Interviews
Working With a Mix Engineer
by Larry Crane
For over 25 years, I have done an extensive amount of mixing of music that I didn't track or produce. This work has been for home recordists, artists that used a studio for tracking but wanted...
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Interviews
Prince Paul: Happier Than Ever
by Sam Retzer
Prince Paul is happy. Happy to be back in New York, happy De La Soul is finally on streaming services, and happy to chat about the difference between the E-mu SP-12 and SP-1200 samplers. At 56 years...
Interviews
Hand Habits: Circumstance Informs the Art
by Meredith Hobbs Coons
For almost a decade, Meg Duffy has weaved intimate lyrics with imaginative melodies as Hand Habits while also contributing their talents as a guitarist to albums and touring lineups for artists...
Interviews
Donald Tardy: Obituary Keeps it Real
by Avinash Mittur
Tampa, Florida's Obituary have been making meat n' potatoes death metal since 1984. Their last several albums document a journey through learning the art of production for the metal veterans,...
Interviews
Mary Lattimore: 47 Strings and the Truth
by Sam Retzer
Mary at home in Los Angeles with her harp. Mary Lattimore’s music exists somewhere far above us. The angelic tones emanating from her Lyon & Healy harp, often looped live through a Line...
Interviews
Brian Tarquin: Playing Across the Genres
by Larry Crane
For years, I've emailed with composer/guitarist/producer Brian Tarquin about projects he's been involved with. We finally got together over Zoom and had a great chat about his career – one that...
Most Recent
PSP BinAmp Preamp Emulation Plug-in
by Larry Crane
What's a BinAmp? Well, the fine folks at PSPaudioware love the sound of the preamp section of the Binson Echorec 2 delay, those cool metal-based magnetic drum delays from Italy, first introduced in...
H90 Harmonizer Multi-Effects Pedal
by Jonathan Saxon
Looking for a new effects pedal and want to know if the Eventide H90 Harmonizer is a good fit for a recording rig? Well, it absolutely is a good choice for recording situations. However, is it a good...
Pro-G Gate Plug-in
by James Neil
Mixing drums can seem like some sort of magic. Mysterious, delightful, revelatory, fascinating, confounding, and confusing all at once. My experience begins with the love of playing drums. The power...
DDK4000 Drum Mic Kit
by John Baccigaluppi, James Neil
DPA's DDK4000 is a selection of their mics packaged as a complete drum recording solution, including the 4055 kick mic, a 2012 compact cardioid mic intended for snare, two 2015 wide cardioid mics for...
Apollo Twin X USB 3.0 Interface for Windows
by Corey Reidy
As a Windows/PC user, I have been watching from the sidelines as Universal Audio's Apollo series became one of the most established interface and plug-in platforms while garnering lots of positive...
SK10 Subkick Simulator Plug-in
by Larry Crane
The kind folks at Wavesfactory recently offered up the free SK10 plug-in, which simulates having a speaker-based mic as an extra low frequency kick drum track. Insert it on your kick track, dial in...
SR117 Supercardioid Condenser Mic
by Geoffrey Knecht
I work in studio recording, location sound, and live performance. For me, versatility is king, and I'm constantly searching for tools that allow me to minimize my kit and do more with less. With this...
BT202 SDC Microphone Pair
by Geoff Stanfield
It's no secret that I am a fan of JZ Microphones. In the past, they've offered exclusively large diaphragm microphones, but with the BT202 they have entered the small diaphragm condenser [SDC] market...
Voca Vocal Processing Plug-in
by Larry Crane
I've been wary of "all-in-one" vocal processing plug-ins that claim to deliver "pro-level vocals" for your mixes with minimal work. I've tried a few, and every time I've been better off removing the...
Prince Paul: Happier Than Ever
by Sam Retzer
Prince Paul is happy. Happy to be back in New York, happy De La Soul is finally on streaming services, and happy to chat about the difference between the E-mu SP-12 and SP-1200 samplers. At 56 years...
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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
Special Release
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...