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Issue No. 17

May/Jun 2000

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Welcome to issue #17 of Tape Op.

Welcome to Tape Op #17.

Recently someone asked me why we ran interviews with artists, especially if they didn't have any real technical knowledge to impart about the recording process. Well, what would we be recording if it wasn't for artists and their music? The level of involvement that a songwriter/band/composer takes in the recording process can be very enlightening. Some artists want producers and engineers to handle as much of the recording as possible. Others want their hands on the faders the whole time. It's enlightening to see how different people work in the studio, and that's what TAPE OP is all about. I hope you agree. If there are things that you want to read about, let us know, and if you'd like to write for our magazine, get in touch!

Thanks,
Larry Crane

— Larry Crane, editor

In This Issue See more →

Interviews

Dave Fridmann: Producing the Flaming Lips and more

by Roman Sokal

Quaintly nestled in the western region of upstate New York, USA, between Buffalo and Erie, Pennsylvania, lies a small blink-and-you'll-miss-it town named Cassadaga; a place where maybe the most...

Interviews

Mercury Rev: Talk about Dave Fridmann

by Kevin Coral

Another fact is that last year they released one of the best American records in a long time, Deserter Songs. Recorded by the hot producer of the day, Dave Fridmann, it was an instant classic. We...

Interviews

Wharton Tiers: Recording Sonic Youth and more

by Larry Crane, Hillary Johnson

Wharton Tiers has run Fun City studios out of his Manhattan basement since 1981. He's recorded some of the finest records by Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Helmet, Unrest and many more. It's an...

Interviews

Robyn Hitchcock: Songs, not sounds

by Larry Crane

Robyn Hitchcock has long been one of my favorite artists, whether it's the spastic psychedelia of his former group The Soft Boys or one of his many solo records, there's always great songs with...

Interviews

Illyah Kuryakin: Apartment life and new sounds

by Larry Crane

In his tiny apartment in New York, Dean Wilson, aka Illyah Kuryahkin, has created some of the strangest and coolest music we've heard in years. His first album, Count No Count, was recorded on a...

Artist/Recordists

Ween: Recording vocals in car trunks

by Curtis Settino

Ween gets away with murder. It is one of the few bands that writes, records, and releases exactly what it wants. The group's songs can be daring, funny, offensive, and tender. Composed of Mickey...

Interviews

Olivia Tremor Control: Genius Deconstruction

by Joanna Bolme

So what do you do when the band you're interviewing asks you to chop up the tape, splice it back together and print it just like that. You do it of course! Well, if you have gleaned anything from...

Interviews

Phill Brown: The Traffic sessions with Glyn Johns, 1968

by Phil Brown

We interviewed Phill Brown in issue number 12 of Tape Op. Over the years he's worked with some of the greatest artists ever, like Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Jeff Beck, Led...

Tutorials

Recording Recipes #9: Random Thoughts on Music and Recording

by Curtis Settino

When overdubbing, perform your parts while blindfolded, or with minimal light. This will help you focus on the "sound". Our brains tend to give most attention to visual stimuli. Only perform...

Recording Drums

Recording Drums.

by Darron Burke

Setup/Getting sounds When I first started recording I used wonder how long I was supposed to take when setting up and getting drum sounds. Sometimes it took one or two hours, and other times it...

Columns See more →

End Rant

Gender...

by Larry Crane

As long as I have been involved in music I've had a healthy respect for women who are part of the music community. Most of the bands I've ever been in had female musicians, I've trained women...

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Gear Reviews See more →

Books

The MIDI Drummer

by David Crigger | reviewed by Leigh Marble

This low-budget publishing effort manages to give a solid introduction to MIDI drumming. It covers nothing too advanced, especially given the expansion of MIDI options since 1987, but if you're a...

Books, Media

Ohm: The Early Genius of Electronic Music 1948 - 1980 (3 CDs & book)

by Ellipsis Arts | reviewed by Larry Crane

For those who thought electronic music started with rave culture or people like myself, who don't really want to buy whole Morton Subotnick albums but have always been curious, this is a cool find....

Mic Preamps, Rackmount

VC3 Preamp, Compressor, Enhancer

by Joe Meek | reviewed by Chris Simons

A lot of people are jumping on the Meek bandwagon and I happen to be one of them. Of course it's the obnoxious Meek green, but it still sounds great. Up front it has a fairly clean and neutral preamp...

LDCs, Microphones

U-99 Microphone

by Soundelux | reviewed by John Botch

I am really lucky because a very good friend of mine gave me his vintage Neumann U-67 to use on one of those indefinite loan kind of deals. It really does sound fantastic, and I use it all the time....

Mic Preamps, Rackmount, Signal Processors

Pro-Channel

by ART | reviewed by Barry Rudolph

One of the best things about using a dedicated recording chain is that it frees up inputs and busses on your mixing console. It's also impossible to accidentally "buss" some other audio into your...

Recorders

U8 USB Digital Studio

by Roland | reviewed by Barry Rudolph

The U8 comes at a time when recording into a computer seems so non-tactile... operating the "tape deck" and punching in with a mouse doesn't quite work for me in the music making/recording process....

Monitoring, Rackmount

SR-RTA Real Time Analyzer

by DOD | reviewed by Hillary Johnson

Have you ever been in a studio and embarrassed yourself by A/B-ing your mix with that amazing sounding Nirvana record and the band walks in and screams, "Hey, don't make us sound like Nirvana!" Well,...

Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.

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May/Jun 2000

Latest Issues

Welcome to issue #17 of Tape Op.

— Larry Crane, editor

In This Issue See more →

by Roman Sokal

by Kevin Coral

by Larry Crane, Hillary Johnson

by Larry Crane

by Larry Crane

by Curtis Settino

by Joanna Bolme

by Phil Brown

by Curtis Settino

by Darron Burke

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Columns See more →

by Larry Crane

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Gear Reviews See more →

by David Crigger | reviewed by Leigh Marble

Books, Media

by Ellipsis Arts | reviewed by Larry Crane

Mic Preamps, Rackmount

by Joe Meek | reviewed by Chris Simons

LDCs, Microphones

by Soundelux | reviewed by John Botch

Mic Preamps, Rackmount, Signal Processors

by ART | reviewed by Barry Rudolph

by Roland | reviewed by Barry Rudolph

Monitoring, Rackmount

by DOD | reviewed by Hillary Johnson

Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.

Sponsored