Critical Listening
by Larry Crane
Anyone who's been around me for the last few months probably knows what's on my mind. I have a big mouth and I usually mull over aloud the topics that make up these 'end rants' for a while until...
Columns
by Larry Crane
TOC Intro #42
by Larry Crane
A few months ago I was wrapping up the evening by dropping into a local watering hole with a nice young lady, when a customer who had been sitting at the bar looked at me and said, "You're that...
But Who’s Gonna Pay You?
by Larry Crane
From a letter from contributor and reader Lou Carlozo: "I'm at a crossroads. I have a professional home studio that continues to grow and has done well in the Chicago market. I'm blessed to work...
TOC Intro #41
by Larry Crane
Right after turning 40, we're putting out our biggest issue to date, and there's no shortage of strong opinions in this one. Walter Sear's thoughts on DIY recording might ire lots of long time Tape Op...
Taking Initiative
by Larry Crane
"I'm currently a junior in high school, and I have a lot of interest in recording and how a studio and the equipment in a studio works — I'd even like to open my own studio one day. There's only...
TOC Intro #40
by Larry Crane
This issue marks not only Tape Op's "over the hill" issue but also the beginning of our ninth year of publishing this fine magazine. While we've had to deal with growing pains and a constant stream of...
My Confession
by Larry Crane
Here's my ultimate confession: I'm finally getting knee deep in the world of digital recording. Yeah, I put it off for years, not wanting to have to learn about different platforms, hardware,...
TOC Intro #39
by Larry Crane
I've been working my ass off in the studio recently, after a mostly slow summer and moderately busy fall. The slow times are difficult — I even thought about taking some other writing jobs to...
Elliott Smith
by Larry Crane
When I interviewed Steve Fisk in 1996 for Tape Op #3, one of the answers he gave for situations that made recording sessions go poorly was, "people dying." I remember thinking this was a heavy...
TOC Intro #38
by Larry Crane
I'm writing this as I fly back from an extended trip to New York and the East Coast. John and I went out for the annual US AES conference. The AES is the Audio Engineering Society, more popularly...
MP3 Me ASAP! Or, Larry’s Descent Into the Digital Age
by Larry Crane
The first time I heard an MP3 I was completely unimpressed. I had received a CD of tracks from a new, hopeful digital music web site (now long gone) at a music conference tradeshow. Hillary Johnson...
Beware of the “Moneymaker”
by Larry Crane
In the creepy back room of my studio is an old plastic mail tub that we've nicknamed the "money maker". Why the "money maker"? Well, this tub is full of percussion instruments, like tambourines,...