We interviewed John Cale in issue #156 around the time of his previous release, Mercy. He has just released POPtical Illusion, a collection of synth and keyboard heavy tunes that carry a heavy, and at times angry message about the state of the world. That is not to say that that Cale has lost all hope and there is optimism that we can still bring about change. POPtical Illusion was produced by Cale along with longtime artistic collaborator Nita Scott.
I'll bet if you asked any busy business owner or manager what they spend the the most time doing, it would be the art of telling people, "No." For years I've found this to be true in regards to running Tape Op Magazine. "No" may seem a negative...
My pal David Lowery (Cracker/Camper Van Beethoven) has been doing a cool blog called 300 Songs, telling stories of how songs came about and other crazy stories. The most recent one is about the late Don Smith, who produced and engineered a bunch of...
I got an email the other day from a PR person looking for Tape Op to write an article about several "known" engineer/producers and their drum recording techniques in the studio. These guys are known, and one of them we've written about and I think...
In the never-ending, century-old battle between corporations and content producers: I give you the latest bit of pro-artist activism. This is taken directly from the Grammy Foundation's website:
Tell Congress to Save Music and Stop the "Pandora...
I recently have been digging through the Tape Op archives looking for writing, reviews and stuff we can post online. And I just found this snippet of hilariousness from Issue #7 in the Fall of 1997. Oh man, maybe I shouldn't post this... all...
Some Maybe Not-So-Obvious Items Every Studio Needs
In the past we've run a few columns about items every studio should have, like Sharpie pens and masking tape, but here I decided to look around me and think about all the items that aren't...
It wasn’t that long ago that when you went into the studio you basically disappeared from the rest of the world into a place with few (or no) windows, and low light. Where time seemed to have a way of getting distorted, finding yourself rolling...
This issue’s cover is an homage to the Pink Floyd song “Echoes,” from the album Meddle. The idea came to me after I saw Brian T. Silak’s photo of Jack Antonoff’s vintage tape delays, as the Binson Echorec...
It is often challenging within a review period to fully explore a piece of gear and integrate it into the daily workflow. It's not that reviewers won't use the feature set and put it to task in at least a few applications, but to truly get to know...