Copper

Timing Error

Where the Streets Have No Name

You want me to go where? Taken at Fort Bragg, California.

My Retail Customers: Of Chalk and Cheese

Working in retail perhaps may better be thought of as a portal to another world, another dimension of possibilities and unexpected outcomes. I thought it would be fun to share...

Octave Records Releases The Complete Bach Cello...

PS Audio’s Octave Records label is honored to tell everyone that The Complete Bach Cello Suites by world-renowned cellist Zuill Bailey is now available as a four-LP vinyl box set...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 28

Written by B. Jan Montana     It was after 10 when Chip shook me awake the next morning. “Take a shower, Montana, Candy will soon have breakfast ready.” I...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 20

By the 1970s, disk recording had pretty much disappeared from all sectors, with the sole exception of cutting masters for the industrial manufacturing of vinyl records. Radio stations had moved...

Talk Talk Talking About the Psychedelic Furs

Part of post-punk’s essential nature was to acknowledge that musical genres were not generated spontaneously but developed through history. The Butler brothers – Richard on vocals and Tim on bass...

Lemons Rally: Rust Belt Ramble, Part Two

Day Two: “Big Bucket, Big Bridges, Big Tree, Big Day” A big day indeed, as we would travel through parts of three states today. As it turned out, the bulk...

Orlande de Lassus: Magnificent Music for Voice

One of the most astonishing periods of European music history was the 16th century, when composers like Josquin Des Prez and Giovanni Palestrina rocketed polyphonic vocal writing to new levels...

Tape Versus Vinyl

In my previous articles, I have alluded to the fact that there are many factors that determine the sound quality of an LP. The quality of the original recording is...

Blue In Green

A Sansui 2000x receiver, made from around 1971 to 1975. Delivering 30 watts per channel, these older receivers used to be looked down upon by high-enders, but have gained cachet...

Musical Roots: A Trip Around the World

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), located in Phoenix, Arizona, is the foremost musical instrument museum in the world with 350 exhibits, 200 of which are country-specific. I described it in a previous Copper article (Issue 168),...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 19

Those among our readers with an interest in photography will certainly be familiar with Rollei, a company that started in 1920 in Braunschweig, Germany, manufacturing optics and photographic equipment. Even...

Back and Revitalized: T.H.E. Show 2022, Part One

One of the first audio shows I attended after what is hopefully the end of the pandemic was T.H.E. Show 2022, held at the Hilton Long Beach Hotel in California...

Confessions of a Setup Man, Part 15: Avoiding B...

We’ve all experienced burnout in one form or another, exacerbated by living in the COVID-19 era. Merriam-Webster defines burnout as “exhaustion of physical and emotional strength or motivation usually as...

Tommy Emmanuel: Casting a Spell on Guitar

When guitar great Chet Atkins names you as one of only five guitarists he considers a “Certified Guitar Player,” you know that you have reached the top of your game....

Kloss Encounter

A 1988 portrait of legendary audio designer Henry Kloss, who co-founded Acoustic Research with Edgar Villchur in 1954. He was also involved in KLH, founded Advent Corporation and Kloss Video...

Tale of the Tape

Thieves, Golden Boys, and Trust in the Retail S...

Some of you may have read in my previous articles that part of my background originates in musical instrument retailing. As a result of my experience, one of my catchphrases...

Same Space, Different Time: A Visit to Van Geld...

I was flipping through my inbox in the morning and came across one of Paul McGowan’s Paul’s Posts daily e-mails. This one said that the new Octave Studios recording facility...

Adventures In Hi-Fi – Read All About It

In this summer break from his reel-to-reel activities, Ken Kessler discusses an important new book, Richard F. Colburn’s Adventures In Hi-Fi. Unlike most industries, high-end audio – or, for that matter,...

Amoeba Music: What’s In My Bag?

Considering my advanced years, I am way too old for musical prejudices, but I still experience knee-jerk reactions when confronted by the unknown, “Indie folk rock? No frickin’ way, man!”...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 27

  “All right, that’s enough of that,” Chip proclaimed. “Let’s mount up.” I looked at Candy. “It’s 7:30, where are we going?” “Oh, every Thursday evening, all the Harley guys...

Talking With Folk/Americana Artist Lilli Lewis

In the world we live in today, we need trailblazers, and people who aren’t reluctant to speak up. Lilli Lewis does through her music, and by her commitment to creating...

