Burnout?
by Larry Crane
For years I've thought about possibly interviewing a number of people who quit recording music for a living; people who had worked full time in studios and eventually decided that moving on to another...
End Rants
Sporadic and regular articles from our contributors.
An Argument for Specialization
by Paul Abbott
We live in the era of technology democratization. As musicians, we now have affordable access to nearly any bit of technology you find useful. Powerful DAWs and plug-ins, exotic microphones, amp...
Proprietary Information
by Thomas Day
Forty years ago I began my career repairing industrial electronics equipment. Right out of tech school with a wife and a kid on the way, I worked on precision measurement equipment by day, and played...
Gear Manufacturers: Please Help Me Make Records
by Larry Crane, Garrett Haines, Steve Silverstein
I was sitting in my studio working on a mix session recently when it hit me — there were certain pieces of recording equipment that I tended to avoid. Over the years we've tried to weed out gear...
Cooking with Gas
by Larry Crane
Over the last few years I've gotten back into cooking at home. Partly this is because we moved from Portland, Oregon to a small town in the desert with few restaurants, but also it's a great "hobby"...
Etiquette for the Studio Visitor?
by Larry Crane, Garrett Haines, Andy Hong, Steve Silverstein
We always come back to discussing all these human factors when talking about recording music. "Keep the vibe positive." "Make the client comfortable." "Discuss goals and money before a project...
Jay Bennett
by Jason T. Lewis
I feel like I have to say a little about Jay's passing. He was one of those rare people that came into my life at a time when I was ready to learn and he taught me more than I can say about recording,...
Be Careful How You Present Yourself
by Larry Crane
While doing research and editing for Tape Op articles, I spend a lot of time on the Internet looking for equipment model numbers, studio names and such. Many times I stumble across online advertising...
Help The Archivist, Please
by Larry Crane
For the last two and a half years I've been working on archiving the recorded works of my late friend and stellar songwriter, Elliott Smith. His family entrusted me with the job of backing up all of...
A Worthwhile Investment?
by Larry Crane
As I was editing the letters section for this issue, one of them triggered a memory from fourteen years ago. I remember trying to build up my home studio and having stacks of catalogs on my desk. I...
Crushing the Death Magnetic
by Paul Abbott
The outcry over the un-listenably loud level of Metallica's Death Magnetic CD has become one of the more visible occurrences of the "loudness wars" in the mainstream media. This has been a problem...
Purity and Honesty in Recordings
by Larry Crane
Here at Tape Op World Headquarters we get numerous emails from folks fighting the good fight against the threat to our world known as digital recording. All of the hideous doors that have opened since...