The Creative Music Recording Magazine

David Bianco
Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, LL Cool J

Chris Mara &

Cameron Henry

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Nashvilles Welcome to 1979

Jorge Explosion
Estudios Circo Perrotti

Oliver Ackermann

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Death by Audio

Bill Whitlock
of Jensen Transformers in Behind the Gear

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Music Reviews
w/ Deerhoof

No.

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Issue

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Gear Reviews

Nov/Dec

104

2014

estudiodegrabacin!

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Hello and

Tape Op

#104!
Every two months

I have to pull myself out of the studio

and take some time to put together an issue of Tape Op. In many ways
its a nice break from constant sessions, plus poring over the interviews
and gear reviews for an upcoming magazine makes me excited to return
to the studio. The burnout factor in the recording world is real. Ive
considered, many times, running an article where we only interview
folks who have decided to quit music recording as a career, if only as
a cautionary tale for the rest of us. For myself having this variety is
key, and I find that many lifers in this business end up with parallel
career paths. In this issue Oliver Ackermann exemplifies this
lifestyle, running a stompbox company (Death By Audio), recording
bands, in addition to performing and touring with A Place to Bury
Strangers. Chris Mara runs a Nashville studio that also features
vinyl mastering, rebuilds analog tape decks, and puts on many
events. Jorge Explosion produces sessions at his studio in Spain
and fronts his band, Doctor Explosion. Im convinced that
everyone wears several hats in this biz. Im sure of it.

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Letters
Deerhoof in Music Reviews
Oliver Ackermann
David Bianco
Jorge Explosion
Chris Mara & Cameron Henry
Bill Whitlock in Behind the Gear
Gear Reviews
Larrys End Rant
Bonus Content:
David Bianco
Bill Whitlock & Jensen Transformers
Jorge Explosions instruments
Online Only Feature:
Tony Rolando & Kelly Kelbel
of Make Noise Music & Records

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10
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14
22
30
34
40
44
66

p a g e

welcome to

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Larry Crane, Editor

photo by Peter Zaremba from Jorge Explosion article on page 30

The Creative Music Recording Magazine

Editor
Larry Crane

Publisher &!Graphic Design

John Baccigaluppi

Online Publisher
Dave Middleton

Gear Reviews Editor

Andy Gear Geek Hong

Production Manager & Assistant Gear Reviews Editor

Scott McChane

Contributing Writers &!Photographers

Cover photo by Peter Zaremba from the Jorge Explosion interview.

Tedd Terry, Alex Maiolo, Jesse Lauter, Geoff Stanfield, Peter Zaremba,
Stephen Allbritten, Derek Porter, Adam Kagan, Kirt Shearer, Daniel Schlett,
Eli Crews, Brad Allen Williams and Garrett Haines.

www.tapeop.com

Dave Middleton and Hillary Johnson

Editorial and Office Assistants

Jenna Crane (proofreading), Thomas Danner (transcription),

Lance Jackman (accounting@tapeop.com)

Tape Op Book distribution

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c/o www.halleonard.com

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, CDs for review. CDs for review are also
reviewed in the Sacramento office, address below)
P.O. Box 86409, Portland, OR 97286 voicemail 503-208-4033
editor@tapeop.com

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

8/Tape Op#104/Masthead

Advertising

Pro Audio, Studios & Record Labels: John Baccigaluppi

(916) 444-5241, (john@tapeop.com)
Pro Audio & Ad Agencies:
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@ Democrat Printing, Little Rock, AR

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will be accepted by email or mail only. Please do not telephone. We
have an online change of address form <tapeop.com> or you can email
<circulation@tapeop.com> or send snail mail to
PO Box 160995. Sacramento, CA 95816
See tapeop.com for Back Issue ordering info

Postmaster and all general inquiries to:

Tape Op Magazine, PO Box 160995, Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 444-5241 | tapeop.com
Tape Op is published by Single Fin, Inc. (publishing services)
and Jackpot! Recording Studio, Inc. (editorial services)

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#104/9

relationship between developer and user is starting

to make its way into the professional audio industry.
Moving forward, the most successful pro audio
software companies will be the ones that go out of
their way to understand their users, make swift and
skillful design decisions, and have a robust
foundation of quality code. There is no room in the
future for companies that cant do that. All software
is moving this way. Because of this, professionals
and hobbyists will benefit from having high-quality
tools at their disposal, despite the continual turmoil
of OS updates and CPU architecture changes. The
not-very-distant-future is going to rock!
Tedd Terry <izotope.com>
In agreement with the bulk of your readers, I LOVE
TAPE OP. John Baccigaluppi absolutely, positively,
definitively hit the hammer on the head in redressing
the DAW upgrade situation [#102], just a part of the
entire computer software upgrade nightmare. Not
everyone can absorb all the changes, or afford to
continue their recording education to the extent that
the developers assume, making hardware and software
upgrades anywhere from annoying to prohibitive. If
only they thought two words user friendly. The beauty
of home studios is that it brought the ability to make
great recordings back to creative people, not just
engineers. Im one of the ones with a rough background
of no formal training who has recently made the switch
from PC to Mac, including my first DAW upgrade in
seven years. The old setup served my purposes well, but
more recent software went beyond my hardware
capabilities from the olden days. Lack of support for

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The End Rant in issue #102 about wanting stable

solid tools really struck a nerve. Im an acoustic
musician who tends to treat a DAW like a tape
machine, and I use minimal effects during mixing as
well. I also grew up in wood shops, and doing work as
a blacksmith during my teenage years. I know very
well what a good hammer can do and how that single
tool decides the shape and outcome of every product
I turn out. Which was why I chose one that had the
weight and balance I needed for the type of work I
did. Bringing my note back to studio work, Ive had a
hard time finding a digital audio home for years now.
It felt like I would find something perfect, only to
have development get dropped during a buyout phase
by the suits. Right now I keep a fairly old iMac running
Propellerhead Record 1.5, and though it doesnt
support plug-ins, I havent found a sound I cannot
create with it. The problem is all the features got
rolled into Reason, and now my DAW of choice is no
longer made. Give me a hammer is right; I dont think
Ill be doing MIDI-based quantized beats anytime
soon. Until things really break I will be running the
same rig for as long as possible. Then Im thinking [of
going] open source for the next go around in the land

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limited to my own work, in various genres, but the

answer was, No. Since then my recording PC system
has remained static, with few minor exceptions. I know,
at some point in the future, I may need to reconfigure
or even start over on a new machine; but for now I focus
on getting better with recording techniques many
learned thanks to Tape Op! rather than digging
through yet another manual, installing new releases, or
worrying about missing out on some new digital
development. Thanks for all the thought-provoking
articles like this one
Frank Moriarty <www.frankblankmusic.com>

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you envision needing more than

what you have? Granted, my recording is

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John Baccigaluppis Give Me a Hammer in Tape Op

#102 a plea for simpler, stable recording software and
the fact that the learning curves and installations have
grown tedious really resonated with me. In 2012 I
essentially took my recording PC off the grid while I
was working on digitized 1980s multitracks for the CD
of my band, Informed Sources. At that time it dawned
on me that the interfaces I had available, the recording
applications installed, the plug-ins on hand, the loop
generation software in place, the resolutions I could
utilize, the number of tracks available to me, the
stability of my operating system it was all exactly
what I needed and it was all working seamlessly.
Perhaps most importantly, I knew the entire
environment. I had to ask myself, Can

those of us who cant move at the speed of technology

feels very condescending, even though our work is valid
and creative. Just like the Apples and PCs of the world,
we have no choice but to change or get out. Its a big
FU to all of us little guys. I refuse to apologize for my
limitations. If the developers had half a brain, theyd
include us in consulting about their improvements.
Were very lucky that some of us have the most
important possible tools for doing what we do...
ears and hearts.
Sam Cooper <jericat@yahoo.com>
Software is getting better. Designing software is
Neat little paragraph at the top of Tape Op #102
maturing as an art. Asking what users want is
getting easier. Its nothing nowadays to mock up a about home recording (Les Paul, Emitt Rhodes), but
design and understand how usable it is. The process dont forget about one of the greatest
of prototyping DSP is becoming quicker. Its simpler Rudy Van Gelder! He engineered some of the
to manage the quality of code and prevent adding most amazing and important jazz recordings in
defects when making improvements. It takes less history, right from his parents living room. Its
time to respond to support issues and provide the ultimately more about the ear than the gear. Thanks
best possible quality of service. Software developers for the great magazine!
are taking smaller bites. Instead of taking on
Mark Byerly <markbyerly@mac.com>
improvements that are a year or more in scope and
We featured an interview with Rudy in Tape Op #43.
packing them into some monster version release, the Truly a pioneer. LC
trend is to take on tinier, more focused iterations.
In making small, continual work, Although I enjoy every issue of Tape Op when I
we act more as gardeners than receive them, I have to say that issue #103 has been
shipbuilders. We maintain the my favorite yet. The articles/interviews on Bill
quality of software so it stays reliable. We do this Szymczyk, Richard Kaplan/Indigo Ranch and Giles
with strong cultures of dedication to craft. We Martin were great - the great music I grew up with!
Keep up the good work!
develop good practices, and continually re-evaluate
Mike Birch <mikebirchmusic@yahoo.com>
them. This idea of software as an ongoing
of upgrades. For some
reason the last time I
took on an upgrade,
the amount of tracks my
machine could handle
was cut in half. So, if
youll
excuse
me,
Ill be pounding out
another song.
Caleb Hawkins <caleb.hawkins@gmail.com>

10/Tape Op#104/Letters/(Fin.)

How ballsy to send an email to the guy in charge

of a magazine you really love. Here he sits, under a
mountain of unread emails, begging for someone to
send just one more; the last digital straw to break an
editors back. Wait no more, Larry. Here I am. The last
page of your magazine [#103] included a recording
game Monopoly board. The first roll lands us on
email us, and here we go. Loved the, Is the band
breaking up? square. Thank you for your time; thank
you for your magazine. It is filled with hope for the
up and comers and an encouragement for any jaded
guys to try something new.
Daniel Zeigler
<songwriter.amplifiertv.com/channel/DanielZeigler>
I love how you are working to keep Tape Op
accessible to your subscribers. I just downloaded the
digital copy of #103, and Ill be putting in several
hours reading it on my computer. I look forward to
every issue because it keeps me inspired to work on
music and recording. Thank you Larry, John, and all
of you on staff there!
Robert Moehle <robertm@operamail.com>

Send Letters & Questions

to: editor@tapeop.com

Tape Op is made
possible by our
advertisers.

Please support them and tell them

you saw their ad in Tape Op.

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Deerhoof La Isla Bonita

In issue #55 we chatted with Deerhoof, and

learned about Greg Sauniers unique and obsessive ways of working on recordings. Their
new album, La Isla Bonita, began as demos that soon became the core of the album
surely a unique situation, especially for a bands 13th record in a 20-year career.

The drums sound more like a Did you mix it? If so, where?
basement/rehearsal recording
What kind of monitors/
on Last Fad and tighter and
headphones? In the box?
more hi-fi on Oh Bummer. What John mixed the instruments on Last Fad.
was different?
Besides that, I mixed everything in Pro

These began life as demos, but what would have been

the process if they remained demos?

Was a lot of editing involved?

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We would have met up a month later in New York and Nick would have
recorded the same songs again. Since we are so used to producing
ourselves, we were really looking forward to letting someone else figure
stuff out. Whats that buzz? Why is there no signal on channel four?
I wanted to not know Nicks process, and just play the drums. Well just
have to try that next time....

Tools 8 on a laptop using an [Digidesign]

Mbox 2 Micro that Ed gave me as a gift
several years ago. My Digi 002 stopped
working; every time I try to fix it I forget
to unplug it and have an unpleasant
electrical experience. My brother plays in
a reggae band; when he let me try his
Marley headphones, I was completely
shocked at how much I was missing with
the Bose headphones that I had been
using for years. Maybe theyd just
gradually worn out. I had started making
custom EQs for all the songs in my iTunes
to get them to sound right. In a way, I
still think music sounds better through
the worn-out Bose, because flaws are not
as apparent and transients are all
smushed. But it was obvious I had to buy
the Marley ones for mixing. Id check on
laptop speakers and my girlfriends
computer speakers. Id send mixes to
John and hed check them in his car and
send me back EQ settings for frequencies
that were popping out too much.

We set up together in a tiny room in Ed [Rodriguez]s basement in Portland,

Oregon, for about a week to write and arrange. The plan was to send
demos to Nick Sylvester, who was to be our producer. As we were
rehearsing, Ed would secretly start setting up mics for each instrument,
as well as four on the drums. At night I started listening back to what
we recorded each day, while the rest of the band watched Netflix. Each
day Id make little adjustments; change the angle of the overhead mics,
switch the bass to DI, and take some blanket off the wall. By the end of
the week we realized we wanted the basement sessions to be the record.
Some songs were recorded better than others. For example, Last Fad
was from the first day and Oh Bummer was from the last. One other
recording trick that makes the drums sound better on Oh Bummer is
the drummer. Satomi [Matsuzaki] played drums on that one instead of
me; she plays quieter, with no dynamics, so once I got the sound I
wanted there was no automation and no tricks.

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Dont tell anyone, but yes. A lot of editing was involved. We were rehearsing, You mastered the album too?
so we played things over and over. Wed start recording before wed For mastering I always A-B with a song called
Wa Muluendu by Masanka Sankayi and
learned the song. Sometimes the best take of the first 30 seconds of a
Kasai All-Stars from the Congotronics 2
song was before wed even written the rest. Editing was easy because it
compilation. That song has always
was the same instruments and same setup.
sounded perfect, no matter what
And then Nick Sylvester tracked the vocals?
headphones or speakers I hear it through.
Before we met in Eds basement, wed each made rough song ideas. John
I play it all the time through PA systems
[Dieterich]s sounded quite good. He lives in Albuquerque; he can play
around the world, between bands when we
drums in his house and keep his mics set up. Mine were GarageBand, using
have shows. Mixing and mastering are all
the built-in computer mic, and sounded terrible. Satomi did hers in a
done in the same Pro Tools session, so its
dance music app on her phone. Nick went through all of these and was
a continuous process, although my
extremely helpful with comments. He pushed us to keep the groovy ones
computers CPU is not always thrilled with
and throw out the proggy ones. Later he forgave us for cancelling the
the number of plug-ins running at once.
recording sessions wed originally planned. By the time we met up in New
Lots of restarting. The first time I heard the
York, the songs were already mixed but had no vocals. So we did the
album through some real speakers was at
vocals in Sound City, which was his practice space. He had me, and
the lacquer cutting session at Bonati
especially Satomi, doing things wed never have tried on our own, like
Mastering in Brooklyn. He didnt change
bizarre takes, screams, spoken bits, doubling and tripling, doubling at
the sound at all and it sounded awesome,
lower octaves, and extreme compression. A few days later he was handing
so I was relieved that our low budget
me finished vocal files. There was nothing left for me to do, other than
system came through.
drop it on top of the instruments and turn it up. We were so happy.
<deerhoof.net>
-LC
What do you record to these days?

12/Tape Op#104/Music Reviews/(Fin.)

At Eds house we used his [Digidesign] Digi 002 using all eight inputs. After
a few days we realized we could also record at the same time on Johns
[hand held]stereo PCM recorder, which we put outside in the laundry
room. Later wed drag those files into the Pro Tools session and line them
up, which gave us room mics. I dont know what Nick used. That was the
beauty of it. I closed my eyes and said, Yeah, that sounds beautiful or,
The reverb tail is too long or, Take three was better.

tapeop.com

Bonus & archived

reviews online!

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#104/13

I started discovering music together, like Slowdive and

The Jesus and Mary Chain. Id never heard anything like
that before. It seemed so crazy and psychedelic. My
other friends were into metal, or stuff like Ministry.
Driving around, smoking weed, and cranking up tunes
was all there was to do. My buddies and I would take
an entire day just to drive to some record store, then
get coffee and listen to the tapes in the car driving
around afterwards. We used to drive to D.C. and
Richmond, Virginia, all the time to see shows. But
when it was time for college, I left.

Where did you go?

Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. It was an

awesome time, being up there in the mid to late-90s.
We lived in this giant warehouse and went to all of
these parties in friends warehouses. There was so much
going on. It made me fall in love with living this way.

In urban, multipurpose spaces?

built crazy rope ladders in their houses. You could stack

20 mattresses so you could jump from the second floor.
It was crazier than you could ever imagine. I moved
back to Virginia after school to continue with Skywave
a band I was in with some friends. We rented this
ginormous warehouse for $400 a month. We built four
practice spaces, and had three of our friends bands
practice there, for $150. I was the only sucker willing
to live in that crazy place, but it was rent-free. You
could play music all day and all night. Id just buy tons
of crap musical gear, take it apart, and build it into
other things. Thats how I had the time to become an
electrical engineer and develop recording skills. On one
Skywave record we spent a year and a half recording
and mixing, almost every single day. It wasnt even
necessary, because some of those mixes sounded the
same eight months later, but it was a really cool time
to experiment and learn. We made our own fun.

Yeah, and how you can do whatever the hell you want in Did you learn about electronics entirely
them. People turned refrigerators into doorways, and
on your own?

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A Place To Bury Strangers

and Death By Audio

ay

way into his current band, A Place To Bury Strangers, a

three-piece that includes bassist Dion Lunadon and
drummer Robi Gonzalez, who have been making postapocalyptic noise rock for over a decade. Live shows are
heady, strobe-fueled and impossibly loud sensoryoverloading events, designed to bring on hallucinations.
Woe to the band that hits the stage after them.
So its appropriate that Death By Audio HQ, also a venue
and recording studio, looks like an electrical engineers take
on Road Warrior. The walls are lined with enough guitars, in
various states of customization, repair, and decrepitude, to
shame the members of Sonic Youth. Gear stacks the walls,
which are covered in stickers and silkscreen test runs. Yet
there is a method to the madness, and everything seems to
be in its right place. The shop cranks out an impressive
number of well-made pedals that have found their way into
the hands of artists as diverse as The Edge, Jeff Tweedy,
Trent Reznor, and Kevin Shields [Tape Op #26]. You might
think that all of this fascination with decay Ackermann
might be a tough interview, but he remains one of the most
positive and optimistic people youll ever meet. It makes
sense. Things seem to be going his way.

Ackermann

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With the music bi z

shifting daily tal k amongst
musicians mainly revolves
around the subject of
adaptability
As old doors close, others are opening, offering creative
control, DIY tools, and diversification options. Bands
rarely find themselves coddled anymore and have to
make things happen for themselves, for better or worse.
Nobody exemplifies the embracing of this lifestyle
better than Oliver Ackermann. First making a name for
himself with the band Skywave, he soon after founded
Death By Audio, a homegrown effects pedal company that
was on the leading edge of the boutique effects boom.
Whereas his contemporaries seemed to be on an endless
search for the ultimate Tube Screamer clone, Ackermann
cut new sonic paths, unapologetically stating that his
stompboxes werent for everyone, catering instead to
players wanting to summon more excruciating tones out
of their guitars. Coming full circle, these sounds find their

Youre originally from Fredericksburg,

Virginia?

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Yeah. Growing up there was nice, I guess. Its one of those

towns where, as you grow older, it becomes really
small. Theres almost nothing to do. We would just go
hang out at graveyards, abandoned battlefields, or
down by the river. I listened to my parents music, like
Bob Dylan and The Beatles, and typical stuff, like
Madonna or Billy Joel. I wasnt really into music, but
when my brother got his drivers license he drove me
around playing the Circle Jerks as loud as it could
possibly go. I was like, What is this crazy stuff? I
started stealing his records: Dead Kennedys, The
Misfits, Minor Threat, and The Ramones. That changed
everything for me. Then, in high school, my friends and

interview
photo by

14/Tape Op#104/Mr. Ackermann/(continued on page 16)

by Alex Maiolo
Jesse Lauter

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How do you do that in a city like this?

What prevents people from walking in
the door and asking for permits?
Right when we moved in here, we got threatened by the
fire marshal. Hes like, You need to buy this fire
extinguisher from us. So we bought that $350 fire
extinguisher. We also lucked out because our landlords
are old school in the neighborhood and are really cool.
Theyre Hasidic Jews, and were right in Williamsburg,
which is traditional for this area. They could probably
get higher rent, but they like us, and reliability goes a
long way. We dont ask them for anything. Well do our
own plumbing and repairs. They like that we dont give
them any crap and I think they even appreciate what
we do. Right after we built the recording studio, one of
the landlords friends, a Hasidic opera singer, came in
and recorded a song.

When did you decide you should add a

venue and studio?

I was always a musician, first and foremost. I started out

building effects and equipment for me to use. I never
thought Id build effects for other people. It didnt even
cross my mind. I started playing in bands in
Fredericksburg in 1994, but there was no scene. It was
a little bit easier in Providence, but all the people I
played with wanted a fun band; playing unrehearsed,
crazy stuff. By the time I moved to New York I had
almost completely given up. Id tried so hard. Wed
make elaborate posters and mail out really awesome
things for people, but it never went anywhere. When
the first A Place to Bury Strangers record came out in
2007, it just blew up. We were so lucky to have that
happen. If a bands going to make it in this day and
age, its just pure luck, really. Of course theres talent
and dedication, but I know tons of obscure awesome
bands, and I know tons of huge mediocre bands. Its not
just about how good your band is. That helped the
pedal company develop a name too, and then it all
came together. It makes perfect sense to me to
combine all of these things.

