Richard Barbieri: "Gear Talk" video

Watch Richard Barbieri talking about keyboards he used on the new Porcupine Tree album Closure / Continuation. He uses a lot of old school analog synths, including a rebuild version of the Prophet-5. Since he is not a very technical player, he relies on the controls to create the sounds he wants and needs for his soundscapes.

Blurring parts is a huge part of his ambient approach. Listening to badly tuned radio when he was a kid - listening to two songs at the same time - and Brian Eno's work with Roxy Music are his main influences.

Closure / Continuation will be released in a wealth of formats on 24th June 2022.

» porcupinetree.com

Gavin Harrison: "Gear Talk" video

Watch Gavin Harrison talking about the drum kit he used on the new Porcupine Tree album Closure / Continuation. He is obviously very happy with his custom-made drum sticks.

When he hits the bass drum, a signal is sent to his drum seat, so that he can feel the beat. This tactile system, made by Porter & Davies, helped him to get rid of the big speakers he would need to make him hear what he is playing.

Closure / Continuation will be released in a wealth of formats on 24th June 2022.

» porcupinetree.com

Steven Wilson: "Gear Talk" video

Watch Steven Wilson talking about the gear he used on the new Porcupine Tree album Closure / Continuation, including a cheap Mexican Telecaster and a new one that is made to look old and does not need a lot of gain to sound real. His trusted Paul Reed Smith guitar is also still part of the equation. He used it for Of The New Day, plugged into a cheap practice amp.

"The best sounds that you get are the sounds that happen almost instantly. Don't even think about it. When you make demos, and you are thinking too hard about what you are doing, quickly dialing up a sound, it's hard to beat that later on." Also: he reveals how to make major 7th chords sound evil.

Closure / Continuation will be released in a wealth of formats on 24th June 2022.

» porcupinetree.com

Trey Anastasio: Phish Summer 2021 Guitar Rig Tour

Guitarist Trey Anastasio explains the effects, amps and what-not he used during the Phish Summer tour. He did one in 2012, shown during intermission at Madison Square Garden in New York.

He will be on the road with the Trey Anastastio Band, kicking off in Portland on September 17.

• 09/17 Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point
• 09/18 Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion
• 09/19 New Haven, CT @ Westville Music Bowl
• 09/21 Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
• 09/22 Charlottesville, VA @ Ting Pavilion
• 09/24 Wilmington, NC @ Riverfront Park Amphitheater
• 09/25 Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
• 09/26 Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit
• 09/28 Columbus, OH @ Express Live Outdoors
• 09/29 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE Outdoors
• 10/01 Washington, DC @ Anthem
• 10/02 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
• 10/03 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall

» trey.com

Justin Douglas: "Well This Sucks: Recording in the Time of Covid"

Audio engineer and producr Justin Douglas, owner of King Electric Recording Co in Austin, TX, wrote an insightful piece for TapeOp. He named it "Well This Sucks: Recording in the Time of Covid", but he is actually quite optimistic about what he can do in these weird times:

Earning a living as an audio engineer is tremendously difficult in the best of times. Somehow you’ve made it work, to some degree at least, so you already possess all the knowledge and resources you need to meet whatever awaits us in the future. All the other stuff, the concrete stuff---like how do I pay studio rent, how can musicians with service industry day jobs afford studio time when those jobs have disappeared---those are very immediate and very real, but they’re also universal. Sure, some people can weather the storm financially better than others, but the reality of the situation has hit us all exactly the same, and no one’s got answers to the questions we're all asking. You and I have a skill and provide a service that brings meaning and beauty into the world and into people's lives. It’s a service people need. So instead of waiting and stressing while fielding home-recording questions from clients, I think we should all be making plans toward safely generating work. I believe doing so responsibly and conscientiously will make professional recording a source of stability and a buttress against uncertainty in our music communities.

The Rev: Tone Lab Episode 1 - El Diablo

Outlaw country rockers The Rev have launched Tone Lab, a series of videos about the recording of their songs. In the first episode guitar player Frank Monaco sheds some light on getting the tone right for their single El Diablo: picking tbe amps, guitar, effects and more.

