a
time,” a custom-made transformer modeled after the BV-
13 found in the Neumann U 87 i, Styroflex capacitors,
and a replica 87 i circuit with an original 2N3819 FET
transistor. I mention all of this because Serrano 87
sounds as if it was made by someone who did their
homework. The feature set will also look extremely
familiar (pad, low cut filter, as well as cardioid, figure 8,
and omni polar patterns) – there’s a reason why the U 87
is probably the most recognized studio mic out there,
short of the humble SM57.
Here’s the thing, I like this mic even better than I
remember liking actual U 87s I’ve used in the past.
Granted, my memory of the Neumann I sang into as a
teenager is blurry at best, but there have been several
others in my orbit since. I expected the Serrano 87 to be
a tad harder sounding, but this new mic is really sweet.
It has a flattering upper midrange, so much so that I
almost like my own vocals on it. This mic is intentionally
tuned darker than you can expect from a modern U 87 Ai,
and that may be where some of the hardness I was
anticipating failed to show up. Carlos Serrano told me he
didn’t want to make a mic that was merely “inspired” by
the original, he wanted to meticulously recreate the best
version of the real thing.
No one likes their own voice, right? Who hasn’t cringed
at their voicemail greeting? Case in point, my across-the-
street neighbor is the insanely talented singer-songwriter,
Sean Hayes. Sean’s voice is straight-up special. So,
imagine my surprise when I pop by one day and he’s got
his voice high-passed at 3 kHz. “I did that to give myself
a break from my voice while I was working on the
)
arrangement,” he said. It’s as if George Clooney told you
ot
he doesn’t like to look in a mirror. Neither do I George,
neither do I.
Sean was kind enough to let me bring the Serrano 87
by his place. We set it up, then captured him singing and
(d
playing guitar through a BAE 1073. Here again, the
Serrano 87 had this low mid heft that I was loving
through my preamp – it was inviting, without sounding
muddy. The acoustic guitar, while secondary to the test,
still sounded present and musical. Though the term
“warm” has become co-opted lame pro audio marketing
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speak, I honestly felt that the Serrano 87 was “warmer”
than the popular transformer-balanced tube mic I own.
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And it’s definitely warmer than the 87-ish Michael Joly
[Tape Op #39] modded MXLs I own – I don’t rate those
highly for vocals, but they rule on overheads.
I wanted to see how much of that euphonic low mid
goodness traveled from pre to pre. On the Quad Eight and
the BAE, it was well represented. When we plugged it into
Sean’s Metric Halo pres and made another pass, some of
the pillowy goodness fell away, but the transients of the
guitar were more articulate. The mic still had the classic
upper midrange presence that I associate with the golden
age of record making, coupled with faster – albeit less
pronounced – low mids. The sound seemed smaller than
the BAE version when level matched, but both were
outstanding and potentially useful.
The Serrano 87 is one of the most impressive new mics
I have used in a long time, irrespective of its extremely
reasonable price. The Neumann U 87 has a reputation for
being good on most any source. I expected the Serrano to
succeed or fail by this standard, and it definitely can be
used on a host of sources. The mic stood up extremely
well on both acoustic guitar and percussion. But what I
didn’t expect was that it’s the best vocal mic I’ve found
for my own voice, and it worked excellent for Sean’s voice
too – better than the aforementioned tube mic. I’m
definitely picking one up, and I’d advise anyone looking
at large diaphragm condensers to consider the Serrano 87.
($800 direct; +$25 w/ wooden case; serranoaudio.com)
-Liam Nelson <notneeson.com>
www.tapeop.com
see more of our
bonus/archived
reviews online!
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 Cranborne Audio
N22H headphone amp
& C.A.S.T. breakout box
No, the N22H reference-grade headphone amplifier from
U.K.-Based Cranborne Audio doesn’t come with a bonus set
of steak knives, nor do you get another one free if you order
now. This device is a fantastic and super affordable,
excellent-sounding, stand-alone solution for home studio
users with subpar DAW-based headphone monitoring
situations – also ideal for those on the go doing remote or
field recording. The N22H will just about squeeze into your
back pocket, and with the option of powering it via a 9V
battery (up to 10 hours in low current mode), it can be used
anywhere. But wait, there’s more!
This seemingly simple little standalone headphone
amp/Cat 5e shielded snake/breakout box can also be
integrated with Cranborne Audio’s unique C.A.S.T. recording
system that includes the 500R8 500 Series chassis [Tape Op
#135], and Camden preamps. This is how Cranborne
explains it: “C.A.S.T. uses a shielded Cat 5e, Cat 6, and Cat
7 cable instead of 4 XLRs to not only reduce cable spaghetti
in your studio but also distribute audio around studios or
stages using affordable, readily available network cabling
whilst achieving the highest sonic results due to their strict
design standards.” You can make long runs (up to 100
meters) for mics and headphones possible with no obvious
signal degradation via small breakout boxes.
The 500R8 has two awesome-sounding individual
headphone/monitoring outputs onboard, but what if you are
recording in a booth, the other room, down the hall, or
across the street and need to get a signal to the system and
a headphone mix to the artist? To solve this problem
Cranborne has introduced the new N22H C.A.S.T. expander as
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an accessory for the 500R8 system. This handy little box is
about the size of a mid-sized effects pedal and serves as a
headphone monitoring solution, a standalone “reference-
quality” headphone amp, and a C.A.S.T expansion unit for
Cranborne’s 500R8. This means that when connected to the
500R8 via Ethernet cable, the N22H’s inputs serve as a direct
t)
link to the 500R8 for recording. I tried this out and recorded
a friend at almost the max distance away with perfect audio
quality. We also plugged a mic into the N22H and ran the Cat
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5e shielded cable down the hall, to the other end of the
building into my mix room. He could monitor and set levels
for himself at the source while I was recording and
monitoring almost 300 feet away! There was no high end loss
