Copper

Tiny Dancer

This dashboard hula dancer is a traveling good spirit.

Showgazing

As you might have seen or heard, AXPONA 2022, Audio Expo North America, was a big success. Literally, with more than 7,500 attendees visiting more than 150 rooms. It felt good to...

The A&M Records Story, Part Three

Our last installment (Issue 161) found A&M in transition, moving away from the vocal and instrumental pop and vocal sounds into some British rock and domestic rock and folk acts, as well...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 14: Origina...

Like vintage watches, pre-owned tapes are best appreciated with mint, original packaging. Ken Kessler finds they often disappoint. It was our friend Jeff Dorgay at TONEAudio who first identified me as an...

Paying the Price

Separation Anxiety

Phil Ramone: Making Records: The Scenes Behind ...

I’ve been reviewing the autobiographies of many of the producer/engineers who are responsible for a great many of the records that Copper readers and music fans around the globe have loved for...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 12

In our previous episode (Issue 161), we discussed the “lightweight” category of monophonic cutter heads made from the 1930s through the 1960s. These moving-iron record-cutting heads, manufactured by RCA, Presto, Rek-O-Kut, Fairchild,...

Jack Tempchin: Songwriter to the Stars

There are a thousand reasons why Jack Tempchin is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Of course, some of these reasons are tied to the timeless tunes he has written...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 20

  The early morning sun blasted through the shade of my window like a World War II searchlight mounted on the neighbor’s roof. I tried to avoid it by turning...

The A&M Records Story, Part Two

In our last article (Issue 160), I presented some of A&M Records’ earliest recordings beginning in 1962, featuring the breezy California pop and instrumental music styles they ultimately became associated with. (A&M...

The Year Was 1977

In 1976, I began using an engagement calendar as a sort of shorthand diary to keep track of the things I’d done and people I’d met and been with –...

The Global Supply of Vacuum Tubes: What Happens...

Several weeks back, Jay Jay French discussed in his article, “Nero Fiddles while Rome…” (Issue 158), that the atrocities still taking place in Ukraine make our pastime of audio seem frivolous in...

Lester Young: President of Jazz

In 1909, a jazz master was born, one whose legacy should get more attention than it does. Maybe it’s because Lester Young played with Count Basie for so long that...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 19

  Chip’s 2-1/2-car garage was a corrugated steel building facing the alley, and was insulated with orange, expanded foam spray. The place was lit up like a gymnasium with two...

Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Lucky Men

It was called progressive rock, but when Emerson, Lake & Palmer played this genre, it looked as much back into music history as it did forward into the newest reaches...

Fest for Beatles Fans Gets Back

I recently attended my first Fest for Beatles Fans in 20 years. I needed to recharge my Beatles batteries, which I did on April 4 and 5 at the New...

From Small Things, Big Things One Day Come

No, this is not a review of the great Springsteen-penned and Dave Edmunds-performed tune, although perhaps I will do an article on Dave Edmunds in the future as I just...

Still Singing! A Bit of Talking! A Little More ...

This month’s article, Part Two of “All Singing! Some Talking! A Little Dancing!” (Part One appeared in Issue 156), includes additional choral music selections in a variety of forms – and...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 13: Re-Educ...

After the last two issues’ litanies of sins, by both the tape manufacturers and the end users (but not the vendors), I tried to place myself back in the 1950s...

Geoff Emerick’s Here, There and Everywhere: Rec...

Artistic geniuses at a young age are not entirely uncommon, as prodigies from Mozart to Derek Trucks bear witness. When the Beatles broke out with their first record in 1962,...

Like a Picasso: Bonnie Pointer’s Lost Album, Re...

The Pointer Sisters were a musical force of nature. Across 20 years beginning in the 1970s they released fifteen albums, delivered 13 top twenty hits, and won three Grammys. Songs...

Grazing in the Grass

This was an amazing moment. We had just arrived at this New Zealand farm/hotel/sheep ranch with only six guest rooms and their own restaurant. Terri and I unpacked and walked...

Take Me to the Pilot

Look at this beauty! Toshiba AM radio, 1955. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Masaki Ikeda (talk).   A late 1950s or early 1960s Pilot Radio Corp. SA-232 stereo amplifier. These were high-quality amps...

Chris Haddox: A Decades-in-the-Making Debut

Chris Haddox’s journey through music is like no other. Having dropped out of college at the age of 21, Chris Haddox moved to Nashville to stake his claim amongst an...

Outstanding Digital Downloads, Recently Added t...

