Copper
Beethoven’s Last Christmas
In 1825 and 1826, Ludwig van Beethoven was nearing the end of his life. He had fallen ill, was bedridden for over a month, and clearly felt his end was...
All I Want For Christmas…
…is Peace. And no, I don’t even mean the large-scale, unobtainable kind of peace involved in the World Order. I just mean, can we kindly for once remember that the whole deal...
Messiah
On Sunday, December 9th, my family and I went to Los Angeles’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, to hear the Dream Orchestra and the Opera Chorus of Los Angeles doing...
Stocking Stuffers 2018
It’s that time of year again; maybe you’re still in need of a few things. And so I’m offering this simple phrase (no, sorry!) uh, these can’t-miss gift suggestions, a mix of the...
5400 Hours of Fun, Part 3
[We previously featured Ken Fritz’s amazing speaker and listening room project in Copper #72 and #73. We’ll wrap up now with some of the details. I hope you’ll find this inspirational— although I doubt...
Happy Holidays!
Welcome to Copper #74, the second of three December issues, and one of our biggest issues ever. We hope that those who celebrate it had a pleasant Hanukkah, and wish a very...
Who Knows Where the Time Goes?
Welcome to Copper #73! While the saying, "days drag, years fly by" is annoying---it does seem to be true. Welcome to December: notable for three issues of Copper! ...and, oh, some holidays. For...
50 Ways to Read a Record Part 8
In earlier installments of this series, we’ve focused upon the various types of phono cartridges—pickup cartridges, if you prefer. Though wildly different in their internal construction, all these cartridges have...
A Tale of Two Bankruptcies
Not all bankruptcies are alike. The two forms generally seen in business are Chapter 7 and Chapter 11; the “chapter” part refers to the section of the Federal Bankruptcy Code...
50 Ways to Read a Record Part 7
We’ve looked at a variety of methods of making music—or at least generating a signal— from a record groove. We’ve seen phono cartridges that use coils and magnets, all kinds...
5400 Hours of Fun
[Ken Fritz has abilities and ambition that put most of us to shame. Ken decided to build his own speakers—and the listening room for them. As you’ll see, he did...
5400 Hours of Fun, Part 2
[Ken Fritz has abilities and ambition that put most of us to shame. Ken decided to build his own speakers—and the listening room for them. As you’ll see, he did...
Tom Fine: New Mercury Living Presence Analog Re...
[Tom Fine is a second-generation audio engineer, specializing in mastering and analog-to-digital transfers. The son of audiophile pioneers C. Robert and Wilma Cozart Fine, he grew up steeped in music...
Monster and Sonos: Back in the News
Some companies seem to have a hard time staying out of the news: think Gibson, Sears, and Monster Products—which most of us still think of as Monster Cable. We last looked at the bumpy ride of...
Early Music in the Bay Area: Sackbuts and Crumh...
It’s well-known for its fog, iconic bridge, wineries, redwood forests, and cable cars. It’s also known to early music enthusiasts as a world-class early music research center, for being home...
Bessie Smith Part 2
I am always interested in transitory events whether they be political, biographical, or musical. The emergence of the blues as first a song form and eventually an art form is...
Stand Back
January 29th is not JUST my Mum’s birthday, it’s also the day, in 1983, that Stevie Nicks and then husband Kim Anderson were making their way up the PCH to...
Heart
I am awake. Not a slow-opening-of-my-eyes awake. More a slap-in-the-face awake. My eyes open wide and I see the nurse standing over me. A few days before this, I had...
Food, Wine, and Advice
One. When I moved to Manhattan in the mid-seventies things were not expensive, but I was almost always penniless. My wife, a student at Parsons School of Design, worked part-time...
Dylan, The Beatles, Mick Jagger, The Fugs, and ...
If I titled this story “The Strange Life & Times of Richard Alderson,” chances are: a) My readers wouldn’t be too excited b) You probably wouldn’t read past the title,...
Information
6: “What do you want?” 2: “Information.” 6: “You won’t get it.” 2: “By hook or by crook, we will.” 6: “Who are you?” 2: “The new number 2. You...