and the signal was as strong as coming straight off the front
of the 500R8’s monitor section. I admit, it’s weird to be using
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an Ethernet cable for audio, but it sounded perfect.
In addition to using the N22H for monitoring purposes,
you can feed the signal back through the C.A.S.T system via
the two XLR/TRS combo jacks. There is also a pair of TRS
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output jacks and a single 1/4-inch headphone jack with
adjacent level control. A Headphone Settings switch selects
stereo or mono operation, and an input source selector is on
an
top of the unit. The N22H can run off a 9V battery or the
provided wall wart. While we’re talking about power, the
N22H is capable of transferring phantom power from a
preamp (through the Ethernet cable) to power mics and
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active DI boxes – a single Cat 5e shielded can transfer up to
four separate phantom power signals.
How does it sound? Whether you choose to use the unit as
part of the 500R8 or as only a standalone headphone amp, it
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sounds fantastic. Rich, full-spectrum, clear audio with tons of
72/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 74)
headroom. Sending a mix down a Cat 5e shielded cable over
300 feet away with no discernible loss in audio quality for
$99? Sign me up!
Although the N22H is not a full-blown artist studio
monitoring mixer with separate volume controls for different
sources, it is an excellent and affordable solution for mobile
recording, and simple tasks or setups. Connectivity is an
overlooked aspect of the studio. We have a pile of excellent
boxes and toys, but are you using them to their fullest?
Simple, well-built utilities are becoming some of my new
favorite pieces of studio equipment, as they let me integrate
and interface more easily from one piece of gear to another
and maximize each tool’s potential. Whether you’re looking
to expand your 500R8 system’s capabilities, or want an
affordable, high-quality headphone amp, the N22H will get
the job done. ($99 street; cranborneaudio.com) -GS
Black Lion Audio
)
Revolution 2x2 audio interface
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Long considered the “titans of audio mods,” Black Lion
Audio has finally created its own interface. Behold, the
Revolution 2x2! Touted as not simply “…another run-of-the-
mill interface…” I owned a Black Lion Audio-modified
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Digidesign 003 years ago, and was happy with it, so when
offered the opportunity to review the Revolution 2x2, I
jumped at the chance.
You might be thinking, “Great, just what we need: Another
entry-level priced interface,” but the Revolution 2x2 sets itself
apart from most of the pack. I’ve owned several interfaces in
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this category, so I have an ear for a unit that might be
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considered exceptional and have come to the conclusion that
the Revolution 2x2 is a badass little box!
I’ll highlight a few technical details here, but will focus more
on my user experience. The Revolution 2x2 is a 24 bit, 192 kHz
USB-C bus-powered interface. Housed in a sturdy black chassis,
the 2x2 is a single rack space high and a 1/2 rack space width.
It has two mic/line inputs, a S/PDIF coaxial input, one
headphone output, two line outputs, and ships with the
Revolution Software Suite: Presonus Studio One Artist, iZotope
Elements Suite, BrainWorx bx_digital, and Lindell 6X-500.
Though not covered in this review, this is an awesome software
package right out of the box that will get you on your way to
professional sounding recordings! The Revolution 2x2 is Mac
(class compliant) and PC (via software driver install)
compatible, but check system requirements. Lastly, the box this
interface ships in is quite sturdy and fully usable for storage or
transport – a nice nod to sustainability and product care. For a
deeper look at specs, visit Black Lion Audio’s website.
I recently used the Revolution 2x2 for remote vocal tracking
and mixing. I really dig this interface! As expected, it is easy
to use, simple to set up and intuitive. It has a tight, clear
sound – no doubt due to the Macro MMC Clocking technology
that Black Lion Audio has refined over years of modifications
and borrowed from their own clocking products such as the
Sparrow [Tape Op #113] and Micro Clock [#109]. Black Lion
Audio utilizes their years of experience modifying other
manufacturer’s gear by including high end components in the
Revolution 2x2’s design that you won’t find in most stock
interfaces: High grade capacitors and ICs, optimized internal
gain staging, and a fully decoupled and balanced analog I/O.
The Revolution 2x2’s Direct Monitoring feature was easy and
satisfying to balance between input and playback. This is
often a struggle with interfaces in this category and can be
frustrating for self-recording artists. However, Black Lion
Audio has nailed it here, and slight adjustments in either
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 direction were enough to satisfy both artist and engineer. The Mono playback button is also
super useful. While tracking remote vocals (and monitoring with a single speaker), I was able
to plug into a single monitor for control room playback. As part of this setup, I used a
Universal Audio 2-610S pre [Tape Op #27] for my vocal chain. The Revolution 2x2 took the
line level clean from the preamp with no overdrive or gain issues. The built-in preamps are
clear, clean, and have a nice vibe, not dull or uninteresting like many of the cheaper pres
you’ll find in most small interfaces. You can push the gain pretty far without picking up any
noise. Most pres in interfaces similar to this one are noisy past unity. This allows you to get
a clean tone, even with your mics that require extra gain.
One of the most awesome features of this interface is its front panel 8-segment LED stereo
output meter – something you usually don’t get from interfaces in this category. It is so
nice to have a visual representation. I’d like to see a switch to toggle input levels to the
main meter, but that’s not a deal-breaker at this price point, and there are mic/line level
indicator LEDs for each pre that turn red when you are overdriving the signal. All in all, the
Revolution 2x2 is a sweet little studio in a box that packs a professional-sounding punch!
($399 MSRP; blacklionaudio.com) -Ben Bernstein <benbernsteinmusic.com>

