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...
End Rants
Sporadic and regular articles from our contributors.
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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,...
Good Will?
by Larry Crane
A few months ago I started a session with a local band. While booking the time, the singer/guitarist told me one of the main reasons he was coming to record with me. It turns out that a year...
Paint by Numbers
by Larry Crane
When I was a kid my mom worked with ceramics. She had a business, out of our home, where she made incense holders, "pencil pots" and other small, hand-made items that sold pretty well in the...
More Music, More Music!
by Larry Crane
I was working on a two-week session for the upcoming fifth Richmond Fontaine album in November, engineering with J.D. Foster producing. One of the first things that J.D. did when we arrived at the...
Warning Signs Regarding Potential Clients
by Larry Crane
One part of running a recording studio is dealing with the booking of studio time, fielding the phone calls and talking with "potential clients". Most of this is fine, chatting with folks about...
The Job
by Larry Crane
The other night I finished a session which got me thinking. The project I was working on wasn't all that interesting to me, in fact I doubt anyone besides the artist involved will ever find much...