Copper

Sir Rastus Bear who’d ever believe You’d be by a song Redeemed – Blue Öyster Cult, “Redeemed” Copper’s Tom Gibbs is going to be absent from the next few issues.... Read more...

Piper Payne: A Mastering Engineer for Next-Generation Music, Part One

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... Read more...

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... Read more...

David Libert: A Rock and Roll Warrior Tells All In His New Book

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... Read more...

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... Read more...

Reel-to-Reel Roots, Part 23: Better Than Rice Krispies

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... Read more...

Hearing Aid

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... Read more...

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),... Read more...

Take a Walk in Wonderland: Revisiting the Musical Instrument Museum

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... Read more...

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... Read more...

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... Read more...

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. Read more...

Born to Rock: Graham Whitford of Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

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... Read more...

What’s in a Name? MIRTAS – The Music Instrument Retail Training Apprenticeships Scheme

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... Read more...

An Octave Records Trifecta: Augustus, Thom LaFond and Clandestine Amigo Now Available On Vinyl

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... Read more...

The History of A&M Records, Part Seven: A&M Goes Latin

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... Read more...

Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Master of Orchestration Turns 150

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,... Read more...

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