Copper
Recording Engineer Barry Diament of Soundkeeper...
Barry Diament is a veteran recording and mastering engineer, the head of Barry Diament Audio, and founder of Soundkeeper Recordings, whose philosophy is to create recordings that are natural-sounding and...
1! 2! 3! 4! Surrounded by the Ramones in Dolby ...
WOW! It’s the Ramones like you've never heard them before, unless you were lucky enough to see them live. (I played on a bill with the Ramones on New Year’s...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 16: Rehearsing for ...
If you’re going to play in a band, you need to get your act together. Literally – and that means rehearsing. Sure, there are pros who can just get together...
We’re Audiophiles, and Deserve Some Respect!
October 2, 2025 is the 10th annual World Audiophile Day, and it makes me think about the whole audiophile “thing.” Mostly because, as anyone who participates in any kind of...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 15: Getting Gigs
Playing gigs is what being in a band is all about. Well, some bands might want to just play in someone’s home or studio for fun, or strictly to record...
Talking With Musician, Composer and Record Labe...
In Part One of our interview (Issue 221), David and I talked about the beginning of Chesky Records and his career in the audio industry, and his thoughts about recording...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 14: Show Me the Money!
Bands and artists play to express their music, for fun, to entertain their audiences, to get the girls or guys…and, oh yeah – to get paid. Especially if you’re trying...
Musings About AI, Audio, and Music
Being a music and audio person, I have some thoughts about how AI will relate to our listening consumption in an increasingly AI-laden era. Unlike much of the AI slop...
The Kinks – The Journey, Part 3, and an Intervi...
About a year ago, the Kinks released The Journey, Part 1, the first of three double-album retrospectives commemorating the band’s 60th anniversary. The Journey, Part 2 followed at the end...
Confessions of a Setup Man: An Unexpected Audio...
It’s well-known among audiophiles that our systems can sound better or worse from day to day. Sometimes, the better the system, the more inconsistent it can sound. Over the past...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 13: Adventures at t...
While I usually play an average of a gig or so a month, once a year our band gets the opportunity to play multiple gigs in a single three-day stretch...
How to Play in a Rock Band, Part 12: Eating and...
Timing is everything – especially when it comes to eating and drinking before, during and after gigs. You want to be at your best when performing, and this requires giving...
It’s a Gas: Restoring the Legendary Hill Plasma...
Audiophiles of a certain age might know about the Hill Plasmatronics loudspeakers, a unique design that used ionized air, aka plasma, to create sound. Those of us who have heard...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 11: The Extremes of...
Playing outdoors can be a lot of fun, especially if it’s on a big stage to a large crowd. Summer outdoor gigs have a warm vibe that’s great to be...
Kraftwerk Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Autoba...
Kraftwerk pretty much invented electronic pop, and the “pretty much” part may be an unnecessary qualifier. After having released three previous albums of experimental-leaning music, 1974’s now-classic Autobahn found the...
Book Review:The Musical World of Paul Winter
Paul Winter is a name familiar to most jazz and world music aficionados as a saxophonist, musician and composer across a variety of genres, and also as a dedicated environmentalist....
How to Play in a Rock Band, Part 10: When Good ...
As a musician I can tell you that nothing equals the excitement of playing a live gig. When you’re feeling good and the band is firing on all cylinders, it’s...
Steely Dan’s Katy Lied, Reissued by Analogue Pr...
So much has been written about Steely Dan that it’s like trying to write about the Beatles. What can I add? I’d venture that 99 percent of Copper readers know...
How to Play in a Rock Band, Part Nine: Look Sharp!
At the beginning of this series, I emphasized that once you’re on stage, you are no longer just a musician – you are a performer. An entertainer, there to give listeners...
How to Play in a Rock Band, Part Eight: Playing...
If you’ve been playing gigs for a while and your band has been building a reputation, at some point you might find yourself playing on a big stage. A “real”...
An Informative Encounter with DALI Speakers
I’d known of DALI Loudspeakers for a while. The Danish company (DALI stands for Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries) has been exhibiting at AXPONA right by the Renaissance Schaumburg hotel’s check-in...
Listening to Miles Davis and Birth of the Blue ...
On December 4, 2024 I attended an extraordinary audio and musical event. Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions has reissued a set of long-neglected tracks by the Miles Davis Quintet in a new...
How to Play in a Rock Band, Part Seven: Playing...
In our last installment (Issue 213) I talked about the challenges of playing on small stages, where you might not even have room to move more than a few inches...
Two Magnificent Holiday Albums From 2L Records:...
2L, a Norwegian company headed by Grammy-winning engineer Morten Lindberg, has released two holiday-themed albums, Yule by Trio Mediæval, and Fred over jorden (Peace to the World) by the Uranienborg...
Analogue Productions Reissues Genesis: Nursery ...
As part of Atlantic Records’ ongoing 75th anniversary celebration, Analogue Productions has released Nursery Cryme, the latest in its series of Genesis reissues, as a 2-LP 45 RPM set. It’s a...
