Copper

Piper Payne: A Mastering Engineer for Next-Gene...

Despite her relative youth, Piper Payne has forged a formidable reputation as a mastering engineer, a rarefied set of skills that can make or break a recording commercially. Her work...

Beyoncé In the Perfect Tense

Renaissance (Columbia/Parkwood Entertainment) I’d always enjoyed Beyoncé’s music, from the time when she was in Destiny’s Child, the essential R&B girl group of the 1990s. That Beyoncé Knowles (now Beyoncé...

David Libert: A Rock and Roll Warrior Tells All...

When it comes to rock and roll excess, tales from the rock tours of the 1970s rarely disappoint. It was an era defined as much by the music and live...

Classical Music for a Desert Island, Part One

Over the past few months, our esteemed editor Frank Doris has been sharing with us his personal choices for a desert island collection of rock albums (as per his list...

Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 23: Better Than Rice K...

Ken Kessler revels in the stories told by scraps of paper found in tape boxes However old the tapes, however worn and unloved, nothing amuses or delights me as much...

Hearing Aid

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 30: Limited Identity

It was a lovely mild evening as the sun set behind the hills which flanked the Belle Fourche River. A light breeze filled the canopy of overarching trees providing shade...

Musica Universalis

Tubes to Go

Written by Frank Doris Boldly proclaiming the maker’s name in one of the coolest logos ever: the Marantz Model 240 stereo power amplifier. Available with in black or silver, this...

Can’t Get Enough (of Your Pressings)

Author’s note: The following article was written in spring 2021 for the recently-published book Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century (Rare Bird Books, Los Angeles),...

Take a Walk in Wonderland: Revisiting the Music...

In previous Copper articles (Issue 168 and Issue 169), I have discussed the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix, Arizona and some of my favorite exhibits. Here I would like...

A Visit to The 2022 New York Audio Show, Part One

The New York Audio Show returned after a bit of a break, and it was nice to get back to a local event I had attended for the first time...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 22

Over the last several episodes, we have traveled to different parts of the world to look at the different engineering cultures in different times and places, all sharing a common...

Theatrical Display

The quiet woman in the ticket booth at the historic Silco Theater in Silver City, New Mexico. We also featured her in Issue 171’s Parting Shot.

Born to Rock: Graham Whitford of Tyler Bryant &...

From being born into a house of classic rock royalty to becoming darlings of present-day indie blues-rock, Graham Whitford’s rock and roll journey was a matter of destiny. As the...

What’s in a Name? MIRTAS – The Music Instrument...

From December 2013 and for several years afterward I worked as a project manager in the UK for the Academy of Music and Sound, managing MIRTAS: the Music Instrument Retail...

An Octave Records Trifecta: Augustus, Thom LaFo...

Vinyl fans, take note: Octave Records has added three titles to its growing roster of LP releases: Ragtime World by melodic rockers Augustus, The Moon Leans In by singer/songwriter Tom...

The History of A&M Records, Part Seven: A&a...

Continuing our 60th anniversary celebration of A&M Records, our journey will now take us south of the border. A&M’s foundation was built on music with a Mexican flavor – the...

Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Master of Orchestrati...

On October 12, 2022, fans of 20th-century British music will have something to celebrate: the 150th birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958). Stretching back to the Middle Ages,...

Martina McBride: Empowered By Country Music

Martina McBride has always been a spokesperson for the downtrodden, particularly women. The Nashville star defied stereotypes that said country music was centered on the perspectives of men and a...

The NAMM Show 2022, Part One

When photography was in the process of being invented, two brilliant gents, Ferdinand Hurter (1844 – 1898) and Vero Charles Driffield (1848 – 1915), using a sewing machine and a...

Long Live Excellent Customer Service

In my humble experience, I think it’s true to say that people like to buy from, yes, you guessed it…people. Particularly if the commodity is something that is as inspirational...

The Beacon Theatre’s Sphere Immersive Sound in ...

The last show I had seen at the Beacon Theatre was either Lita Ford or Joe Jackson back in the 1980s, likely viewed from the only seat I could afford...

Jazz Producer Creed Taylor: In Memoriam

August 22, 2022 marked the passing of legendary jazz producer Creed Taylor. Active in the music industry for decades, he left a lasting impression on the world of jazz. He...

Collective Soul: Rocking On With Limitless Passion

Collective Soul burst on to the rock scene in 1993 with the single “Shine” from their debut album Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid. It was a remarkable record from...

Audio Nirvana (I Found It!)