» The Rev on Facebook

The Origin of Tape Op Magazine

Larry Crane looks back on the humble beginnings of Tape Op Magazine:

The first issue of Tape Op came out in April of 1996. I already had a PO Box that didn’t see much use, and an HP computer that seemed pretty useless. I went downtown and signed up for a dialup email account, set up a desk in an unused bedroom, and was in business. For issue #1 I called Greg Freeman, who had produced the first two Vomit Launch records at his studio in San Francisco, and picked his brain. I also called Fred Cornog, of Merge Records’ East River Pipe, and talked about home recording. Throw in a few chats with other musician pals, and some sloppy paper layout, and I was ready. I snuck into my wife’s workplace on the weekend, bringing my own paper and knocking out photocopies. I had to buy a giant stapler, and I would rope in friends to help collate and “bind” the mags. For this inaugural issue I even spray painted the covers, using a 1/2-inch reel flange as a stencil.

Download the first issue here.

» tapeop.com

The Story of Dick Denney and the AC30 amp

Dick Denney created the Vox AC30 amp, one of the best amplifiers ever. The BBC aired a concise documentary about the rise (and fall) of this piece of gear that made the British beat boom sound so good.

» Dick Denney on Facebook

Cybernetic Witch Cult: rig rundown videos

Cornwall's finest doom rock trio Cybernetic Witch Cult have posted rig rundown videos to shed some light on the process of creating their sound in the studio and on stage. And yes, some of it is hardly ever used at all, but is just fun to have. Wwtch bass player Doug MacKinnon drummer, Lewis May and guitarist Alex Wyld rave and rant about their tools of trade.

The Tape Op Podcast: Nick Raskulinecz

Tape Op sat down with Nick Raskulinecz, go-to producer and engineer for the loud stuff:

Heavy music wouldn't sound like it does today without the help of producer and engineer Nick Raskulinecz. We interviewed Nick back in 2005 for Tape Op #50 and so it seemed like a good time to check back in with him to chat about his move to Nashville, his new studio and his work with bands like Rush, Alice in Chains, Mastadon, Foo Fighters and more. Enjoy!

Neil Young and Phil Baker: new book "To Feel the Music"

Pono, the high end digital audio project by Neil Young, was discontinued in 2017, but he is not giving up. A new book, To Feel the Music, tells the back story and hits the shops in September. Co-author Phil Baker posted a statement on his website:

Neil Young and I coauthored this story about Neil’s single most passionate pursuit: Bringing high-quality audio back to music lovers, who have been forced to settle for compressed, digital files that rob songs of their original warmth. It’s also the story of our efforts to design and market the Pono music player, a low cost product that delivers high quality audio at an affordable price. It’s a book that will find a receptive audience among music fans as well as business people and those interested in product development.

Max Siedentopf moves Toto to Africa

One of the world's most annoying mainstream songs ever is turned into an art installation. Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf loaded an MP3 player with Toto's Africa playing on a loop in the Namib desert. Imagine travelling through the sand dunes for days on end and stumbling upon this in stead of an oasis. The damn thing runs on solar batteries, so it's likely to keep playing for quite some time. Now, that is truly a Desert Island disc from Hell.

» maxsiedentopf.com

The Tape Op Podcast: Bob Clearmountain

Tape Op sat down with engineer, mixer and producer Bob Clearmountain for their podcast series. He was interviewed by John Baccigaluppi:

When we prep for Tape Op interviews it is typical to print out discographies, but in the case of our next guest, it was 48 pages long! Bob Clearmountain needs no introduction. He has worked with a who's who of music's biggest artists including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Morrissey, Sheryl Crow, Tina Turner, Bryan Adams, Crowded House, Bon Jovi, Hall & Oats, Travis Tritt, Elton John, David Bowie and 47 more pages of music's makers and shakers.

Todd Rundgren: rig rundown

Watch Todd Tundgeren discussing his guitars for a rig rundowwn for Premier Guitar. His band mates Jesse Gress (guitar) and Kasim Sulton (bass) weigh in as well.

