Copper


Marshall Crenshaw: Songwriting Mastery Revisite...

Issue 153Disciples of Sound

Marshall Crenshaw’s career began in perhaps the most poetic of fashion – he played John Lennon in the Broadway musical Beatlemania. From there his career was propelled with a steady stream of...

Improving Digital Streaming with a Gigabit Ethe...

Issue 153To Be Determined

I’ve been involved in digital music streaming for around eight or nine years now, but have only truly taken a really deep dive in the last few years. Recently, I’ve...

Burt Bacharach: The Post-Hal David Years

Issue 153FROM THE SWEET SPOT

The Burt Bacharach and Hal David songwriting team was one for history! However, they had a falling out in the mid-1970s, and then Bacharach worked with other lyricists. While his...

Top Tracks of 2021

Issue 153Be Here Now

It’s been a wonderful year for new music, and my favorites of 2021 are listed below. You can find them all on my Spotify playlist Be Here Now, which I regularly update with...

The Dirty Weekend is Over

Issue 153Speaker Stories

I never considered it my place to push or review products. Any component I’ve ever talked about has been in the vein of, “Hey, it works for me; maybe you’ll...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part 10

Issue 152New Vistas

The first installments of this series appeared in Issues 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149.150 and 151 – Ed.] Melody was on summer break from her nursing studies at the University of South Dakota. She wanted to be an operating...

Back to My Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part Five: Tape ...

Issue 152Natural Born Kessler

Previous installments in this series appeared in Issues 146, 148, 149 and 151. I feel like a rabbi talking a non-Jew out of converting to Judaism. It’s incumbent on him or her to try to...

Adventureland

Issue 152Audio Anthropology

No needles to change, and glorious new purity of tone…how did they do it? Philco ad, 1940s.   This system was purchased by reader Keith Wooten new in 1977 at...

Antonio Salieri: The Real Story

Issue 152Something Old / Something New

My heart goes out to Antonio Salieri. For the past few decades, he’s been best known as “that guy who had Mozart killed,” thanks to the film version of Peter...

Let It Be: Director Peter Jackson’s Get Back Pr...

Issue 152Featured

Nearly eight-hour Get Back documentary is revelatory for fans Like all Beatles fans, I was intrigued with the news that New Zealand film director Peter Jackson had convinced the Apple Records powers-that-be...

Copper’s Lunch Menu

Issue 152FROM THE SWEET SPOT

Someday, PS Audio will host an event, whether at an audio show or elsewhere, and of course there will be food and drinks served. Here’s what will be on the...

Get Back, Let It Be and the Boredom of Excellence

Issue 152Twisted Systems

It is almost a given that if you dedicate eight hours of your time to watching a Beatles documentary, you are not just a casual fan. The events chronicled in...

Around the World in 80 Lathes, Part Two

Issue 152Revolutions Per Minute

Writing about the history of disk recording lathes poses a major challenge. Not because there is not enough to say. Quite the opposite, in fact. There is an enormous amount...

Octave Records’ Latest: Country-Folk Duo Bonnie...

Issue 152Octave Pitch

Octave Records’ latest release is Levelland by country-folk duo Bonnie and Taylor Sims. It’s a contemplative and romantic set of songs by the two, who have been playing and recording...

Further Analysis: the Gustard X16 and Stellar G...

Issue 152To Be Determined

In Copper Issue 150, I shared my review of the Gustard X16 digital-to-analog converter as used in my main audio system, and the results were nothing less than spectacular. My intent was...

Saved By the Light

Issue 152Music To My Ears

It’s late and dad has his slippers and pipe Mom’s wrapping gifts by the fading firelight. “You going to help or just sit there all night?” Before he could answer...

Hollis Brown’s In the Aftermath: A New Take on...

Issue 152Disciples of Sound

My friend Ed and I have talked often about how the Rolling Stones have been able to tour for almost fifty years largely on the backs of four albums: Exile on...

Nobody Told Me There'd Be Days Like These: Get ...

Issue 152Featured

Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson Peter Jackson’s Get Back film tries to finesse the Beatles’ break-up while fulfilling the audience’s dream of a fantasy reunion. When the original Let It Be film first appeared...

Dangerfield’s

Issue 152True-Life Rock Tales

Jim Kellem, a talent agent from CMA (Creative Management Associates) and my good buddy, invites me to join him at Patsy’s, where he is having a business dinner with Phil...

Better Sound From My Computer Audio, Part Four:...

Issue 152Streaming Sessions

Who would have thought ten years ago that it would someday be possible to select songs to play back from your online music library simply by voice command? So much...

AES Show Fall 2021 Highlights, Part Two

Issue 152Show Report

As 2021 entered the fourth quarter, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) held its annual fall show online in October, because of the pandemic still being in effect. Thankfully, the show...

The Sounds of Christmas: Batteries Not Included...

Issue 152Music To My Ears

This article originally appeared in Issue 22. It’s a Copper tradition to have a holiday story by WL Woodward at this time of year, so we present it again here...

Burt Bacharach in the 1960s and 1970s: Artists ...

