Copper

“I see music as fluid architecture.” – Joni Mitchell In this issue: Paul McGowan begins a series on the 50th anniversary of PS Audio. Octave Records releases one of its... Read more...

The Other Folk Singers, Part Three

I belong to a listening group that gets together to socialize and listen to music. We meet in each of our homes on a rotating basis. The host provides the... Read more...

PS Audio Celebrates 50 Years

Over the next couple of issues or so, Copper will feature reminiscences by Paul McGowan, co-founder and CEO of PS Audio and Octave Records, which look back on the history... Read more...

Leveraging Karma for Fun and Profit

My mother was disgusted. “How can he exploit a young girl like that?" she exclaimed as she passed the newspaper. The headline read: "82-Year-Old Millionaire to Wed 22-Year-Old Model." It was accompanied... Read more...

Pianist Tom Amend Plays <em>Jazz Classics: 1950s</em> on Octave Records’ Latest Release

Pianist Tom Amend Plays Jazz Classics: 1950s on Octave Records’ Latest Release

Audiophiles and music lovers alike have a special place in their hearts for classic jazz and standards, and Octave Records’ latest, Jazz Classics: 1950s from pianist/organist Tom Amend will be... Read more...

My Experience With Commercial Four-Track Reel-to-Reel Tapes

Just as I was running out of things to write about for Copper, a mysterious gift landed on my doorstep. One day, someone left a large bag at the reception... Read more...

How to Play In a Rock Band 2: Why Would You Want To?

In Part One (Issue 208), I noted the fact that I’ve had more than 50 years of playing in rock bands, and during that time I’ve seen people make every... Read more...

Singer/Songwriter JD Souther and the Return of <em>You’re Only Lonely</em>

Singer/Songwriter JD Souther and the Return of You’re Only Lonely

There were a lot of secret musical weapons in the 1970s to help make that Southern California sound so special. Some of these artists weren’t always the headliners, weren’t always... Read more...

Test Records and Demo Discs, Part Five

In the days before digital music, the primary medium for sound reproduction was vinyl records. Sure, there were some who preferred reel-to-reel tapes, but they were in the minority. The... Read more...

Two Mendelssohn Symphonies: the "Italian" and the "Scottish"

Copper has an exchange program with AAA (Analogue Audio Association) magazine of Switzerland (and other publications), where we share articles, including this one. The Swiss author Ernst Müller is a... Read more...

John Lennon’s <em>Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection</em>

John Lennon’s Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection

It’s almost impossible to fathom that when John Lennon set out to make his fourth solo record in 1973 he was only 33 years old. When you consider how much... Read more...

The Vinyl Beat

INXS: Kick Analogue Productions, Atlantic 75 series Hot off the Analogue Productions presses, the popular 1980s album Kick by INXS is one of the latest titles in the Atlantic 75... Read more...

The Many Faces of NAMM 2024, Part Two

At NAMM 2024, Harris Fogel took a lot of photos. Well, he is a photographer after all. Part One of this picture-packed photo essay ran in Issue 208. Here are... Read more...

Zach Bryan, Bars and Stars

Even the armed forces news is amazed at the speed with which Navy veteran Zach Bryan became a music star. He was still on active duty in 2020 when he... Read more...

The Business of Why Vinyl Has Survived: Talking with Rene Wiedner

Rene Wiedner is an organizational sociologist at Warwick Business School, which is part of Warwick University in Coventry, England. He studies change processes in organizations and industries and the relations... Read more...

PS Audio In the News

Tech publication Gear Patrol featured the aspen FR5 loudspeaker with the headline, “This Hi-Fi Speaker Offers $30,000 Specs for a Tenth of the Price.” The article noted, “The American hi-fi... Read more...

Attention Shoppers!

Scene from a Japanese audio store in 2006. We wonder what those prices would be like today! Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Tomer Gabel. Here's one of the many... Read more...

Tin Ears

Application Error

This cartoon originally appeared in Issue 157. Read more...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part Eight: More Tape Deck Hygiene and Other Woes

It goes without saying that tape deck maintenance – such as cleaning the heads and pinch rollers, periodic demagnetizing, etc. – are essential practices which (circa-2022) only come naturally to... Read more...

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