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musicians and artists too, but they wanted us to be

Im self-taught, through books. This was before a lot of the
quiet. We built an almost soundproof room, but still
Internet craze. I did check out a few forums, went to
could only really play during the day. I think I had
libraries, ordered books, and got tons of hands-on
enough money for rent, and $3,000 extra that Id
experience by pulling things apart. I failed many times.
saved up. I spent that in a week.
I would read books and not understand a word of it, but
eventually pieces started to fit and make sense. It took On just getting set up?
maybe a year just to teach myself how to solder. Now I Partying, going out, and getting crazy, because youre like,
could teach someone how to solder really well in two
Fuck, yeah! Record stores everywhere. This is so
minutes, but I had no one to guide me.
great! But you adjust. We didnt have all the wood and
Why is this $8 soldering iron not doing a
materials we wanted, so wed get it any way we possibly
good job?
could, going to carpet stores and asking for scraps.
Blowtorches! Plumbers solder! I started building effects People get pretty industrious in the city
pedals in 2001. I really wanted to go to Europe with my
and do what they have to do, for sure.
girlfriend, just backpacking around. Wed already paid for We had an open-ended lease. When I finally found this
the plane tickets, but we were going to be gone for the
place, in 2005, I asked my friends, who were about to
month, so I figured that I needed to raise about $3,000.
sign another lease, to check out this space instead. We
I came out with the first pedal, Total Sonic Annihilation,
moved in, but it was a giant, empty warehouse. Buildand put it up on places like Harmony Central as a totally
out took two full months of work. That puts a strain on
unique effect. I sold enough of them to make $3,000 in
your friends. You start to worry that you got them into
a month. That was awesome! I figured that was probably
something stupid. We had shows to raise money for
going to be it for effects pedals, that the orders would
supplies. The band would get some and wed keep some.
start trickling off, but then I made this other effects
It worked out great.
pedal called the Sound Saw. It was way too ambitious, DBA [Death By Audio] was immediately up
with something like 47 wires running between different
and running?
circuit boards. I created a giant nightmare for myself. I Yes, but we had a strict no advertising policy, so the
decided Id take on any custom job, no matter what it
business would fluctuate. New York is so damn
was. Id build or clone anything. Most of the time I
expensive. You start taking out credit cards, because
wouldnt have a clue how to build what they wanted me
racking up debt is the only way to live. I was trying to
to build, but Id accept the projects just to be able to
help people out by employing them, but that would
learn and figure out how the technology works.
sometimes mean that Id be giving away more money
than I was making. The company has definitely gotten
Ive taken on recording projects for the
better and bigger in the past few years, with Matt
same reason to learn how to do it by
[Conboy] keeping things organized. Our clients have
doing it.
been great about word of mouth. Ive had people tell
Sometimes Id feel so bad, because Id say, Yeah, itll
me the craziest things, like Lou Reed referred them.
probably take me a month and itll cost $500. Three
Were underground enough that we can build products
months later its like, Im still working on it. Dont
that are illegal in some ways it could blow something
worry! Then I moved to New York. At the time I moved,
up, or accept radio frequencies. Products that are
it was hard making money off of just building effects
against codes for what can be manufactured and
pedals. I was driving trucks for movies or video shoots,
shipped overseas. Were boutique so that we can build
web design, and selling the pedals. I had some bad luck
gear to do the most fucked up shit.
too. I sold a pedal to Richard Fortus, who was in Guns N
Roses, for $150. I drove to his place. There was nowhere Its still considered custom work?
to park so I parked at a bus stop. I ran up to his door, Yeah, or were just under the radar enough.
gave him the pedal, ran back to my van, and theres a When did you feel like you crossed over
ticket for $150 on my dashboard. I was also selling stuff
into becoming the company you are
on eBay, as well as selling off pedals from my personal
now, with an organized setup, able to
collection.
deliver orders on time?
How did you end up in New York?
Matt became an intern in 2007, and really helped out. We
made the business an LLC in 2009. We were making
Every time we came up we had so much fun. There was just
the Harmonic Transformer and the Interstellar
so much going on galleries to see. Its the polar
Overdriver Deluxe, though it might have been the
opposite of living in a small town, where you ache for
Supreme at the time. Some amp company made us
that kind of stuff.
change the name, they claimed to have some patent.
So you packed everything up, left your
We figured it would be easier to not fight it. We were
warehouse, and moved to Bushwick
still making the Total Sonic Annihilation, the
[Brooklyn]?
Soundwave Breakdown, and the Supersonic Fuzz Gun.
Yeah, we didnt really know what we were doing. We had
You see that space [points to the next room]? It used
friends in Williamsburg. Even that was still a little dicey
to be much smaller. The floor is damaged from where
around that time desolate in some ways but
all the work was done. There was a spray paint booth
Bushwick was really rough.
in there and all sorts of horrible stuff. I used to smoke
Did you find another warehouse space?
cigarettes like crazy. Matt never smoked, but hed have
We did, but it wasnt the same. I figured that we could
to be in there while I was chain smoking, spraying
go nuts since we were living in the middle of fucking
paint, and building all this electronic stuff.
nowhere in a warehouse. The neighbors were

16/Tape Op#104/Mr. Ackermann/(continued on page 18)

Youre your own billboard, in a lot of

ways. Once you get peoples attention,
Im sure theyre like, If I get that
pedal, I can do that too! Of course,
thats totally not true.
Yeah, its not. I feel bad about that sometimes.

But thats the entire guitar gear

industry.
Sure, but I feel like an important part of effects pedal design
is to make something thats really cool to interface with.
Youre excited about the way it looks, or whats going on.
Like when you and I were talking about nice preamps
earlier, which are supposed to sound so awesome. Part of
what sounds so awesome is you spent a lot of money on
it; it looks really nice, and its well built. Feel goes a long
way. It might not even sound as good as some other
thing thats only $200. But theres something about it,
and you want to go to that.

So you got to the point where the band

took off. You had a space for practice,
recording, and building. Were you
doing all of your design and pedal case
silk screening in-house, at the time?

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we possibly could, this needed to be a recording studio.

Yeah. I taught myself silk screening to make band t-shirts.
Its much more of one now than it was before.
Anyone can make a real silkscreen table. You just buy one
of those work lights from Home Depot and use some What did you start out with?
photo emulsion. You can toss anything that you want I had a Tascam USB board. Wed plug into that, as well as
down on the screen. Its really cheap to do all of that stuff.
some basic Alesis rack units. No outboard preamps. We
picked up gear as we went.
The end result is that your pedals have

their own look. Theyre pretty durable. What was the first project you did in here?
How do you keep them from getting so A really cool New York band called Narchitect. We recorded
scratched up?
it in the kitchen area, live. Next were my friends, Coin

It happens, but you just try to always go above and

beyond. I always tell everybody to wash a few extra
dishes. We always have bands spending the night, so
theres lots of cleanup. We built a second bathroom.
Sometimes people in the house will get really pissed off
if somebody else eats their food or something, but you
have to look at all these people as your really good
friends and stay above it all. Its worth it. A lot of times
those people get weeded out anyways, if theyre bad
roommates, or they cant handle living this way. Weve
also had some really crazy roommates. Wed just done a
video for Keep Slipping Away that featured a bunch of
television sets. There was a wall of TVs upstairs, and
these guys were really drunk at 4 a.m., so they took all
of the television sets and threw them down from the
second floor into this giant pile in the middle of the
room, and then they lit them on fire.

What?

I know; it was so insane. Then a girl who was subletting

comes out of her room, wondering what was going on,
and she sees this horrific mess. These dudes are
standing around smoldering TV sets, with their shirts
off, totally wasted, and she was like, Oh, my god. What
am I doing living here? Now we really want everyone
here to be artists, working on cool projects.

ay

Were all growing up! So when did you set

up the recording space?

Do you ever run into problems with space

issues and people not cleaning up
their mess?

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Yeah. Weve been getting a lot of work outsourced now for

the powder coating and getting parts drilled. When
youre drilling out tons of enclosures all the time, the
dust starts to add up really quickly, and aluminum dust
is not good for you.

ma
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Youre using Hammerite paint for cases?

Under Tongue, who were absolutely amazing. Id

sometimes fill in on the drums for that band. Some guys How did you come across some of the
from Dirty on Purpose, who helped start this space,
recording gear?
worked in here. We were all building it for ourselves, and I try to build as much as possible. Wed also get
it was in the best interest of everyone. There were lots
recommendations from friends and other people. Thats
of bands that no one has probably even heard of.
how I got the Universal Audio [2-610] preamp. It sounds
phenomenal, and its so easy to use. I got a good deal on
Have you ever worked in a proper
some Chandler [Limited] gear and an [Empirical Labs]
studio, or have you always done it
Distressor. I bought a couple of 500-series kits and built
yourself?
them. Whatever we could get our hands on, including
We had a song mixed by Paul Kolderie [Tape Op #22] in
things someone was just giving away.
Boston. We didnt totally like his mix, so on the record
my mix is on the left and his is on the right. We How much outboard gear do you use these
recorded it ourselves in Bushwick and I sent it to Paul.
days?
We went up there to hang out with him, and had a great I used to work a lot in the box, but now I do as little as
time. It was an amazing experience, but I didnt know
possible. Outside is just so much more fun. Well do a
what any of that gear was, at the time. [laughs] On
lot of manipulation while were recording; going for it
Exploding Head, I worked with Andy Smith, who is Paul
and committing to effects. That can bite you in the ass,
Simons personal engineer. He was just a cool guy, really
but if it sucks well figure out a way to do something
fun to work with. We did some great remixes of the
completely different with it. Ive worked on tracks
songs. I once recorded a song with a buddy in California
where Im trying to be so careful, doing everything by
at AVIDs studio. We recently did some recording in
the book, but it just becomes so uninspiring. There
Norway, with Emil Nikolaisen [producer for rabrot, I
have been many times where I think Ive messed up,
Was A King] from Serena-Maneesh, at ABC Studio [Etne,
but I find something really cool is going on. Crazy
Norway], for free. The people in town were taking us
sounds that bring the track home.
around to places and showing us everything. It was just If people want to come here to make a
beautiful. The mountains were out the front door. It
record, is that something they can do?
didnt work out entirely as planned, because I cant
Can they contact you? Or do you tend to
always get other people to understand what Im going
keep it in-house?
for with the music. Its not even that our records sound Sometimes well invite friends, but there are always a lot
that good, in the traditional sense. Its a weird, jaded
of people who want to use the space, so we pretty much
take on music, and its almost something you have to
keep it in the family. It would be cool to do other
endure. Its the aesthetic I like, though. I used to do DJ
projects, but Im just so busy all the time.
sets where Id run music through effects. Id push the You mentioned that youve experimented
limit of what youd consider good sound, but I really
with different resolutions.
liked the way it sounded.
We often watch TV while were working in the pedal room,
and we saw something with Neil Young and all these
Is this your home base for recording now?
different artists talking about 192 kHz [sampling rate] and
We just finished the record about a month ago. We tried
how it sounds absolutely amazing. I was like, Heck, why
to do it as live as possible, even though some of the
songs sound very demo-y, in a sense, and are
not? We recorded most of the songs for the recent record
intermittently tracked. We really wanted to try to
at 192 as a test. Then, when I was mastering the record,
capture what it is to be at a live show. To be able to
I was going back and forth to see if it was even worth it
capture that, you cant just record purely; you have to
to bounce down at 44.1 versus 192 kHz. You could tell a
fuck it up, in a way, because being there is disorienting.
difference, but I dont know if the difference made it
If you record a live take in the studio really well, it
better. You could almost argue that the sessions at 44.1
doesnt actually portray the live experience, so being
sometimes sounded better. I guess that might be due to
free to experiment is important.
the different ways the sounds are blended together; or it
could just be some computer algorithm. It didnt seem like
Your tracking room is small. Do you ever
all of a sudden I heard this greater sound quality or
run into isolation issues?
anything. I feel like Ive heard so many good songs that
It depends. Some songs sound so good with no isolation.
were MP3s, and gotten into bands after hearing a crummy
Some sound good with just two microphones! One of
CD or poorly-dubbed cassette. They can usually sound just
the new songs is us writing it, right at that moment,
as good, or better, than ones recorded at higher fidelity,
with no idea whats going to happen. Even the lyrics.
because its just not about that.
There were supposed to be seven mics, but two werent
plugged in, and the bass DI wasnt plugged in. We were Youre using Apogee conversion?

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We clear coat them. We tried plastisol ink for a little bit,

but theres just not enough ventilation in New York to
make that really work out.

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The practice space was the first room we built, and we

immediately set it up for recording. Ive been doing it
for years because that was the only way I could afford
it. When I was young, I started out with the dual-well
cassette decks, bouncing back and forth. Eventually we
all saved up for a 4-track, then a 6-track, then reel-toreel machines, better reel-to-reel machines, and then it
was, Oh, my goodness. Computer recording is
absolutely amazing! Now we have none of the
problems we did with the reel-to-reels.

am

You can spend more time recording,

rather than maintaining.

Yeah, totally. But as time goes on you start to spend more

time tinkering again, because now there are all of the
plug-ins! You can spend years mixing. But as soon as

just in there having fun, and it sounds so good. We tried

recording it ten more times, but theres no way that we
can capture how awesome that first take is. Thats made
me believe that the equipment is often times beside the
point. Its more about the energy, feeling, and whats
going on with the players. Recording this stuff doesnt
have to be that perfect. Its nice when it is. Its cool
when you can lock in certain phase loops with drums
and bass to get it pulsating in the right ways. But music
is about energy, and getting crazy and wild.

18/Tape Op#104/Mr. Ackermann/(continued on page 20)

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Not a lot of people get that.

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No. It also made me think sometimes, when people use

producers, that its not the band making the record. Oh,
well just get Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on our little basketball
team. This guys the best basketball player of all time.
Theres almost something unfair about it.

John Dwyer of
Thee Oh Sees

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Hes a big fan of Death By Audios guitar pedals, so we

dropped him a line to find out why!

Which Death By Audio pedals do you

own?
I think all if them! I begged them for ages to sponsor me...

ay

What makes Death By Audio pedals

unique?

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Well, first off, they are loud as hell, which most pedals lack,
in my opinion. You dont want to step on a fuzz pedal
and have your sound go limp. Its supposed to fry harder
and soar, which they do. You cant beat the handmade
aesthetic. Their pedals are like a home-cooked meal,
compared to McDonalds. And they just make weird shit
all the time. Triple echo? That shit is just ridiculous.

am

What songs by Thee Oh Sees feature

these fine pedals?

Fuzz War and Fuzz War Overload are on Toe Cutter - Thumb
Buster, Night Crawler, and a ton of others as well.
Fuzz Gun is on Hang a Picture and Encrypted
Bounce. Echo Dream is on Putrifiers II.
<www.theeohsees.com>

20/Tape Op#104/Mr. Ackermann/(Fin.)

Thats an interesting way of putting it!

Weve developed our own skills, and figured out our own way
to record. Sometimes we record almost entirely on gear
that we created. Sometimes we even made the
microphones. Its something that we actually had a hand
in every aspect of, and worked hard to make happen. Its
expressing ourselves as artists. I think theres something
really cool about the way that music has turned. You can
do it yourself; people are doing it themselves, and doing
a really good job. Theres nothing wrong with working
with producers, and there are definitely people who are
talented at it. Thats a beautiful thing.

They can coexist. You can have both.

I always like to have everything we do be as real and fair

as possible. We do the same thing with the business,
Death by Audio. We try to be a company like no other.
Well take exchanges on some beat up piece of crap, or
well try to mod peoples pedals to be exactly what they
wanted, if they wanted something different than what
they got. Well always repair everything for free.

You have the lifetime warranty.

Yeah, totally. We try to be as cool of a company as we can.

Do you get back a lot of products that you

have to fix?

Well, the highest percentage of repairs are actually where

theres nothing wrong with the pedal. We get a lot of
repairs where its a dead battery, or someone was maybe
using bad cables. People have sent pedals back because
one of the knobs fell off. They didnt understand that
you can put it back on with a screwdriver. Matt has been
asking people to send in sound samples before they mail
in a warranty repair. He can usually figure out that its
actually working and help. A couple of the pedals have
some really insane settings. You know, its called the
Oscillator Fuzz, but someone contacts us saying, I
dunno, man. This setting oscillates. Theyre saying that
the Oscillator Fuzz oscillates. [laughs] What do you write
back to that? Some of the pedals arent for everybody.
Our first pedal, Total Sonic Annihilation, was a forced
feedback loop. Its a really intense noise-maker, so a lot
of people were really confused by it. Whoa, this is not
for me. It takes a particular kind of person to enjoy
what that one does. r

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The [Apogee] Symphony, and it sounds fantastic. Back when

I could only record at 44.1, using Cubase, I bought this
Steinberg interface and it never worked. So Id just blown
all my money on this dumb interface that Steinberg
made. It was still under warranty, but I was always on the
phone with tech support. I had to run out and buy the
cheapest setup I could get. It was this Alesis 2-channel
USB unit and a lemon of a Power Mac. The fan sounded
like a jet engine. Almost the entire first A Place to Bury
Strangers [self-titled] record was recorded with that. I
only had two channels for the drums! That was a highlyacclaimed record for us, but, at the time, I didnt even
want it to come out! When I first moved to New York I
was under this impression that if you wanted to make it,
you had to go to a real studio and do it proper. My bands
had been making records that we thought sounded so
awesome, but then nothing would ever happen with
them. I started thinking the missing element was that we
needed to go to a pro studio, and that would be what
made us sound like a real band. People would recognize
something that was missing in the recordings we were
doing ourselves. We planned to do it professionally one
day, but John Whitney wanted to put out the record, as
it was, on his label, Killer Pimp. He wrote out this
contract on a napkin, it was released, and it just blew up.
It justified everything that I had been doing over the
years. It made me completely confident; I can do
whatever the fuck I want and not have to worry about
playing some game. I had full creative control, and
people liked what I did with it. I was so lucky to have
that kind of justification, really.

Note: Oliver informed us that VICE will soon be taking over

the entire block, and DBA is going to have to relocate. Its
an awesome opportunity to do an amazing run of shows,
and art installations, to bring our time here to an end.
November 22nd will be my birthday, and our last show. They
are taking their time to find the perfect, permanent space,
but have a temporary one lined up, and dont expect to have
any problem filling orders. -AM
<deathbyaudio.net> <aptbs.tumblr.com>
Alex Maiolo <alexmaiolo@tapeop.com>

www.tapeop.com
FREE WORLDWIDE
subscriptions online!

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artists that have had David Bianco touch their music. I

fondly remember my own daily ritual of going into Toast
Recording in San Francisco, in 1997, to work on my
bands (Black Lab) debut record for Geffen/DGC. David
and I have been friends ever since. I recently caught up
with him at his studio, Daves Room.

What was your path to L.A.s Record Plant

Recording Studio?

Peppers and The Knack. Theyd all say, Youre going

to do our record, man, and then youd never hear
from them again. [laughs] But I learned, worked, and
lived there. Id be there 86 to 90 hours a week,
sometimes sleeping in the back. Thats how I learned
how to record, and I worked my way up from there.

Some of your early days at Record Plant

were spent doing mobile recordings.

I started answering phones, then I got a promotion to

janitor I actually got to be in the studio because I
was cleaning it! Eventually I was an assistant
engineer, and the remote division of Record Plant
needed somebody. I developed it, side by side. I
would assist in the studio when I wasnt doing a
remote, and vice versa. I did remotes for about five
years or so, and got my first big break recording
Nazareth live their engineer couldnt make it back
from England. From there I got more and more gigs as
a first engineer doing remotes.

What were some of the other artists you

did remotes for?

We used to do a regular gig at The Roxy. You never knew

who was showing up. Itd be Aretha Franklin, Van
Morrison, The Psychedelic Furs, or David + David. We
also went on the road with Bruce Springsteen, Joni
Mitchell, and Arlo Guthrie. We probably rolled more
tape on Springsteen than anybody.

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I played in bands all through high school and college. I

moved out of my parents house after I graduated
college. I had a communications degree and I
decided, Well, Ill be a big time cameraman or
something like that. My girlfriend had cracked up my
car, and I lived within walking distance of Record
Plant. David L. Wolper Productions was across the
street, at the time. I had my last rsum, after months
of not finding anything and realizing that the union
had a lock on any camera work. I walked into Wolper
Productions and the lady at the reception desk said,
Im sorry sir. Were closing. I walked outside and
there was a wire trash basket, which I threw my

rsum in. As I did that, I looked up and there were

the big ol psychedelic Peter Max letters, Record
Plant. So I fished my rsum out of the trash and
walked across the street. I met Rose Mann, handed
my rsum to her, and she gave me a tour. I didnt
know anything about recording studios. My bands did
home recordings, but wed never been in a big
recording studio. They had Dave Mason [Traffic] in
one room, Crosby, Stills & Nash in the other. Stevie
Wonder had finished up Talking Book in Studio B, and
The Eagles were in Studio A. I was like, Yeah! This is
my kind of thing! I walked down there every day and
hung out, until management said, Why dont you
give him a broom if hes going to just stand there? I
had taken a job at a Pier One Imports as a cashier;
then I got a call from Rose saying they had an
opening and she asked if I wanted to come down. I
said, Oh, I have to give at least a weeks notice.
When I told her where I was working, she laughed for
about a half hour on the telephone. She said, You
know, I like that you would do that, jeopardizing this
job for that one. I started answering phones at night
and on the weekends. Then I worked my way to
janitor. They started giving us free reign to work in
the studios on the off hours to learn. I recorded every
weird hair band in L.A. in the late 70s and early 80s
for free. That was the beginning of the Red Hot Chili

What do Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, LL

Cool J, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash,
U2, Mick Jagger, AC/DC, The Damned, The
Posies, and Rage Against the Machine all have in
common? They all belong to a long and diverse list of

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David Bianco
am

A Visitnterview
to andDaves
Room
photo by Geoff Stanfield
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22/Tape Op#104/Mr. Bianco/(continued on page 24)

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Nevison did The Who and Zeppelin records; he had a

great way of micing drums and getting ambient
sounds. He and George were both good at getting
ambience. I learned also that even if you have the mic
placement, and have the mic pre at the right level, it
doesnt mean you are going to get his sound. Its the
artistic side of it, I guess. Then theres the creative
side where you have to get it to a certain level as
big as your heart can make it, as big as your vision.

He finally released that three CD/LP set [Live 197585].

What was your first break, outside of

mobile engineering gigs?

My demos were getting around the place, and people

were starting to hear what I was doing. Rose
recommended me to David Kershenbaum, who was
coming through. He was working with an artist
named Robert Hazard from Philadelphia, and I wound Everyone has the same tools available,
to some extent, but everybody paints
up engineering the record [Wing of Fire] there at
a different picture.
Record Plant. From there I mixed a band called
It
really
depends whos working the hammer, doesnt it?
Icehouse from Australia for David, as well as doing a
I saw guys trying to imitate Ron and Georges setups.
couple of other projects for him. Then I started to go
They had the right setup, the right mics, but it
in a bit of a different direction.
sounded horrible.
How did you develop your own sound

and aesthetic?

What are your thoughts on playing live

How is it, jumping between the two roles

of producer and engineer?

Again, I think you have to fit the role that is asked for
and be willing to do what is necessary. I dont want
to say, Kids these days, but its so funny with all of
these recording schools. People come out of them,
walk into studios, and theyre instantly putting their
sunglasses on their head and saying, This is out of
tune. This is whats wrong. I came through a boot
camp at Record Plant that had a hazing like no other.
You never spoke. You had to be there, be ready, know
what the next move was going to be, and know what
the engineer was going to need. But you never spoke
or said, Oh, thats not right. You had to figure that
out. As you progress along, the roles are very, very
clear. For people to spend a lot of time in a control
room with you, as an assistant, an engineer, or a
producer, you better be pretty fun, unless youre really
big time. [laughs] For the most part, youre going to
go by the wayside if people cant be around you. There
is a sensibility and sensitivity that you have to have
for the people around you, as well as the situation.
And you have to be on it, at all times. You have to be
super present. If I am working for another producer, I
know what I would want to hear from the engineer,
and what support I would want from him or her. If the
producer asks, I proffer up whatever I have to give,
but otherwise I stay in that support role. Ill tell him
or her something discreetly if something might be
wrong, or call attention to it, but not with anyone
else in the room. You learn it.

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versus building tracks?