Back on the Lemons Rally, Part One

“Lemons Rally is not a race!” Rallymaster Jeff barked out our rally instructions at the driver’s meeting around 8:00 am on the Friday that marked the beginning of the Rust Belt...

The Night Sergio Mendes Came to Town

It’s not often that internationally known artists make it to the relatively small town (population about 11,000) in which I live, but the folks who run our local 1930s-era movie...

Stepping Out of the Limelight

Many stories have been written about sidemen who became stars once they got their chance in the spotlight: Glen Campbell (the Wrecking Crew and the Beach Boys), Sheryl Crow (Michael...

Dead & Company at Citi Field, July 15, 2022...

Very few artists command followings so rabid that, when anyone criticizes them, the band’s defenders come out in force. I have written critically about the Stones, Springsteen, Dylan, and the...

Uh Oh!

All That Jazz

  Just in time for your final pool party, here’s a sampling of jazz recordings to keep you cool and entertained for the rest of the summer. The selections include...

Trumpeter Roy Eldridge: Nifty Cat

Trumpeter Roy Eldridge used to tell people that he got his incredible ear for music from his mom, who could reproduce anything at the piano. Ironically, while his mother was...

Oh No, It’s Devo!

When they were Kent State University students in the late 1960s, Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis developed the sarcastic theory that mankind was de-evolving rather than evolving. They surely never...

Issue 169

Through good times and bad, we always have the memories. Until we forget them. I hope I haven’t used that one before. In this issue: Ray Chelstowski interviews the spellbinding...

The Musical Instrument Museum: A National Treasure

Jeff Weiner has been a volunteer museum guide/docent at Phoenix, Arizona’s Musical Instrument Museum for the last five years. Some of the content of this article has been adapted from...

Under the Same Sky

As a fortune cookie connoisseur, this one caught my eye: “We all live under the same sky, but we don’t see the same light.” Quite a profundity from the usually...

High Fi

Octave Records Releases Nightmares by Country/A...

Octave Records has released Nightmares by country/Americana/rock band Gasoline Lollipops, a record that weaves roots music influences, intimate confessional songwriting and the raw power of rock and roll into a deeply moving...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 18

When it comes to the preservation of vintage technology, the demographics show a significant age bias. It is a rapidly aging population that is primarily interested in such things, as...

Resolute

Pet Sounds: My Dogs Explained by Album Titles

Emma is ready for her close-up.   “There is no you,” Trent Reznor sang. “There is only me.” Trent is a self-absorbed individual who intuitively understood our first dog, Emma....

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 26

  After a delightful breakfast, Evelyn had to rush off to work. As we parted, she urged me to spend some time visiting the Minneapolis Institute of Art on Third...

Talking With Larry Jaffee of Making Vinyl, Part...

Copper contributor Larry Jaffee is the co-founder of Making Vinyl, an industry organization dedicated to fostering cooperation among those in the record-manufacturing industry. Larry is also the author of Record Store Day: The...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 20: (Not) L...

At the risk of courting lawsuits from retired octogenarians, I find myself unable to resist attacking the easiest of targets: record labels. To be more precise, the major labels circa...

Listening With Dog's Ears

Written by Frank Doris They don’t make ’em like this anymore: an early Garrard AT6 turntable (thanks Ken Kessler for identifying this model).   Another view of the AT6. Photos...

The Evolution of In-Ear Monitors

They have become ubiquitous on concert stages from clubs and churches to theaters and stadiums. They have become so popular that some people prefer them over conventional headphones, and they...

Women Who Rock: Some of My Favorites

There is a common misconception that men dominate the rock scene. It’s not true. Women have long co-dominated the rock scene. The real issue is that they simply aren’t properly...

The Harlequins: A Cincinnati Band Has Plenty to...

In 1984, On July 4th weekend, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band made their second stop on the “Born in the U.S.A.” tour. It had begun with three dates...

Play it Again, Steinway: the Spirio Player Piano

A few months back, I was hanging out with Ed Gilmore at Gilmore’s Sound Advice auditioning the Steinway Lyngdorf Model D, a digital all-in-one system with powered speakers and a central processor to accommodate...

More CES History, and Technomania

In my early years of attending CES in the 1990s, I would take the redeye home from Las Vegas. That would prevent the loss of a full day flying back...

Vinyl and the World’s Best Stereo System

Many of us prefer to listen to vinyl over other formats because it produces that je ne sais quoi, a mysteriously gripping and engaging effect which, for many listeners, seems...