For this tour, Todd Rundgren left behind the big stage show and truckloads of gear and opted for a string of streamlined, intimate performances spanning his entire career. To make the show happen, he toured with just two guitars—his longtime No. 1 is this MIJ ’80s Fernandes P-Project “super strat.” As he tells in the video, the industry was much different in the late 1980s. He toured Japan just before the ’90s started, and he was gifted with a pile of Fernandes guitars. He took some of them back to the States and sat on them for years. He eventually got curious and started a tone shootout between all the freebies. This seafoam green model emerged victorious and was bestowed the obvious name, “Foamy.” He never really used tone knob or switches, so he had those disconnected and now it has a single volume control and a 5-way toggle. He uses D’Addario NYXL .010–.046 strings and always tunes to E.

» todd-rundgren.com

Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book Of Bass

Coming in December: Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book Of Bass, a lavishly illustrated book by the Rush bassist about the history of the instrument. Geddy Lee also interviewed fellow bassists John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Adam Clayton (U2), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), Les Claypool (Primus) and Bob Daisley (Black Sabbath, Rainbow). The book is available for preorder via Harper Collins.

End of the line for Gibson?

Gibson Custom Jimmy Page Number Two Les Paul

Legendary guitar manufacturer Gibson may be going down if the commpany fails to meet demands from its creditors:

Gibson Brands, Inc. today announced that the company made a $16.6 million coupon payment to holders of its $375 million, 8.875% senior secured notes due 2018.

Nashville Post reporter Geert De Lombaerde about the financial hassle crippling the company:

That simple statement issued a week ago — at all of 26 words, it’s less than a quarter the length of Gibson’s boilerplate company description that accompanied it — suggests a business-as-usual tone of a company taking care of its contractual commitments.

Vintage Synth timeline

Synth geeks might want to have a look at the Vintage Synth Explorer Timeline. It'snot exhaustive, but it's high on trivia and well-written. The oldest entry is for the Chamberlin Rhythmate, a drum machine made in 1949:

The Chamberlin Rhythmate has the distinction of being the first drum machine ever produced. Only around ten were made by Harry Chamberlin from his Upland, California garage back in 1949. Some have said that the Wurlitzer Sideman was the first drum machine, but Chamberlin's invention preceded it by ten years.

The Rhythmate uses a 1" magnetic tape loop which is read by a tape head that can be moved up or down to play back 14 separate drum patterns. The tempo is adjusted by moving a spindle up or down which affects the speed of the tape moving across the head. The Rhythmate has a built-in amplifier and 12" speaker.

Trey Anastasio's guitar tech Brian Brown retires in 2018

Brian Brown, the guitar tech who has been taking care of Trey Anastasio's gear for more than 20 years, calls it quits later this year. From Trey Anastasio's Guitar Rig:

After over 2 decades working for the Phish organization as guitar tech to Trey Anastasio, fan favorite Brian Brown will be retiring in 2018. Brown, 65, has worked as a tech in the industry for 40 years. He explained that the physical toll of the profession has contributed to his decision to retire, including the “heavy lifting, truck loading, [and] 14 hour workdays.” Combining his 10 years as a musician to 40 as a tech, Brown says, “I’ve been setting up concert gigs for 50 years… since I was 15 years old,” adding “Mother Nature is telling me to slow down.”

Trey Anastasio: gear overhaul for NYE run

Phish is preparing for four nights at Madison Square Garden in New York for their annual NYE run. Guitarist Trey Anastasio will be using some new toys as part of a complete overhaul of his set-up. The gear heads at Trey Anastasio's Guitar Equipment have a complete rundown of the cahnges:

The good folks at Custom Audio Electronics, newly relocated in Rock Lititz, PA, released some photos of their rebuild of Trey’s rig in advance of the MSG NYE shows, and it was truly a complete overhaul. The entire midi-switching core of Trey’s rig is brand new, new pedals are in play, and old favorites have returned.

» phish.com

Justin Johnson: how to play the shovel guitar

Justin Johnson was interviewed by Dockyard Guitar and explains how to play the shovel guitar. The instrument was built for him by Mississippi Blues Guitars.