Once I got to the top of the seniority at Record Plant, I
was there for almost ten years, so I got to work with You have to figure out what fits the bill for the band,
and what theyre most comfortable with, obviously.
artists like Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart, as well as
Its really wonderful if everybody can play together. To
working on all these studio records with a variety of
me, thats where the magic and the mojo happens. We
engineers. I would snitch the best ideas from each [of
had a session about a year ago, after pizza around 10
them] and then apply it to my own work. By the time
oclock at night, where everybody grabbed their
I got to the point where I was working with David
instruments and started playing. The jam went on for
Kershenbaum, I realized I had a feel for how to get
about 10 to 12 minutes, and it was unbelievable. The
things to sound good and big. My style evolved
guitar player comes in and says, I can make four
further when I started doing more R&B and dance
songs out of that! That shit doesnt happen when
remixes in the 80s. I would take the rock n roll
you
build tracks. If you are building tracks, its going
aesthetic and apply it to R&B. Id make the drums
to be good, and probably nobodys going to know how
slam and the bass hit really hard, and not be afraid of
you did it. But [playing live and together] it becomes
ambience. From the mid 80s, and into the early 90s,
more than a nuanced thing, and I think it can really
I did a lot of that. But what happened was that there
be magic. Thats my whole idea of this place. Mix your
were people that wanted to get the rock bands onto
own headphones, get excited off of each others
the power format radio stations that were
playing, and come up with new and fresh ideas that
broadcasting R&B, so I got to do some remixes for U2
you didnt do in the rehearsals.
and Aerosmith. That was my end around into
Has
your production and engineering
production, because I was able to add production and
changed over time?
beats for these club mixes of rock songs. From there I
was able to parlay that into hardcore rock production. Yes. Every situation you find yourself in is different. You
find yourself in the situation as a producer, where you
I learned not to dismiss ideas from young kids doing
have to figure out how you fit in and what is needed.
demos. Instead Id collect tricks from the experience.
What gap are you filling? Sometimes its being a
Oh, you put a [Shure SM]57 through a [Boss
sounding board, sometimes its helping write the
Compression] Sustainer pedal, and you got the toms
songs, sometimes its playing on the project. It could
to go berserk! I love that! Im going to do that! I
be any manner of those things. You also have the
loved working with young bands because they were
whole idea of being the cheerleader/psychologist. My
very excited and wanted to experiment
method has always been to try and be as patient as
Who were some of your producer or
possible, figure out what needs to be done, and, the
engineering mentors?
best way; do it gracefully. [laughs]
The goal was always getting the purest sound. There
were guys on staff at Record Plant that were really, You are not a producer that sits in the
back of the room
really good. Bob Merritt was a great carpenter, as well
as an engineer. I learned in my formative years about Yeah, well it becomes Pavlovian. You hit the red light and
you become super concentrated. Its difficult once you
getting really good, pure, vocal sounds and things like
are in that [mode] and do it for a number of years to
that from him learning about the [signal] chain. The
not do it. Of the times when I was sitting in the back,
engineers we would work with on the road that was
because somebody else was running the tools or tape
a very formidable learning ground. You had to make
machine, its a harder thing for me because I have to
things happen because you had one go at it. There
really force myself more into the game. When Pro Tools
was an engineer named George Tutko who did a lot of
came out I have to say that my knee-jerk reaction was
the [John] Mellencamp hit records. George had a
that the sound really bugged me. It messed with my
great aesthetic of not only making things sound good
ears and I didnt really like it. Eventually it got a little
going to tape, but he would also hype it coming back
better. We would drag it along with the multitrack on
on the board so it sounded like you were listening to
the background vocals, percussion, or the odd track on
a record when you came into the [control] room. Ron

it. But when HD came around, I liked it and decided

to learn how to use it. I feel that I have to be
autonomous. I cannot rely on some young kid to come
run my rig for me. Being as old as I am, it mightve
taken me a little longer than others; but I got my head
into it and now I thrive on it. I love it. Another
engineering friend of mine was saying he didnt really
care about, or want to learn, Pro Tools, and I said to
him, I think that its the most intimate you can get
with the music. I never could have imagined it; you
are actually touching the waveforms. It has absolutely
fantastic flexibility. Being able to affect the slope on
an EQ for a 10th of a second in a mix is absurd to me!
We never imagined this! We used to climb over each
other doing manual mixes, switching EQs on and off,
and all that sort of thing. Im not a control freak per
se, but I do like the idea of running my own ship and
not having to explain to somebody, Punch in here,
because of blah blah

Has any of the Springsteen tape ever

seen the light of day?

24/Tape Op#104/Mr. Bianco/(continued on page 26)

Youve done many genres: R&B, hiphop, indie rock, Americana, pop,
metal, and so on. Has that been a
curse or blessing?

Its both. I guess there is something to be said for

specializing these days, but I love all kinds of music.
Its cathartic for me. I have been trying to coerce
more jazz in here, because I think my room is set up
for it. I think we could make an amazing jazz record
here and I havent done enough of that. I try to do
the best I can with everything, as well as giving
people something that they can hold their heads up
high from, and have a hard time beating down the

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line. Thats usually what I go for. I guess its my

competitive nature, but its also about being
honorable about the job and trying to do it well.

How did you come to work with Bob

Dylan?

sure my ducks were as close to in a row as they could

possibly be. I did a lot of plug charts, as well as lists
upon lists on how we could do this thing. It really
didnt dawn on me until I got near the Skirball
[Cultural Center], and I said to myself, Holy shit! This
is Bob Dylan! I started to realize what he meant to
me. I started to psyche myself out and realized I had
better tamp that down! When I finally walked in there
and met him, the first thing I did was go to shake
hands and Bob goes like this [makes a fist for a fist
bump] and I shook his fist. First meeting! Im
thinking, Oh, my God! Nobody warned me about
that. I wish I had gotten the heads up. Bob said, So,
were going to go in there and listen to the templates,
and then were going to record. I said, Oh, were
doing covers? He looked at me and went dark, blankfaced, and then said, Theyre not covers, theyre
templates. We go in and listen to this Otis Rush
song, which became Beyond Here Lies Nothin. We
would go in and listen to the old tunes, taking those
grooves and modifying the licks. On some of the tunes
he didnt change the lick. He would look in the control
room and say to his manager Jeff [Rosen], What did
you think of that? Hed reply, Its really too close,
Bob. And Bob would say, Aw, fuck it! [laughs] So
they paid for those and definitely had to give credit!
Once we were mixing and getting it done, he says to
me, They dont make records that sound like this
anymore. I said, Yeah, its like a Gestalt recording;
you get the big picture all in one go. He thought that
was the funniest thing hed ever heard. He doubled
over laughing and said, I couldnt have said it better
myself, and I learned a new word! He always wanted
us to have our meals together, like a family, and he
listened to people completely. Not what you would
imagine. He was always like, And then whatd you
do? He was that guy! I got calls to do interviews
during the sessions, about the sessions. I turned to
his manager and said, They called me about doing an
interview about the sessions. He shut his laptop and
said, You know, theres no upside to talking about
anything about Bob. I went, Nuff said okay! And
then he opened his laptop again.

powerful singer. It really jolts you to a whole different

reality when he starts to sing. Unbelievable. Great guy,
and I had a lot of fun with him.

Moments that make you want to keep

showing up for work everyday.

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When I got this room going, I found that, without

In the studio, you quite often witness amazing
hyping it up too much, or jazzing it up with EQ using
moments. Most recently, with Lucinda Williams, on
the right microphone for the right situation I was
the record [Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone],
getting really great natural sounds. I recorded an
magical seemed to be the catchword. We had a
acoustic-based record [Can You Hear Me] with a fellow
cavalcade of extraordinary musicians: Ian McLagan
named Keaton Simons. Live acoustic guitar, drums,
[keys for The Faces and the Small Faces] came in to
and bass, for the most part there were a few cuts
play. Tony Joe White guested on guitar, as well as Bill
when we went electric and it caught the ear of Bobs
Frisell, Greg Leisz, Stuart Mathis, and Val McCallum.
manager, vis--vis the head of the record company.
There was guitar playing like youve never heard. So
They liked the acoustics of the record. They wanted
many nights of chills, and all live! No overdubs. Lu
somebody who could get a live through one mic
sang live; no punch-ins. We did 33 songs and the
sound, and Chess Records was the model for it. Bob
whole experience was remarkable. I had known about
was on the road in Nashville; they pulled in to do a
Bill Frisell, but I had never worked with him. Thats a
recording and there was one microphone open. Bob
whole other level of magic, and such a humble,
was in the control room and said, Thats the way a
wonderful guy too. When Lucinda tried to reach Tony
record should sound. Not that Chess Records were one
Joe White to play on the record, his son, who
mic, because they werent, but Bob had that concept
manages him, said, Hes not available right now. Lu
so they asked me if I could do it. I said, Sure, I can
said, Well, when should I try him? Call after
do that. No problem. But what I did do was sneak
sundown. Thats when he finishes fishing. I hit it off
some microphones in the usual spots everywhere. We
with Tony really well. He loved the room, the wood,
had everybody in one room, with everything bleeding;
the sound I was getting, and he was on about that.
like the organ at 110 dB with an upright bass right
Wed sit outside and he would tell me all these stories
next to it. You can imagine the degree of difficulty was
about Jerry Wexler, Muscle Shoals, and the old days.
pretty intense. But I did have the one mic. I
How the drummer would show up for sessions five
researched and found the microphone that they had in
hours late with fish scales all over his legs and shorts.
the studio in Nashville. It was an AKG C422, so that I
His set up was a wah wah pedal and a Colorsound
had the same mic up. I wasnt going to blow that. I
[fuzz pedal] that he had picked up in Europe years
recorded that mic, along with a couple of stereo
ago. His Colorsound was pretty bashed up and taped
Telefunkens and all the microphones I had discreetly
together. I had one that was in pretty good shape, so
placed on all the instruments. I was prepared when
I gave it to him and I thought he was going to cry.
Bob came into the control room and said, I cant hear
He goes, Are you sure man? Thats like giving
Mikes [Campbell] guitar. I had an SM57 tucked inside
someone a guitar! He loved it. Tony Joe White was a
his amp and pushed the fader up. Bob said, Oh, yeah.
game changer for me. Hearing him open for Led
Thats better! It was a lot of fun; we had a lot of
Zeppelin back in high school. That was my first time
success and a number one with that record [Together
I got to hear Delta blues. Just extraordinary.
Through Life]. The next time we met up was for a
Anyone you admire now in the
Christmas record. He told me that everyone was asking
engineering or producer world?
him how we got that sound on the last record. But he
I have always admired [Robert] Mutt Lange for being
said, Im not going to tell em. I cant tell em. But Are there things that have stuck with
able to concentrate and do what he does. I really like
Im actually not sure he had any idea.
Jack White [Tape Op #82] and what he does. His latest
you, or that you have learned from
working with people like Mick
record kicks my ass! Its so raw and amazing. Hes got
I was reading Daniel Lanois book [Soul
Jagger, Bono, Johnny Cash, AC/DC,
a good thing going there. I love the sonics of it.
Mining: A Musical Life], and he
and so on?
Mitchell Froom [Tape Op #10]; I do like him a lot for
mentions that Dylan was a bit of a
his musicality. When I first heard Crowded House I
shadowy figure, showing up at I dont see how they could not. Making a record is such
thought it was amazing. I met Neil Finn, he told
random times, and whatnot. Was that
an intimate thing. Its so personal. Its hard not to
about how Mitchell would worry more about the music
your experience?
share hopes, dreams, and fears. To support that is
than him, and I really admire that.
hearing what their wants are, and guiding the ship in
No, Jack Frost [Dylans nom de plume] was the producer.
the right way. I learn from everybody. Johnny Cash was How involved in the lyrics do you get
You know, if you have a vision and stick to it, that is
one of the sweetest people you could ever hope to
part of production. Being able to stay on course.
during production?
meet, in that he was so kind and shared his space with Well, I tread lightly there. If I can proffer up something
There are actually only a few guys in this town that
everybody. I recorded him for a week at Ocean Way. We
can do that. Once you get into Alice in Wonderland
thats a little more poetic, I might offer it, or if its
had Mike Campbell, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and
in the studio, things really change. Very few guys can
losing me somewhere Ill mention it. I think its really
Brendan OBrien sit in with him. I did two remixes for
really hang onto it. When I first met Dylan, I didnt
important because there is a marriage there that a lot
U2, When Love Comes to Town and God Part II.
really think about what I was getting into until I was
of people dont even think about or deal with. But
Bono liked to sing in the control room, with the mains
driving down the I405, to Jackson Brownes studio
particularly when were doing vocals I like to have the
up. We turned them up until we had feedback on the
[Groove Masters], even though I had done a bunch of
lyrics in front of me and go over and over it. I try not
SM57, then backed it up one notch until the feedback
prep. I did three days of intense equipment chats with
to be too heavy handed with it, but usually my rule
stopped; then hed jump up and do his thing. Very
the crew at Jacksons studio. I really wanted to make
of thumb is you dont talk unless there is really

26/Tape Op#104/Mr. Bianco/(continued on page 28)

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Well, in the 80s I did a lot of remixes that crossed over

a bit into the rap world. I got to work with LL Cool J
on Going Back to Cali and Jack the Ripper. Rick
Rubin was producing; I was engineering. It got me on
the fringe of the Beastie Boys thing that was going on,
because they were all friends. I recently did a remix for
The Who, and also a band called Triggerfinger from
Belgium. They were so enamored with old school hiphop. They really wanted the 99 Problems deal, with
the heavy beat, and so on. Their agent in NY liked it so
much that they gave us songwriting credit. Then
Eminem came out with his retro album of Beasties
influenced hip-hop, and now it feels like were jumping
on a bandwagon. [laughs]

Are you going with a traditional

approach by using an [Akai] MPC?

Yes, I have an old MPC60 and an old Roland MC-505

drum machine. That usually inspires us in some way;
and we play on top of it, so that its real. So all the
playing is more like what the Beasties would do. They
played and could do a live show; not just walk back
and forth with microphones.

Are you chopping loops and samples from

the live performances, or keeping the
performances intact?

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Playing live over the beats, for the most part. We try to
find a point of departure, which is usually a groove,
and then come up with a guitar or bass line that
makes that happen. Some days youre lucky and the
riff comes out instantly. I have a detuned a [Gibson]
SG that Ill crank through a big Marshall amp, and
sometimes thats just the thing!

am

Can you talk a bit about working on Tom

Pettys Wildflowers, which you
received a Grammy for, and also how
you started working with Rick Rubin.
It seems to me like that was a pivotal
point in your career.

Oh, hell yeah. I had good luck with the R&B and the
remixes I was doing for MCA and Capitol Records. I had You have the unlikely honor of recording
a bunch of number one singles. It was quite a run and
a number one record in Norway.
I was mixing all the time. Rick Rubin came to town with Well, Bianco means good luck in Norweigian.

28/Tape Op#104/Mr. Bianco/(Fin.)

Really?
No. But its some bullshit I tell everybody. [laughs] I got
to work with a band called the Hellbillies. The lead
guitar player, Lars Hogan, can play anything with
strings on it. Total virtuoso. They have had a couple
number one records over there and they won whatever
the Norweigian Grammy is [Spellemannspris]. I
worked with Madrugada as well; George Drakoulias
produced and I engineered. We did it at Sound City. I
mixed it out at Scream [Studios], which is sadly no
more, but was a great mix studio. I also flew to Norway
and recorded and mixed them there. They are a big deal
there. They sell out the Spektrum in Oslo, which is
where Madonna would play; and thats saying
something, because there are only about 500,000
people in Oslo!

Recently youve been working on a lot of

hip-hop

Dylans Gear Questions

He would read the trade magazines that were laying
around in back, and one of them was Pro Sound News.
Hed say, Hey Dave, do you have a 737 Avalon mic pream-pli-fi-er? Yeah, we have one of those here. Why?
Are we using it? Uh, were not using it now, but weve
got one. What about an Em-pir-i-cal Labs Dis-tress-or
com-press-or? And the kids in the control room are
starting to snicker. Uh, yeah, weve got those. Were
using those Bob, what are you reading? So I took a
look and it was Rascal Flatts bass chain going into the
PA. Why are you reading that, Bob? And he replied, I
find it intriguing.

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Yeah, completely. You have to tread lightly. Its all how

you proffer it up. I did say something one time to
Stevie Wonder. He had a song lyric, My leg got shot off
in Vietnam And then in the next verse was, I walk
the streets So I asked him, How are you walking
the streets with your leg shot off? He laughed he
thought that was the funniest thing, and he actually
did change the lyric. I was an assistant at the time.

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Its the most personal thing for singers,

and it can be like picking away at
their very being when you make lyric
change suggestions.

his sidekick, George Drakoulias. He needed an engineer

for that night and a friend of mine at Hitsville [West],
who was mixing a cartoon show, said, Hey, I know a
guy. So I went down to Hitsville and met Rick. He and
George went to go see a wrestling match at The Forum
and they left me with LL Cool J and his MC. We cut
Going Back to Cali while they were at the wrestling
match. It was quite possibly the most low-tech way you
could cut a record. I striped the tape with a little beat
from a [Roland TR-]808, LL picked out a loop from a
bunch of different LPs from what the MC was throwing
on his turntable. LL said, Did you see that? Where I
started smiling? That was it. Thats the shit! And that
became the beat. He [the MC] would perform four bars
and then wed go back on another track and fill in the
holes. LL filled out a legal pad with lyrics, went out and
did one pass. He didnt even look at the paper. We tried
a second take, but it wasnt as good as the first, so that
was it. [singing] Bikini small, heels tall, she said she
liked the ocean. That all happened there. In that
session we did three songs in three days for the Less
Than Zero soundtrack. In addition to Going Back to
Cali, we did Poison covering Kiss Rock and Roll All
Nite. Roy Orbison came in and sang a Danzig song,
Life Fades Away, which was for the end credits roll.
Glenn [Danzig] played guitar, George played bass, and
my friend Tony Brock from The Babys came in and
played drums. Roy played nylon string guitar and sang.
Everyone played live. Rick went back to NYC, where he
lived, and I got a call from him to do the first Glenn
Danzig record. I stayed at The Mayflower Hotel on
Central Park for a month. I flew back to L.A., and then
Rick called again and wanted me to work on the Masters
of Reality record, so I flew back. My oldest son had been
born; I think he was only about 6 months old. Rick
became intrigued with L.A. and started coming out
more to work, so we started working on Masters of
Reality at Sound City. He wasnt liking how much the
band was fighting in the studio, so he stayed at the
room he was renting at the Mondrian and said, Just
bring a cassette to the hotel. So I babysat Masters of
Reality at Sound City for two months. They asked me to
be in the Sound City movie and I declined. I cant even
talk about it. [laughs] Too much time at that place! So,
thats how I hooked up with Rick, and we did a lot of
projects together after that. Andrew Dice Clay, a Mick
Jagger solo record, Tom Pettys Wildflowers, Trouble, and
The Four Horsemen. I had worked with Tom Petty
before; as a second engineer I cut You Got Lucky. They
called me for the Southern Accents record, so I worked
on that one a little bit as well. Then we did Wildflowers.
While working on that they would cancel the Monday
session on Sunday night. I was losing a bunch of mixing
work that was paying me really well, so I asked Jim
Scott [Tape Op #75] to come in. Jim was my second
engineer at Record Plant, so I asked Rick if itd be cool
and he said, Can he do what you do? I also told him
I wanted to go up to San Francisco to record a band
called The Spent Poets. Tom and Jim hit if off, so we tag
teamed it for a little bit.

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something in your heart. I dont just say something for

effect. Mick Jagger told me, The thing about these
producers is they always feel they have to say
something or theyre not doing their job. I really feel
that I dont need it. And I understand it too. Im
battling it out in my mind during these types of
discussions and really have to think it out.

Have you ever wanted to quit?

This business? Oh, sure. There are times when you get so
burnt and you feel like you cant go any further. But it
changes everybody has those days. What else would
I do, at this point?

What do you do to clear your mind?

I dont know, put on a Bruce Springsteen record or

something [laughter] The thing about music is that
it grabs you or it doesnt. There are some guys out there
that are making a lot of money in music, but it really
doesnt touch them. For me its a thing. Its like an
opera where an aria comes on; it electrifies you and you
have to pull the car over. I have those moments all the
time. I had a weird moment the other day to a Derek
Trucks slide solo [laughs]. It was so good! I played it
over and over again; my son came in and I was crying.
Its so beautiful. r

read more from this interview at tapeop.com

<www.davesroom.net>
Geoff Stanfield is a producer/mixer from Seattle, WA.
<www.geoffstanfield.com>

bonus article:

http://tapeop.com/interviews/104/david-bianco-bonus/

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gypsy/Django Reinhardt music with violin and

acoustic guitars asked me, Could you record us?
And I said, Oh, yeah!

Originally you said you were in Oviedo?

was talking to Sonny about this, I wanted to mention

the atmosphere of that sound; but it seems to me
that in the 50s jazz guys and rock and roll guys didnt
fit that well together! I realized too late.

That was back in the 90s, when we did our first EP. What other sessions come to mind?
Oviedo and Gijon are very close towns.
The Masonics and also Billy Childish. The Masonics came
first. Russ Wilkins, the drummer, produced one Doctor
What is the attraction to recording in
Explosion album [The Subnormal Revolution of Doctor
Gijon, besides your studio?
Explosion] in the early 90s at Toe Rag Studio with
Gijon is a nice town. First of all it has a nice beach,
Liam Watson [Tape Op #15, 88]. They both produced
which is close to the studio.
it. Were longtime friends, and I always was a big fan
You can go surfing, right?
of Thee Milkshakes [Billy and Russ original band].
Sometimes. Not now, because of the cold water. We used
That week recording in London at Toe Rag Studio
to make nude surfing, which was really good fun.
caused me a big impact. When I was 11 I was listening
I bet. Very liberating.
to all this music from my brother: jazz, The Beatles,
Its a small town; the food is good. The town has grown
and also classical music. But then, with the impact of
up in these years, but the center is like a village and
new wave, I started to collect records of Spanish and
everything is at hand. Therere pensions [rooming
British bands like New Order, in the early 80s. At a
houses] in the center for, like, ten Euros each.
very young age I was exposed to very different stuff,
Groups can stay cheaply.
which is good. Then, late in my teen years, a friend of
And its right in front of the beach; two minutes walking.
mine was passing me tapes of bands like the Rolling
When is the sea urchin season? You took
Stones and Blues Magoos. I was listening to the
us to the old town to eat sea urchins.
effects and reverb; I could lose myself in those spaces
What? Oh, erizos! I think thats in the fall, close to
and the echo chambers. I felt it was fantastic. I always
winter. I remember when I was a child you could buy
had an interest in how those sounds were produced.
erizos from a camion [truck]. There was a man with a
pala [shovel] and he put them in a sack for 25 So you experimented?
pesetas less than a dollar. Erizos are a hallmark of I didnt have access to that gear, so when I had the
Perrotti! [laughter]
chance to go to Toe Rag, it was great. Id listened to
records produced in that studio, like the first album
And you take bands to try a sidrera?
of The Kaisers [Squarehead Stomp!]. I felt, Wow!
[Cider is the traditional drink of
This is really close to the things I want to do. So we
Asturias.]
had to go there to record. Our first experience of
Very much! When The Ripe first arrived from Austin,
recording, in a studio in Gijon, was not very good. It
Texas, they bought some bottles of cider. Nick
was very far from what I wanted to get.
[Yaklin], the drummer, took off his cowboy boot, put
the bottle inside of his boot, and started to knock the Youve worked with Russian bands?
boot on the wall, outside in the street. People were A couple bands came from Russia. This band called The
passing by, freaking out, thinking, Whats this
Types from Moscow. Then, in 2012, Messer Chups from
cowboy doing here smashing this bottle? It was to
St. Petersburg came out. They are enthusiastic fans of
get the cork out with the pressure.
rock n roll and, at the same time, somewhat exotic. For
me, its an honor that they come from such a faraway
Did that work?
place and put their trust in me. I must be up to their
Very well. So when The Ripe come for a session, they are
expectations, in all possible ways, working on their
drinking cider and making recordings. A good
sound and arrangements, but also showing them the
combination.
fun of my town; guiding them to typical restaurants and
Are there other sessions from here that
rock n roll clubs. They came in 2012. At that point they
stand out in your mind?
probably had heard about me through other surf bands
Many, actually. I produced the last album [Gijon Stomp!]
I had produced, like The Longboards, Twang Marvels,
of Sonny Burgess [the Sun Records artist] and the
and Lorenzo Surfer Joe. But something I dont like is to
Legendary Pacers. It was going to be just a couple of
focus on a style. Its boring, because in the end you
songs. I invited them for free because they were
wind up doing everything in that style. Ive loved surf
playing in a festival nearby and it was an opportunity
music since I was a kid The Challengers, The
to record a historical group. The guys got so excited
Astronauts. Ive done some good records of surf music...
that, in the end, they cut a whole album.

I dont get the reference...

I didnt either, but then I understood it related to

something that happened in my childhood. My eldest
brother took me to a circus I thought it was a very
huge American circus called Ringling Bros. but this
one was the Wingling Bros., like a fake version of the
Ringling Bros. They were announcing such a big event,
with lions, and everything was a disaster. It was so
cheap and we were so como se dice, decepcinado?

Disappointed? [laughter]

When did you open Circo Perrotti?