Space Lab Systems

)
LIFT motorized speaker stands

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I like to bounce around the room quite a bit when mixing records. I obviously sit centered when
I launch into the proceedings, but once the mix is in a good place, I tend to move around my
studio. How does the energy of the track feel throughout the room? Does it translate close to my
desk as it does to the loveseat in the back of my room? Whenever I leave the center station, I

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switch over to my midfields, which are Bowers & Wilkins DM602s driven by a Bryston 8B power
amp. This simple (and affordable) chain sounds ferocious, letting me understand what my mix
sounds like on a living-room hi-fi. But my B&Ws always sat on random speaker stands I inherited
from who knows where. It did the trick for several years, but they were in a fixed position and the
tweeters sat well below my ear level when standing. So, when I heard about Space Lab System’s
LIFT, I knew I had to give this a try.

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LIFT is a “motorized speaker stand with high-performance vibration damping,” created by

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Brooklyn-based studio designers, Tim Crossley and Matt Schaefer, in collaboration with the owner
of Manhattan’s Precision Sound, Alex Sterling. The story goes that Alex approached Tim and Matt
to help him design a speaker stand that simply goes up and down, but with high-quality isolation
and vibration control. LIFT’s isolation properties are a result of years of R&D for Precision Sound’s
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flush-mounted speaker decoupling system. The platforms are made with neoprene friction pads
and Sylomer isolators, “a space-aged material” that helps “separate” the speaker from the stand
and floor. Space Lab claims that LIFT’s platform can have a “natural frequency as low as 8.8 Hz!”
The three of them quickly realized that a product with real decoupling technology and height
motorization simply didn’t exist on the market, hence LIFT was born!
Full disclosure, I’ve known Tim and Matt for some years. Their studio design firm, Crossley
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Acoustics, has designed several studios for me, including my home studio. So, when I saw them
post about LIFT, it not only got me excited because it served a missing need for my studio, but I
knew from past experience that if they put the same amount of care and love as they do into
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studio design into a physical product, then this would be something well worth checking out.
When my LIFT arrived, it was understandably on the heavy side, nevertheless easy to assemble.
A simple up-down remote control connects to a single power supply. I quickly placed my B&Ws,
positioned them to my liking, and LIFT-OFF! My midfield system never sounded better. Not only
was it fun to play mixes and reference tracks while moving the speakers to great heights (when
standing and dancing around the studio) and low-level position (for reclining on my loveseat) with
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incredible stability, but stereo image, depth-of-field, and transients never sounded better in my
room. I went right into a live concert recording I needed to deliver by end-of-day, and I mixed it
in no time, mostly monitoring on my midfields and getting the artist’s approval immediately. Not
only do I have a fun (and sleek) new addition to my studio, but it drastically improved my
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workflow. It should also be noted that LIFT works for any free-standing speaker, nearfield or
midfield, with a larger model that is suited for substantial midfields. At a starting price point of
$749 per stand for the smaller model, the LIFT is a no-brainer for any commercial or home facility.
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We should all look forward to what the future holds for Space Lab. Pricing based on size and
isolation level. (spacelab.systems) -Jesse Lauter <jesselauter.com>
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tapeop.com
Bonus & archived
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reviews online!
74/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/
 Skybox Audio transformed a realistic piano patch into an undulating wave
of sound. The possibilities are truly endless.
The real magic of this section comes from the four
different filter modes. You can choose between a high-pass,
Hammers + Waves Keyboard There’s no shortage of sampled keyboard libraries on the low-pass, band-pass, or band-stop that filters the parallel
Collection sample library market, but Hammers + Waves is in a league all its own. The path. Choosing the high-pass filter means only the high
I know a thing or two about sampled keyboard libraries. instruments are inspiring, the effects are astounding, and frequencies are being saturated, the opposite for the low-
After more than a decade as editor of Keyboard Magazine, the end result is electrifying. Did I mention the robots? pass, and so on. New to the HG-2 MS is the band-pass and
I’ve sampled (no pun intended) just about every virtual ($389 MSRP; skyboxaudio.com) -Jon Regen <jonregen.com> band-stop modes, as well as the ability to alter the
instrument out there; from stately concert grands to gritty
tonewheel organs, and all points in between. So, when I
Brainworx frequency cutoffs, Q, and center frequencies of all the
filters. You can even solo the parallel path to get your filters
heard about the new Hammers + Waves keyboard suite from
Black Box Analog Design set exactly right.
Skybox Audio, I thought to myself, “Does the world really HG-2MS plug-in I was recently mixing a hard rock song with poorly
need another sample library?” However, the buzz on this new The HG-2MS from Brainworx is self-described as “your recorded guitars. There was way too much boom and not
keyboard collection had already begun to build even before mix bus’ best friend.” Designed to impart rich tube enough bite for this style of music. I bussed all the guitars
its release, from famed artists like James Poyser (The Roots), harmonics and analog coloration in mixing and mastering, together and dropped an HG-2MS on an insert. Turning on
David Bryan (Bon Jovi), and Matt Rollings [Tape Op #133] this plug-in offers unprecedented control over its unique the parallel Saturation made an immediate improvement,
(Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss). Then there was talk of the style of tone shaping. This is an upgraded mid/side version but it still needed bite, and the out-of-control low end was
robots employed in the sampling process. Was I impressed? of the original Brainworx Audio hardware-modeled HG-2 making it sound flabby. I switched into band-pass mode and
plug-in with familiar controls as well as welcome adjusted the frequency and Q to just above 200 Hz and

)
Are robots taking over the world? Read on and find out!
To understand what makes Hammers + Waves unique, you improvements, including a redesigned section with four below 3 kHz, and boy did it bring the tracks to life.