Immaterial Science
Back in Copper #66, I wrote a Cynic column entitled “Nothing New Under the Sun?“—and judging from the comments on that article, my point was either unclear, elusive, or misunderstood. I’m about to comment...
Silence Isn’t Silent, Redux
Let me tell you about Bernie Leadon. Bernie came to some notice in the late ’60s, as a member, first, of Dillard & Clark, and then of The Flying Burrito Brothers. And...
Collaborators
Nearly all the great creative musicians were good collaborators. It obviously worked for George Frideric Handel (1685–175). Eccentric country squire Charles Jennens (1700–1773) wrote several libretti for him; Handel set them...
Music in the Air
Somewhere over Brazil, 11/10/18: When we write about listening to music, we often refer to blacker backgrounds, greater inter-transient depth—and similar hogwash. When I talk to the engineers I work with...
Mozart String Quartets
A classic recording of Mozart’s six so-called Haydn Quartets has been reissued as part of a box set, and that’s just one of a handful of 2018 releases focused on...
Bessie Smith Part 1
The Lord was walking through the Garden. He was knitting what would one day be known as a Rubik’s Cube when He came across Adam and Eve. Both of them...
Take On Me
If you grew up in the 80’s, as I did, then you remember this song being IMPOSSIBLE to escape. “Take On Me” from Norway’s a-ha was EVERYWHERE. If it wasn’t...
James Taylor
James Taylor turned 70 this year. Before the Boston-born and North Carolina-bred songwriter struck out on his own, he sang and played guitar with a New York-based band called the...
40 Most Beautiful Arias
I wouldn’t normally give a “Rack Filler” CD a moment’s thought, but here I am actually recommending one! 40 Most Beautiful Arias is pretty much exactly what it says on the box,...
On Words In Music, Redux
I was trying to figure out when and where I first tried my hand at writing lyrics. The first time that I can still remember, they were written on the...
AES NYC 2018
Since coming into existence 70 years ago and still going strong, the Audio Engineering Society has hosted conventions that have become must-see/hear events for anyone involved in the audio industry, especially on...
Putting Down Roots
I’ve just seen a documentary about a food writer. It was inspiring, it made me think—about what critics can accomplish, for instance. We can always direct you to a nice restaurant, a...
It’s Summer Somewhere
Welcome to Copper #72! It's a cliche' that travel expands the mind, but there is truth in it. Having just been in South America where Daylight Savings Time was just beginning and...
Vote!
Welcome to Copper #71! The leaves have mostly passed peak color here in the Front Range of the Rockies, meaning the dogs are running through the carpet of fallen leaves and are...
What Are They Buying Back?
At this point in 2018, many will argue that stock prices are grievously inflated, and are verging on a crash, as in 2008. I’m certainly not an expert, and won’t...
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2018 Part 2
As pointed out in the last issue of Copper, the biggest news at RMAF 2018 had to do with the new venue for 2019. But that doesn’t mean that there was nothing new...
BASS! How Low Can You Go? (Or: Another Take on ...
This article’s title was taken from the great Chuck D who reprised his vocals for the 1991 Public Enemy/Anthrax video “Bring the Noise,” one of the earliest Rap/Rock partnerships along...
And The Beat Goes On
I have a recurring dream. I’m standing backstage at a theater of some kind and the curtain is closed. Next to me is a guy whose name apparently is Fred...
The Clash
It’s one thing to help invent a genre, but it’s quite another to continue inventing and developing that genre into the next generation. That’s a particularly impressive feat when you...
Masumi
“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” “Yes,” she replied, to my great astonishment. I was on a business trip to Europe and as my timing happened to...
Wild About Harry, Redux
[Having recently brought up J. Gordon Holt, it seems only fair that we bring up Dan’s memories of the other giant of American audio writing–-Ed.] Some time ago, I wrote,...
More Mostly Quiet Music
Have we today forgotten how to speak softly and with grace, or is the real danger that we aren’t screaming loudly enough? —Sean Shibe That’s how the BBC’s Kate Molleson leads...
Liminal Messages
I rarely notice ads, other than to be irritated by them. In my car, I listen to a local listener-supported station, largely to avoid ads (I mostly like the music—but...