Copper
NAMM: An Audiophile’s Perspective
The National Association of Music Merchants has been around in one form or another since 1901. It started as an organization for piano merchants, but soon expanded to include other...
Lou Reed’s Berlin – Its Music from a Fresh Pers...
With the exception of Foley artists or people who collect sound effects, I think it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of audiophiles are also music aficionados. As such,...
Mythical Stature: Gentle Giant, Part Two
In the first installment of this two-parter, the three Shulman Brothers, along with Gary Green, Kerry Minnear, and John Weathers had completed recording their fourth album, Octopus, in 1972. They began...
BandLab: Reviving Iconic Brands for Musicians
When Gibson Guitars was descending into its eventual Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of October, 2017, one of the most demoralizing warning shots was the announcement months earlier that technical support...
Missing the Pazz and Jop Critics Poll
What’s Happening to Best Album of the Year Lists For many pop music critics, December was once the most joyous month, and it had nothing to do with holidays. Immediately...
Queen of the Salons
A Paris Salon, drawing by Adrien Moreau (1843-1906) She was considered to be the Queen of the Salons; a great beauty and the “unchallenged sovereign of sophisticated Paris…the most distinguished...
Mythical Stature: Gentle Giant, Part One
Gentle Giant, possibly the most musically and instrumentally diverse group in all of progressive rock, actually had its roots in rhythm and blues. Like so many UK youth in the...
Thoughts on Hi-Res Music and Audio – An Insider...
Let me start by saying I have deep respect for all music and audio lovers and their various points of view. There is nothing in my experience more personal or...
Celebrating Cartoon Bob
Our Bob D’Amico aka Cartoon Bob has been with Copper since the first issue was minted. He was profiled in Issue 27 and in addition to being a wonderful artist is, like most of...
New York Audio Show 2019 Report: Part Two
Part One of this report appeared in Issue 99. As noted in that installment: I don’t make definitive sonic judgments at shows; there are too many variables, the room being the...
New York Audio Show 2019 Report: Part 1
New York has been host to audio shows for a very long time – since the 1950s. The 1954 New York Audio Show marked the introduction of Henry Kloss’ landmark...
Pretentious! (No, Progressive)
(An Introduction to Progressive Rock – the Most Critically Maligned Genre of Pop Music This Side of Disco) In the late ‘60s, rock music experienced a period of experimentation unprecedented...
Capital Audiofest 2019 Show Report
I’ve known about Capital Audiofest but hadn’t gone until this year. I’d heard it was a small but fun show – not enough to compel me. I didn’t have the...
AES NYC 2019
For over 70 years, the Audio Engineering Society has been at the forefront making the latest technical information for sound recording, reinforcement, processing, and enhancement available to audio engineers and...
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2019
Things change. That’s inevitable, and occasionally, it is for the better. This year the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest moved from its familiar setting in the Denver Marriott Tech Center to the massive Gaylord...
A Visit to a Linkwitz Open House
As the second day of the 2019 California Audio Show was taking place, a smaller, more intimate demonstration of the reproduction of recorded music was unfolding across the Bay in...
The California Audio Show Part 2
Part 1 of my report on the California Audio Show appeared in Copper #91. That article gave an overview of the show, and described the exhibit rooms on the first floor. This concluding piece will...
The California Audio Show Part 1
The Ninth California Audio Show took place July 26-28 at the Hilton Oakland Airport, which has been the hosting venue for the last few years. Our reports on the 2017 CAS can...
What Is It To You?
Rock and roll music – the music of freedom frightens people and unleashes all manner of conservative defense mechanisms. – Salman Rushdie I’d rather play jazz, I hate rock and...
Munich, Part 4
[Previous installments of our Munich coverage have appeared in Copper issues #85, 86, and 87—Ed.] We’ve talked about “the Munich Show”, meaning the High End, as the big show is properly known, and we’ve talked...