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need to start with the team that created it at Skybox Audio. variable filters for the Saturation circuit, variable Density Switching to the Alt Tube, which is voiced more
Dana Nielsen is a Grammy-nominated mixer, engineer, and control to boost gain equally for virtual pentode and triode aggressively, also gave me the extra bite I was after. It was
multi-instrumentalist known for his work with Adele, Neil tubes, Brainworx Audio’s patented Tolerance Modeling a night and day difference and 100% saved the tracks.
Young, Bob Dylan, and countless others. Danny Dunlap is an Technology (TMT), advanced mastering controls, and a Brainworx was extremely generous with this new version

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award-winning composer who spent two decades plus Parallel Mix control. and added tons of bonus features clearly geared towards
writing music for film and TV and has worked with artists I love using this plug-in to start my mixes. Four different mastering engineers and tweak freaks. The left and right,
like Sting and LeAnn Rimes. Azrul Saleh is an audio and vacuum tube stages are emulated in the HG-2MS, so you can plus mid and side channels can now be unlinked then given
music programmer known for his custom Kontakt really enhance a recording right from the get-go. I usually unique settings. There is a Mono Maker knob that folds low
instruments. Beyond their individual accomplishments, the begin with the Pentode and Triode knobs at two or three frequencies to mono based on the frequency setting and a
founders of Skybox Audio developed Hammers + Waves to o’clock. These are virtual 6U8A tubes that run in series. The Stereo Width control that seems to be the same feature seen

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solve a particular problem. “We had a lot of keyboard Pentode offers an obvious upfront saturation while the on other Brainworx mastering plug-ins – like the bx_digital
libraries, but we didn’t have many that we really liked,” Triode is less obtrusive. For rock tracks, I’ve found that a V3. There is a very welcome Parallel Mix knob with

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Dunlap told me. “It seemed we were always working really generous amount of the Pentode can help guitars and drums calibration settings for Dark, Normal, or Bright that modifies
hard to get them to respond or sit in a mix the way we feel more present and exciting without getting blown out. high-frequency response. This emulates an internal trim
wanted them to. So, we decided to make a library that For pop, the Triode helps add excitement and sheen without gm adjustment found in the original hardware unit.
sounded good to us!” being too obvious. Since they are run in series, driving the Another new feature is TMT which stands for Tolerance
Sounding good is the sonic DNA of Hammers + Waves. Pentode harder will increase the signal sent to the Triode. Modeling Technology, found in many of the Plugin Alliance
Included in the collection are ten sampled recreations of Blending the two has a huge effect on the overall sound and console channel strips. It mimics the subtle differences in
electric, acoustic, and idiosyncratic keyboard instruments. can seriously do wonders for your mix. analog channels which, according to the Plugin Alliance
From staples like grand and upright pianos to Wurlitzer and Of course, the signal hitting my mix bus typically rises as website “are responsible for the beautiful imaging and the
Rhodes electric pianos. Plus, there are toy and muted I get further into the mix, which will affect how the HG-2MS characteristics that we know and love from analog
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pianos, celeste, and more. The samples are gorgeous and is responding. More often than not the saturation becomes consoles.” The idea is you can set different instances of the
inspiring to play, responding with the realism and too noticeable. To combat this, Brainworx created the Density HG-2MS to different “channels” for subtle nonlinearities,
immediacy of their living counterparts. I was particularly control located at the bottom of the plug-in. This allows me making it sound more “analog.” Controls for this feature are
found in the bottom left of the GUI, including Random
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impressed with the electric pianos, and as someone who has to reduce the overall saturation without changing the
owned roughly a dozen vintage models over the years, I’m parameter blends or output volume. If my Triode/Pentode Channel which will randomize the channels of all HG-2MS
no pushover! What’s the secret to Skybox Audio’s sampling blend is perfect, or if I am worried about levels reaching other plug-ins in your session. While this feature is subtle, I do
success? In a word; robots. “By using robots and automating processing down the chain, I can simply lower the Density notice an enhanced stereo image when using the plug-in on
the sampling process, we’re left with a stunningly honest knob until I am happy with the saturation levels. Conversely, multiple track inserts.
sonic snapshot of the original instrument,” Dunlap explains. if I’m having a hard time hearing what the plug-in is doing, There is almost too much to write about here, and the
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“The integrity of the response curve of every note is the density knob can be raised until I hear the saturation and only real flaw I can cite with this plug-in is the exuberant
maintained. That leaves the interpretation up to the player then backed off to an appropriate level. amount of tweaking options available all at once. It can be
just as it is when you sit down at the actual instrument.” My favorite part of the HG-2MS is definitely the rather intimidating at times and feel overwhelming.
Robots or not, the instruments are a joy to play. Saturation section. Unlike the Pentode/Triode section, this Sometimes I just want simple controls with strong results,
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Realistic keyboard recreations are just the beginning circuit can be turned on and off and is added to the signal and luckily the much more straightforward HG-2 plug-in
with Hammers + Waves. Besides the accuracy of their in parallel. Turning this section on adds drive from one of comes bundled with the purchase of the new mid/side
sampling engine, the real fun starts when you dive into the two modeled 12AX7 tubes (activated via the Alt Tube version. However, for those willing to take the plunge and
tackle this crazy box head-on, there can be some truly
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myriad of available tone-shaping options − from classic button) and the wet/dry blend is controlled with the
effects, amp models, and modulation controls, to a host of Saturation knob. While the Pentode and Triode tubes can be magical results. This would be a very strong, versatile tool
secondary sound engines that make samples truly spring to fairly subtle, this is instantly noticeable and can drastically for an aspiring or established mastering engineer. It has a
life. Fractals add a pulsating, arpeggiator-like rhythmic alter your productions. This is the section I reach for if the ton of amazing features packed into a single plug-in. I
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component to the mix. Swarm employs what Skybox calls tracks I have been given were not recorded particularly well, would highly recommend giving it a 14-day free test drive.
its Granular Synthesis Engine to create immersive pads and or if the production calls for something extreme. While it ($329 direct; plugin-alliance.com) -Chris Hughes
textures. Also, Space lets the user create ambient works wonders on the mix bus, I especially like this section <stereolunch.com>
soundscapes with reverb and delay. These additional sonic on individual elements like guitars and drums. I highly
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layers impart a dreamlike quality to the sample set, unlike recommend playing with it on overheads set to mid/side
anything I’ve ever heard before. In no time at all, I and on electric guitars in particular.
Gear Reviews/(continued on page 76)/Tape Op#145/75
 Whitestone Audio Instruments
P331 Tube Loading Amplifier
The P331 Tube Loading Amplifier is the debut product from Whitestone Audio Instruments.
Dave Rosen investigated making a device for line level audio signals to enhance wife Kim Rosen’s
[Tape Op #108] mastering rig. It was not intended for commercial sale, but beta testers implored
the Rosens to release a production version, and that’s how I got my grubby hands on one. In
years past, owners would have never shared this unit with any competing studios; I’m just
saying... But this interest is not simply limited to mastering, as numerous mixing engineers have
been buying the P331 for their setups. Even tracking engineers have been refusing to return their
demo units, making this enhancement device desirable across the entire recording process.
Formally, the P331 is a Class A fully differential tube amplifier. Two tubes (dual-triode
6SN7GTs) are readily available should replacements be needed; The company offers factory
replacement pairs for $79. Transformers are custom-built for Whitestone Audio Instruments,
and the all-analog circuit is digitally controlled and supported by an onboard ROM chip. This
means recalls are simple and accurate. There are additional features, including ways to adjust
internal gain, tube loading, and more.
The P331 can shape a track through the following sections: Loading controls how hard the

