Mar/Apr 2005

Welcome to issue #46 of Tape Op.

 

This issue might be about two sides of rock and roll. At one end we have Pink Floyd and David Gilmour's floating state of the art studio, Astoria — an overachievement of creating the best recordings possible. On the other side we have Tommy Ramone, the original brains behind the Ramones and drummer/producer basically by default. He ran with a band that sought to strip rock and roll down to its simplest core and made history. But it's all about music, isn't it? Both of these bands/artists/producers take up a fair share of my record collection, along with many other bands, genres and ideas. There's room for a lot of music out there...

On the other hand the climate of music and technology is changing rapidly. Look to the "End Rant" this issue for some of my thoughts on this matter, and to some of our other features for varying ways of making recordings. The world is changing and we are part of it — not just bystanders.

And once again, if all these topics interest you I expect to see you at TapeOpCon 2005 in New Orleans. There's a lot to discuss this year and we will be doing that. www.tapeopcon.com

— Larry Crane, editor

In This Issue See more →

Phil Taylor

by Jeff Touzeau

For nearly a century, The Astoria has woven its own distinct musical heritage along the banks of the river Thames, just southwest of London. With its lush and leafy surroundings, highly reminiscent...

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Gear Reviews See more →

UE-10 PRO Ear Monitors

by Ultimate Ears  |  reviewed by Jeff Elbel

Ultimate Ears competes with companies like Sensaphonics for sales of in-ear monitors to professional users. After his introduction to the iPod, Ultimate Ears founder Jerry Harvey recognized an...

BravoPro Disc Publisher

by Primera Technology  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

In Tape Op #44, I wrote a review of the Bravo II Disc Publisher and called it "awesome." The BravoPro is the new big-brother to the Bravo II. Using either, you can "publish" your own CD's or DVD's...

Carmen Ghia tube guitar head

by Dr. Z Amplification  |  reviewed by Geoff Farina

A few recent experiences with a stripped-down 60's Fender Deluxe have finally convinced me to pack up my trusty Twin Reverbs for good. There's just something magical about the combination of the...

DrumCore

by Submersible Music  |  reviewed by Jeff Robbins

First off, I should mention my hesitation about drum loops. Over the years, I've developed quite a library of drum loops, and although they're fun to play with, they rarely make it into my finished...

Swivel Mic Cable

by Planet Waves  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Pete Weiss touched on these cables in his review of the Planet Waves line in Tape Op # 39, but I recently picked up a few of the cables after seeing them at the recent NAMM show, and thought they were...

PS-04 Palmtop Studio

by Zoom  |  reviewed by Andy Hong

Attendees of the first Tape Op Conference in 2002 may remember a photo of the yet-to-be-released Zoom Palmtop Studio in my presentation of music technology history. I had read enough prerelease info...

Live 4

by Ableton  |  reviewed by Chachi Jones

When the first version of Ableton Live hit the shelves in 2001, it instantly found a hardcore audience of music makers desperate for a flexible arranging tool with an emphasis on playful...

?Alice? small-diaphragm condenser mic

by Scott Helmke  |  reviewed by Inverse Room

While trolling the ancient "DIY Mics" thread on the Tape Op forum, I came across a post from Scott Helmke (AKA Scodiddly) about a microphone he was working on based on the Transound TSB-165A cardioid...

Phoenix TDM plug-in

by Crane Song  |  reviewed by Matt Boudreau

In the last several weeks while I was writing this review, Quantegy closed its doors for financial restructuring, Studer 24-tracks were listed on eBay for $7000 with Dolby SR, and the tape-using...

Picturebox, Inc.

by The Wilco Book  |  reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

This book is a very cool intersection of music, writing, photography and design. What it's not is a straightforward documentation of the band's music that holds the reader's hand and discusses the...

 

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

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