In 2003.

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Yes! I thought it was stupid enough to name a studio

starting with circus.

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At the time that Doctor Explosion was making tours with

the original line up in the late 90s, I remember that our
van was broken constantly and everything was going
wrong. [Bassist/keyboardist] Flix [Domnguez] was
looking at the sky and said, Oh my god, this is like a
Circus Perrotti!

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Whats the origin of the studio name,

Circo Perrotti?

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In 1990 when I recorded the first single of Doctor

Explosion in the basement of a bar. It was dedicated
to The Fleshtones! That was in Oviedo [the capital of
Asturias]. In the middle of the town there was a bar
called La Catedral. Before that my brother Juan
opened a recording studio in 1985. I was playing
drums in a band called Los Rudimentals, and one
evening my brother recorded us. I dont know what
happened with that recording.

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When did you first record music?

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Do you know many square meters do you

have?
Not really. Its a small studio.

and youre a surfer.

You have a nice control room, a live How was it working with Sonny?
It was great. At some point I mentioned something A bad surfer. But I like to record all kinds of music. Its more
room...
Actually two live rooms. My brother opened this studio
in the mid 80s and did not succeed at all. For years
it was a basement storage room for my family, until I
decided to open the studio. In the late 90s we
started to rehearse in this room. I had a digital
recorder, so I started to make some recordings with
that to do some demos. I didnt have any real
intention, other than doing the demos of Doctor
Explosion. But then a band that was playing

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Better known by the last name

Explosion, duetohisrockgroupDoctor
Explosion, Jorge Muoz-Cobo started Estudios Circo
Perrotti in 2003 in his hometown of Gijon, located in
Spains northern coastal province of Asturias. The group
may have a reputation for madcap lyrics and stage
antics, but Jorge Explosion has had a lifelong passion for
recording. His studio incorporates the impressive
collection of vintage and new recording gear, as well as
the instruments he has amassed over the years. Artists
from across Europe, plus rock-a-billy legend Sonny
Burgess, garage stalwarts The Fleshtones (my band), and
Texas psyche-pop rockers The Ripe, have had the
opportunity to enjoy Jorges recording skills, as well as
what this unique corner of Spain has to offer: traditional
cider, sea urchins, and even a bit of surfing.

about jazz. That pissed him off a little bit. Ive always
liked a lot of jazz recordings. Famous recordings made
in New York; Rudy Van Gelder [Tape Op #43] stuff. Ive
always liked those recordings, because my brother
Juan that opened that studio in the mid-80s hes
an extremely good piano player and he played in a
jazz combo when I was 10 years old. He introduced
me to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dave Brubeck.
Those recordings impacted me very much. So when I

interesting. With drums you can succeed in so many

different musical styles by changing a bit of the tuning
of the skins, or playing with the distance of the mics and
the amount of compression. Of course all I have is all
the music I have been listening to in my life, and to use
all those references. Sometimes its in unpredictable
situations; experimenting with sounds and styles. But
dont get me wrong, I also enjoy to record pure 50s
rockabilly or 60s beat bands, but I try to give it

Mr. Explosion/(continued on page 32)/Tape Op#104/31

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huge as you can see. Its a big sounding board, with I particularly like the Pye compressor the 4060. I really
something extra, a Perrotti touch. We have to be humble
big headroom, and very warm. Its unique because most
talking about creativity in the studio, remembering all
want to have that. At the moment I have more than I
of these boards were dismantled, because the preamps
those great anonymous recording engineers and producers
need. I have a Fairchild compressor that is a really good
and the EQs are very desirable. All the studios wanted
from the golden decades of the 40s til the 60s, when so
piece of gear that I regularly use. Some pieces here are
it as outboard gear. Therere only a few still working.
many geniuses made music history, and most of the time
inspired by vintage pieces of equipment. For instance,
with no credit on the record sleeves.
the preamp of Pablo Kahayans is inspired by the
What year is this board?
original Neve 1272; its really, really good. The ADL
What about the recording of one of my They were built in the late 60s to the early 70s. It was a
1500 [compressor], from Anthony DeMaria Labs, is like
standard in German TV and radio. The early EMI
favorites, Estoy Soltero!?
the [Universal Audio] LA-2A. Manley Labs is inspired by
consoles had Telefunken preamps. In the EMI REDD.17
Ah, by Los Guajes [from Mujeres y Centollos]. The good
vintage gear, but they have their own spirit, like The
console the preamps are Telefunken or Siemens, but
thing about that band is that the singer is like an actor.
Variable Mu compressor/limiter and the Massive Passive
they are probably the same because on the V72
He really interprets his performance.
EQ. Its my main mastering section, but I also use them
[preamp modules] you can see the name Telefunken
The recording has a very special
for tracking and mixing. I use the Fulltone Tube Tape
here, the same as Siemens. [Telefunken was a joint
atmosphere and sound.
Echo for mixing, which is like an Echoplex, but more
venture between AEG and Siemens -LC]
I did the arrangement of the horns.
versatile because it has different speeds and more
Real horns?
Its nice and heavy!
control. Purple Audios MC77 is inspired by the classic
Yeah.
Because it has transformers and valves.
Urei/Universal Audio 1176. The good thing is its
When The Fleshtones came to record two What does this lend to the sound?
cheaper and it works. The best thing is to trust your
tracks, Keith [Streng, guitarist] told Very warm and very rich midrange sometimes too much.
ears and not the names, the publicity, or what people
me, I want to record two songs with
It tends to color all the sound with its unique tone.
talk about. In the end the important thing is that your
strings. We were afraid you might
Sometimes its something that you want, and
record sounds good. r
sometimes its not.
suggest using some computer program.
No way!
Talk to us about some of your outboard
Read more about Jorges amp and instrument collection and
gear.
How did you get the string section
see more photos at tapeop.com.
together? Is there a philharmonic I like to use the EMT plates. Thats something very special.
Jorge plans to open a second Circo Perrotti in Austin, TX.
orchestra in town?
I have a room upstairs with the two plates EMT 140.
bonus article:
I have a remote.
I made some phones calls to some people I know. They
<www.circoperrotti.com>
are really good musicians. I called a viola, a violin, The Fleshtones were among the last to
<www.doctorexplosion.es>
and a cello, and they started all playing together. I
use the famous echo chamber at Gold
listened in the room to what they are playing and I
Star Recording Studios in Hollywood
put the microphone in a place where I thought it
in 1980.
sounded best and thats all. Its a nice microphone, Its a pity about echo chambers; you wont see them
a [Neumann] U 47.
much any more. In the stairway going to the second http://tapeop.com/interviews/104/jorge-explosion-bonus/
floor where I have the EMTs, there is a nice natural
A first for The Fleshtones strings! Those
reverb. If you put the [Ampeg] B-15 flip-top amp on
tracks are on our new album Wheel Of
the bottom of the stairway and a good microphone on
Talent, and were quite happy with that.
the top, you can record a really nice delay. You can
Of course The Fleshtones [Quatro X Quatro EP] are a special
even send that to the plates, or use a combination to
band for me since I was 18-years old. You guys were
create you own reverbs.
playing in Len. I didnt know very much about The
Fleshtones, but I felt maybe this was going to be a Talk to me about your tape decks.
good adventure. You impressed me that night because I have three. Im using this MCI 24-track, 2-inch, which
you played a song by Los Bravos [a Spanish 60s beat
sounds amazing. I got this one in 2013. Before I was
group called Trapped. When you started that song, I
using a 16-track, 1-inch Otari MX-70, which sounded
fell in love immediately.
pretty good, but I think the MCI pisses on it.

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You offer a lot to people who come here. Over there you have a 2-track?
Do you have a general approach to I have a couple of 2-tracks: these two Telefunken M-15
recording?
1/4-inch decks for mix down. Huge sound.
I never studied anything, if thats your question. With time Any new equipment coming?

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you come to some conclusions that a certain way of Actually I got a new analog to digital converter. I was
doing things is going to work. In the beginning it was
using Apogee, but this technology is growing so fast. It
big-time mistakes, but then you develop your own
was obsolete. On the 1/4-inch deck I was getting great
tricks that work. But I dont like to fall into routines; I
treble and bass, but I found that when I transferred or
like to escape from them. I like to treat the bands not
mastered to digital I didnt like the result it didnt
all the same. Every band needs a different treatment
sound as good as the 1/4-inch. On one hand you can
because every band has a unique sound. Its my work
say that part of it is the musical sound of the machine,
to find it. To help people be the band they want to be.
but in the conversion you want to lose as little as
possible. Thats why I got this Crane Song converter
Whats your console?
called HEDD. I also recently got that Neve-style preamp
A Telefunken V800.
[Kahayan MP-1X] made by Pablo Kahayan, a fantastic
How did you come across that?
technician who is doing my maintenance in the studio.
I went to Germany and I met this guy named Rudi. He had
He works in Madrid, but he is originally from Argentina.
a radio station in his house, as well as a big collection
Hes been restoring my microphones and gear.
of trains real trains [laughter] from the 30s. He was
renting a railroad for 12 euros a kilometer on Sundays. Whats on your wish list? What is your holy
He has the Hermann Gring train. The Telefunken is
grail of audio equipment?

32/Tape Op#104/Mr. Explosion/(Fin.)

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#104/33

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Chris Mara and

Cameron Henry

Welcome to 1979

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interview by Stephen Allbritten

sidebars by Larry Crane
photos by Derek Porter and Larry Crane

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In an industry that has become more and more digitized, Nashvilles

Welcome to 1979 and its owner, Chris Mara, are offering clients an
opportunity to step back in time. With a recent purchase of a vinyl
cutting lathe, Chris, along with his vinyl mastering engineer
Cameron Henry, is continuing the analog tradition, giving bands a
chance to cut masters directly to vinyl. I talked with Chris and
Cameron about what its like learning a forgotten craft, and
about the different ways Chris may be a leader in a
resurging analog revolution.

Youve had the lathe for a little while now? Everybodys laying it down, all together?
Chris Mara: It was already restored when we got it, but it CM: They have to.
took a while to get it up and running.
CH: Therere no overdubs. The sequence of the songs has
I know youve been doing some
to be performed live. You cant stop, so they have to
mastering with the lathe, but you
get through every song in a way that doesnt have
have been advertising cutting bands
mistakes, or the whole side has to be started over.
live to the lathe?
CM: We encourage them to rehearse side A and rehearse
Cameron Henry: Weve done it a few times. We did one as
side B separately. Were talking to bands about coming
a trial to see what it sounded like, and it sounded so
in for a weekend, working one day on side A, and one
great that we thought, We need to start doing this.
day on side B. Were gonna take a mult from the console
CM: The guy that restored it, Chris Muth (he designs
and record it to Pro Tools so we can listen to it, because
Dangerous [Music] gear), knew I had a studio. He said,
we cant listen back to our master. We record straight to
The first chance you get, cut directly to it. It sounds
the disc. The band comes up, we listen to the take on
phenomenal. I think we are the only studio in the
Pro Tools; once we get one we like we label it and then
country that can cut directly to disc.
do another pass as an alternate.
CH: There are a couple of live venues and places that do CH: As a safety backup, in case theres some
it, like Jack Whites [Third Man Records, Tape Op #82]
manufacturing problem.
in town does it.
CM: So weve got another ready to go. Theyll come out of
CM: Its a live performance though.
here with two versions of it.
CH: And its private. Its not like you can book it.
How long did it take you guys to

learn this?

Do you cut a whole record?

What tape machine do you master from?

CH: Its a Studer A80.

CM: Those were made specifically for this process.
CH: Its strictly a playback machine. The lathe actually
needs two instances of the audio. This tape machine
actually has two headstacks on it. Theres a preview
head that will go to the [lathes] computer. It goes
through the obstacle course of rollers to the repro
head and then feeds the cutterhead. Theres no digital
delay required. The machine creates the delay by
having two headstacks on it. The preview computer
analyzes the audio thats coming in (about a second
ahead of time) and knows if theres going to be a big
bass drum hit, or a big loud part thats going to make
the groove sway. It will speed the pitch up so the
groove will be further away from the previous one, so
they dont run into each other while youre cutting.
CM: Not audio pitch.
CH: Yeah, sorry. Pitch as in speed across the lacquer. The
trick is to get as much music as you can on the record
without the grooves running into each other. You can be
safe and spread them really far apart, but youre wasting
a lot of real estate, which means your record would have
to be cut quieter. Its always a battle of space versus
time with the music, so having this computer allows us
to not only separate the grooves when it gets loud, but
when it gets quiet it will also cram them in together.
CM: Of course, cutting from Pro Tools is easier because
you duplicate a track and slide it over [to create a
preview track].
CH: If people want to bring us tape, we can cut records
the right way with tape. If they bring us digital, we
can cut records the right way with digital.
CM: And the Studer has both 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch heads.
CH: We have to monitor certain frequencies that freak out the
cutter head: harmonicas, canned air sounds, and bagpipes.
CM: Sibilance on singers. Real tight harmonies.
CH: Cutting a loud scream in a metal band is fine, but
when you get a Bob Dylan-type song with a lot of
harmonica it takes a little bit of work. Sometimes it
will get distorted because the cutter head is so
sensitive that its cutting grooves that are hard for any
playback system to trace back.
CM: We can cut it, but the playback...
CH: Doesnt always play nice.

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CH: We were somewhat in a vacuum, but we had

some mentorship. Chris and I both
tracked a lot of records that
came out on vinyl,
but we didnt
cut the

around; he took us from 0 to 60. So, were not just

doing it; were doing it because of him, Cameron, and
Chris [Muth]. All those pieces really came together.
Were already beating the lacquers that Cameron and I
had other people do, no doubt. Its been fun to learn
a whole other process.

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masters.
So we had the
ma s t e r s, e i t he r
digital or tape recordings,
and the finished product. We
could put the masters on and cut our version
of those records, and then see how we sized up to
whatever the other guy did. We learned backwards
that way. We figured out peoples processes by Well thats the nice part about having all
of this set up right here. We need to
analyzing their work.

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CH: It can be anything.

Whatever the artist is comfortable with.
CM: Im trying to get into the bands mindset that they
could come in for a day and do an LP. An A and B side
change those cymbals out; were
in a day; its recorded, mixed, and mastered. Its really Reverse engineering.
getting something thats a little too
affordable and sounds awesome, and those two words CH: Exactly.
much for the machine.
usually arent [used] in the same sentence.
CM: A gentleman by the name of Hank Williams offered
CH: Yeah, we usually cut acetates [test lacquers].
us his time. He owns MasterMix and he used to cut on CM: Even yesterday I cut a 45, and I cut it too hot. I
listened to it, and it sounded awesome. But on the
Throughout the day the band will be rehearsing their
a daily basis. He came over, and it was like a Karate
inside [grooves] it started skipping, because there was
LP side, or their single. Chris will be mixing upstairs;
Kid movie. We spent an entire day without even
too much going on. I had to drop the volume so that
Ill be down here cutting acetates and, in between
turning [the lathe] on, and instead talked about what
everyone could play it. We have our turntable set up
takes, I listen to whats going down to the disc. I
we were going to do tomorrow. He spent a week with
to be middle of the road. Its not the worst, but its
make adjustments as we go. As the band is rehearsing,
us; then he let us go play and we fucked it all up. Then
not the best.
Im rehearsing, and Chris is rehearsing, so at the end
he came back and got it back straight. He kept coming
of the day everybodys on and its all dialed in.

Mr. Mara & Mr. Henry/(continued on page 36)/Tape Op#104/35

CH: We encourage bands, or producers, to come in here when we cut their masters. They can
hear what Im doing so we can make adjustments on the fly. We did one the other day where
I cut it two different ways. Its better that they are involved with that choice when were
here and we can make adjustments, as opposed to waiting until there are plates and
everything made. It gets to be expensive and time costly.
CM: And they know they made the correct decision without any pressure.
CH: Because it is the last creative step in the process of putting a record out; the last stage
where you can make adjustments, for better or worse.

What model lathe is here?

CM: Its a Neumann VMS 70.

How many of them are still on the market?

CH: They made about 300 of them, so its pretty rare.
CM: This one was made in 73.
CH: I can probably count on both hands the people I know that are cutting on one.
CM: Well, in the two years I was looking for it, I only had the opportunity to buy four. That was
having everyone I know looking for them, worldwide. I turned one down in Switzerland; I
turned one down in London; I turned one down in Jamaica. Hank was really instrumental. He
helped guide me into which lathe to buy. He helped me turn down purchases. Theyre hard to
come by, but you dont want to buy a shitty one.

Where did you end up buying that one?

CM: It came out of New York, and it was restored there.

Youve been promoting the vinyl cutting aspect of the studio, but you
keep busy promoting the studio in general. Theres the Upstairs at
United series. Youre recording at United Record Pressing then
directly pressing it there. Youve got some big names like Keane
and JEFF the Brotherhood. How did that come about?

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CM: It sounds corny, but do what you like to do. I wanted to learn more about mixing live to 2track, so I started a label (Im using the term very loosely), where I said, Come here [Welcome
to 1979] and record. You pay for the pressing and Ill get a percentage of that. Its just one
day, not a big deal, and they pay my assistant or whatever. We did four or five of those, and
pressed them at United. Then the owner of United, Mark Michaels, wanted to use his space
upstairs as a musical venture to scratch a creative itch he had. He called his marketing director,
Jay Millar, and said, I want to record live on tape up here. Do you know anyone we could talk
to? And Jay said, Talk to Chris Mara! We called a meeting, and he asked, Is this something
you can do? I said, Yeah! Ive got the chops. Ive got the gear. Who are you thinking to do
it? And he said, Id like to start the series with people like Brendan Benson [Tape Op #89]
and Cory Chisel. I said, Well, Im working on both of their records right now.

Ill call them!

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CM: We started the series with those guys, and we did our tenth and eleventh last week.
Now that we have a lathe Ill record a mix live to tape. We do that, one song at a time,
in the order that they are going to be on the EP. We record over it as many times as
we want and move on to the next song. I bring the tape to Cameron that night, cut
the lacquer, and bring it to United the next morning.

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Do you have a rig that youve left over there, ready to go all the
time?

CM: Yeah, Ive got a console over there that a friend of mine lent me, and two tape machines that
he bought from me. He needed a place to store them so I said, Ill upgrade your machines
and recap your console if I get to use it. I used to bring both racks, but its upstairs. Now
Im like, Im gonna bring four channels of compressors. Ive slowly been buying gear to leave
over there, like [Yamaha] NS-10s and another power amp.

How many inputs do you have there?

CM: Fourteen, and we use a real chamber there. I set up an echo chamber in a stairwell, and I have
a tape delay. Everything we do is captured there. Theres no digital delays or reverbs. Theyre all in
one room. Its tricky. We did Cults last Monday; its drums, bass, guitar, keys, and everyone sings.
They were singing quietly. It was like, Alright, this is our drum sound, because its everywhere.

There isnt a stipulation to this. Bands come in as they are.

CM: Yeah, one of my goals is to make sure it doesnt turn into some acoustic only series. JEFF
the Brotherhood are fucking balls to the wall.
CH: Play what you play. It should be the way you sound. Thats the idea. Theres no overdubs,
no nothing. Its exactly what they sound like in that room.
CM: Cults Madeline [Follin] said, This sounds like our record. She was paying me a huge
compliment, but shes like, I cant believe this sounds like a record, and weve been here
an hour. I was like, Well, you guys honed your sound.

36/Tape Op#104/Mr. Mara & Mr. Henry/(continued on page 38)

Its not like they woke up that day and decided to do this.
CM: Yeah, so thats fun. I figured most artists wouldnt want to release it, because its not
perfect, but all of them are like, This is awesome!

Ive heard the Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons one; its really
beautiful.

CM: Thats one of my favorites. I didnt know it at the time, but I was booked to do his
record [Old Believers]. He told me later that they were going to do it somewhere else,
like New York. After United, he said, I want to do it like this, with Chris. They set up
downstairs [at 1979] in a big circle and spent a month [working on it]. His record is
one of my favorites to listen to. You know, you dont listen to the stuff you work on very
often, but I listen to his a lot. Its a cool record.

You mentioned your assistants. Where do you get your help?

CM: We grow our own. We dont have an internship program here. We have one intern at a
time, for three months. At the end of three months they are either hireable or I never want
to see them again. Theres no in between. We have three people who work here regularly
that have all been ex-interns. They know how to align tape machines, assist Cameron,
understand the basics of record making, and are fluent in Pro Tools. They come in with a
wide variety of skill sets from schools. We help them get to where I can use them. [laughs]

Expanding on a craft that isnt around as it used to be.

CM: Assisting on its own is a lost art, and I hear that from other engineers that I know as well.
Every session here has an assistant on it as part of the rate. Thats how I feel sessions should
be. An engineer should have an assistant; the band should have someone else there to help.
Theres stuff to do. Thats how you start engineering. Its midnight and the band wants to
do tambourine on three songs. Im outta here. Take over. They should be able to do that,
and if they fuck up a tambourine take, the world will still be here tomorrow. Its a nice way
to start recording, and not abuse them, as work.

Your rates are very reasonable. For one rate the band gets you; for
another rate they can bring in an engineer and the assistants
ready to go.
CM: Yeah, and I get a thrill at the end of the year. I love it when we spent tens of thousands
of dollars on assistants, because thats paying it forward.

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When I came over here for your very first studio party, it was a big
warehouse. You had a reverb room off [in another part of the
building]. Is that space still available?
CM: Yes and no. We put a wall there, so this is our echo chamber now [points to hallway
outside the control room], as well as another tracking space. This year I rented another
800 square feet to expand Mara Machines into that warehouse space.

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What is Mara Machines?

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CM: I restore analog MCI tape machines. That has gone bananas. Ive been doing it for five
years. The first year I restored and sold six machines. The next year, it was 15. The next
year, it was 25. Last year, it was 30. Theyre going all over the world, to Pete Townshend,
Ryan Adams, and Chris Lord-Alge, and its awesome. Thats just from fixing my shit. People
will call and say, Id like to get a machine. After a while, I was like, Ill sell you one!
Vintage King sells them for me. I have three assistants we use here on a regular basis. If
ones in session, I have another one, or two, in the shop working on machines. If
something happens to break during a session, they know tape machines in and out. So I
still have access to that side; its just a different venture.

Before Mara Machines

I used to work for Randy Blevins [Blevins Audio], aligning machines and fixing stuff for
him in exchange for gear. Thats why I have the MCI gear because it sounds good and I
know how to work on it. And if I dont, Randy does! -Chris Mara

Youve also been doing Tape Camps. People come in for a weekend,
and its a whole process of learning the aspects of tape. Have you
had a good response to those?

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CM: Totally, and they get a credit. Then I ask the band how it worked out; if a vocal session
pops up, I know that I can book an assistant as an engineer, and increase their pay
grade through that process.

It builds camaraderie with the band.

CM: We take ten people for a weekend. On Saturday, Ill pull reels off the wall. Well mix
some stuff, set up an echo chamber, tape delay, springs, plates, and all that. Then we
walk them through what a DAW is trying to emulate and do some comparisons.

Show them that this is what digital is trying to recreate.

Before Welcome to 1979

CM: And that, Guess what. You can do a chamber

anywhere. If youre mixing, and youve got a guitar
amp and a microphone sitting there, put them to work.
Saturday afternoon I usually bring in a piano player and
vocalist, or an acoustic guitarist and vocalist, and we
record that on an 8-track machine. The next day we
bring a band in and record them on a 24-track machine.
We transfer from tape to Pro Tools, they get the files,
and they can fuck with the sessions at home.

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The name Welcome to 1979 is based on the

average year of the equipment here. Is
there a cut off point? Is everything
prior to 1979?