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input signal hits the vacuum tubes, allowing users to alter where the audio sits along the

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tube’s response curve. User-selectable feed-back (Clean) or feed-forward (Bloom) modes give
wide latitude to this process. To avoid the louder-is-better illusion, an auto-padding circuit
attenuates the signal as load gain increases. The pad’s location is selectable among Pre (before
the signal hits the tube), Post (after the tubes), or Open (which bypasses the pad entirely).

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Next is a parallel filter, called Lift. It can enhance highs, lows, or both (think smiley face).
When engaged, the quasi-EQ’d signal is passed through the tubes and blended back in with
the unaffected input signal at a set percentage.
A transformer section follows. Whitestone spent considerable time specifying, evaluating,
and testing until they found the “Goldilocks” transformer for this design. The P331 is designed
to run fully transformerless, so the transformers are here to serve as another tone shaping tool;

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plus they can be hard-wire bypassed (as can any section other than Loading), if not suited for
the material. A solid-state output stage is the last stop. The fully balanced output amplifier

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controls a range of +/- 11 dB, switched in 1 dB increments. If 1 dB proves to be too coarse,
a Resolution feature allows the user to back off from a given setting by either 0.5 dB or 0.25
dB. Talk about sweet.gm
At the AES debut of the P331, I grumbled at Kim Rosen. As a mastering engineer, I’ve spent
years sorting out a hardware chain, and acquiring gear that provides similar tone-shaping
powers as the P331. Don’t other engineers have similar journeys? Why would anyone want this
device? But her answer stopped me in my tracks: “That’s precisely the point! This unit saves
you all of that trouble.” And she’s right, of course. I admit that gear testing is usually fun, but
I don’t have time to play Beaker (Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s lab assistant on the Muppet Show)
t)

as much as I would prefer. I have deadlines and obligations. I guess now I’m just mad that
this unit didn’t exist when I started.
It took a while to determine the best placement in my signal chain. I tried beginning,
middle, and end. There are merits to all three locations. For my particular setup, I appreciated
(a

