Interviews
Jeff Jones: The Jedi Master
by Ian Brennan
@ Scovil Productions, Norwalk, CT Jeff “The Jedi Master” Jones has been an engineer and producer for music and films in New York City for over 40 years. Starting out as a teenager in...
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Blog
New Tape Op Video Series
by Geoff Stanfield
We are excited to announce Creative Recording With Tape Op. This video series covers a wide range of recording and mixing topics, concepts, and solutions. We look forward to sharing these conversations with you in the coming weeks and months, but...
Interviews
RZA: From Brownsville to Baroque & Back
by Sam Retzer
Born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and the musical force of Staten Island’s Wu-Tang Clan, RZA (Robert Fitzgerald Diggs) is easily one of the most revered and gifted producers of his generation....
Interviews
John “Spud” Murphy: Filling in the Frequencies
by Steve Silverstein
While I only casually follow British music magazines like The Quietus and Uncut, their frequent championing of the band Lankum caught my eye, and upon hearing the 2023 album, False Lankum, they...
Interviews
The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis: At Tonal Park
by Sam Retzer
What happens when you combine the rhythmic backbone of Fugazi veterans Joe Lally (bass) and Brendan Canty (drums, Tape Op #12) with the soaring heights of James Brandon Lewis’ sax, and douse...
Blog
Matt Ross-Spang Discusses New Elvis Presley Box Set, Memphis
by Geoff Stanfield
Across more than 100 tracks, MEMPHIS captures Elvis from the earliest stages of his career at Sun Records/Memphis Recording Service to his final recordings in Graceland’s Jungle Room, with stops at other iconic studios such as American and...
Most Recent
The Chesterfield Kings are back after 15 years with We're Still All The Same
by Geoff Stanfield
Rochester, NY’s The Chesterfield Kings have been leading their own garage rock revival since the late ‘70s. The new LP, We're Still All The Same, was recorded at Fab Gear Studios in Rochester, NY, and produced by Ed Stasium (Tape Op...
Lowell George Documentary
by Geoff Stanfield
I recently found myself diving back into the Little Feat catalog, and came across a documentary on the band's founder, guitarist, and frontman Lowell George, called Feats First - The Life & Music of Lowell George. Music docs, especially on the...
New Releases From Hard Quartet, The Smile, Fred Thomas
by Geoff Stanfield
October is starting off with a bang and a long list of great new releases. Here are a few notables. Hard Quartet - Heel HighwayThis new indie rock "supergroup" consists of Stephen Malkmus (Tape Op #15), Jim White, Emmett Kelly, and Matt Sweeney....
New Tape Op Video Series
by Geoff Stanfield
We are excited to announce Creative Recording With Tape Op. This video series covers a wide range of recording and mixing topics, concepts, and solutions. We look forward to sharing these conversations with you in the coming weeks and months, but...
New Album from Caribou: Honey
by Geoff Stanfield
For his new release, Honey, Caribou's Dan Snaith (Tape Op #35, #105) wears his Detroit techno influences on his sleeve, and uses AI to explore and reimagine vocals as well as manipulate his voice, to create an album of dance tracks that...
New Ancient Farmers Album: Seventh Heaven
by Geoff Stanfield
Steve Daubenspeck and Greg Freeman are Ancient Farmers and their new album is called Seventh Heaven. Greg Freeman was featured in Tape Op #1, and had previously recorded two albums for Tape Op founder Larry Crane when he was in the band Vomit...
Alan Sparhawk Releases White Roses, My God
by Geoff Stanfield
The husband and wife partnership of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker will forever be remembered for their work in the band Low. Their remarkable vocal harmonies always told a story of a long and storied relationship that went far beyond the music and...
Herb Alpert: 50
by Geoff Stanfield
We interviewed Herb Alpert in Tape Op #140, and he hasn't slowed down since. He just released his 50th album, aptly titled 50. It is yet another prime example of the lounge pop genre he all but invented with The Tijuana Brass starting in the...