I feel like I was one of the last to arrive in Nashville and

grab an internship! That turned into a job as an assistant
engineer. The owner would slide me over to his friends
it really helped me out so that I was working in other
studios. His point was, The more you know, the better
youre going to be for me. I also got to make money and
not have to have a second job. Through that, I knew a
bunch of studio owners and I could use their studios when
it was dark; Id get good rates for my friends. The best
advice I ever got, as far as work, was from Robin Crow
who owns Dark Horse Recording. He said, My biggest
sessions have come from the smallest start. My biggest
assisting gig was a one-day session that turned into two
years of work. People dont pull up in a limousine and say,
I want to book three months of work. It starts with little
things. -Chris Mara

CM: No, its more of a state of mind. I havent done the

math lately, but I took an average of everything I own
and it was 1978.4.

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Very, very close!

38/Tape Op#104/Mr. Mara & Mr. Henry/

CM: But its more of a state of mind. Recently I purchased

a tracking Pro Tools rig. I want more engineers to use
the studio, and that is whats required. However, I dont
want to be a Pro Tools studio that has a tape machine.
I want to be a tape machine studio that has a Pro Tools
rig. I think weve established ourselves as experts on
recording analog. So many engineers were like, Dude, I
wish you had one. I thought, Its time to get one.
People were missing out on the experience because Im
being a little prickish. And it would be nice to have more
people use the space. I dont have to engineer everyday.

What console do you use?

CM: Its a 1978 MCI JH-428. Super straightforward.

Mic pre, EQ, fader, to tape. Ive recapped it and I
redid the cosmetics.

Are you promoting a hybrid approach? If

you want to use Pro Tools, you can do
drums and bass to tape?

Recording Summit
Every year, in early November, Welcome to 1979 hosts a
Recording Summit. The weekend-long event is limited to
60 attendees, features multiple panels, recording sessions,
and access to a wide array of recording professionals. Ive
hosted interviews with Ryan Freeland [Tape Op #101] and
Jacquire King [#88] during the last few Summits and truly
enjoy the whole experience. -LC

CM: Its pitched as: you can do tape; you can do Pro Tools.
I have it wired where its console, tape machine, Pro
Tools. So, if you wanted, you can record on tape, and,
as you listen back to it with the band, dump it to Pro
Tools. But I think most people are going to do one or
the other. We had CLASP [Tape Op #83] for a while. I
enjoyed the concept, but, for me, it wasnt the workflow
I was going for. Its designed perfectly; its just trying
to marry the two worlds. I felt like my Pro Tools tricks
didnt work, and my tape tricks didnt work. There are
two machines recording at once, so I felt I was focused
on technology too much when I was working. Im
excited about the Pro Tools rig; Im setting it up as a
dual station, where the computer and the keyboard will
be in one place. Well have a wireless keyboard and
monitor by the console, so that when the engineer
wants the assistant to do something, they dont have to
move. The assistant can do some crossfades, or
whatever, and the engineer can still work. Im pumped
about that.

Vinyl Parties

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I dont have an advertising budget, so how do we get

people over here? The studio tour doesnt work well. Id
invite bands and they wouldnt come. So every six weeks
we started throwing these vinyl parties. It began with
about 30 people, and theyd go until midnight. No DJ;
everyone just grabs a record and plays it. I always tell the
bands who record here to bring some friends over. Its
financially feasible $50 of food and some cases of Miller
High Life! What started to happen was that people were
experiencing the space in a positive manner. Theyre
literally dancing in the control room. -Chris Mara

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CH: Wax cylinders!

CM: I want to build a mastering room here, much like the
lathe room, where people fly in to be with Cameron
when he cuts their record. I have the plans drawn and
have the bids. Im just trying to find the right person to
put in there.
CH: Being all in-house makes a huge difference. The
records that Chris mixes and cuts here, I can
confidently know without Chris in the room what
he was going for. Having a mastering person in the
chain too would be awesome.
CM: Theres an expert each step of the way. Ive had
tremendous joy popping in and seeing what Camerons
doing while Im on a mix break. I would love to go from
here with a song Ive mixed to mastering down the hall,
and ask, How am I doing? That would be the pinnacle.
r
<www.welcometo1979.com>
Stephen Allbritten co-owns Best Friend Studio in Nashville.

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Its really in-house here. You repair

decks, you cut vinyl, you record, and
mix. Whats next?

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Tape Op is made
possible by our
advertisers.

Please support them and tell them

you saw their ad in Tape Op.
Mr. Mara & Mr. Henry/(FIn.)/Tape Op#104/39

Bill Whitlock

by Larry Crane

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A friend of mine, who Id gone to school with, Steve

Desper, had become the mixing engineer for the Beach
Boys. He told me I should move to California and get
my foot in the door of the audio business in Hollywood.
It turned out that the Beach Boys had all their touring
equipment built by Quad/Eight. I managed to get a
consulting job after building a few pieces of custom
gear for the Beach Boys. Steve arranged for me to
interview at Quad/Eight, and who interviews me but
Deane Jensen! He was ready to launch the transformer
company this was in 1971. He was making noises
about leaving his job at Quad/Eight, because he was a
system engineer and hed just become VP of
engineering. The discussion turned over to the fact that
he was working on this new amplifier a really good
audio op amp because Bud Bennett, the owner of
Quad/Eight, was such a cheapskate that he wouldnt
spend money on an extra transistor for the amplifiers in
the Quad/Eight gear. Of course that was the beginning
of his work on his 990 op amp. We started talking about
slew rates and all. At the end of the interview, Deane
told Bud that I was really sharp and they ought to hire
me. They did, then Deane went off and started Jensen
Transformers. We really didnt see that much of each
other, except at the occasional AES meeting, or
something. I worked at Quad/Eight for three years. One
weekend, frankly, I got stoned, and I came up with this
idea for Compumix. We could gather a little data from
the faders and a few switches. Id learned from
telemetry work I did before on how to generate digital

At 64x actual speed.

So your digital frequency has to be very

high.
The analogue signal at 20 kHz now became 1.28 MHz.
While I was there, I also implemented Dolby HX Pro on
the production line for all the cassettes. We didnt like
the Dolby implementation of it, so we rolled our own.
Thats what I get for being an analog circuit designer...
its never good enough. For over a year Id been putting
in 70 to 75 hour weeks, working around the clock. We
were always behind schedule on this project, but the
boss sent me on a vacation. When I came back, they
had returned all the gear, canceled the project, and
theyd done it all while I was gone. I was outta there.

When I explain this, people say, But thats so simple. But

think about those days! There was no such thing as a
floppy disk. The densest form of logic that you could
get was standard TTL [TransistorTransistor Logic], a
few flip-flops, and NAND [Negated AND logic] gates in
packages. This was all built out of very small-scale
integrated circuits. A lot of it was very, very analog. Its And then what?
not as simple as you might think, looking back. We My friend, Steve Desper, who I mentioned earlier, had
established some industry standards, like using the -15
discovered this amazing patch using filters and
dB mark on the fader as a reference point for updating.
equalizers on mixing boards. It had this amazing stereo
That was my idea, which apparently caught on through
enhancement effect that widened the stereo image and
the whole industry. We got it to market. We
made it sound like there were sources in the room that
affectionately called the control unit the ironing
were way beyond the speakers. It eventually was called
board, because it somewhat resembled that; and the
Spatializer. He wanted me to build a professional
processor was called the mailbox. The mailbox had all
version of this that would work with multitrack
the VCA control channels, decoding hardware, and line
playback. Of course it had to have transformers, so we
amps in it. Much to my shock, Bud actually gave me a
went out to Deanes office to talk about which
rather large bonus that year for Compumix, because it
transformers to use. I told him that Id just quit my job
was such a financial success.
at Capitol Records. His eyes lit up, and he asked if Id
What jobs did you have after Quad/Eight?
like to work with him doing consulting. He got so bored
I got lured away. A guy walked through the front door of
sometimes at the transformer company; he really liked
Quad/Eight and said, Who designed Compumix? They
taking on other peoples projects and using the software
showed him to my office, and he just kept making
that hed developed to solve these problems. I said,
higher and higher offers. It was this start-up company
Sure. Why not? We set up an office in my house in
called Laserium that did laser light shows. They were
Sherman Oaks. Hed come over in the evening, and
looking for a way to automate a laser light show. I
every weekend wed spend at my house in the lab. He
moved over there, and I must have almost doubled my
had tons of projects. People would ask for these
salary. I was over there for seven years. Actually, in 76,
impossible filters. We brainstormed a lot about the 990
I filed a patent for a digital recorder based on a VHS
[op amp] as well. We did that for about a year and a
machine. It used the mechanics, but completely gutted
half. He never wanted to talk much about what was
the electronics. We could record four channels of audio,
going on at Jensen, so I didnt find much out about the
as well as all the control information for a laser light
actual business until after his death.

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How did you end up in this field?

Youre printing to the cassette at a really

high cassette speed.

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codes, bi-phase especially, which I thought was

Jensen Transformers was founded in
particularly suitable for tape recording, since its not
1974 by Deane Jensen as part of his quest
polarity sensitive. I made this proposal to Bud Bennett,
for excellent studio sound. He believed
and much to my surprise, he thought it was a good idea.
the transformers of the era were of a
I dont know how much you know about Compumix, but
substandard quality, and our field has
it was actually very successful.
benefitted from his research and dedication
Was that the one that would rewrite mix
ever since. When Deane tragically passed
data to another track, and youd
away in 1989 he left his business to Bill
bounce back and forth?
Whitlock, who has maintained the level of
Yeah, thats how the original worked. It laid down the
quality ever since. This year, after
initial data on one track, and then as you did
decades of using their products, Peter
updates it would bounce the data back and forth
Janis the owner of Radial Engineering
between two tracks.
purchased Jensen Transformers (see our
People have to understand that this is
sidebar interview). It was great to chat
long before SMPTE timecode was
with Bill about Jensen and how
lurking around.
transformers actually work.

Behind
The Gear
This Issues Winder of Transformers

show on a videocassette. It was a very popular show,

but the company got mismanaged. Capitol Records was
looking for somebody; I went out there for an interview,
and I got a job there as manager of electronic
development and engineering. My major job was to
completely overhaul all of the high-speed tape
duplicator electronics for the XDR cassette tape program
[eXtended Dynamic Range]. One of the engineers that
worked under me, Keith Thomas, and I sat around one
day and brainstormed about a digital loop bin. We had
digital masters for all the music, so why did we need to
make this intermediate analog running master, which
was nothing but trouble? It was a 2-inch tape running
at 480 inches per second this machine made you hold
your breath whenever you turned it on. Why didnt we
just get a large memory at high speed, load all this
music in there, and then play it back at 64x speed into
some D/A converters so that the pancake reels on the
cassette tape would be first generation analog? We
ended up having to design our own DACs
[Digital-to-Analog Converter].

40/Tape Op#104/Mr. Whitlock/(continued on page 42)

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#104/41

How did you end up running Jensen

Transformers?

market, but people said, Im not going to spend this much

on this box. But then somebody told us about this new
trade show called CEDIA [Audio Video Technology
Tradeshow] about home theater. We went to that show, set
up a booth, and those things started flying like hotcakes.
All I had to do was mention ground loops to home theater
people, and they suddenly became interested.

Deane left it to me. There were lawsuits that took years to

settle. That was really the dark side of Jensen. For about
the first four years, I wondered if I was throwing good
money after bad. I had to re-mortgage my house, and I
was borrowing money from everybody I knew just to make
payroll and keep the doors open. It was against the advice Jensen has always stood for quality. You
see legendary brands like Altec
of my lawyer and the company accountants, who both
Lansing at this point used for branding
said that I should close the doors and walk away from the
cheap speakers.
mess. I felt like I owed Deane a lot more than that. He
worked a long time to get his reputation, and I didnt just That makes me cringe, the thought of something like that.
Ive always tried to represent the company as the smartest
want to see it go down the drain. But we did turn things
company around, when it comes to transformers. When I
around. About 1994 or 95, we started to operate in the
first took over the company in 1989, I had used
black. The lawsuits were all settled, and we introduced the
transformers to solve problems, but I couldnt really
ISO-MAX product line, which is part of what saved us. By
explain to anybody why they solved problems better than
then, the Pro Spatializer was also in full production by
any other solution. That led to my AES paper in 1995,
Spatializer Audio Labs, and I was getting quite a
Balanced Lines in Audio: Fact, Fiction, and Transformers.
substantial revenue stream from that, which I was
It turned out to be an earth-shaking paper.
plowing into Jensen to keep it growing.

What is the ISO-MAX product line?

signal has a higher impedance, something above zero,

which is determined by the source and the load. In a
balanced interface, what makes it balanced and gives it all
its magical noise-rejection properties, is that the
impedance, with respect to ground, of those two lines is
equal. It doesnt mater where the signal is at all. You can
put all the signal on one of those lines, the other, or split
it up between them, as is popularly done. But its not
required, and it has nothing to do with the noise rejection.
The problem with using a single op amp and four resistors
[in place of a transformer] is that its common-mode
impedances are really low; a thousand times lower than a
transformer. This means that this bridge can be unbalanced
by even a fraction of an ohm from the connected source.
Thats why, with so much gear today, how much noise
rejection you actually get depends exquisitely on the source
and how balanced it is. Its my message: Transformers are
fundamentally different, and far superior, as a balanced-line
receiver. Im a born skeptic; Im always looking for the nonobvious answers and sometimes I find them.

What would be a simple way to explain that P e t e r J a n i s w a s s a y i n g t h a t h e s

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to our readers?
rearranging the company, as far
One of the guys I met while I worked at Capitol Records
as efficiency.
competed in these dB drags, where you see how loud you Youve probably heard the most common, but wrong,
definition of what a balanced interface is. The standard We never had a lot of surplus cash. But right away Peter
could get your car stereo to go. He always installed a
definition goes something like, Theres the plus and the
bought two, brand-new, Meteor computer-controlled
Jensen transformer in his systems to get rid of all the
minus line. The plus has a signal on it, and the minus has
Swiss-made winding machines. I think that brings us up
ground loop issues, like the alternator whine and the turn
a mirror image of that signal; equal and opposite in
to a total of seven or eight machines. He hired the staff
signal clicks and pops. He came to me one day and said,
polarity. Thats absolutely wrong. A balanced interface is
to run those. Our accounting department has always been
There are a lot of people who would buy these
defined
solely
by
the
impedances
of
those
two
lines,
with
a total thorn in my side; he also got that straightened out
transformers, but they dont know which end of a soldering
respect to ground. In an unbalanced interface, one of those
right away. I know there are ways to save money, but if
iron to hold. He told me that I needed to put them in a
two wires is grounded, so the other one that carries the
itll cut into the quality and performance of the part, Im
box with connectors. We tried that on the car stereo

not interested. However, if there are ways to reduce the

labor and/or improve the uniformity, and also reduce
costs, yeah, Id be very interested in that. Ive never
pretended to be a great business manager. I ended up as
owner and manager of Jensen by default. My training has
always been as an analog circuit designer, and thats all
I really love doing. When we started not being able to
deliver his parts as fast as Peter wanted, he started
making noises about, When are you going to sell this
company, Bill? Arent you going to retire some day? The
hints started getting heavier and heavier. Last year, it got
down to the point where I told him, Im almost 70 years
old, and Im really not enjoying all this management
stuff. At that point we had about 15 or 16 people on
the staff. Id never managed that many people before,
and its not easy. On my 70th birthday, April 14th of this
year, we signed the final deal, and Jensen became owned
by Radial. He has promised me that he will keep it
independent, separately managed, and, that as much as
he possibly can, hell uphold the standards that weve
held over the years. r
<www.jensen-transformers.com>
Visit <tapeop.com> for more from this interview.

bonus article:

Peter Janis and Radial Engineering

Since 1996 Radial Engineering has provided studios and live sound professionals with well-built, rugged, and ingenious
problem-solving pro audio tools. Their first product, the Radial JDI direct box, featured a Jensen transformer. With the recent
acquisition of Jensen, we gave Radials owner, Peter Janis, a call.

Youve been buying Jensen transformers to put in your products for a long time. When
did that relationship first begin?
Well, the story actually goes back to 1980, when Jensen first became a corporation. I was working at a music store in
Edmonton, and the technician who repaired all the amps also happened to be the top bass session player in town. One
day he received this little box and opened it up like a bag of gold. He was so excited because it was the first Jensen
transformer to show up in that part of the world. That stuck with me. Radial became their biggest customer, and have
been for many years. Wed go out there and extol the virtues of transformers.

A lot of your products proudly make a point of letting people know whats inside.

Exactly. We use other transformer manufacturers because Jensen cant supply the full range we need for our products. When
they moved all their production in-house that meant that they had to hire and train their own people. It really caused a lot
of delays. We were just so short on transformers that we tried a whole bunch of other brand manufacturers, some very well
known, to see if they could produce the quality. We came to the realization that we didnt know how good Jensen was.
Jensens not as cheap as some of these others, but you get what you pay for. Its just a better product. That was a huge
impetus for me to try to come to a decision to make a deal with Bill. They needed machines and a cash infusion. Were not
expecting Jensen to make big money for the next two years. Theres a lot of cost bringing them up to the next level, and
its going to take a while for them to settle in. We are staying in California. We extended the lease, and were looking to buy
a building down there. These guys started building transformers 40 years go. Its a lot when you start to delve into the
challenges of making transformers... how theyre wound, all the intricacies regarding core materials, proper stacking, and
testing permeability to make sure the structure of the magnetic domains work properly. Deane Jensen is the pioneer of doing
this right. Hed listen. Most people dont listen. They buy based on what other people tell them is good. I think when you
really listen, thats what makes the difference. Thats really what puts Jensen above the rest. Its just a really good product.

Its really cool. Im glad to see the support coming in for a company thats done such
quality work in the past, and is preparing for the future.

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http://tapeop.com/interviews/btg/104/bill-whitlock-bonus/

Bill Whitlock is so knowledgeable. Hes just the go-to guy when it comes to so many issues with grounding, noise, and
everything else. We really have to listen to people like Bill, and encourage young people to come into the business. Bills
70 years old! We need to find young people that are excited about staying in the analog world.

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44/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/

ADAM Audio

A77X active monitors

Ive had a pair of ADAM S3-A [Tape Op #33] powered

monitors for about a decade at Jackpot! Recording Studio, and
theyve treated me well. I had been through a number of
speakers before them, and in most cases, I either outgrew these
monitors limitations quickly, or I blew out too many drivers.
Using my S3-A pair led to some great mixes, and many
freelancers praised the detail that the folded-ribbon tweeters
offered. But a new era dawns, and my S3-As slowly began to
feel a bit restrictive to me. I wanted clearer bottom end,
especially around the range of bass guitars and toms, and I
wanted something that would translate around my room better.
The ADAMs always gave me a lot of information to mix with,
but the phantom center was lacking, and the dispersion in the
room was uneven. I began looking, and along the way, ADAM
offered to send over their newer A77X monitors ones that
looked strikingly similar to the S3-As. Over the years, Id also
purchased a pair of ADAM A7 [#57] monitors for use at home.
These felt similar to the S3-As, but of course, having smaller
drivers, they had less bass response. The great thing is they
were affordable, and when ADAM moved into their X-ART
(eXtended Accelerating Ribbon Technology) phase, the A7X and
its AX siblings (A3X, A5X, A8X) popped up. But the king of the
A line is the A77X, with the X-ART tweeter and two 7 woofers.
One woofer operates from the 3 kHz crossover point down, and
the second kicks in at 400 Hz to augment the first effectively
doubling the driver surface area and amplifier power to bring
the low-end response down to 38 Hz.
When the A77X arrived, I swapped out the monitors and
started working. My first impressions were favorable. The A77X
has a clearer and deeper low end less confusing and
obscured than the S3-As, and the phantom center is
somewhat better. Overall, the speakers were quite similar, and I
was able to work on the A77X pair for several weeks and still get
accurate mixes and make proper decisions. But the A77X is
selling for far less than the S3-A did, so I wondered what the
tradeoff was. Soon I found that it was a question of loudness.
When pushed really hard, the solidness of tone and ability to fill
my room (16 ft 30 ft with 12 ft ceilings) was limited. I could
still get mixes and hear details on tracking sessions where I
wanted them, but I could not get the thick, visceral playback
experience that I used to have. The three amplifiers in the A77X
are all lower in power output, and perhaps there is some costsavings in the drivers too, but for thousands of dollars less, that
makes sense. For a pro studio like mine, where clients expect to
be knocked over by playback volumes, the A77X was falling a
tiny bit short, and from what I can tell, I should have tried out
the ADAM S3X-H model instead. But for a smaller studio or a very
nice home setup, oh hell, these would be amazing. The detail of
the X-ART tweeter and a solid low-end response are the selling
points, and in a smaller control room, they would be an asset.
Put it this way: It was hard to send them back when I did like
them so much, but I knew that down the line Id still want to
upgrade my studio monitors to a pair with a fuller range and
even more wattage. And this did come to pass, but for $6,100
more than the price of a pair of ADAM A77X monitors. Damn.
($1199 each street; www.adam-audio.com) LC

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Alpha 65 active monitors

French loudspeaker manufacturer Focal recently

introduced the mid-priced Alpha series of professional
studio monitors, all of which feature a polyglass cone
woofer, double front bass ports, and an inverted dome
tweeter similar to the one used in Focals celebrated CMS
line at about half the price of their CMS cousins. At
$400 each, the Alpha 65, which sits in the middle of the
line with its 6.5 woofer, threatens to outclass every
studio monitor near its pricepoint! Enchant Focal... and
merci beaucoup I can actually afford to purchase this
fine monitor!
My Alpha 65 pair lives in a bedroom-sized, untreated
space a foot away from the front wall, which in my mind
represents a common setup for many project studios.
Surprisingly, I was able to nail the low end in my very first
mix well, maybe my second mix, after burning in the
Alphas for eight hours, then adjusting the HF and LF
shelving controls. My experience confirmed Focals claim
that the dual front port design improves acoustic
integration even in confined spaces or installed near a
front wall. I found the ports to be very subtle for their
relatively large size, and not obviously porty sounding,
while contributing to a nice, deep, low-end punch.
More remarkable still is the Alpha 65s neutral,
consistent lower midrange between 200 and 400 Hz
even at variable listening levels. My impression is that the
Focals overall midrange is extremely honest, with just
enough emphasis to make it easy to hear when the mix is
not gelling, but its obviously clear when the mix is
properly materialized. Guitars (both acoustic and electric)
have never been such easy work for me. Reverbs and effect
return levels are a snap to judge.
I must admit, Ive never mixed with monitors with
inverted dome tweeters, but my impression is that the
listening experience here offered a perceptually even
spread from the tweeter and woofer. The tweeters wide
dispersion seems to complement the woofers sweet spot
better than any nearfield monitor I can remember hearing.
Ever since dinging the tweeter dome on one of my now
vintage Genelec 1030A monitors, Im reconsidering my
relationship with standard dome tweeter designs in
general. Tape Ops Gear Geek, Andy Hong whom I
always consult before gear shopping gave me a short
history lesson on inverted dome tweeters and how
nearfield monitors came to be. The inverted dome tweeter
was invented in the 1960s by Winslow Burhoe. Burhoe left
Acoustic Research to found EPI and later Genesis Physics,
both of which employed Burhoes tweeters in their
bookshelf speakers, which were popular household items