A little background: the first article I wrote for Copper back in 2019 was about a speaker demonstration at the home of the late designer and engineer Siegfried Linkwitz (“A...

First Look (and Listen): A Hi-Def Live Concert ...

I recently attended a press showing (and listening) session at the Beacon Theatre in New York of their new, recently-installed sound system, called Sphere Immersive Sound. It was touted as...

Talking With Dan Mackta of Qobuz

Streaming and downloading audio service Qobuz specializes in delivering high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/192 kHz. Founded in 2007 in France, Qobuz launched in the US in February, 2019 and now...

The Meanings of Life

For though your ship be sturdy No mercy has the sea Will you survive on the ocean of being? – Genesis, “Watcher of the Skies” As long as I gaze...

Analyze This

Written by Frank Doris   Not much is known about this early M&K three-piece satellite/subwoofer system (pictured above and below) found at Audio Classics, but it looks and sounds very...

Around the World In 80 Lathes, Part 21

In the previous episode (Issue 170), we looked at the Hara disk recording lathes, manufactured in Japan in the 1970s. The Vanrock E-101 and the Atom A-101 came a bit...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 29

  [Editor’s Note: this part of the story took place in the mid-1980s.] A blast of superheated wind hit me in the face as I walked out of that air-conditioned restaurant in...

Lemons Rally: Rust Belt Ramble, Part Three

Day Three: “Steel City, Oil City, Silo City” Good morning! It’s the last day of the Rust Belt Ramble. This is the day of mixed emotions. On one hand, you’re...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 22: Reel-to...

To noodge is Yiddish for “to pester,” but with a vengeance. It isn’t just whining and nagging. It’s full-blown, incessant, won’t-take-no-for-an-answer annoyance. That’s how I managed to drive RX Reels’...

Amy Winehouse: Soulful Supernova

Once when R&B legend Ronnie Spector was shown a picture of Amy Winehouse, for a moment she thought she was looking at a picture of herself as a young woman....

The Colors of Music: Synesthetic Artist Sees an...

In Issue 170, Melissa McCracken shared with our readership the fascinating experience of creating her artwork as a synesthetic. Here’s an excerpt from Part One of our interview: Melissa McCracken: Synesthesia is a...

Finding Balance Between Artistry and Academia: ...

For young troubadour Sophia Marie, life can be hectic, but through that frenzy, the West Coast native often recoils into a gentle creative balance. Sophia Marie is a new, young...

Silent Movie Fan

Ticket booth at the historic Silco Theater in Silver City, New Mexico. Silco is an anagram of silver and copper, the economic foundations of the community.

Tapped Out

Astrud Gilberto: The Essence of Bossa Nova

She was hardly a powerhouse singer. In fact, her voice was thin, barely more than a whisper. But Astrud Gilberto’s low-key vocal style captured the essence of bossa nova at...

Diagnosing Audiophilia

Patient: Dr. Krebs, I think I have acute audiophilia. Dr. Krebs: Sounds serious. What are your symptoms? Patient: A lack of sound clarity with some distortion. Both my audio system...

Trying to Connect

All That Jazz, Part Two

When I was studying music in college, I thought about learning how to play the double bass. On second thought it seemed impractical: I would have to carry an instrument...

World Music

Written by Frank Doris From the Museum of the Hard to Believe: a 1970s ADC Accutrac 4000, featuring computerized playback of any track, even in random order! The 4000 had...

Under My Skin: An Interview With Journalist Eli...

As a direct representative of an era steeped in glitz and glamor, journalist Elise Krentzel’s journey through the entangled jungle of rock music is one of dreams, determination, and perseverance....

The Colors of Music: Synesthetic Artist Melissa...

We’ll begin this article by having artist Melissa McCracken give us a short introduction to synesthesia and how it inspires her artwork. Melissa McCracken: Synesthesia is a neurological condition in...

The Times They Are a-Changin’!

I’ve been absent for a couple of issues, and I wanted to let everyone know that I haven’t completely faded away…at least, not yet! In previous issues of Copper, I’d...

Confessions of a CD Addict, Circa 1986

File under “what comes around, goes around.” I wrote the following unpublished piece in 1986, found unexpectedly after going through old computer files. The deja vu of my music consumption...

Breaking News: HD Vinyl Enters Bankruptcy (and ...

Over the past 130 years or so, very little has changed in disk recording, mastering and record manufacturing. The shift from acoustic recording to electrical recording took place in the...

High-Quality Audio In Clubland

When was the last time you went to a really trendy dance club? How about one that caters to an in-the-know young crowd? What about one of New York City’s...