This issue, I’m taking a listen to some digital downloads I’ve recently acquired. These include some interesting catalog albums that I’ve either never had on compact disc or any digital...

More Speaker Setup Tips From Audio Advice's Sco...

In Issue 160 we covered the useful Home Theater Designer loudspeaker setup software developed by Audio Advice, an audio/video retailer and systems integrator with showrooms in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina. This free online interactive utility...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 11

Cutter heads for record-cutting lathes have come in various shapes and forms throughout the years, from the mechanically-damped moving-iron designs of the early monophonic era, to devices using oil and...

On With the Show

AXPONA, Audio Expo North America, is happening as you are reading this and we’ll be reporting on it in upcoming issues. A drug that reverses hearing loss? I haven’t dug deeply...

Reality Check

Wardrobe Malfunction

We C What You Did There

License to brag: taken at Pebble Beach Golf Links, California.

Trust the Experts

“The sound that inspired a generation”: an original pair of McIntosh tube 350-watt monoblock amplifiers, circa 1968 – 1971. This amp was famously used at the 1969 Woodstock festival.  ...

Envy of None: Alex Lifeson of Rush Joins a New ...

Fans longing for new music from legendary Canadian progressive rocker Alex Lifeson of Rush will have to wait no longer, as the guitar virtuoso’s newest group, Envy of None, has...

Musical Realism and the Performance of Our (Agi...

As a male of 67 years (as of this writing), I’ve recognized for some time that my ears are not the golden performers they once were. I’ve recently confirmed through...

All You Need Is Love…and Maybe a Shiny Suitcase...

Recently I picked up my four-year-old grandson Henry after preschool, and upon getting him buckled securely into his car seat, we headed off to our lunch destination. My car stereo...

Three Days with Frank Sinatra, Part Three: The ...

I’m sure it was pizza and ice cream that soothed my ego the day after Frank and Barbara abandoned me in the parking lot of Christina’s school. I learned to...

The Audiophile’s Opinion, Or, Why You Should Jo...

Many years back, along with about a dozen fellow audio club members, I attended a product demonstration at a well-known high-end audio writer’s home that made me question my sanity....

Semele: It’s Not Just an Opera by Handel

In ancient Greek mythology, Semele is a mortal woman favored by the god Zeus. She becomes pregnant with his child. When Zeus’ wife, Hera, finds out, she disguises herself as...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part Ten

Previous installments covered the earlier history of Neumann and Scully lathes.   A Neumann SX-74 cutter head, with helium tub in the front. Courtesy of Greg Reierson, Rare Form Mastering, Minneapolis,...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 18

  The roads in the Black Hills are scenic and twisty, but during bike week, they are also crowded and slow. Sometimes it feels like spending a week in Walmart...

Marty Stuart: His Superlative Country Music Career

For most country musicians, long stints touring first with Lester Flatt and then Johnny Cash would add up to a fulfilling career. But guitarist, mandolinist, and singer Marty Stuart was...

Back to My Reel-to Reel-Roots, Part 12: The Sin...

Following on from last month’s litany of offenses attributed to the manufacturers of pre-recorded tapes, please be aware that not all the misdeeds were committed by the record labels. Once...

Audio Advice’s Home Theater Designer Speaker Se...

Every so often I find it’s generally good practice to recalibrate my room to make sure that my system is performing well. This is not just so that I can...

The Handcuffs: This Band Just Might Save Rock A...

The lead single off of The Kinks’ 1978 album Misfits was “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy.” In the song Ray Davies sings, “The King is dead, rock is done. You might be through,...

Public-Access TV: A Perfect Soapbox

I was not thinking about much; mostly I was just channel surfing, at home watching television, half paying attention at midnight on a Sunday night. I was in bed but...

The A&M Records Story, Part One

The year was 1962. A singer/trumpet player in Los Angeles, inspired by the sounds of a Tijuana bullfight, turned a song called “Twinkle Star” written by a composer and bandleader...

Al Schmitt On the Record: The Magic Behind the ...

When the legendary Al Schmitt passed away on April 26, 2021 at age 91, he left behind a tremendous musical legacy. He was one of the last of the great,...

Octave Records Releases Audiophile Masters, Vol...

PS Audio’s Octave Records has released a limited-edition vinyl LP of its Audiophile Masters, Volume I reference-quality compilation album. The disc features 10 previously released tracks by a variety of Octave Records and other...

Chairman At The Board: Bill Schnee On The Makin...

The 1970s was a landmark era for both technological and artistic breakthroughs in the field of music recording. The 8-track recorder had just given way to 16-track models, transistor technology...