Copper
Music audio and other illnesses
On or Off?
Should you leave your hi-fi gear on or turn it off? Everybody knows, of course: if it’s solid-state, leave it on. If it’s tube, shut it off. A couple weeks...
My Massive Income From Streaming
Our Paul McGowan asked me to recount the truly massive amount I’ve made from streaming sources. So here it is. But first, while I won’t reveal the figure, I will say that...
On the Baron: Tim de Paravicini, in Memoriam
There was a message for me to call Dan Meinwald early this afternoon, December 17th. I didn’t think for a second the news would be what it was. Tim de...
A World Without Keith Jarrett
“I even have dreams where I am as messed up as I really am – I’ve found myself trying to play in my dreams, but it’s just like real life.”...
Audio News – Bad and Good
This time out, I want to share some audio-related news – both bad and good. First the bad news, and I confess to some embarrassment, because I probably led a...
Projects, Projects, Projects
What the hell have I been up to, you wonder? Just kidding, I didn’t expect my recent absence to be noted. But nonetheless, I’ve been involved with three sort of...
The Beautiful Ordinariness of Elbow, Part One
Throw those windows wideOne day like this a year would set me right. …from “One Day Like This” In ye olden days of 30 years ago, as a writer I...
It's a Lonely World, Redux
I didn’t set out to be a hired gun, but it occurred to me pretty quickly that this was the likely path to earning a living through music – either...
Waiting for the Black Cadillac, Redux
Who knows what’s behind our taste? A record that I think persists in its genius (My Life In the Bush of Ghosts) you may find abstract and boring. And that’s...
In My Dreams, Redux
Sometime in 1995, Bill Bottrell called and wanted me to be on stand-by. He was supposed to meet someone whom he had been putting off, but just in case, he...
Obsessed with Stereo, Redux
I think about my system too much. I mean, really too much. As I’ve written many times, it was stable for more than 20 years. That’s a really long while in anybody’s...
You Don't Have to be...Redux
When I was a kid, my parents had a comedy record called You Don’t Have to be Jewish, which had a couple dozen bits, including “The Presidents.” In “The Presidents,” the...
From Wallkill to Bethel
When last we met, I put forth my guess as to one of two reasons Woodstock, despite being the largest music and art festival ever, was also the most peaceful. The...
What Made Woodstock So Different?
In several years of so very many noteworthy 50th anniversaries, two stand out: the July 20th, 1969 landing of humans on the Moon, and the Woodstock music festival. I admit, what made it...
The Mystery of The Making, Redux
I never think about how mysterious the process of contemporary record making is, or was, to the people who buy those records. Which, when you think about it, is really...
We All Shine On, Redux
49 years ago, in the first international worldwide television broadcast, John Lennon sang to us, “There’s nothing you can do but you can learn how to play the game –...
The Sound Of Music, Redux
There’s something I’ve been thinking about for around 25 years; ever since I started working with Bill Bottrell, and he made me aware of how different my sound was. What that...
TONE!
A recent conversation ‘twixt Uncle Bill and me: Me: This is great bass playing to me: TONE! Bill: Yup. Me: I hear many bass players who have shitty tone, and if you...
Oy! More Bass!
An ultra-recent debate between Uncle Bill Leebens and myself gives rise to this particular column. I expressed exactly zero interest in a somewhat prominent bass player. Leebens responded: “You don’t...
Noir et Blanc
In 1983, one of my favorite records was released: Zazou/Bikaye/CY1’s Noir et Blanc. I thought I might try to tell you a little about it. A collaboration between composer and producer Hector Zazou,...
Real Religious Fervor
Real religious fervor: what do I mean by using that term, when I’m writing about music? Nominally, I suppose one could take it to mean anything that I like. But...
The Revenge of The White Album
By now, you know whether The White Album re-issue is for you. I’m happy to go on record, so to speak, as saying that most of these Fabs reissues aren’t...
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...
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,...
Paul Kantner Is Dead, Redux
[Following the recent death of Jefferson Airplane lead singer Marty Balin, it seemed appropriate to revisit Dan’s meditation on the passing of another Airplane band member—Ed.] He died on Thursday, January...
You Better Think
Try to imagine. I had discovered music only the previous year — discovered it, in the sense of getting how good it could be. I was 10. I had been...
Listening, Not Hearing
A few days ago, I was lying on my couch, reading a book online from the Los Angeles Public Library (The Holy, by Daniel Quinn). On the hi-fi system played...
Mix A vs. Mix B
In the dark, dim past, on a dark and stormy night, Bill Bottrell would rant to anyone who would listen (usually just me) about Mix A and Mix B. As...
My Helios
I’ve been asked a couple times about the recording / mixing console I own (with a friend). So I thought I might write a little about it. Helios began at Olympic...
Sandwiches of You
A couple issues back, discussing the NAMM convention, I mentioned Kevin Godley and Lol Creme in the context of their invention: The Gizmo. I thought I might write a bit about them...
The Big Rock Show
Some friends of mine have been putting on a big rock show annually for the last few years, under the name Wild Honey, as a benefit for the Autism Think Tank ....
What Is a Bass? Part 4: Electronic Guitars
I want to wrap up this attempt to answer the question of what goes into a bass (a question only asked by one person) by talking a little about the...
What Is a Bass?
I’ve been contemplating this topic for a little while, although my reticence to finally put it to “paper” must be some kind of sign that I’m a genuine writer…. Anyway,...
Why Doesn’t My System Sound Better? (Or: A Neur...
By any objective measure, it sounds incredible. But you know how people like us are: obsessive to a degree that’s way past the point of fault. Maybe I’m romanticizing how...
Brothers In Arms
While I’ve been contemplating my next piece, I’ve been thinking about my last one, and about the man who introduced me to audio, my father. I would be very much...
Meetings With Remarkable Men, Part 3
In the previous two articles, I wrote about encountering Jack Casady and Phil Lesh as a teenager. Of course, I could write pages and pages about the influence of my father (and my brothers)....
The Great Wall
In the early 70s, the Grateful Dead were the most interesting organization in rock music. To the world outside of San Francisco, they may have seemed a “Warner Brothers act”...
Net Neutrality
Net Neutrality – the Why, but mostly the Why Not Today, July 12th, I’ve received a dozen emails with subject lines like “Today we save the internet”, and “One Day...
Whistling Down the Wire
Paul McGowan’s recent column brought something to mind that I’ve been thinking about a bit lately. Wires — and the nightmare of reviewing them; and more specifically, why I’ve never wanted that...
It Was 50 Years Ago....
… a couple days ago. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, and the world has been changed ever since. Certainly MY world is entirely different. It wasn’t only Sgt. Pepper,...
It's a Lonely World
I didn’t set out to be a hired gun, but it occurred to me pretty quickly that this was the likely path to earning a living — either that or...
Waiting for the Black Cadillac
Who knows what’s behind our taste? A record that I think persists in its genius (My Life In the Bush of Ghosts) you may find abstract and boring. And that’s...
In My Dreams
Sometime in 1995, Bill Bottrell called and wanted me to be on stand-by. He was supposed to meet someone whom he had been putting off, but just in case, he...
Two Kinds Of Hits
We have a hit. We’ve been hit. Both are true. Everybody wants a hit record; everybody. It’s money, it’s acknowledgment, and it means more work, all those things. The Tuesday...
The Mystery Of The Making
I never think about how mysterious the process of contemporary record making is, or was, to the people who buy those records. Which, when you think about it, is really...
The New Old Way
We can all remember those moments when everything in our systems comes together --- when everything just WORKS. The last time I recall it happening with real clarity was when...