Nov/Dec 2016

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.

— Larry Crane, editor

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End Rant

You Can't Buy Loyalty

by Marc Golde

We’ve all been there. A band that you’re very excited about books time in your studio. They are also excited to work with you in your facility. It’s their first, or maybe second,...

Gear Geeking

Gear Geeking w/ Andy

by Andy Hong

My laptop is a mid-2014 Toshiba Portégé Z30t touchscreen "ultrabook" with an Intel Core i7 processor and a 512 GB SSD. It's plenty powerful enough to run Pro Tools and Cubase; but these...

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ID DI

by Zod Audio  |  reviewed by Adam Monk

Warm, rich, balanced, 3D, game changer — if I could fill this review with nothing but pro-audio buzzwords, then I could call it quits right here. But I'll try not to gush too much...

Aeon & Klasik Active Monitors

by APS  |  reviewed by Chris Koltay

Speakers are hugely important to what we do as engineers. I can hear the collective "Duh!" — as you all read this. This has only recently become a revelatory "Aha" moment for me. I'm...

SONAR Platinum 2016.09

by Cakewalk  |  reviewed by Alan Tubbs

It has been well over a year since Cakewalk started offering SONAR [Tape Op #107], their flagship DAW, with rolling updates and an installment-based payment model. You can still purchase the software...

Pro2A Active Nearfield Monitor

by Ocean Way Audio  |  reviewed by Kirt Shearer

So I've been engineering long enough that the entire concept of studio monitors has changed. The ubiquitous, dual 15'', soffit-mounted monitors are not usually the "go to" reference, since smaller...

Myriad Batch-Processing Software

by Audiofile Engineering  |  reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

From the smart folks who brought us the audio-editing and mastering application Triumph, comes a complete redesign of their powerful batch-processing tool for macOS — Myriad arrived not...

PB-10 Beta Instrument Preamp

by Hilbish Design  |  reviewed by Justin Pizzoferrato

This rackmount preamp from Hilbish Design is based on the circuitry of Sunn Beta Bass and Lead amps. When I ordered my PB-10 Beta, my original intent was to use it with bass and guitar. But once I had...

Motown D.I. WB-3

by ACME Audio  |  reviewed by Dave Hidek

The ACME Audio Motown D.I. WB-3 direct box has a pretty nifty backstory. ACME initially tracked down around 50 of the vintage transformers that were used in the Wolfbox, the first passive DI unit,...

Les Paul 8 Active Monitor

by Gibson Pro Audio  |  reviewed by Scott McChane

In case you weren't paying attention, Gibson acquired Stanton Group in 2011, which includes pro-audio speaker company KRK Systems (who sell more studio monitors than any other brand). Gibson makes my...

 

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

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