Copper

An Exploration Into Digital Audio File Compression

  I first got into digital file streaming about eight years ago at the insistence of my brother, who wouldn’t shut up about it until I got somewhat involved. Of...

Stanley Clarke: Taking the Lead on Bass

Before Stanley Clarke, most jazz fans thought of the bass as an instrument that kept the rhythmic and harmonic foundations of the music together, and maybe got the occasional solo....

The Audio Butterfly Effect

The best-fitting suit is a well-tailored one. You likely would never expect to try on a garment in a store and have it fit perfectly, if taken randomly from just...

Classic Rock Reissues: Real Value or Sonic Head...

In the consumer packaged goods biz, it’s common practice for manufacturers to reposition brands as “new and improved.” We’ve seen brands like Tide, Jell-O and Bounty do this time and...

10 Great Music Documentaries

A lot of people turned to binge watching during the pandemic lockdowns. Although I wasn’t binging, I did take the opportunity to check out a number of documentaries about bands,...

The Giants of Tape, Part 10: The Telefunken M15...

Part One, Part Two and Part Three of J.I. Agnew’s look at the Telefunken M15A tape machine ran in Issues 140, 141 and 142. His series on the M15A concludes here. One of the...

Garbage: Staying Fresh for Decades

The number of successful bands that have lasted at least twenty years and never changed personnel is very small. Garbage is one of them. The band is also rare for...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part One

It’s a long way to Sturgis, South Dakota; it’s a long way to go. Even for the Black Hills Motorcycle Classic. The temperature was flirting with the ton by mid-day...

Spending Time With the SOTA Escape Turntable

In Issue 117 I wrote a feature about turntable manufacturer SOTA Sound Inventions, focusing on their history and philosophy as well as their current company direction and product line. After the article was published...

What Exactly Is Classic Rock? Part One

First, a note: Jay Jay’s book, Twisted Business: Lessons From My Life In Rock ‘n’ Roll will be out on September 21 on RosettaBooks. You can hear his podcast, The Jay Jay French...

A Little Knight Music

The Middle Ages lasted from the fall of Rome (c. 500) to the start of the Renaissance (c. 1400 – 1500). It’s a span also referred to as the medieval...

The Music Revolution

In issue 141 and Issue 142 Ken wrote about his late 1960s relocation from New York to California. The story continues here. Monday just before noon I park my bike at 8709 Santa Monica...

Joshua Radin, The Ghost And The Wall: No Bounda...

Singer-songwriter Joshua Radin has recently released “Goodbye,” a single from his new record The Ghost And The Wall, which came out on July 23. This gold-selling singer-songwriter’s ninth studio album explores the...

Seeking Clarity About Transparency

Back in the 1980s or maybe earlier, “transparency” became the buzzword in high-end audio. Harry Pearson of The Absolute Sound was a big proponent of the term, and soon many reviewers and sycophants jumped...

A Visit to Capitol Studios

“7 Audio Wonders of the World” was a series of virtual recording studio tours created by the Audio Engineering Society (AES) as the star attraction for its AES Fall Show...

Issue 143

One of the features readers like Randy Vogel and others have asked for is to add a navigation link at the bottom of the page to get to the next...

Possessed

Love at First Bit

Tom Waits: Our Beat Storyteller, Part Two

In the late 1960s Tom Waits decided he wanted a career in music because he couldn’t think of anything else he could be good at. I believe that to be...

A Southern California Musical Primer – Your Tou...

This morning I woke up with an earworm that just won’t let go. Fortunately, it is a pleasant one: the song “Sail On, Sailor.” It was originally on the Beach...

Jo Quail: An Eclectic Approach to the Cello, Pa...

Classical, rock and progressive music influences, percussive, looping and other ingenious cello techniques, as well as unusual collaborations are just some of the eclectic approaches Jo Quail takes to the cello. Jo’s...

AES Show Spring 2021, Part Four: Gaming Sound, ...

As a result of COVID-19, the Audio Engineering Society’s AES Show Spring 2021, appropriately named “Global Resonance,” was conducted online from Europe. This afforded me the rare opportunity to view...

The Giants of Tape, Part Nine: The Telefunken M...

Part One and Part Two of J.I. Agnew’s look at the Telefunken M15A tape machine ran in Issue 140 and Issue 141. The series continues here. The Telefunken M15A could...

Issue 142

Is there a reader among us who doesn’t dig ZZ Top? We mourn the passing of Joseph Michael “Dusty” Hill (72), bassist, vocalist and keyboardist for the tres hombres. Blending...