THE Show 2019, Part 2
Part 1 of Jan Montana's report appeared in Copper #87---Ed.> I don't know anything about modern analog equipment, but I'd rather spend money on a TriangleArt turntable than most of...
THE Show 2019, Part 1
It was difficult to convince members of the San Diego Music and Audio Guild to attend the THE Show this year. [THE Show is a sorta-acronym, for “The Home Entertainment Show”. The...
Munich, Part 2
For all its admirable efficiency, there are some peculiar oversights in the presentation of High End, as the Munich show is called. If you look at the show website, you’ll find...
Fretting and Harping About Guitars
When I was a teenager in New York during the 1960s, hundreds of people would gather around the fountain in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park to play their guitars and...
Munich, Part 3
Ready for another day at the Munich High End, looking rather worse for wear. In past years we’ve seen a variety of Porsches and Bugattis at the show, put on...
Munich, Part 1
After last year’s High End show in Munich, I filed a fairly brief report. This year’s show left me with more questions, and a lot more pictures. We’ll see how this...
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2019: A Fan’s Minutes
Some of my biggest regrets come from agreeing to social engagements – especially those taking place during my bedtime, but that’s what I did back in February when a text...
363 Days in Vietnam, Part 4
[Previous installments from Michael’s book, 363 Days in Vietnam, appeared in Copper #84 , #85, and #86—Ed.] Day 301 Our mission at Tra Bong was never clear – it seemed like the powers that be were...
363 Days in Vietnam, Part 3
[Previous installments from Michael’s book, 363 Days in Vietnam, appeared in Copper # 84 and #85—Ed.] Day 244 A home-made recording of a new rock band arrived today from my girlfriend (and future wife) –...
363 Days in Vietnam, Part 2
[Our first installment from Michael’s book, 363 Days in Vietnam, appeared in Copper # 84—Ed.] Day 119 This photo of me pointing a gun at the camera has a lot to tell. A towel fastened...
363 Days in Vietnam, Part 1
Most of what the average person knows about the Vietnam War is gleaned from movies, TV dramas and documentaries like the one Ken Burns’ produced in 2018. Almost every one...
Axpona 2019, Part 2
[Part 1 of Rudy’s Axpona report was in Copper # 83—Ed.] One of my show favorites last year was the system from Eikon Audio, the new company founded by Gayle Sanders, co-founder of...
Axpona 2019, Part 1
Mid-April in Chicago once again presents us with Axpona, one of the largest audiophile shows in North America. Weather was once again an unwelcome participant in this year’s show. Various...
Montréal Audio Fest
The 2019 edition of the Montréal Audio Fest took place over the weekend of March 22-25th, and, since I reported on last year’s event, I thought I might trot out...
Copper at 3: the Writers Speak!
In the beginning, the idea that Copper would survive three issues seemed far-fetched. But three years? Inconceivable! The biggest joy of the whole process has been working with a remarkable group of writers, many of whom...
...And Now We Are Three
Back in my younger days—say, the fall of 2015—Paul McGowan came to me and spoke six fateful words: “I want to do a magazine.” I don’t recall my exact response, but...
Van Cliburn
In 1958, the Soviet Union announced its “First International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition”. The idea was to showcase that, in addition to being superior to the west in technology and military...
The Florida Audio Expo
I lived on the Gulf coast of Florida for 15 years, and even worked for an audio manufacturer there—VAC, in Sarasota. In spite of that—or perhaps because of that—when I...
Audio Love
I know exactly when my love of audio began ̶ maybe not the day, date, or hour, but the man who gave me the priceless gift. It wasn’t a salesman,...
Vade’s Recommended Reviewer Guidelines
Part of the fun of being an audiophile is reading reviews of audio gear. I’ve read audio reviews for 60 years, starting with Stereo Review, leading to Gordon Holt’s Stereophile and Harry Pearson’s The...
Joan Rivers: Yutz, or Audiophile Hero?
More often than not, it used to be that weekday mornings I would be rushing around, behind schedule, trying to get out the door to get to work. Since I...
