Interviews
Jack Endino
by Larry Crane
This man should need no introduction. At the height of "grunge-mania" he had recorded the records for Mudhoney and Nirvana that started it all. And he did tham fast and cheap. On the back of...
Interviews
Spot
by Steve Silverstein
When I was in high school, I knew a lot less about music than I do now, but even then Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade seemed to jump out of my speakers. It certainly sounded a lot different from...
Interviews
J. Robbins: Jawbox, Burning Airlines member records The Promise Ring, Jets to Brazil and more
by Larry Crane
Tape Op gets quite a few letters and e-mails suggesting people that we should interview, and recently, J. Robbins had to be one of the most requested names by far. J. was in Jawbox for years, a...
Interviews
Eric "Roscoe" Ambel: one of "alt-country's" best producers tells all
by Hillary Johnson
Eric Ambel started his professional career writing and playing guitar as a Blackheart and a Del Lord. Now a producer and musician, he has worked with many great artists including Nils Lofgren, Mojo...
Interviews
WGNS
by Brent Burton
WGNS was born out of necessity. Inspired by the total lack of underground radio in the Washington, DC area, Geoff Turner began making punk rock mix tapes for friends from the basement of his...
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Calexico: Joey & John on recording at home and in the studio
by John Askew
The first time I tried to reach Giant Sand, OP8 and Calexico drummer/multi-instrumentalist John Convertino at his Tucson, Arizona home he didn't answer the phone. It seemed only natural that when...
Suma Recording: Ken & Paul Hamann make recording history
by Steve Silverstein
Looking at my Pere Ubu liner notes, I noted the frequent appearance of the last name "Hamann". After some confusion, I realized that there were two different first names which accompanied it. I...
Affordable Recording on a Mac
by Rob Lodes
In the last issue of Tape Op, Rich Hardesty's article, "A Beginner's Guide to Digital Recording With Your PC," was really inspiring to me for two reasons. First, that you were doing an article, on...
I'm No Expert #3: Resistors
by Geoff Daking
Welcome to a very overdue installment of my geekish banter. Issues of Tape Op have been flying by without me and I thought it was about time I blessed you all with some more electro-quackery on...
High Velocity Sound Engineering: A Manifesto by Oz Fritz
by Oz Fritz
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End Rant
The first time
by Larry Crane
The first time I ever went in to a studio to record was in the summer of 1985. Our band, Vomit Launch, had been around for almost 6 months, and we decided it was time to hit the studio and make a...
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Gear Reviews See more →
FLYING CALF
by FLYING CALF | reviewed by Larry Crane
I was in a local audio shop with my pal Craig when he mentioned this inexpensive little analog to digital converter. For under $170 you can get an outboard converter to put in between your mixer and...
SE-30
by SHURE | reviewed by Steve Silverstein
Someone once advised me that no cheap microphone is a bad microphone. With the same principle in mind, I bought this device (which, despite its name, serves mostly as a preamp and something of a...
Dan-Echo
by DANELECTRO | reviewed by Hilary Johnson
When it comes time to mix, how about recycling those guitar pedals you have lying around - some of them work really well for a specific effect - just stick one on an aux send! Take the Danelectro...
RNC 1773
by FMR Audio | reviewed by Larry Crane
It seems like more people are mentioning these cool little compressors lately. They're 1/3 rack space sized jobs that do a better job than a lot of compressors that cost way more. They have the usual...
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Music Reviews
Furniture Music for Evening Shuttles
by TOWER RECORDINGS | reviewed by Steve Silverstein
Bands from the 1980s which most frequently received the label psych revival included Milwaukee's Plasticland and Los Angeles's the Three O'Clock. They combined wonderful 60s influenced playing and...
Music Reviews
I Want Some CD
by THE MAKEUP | reviewed by Dewey Mahood
This album collects the past four years of Makeup singles, beautifully displaying their progression from raunchy garage revivalists to sophisticated soul-psychedlia tune-smiths. We hear the group...
Music Reviews
Ghosts of Dead Aeroplanes
by PROLAPSE | reviewed by Larry Crane
It has always seemed to me that UK "bands" are a lot less afraid to use effects and such in their recordings compared to their US counterparts. Prolapse are a case in point. These mixes are a study in...
Music Reviews
Ask Them EP
by LEXO AND THE LEAPERS | reviewed by Matt Mair Lowery
Guided By Voices' prolific Robert Pollard recorded this amazing, pseudonymous EP in a day at Cro-Magnon in Dayton, Ohio. Backed by Dayton's Tasties, Pollard tears through these six cuts old-school GBV...
Music Reviews
The Other Side Is Mud CDEP
by CORRINA REPP | reviewed by Matt Mair Lowery
Repp recorded all but one track on this EP at Hush Records' head Chad Crouch's PowerMac home studio. One of the hallmarks of Hush is Crouch's ability to capture warm, acoustic, singer-songwriter...