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Focal Professional

during the 70s and early 80s, alongside other small 2-way
speakers, including those from Henry Klossfounded
companies Acoustic Research, KLH, and Advent. Japans
answer was the Yamaha NS-10, originally marketed as a
home hi-fi bookshelf speaker. The rest is history. (To
understand the many benefits of the inverted dome
design, I encourage you to visit the Focal Professional
website.)
Monitors with pleated-diaphragm (folded ribbon)
tweeters (see LCs ADAM Audio review in this issue and Eli
Crews recent EVE Audio review [Tape Op #103]) have
always been more attractive to me. Ive worked on ADAMs
a ton, and Id really been won over by their non-fatiguing
quality and dynamic highs. To my ears, the inverted
tweeter design of the Focal Alphas may not offer quite the
anti-fatiguing quality of folded ribbons, but it offers a
wider sweet spot while maintaining a truer, more
brilliant high-end. I was ever aware when the overheads
overpowered the kick, snare, and toms. The Focals
immediately revealed my abuse of additive EQ above
8 kHz, always nudging me towards a more tasteful,
balanced mix.
Other Alpha features include subtle, yet effective,
rotary HF (3 dB at 4.5 kHz) and LF (6 dB at 300 Hz)
shelving controls; balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA
connectors; a slick backlit logo; and a power saving Auto
Standby mode (see Elis review of the KRK Rockit 5 G3
[Tape Op #103]). Power-saving standby modes are now
required in many countries in accordance with the OneWatt Initiative implemented by the International Energy
Agency. I agree with Eli that this mandated feature may
not seem intuitive at first, but it became standard
operating procedure after a week of use and its just
something were all going to have to get used to. When
the Alphas wake up from sleep, audio fades in somewhat
gradually over a few seconds, and it never seems abrupt or
alarming at moderate listening levels. My only minor
criticism of this monitor is that Ive grown accustomed to
the repeatability of dip-switch shelving controls, but the
Alphas range of adjustment is so subtle that it would be
difficult to be more than 1/4 dB off between monitors,
and tweakers can run sweeps and adjust by hand.
In practice, Im making confident choices, my mixes are
referencing beautifully, and after a mere two weeks, my
efficiency doubled with the Alpha 65s. Im enjoying my work
again. Clients are happy and requesting fewer mix revisions.
To quote French novelist George Sand, Masterpieces are
never anything but happy attempts. And happy clients in
our industry are those that receive masterpieces or
masterful work for a practical, mortal fee. Many of us
struggle to reach and maintain a reasonable existence in
this industry. Products that address the needs of the middleclass are always on the forefront of my radar. Im excitedly
raving about the Alpha 65s to everyone, as they sound at
least twice as good as they cost. In addition to the 65
reviewed here, the line also includes the Alpha 50 and
Alpha 80, with 5 and 8 woofers as you might have
guessed. Keep an eye out on Tape Ops website, as I will be
filling you in on my findings and opinions on these too. In
the meantime, if youre in the market for two-way nearfields
for under $1000 per pair, you must place the Alpha 65 at
the top of your list!
($399 street each; www.focalprofessional.com)
SM <www.scottmcchane.com>

www.tapeop.com

see more of our

bonus/archived
P h o online!
enix
reviews

Avenson Audio

N90-DRC/500 compressor/gate
(500-series)

Blend mixer
Mid-Side matrix

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There are two more elements on the Blends front panel

worth describing. First is a switch that flips the polarity of the
Wet In signal. This feature is useful if one of your processors
is improperly wired or if youre trying to achieve some form of
cancellation. But its also great for parallel EQ, and here, the
results arent always what you think theyll be; your analog
EQs will take on a whole new life! The second is a large, 16segment (per channel) stereo LED output meter thats
especially handy for parallel compression because its ballistics
seem optimized for understanding how your process affects
the final dynamics in the blend.
Now lets discuss the Mid-Side. On the front is a stepped
rotary switch labeled Width and a potentiometer for a lowpass filter. On the back are stereo pairs of 1/4 TRS jacks that
implement the following signal path: L/R In, which is
converted inside the unit to a mid-side signal; Mid/Side Out,
which you patch to an outboard processor of your choosing;
Mid/Side In, for the processed return, which is converted back
to left/right mode; and L/R Out, which feeds the next
downstream device in your chain. If you leave the Mid/Side
connections unpatched, theyre internally normalled, and
youre limited to the use of the Width and LPF controls on the
front of the unit to effect the signal. Changing Width does
exactly what youd expect it to do; you turn the knob to
emphasize the mid content or the side content. The LPF
operates on the side content, allowing you to take out lows
that might pull your ears (or a stylus on a vinyl cutter) to one
side; in essence, it makes the lows sound more mono. Both
of these functions are useful, but things get really fun when
you patch in an outboard processor.
For example, Ill patch a program compressor, like my
API 2500 [Tape Op #52] or Safe Sound Audio Dynamics
Toolbox [#64], in serial with an EQ through the Mid-Side
across a stem bus or the mix bus insert. When I process the
mid and side channels like this, centered elements in the mix
stay centered, without jumping left or right during heavy
compression. Also, I can squeeze the mid channel while still
retaining a healthy bit of dynamics in the side or vice
versa. In conjunction, Ill use parallel compression by
incorporating the Blend, giving me even more control over the
dynamics and feel of the stem or mix. I also use M-S
processing with reverbs. For example, Ill feed a vocal track to
two different effects, and then go through one end of an M-S
matrix on the return, throwing one effect straight up the
middle and the other effect onto the sides. My main
Zerotronics CoolSprings reverbs [#55] were custom-built with
different decay times for their two channels, and M-S decoders
on their outputs, just for this purpose. But the Mid-Side allows
me to do the same thing with other effects units. And one
trick I learned from mastering engineer Jeff Lipton [Tape Op
#34] is to use a de-esser or multiband compressor to remove
sibilance from centered elements in a mix (like vocals) or
harshness from the sides (like overbaked cymbals).
Moreover, you can use the Mid-Side to unravel mid-side
recordings. For example, one of my favorite methods for
recording piano is to set up a cardioid mic pointing into the
piano, and a figure-8 mic sideways, directly above or below
the cardioid. When I want to convert these tracks to standard
stereo mode, I go through one-end of an M-S matrix. On the
Mid-Side, I can use either the L/R to Mid/Side connections, or
the Mid/Side to L/R connections.

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If you do any audio processing in the analog domain,

whether you rely on a large-format console or just a modest
rack of gear, youll realize quickly how powerful and easy-touse these half-width, 1RU-height tools from Avenson are
when you plug them in. Plus, youll appreciate how they do
what they do transparently, without adding any sonic
character of their own. The names of these units pretty much
tell you what they are. In simple terms, the Blend is a twosource stereo mixer with a crossfader to choose one source or
the other or a blend of the two. And the Mid-Side is a
double-ended M-S matrix that allows you to convert a stereo
signal from standard left/right mode to mid-side mode and
back. Why would you want to do either of these things?
Lets start first with the Blend. Yes, it can blend two
unrelated sources, but really it was designed to facilitate
parallel processing of a single source. On the front is the
aforementioned crossfader. At the left end of its 100 mm
horizontal path, its labeled Dry, and at the right end, its Wet.
On the back are stereo pairs of balanced 1/4 TRS jacks Dry
In, Dry Out, Wet In, Mix Out. The premise is that youll hook
up the source you want to process into Dry In; loop a copy of
it from Dry Out to some outboard processor and back into Wet
In; and use the crossfader to mix the unprocessed and
processed signals together. Mix Out will then feed whatever is
your next downstream device.
I imagine by now that most of us are familiar with parallel
compression blend the uncompressed signal with the
compressed (and often overcompressed) signal. This
technique allows you to level out a track or subgroup, or
bring up the sustain of a recorded instrument, while still
allowing the dynamics of the original recording to come
through over the top. The effect is often described as
making something sound bigger without making it sound
lifeless. Whenever I compress drum stems, for example, I
use parallel compression, so that the drums really bloom and
the ambience of the room surrounds the drums, but the
individual drum strikes still punch through very simple to
do using the Blend.
But you can also use the Blend for parallel EQ. Due to the
phase shift imparted by analog EQs, mixing dry and EQed
versions of a signal together can lead to some happy
accidents, especially in terms of how the frequencies at the
edges of the filter bands interact. With heavy-handed parallel
EQing, resonances and cancellations can appear where you
might not expect them, and sometimes you get focus while
other times you get blurring, depending on the complexity of
the signal youre EQing.
For vocals, I almost always use a combination of parallel
compression and EQ. One of my go-to tricks is to band-limit
the vocal severely with an EQ or filters, and then compress it
until its sounding like its coming out of an AM radio or oldschool telephone. Then I blend a wee bit of that with the
unprocessed vocal and follow with broadband leveling. This
makes for a very steady vocal that can stay planted even in
the midst of a complex mix, while still retaining much of the
dynamics and character of the actual performance. Most
singers who hear their voice this way ask me if they can take
this sound home with them! Well, with the Avenson Blend, a
filter/EQ, and a couple compressors, its actually
straightforward to implement.

ay

I am a fan of the 500-series format, but each time I see a

new module enter the fray of over 200 different modules, I
have to wonder what makes this one special. Phoenix Audio
produces high quality, Class A circuitry in the heritage of
vintage Nevestyle designs, and I was eager to check out the
N90-DRC/500 compressor/gate module.
The single-wide modules front panel boasts no less than
seven knobs and six toggle switches, as well as a five-segment
LED meter. Thats a lot of controls in a small space, but Phoenix
uses firm-turning, detented knobs and long-throw toggle
switches, which provide positive feedback and the confidence
that you are adjusting only the intended control. For the
compressor section, the top three knobs control threshold,
ratio, and release, while the top three toggle switches control
compressor bypass, fast/slow release time, and auto-release
mode. For the gate section, we have threshold, range, and
release knobs, along with toggle switches for link, key trigger,
and gate in/out. Additionally, the bottom knob provides 15 dB
of Class A, transformer-balanced output gain. The LED ladder
shows the amount of compression and the bottom light cleverly
doubles as a gate activity indicator.
My first trials included using just the gate on recorded kick
and snare drum. I am not usually a fan of gates on live drums,
except as an effect on a parallel or doubled track for added
attack or punch. The N90s gate provided extremely musical
processing for both kick and snare not so much as a noise
gate, but as a transient shaper for adjusting the attack,
release, pump, and ambience of the drum tracks. Even without
a dedicated attack control, I could play the threshold against
the range to effectively adjust the attack of the gating action.
While I could certainly use this gate on my typical parallel
drum tracks, I did find this gate quite useful on the main drum
tracks. Incidentally, up to eight N90 modules can be linked (so
long as your 500-series rack supports linking), and an external
gate key input is provided on the middle of the front panel in
the form of a bantam TT jack.
As a compressor, I found the N90 reminiscent of the Neve
2254, where more compression adds weight and size to a
sound, instead of thinning it out. After my review, I found out
that David Rees, who designed the original 2254, also
designed the N90 and the Class A output stage used by
Phoenix Audio! The compressor provides very flexible controls,
and I liked the auto setting for release on almost every source.
The fast release mode drastically changed the action of the
compressor, and severe limiting effects could easily be dialed
in. Conversely, subtle dynamic control with a very gentle knee
was also easy to dial in, allowing drums to be made to pump
and thump much more easily than with almost any other
compressor I can think of. I would describe this compressor
as musical and thick. The 15 dB of makeup gain also proved
useful for some subtle saturation effects, though it never
provided what I would call overdrive. With +26 dBu of output
level, you will never run out of headroom with the N90.
In the dense field of 500-series modules, the Phoenix
Audio N90-DRC/500 compressor/gate certainly exceeded my
expectations. Check it out if youre in the market for powerful,
versatile, and musical outboard compression.
($799 MSRP; www.phoenixaudio.net)
Adam Kagan <adamkagan@mac.com>

Audio

Gear Reviews/(continued on page 46)/Tape Op#104/45

Airwindows

Console and Buss Colors plug-ins

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Twenty years ago, there really wasnt much of a market

for plug-ins. Sure, there were some limited software tools
for audio, but they were mostly proprietary to a specific
editor. Very little product existed in the way of standardized
plug-ins that could be used across different editing
programs. Even the industry giant, Waves, was just getting
started, offering only a few plug-ins for the Pro Tools
platform. Since then of course, it has become a feeding
frenzy of companies as well as individual computer nerds
churning out new plug-ins on a weekly basis. It can be
tricky to evaluate these new software tools. You cant open
up the lid and look at build quality or component choice
the way you can with hardware. Most of us cant evaluate
the quality of the coding. Sure, we can absolutely judge the
quality and value in terms of sonics, but we are hopelessly
visual creatures, and it can be tough to separate the look
of something from the sound of something. So, we now
have photorealistic plug-ins that have a vintage look,
complete with scratched face plates, glowing tubes,
Bakelite knobs, and spinning reels. And I will wager money
that these visuals make the plug-ins sound better to most
of us. Well, now lets look at another approach. Chris
Johnson from Airwindows has created an army of
innovative plug-ins with a no frills approach. They dont
look, taste, or smell like vintage equipment. In fact, he has
stripped away all of the pretense by leaving his plug-in
GUIs in the bare bones style of Mac OS Audio Units. This
means they have a plain old white background with blue
sliders for parameter adjustments. If you can get past that,
you are left with some pretty powerful and affordable audio
tools. Now, I should add that at the moment, he only
creates plug-ins for the AU format.
Since the debate continues regarding mixing in the box
versus using analog summing of some sort, Im going to look
at a couple of his plug-ins that offer different aspects of
console emulation. The two Im going to focus on are Console,
and Buss Colors. First, let me explain Console. This is not your
typical approach to console emulation. It is not attempting to
address tonal coloration. Console has only one goal; it

attempts to provide the wider and deeper soundstage that can be

apparent in an analog mix. One of the common concerns with inthe-box mixing is that the mix can sound less 3D and can lack
dimension. Chris has taken an unusual approach to this issue by
using what he calls negative distortion. Huh? Well, I have no idea.
Im not an electronics designer or a software engineer. Im just a guy
who tracks and mixes audio and can tell what things sound like. So
I cannot speak to the technical viability of negative distortion. But
I can say that I find this plug-in to subtly do what it claims. There
is an improvement on the lateral sound stage. Things do appear to
take on more spatial dimension. I dont get the sense that it is
accomplishing this using phase or comb filtering tricks, because
those are easy to spot. I didnt notice any degradation in mono
compatibility. It just felt more open as compared to the nonprocessed mix. It is not intended to be a spectacular wow
everything sounds great now plug-in, but it is intended to provide
the subtle sonic dimension that an analog console can.
Now, I need to backtrack a moment and explain how this
process is applied. It is not just a plug-in that you slap on the
mix bus. It is actually an encode/decode system. Each individual
DAW track is encoded by applying the Console Channel plug-in,
while the Console Buss plug-in decodes the signal on the master
mix bus. There are no controls or parameters, you simply insert
them and forget about it. I have an older eight-core Mac, but
have not noticed any significant CPU hit even when inserting
Console on a high track-count mix. Now, this means you have to
think for a moment when setting up your mix. You have to make
sure that each track is seeing one instance of the Console Channel
(encoder) plug-in, and is then passing once through the Console
Buss (decode) plug-in. That can require a moment of thought if
you are using multiple group buses, or employing aux channels
for effects. You just have to double check that you have
everything covered for both halves of the process without
accidental double use of one or the other.
So lets move on to the next plug-in, Buss Colors. While Console
doesnt address tone, Buss Colors does. This is not an
encode/decode plug-in, but instead, it is placed on buses and/or
the stereo mix bus. It is specifically designed for emulating specific
console brands. Also, unlike Console, Buss Colors has a few simple
parameter controls. First, there is an input level adjustment for
driving the gain, just like you would with a real analog console.
Then, theres an output trim adjustment. Finally, there is a menu
that selects which console you are choosing to emulate. Although
these are not labeled with brand names, a quick visit to the
Airwindows site will list the brands being emulated. The choices
are: Dark, Rock, Lush, Vibe, Holo, Punch, Steel, Tube. Without
consulting the list of consoles, more often than not, I ended up
choosing the Lush setting for my mix. It seemed to impart more
weight and body to the mix, without sacrificing clarity. It was only
later that I discovered it was the Neve emulation. I also really liked
the clarity of the Punch setting, which emulates an API. Rock is
going after the SSL sound, and responds well to hitting the gain a
bit more aggressively. I wanted to really like the Tube emulation,
but it seemed to impart almost an exaggerated sense of high end
to the mix, which was not what you would expect from a tube
emulation. Many of the emulations were very useful, but I often
found the Lush setting to be the perfect combination of depth and
clarity. The effect that Buss Colors has on the audio is more obvious
than Console. The ability to choose various emulations, coupled
with driving the input gain, gives you a huge selection of different
character choices for individual buses, or the entire mix.
So I had the opportunity to compare some Airwindows in-thebox mixes to those done using a well-known, transformer-based,
Class A analog summing mixer. I ran various versions of the mix.
First, I ran a straight ITB version with no emulation plug-ins at all.
I then ran a version that was externally summed through the

Im sure many of you have already incorporated parallel

and M-S processing into your normal workflow and are
wondering why you need these Avenson boxes, when both
techniques can be implemented with faders and polarity
switches whether in software or on a real console. Well,
any time you play with digital faders connected to analog
devices, you have to think about conversion latency; the
Blend and Mid-Side exhibit zero latency. Plus, with the
Avenson units, you can place your parallel or matrix process
in the middle of a multi-device chain, not just at the
beginning and end of your analog chain if youre relying on
a software mixer. And compared to an analog mixer, each
Avenson box has a much simpler signal patch thats
optimized for a singular purpose, and therefore, each
imparts far less distortion than console faders and buses do.
Its clear to me that recordists relying on analog
outboard processing can really take their game to the next
level by adding the Blend and Mid-Side to their kit. Like
other Avenson products, theyre well thought out and built
tough. A 1RU-height, full-width rack shelf can be
purchased separately to rackmount two of these units sideby-side. To learn more about Brad Avenson, read his
Behind the Gear interview in Tape Op #76. (Each $600
street, rack shelf $45; www.avensonaudio.com) AH

46/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 48)

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analog summing mixer using Metric Halo interfaces. Finally, I ran a

third set of ITB mixes, processed this time using Console and Buss
Colors. The results were interesting.
Let me first say that I am primarily an analog fan. I started with
consoles and tape, and still use those tools routinely. As with many
people, I have transitioned to primarily using a DAW for tracking and
editing. I have not been able to completely break away from mixing
with a console and hardware outboard gear. I know some people can
get great ITB mixes, but I seem to always do better with hardware.
When setting up the test, I did my best to ensure that the files were
closely level-matched to avoid the louder sounds better effect. That
being said, my findings surprised me.
My least favorite mix was the straight ITB mix. It sounded fine
and would have been completely acceptable on its own. Next, the
mix that was externally summed using the hardware summing mixer
had a noticeable increase in dimension and space. It was not a
startling difference, but it was apparent. When doing an A/B
comparison, there was a certain sonic downgrade when switching
back to the ITB mix. So, feeling somewhat smug about the
superiority of analog summing, I listened to the mix processed with
the Airwindows plug-ins. When compared to the analog summed mix,
the spatial dimension seemed to be very similar. There was the same
sort of feeling of the lateral sound stage being open and spacious.
However, I was surprised to find that I preferred the high-frequency
clarity and detail of the Airwindows mix as compared to the analog
mix. Although the analog mix was great, it seemed to lose the topend sheen that was apparent on the Airwindows mix. I would have
to say that given the choice, I would likely choose the Airwindows
approach due to the sonics of the final product.
Now, I must acknowledge the difficulty in accurately and appropriately
conducting this sort of test. There isnt a perfect way to do it. In my tests,
I attempted to make the summing process the only difference, while
keeping all other mix parameters identical. This is probably the best
approach, but it doesnt really reflect a real-world situation. Ideally, a
good engineer would adapt gain-staging and levels in response to the
specific sonic characteristics of the gear being used. Those who are used
to an SSL 4000 know just how much to push it to get that sound, and
they adjust their mixes in response to what they are hearing. If I was
using these three approaches independently, I might very well come up
with different results. I might push the summing mixer differently, or
make different choices along the way based upon what I was hearing.
These cumulative choices might yield some very different mixes. But for
the sake of the review, I tried to keep things consistent.
Also, although not part of this review, I played around with a demo
version of the Airwindows Tape plug-in, which I may have to make the
subject of another review. In my limited testing so far, it was quite
impressive. But again, no graphics of spinning reels.
I havent mentioned the best part yet. Airwindows doesnt make you
work hard to use the plug-ins youve paid for. No complicated hardware
authorization. No registration hassles. No issues if you change or
upgrade your computer. No problems if your hard drive crashes. If you
buy the plug-in, its yours to use. Oh, and free upgrades for life. How
much? $50. All of Airwindows plug-ins are merely $50. And if you
email Chris, he responds with much detail on the application and use
of any of his products. Still not convinced? Any of these plug-ins are
available for a demo download. The demos function completely, but
mute the audio every 30 seconds or so. Thats more than adequate for
giving the products a great test drive. Also, Airwindows has a
download page that contains many totally free plug-ins. Although they
are not always as hip as the main current releases, there are some
excellent plug-ins available. Lastly, the free updates for life feature
is incredible, because Chris is constantly improving and updating the
products. Forgive my cheesy plagiarism, but, I dont always mix In The
Box, but when I do, I use Airwindows.
($50 each; www.airwindows.com)
Kirt Shearer <kirt@kirtshearerproductions.com>

583S mk2 tube preamp

(500-series)