Issue 152Featured

The Burt Bacharach and Hal David songwriting machine was running full speed ahead through the 1960s. While Dionne Warwick was the singer of many of their best tunes, there were...

Adventures in Shopping Badly

Issue 152The Mindful Melophile

‘Tis the season to be shopping and time once again for retailers to be visited by the ghosts of customers past. In the spirit of the holidays, here are several...

Hall and Oates: Hitmakers With Soul

Issue 152Off the Charts

With 16 Top-10 singles, including six that reached No. 1, Daryl Hall and John Oates proved that combining two genres can be a real moneymaker if it’s done right. Their...

Playing at Louie Lee's

Issue 152Parting Shot

Dale Watson, performing at Lee’s Liquor Lounge in Minneapolis (Issue 107's Parting Shot). It was the penultimate show at the venue, now closed. Dale was so fond of Lee's that...

Issue 152

Issue 152Opening Salvo

All of us at Copper once again wish all of you happy holidays. The past two years have been tougher than anyone could have imagined, but this is a season of hope...

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Collector as Minimalist

Issue 152Featured

Before my upcoming trip to the record store, I comb through my collection and pull Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Johnny Cash, Live at San Quentin, Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsies, and the...

Issue 151

Issue 151Opening Salvo

Happy holidays, everyone. We at Copper wish all of you the very best. The past couple of seasons have obviously been tough on everyone, but we also have plenty to be thankful...

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AES Show Fall 2021 Highlights, Part One

Issue 151Show Report

As 2021 entered the fourth quarter, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) held its annual fall show online in October, because of the pandemic still being in effect. Thankfully, the show...

Words and Music by Stephen Sondheim

Issue 151Featured

Readers don’t necessarily rely on Copper for theatrical news, but there is a good reason why the recent passing of Stephen Sondheim (1930 – 2021) should matter to anyone interested in music:...

The Knob With the Misleading Name

Issue 151Featured

Component audio systems were still comparatively rare when my college roommates and I put one together (see my article in Issue 149), but there was at least one other in...

Who Decides What’s Good or Bad? And, Some Mini-...

Issue 151Frankly Speaking

In the process of putting together a list of 150 favorite albums for Issue 150, the thought struck me yet again: what determines whether music is good or bad, anyway? I think...

Our Heads Are Spinning

Issue 151Audio Anthropology

Fit for a King (Marilyn King of the King Sisters, that is): the Roberts 990 stereo tape recorder. Courtesy of the Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording. Recording engineer and TEC...

Audiophile Heaven, Revisited

Issue 151FROM THE SWEET SPOT

What will the audiophile section of heaven be like? Andy pondered it briefly in Issue 149, and pays another visit here: There will be a Hawaiian lagoon with PerfectWaves controlled...

Adele: Too Big to Fail

Issue 151Wayne's Words

One of my daughter’s colleagues at work was asked to do a task while on a mini-break, expressing some reluctance as he pulled pods out of his ears. “You’re taking...

Around the World in 80 Lathes, Part One

Issue 151Revolutions Per Minute

Audiophiles and record collectors often obsess about what kind of turntable or tonearm or cartridge works best for a certain record. In the process, they go to great lengths in...

They Don’t Make 'Em Like They Used To…(Part Two)

Issue 151

As I said in Part One (Issue 149), I like physical media. There’s something about having the information and artwork that comes with LPs and CDs that seems essential to...

Scenes From Capital Audiofest 2021, Part Two

Issue 151Show Report

In Part One (Issue 150) we featured write-ups on Capital Audiofest 2021 from Steve Kindig and Harris Fogel. We wrap up our coverage with more photos from the show taken...

Shop Class

Issue 151Featured

In my first installment, “When I Was A Boy,” (Issue 150) I spun a yarn of growing up as a budding audiophile by using song titles as references. Many of...

The Nightingale Has Landed

Issue 151Parting Shot

Taken at the Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, New Mexico. The nightingale is part of a mural depicting the ancient site. The arm and hand are more recently posed!...

Pilgrimage to Sturgis, Part Nine

Issue 151New Vistas

Interstate 90 back to Spearfish was packed with Harleys doing 55 – while sounding like they were going 105. I soon tired of the freight-train pace, waved to the renegades,...

Back To My Reel-To-Reel Roots, Part Four: Makin...

Issue 151Natural Born Kessler

By now it has been established that my renewed interest in reel-to-reel is unnaturally narrow, in that I am not a recordist in any manner. I may be the only...

Burt Bacharach: The A&M Years

Issue 151Deep Dive

Previous installments of our series on Burt Bacharach appeared in Issues 146, 147, 148 and 149. Instrumentally Bacharach As the tail end of the Dionne Warwick era came closer, Burt...

One Size Fits All? Part Two: Mind the Gap

Issue 151Speaker Stories

In our previous article (Issue 150), we discussed the fact that selecting the “small” setting on your receiver or A/V preamp/processor in the speaker setup menu allows you to assign...

Rock and Roll – Missing In Action?

Issue 151Music To My Ears

My wife Diana and I were in the European Café in Colorado Springs a few Saturdays ago when a guy came through the patio door, looked at me and asked,...