Welcome to issue #116 of Tape Op.

A few months ago I saw an opening in my calendar. A colleague, Brent Rogers, who works across town at REX Production & Post, had offered to take me out to lunch and give me a tour of the place. It was good to see the studio and all the rooms, reconnect with the owner, Russ Gorsline (our businesses used to be right next door to each other!), and find out what types of jobs they were currently working on.

After lunch I popped across town to visit Brud Giles, who owns and runs a small studio out of his home. It was interesting to hear the quality results he was getting out of a basement studio, and it was fun to talk about various sessions we'd both been on recently. We also talked about him bringing some of his larger basic tracking sessions into Jackpot!; something I hadn't intended by visiting, but certainly the beginnings of some cool cross-collaboration.

After hanging there, I went to visit an old friend, Jeff Stuart Saltzman, who used to do a lot of sessions out of Jackpot! and now has a fancy studio in his home. It was awesome to hear some of the mixes he's been doing, and over dinner we chatted endlessly about recording and life.

Read Marc Golde's End Rant about "loyalty" in the back. It rang true with me, and it should resonate with everyone to some degree. Check out Jeff Tomei's letter to us about credit where it's due. Living the life of a recording person is all about balance, no pun intended. No studio, engineer, producer, musician, or technician can exist in a bubble. We all commingle in this world of music; sharing clients, experiences, and knowledge. If you see the world of recording as simply "competition," I'd advise you to think again.