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Lets paint a picture. If you are new to painting, lets

paint by numbers. If you have been at it awhile, lets
explore and start mixing our own colors and use more than
just a paintbrush to apply it.
Now, in the hands of a novice, even the best paintbrush
and the finest oils in the world are likely to yield strictly
two-dimensional results. But as practice continues, and
you fritter away more of your evenings with Bob Ross, you
start to realize that those trees youve been painting
straight-green have an incredible rainbow of light and dark
shades and tones. As with the visual arts, the practice of
recording audio operates on a continuum of growth,
revealing more and more as time goes on. As the ear
develops, we desire more colors to paint and more tools to
put those colors on canvas. The newest offering from
LaChapell Audio is a mic preamp in the 500-series form
factor that opens up a wide spectrum of shading and
coloration for your sonic landscapes.
The original 583S was the first tube mic preamp
designed specifically for the 500-series and was based on
LaChapells flagship 992EG circuitry in single-ended form
[Tape Op #65]. It was a double-wide unit, but the new
583S mk2 is a single-slot module. As more and more
excellent 500-series modules become available, space in
the 500-series frame is at a premium, and leaving room for
another module is a welcome thing. Designer Scott
LaChapell said this about the 583S mk2:
The opportunity to offer a high-end vacuum tube
solution for this frame size, something everybody had said
was an impossibility, was appealing to us. We wanted to
crack that nut. It also gave us the opportunity to offer a
LaChapell preamp in the $1000 range.
And now, esteemed readers, you likely are about to
learn something new:
The key factor was our DC-to-DC converter. Taking a
16 V supply (standard API lunchbox power supply) and
converting it to 250 V for the 583S is not terribly
difficult. But going from 16 V to 250 V quietly gets pretty
tricky. We take the rails and convert up to 250 V, but
to be VTR certified, you have to fit into the 130 mA per
slot requirement.
The 12AX7 doesnt have just one voltage requirement.
It also has a filament that requires 12 V and pulls 150 mA,
so the question was, how are we going to satisfy both the
filament and plate voltages and stay within 130 mA? The
solution was to be very creative in spreading out the
current between the rails. So essentially, when the 12AX7
is pulling 150 mA, its satisfying that current requirement
from both rails simultaneously. This helped us to properly
power the tube with 250 V for the plate supply and 12 V
for the filament.
A 12AX7 tube will indeed work at 100 V on the
plate, but it will not perform or sound like a 12AX7 (per
RCA/GE 12AX7 power requirement standard). The gain tube
in the 583S is operating under the same power conditions
as the input gain tubes in a LaChapell 992EG.
All of this power conversion is happening within the
module itself and poses no risk to your current 500-series
rack or its stock power supply.
The 583S mk2 has a Cinemag CMMI-10 input
transformer and a Jensen JT-11 line output transformer,
and the usual features of 48 V phantom power, polarity

reverse, and a 20 dB pad. The 1/4 DI defeats the

transformer automatically for hi-Z inputs. The unit has an
internal gain of +72 dB, a frequency response of
10 Hz50 kHz, and a maximum output of +26 dBu.
Out of the box, the module looks and feels like a solid
piece of machinery. It has a nice heft, and everything
about it showcases a no-compromise build. The two
aluminum knobs (for input and output) have a great feel,
are detented in micro increments, and are just more
evidence of the beautiful craftsmanship that went into the
design and build of this unit. Also, almost as proof of the
tube, these knobs get warm to the touch after the unit has
been on for a while. For sedentary reptilian engineers, this
is also good for getting the blood flowing. All switches for
48V, polarity, and pad are solid. Layout is simple and clean,
and all functions are easily accessed. The module even has
a small handle at its base to ease installation and removal.
There is one small light on the unit labeled 250V that
indicates that the internal voltage converter is receiving
proper DC power from the rack to operate the tube.
I had a recent session with Baltimore singer/songwriter
and ukulele-slinger Victoria Vox, and I was anxious to put
a pair of 583S mk2 preamps into action. The first
deployment was on kick and snare. I somehow expected
the preamps to sound a bit wooly and soft, but man was I
wrong! There was an absolute deliverance of power and
tone. I loved being able to drive the tube on the input
stage to dial in the right amount of grit and hair onto the
individual sources. The bottom was nice and round, but
plenty of punch, clarity, and focus was maintained. With
my subwoofer on, the low-end content on the kick was
simply massive. As I had done with the kick, I found the
sweet spot for the snare drum by balancing the input and
output stages for the right amount of tube color and
smack.
It went on and on from there. I used the preamps on
ukulele, horns, vocals, and bass. Each time, the results
were impressive. From clean and sweet, to dirty and tough,
the 583S mk2 made the cut. Married with different mics,
the preamp offers a color palette that is essentially
endless. There was not one thing I thought was a
mismatch for this preamp.
The DI input sounded great too, bringing additional
vibe to synths, bass, and other direct sources. One
particular example of really leaning on the tube was when
we recorded a Rhodes through the DI. In this particular
case, we were caught in the middle of the Rhodes feeling
like the right tonal choice for the song, but thinking it was
sounding a little soft and a bit too blended into the track.
Instead of going to the Wurlitzer, I just pushed the Rhodes
into a bit of overdrive using the input knob on the preamp.
Listening back, youd swear it was tracked through an
amp only it wasnt noisy! And this is really the magic
of this device. Having the opportunity to shape the tone
and aggressiveness of a source makes this a very powerful
tool. Another visual reference think of being able to
raise the hair on a dogs back with the turning of the input
knob. When you increase the tube drive, the sound gets
more aggressive, and conversely, when you reduce the
drive, things get smoother and tamer. Also worth noting is
that the 583S mk2 is extremely quiet. From the cleanest to
the most aggressive of sounds, the preamp delivered pure
tone and very little noise.
I like to think of recordings as sonic visual images, and
a tool like the 583S mk2 opens up a whole range of color
gradations and possibilities. Dont misunderstand me. This

LaChapell Audio

48/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 50)

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#104/49

is not a box with a billion knobs, buttons, switches, menus, and

submenus. What it is, is a very simple and straightforward device
that is deceptively deep in the range of tones it is capable of
achieving. From very pristine and crystal clear on a source like
acoustic guitar or vocals, to additional grit and meat on an
overdriven electric guitar, the 583S mk2 delivered every time
with beautiful results.
I love things that just simply do their job as intended, and
produce excellent results without me needing to endlessly tweak
or hijack a session while I search for the magic. I selfishly just
want it to be there at my convenience every time. That is why I so
enjoy this mic preamp. Plug it in, and it delivers from note one.
As we progressed through the Victoria Vox session, I began to lean
on it more aggressively to provide tonal colors where I would
typically rely on EQ. Saturation of some tones contrasting with the
punchy clean of others created the mix picture as we were
tracking, and logically informed each successive step.
As a mic preamp with broad sonic possibilities, exhibiting
excellent build quality, sized for a single 500-series slot, and priced
under $1000, this unit should not be overlooked. If youd like to
start painting better sonic images with more interest and depth,
the LaChapell Audio 583S mk2 would be a beautiful addition to
your collection.
($945 street; www.lachapellaudio.com)
Geoff Stanfield <www.geoffstanfield.com>

Waves

Reel ADT plug-in

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At AES, we met with Waves, and they asked us why Tape Op

never reviews their plug-ins. Good question, I said. Then, a bit
later at the show, Geoff Stanfield and I started talking about
how we had both purchased and were using Waves ADT. Hey,
wait a minute, I said, This is a review if we do an email
dialog. So here it is. JB
JB: Hey Geoff, you have the Abbey Road Studios Reel ADT
plug-in from Waves, the one that simulates automatic
double-tracking the way The Beatles did with two tape
machines. I bought it when it went on sale, and I have to
say, Ive been digging it. Its a bit more subtle than I
expected, actually, but it can really beef up a vocal track.
What have you been using it for?
Geoff Stanfield: Oddly enough, the first time I used it was
on drums. I was looking to add some vibe to a sort of static
drum part. It has a cool drive feature on both the source and
the ADT effect, which saturates in a great way, so I cranked
that up and set the Varispeed knob to taste, and it gave me a
sound that was reminiscent of the flanged-out cymbals on
Kashmir. On drums, it is pretty subtle without a melodic
instrument to showcase the modulation of pitch but it
presents itself in a much more noticeable way when the
cymbals are played. I tried it directly on the overheads and on
an aux track, and both results had their pluses and minuses.
On vocals, I found many of the presets to be very useable
starting points, and I liked the watery quality of the wow-andflutter effect this plug-in provides. Often, I will set up an aux
track with a pitch plug-in at 11 cents or so, and send my
vocal to it to add some extra width and presence. Reel ADT
performs a similar task, but unlike the fixed pitch setting in
my previously mentioned technique, Reel ADT lets the LFO
move either with a fixed shape or randomly, which provides a
bit more interest in my opinion. In addition to the wave
shape, you can also adjust the rate of the LFO or use the Sync
option. It can be subtle, but turned up, I can really hear it if
I want to. Have you ever set up two tape machines and done
ADT the real way? How does this compare?

50/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 52)

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Anthony DeMaria Labs

ADL 1700 Liquid Mu tube limiter

In todays boutique audio market, variable-mu designs have

become very popular after the rediscovery of such classic units
as the Fairchild 670, General Electric BA-5-A, and Gates
Sta-Level. What Anthony DeMaria over at ADL has done this
time is painstakingly resurrect another lost classic with his
ADL 1700 Liquid Mu peak limiter. Its a descendant of the
Universal Audio 175, a Bill Putnam design introduced in 1961,
and Anthony describes it as a cross between the 175-B and
177. The 175 was the predecessor to the much more wellknown 1176 series, and it employed a 6BC6 tube, as opposed
to the more common 6386, in the compression circuit.
Although the layout is slightly different from the original, the
controls are all there, including a few new ones like a highpass filter at 90 Hz for the detection circuit and a hard bypass
for the unit. When Anthony came by Strange Weather to drop
off his new creation along with his own original vintage unit,
he said, I like to hang back. I do all the research I can, build
it the best I can, and then let the gear speak for itself.
Upon first patching in the original UA 175 and then the
ADL 1700, we could instantly hear why it took Anthony years
to recreate it. It immediately adds wonderful harmonic
content and seems to wrap itself around whats running
through it. When working on a new mix for NYC rock group The
Yells, the ADL 1700 was thrown on lead vocal at a low ratio of
2:1. The original 175 has a fixed ratio of 12:1, and the lower
ratio options on the 1700 open up a whole world of new
possibilities. The lower ratios seem to keep a firm hand on the
track while still allowing the audio to breathe a bit, as
opposed to the higher ratios which seem to be a little more
hands off, but much more responsive to lower frequencies
(making the 90 Hz filter all the more useful). We already had
a pretty good vibe happening with an old Gates SA-39B
limiter, which has a particular grind that was helping push the
vocal forward, as opposed to the smoother, warmer character
of the ADL 1700, so we moved the ADL over to a mono drum
bus, where it added a pillowy thwack that the basic tracks
were missing. Set at a higher ratio and with the 90 Hz filter
engaged, it was able to pull down and grab more of the air
around the snare, making the drumming more expressive.
Later, I patched in the ADL 1700 while working on a mix
for Sierra Leone native Janka Nabay and his band The Bubu
Gang. We began tracking his new album this summer in a
cabin in the woods and didnt use any outboard gear other
than mic preamps, so I knew I was starting with very clean,
raw tracks. Bubu music is a very fast style of African electronic
dance music with heavy kicks and pronounced Casio flute
tones. When I first started working on the track, I felt that the
bass guitar was lacking some power and didnt inspire as much
confidence as the drum machine and voice did. I inserted the
ADL 1700 on the bass track a short-scale Gretch into a
Fender Bassman combo recorded with a Lucas CS-1 largediaphragm condenser. I set the ratio again to a low 2:1, but
with the input turned up quite a bit, and with pretty slow
attack and release, I was able to get the bass to stay in place,
hold back some of the blooming low-mids, and extract a little
more grit from the amps natural breakup. The bass fit
perfectly into the song, commanding its own space while still
allowing the kick to punch both above and below.
Finally, while working on a new single with Brooklyn band
Oberhofer, I really got to put the ADL 1700 through its paces.
I strapped it across an RCA KU-3A ribbon mic first thing in the
morning and recorded with it all day, moving the mic from
drums, piano, orchestral chimes, and finally the lead vocals, all

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JB: No, despite having two tape machines, Ive never

tried this. I dug out my Recording The Beatles book [Tape Op
#53] and looked into how they did ADT back then. First, ADT
stands for Artificial Double Tracking, not Automatic Double
Tracking as Id thought. With John Lennon apparently
complaining about how long it took to double vocals,
engineer Ken Townsend came up with a process to do it
using two of Abbey Roads tape machines, the 4-track
Studer J37 and the mono EMI BTR2. The key to making the
ADT effect work was that the main multitrack, the J37,
unlike most tape decks, had separate playback amplifiers for
both the record/sync head and the reproduce head. When
they were mixing from the repro head, they would send a
simultaneous signal from the sync head of the J37 to the
BTR2, which was in record mode. This signal was ahead of
the repro head on the J37. Also important to note is that
the head gap between the BTR2s record and play heads was
approximately twice that of the J37. By running the BTR2
at 30 IPS, twice as fast as the J37 at 15 IPS, Mr. Townsend
realized that the delayed signal coming off the repro head
of the BTR2 was almost in sync with the signal on the J37s
repro head. By slightly varying the tape speed of the BTR2,
he was able to move the ADT signal slightly ahead or behind
the unaffected signal from the J37. Whew! You really had to
work hard back in those days! Im pretty stoked that Waves
has this plug-in now. Obviously, it is much easier to use,
takes up less space, and weighs less too!
While you could simulate the sync head in a DAW by
duplicating a track and shifting it back in time to send that
to a tape machine, this plug-in does add some nice features.
The LFO that you mention is key as that allows subtle or
not so subtle variations on the delay time, simulating the
speed fluctuations of a tape machine. But, one of the
biggest bonuses is the double version of the plug-in that
allows you to replicate two separate tape machines doing
the ADT effect. With this, you can really fill out a track and
widen its stereo field. Factor in some nice console-like
features, like level controls, mute, and polarity reverse, and
Im pretty impressed with Waves take on this effect. Lastly,
you have the tape saturation process modeled as well, and
you can drive the tape harder for more saturation.
I bought Reel ADT when it was first released and on
sale, and I happened to be working on some tracks that I
felt needed a bigger vocal presence, and I didnt want to
double the vocals. The plug-in worked great for that
project, and Im looking forward to trying it on other
tracks. Geoff, any last words?
GS: I can certainly see using Reel ADT on projects in all
sorts of ways. Youve inspired me to go open my Recording
The Beatles book again to dig in further on the ADT
process. I often have singers do a shadow double of the
lead vocal to beef it up. Even if it is almost inaudible, the
secondary track does a nice thing. Reel ADT does a great
job of mimicking this when tweaked appropriately. As I
mentioned already, a great benefit to this plug-in is the
ability to integrate some randomness to the process. I
think leaving a few tidbits to the recording gods is always
a good thing. As is the case with many great effects, you
can use Reel ADT as intended or go off the rails with it in
your own creative way. The fact is, this plug-in lets you do
effective and analog-sounding auto-doubling of vocals
from retro to modern and you can use it as an inspiring
modulation tool for any number of applications. Ill be
using it frequently.
($200 download; www.waves.com)
JB & Geoff Stanfield <www.geoffstanfield.com>

52/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 54)

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Softube

Studio Collection plug-in suite

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The first thing one notices about Softube plug-ins is that the
graphics are kinda stunning. Now, Im not foolish enough to think
that skeuomorphic precision and meticulous shading are going to
make the stuff sound better exactly, but the first impression is a good
one, and what soon follows is the notion that if they put as much
energy into the sound of their plug-ins as they do into the look, then
things will be pretty peachy in the sonics department.
Ive had the pleasure of using the Studio Collection suite in my
mixes for a few months, and overall, Im extremely pleased with
them. There are twelve plug-ins in all, and they are a combination of
branded and unbranded emulations of specific hardware alongside
more general algorithmic effects. Ill start with the one that made me
notice Studio Collection in the first place: Valley People Dyna-mite.
The first time I ran across the hardware a number of years ago, I had
to immediately go find my own two-channel unit. Its one of the
more unique compressors Ive ever come across, due to its aggressive
sound and crazy make-up gain. It sharpens the attack of whatever
you put through it (most notably drums), and can also get super
pumpy-breathy-roomy, depending on the release time. Somewhat
oddly, it also functions as a gate/expander, and a very effective one
at that, with three modes: Peak, Average, and Gate. I really feel like
Softube nailed this emulation on every front. As much as I love my
hardware Dyna-mite, I doubt Ill use it again during a Pro Tools mix.
(Tracking or analog mixing are different stories.) It makes percussion
tracks come alive, makes a bass synth poke out in the mix, and puts
hair on the chest of anything you run through it. Just lovely.
Speaking of compressors, the other one in the bundle is FET
Compressor, which is clearly modeled after the Universal Audio
1176, although it adds a number of very useful features, making
me glad its not a straight-up emulation I have plenty of those
by now. In addition to the standard 1176 controls (including the
famous All Buttons In setting), you get an incremental external
sidechain input, sidechain filtering (both high and lowpass), a
wet/dry control for parallel processing, and a unique Lookahead
control that makes the quite fast attack time of the compressor
even faster through digital trickery. Also, the ratio control is
continuously variable, but can be set directly to one of the standard
ratios by clicking on the text surrounding the knob. For the
graphics, Softube apparently perused a few 70s hi-fi catalogs,
drawing on classic Pioneer and Sanyo stereo faceplates. I really love
the sound and adaptability of FET Compressor. The extra features
added to the already familiar and versatile set of controls have
been making it a first-reach compressor for transparent volume
management as well as smashy stuff.
Also in the 70s stereo vibe, GUI-wise, are three different
equalizers: Passive Equalizer is based on the Neumann PEV, Active
Equalizer is based on the Filtek Labo Mk5 (wha?), and Focusing
Equalizer is based on nothing Ive ever seen or heard. I dont have
a lot of experience with the PEVs, and Ive never used a Filtek, but
I found both Passive and Active highly effective, albeit for differing

tasks. Passive Equalizer has a fixed 60 Hz low cut/boost, a fixed

10 kHz high cut/boost, and a boost-only midrange band with seven
frequencies between 700 and 5600 Hz. The steps on the high and
low bands are in 3 dB increments, and 2 dB for the mid band.
Definitely a broad-strokes tool, but it works great on buses and
mixes for emphasizing or deemphasizing areas of the frequency
spectrum. Active Equalizer is more versatile, with two bell shapes
and twelve center frequencies to choose from per band. Gain comes
in 2 dB steps, 16 dB. In addition, there are very smooth sounding
high and lowpass filters, each with five frequencies to choose
from. Id put Active Equalizer in the middle of the spectrum in terms
of precision; although its not fully parametric, you can get much
more fine-tuney when notching out unwanted frequencies or
adding something extra. I found this plug-in to sound best at
pretty low amounts of boost. Both Passive and Active have an
output-level control, which is handy if youre boosting frequencies
on a hotly-recorded track.
Focusing Equalizer gets the award for most innovative plug-in of
the entire suite, and is one of those why havent I seen this before?
kind of things. The three EQ bands, which can be made either
Passive or Active, have no frequency selections; instead, their
corner frequencies are determined by the sliders for the low and
highpass filter frequencies (cleverly mimicking an old 70s radio
tuner interface). Once the extremes are set, you can boost highs and
lows, and boost or cut mids, without knowing the precise frequencies
of those bands. In practice, this means you are really using your ears
to analyze the tonal makeup of a given instrument, and to figure out
where to augment it, in a way that even an analog EQ doesnt often
allow. There is also a single Saturation knob (borrowed from FET
Compressors processing) with three different tonal curves, which is
the best-sounding one-knob saturation emulator this particular
reviewer has yet stumbled upon. Snare drums, bass guitars, vocals
everything sounded better with a little of this saturation applied,

to our Studer A820. I was able to achieve an extremely usable

sound on every source and relatively quickly at that. Like most
of my favorite things, the ADL 1700 doesnt have very many
controls, and most of the settings are good ones.
Whether you dont own any classic tube compressors, or are
totally obsessed like studio-owner Marc Alan Goodman and myself,
you probably wouldnt kick this compressor out of bed for eating
crackers. Its not noisy, its got vibe for days, and Anthony DeMaria
provides some of the best customer support Ive ever encountered.
I imagine well be happily using our ADL 1700 for years to come.
($2650 street; www.anthonydemarialabs.com)
Daniel Schlett <daniel@strangeweatherbrooklyn.com>

54/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 56)

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Drip Electronics
47 ULTRA preamp PC board

In a majority of cases, the absolute worst motive for

undertaking a DIY electronics project is cost savings. Gear
builds are gratifying for a number of reasons, but factors like
economies of scale dictate that you will often end up
spending an amount approaching (or exceeding) the cost of
a comparable ready-made unit.
Exceptions do exist, though, and due to extreme rarity
(and few modern alternatives) its quite financially
sensible to build your own version of the EMI REDD.47 mic
preamp. Enter Drip Electronics, whose 47 ULTRA printed
circuit board represents their third (and best) layout of
this classic circuit.
First things: The 47 ULTRA is not a kit, but a high quality
PCB for which users must source their own parts. Drip
provides a bill of materials, but it tends toward pricey
audiophile parts and isnt accuracy-verified. If youre picky
about components or prefer a cost-targeted approach, youll
spend significant time parts-sourcing. Documentation is
limited, a bit difficult to locate on Drips site, and does not
contain step-by-step instructions. Stumped builders are
encouraged to pose their questions on a dedicated message
forum that, unfortunately, sees little traffic. First-time
builders may be deterred here, with good reason.
The 47 ULTRA features an elegant layout of the original
EMI circuitry and an optional regulated DC filament supply,
but its a blank canvas. The most basic build would feature
only the original REDD.47s functions: a three-position gain
switch (34, 40, and 46 dB of boost) and a fine trimmer for
stereo-pair calibration. Theres no built-in provision for input
or output attenuation, polarity reverse, or phantom power
(though these functions can be added by a savvy builder).
The board itself is the highest quality Ive ever
encountered. The substrate is thick and sturdy with wide,
gracefully curved traces; through-plated holes; and
generous pads that solder effortlessly. The sharp
silkscreening and black solder mask make for a board thats
flat gorgeous with a layout thats logical, quiet, and sound.
This is high-end stuff!
At The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, we began with a pair
of 47 ULTRA builds, but the number has since swelled to
ten these are too good! To make them viable and flexible
enough for day-to-day use, we added several features to the
basic units: phantom power, polarity reverse, a switchable
-20 dB input pad, and a 600 output fader. To squeeze
them (barely!) into 2RU-height enclosures, we skipped the
6X4 rectifier tube in favor of silicon diodes.
Our first two builds quickly found favor on woodwind and
brass instruments, drum overheads, guitar amplifier, and
several other sources. These are high-fidelity devices that
somewhat reflect EMIs mid-century focus on classical music
recording. Characterful? Yes, but its a high-fidelity character
of the wide, spacious, three-dimensional variety. The
warmth is there, but it comes not as much from coloration
as from a feeling of size and effortlessness. Of course,
cascading two units together to distort a DIed Epiphone
Casino replicates the fuzz guitar sound from Revolution,
so there is fun to be had.
For our most recent eight units, a few tweaks improved
performance even further. Increasing the cathode bypass
capacitors from 100 F to 470 F and using film capacitors
in the power supply removed what were only traces of
lower-midrange murk and bottom-end sluggishness. The

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with or without the EQ engaged. I now have a new first-reach

tool to counteract anything boring-sounding.
Next on the EQ list is Trident A-Range. I already own and
love the UAD version of this venerable EQ, and this one
sounds just as good, if not better. I think of the A-Range EQ
as being particularly capable of juicing up guitars, snares,
or vocals, and Softubes version adds a Saturation control to
the mix, for even more juice. The final two EQ plug-ins in the
suite are Tonelux Tilt and Tilt Live, which have already gotten
print [Tape Op #88]. Ill simply add to that review by saying I
found a lot of instances where Tilt came in very handy.
Left to mention are the time-based effects a delay and
two (and a half) reverbs. Tube Delay is very much a colored,
non-utility delay plug-in. You can drive the wet and dry
signals separately for a pretty convincing tubey-sounding
overdrive, and you have your standard Mix, Feedback, and
Delay Time controls. There are also simple Treble and Bass
tone knobs. Out of all of the plug-ins in the suite, I found this
the least utilitarian. That isnt to say that I dont like the
sound of it; I do. Its warm and fuzzy and gritty, in a particular
way that wont be useful on every mix. But having different
flavors and colors is essential, so Im glad I have another one.
I do wish it had an output-level knob, though, since the delay
circuit attenuates the signal substantially, and the Drive knob
only increases distortion, not volume.
Spring Reverb is a versatile and believable spring emulation.
Its not my absolute favorite spring plug-in, but again, as one of
a few different options, it has definite value. It has a unique,
automatable Shake lever that emulates the sound of kicking
or dropping your spring-equipped amplifier. I guess this is
interesting and useful a couple times a year for someone who
doesnt have access to a real amp with real springs, although I
am sad to think that that could be the case.
TSAR-1 is a full-featured, killer-sounding algorithmic
reverb. I thought I was all set in the reverb plug-in
department until I heard TSAR-1. It has become one of the
small handful of reverbs I can trust for just about any task,
from creating an intimate ambience around a vocal, to
pushing a singer to the far reaches of a cathedral, to creating
a total alien environment all without any signs of digital
artifacts or harshness. The controls are simple,
straightforward, and familiar. This plug-in isnt really breaking
any new ground in terms of features; it is merely providing the
highest-quality of ambience sculpting that one could possibly
hope for at an extremely fair price point. TSAR-1R has fewer
features for the control-wary, but I didnt find much use for
the stripped-down version, personally.
Authorization for the entire suite is iLok, and for you
folks whove made the transition to Pro Tools 11 [Tape Op
#101 online], youll be pleased to see AAX compatibility for
all of Softubes plug-ins. (TSAR-1 is AAX Native but not AAX
DSP. All Sotftube plug-ins also support VST, VST3, AU, and
RTAS). Scroll-wheel control is smooth and intuitive, which I
always admire, as is Avid Artist Control integration. Most of
the plug-ins in the collection dont have a bypass switch,
which I find odd, but of course, you can always use the
DAWs own bypass control.
Ive really been enjoying using these plug-ins; I find them
of absolute top-notch quality and very easy to employ in my
day-to-day workflow. The best thing that can be said about
any tool is that it makes your job easier and more pleasurable
on a daily basis, and I say that without hesitation about
Softube Studio Collection.
($879 MSRP; www.softube.com)
Eli Crews <www.elicrews.com>

