Sep/Oct 2010
Welcome to issue #79 of Tape Op.
Remember that first time you tried to record some actual live music? Do you remember it being difficult, confusing and eventually unsatisfying? I do. I remember thinking my $18 Radio Shack microphones must be great, because they had batteries inside and were made of shiny aluminum. But then I couldn't figure out why "P" sounds popped on the vocals, why the acoustic guitar sounded odd when the needles were pegged or why the performance came off like a high school kid playing guitar in an attic. But most of all, I couldn't figure out how I'd get these recordings to be as cool as the records I listened to and loved.
I'm a bit older now, and my recording skills have improved somewhat (I hope). But you know what? I still listen to some of the records I love and I wonder, "How the hell did they do that?" I guess that same quest is still driving me forward. On we go.
Larry Crane, Editor
