Give Me a Hammer, Part 2
by John Baccigaluppi
Several years ago, I wrote an End Rant [Tape Op #102] about my frustration with software upgrades, and how I wanted a stable recording platform. I received a surprising amount of positive emails...
Columns
Sporadic and regular articles from our contributors.
Software Utilities When Installing Windows
by Andy Hong
JB's End Rant and RADAR studio review in this issue inspired me to share with you a few of the software utilities I install whenever I set up a new Windows computer. If you're a DAW user moving...
Just Start Over
by Larry Crane
I remember a session, 17 years ago, with the band Quasi, for the album Field Studies. We'd tracked a song, "Birds." I thought the initial take was fine, and I believe we'd started overdubbing on it....
Windows 10
by Andy Hong
The nascence of my music-technology career goes back to high school, when I wrote a 1-bit sampling drum-machine program for my Apple ][+, utilizing the computer's cassette-tape storage port as the A/D...
Tone Control Circuit Scavenger Hunt
by Andy Hong
In the previous issue, I discussed how I had successfully employed a $25 car-audio EQ as a sidechain EQ for stereo bus compression. It was a cheap and highly effective solution, but it had its...
Beware of the "Winner Takes All" Phenomenon
by Larry Crane
When I began Tape Op it was a reaction, in part, to the prevalence of high-end studios in other recording magazines. I'd see a photo of a giant console in a fancy room and think, "I've never made a...
A Good Sidechain EQ Might Be Cheaper Than You Think
by Andy Hong
The band E was in my studio recently. Thalia Zedek (Come), Jason Sanford (Neptune), and Gavin McCarthy (Karate) are all extremely dynamic performers, but even during quiet moments, their instruments...
Twenty Years of Learning and Growing
by Larry Crane
Looking back, it seems like I've always been recording something. When I was very young there were a pair of small Sony reel-to-reel recorders floating around our house — previously used by...
Audio Analysis Software
by Andy Hong
When I'm reviewing gear, audio analysis software like FuzzMeasure [this issue] gives me the ability to resolve differences in sound quality and consequently use objective language when conveying those...
Don't Trust Your Microphones
by Larry Crane
While interviewing Andrija Tokic for this issue of Tape Op he told me, "Mics are nothing like ears. It's about learning how to get what you like out of a sound." I couldn't agree more. I'm...
An Ode to Ribbons
by Andy Hong
I can remember back in 2002, when I first joined the Tape Op team as Reviews Editor, ribbon mics were relatively rare, and even new ones, like the now ubiquitous Royer Labs R-12, weren't too often...
Don't Give Up
by Larry Crane
I'm in front of the console, about one hour into a mixing session with a new client in attendance. I've got too much on my mind, an issue of the magazine to write and edit, gear to upgrade...