Newly-Released SACD Discs Worth Checking Out

I’ve been on this converting SACDs to DSD files binge as of late, and in addition to the 400 or so discs I currently have in my library, I’ve been...

The Alternative Coast (Back in the World, Part ...

Ken’s article, “Back in the World,” about events in 1966 that led up to this story, ran in Issue 141. In a few minutes Pete Johnson arrived at the downtown...

The Best Tracks of 2021 (So Far)

We are more than halfway through 2021 and its been a great year for new music. Today, I’ll highlight a few of the best tracks of 2021. Some are by...

Cal Tjader, Part Five: The Concord Recordings

In our last installment (Issue 141), Cal Tjader had wrapped up his final album for Fantasy. He had rejoined Fantasy in 1970, but by 1974 he was already anxious to move on...

The Immediate Family: Studio Legends, Together ...

Back in the 1980s when I was a teenager, I spent countless nights with headphones on, playing the music of artists like Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and Warren Zevon. While...

Facing the Music

Oliver: Wanna shot of single malt, Terry? Terry: Still got some of that Bunnahabhain? O: Here. I wonder why some of our friends don’t show up to our music gatherings anymore; I know...

Some Notable Analog Recordings, Part Two

In Part One (Issue 141), Adrian looked at vinyl versus tape playback, the record-manufacturing process, and one of his favorite recordings, the Lyrita Recorded Edition LP of Malcolm Arnold and...

The Animals: Don’t Let Them Be Misunderstood

In the town of Newcastle upon Tyne in northeast England, keyboardist Alan Price invited the energetic and big-throated Eric Burdon to sing with his Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo....

In Rare Form

Astounding finds: a JBL Metregon speaker system alongside a JBL Paragon system. Currently located at Audio Classics, owner Steve Rowell noted, "finding either of these is extremely rare. To have...

William Byrd: English Musical Inspiration

During the early Renaissance, European composers gushed over what they called the contenance angloise (English style) of polyphonic composition, which featured an acoustical richness that others tried to copy. Maybe it’s something...

The Ages of Plastic

Organ Donation

The Spreckels Organ Pavilion houses the open-air Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. It's the world's largest pipe organ in a fully outdoor venue. John D. and Adolph...

Stop Breakin' Down

Notable Analog Recordings. Part One

I installed a new cartridge on my record player about a month ago. I bought my previous cartridge about six years ago during a visit to Japan, when the yen/dollar...

Amped Up

Art Dudley's personal, well-worn copy of The Tube Amp Book, Volume 3 by Aspen Pittman, 1991. The page with the schematic for the Fender Bassman Model 5F6-A (introduced in 1958...

Octave Records Releases The Complete Bach Cello...

Octave Records latest release is a landmark: The Complete Bach Cello Suites by world-renowned cellist Zuill Bailey. Recorded in pure DSD high-resolution audio in stereo and multichannel sound, the six...

We Remember Art

I recently had the honor of attending an event in memory of Art Dudley, who sadly passed away on April 14, 2020. Art was the deputy editor of Stereophile, had...

Eye of the...Donkey?

This donkey, Mister D, lived next door to where I worked. He had a great “hee-haw” bray that I recorded. My boss used it for a ringtone. Click here to...

Cal Tjader, Part Four: The Second Fantasy Recor...

In Issues 138, 139 and 140, this series covered Cal Tjader’s early years at Fantasy Records, the Verve Records period from 1961 – 1968, and his following stints at Skye...

Back in the World

It was the late summer of 1966, and I was still a teenager when the Army rotated me back into the world (stateside), specifically, the Whitehall Street Induction Center at...

Ephemera

Bad Hair Year

Swept Away

The Klipschorn Decorator Birch was a less-expensive unfinished version of the loudspeaker. They could be veneered or painted. This one has a Richard Modafferi-modified crossover and it’s next to some...

Guy Michelmore: Film and TV Composer, YouTube E...

Guy Michelmore is a creative powerhouse. His talents have made him the go-to “Guy” for composing scores for some of the most entertaining TV shows and films of our generation, including major...

The Home Entertainment (T.H.E.) Show: People an...

After trade show after trade show were understandably cancelled due to the pandemic, I wondered, which would be the first show to reopen? Signaling the provable reduction in threat, and...

Born-Again Brahms

The intrepid Hungarian pianist András Schiff has pressed against received wisdom since indulging in Bach early on and rarely programming any Chopin (a cornerstone of any pianist’s repertoire). You can...