56/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 58)

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iD22 USB audio interface

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What sets the iD22 apart from countless other compact

audio interfaces Ive tried is its big-console feel and sound.
And really, its the most analog sounding USB audio
interface Ive heard! The iD22 has two channels of analog
input and six channels of analog output, as well as an
optical connector for two-channel S/PDIF or eight-channel
ADAT I/O. The two analog input channels are made
available through Neutrik Combo connectors that allow
XLR mic-level connections or 1/4 TRS line-level, as well as
through a single 1/4 TS jack for instrument-level. The
analog outputs are on four 1/4 TRS line-level connectors
and a single 1/4 headphone jack.
The mic preamps have plenty of gain, are quiet, and
importantly, sound awesome. Its clear that the team
responsible for Audients signature preamp, found here
inside the iD22 and also in Audients consoles, were
designing for music, not for specs. Everything I recorded
through the iD22 sounded great, and I particularly loved
how the preamps soft-saturate before the A/D converters
clip. As you raise the peak level of the iD22s preamp to
several dB below overload, the second harmonics come up,
adding a subtle richness to the transients of whatever
youre recording. Electric and acoustic guitars, drums, bass,
piano, and even percussive vocals all benefit from this
Class A euphony. When you drive the preamps a little closer
to full overload, the lows also start to bloom, particularly
in the 100300 Hz region, while the second harmonics
continue to rise. Drums especially get bigger here. And of
course, if youre not careful, you can fall over the cliff and
end up with nasty edge harmonics from digital clipping.
But heres where the iD22 gets even cooler. It has
balanced inserts on both input channels! That means you
are able to insert an outboard processor or heck, even
just a level control and turn up the iD22s saturation
effect while attenuating the level to the ADCs. Thats real
analog for you! The inserts also come in handy if you want
to compress, EQ, or otherwise process whatever youre
recording before conversion to digital, or if you want to
use outboard preamps and just patch directly into the
iD22s converters.
Also worth noting is that the phase response is close to
linear from 200 Hz on up, especially near the Nyquist
frequency. Many converter designs aimed at project studios
sacrifice phase response for flatter amplitude response,
resulting in large excursions in phase near the limits of the
converters low-pass filter. But Audient seems to have gone
the other way and emphasized the quality of the phase
response. To my ears, this sounds more musical, despite
there being a very gentle slope down to a dB or so below

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nominal amplitude at 20 kHz in 44.1 kHz mode, and 40 kHz

in 96 kHz mode. Tracking between channels is good too. I
could hear a strong phantom center between the L/R
channels of anything I recorded and played back through
the iD22 because the balance, transient energy, and air
sounded right.
Lets move on to the console-like features of the iD22.
Each input channel has a gain knob as well as switches for
phantom power, pad, polarity, and low-pass filter all of
which have a solid feel to them. But whats interesting is
that the unit also has a fairly comprehensive monitoring
section too. A big knob controls monitor volume, a small
knob controls headphone volume, and buttons allow you to
dim, cut, sum to mono, flip polarity, activate talkback, and
switch to alternate speakers. Curiously, there are dedicated
buttons for the first two, but only three assignable buttons
for the latter four. Im not sure why Audient just didnt
bother to add one more physical button so that all
functions would be immediately accessible, because I
found them all to be useful. Thoughtfully, Audient
designed the talkback function so that a quick push
latches it on, while a push-hold turns it on and then off
when you release. Also very cool is being able to use
mono-sum and polarity together for mid-side (instead of
just left-right) checks.
On the software side, theres a dead-simple routing panel
that allows you to connect physical outputs to virtual buses
within the software. For example, two aux sends can be
configured for low-latency monitoring by routing them to the
headphone jack, any of the output jacks on the back, or any
channels of the optical out. The alternate speaker bus can also
be routed to any of the outputs, and thankfully, there are
separate trims for the main and alternate monitor buses.
Although there isnt a dedicated talkback mic on board, you can
choose any of the input channels as a talkback source. Once
your routing is set up, you can close that panel and focus on
the main mixer panel. Here, the view is over-the-top
skeuomorphic (theres even virtual grime on the fader panels)
which means that anyone who has spent time on a physical
console will grok the mixer immediately. Software metering is
well done, making up for the sparse metering on the physical
unit. A view filter allows you to show/hide the different fader
types (analog, digital, DAW), but unfortunately, you cant drag
the main window big enough so that everything is visible at
once a shame, because even on my ultraportable Portg
laptop, theres plenty of additional screen space available that
I wish the iD22 software utilized. Instead, with all fader types
open, youre forced to scroll horizontally. Any number of routing
and mixer configurations can be saved and recalled to the host
computer, but you cant save a configuration to the iD22 itself,
which makes the unit difficult to use standalone or in Class
Compliant mode. Windows and Mac OS are both supported.
All in all, I found the iD22 to be a refreshingly unique
USB audio interface, with extremely intuitive operation
and great sound. The unit isnt cheap, but the mic
preamps transparent when you want them to be, but
capable of adding analog flavor when pushed are worth
the price alone. And dont forget that a flexible monitor
controller is built-in too. You can purchase the twochannel Mico or the eight-channel ASP880 to add more of
Audients excellent preamps to the iD22 via its optical port.
As a desktop USB interface with analog consolelike
features and sound, the iD22 really is in a class by itself.
(iD22 $699 street, Mico $660, ASP880 $1,399;
www.audient.com) AH

Audient

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This past September, I attended the inaugural A3Exchange

(www.a3exchange.com) in Boston and had one of the most
enjoyable conference experiences in years. A small team of
forward thinkers, under the leadership of Paul Sitar, is putting
together an exchange for musicians, audio pros, manufacturers,
publishers, and programmers with the goal of offering these
sometimes disparate subgroups a place and time to meet, discuss,
and co-develop their ideas into actual products and services. To
this end, the A3E team, in addition to planning next years
conference, is working on an online community, with a
marketplace for programmers to offer their services. Im looking
forward to joining this community, and I hope to see many of you
at next years A3E conference. In the meantime, here are some of
the choice takeaways from the first A3Exchange. Jack
Joseph Puig (Waves): The first time I won a Grammy and held
it in my hand, I realized it wasnt an instrument. It was
technology. Music has always been about technology. Chris
Wilson (Google): We pretty much have a computer in our
pocket a marketplace for artists, a collaboration platform. But
interchange is difficult. You cant take your Juno-6 patch and put
it into your DX7. Bobby Lombardi (Gobbler): Camera apps share
ISO settings and such. But audio apps cant even agree on how
far up a fader can go in fader automation. Gregory Makles (Ohm
Force): Version 1.1 or version 1.2? If you send me the state of
your plug-in, it might explode. Tony Cariddi (Avid): Were using
the creative portion of our brain. We dont need to be tripped up
by having to move to another system. The last thing you want to
do as a Logic user is be forced to use Pro Tools. Avids vision is to
build a platform so that you can plug in using whatever system
youre using. Phil Cohen (AudioCommon): Everyone needs to be
enabled to create and collaborate, and musicians are going to
regain power. Labels are going to be wondering where they fit in.
David Mash (Berklee College): Technology and music
distribution its not a nightmare. Its a great democratizing
scenario. Anything that lets the artist express themselves
musically is a good thing. We have a student making his tuition
on YouTube videos. Theres a market for making your mark and
making money. Stefan Oertl (Re-Compose): The audience will
become part of the music they listen to. The boundaries between
the producer and listener dissolve one becomes the other.
Steven Slate (Slate Digital): Have you heard of the online
mastering system? I had to let go of my ego. Im an audio
engineer, and here is a system that attempts to replace an
engineer. Artificial intelligence is the new reality. Stop being
dismissive and afraid. Yes, mastering is an art. But do you really
think that in some years time, some software process wont be
able to analyze emotion? Thats what AI is. Marcus Ryle (Line 6):
In reality, drum machines impacted the industry and put a lot of
mediocre drummers out of work. But the really great drummers
got more work. I dont think anyone who is excellent in their field
should feel threatened. There are tools that improve my
photos better than a professional photographer? Probably not,
but thats not the point. It doesnt have to threaten the art. Its
about making tools available to more people who can benefit
from a better output. The good news is that we only need some
of the world to be ready for cutting-edge technology. Dr. Jeffery
Smith (Smule): The goal this time isnt about technology
anymore. Of course were going to use technology, but does the
consumer have to navigate that technology? If we get it right,
the consumer wont have to think about the technology. They can
focus on creating music. AH

revised units are among the most outstanding preamps in

our studio, even on nuanced sources like acoustic piano.
The Drip 47 ULTRA allows an ambitious or experienced
builder to create a first-rate device capable of carving out a
prominent place alongside more typical Neve and API fare.
Theyre conversation starters, and the conversation usually
includes the phrase, Ive never heard a recording of my
instrument sound so good! If youre undeterred by limited
documentation and confident in your ability to figure out
how to add any needed functionality, this product and
project come most highly recommended.
($200 direct; www.dripelectronics.com)
Brad Allen Williams <www.thebunkerstudio.com>

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Gear Geeking w/ Andy

58/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 60)

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the

Profile

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Last album I listened to:

Alt Js This Is All Yours
Last book I read: The Match
Best studio lunch: Silly Goose in East Nashville
My drink: Corralejo Triple Distilled Reposado
shaken and over ice with a splash of lime
My greatest accomplishment:
A fulfilling family life and career
If I had to pick one piece of Retro gear I'd go with
the 176. It's killer for a vocal in either record or mix.
Rich tone and transparent control.

-Jacquire King (Kings of Leon,

Norah Jones, Of Monsters and Men)

am

accommodate hanging larger microphones with spider

shockmounts. There is also the IO-R coupler that allows you
to retrofit your existing boom or stand for use with the IO
quick-change system.
In real-world use, we were especially fond of the Triad
stands. During one conversation, I told the staff that, if
money were no object, I would replace every straight stand
we own with a Triad-Orbit. The stands are so stable and
difficult to knock over by accident. Add the angling
functionality of the tripod base, and you have an amazing
studio tool. While we were reviewing these products, we had
a session during which we did a vocal mic shootout. Dont ask
how, but our U 47 long-body clone was set up on a standard
music-store tripod. As life would have it, the client walked by,
kicking the stand accidentally. The mic flew, hit the deck, and
suffered substantial internal damage. Had the mic been on a
Triad T3, the client might have hurt his foot, but my mic
would have survived unscathed.
The Orbit booms were mixed for us. The single-boom Orbit
O1 was outstanding for guitar amps, drums, vocals, and
anything we used it on. And its reassuring to know that an
expensive ribbon mic wont suffer damage from the sudden
wind blast it would encounter if its boom slipped or fell.
Buying more of the O1 booms is high on my priority list. Use
of the dual-boom O2, on the other hand, is a love-it or hateit affair. I can think of live sound, worship, installation, or
classical engineers who will find the O2 to be a space-saving,
precision piece of equipment. We felt that the O2 works best
when the mics are drooped, mounted to an M1 or M2 with the
stem hanging downward (which does make them great for
grand piano recording). At our studio, we rarely place mics
that way, and so fiddling with so many ball joints was
awkward. But if your positioning constraints are too much for
more than a single stand, then the O2 could be your savior.
The IO quick-change system is not only sturdy and easy
to use, but we discovered an unexpected plus. The IO-H
head-only piece is really helpful when your vintage mic or
special shockmount has thread damage. Case in point, the
integrated mounts of our U 47 fet and bottle mics can no
longer take day-in-day-out threading. By keeping an IO-H
affixed to each of these mics, we reduce wear on their
mounts and ensure that they are hung on strong Triad-Orbit
stands. I suspect many studios will be interested in this
application of the IO couplers.
If you are fed up with stands that slip or fall over, check
out the Triad line. If your boom arms are stripped, drooping,
and about to give way, check out the Orbit line. Ive said it
before, and Ill repeat it here: We spend so much money on
handmade mics, why would we entrust them to a $25 mallstore mic stand? Thats so foolish. If you own premium tools,
you need to protect them. Just be warned, when you go to
clean up, dont simply grab the Triad stand like it weighs 2 lbs.
You may need a new shoulder socket if you do. But then
again, maybe one of those Compass Point joints will be
available for humans soon.
(Stands start at $139 street; booms $109+,
IO adapters $39, discounted multi-packs available;
www.triad-orbit.com)
Garrett Haines <www.treelady.com>

Advanced Stands Systems

Triad-Orbit is a new brand of professional microphone

stands from Access Products Group, a company that has
been designing and producing products for other market
leaders for over twenty years. The Triad-Orbit catalog
includes Triad stands, Orbit booms, and Micro mic
adapters all clean-slate designs.
The Triad stands are my favorite part of this line-up.
They come in three sizes T1 through T3 with a
smaller Mini promised for future release. From a distance,
they look like a regular mic stand, but up close, the details
jump out. The T3 stand weighs over 14 lbs on its own
there is no bumping this model over! Add a boom or even
a Micro adapter, and the weight goes up. The tripod base
is unlike anything Ive encountered. Each leg has four
ratcheted positions, so the stand can tilt up to 65,
allowing you to adjust the stand for uneven surfaces, or
for times when you need the mic to be just a few inches
closer, without adding a boom or sandbags to the base.
The stands remain stable even when all legs are angled
high, like a tee-pee. Drum micing was a breeze with the
added placement options. Liz, one of our engineers at
Treelady Studios, commented, These are built like my
drum stands. They are so stable. Although the company
says the legs are foot-actuated, we always used our hands
to adjust them out of respect for the heft and finish of
the Triad. The height-adjust collars are heavy-duty clutchbarrels instead of the cheaper pipe screws. Covered in
knurled rubber, the grip is comfortable and makes adding
torque a breeze. On the T3, the vertical segments are even

air-suspended. The tops of the stands have a hexagonal

aperture, which accepts the heavy-duty IO quick-change
mounts of Orbit booms and Micro adapters. A mic mount
(in US threading with an included European adapter)
comes standard.
While the advanced engineering of the stands may be
missed upon first glance, the Orbit booms do not hide their
innovative features. The core mechanism is a stainless steel
ball that fits into a socket, resembling the hip joint from a
Terminator robot. The socket is a clamp that provides 360
of horizontal rotation and 220 of tilt. An oversized Thandled screw tightens the jaws of the clamp around the
ball joint. Like the stands, the ends of the Orbit booms
accept IO quick-change adapters.
We also tried the unique Orbit 2, which is dual-arm boom
with a Compass Point tripleball joint mechanism in its
center. This allows a single Triad stand to hold two
independent booms, which is useful for tight, precise
positioning of mics. In a lot of their user literature, Triad-Orbit
shows how useful the Orbit 2 can be on a grand piano,
allowing two mics to approach the strings from a single
stand. That may be fine and well, but on a Leslie, the Orbit 2
is the way to go. One arm hits the top horn and the other arm
takes the bottom. (In fact, LC tried the Orbit 2 at Jackpot!
Studio and discovered the same application.)
The Micro adapters are IO-quipped, with a 1.2long
brass hexagonal shaft that mates with the tops of the
various Triad stands and Orbit booms, locking in via a
spring-loaded collar. We tested the Micro M1 and Micro M2
mic adapters, which incorporate miniature versions of TriadOrbits trademarked ball joint. The M2 has a short-stemmed
mounting arm. The M1 is similar, but with a longer stem to

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Triad-Orbit

www.retroinstruments.com

60/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(continued on page 62)

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Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#104/61

CalDigit

Thunderbolt Station

Monoprice

10946 MP Thunder Dock

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If you, like me, have recently moved to the Thunderbolt computer interface platform, these two
products may be of interest to you. I recently sold my Avid TDM hardware in favor of a Universal
Audio Apollo platform. In my opinion, Apollo is the first real contender to displacing the Avid
hardware DSP platform, but thats for another review. My first Apollo rig was a borrowed Apollo 16
[Tape Op #99] that I connected to my MacBook laptop running Pro Tools 10. It worked great for a
remote gig I did, and I subsequently used it at home where I do the layout for Tape Op in my home
office. Needing more screen real-estate, I had to connect an external display to my MacBook via
Thunderbolt. Because the Apollo 16 has two Thunderbolt ports, I could daisy-chain my display off
that. The only slightly wonky aspect was that I had to power up the Apollo for the MacBook to
recognize the external display, even if I didnt need the Apollos audio I/O or DSP. I also didnt need
a 1616 interface in my small home-office taking up space, and the Apollo 16 was a bit short on
home-studio features like mic preamps, and headphone jacks, so I moved over to the Apollo Twin
[#101]. The Twin is an amazing interface for use at home, but it only has one Thunderbolt port. How
was I going to hook up my external display? I figured if anyone would know, it would be Andy Hong,
so I emailed him and he wrote back about 20 minutes later.
Check out the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station; it has two Thunderbolt ports and one HDMI port. Use
an HDMI-DVI cable to drive your display, and use the available Thunderbolt port to connect your Apollo.
Note that there is a similar device with the same form-factor made by StarTech. If you read Amazon
reviews of the StarTech, several buyers said they had problems with it, but not the CalDigit. Also, the
CalDigit can drive a higher-resolution display through its HDMI port than the StarTech can. So, I
followed the Gear Geeks advice, and of course, he was right. Everything works perfectly, and I have a
few extra USB 3.0 ports, and an Ethernet port to boot, which never hurts. The CalDigit cost me about
$200, which was a bit of a drag, as buying a hub is never as much fun as buying a mic, and a mic will
last much longer. But, thats the price for living on the cutting edge of the Thunderbolt world.
When I upgraded my old TDM rig at The Dock to an Apollo 16, I realized $200 is about the
minimum youre going to spend on Thunderbolt peripherals that you thought you didnt need to buy.
I purchased a new iMac to interface with the Apollo. In our smallish studio, the monitor is directly
in front of the console and the patchbay, with space for our converters immediately to the right. I
can easily touch everything without stretching my arms very far. I was stoked to replace our Magma
expansion chassis, Digidesign 192 I/O, and two Apogee Rosetta [Tape Op #20] converters (eight rack
spaces total) with the 1RU-height Apollo 16. What I didnt realize is that the longest Thunderbolt
cable made of copper is 9.5 ft. That turned out to be 6 shorter than I needed, no matter how I
routed the cable around our studio furniture and racks. 6 inches!! If the ports had been on the other
side of the Apollo, the cable would have just barely made it. To add insult to injury, this toogoddamn-short cable was $50. For one frigging 9.5 ft cable! There is a special place in hell reserved
for companies that charge a small fortune for short, hard to find cables. Okay, enough ranting I
needed to find a longer cable. After a bit more research, I learned that you can buy optical
Thunderbolt cables. The added benefit of these is that they can be hundreds of feet long. The
drawback is that they dont provide bus power. The next size up, an 18 ft optical Thunderbolt cable,
was $180! At this price, I realized I could buy another hub, stick it halfway between the two pieces
of gear 6 ft away from each other, and gain additional connectivity in the process.
At this point, I started browsing on the Monoprice site. I love Monoprice for their super-cheap,
super-sturdy cables and adapters. The previous time I checked, theyd been pretty barren in the
Thunderbolt department, but since then, theyve added some shorter cables and a nice looking
Thunderbolt hub that lacked the HDMI and Ethernet ports of the CalDigit, but added FireWire 800
and eSATA ports. As so many sessions still arrive on portable FireWire drives, this seemed like a much
better solution than an overpriced optical cable, so I placed an order for the 10946 MP Thunder Dock
and some more cabling for our new rig. When the Thunder Dock showed up, I put it halfway between
the computer and the Apollo, and it immediately solved our cabling issues and worked perfectly. I
also tested it using its FW800 port to play back and record audio from external drives, and that
worked perfectly as well. When recording the Apollos maximum of 16 tracks to the iMacs internal
drive, disk and CPU usage in Pro Tools was less than 2% a pretty impressive figure! Next, I opened
up a very dense session with 40 tracks and lots of plug-ins (both native RTAS and DSP-driven UAD),
and I added 16 new tracks and put them all into record. Using an external FW800 drive connected
to the Thunder Dock, disk and CPU usage jumped to 20% in playback and 30% with the tracks in
record still pretty acceptable for a native system. I then copied that session over to a new
Thunderbolt drive, and usage went way down to 5% in playback and 10% in record. While the
Thunder Dock will enable us to use older FW800 drives with our new system (the iMac does not have
a FireWire port), its clear that the Thunderbolt protocol is the faster and more efficient way forward.
(Thunderbolt Station, $199; www.caldigit.com; MP Thunder Dock, $250; www.monoprice.com) JB

62/Tape Op#104/Gear Reviews/(Fin.)

Warmenfat

The
Pure Tube
Class A Micro Amplifier!

$499

Standard instrument input: Lead or bass guitar, keyboardsYou name it!

26 dB input: Low sensitivity input. Perfect for that snare drum.
Transformer speaker output: Use as a guitar amplifier.
Transformer balanced output: Perfect DI. (Max output level over +25 dBm.)
Transformerless unbalanced output: Ideal for re-amplifying or inserting into an effects loop.
Direct output (before gain controls): Boost classic guitar amp independently of DI output.
High Gain switch: Selects between triode and beam tetrode tube operation.
Pre and Post Gain controls: Adjust from clean to crunchy.
Custom output transformer: Allows any speaker to be used as a microphone
(for kick drum or guitar cabinets) while simultaneously providing a balanced output.

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Manufactured by Rainbow Electronics - specialists in audio repairs since 1963

www.warmenfat.com 916-334-7277

direct!

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Food for Thought

by Larry Crane

Ive pulled together a collection of recent thoughts Ive had

about the recording process. You can agree or not agree.
The important thing is to use your ears, mind, and creativity to make great recordings.
Recording equipment matters, but it doesnt really matter.
It may take you years to learn, or outgrow, some of your gear.
At a certain level of recording gear,
every $500 step buys you tiny, incremental benefits.
Vintage gear is a mirage; not something you really need, but maybe something to
conceptually strive for.
Some random chain of vintage equipment isnt what really
made those records worth listening to 40 years later.
Considering every possibility in front of you is paralyzing.
Just because you came up with a new overdub or part doesnt mean its good.

Percussion overdubs are 90 percent unnecessary.

Its not possible to steal someones recording tricks;

they never work the same for you.
Fidelity means everything and nothing, at the same time.

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Sources that sound natural might not be natural at all.

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Backing vocals are 75 percent unnecessary.

It was recorded live doesnt indicate anything about the quality.

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A simple recording is not a bad recording, nor is it underproduced or lo-fi.

Anyone casting doubt on the way another person records is a fool.
Recorded simply does not mean recorded poorly.
Great songs sound better, no matter what happens next.
Using more mics doesnt always equal great sound.
Excellent arrangements make the instruments and vocals sound better.
Anything that looks in time is likely not really in time.
Quality instrumentalists make their parts sound great
and fit together better.

66/Tape Op#104/Larrys End Rant/

The best singers make the mic sound better and the song more compelling.
A great engineer can make a recording sound better,
but they usually cant affect the five scenarios above.
A great producer can put the right people in the right situations
and make them shine.
A bad producer can make everyone uncomfortable, pick the wrong people,
choose the wrong takes, and still make great recordings despite all this.
Recording equipment doesnt make records; people make records.
Nothing else matters when people get to enjoy the music.

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