In 1983 I was working in a nice 'pro' 24-track two inch studio recording music that I would never actually buy myself, and then I heard R.E.M.'s Murmur. When I heard that some guy named Mitch...
Mark Nevers is a man behind the scenes...literally. As the 11th member of the twelve (or sometimes more)-musicianed Lambchop you'll likely know him as "fifth head from the left" way back in the...
John Fischbach is a world-class producer/engineer who has had his hands on the console since the late '60s. He's worked with artists as diverse as Carole King, War, the Burrito Brothers and even the...
I've been thinking a bit about sound quality lately. An acquaintance of mine observed somewhat arrogantly that a CD-R written about in this column sounded a lot like a noted major-label recording...
On a recent Tape Op journey that took me through Athens, GA, Nashville, TN, and Chapel Hill, NC, I had the pleasure of visiting about a dozen recording studios and photographing them and their...
Wendy Schneider started Coney Island Studio in Madison, Wisconsin, over two years ago, after doing audio/visual post production, doing live sound, interning at the local famous studio (Smart) and...
It started innocently enough. The producer called me to feel me out and see if we'd work well together. The artist called, came by and booked some time. "Awesome", I thought. I would be able to...
The Aark 24 is a professional-quality audio interface designed to turn any capable PC into a serious Digital Audio Workstation. The package includes the Aark 24 PCI Host card, the Aark 24 Interface...
I've gone through two and half incarnations of my living room studio. And unlike most home studios, my current setup leans more in the hi-fi direction instead of in the all-in-one 4/8/16-track...
One of my favorite new purchases this season was this tube Mic pre/compressor-limiter by Summit Audio. I first used the unit as a bass pre and it worked great. It has a Hi-Z input on the faceplate...
Take a phantom-powered version of the "Build Your Own Mic" from Tape Op #16, install two in a plastic model of a human skull, and you have the coolest new mic to track stereo signals in the studio...
Does this scenario sound familiar? You're engineering a record for an indie-rock band. The band's on a budget. You hire a studio. One with an analog multitrack for that fat "rock" sound. And it being...
Microphone selection and placement can provide a huge range of equalization options, and combining two mics to produce phase cancellation introduces even more possibilities but electronic devices can...
I own a number of stands and racks made by the Italian company Quik Lok. My current console sits on top of a castor-equipped Quik Lok WS-44 workstation. My last two mixers were supported by a Quik Lok...
I don't think I've ever been 100% happy with a set of monitors - it's more a case of getting used to what you are working with in order to achieve mixes that will work in the real world. For the last...
This very primitive digital delay displays no visible model number. Early digital delays have grown unfashionable in comparison to analog delays or better quality newer models, so it is very...
With the millions of multi-effects digital processors out these days it's kind of refreshing to see an effect that only does one thing and does it very well. This is a true spring reverb - like they...
The best $10 you'll ever spend. How many times have you had to look behind/around/underneath a rack/mixer/recorder, and you kick yourself for not having your Mini Mag-Lite in easy reach? No excuses...
I am fortunate to own a nice recording studio with both two inch analog tape and a hard drive recording system. But, as I learn more about recording onto computers, it's really nice to realize the...
I've had a lot of guitar players come in with smaller amps lately - old Supros and Champs that when pushed to the limit deliver excellent overdriven guitar tones at easily manageable volumes. You just...
If any of you are bedroom producers whose tastes lean towards the experimental or electronic, then here is your holy grail. Reaktor is an industrial strength native synthesis program with an...
First off, this unassuming one rack-space unit did not look capable of performing what the manual had written for performance capabilities. The unit, from Sound Performance Lab, is the Transient...
So you want to start recording? You've squeezed all you can out of disposable gear? You're low on funds, experience or training? Read on - this is for you. In 1985 Tascam offered two related machines....
It seems like there is something in every issue of Tape Op coming from those prolific sages in Tucson, but if they would stop making great records, we'd stop writing about them. This one is a...
The debut EP from this New York band is an inspiration for the jaded... for those who don't have the patience or energy to traverse through the weeds. Founded upon beautiful melodic interplay between...
Dating back to the Swell Maps and the Styrenes, bands approaching home recording with inexpensive technology often combined conventional pop elements with strange approaches to texture and layering....
These days, defining the function of a 'remixer' is just as enigmatic and open-ended to explanation, much like the role of a 'producer'. But for Aix Em Klemm, a duo consisting of Labradford's Bobby...
In the US and England, bands whose recordings in the early 1970s sounded great often made excessively slick and polished records as technology evolved. The earliest recordings on this compilation CD...
Chris Lee writes songs that are strong, sensual, and sad. He delivers his lines with vowel-bending vocal inflections, somewhat akin to Van Morrison. On this album, produced with Steve Shelley of Sonic...
As always, one can expect nothing less than eccentric-eclecticism when it comes to the musical tornado that is the Dinner Is Ruined band. This new slab of their...
David Garza plays guitar, writes songs, and sings them. He does all of these very well - his sophomore release on Atlantic Records will be out sometime in 2001. As he is quite prolific, he puts out...
