BLOG | JUN. 11, 2025

Some Maybe Not-So-Obvious Items Every Studio Needs

Some Maybe Not-So-Obvious Items Every Studio Needs

In the past we've run a few columns about items every studio should have, like Sharpie pens and masking tape, but here I decided to look around me and think about all the items that aren't that obvious and don't usually relate directly to sound and recording. And most are things I've gone without while at other studios...

Coffee Grinder

Drinking Water

1/8" Stereo Audio Cables

Clipboards

Flashlights

Fingernail Clippers

Drum Mallets

Weird Computer Cables: Firewire 800-400, mini USB, eSata,

Tape Deck Calibration Logs

Cell Phone/iPhone Chargers

Note Pads

Extra Patch Cables: And I mean extra. Enough that you could patch in every point on your patchbay and then add 3 more patchbays worth of goodies. Really. I've run out at places before.

A Stack Of Hard Drives For Sale

USB Flash Memory Sticks for sale

YouSendIt Express program

Folding TV Tray Tables

Tape Op Magazines: C'mon, don't take them home! Set them on the back of the toilet and let everyone get a good read in.

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

Or Learn More

MORE ENTRIES

New Fruit Bats Album: Baby Man

BLOG

New Fruit Bats Album: Baby Man

By Geoff Stanfield

September 16, 2025

Fruit Bats, the moniker of Eric D. Johnson's musical endeavors, has just released Baby Man. The album is follows the 2023 release, A River Runs...
New video from Yeemz on recording her track “No Trace”

BLOG

New video from Yeemz on recording her track “No Trace”

By John Baccigallupi

September 14, 2025

Yi-Mei Templeman is friend of Tape Op who records under the name Yeemz. She’s a songwriter and composer who plays cello, piano, banjo, guitar, and...
Larry Crane on the Revolutions Per Movie Podcast

BLOG

Larry Crane on the Revolutions Per Movie Podcast

September 4, 2025

Larry Crane and the Revolutions Per Movie podcast host Chris Slusarenko chat about Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii!They discuss the genesis and all the...
Justin Gray: Immersed

BLOG

Justin Gray: Immersed

By Matt Anderson

August 31, 2025

Justin Gray’s new album, Immersed, was created specifically for immersive surround formats, such as Dolby Atmos, with considerations beginning from...
About The Cover Art for Issue #167

BLOG

About The Cover Art for Issue #167

By John Baccigallupi

August 31, 2025

When we published issue #167, we, of course, credited Hazel Morishige for the cover art, but I forgot to credit the individual pieces of art that...
New Deftones LP: Private Music

BLOG

New Deftones LP: Private Music

By John Baccigallupi

August 26, 2025

The first time I saw Deftones live was at the Cattle Club, a small 250 person capacity club in Sacramento, CA, in the early 1990s. The Cattle Club was...
New Jeff Tweedy song and video,  “Feel Free”

BLOG

New Jeff Tweedy song and video, “Feel Free”

By John Baccigallupi

August 25, 2025

Larry interviewed Jeff Tweedy of Wilco back in Tape Op#132 along with his son, Spencer Tweedy, and engineer Tom Schick at the band’s The Loft Studio...
Superchunk's new album, Songs in the Key of Yikes, is out now!

BLOG

Superchunk's new album, Songs in the Key of Yikes, is out now!

By Larry Crane

August 22, 2025

The new Superchunk album is here, and – no surprise – it rocks. I interviewed singer/guitarist/songwriter Mac MacCaughan way back in 2009 [Tape...
New Album from Raymond Antrobus and Evelyn Glennie: Aloud

BLOG

New Album from Raymond Antrobus and Evelyn Glennie: Aloud

By Geoff Stanfield

August 19, 2025

Raymond Antrobus and Evelyn Glennie [Tape Op#154] return with a new album, Aloud, part two of their spoken word poetry collaboration. Produced...