How to Play In a Rock Band, Part Six: Playing O...
If you’re in most of the bands out there, playing mostly local gigs, most of the time you’ll be playing on a small stage. Or maybe, a tiny stage. Or...
Jamie Howarth of Plangent Processes: Making Rec...
Plangent Processes offers a unique playback system that corrects for the wow and flutter present in the master tape of a recording, to provide speed stabilization. It’s a combination hardware...
Playing in a Rock Band, Part 5: What Kind of Mu...
So, you want to play in a rock band. An obvious question is, what kind of music do you want to play? Maybe you don’t want to play rock at...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 4: Mental Preparation
If you’re about to go on stage, whether a 1,000-seat theater or the corner of the restaurant that you can barely fit into, you need to be mentally prepared. While...
The Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra Releases a Stun...
Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra: Things Will Pass (Pacific Coast Jazz) This is one of the best records I’ve heard in a very long time. The music is wonderful, and...
Sing and Dance With Frank Sinatra on Impex Reco...
I have been extremely impressed with the reissues I’ve heard from Impex Records, including Patricia Barber’s Nightclub and more recently, Companion; the absolutely astonishing 1STEP Getz/Gilberto 45 RPM 2-LP release, and...
Sweet Caress, by Franco Ambrosetti and Strings:...
I’ll get right to the heart of it: this is one of the most gorgeous records I’ve ever heard, musically and sonically. It’s aptly titled: the music of Sweet Caress by...
How to Play in a Rock Band, 3: Gearing Up
In Part One and Part Two of this series, (Issue 208 and Issue 209), I noted the fact that I’ve played in rock bands for more than 50 years, and during that time, I’ve...
How to Play In a Rock Band 2: Why Would You Wan...
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...
How To Play in a Rock Band, Part One: Introduction
Along with being a writer, editor, and audio person, I’ve been a musician for 56 years. I’ve been playing in bands for almost all that time, beginning with a backyard...
Dare to be Different: The Story of WLIR-FM and ...
WLIR-FM (the LIR stands for Long Island Radio) made a revolutionary move when it switched from rock to a new wave format in 1982. By the late 1970s, radio rock...
Copper’s Alón Sagee: In Memoriam
I was stunned to learn of the passing of Alón Sagee on June 9, 2024 after a long illness. Alón was a Copper contributor, president of the San Francisco Audiophile...
Remembering Audio Retailing Legend Andrew Singer
The audio world has lost a giant with the passing of Andrew Singer at age 73. Andy was the founder of New York retailer Sound by Singer, a larger-than-life figure...
Impex Reissues the Bossa Nova Jazz Classic Getz...
Getz/Gilberto is one of the most well-known and well-loved jazz records of all time. Rightfully so: the 1964 Verve release by Stan Getz and João Gilberto is one of the...
Behind the Scenes at Florida International Audi...
How do you cover a show that you weren’t able to go to? There are a few options: contact the manufacturers who were there and find out what they were...
In Memory of Tony Cordesman
Tony Cordesman was a friend to me, and to so many in the industry. He wasn’t just one of the finest audio reviewers ever; I think he’s one of the...
Streamline HiFi’s Steve Morris: Bringing Audio ...
For many of us, our first exposure to hi-fi was via our parents’ music systems, more often than not one of those big consoles that had a tuner, turntable, speakers...
How I Fell In Love With Korean TV Soundtracks
I’d been in something of a musical rut. I’d listen to friends’ musical recommendations and halfheartedly poke around for new music on streaming services, but nothing was really doing it...
Billy Joel Exhibit Debuts at the Long Island Mu...
Billy Joel is one of Long Island’s greatest musical heroes, along with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Barbra Streisand, Carole King, Clive Davis, Perry Como, EPMD, Tony Bennett, and Mariah...
Creating a Musical World With the Slambovian Ci...
I first heard about the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, aka the Slambovians, a few years ago, from the guys and gal in the band I’m in. They were raving about...
Magnepan’s Jim Winey: In Memoriam
I heard the news on January 16 – Jim Winey, the founder of Magnepan, maker of Magneplanar loudspeakers, had passed away at age 89. As I’m sure so many in...
Rhino High Fidelity: A Vinyl Series to be Recko...
In 2023, record label Rhino launched its Rhino High Fidelity series, dedicated to releasing high-quality vinyl reissues of classic Warner Music album titles. As Rhino notes, all the album lacquers...
Stenheim Unveils a New Speaker at New York’s Fa...
I first became aware of Switzerland’s Stenheim loudspeakers at the 2019 New York Audio Show, where their Alumine Three loudspeakers impressed me, as much for their understated elegance and obvious...
Analogue Productions Reissues Genesis: Selling ...
In 1973 I was a freshman at the State University of New York at Albany. One night I was lying in bed in our dorm room, drifting off, when my...
High-End Audio Luminary Michael Fremer Produces...
Michael Fremer needs little introduction to Copper readers. He’s been a stalwart of the high-end audio industry for decades, and is currently the editor of The Tracking Angle and editor...