I’m still shocked at the passing of Martin Phillips of The Chills. He made a number of songs and albums that truly inspired me and many others. Please check out the interview I did with him in 1997, and listen to his song “Pink Frost” if you’ve never heard his music. You’ll find the beauty and sadness of this song quite fitting. It’s one of many great songs from a great writer. -Larry Crane
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.
After 20 years at the Davis Square location (and a previous 15 years on Albany Street), Boston’s Q Division Studios had to close its doors in July of 2021. Through the years, Q Division was host to a diverse group of artists, including Aimee...
I finally figured out what makes for a successful tracking session: simply eliminate the variables. On one level this could be seen as pre-production combined with concise decision making. Certainly those can help - but what I'm talking about is...
Hipper music bloggers than you're likely to ever find here have been freaking out over surrealist hip hop duo Das Racist for a while now, ever since the Pineapple Express rap tune "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" came out earlier this year. Even...
That’s right, somehow a lowly engineer and magazine editor that can’t even type has been asked to read some excerpts from Tape Op: The Book About Creative Music Recording Vol. II and moderate a panel at world-renowned literary event,...
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...
Our pal, Marc Bianchi of Her Space Holiday is guest editing Magnet Magazine this week. He has some nice things to say about Tape Op, and as one of our original readers we thank him for the log time support and writing about us. Plus adding the video...
Since putting a pair of these modules in the rack it is has been a struggle to choose whether or not they go on the vocal or the mix. The vocal ususally wins, but it's a tough call. It doesn't take much to give your lead or bgv's that special...
I'm posting this for John as he's finishing up the next issue of Tape Op. -LC
John Baccigaluppi's 2008 AES Surf Report This year's AES show in San Francisco was a lot of fun. The day before the show, I drove with our UK publisher Al Lawson and his...
The Smart Studios Story
Wendy Schneider, director
At this point, Butch Vig [Tape Op #11] and Smart Studios are the stuff of legend. From the album that destroyed music’s status quo (Nirvana’s Nevermind), to Smashing Pumpkin's Gish...