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New Music From Sarah Jarosz
by Geoff Stanfield
Singer, songwriter, and stringed instrument master, Sarah Jarosz, has just released a deluxe edition version of her criitically-acclaimed album, Polaroid Lovers. This edition features two new songs, "Wildflowers in the Sky" and "Just Like...
Ignore These Rules
by Larry Crane
After the internet came along and made sharing of information easier, I noticed an interesting trend. Maybe it's because of that misguided impulse of "doing it the right way" that beginners attempt to...
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Let's DIY
Let's DIY
DIY Diffusors
by Brad Williams
While hardly a glamorous concept, room acoustics represent a critical link in the recording or playback chain. While comprehensive room design is a complex cocktail of science, math and chance...
Let's DIY
Build Your Own Spring Reverb
by Scott Hampton
I have been a big fan of spring and plate reverbs for decades, and over the past three years I have spent a significant amount of time diving into the wormhole of designing and building them,...
Let's DIY
Build a tube Mic Pre: Build Your Own Two Channel Vacuum Tube Mic Preamp!
by Scott Hampton
When asked to come up with a "do it yourself" tube mic pre project, I thought long and hard about what topology to go with. I designed a number of different hybrid tube/discrete class A designs...
Let's DIY
DIY Reverb
by Nicolas Collins
In the disembodied world of today's computer-based multitrack mixing, one can spend a lot of time crafting a unifying sense of "space." Despite the dozens of reverb plug-ins and rack devices...
Staff Picks
Tape Op Turns 25!
by Geoff Stanfield
April 15th marks the 25th anniversary of Tape Op Magazine! To mark the occasion, Tape Op founder and editor Larry Crane is making a series of short videos talking about the journey of the mag and some of the memories had along the...
Introducing DISCussion!
by Geoff Stanfield
During one of the many calls I have on a regular basis with my musician and audio professional friends, it dawned on me what a priveldge these conversations are and thought it might be a good idea to share them with a larger audience as a way to take...
Great Reads on Recording and Music
by Geoff Stanfield
Here is a list of some of the books on recording and music that we have added to the reading (or re-reading!) queue recently. Are We Still Rolling?by Phill BrownGreat studio session stories about The Rolling Stones, Talk Talk, Hendrix, Led...
Ikea DIY Plate Reverb Hack
by Geoff Stanfield
Tape Op contributor Thom Monahan dug up this gem. Enjoy!
Larry Crane Discusses the Virtues of the Rupert Neve Designs 5088 Console
by Geoff Stanfield
Read the review of the RND 5088 Console
AES Conventions - Looking Back/Looking Forward
by John Baccigaluppi
Convention Report. Man, that old Disneyland hotel was awesome! I'm in the process of moving and was cleaning my office earlier today. I have a large collection of vintage audio magazines and books that I use for clip art when working on Tape...
Integrating Stompboxes into the Mix
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There has been a heightened interest lately in using stompboxes and pedals as part of the mixing process. There are a few ways to interface your pedals with your system, but here is a quick video on how I do it using the Meris 440 500 series mic-pre....
My Trade Show T-Shirts
by Geoff Stanfield
by John Baccigaluppi The music industry trade shows, and the NAMM Show in particular, have always been a mixed bag for me. Every year, for the last 20 years or so, Larry and I, along with Geoff, Scott, and Marsha (We miss you Andy, Dave, and Laura!)...
June 1st, 2020
by Geoff Stanfield
Dear Tape Op Readers, We are feeling overwhelmed and deeply saddened by the death of George Floyd. Unfortunately this is far from an isolated incident. Our voices and collective action have never been more needed than right now. Human...
New Gear Giveaways!
by Geoff Stanfield
Check out the latest gear giveaways from our advertisers and enter to win! Retro Intruments 500 Pre Giveaway! Enter to Win a 500PRE Here! Audix Mics and Headphones Giveaway! Enter to Win Audix Mics and Headphones! Baby...