the impact of the tone shaping in the caboose position. Being able to fine-tune the output
levels made the P331 an ideal intermediary between my chain and the converter. However, my
chain is not your chain. I advise users to determine optimal location in their setup.
In use, the P331 is equal parts satiating and invisible. The results are true to the source, yet
more potent, like a dash of audio salt. Stepped controls, paired with the capability to hard-
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wire bypass the sections, permitted me to close my eyes and audition without having to
continually bypass at the router. Concentration is particularly important when using the P331.
At first use, it’s not evident that the unit is “doing anything.” However, the improvements are
obvious when you remove the P331 from the path. Listen for a few bars, then hit Bypass –
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you’ll feel like someone pulled the covers off you at 6 a.m. in January. Engage the circuit.
Bypass. Engage again. Enjoy the evil smile moving across your face.
For a mixed-to-tape Americana song, I was concerned the P331 would be too much.
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However, the Lift function restored some of the missing top end. On an opera vocal, the
Loading section allowed me to increase the program level up without compression. I found
that Loading is not just “hitting the tube.” Each rotary switch position affects the tube’s
internal gain. Paired with the padding, Loading forces the audio to different points on the
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tube’s response curve. This essentially allows us to control the tube’s operating point. In a
traditional amp design, the operating point is fixed, which can constrain the device’s tonal
personality. As implemented in the P331, Loading is fluid, much more nuanced, deliberate, and
repeatable. Finally, on a pop record, the Duo Lift seemed perfect. However, there was some
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bite that didn’t sit quite right. I remembered that I could bypass the transformers (never
necessary before this project), and it was magic.
76/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 78)
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 Here are some points to keep in mind: Firmware updates
must be done at the factory. A field-programmable circuit
would have added appreciable cost, and Whitestone does
not expect many (if any) firmware changes. It also runs
reasonably hot (not Fairchild hot, but worth noting).
Reserve a space above (and probably one below) in the
rack. Quality has a price, and the P331 is no exception.
Tight part tolerances, rotary switches for precise left/right
channel matching, a custom high-voltage power supply,
and a 1/4-inch thick aluminum faceplate all add up to a
price tag targeted at working studios.
A principal mastering duty involves bringing out the best
parts of a mix while respecting the hours (weeks/
months/years?) it took to get the track to your doorstep.
We all love fun color-shaping devices, but most are too
heavy-handed or inappropriate in mastering. Being able to
shape sonics without overstepping bounds is a tricky
proposition. It seems as if some hardware are butter knives
while the Whitestone is a scalpel; such control is required
in mastering. From loading your gear at the beginning of
your chain to subtle tonal massaging as a capstone, the
P331 is a well-thought, well-built, beautiful-sounding
device. ($4999; whitestoneaudio.com)
-Garrett Haines <treelady.com>
Heiserman
H47tube microphone
I love vintage gear. Actually, I love using vintage gear.
Owning it, on the other hand, is often a full-time job in
itself. Throughout my 25 years of recording I’ve owned a
myriad of vintage gems – from keyboards to mics to
outboard gear – and each has given me its fair share of
repair headaches. There was the famed analog synth I
drove eight hours to get back in tune (later driving ten
hours just to sell it), a vintage tape echo unit that gave
my tech more headaches than a frat party during spring
break, and the grand prize winner: A mic preamp that was
sold to me as vintage and authentic but turned out to be
a “parts module” – a hastily-assembled one at that.
Needless to say, after hefty repair bills and sessions
canceled due to faulty gear, I’ve been ready to jump off
the vintage gear bandwagon for some time now. Except,
ironically, when it comes to microphones.
I’ll admit it; I’m a sucker for a great vintage tube mic.
Ever since recording my first EP (2004’s Almost Home)
using a vintage Neumann M 269 – with the late,
renowned David (Daoud) Shaw (Van Morrison and
Saturday Night Live drummer/engineer) – I’ve been
hooked on anything old and “warm” by the famed German
mic manufacturer. Later, when I recorded subsequent
albums on vintage Neumann U 47s both here and abroad,
I knew I’d found my microphone. It would be 2013 until
I would own a U 47 of my own: a short-body specimen
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that came from John Lennon’s famed Tittenhurst Park.
That mic has been my most-cherished musical possession
for nearly a decade, and the “voice” behind recent
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critically acclaimed and chart-topping albums of mine –
even though it too has given me its share of repair issues.
I never thought I’d find a modern mic that captured the
sonic and physical gravitas of my vintage 47. That is until
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I gave the Heiserman H47tube a spin.
I first read about Heiserman’s H47tube on numerous pro
audio websites and forums and was impressed by the
kudos given to it by engineers like Mitch Dane [Tape Op
in
#82] and Craig Alvin [#137]. I’ve long been familiar with
other manufacturer’s “tributes” to the U 47, but
78/Tape Op#145/Gear Reviews/
Heiserman was a name I hadn’t heard of before. After
some research, I learned that Heiserman had been
making sought-after microphone capsules for over a
decade, and using them in their branded microphones –
like the H47 [#133] – for the last few years. This
research, plus the glowing reviews I read online, more
than piqued my interest in their new H47tube. Soon, I
had a demo unit on its way to my studio. How would it
compare to the mic I emptied my savings account to
buy? Read on and find out!
The H47tube ships in a dedicated Pelican-style case,
and comes complete with a vintage-inspired power
supply, shock mount, plus all needed mic and power
cables. It’s a stunning package indeed, and ironically,
looked nearly identical to my original microphone in its
case. Heiserman has nailed the vintage 47 experience
from the matte finish on the microphone body, to the
pattern selector tab and overall heft of the mic. There’s
something majestic about using a classic U 47 even before
it’s turned on. Heiserman’s attention to detail helps
recreate that vintage vibe to a high degree.
One of the reasons the original Neumann U 47 is so
hard to recreate is because the production of the steel
vacuum tube at the heart of its signal flow (the holy grail
Telefunken VF14) ceased in 1954. Numerous workarounds
have been tried (such as the often controversial Nuvistor
mod), but like other modern mic makers, Heiserman has
opted to use a different tube altogether; a NOS EF800
coupled with a custom BV08 transformer. Heiserman
offers the H47tube with their recreations of the two
capsules the U 47 originally shipped with: the M7 (called
the HM7), and the later-produced K47 (called the HK47).
My demo unit shipped with the HK47, which suited me
just fine as my U 47 has a K47 in it. However, specs can
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only tell you so much. The real question is; how does it
sound? In a word – fantastic!
Powering up the H47tube for the first time was an ear-
opening experience. Right off the bat, it offered a
presence that made you want to keep singing into it. And
while so many current mic offerings can sound shrill,
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there was a warmth to the H47tube that belied its
modern-day construction. I did an A/B comparison with
my vintage U 47 and was so impressed with the results, I
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blind-tested a few of my well-known musician and
engineer friends. Many of them thought the Heiserman
was the vintage mic! Only a few picked out the actual U
47 as the vintage specimen, but the reactions were nearly
unanimously glowing. “Really similar tone,” one friend
remarked. “I like the Heiserman better,” another
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responded. “Wow, sounds really warm,” a third chimed in
when he found out the H47tube was his favorite. One
thing was certain: the Heiserman nailed the vintage mojo
at a fraction of the cost of the original mic.
For years I’ve heard engineers and artists remark at how
different multiple versions of the same vintage model
microphone can sound, and I’ve noticed the same
phenomenon myself. Put three vintage U 47s up and you
are bound to hear variances in their capsules, tubes, and
how they lived their lives. That’s what makes the H47tube
so impressive. It’s a microphone built in 2021 that imparts
the same sonic punch as mics built some 60-plus years ago.
It comes with a 3-year-warranty and a full refund option
within the first 14-day trial period. If that’s not enough to
break your addiction to vintage gear, I’m not sure what is!
($3,199 direct; heisermanaudio.com)
-Jon Regen <jonregen.com>
Synchro Arts
VocAlign Ultra plug-in
The newest iteration of VocAlign, a timing and pitch
control plug-in from the award-winning UK-based
software developer Synchro Arts, comes in the form of
VocAlign Ultra. This new version elevates its previous
iteration, VocAlign Pro 4, from something you’d highly
recommend to a friend into something you’d demand
they purchase immediately. It’s that good.
For those unfamiliar with the basic premise of
VocAlign, it allows you to select a guide vocal track
(or any instrumental track), then pick another vocal
track, and align the timing of the track with the
guide track in just a few clicks. This is incredibly
useful for matching up a vocal double to the main
take, aligning harmonies, syncing different vocalists,
or any scenario where one instrument needs to match
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another instrument in terms of timing. What
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previously could take hours of editing over the
course of a song (or days over the course of a
project) has been reduced to mere seconds! Now,
with VocAlign Ultra, Synchro Arts have upped the
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ante by adding pitch matching, along with several
other powerful quality-of-life changes. This is game-
changing, in that not only can you skip the
painstaking process of correcting the timing of a
vocal double, but you can now also bypass tuning
every vocal track separately in a stack of vocals. In
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the time I spent evaluating this plug-in, I’d estimate
I saved a full day’s worth of editing, and (most
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importantly) retained some brain cells I would have
otherwise surely lost.
In use, VocAlign Ultra blew me away. The GUI is
easy on the eyes, easy to navigate, and all the
features you’ll use the most are easy to locate. One of
the underrated new highlights is a resizable plug-in
window, which is great for those of us with smaller
monitors or laptops. VocAlign Ultra’s one-two punch
of time and pitch matching is displayed simply as two
knobs with varying degrees of Loose/Tight settings –
something that you’ll encounter repeatedly. You
could, for instance, choose to loosely match timing,
but make the pitch exactly the same as the guide
track, or vice versa, or anywhere in between. If
nebulous terms like “loose” and “tight” don’t do it for
you, you can click on the Advanced button and reveal
several other parameters that allow for more
precision. You can set the maximum allowable time
shift in milliseconds, toggle a high-resolution option
that up-samples for cleaner results, choose which
pitch algorithm is used, and identify pitch ranges,
which helps VocAlign Ultra if you’re (for example)
matching a bass to a soprano.
During the review process, I first used VocAlign Ultra
on a hip-hop track with a lot of vocal stacking. For
this particular song, in addition to the usual doubles
and other layers, I had the artist randomly sing above
the hook without any particular melody in mind, as
the session was wrapping up and we didn’t have time
to write a harmony part. The plan was to move notes
around with pitch editing software at a later time and
fabricate a part that would support the lead line. After
I’d created the part, I had a stack of three additional
tracks that also needed to be tuned to match. Using
VocAlign Ultra, I selected the fake harmony as a guide
and matched the other three tracks to its pitch, despite them being quite different.
This took maybe twenty seconds – without VocAlign Ultra, I would have had to tune
each track manually. To my surprise, the fidelity and human quality of the processed
tracks were actually MORE believable than the one I’d made manually with pitch
correction software.
Another creative instance occurred when I was working with a band that wanted
their drums to be doubled and panned left and right, just for a few bars. Normally
this would be a little bit of a pain, as I’d have to manually line up the two takes
as to not incur distracting flams and other timing issues, but with VocAlign Ultra,
I was able to get the drums lined up quickly while matching the pitch of each snare
hit! The effect was super tight and punchy, something that would have taken a lot
of fussing otherwise. This technique can also be used for guitars if you’re someone
who does a lot of doubling or stacking, particularly with DI’s and amp simulation
software. I’d imagine that doubling a part an octave lower with a baritone guitar,
then processing it with VocAlign Ultra to perfectly match the main guitar would
provide some pretty interesting results without sounding messy.
Not covered in this review are the added alignment presets (which are quite
useful), user-added sync points for aiding in matching up more challenging

)
tracks, Protected Areas for moments where you want the algorithm to ignore your

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audio, and much more. Synchro Arts have taken VocAlign Ultra to the next level,
and I couldn’t be happier to recommend it to anyone who might benefit. Upgrade
pricing available.
($399 MSRP; synchroarts.com)

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-Dave Hidek <thechurchrecordingstudio.com>

HRK Recording
ST596 Analog Harmonics Processor
I’m a total sucker for distortion. I love crunchy, spitty, and fucked up sounds.
When I’m tracking or mixing, I typically try to see how much I can get away with

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before I get my hands slapped by the artist. So, with a couple of extra slots empty

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in my 500 Series rack, I figured what the hell – let’s find something affordable and
fun to fill those gaps in the rack. I was lucky enough to demo the 500 Series HRK
ST596 Analog Harmonics Processor and simulated tape saturation unit (designed by
Bart Hrk) for a few months. gm
The faceplate offers independent controls for Wet and Dry volumes, a Drive knob for
the analog modeling circuit section, and a tape saturation section with a Mix knob. The
unit also has HFC (High Frequency Cut) and LFS (Low Frequency Switch) − features that
help control high or low frequency-rich signals originating from the distortion stage for
optimal control and creativity.
I popped the freshly delivered ST596 into my empty 500 Series slot, opened up a
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new mix, and got right to work. I thought the best place to start demoing a new
“crunch box” was on my main snare aux. With a blend of my top and bottom snare mic,
I got some preliminary EQ going, then put the ST596 to work as a hardware insert in
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my DAW. I began by attenuating the Dry signal all the way, then turning up the Wet
knob to drive the ST596 until the snare had a nice fat crunch to it without totally
bottoming out the low end. Then, I blended the Dry signal back in to taste so I could
restore some of the clarity and dynamics lost from distorting the signal – resulting in
a fat and exciting snare sound. After a few minutes of playing around with the Wet and
Dry controls with the HFC/LFS switches, I got a sound I was quite happy with, printed
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it, then proceeded with the same process on kick and toms.
The major advantage of these units are the HFC and LFS switches. If you run kick,
vocals, or bass through the unit – or anything with significant low end – the saturation
will flub out in a non-pleasing way. By simply engaging the LFS feature, it prevents
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those low frequencies from being driven too hard. In this way, you can keep the natural
low end from bass-heavy sources, but still drive the ST596 hard to make it as exciting
as you want. The same is true for the HFC switch with high end frequencies.
an

The tape saturation controls are an interesting additional feature. I enjoyed this part
of the ST596 more in subtle amounts – using too much was a little too spitty for my
taste on most sources. However, I did like having the option to blend the Tape Mix in
separately, or along with the analog modeling circuit. For what it’s worth, HRK makes
af

a standalone analog tape emulator (ST552), for those looking for a full-featured “tape”
vibe. Overall, for not a lot of money, the HRK ST596 unit is a lot of fun. It can be as
subtle or gnarly as you want it to be while remaining usable in a musical context. I
thoroughly enjoy having it as an alternative saturation option to plug-ins and the
in

other hardware I already own. ($259 ex. VAT direct; hrkshop.eu)

-Jeremy Wurst <coyotefacerecording.com>
Gear Reviews/(Fin.)/Tape Op#145/79
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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#145/81

 Moving Forward Standing Sideways
I’ve come to realize that there are two things I really enjoy doing in life:
1. Moving forward while standing sideways.
2. Making things with other people.
1. As a kid I got heavy into skateboarding, then snowboarding for a while,
and now that my bones can’t take the pounding from skateboarding, I get my
“moving forward while standing sideways” fix from surfing. I can’t quite
explain why I love the feeling so much, but there is something inherently
freeing about moving forward while standing sideways. Remember when you
were a kid, and you figured out that if you ran really fast with your socks on
and then stopped that you could slide across the floor? How cool was that?
Same feeling.
t)
2. The other thing I love is being part of a small group of creative people
and making something together. Like this magazine you’re holding in your
hands, for instance. Or like making a record with a band or solo artist. I know
(a
how to write, I do the graphic design for this magazine, and I can do
photography. In theory I could make my own magazine, but I have absolutely
no interest in doing it that way. I love working with Larry and our crew – Scott,
Anthony, Geoff, Marsha, Andy, Jenna, Maria, Thomas, and Jonathan – as we all
build the magazine together over the course of several weeks. When an issue
comes out, it feels like something we all contributed to and
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it’s far greater than the sum of its parts. Working remotely, we
don’t actually get to see each other in person, but every issue involves a few
phone calls and hundreds of emails; and we are looking forward to seeing each
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other in person soon when we start attending conferences again.
But, magazine aside, my favorite creative process is working in the studio
with other people making music. I love the intense collaboration of tracking,
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working on arrangements, sculpting overdubs, and mixing. I even still prefer
to mix through an analog console with other people in the room, and enjoying
the constant feedback loop of collaboration happening between us all.
Like working on Tape Op, a great recording with a group of people
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feels like so much more than the sum of its parts, and it’s gratifying to
have been involved in something bigger.
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82/Tape Op#145/End Rant/
by John Baccigaluppi
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Pretending I can surf
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like Larry Bertlemann
on my skateboard.
Late 1990’s at the
Davis, CA, ditch.
c Chris Carnel
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I’m an “okay” musician. I can sing, play guitar, keyboards, bass,
percussion, and program drums (you won’t see me behind a real drum set, I
leave that to the professionals!) and I have done all of these jobs on records
gm
I’ve worked on. In theory I could make albums all by myself, but, like the
other examples I mentioned, I have no interest in that either. Some artists
make compelling records in isolation, but I realized early on that I’m not a
great songwriter.
When I was in my early twenties, a young songwriter named John McCrea
booked time in the studio I was working at to overdub a hi-hat track. “Who
overdubs a hi-hat?” I thought. This was way before DAWs, and we were
working on 2-inch, 24-track tape. John brought the tape in, we did the
overdub, and I was floored by the level of craftsmanship and songwriting on
the tracks he played me, as it was several levels above anything I had worked
on up to that point. The song was called “Shadow Stabbing” and John went
on to form the band CAKE several years later and eventually re-recorded the
song on their fourth album, Comfort Eagle. At this point, John was not yet
even 20 years old. This was an epiphany for me, as I realized, “Wow, this guy
is seriously talented. Much more so than most artists I’ve worked with.” Any
lingering pretensions I had about making my own music mostly evaporated
that day, and that’s been a good thing. I realized that my talents are in
helping other people create their art, and that I really enjoy doing that.
Looking back at all the records I’ve worked on, the enduring memories are
always of the people and the songs we brought together in the studio. The
gear I used was always secondary, and model numbers and equipment brands
grow hazy as time passes.
We’ve all been through a pretty rough 18 months, and it’s obviously been
difficult to get together in person with others for creative endeavors, but I’m
hoping that in the coming year we can all collectively emerge from our more
isolated routines and rediscover the joy of creating with other people again.
In the meantime, I’ll be moving forward standing sideways. r
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