Jack Endino
By Larry Crane
This man should need no introduction. At the height of "grunge-mania" he had recorded the records for Mudhoney and Nirvana that started it all. And he did tham fast and cheap. On the back of Nirvana's...
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May/Jun 1999
Welcome to issue #13 of Tape Op.
We're proud to have interviews with some of the engineer/producers who helped define the new sounds of rock over the last 30 years. Ken Hamann cut his teeth on classic 60s bands like The Outsiders before working with Pere Ubu. Spot recorded classic post-punk records for The Minutemen and Hüsker Dü in the 80s. Jack Endino helped define the "Seattle Sound" with his recordings of Mudhoney, Nirvana and more. Other people, like Geoff Turner at WGNS and J. Robbins helped define the vibrant DC scene, the members of Calexico have been recording atmosphere laden "desert rock," and "Roscoe" has been a leading producer in the "alt-country" world. There's room for a lot of creative, fun recording out there and I think this issue's articles illustrate that well.
In other news, it looks like there will be a TAPE OP book at some point in the future. It will contain articles from the first ten issues (some of which will be expanded upon) plus a lot of new pieces. I don't know when it will be out but keep your eyes open! The TAPE OP Magazine Compilation CD should be out at the end of summer. Look for it in your favorite store or check with us to see about mail-order. It's over 60 minutes of fun, including tracks by Elliott Smith, Man or Astro-man, East River Pipe and more.
Enjoy!
— LARRY CRANE,EDITOR & FOUNDER
IN THIS ISSUE
Spot
When I was in high school, I knew a lot less about music than I do now, but even then Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade seemed to jump out of my speakers. It certainly sounded a lot different from anything else...
Calexico: Joey & John on recording at home and in the studio
By John Askew and Val Cañez
The first time I tried to reach Giant Sand, OP8 and Calexico drummer/multi-instrumentalist John Convertino at his Tucson, Arizona home he didn't answer the phone. It seemed only natural that when he c...
J. Robbins: Jawbox, Burning Airlines member records The Promise Ring, Jets to Brazil and more
Tape Op gets quite a few letters and e-mails suggesting people that we should interview, and recently, J. Robbins had to be one of the most requested names by far. J. was in Jawbox for years, a band w...
Eric "Roscoe" Ambel: one of "alt-country's" best producers tells all
Eric Ambel started his professional career writing and playing guitar as a Blackheart and a Del Lord. Now a producer and musician, he has worked with many great artists including Nils Lofgren, Mojo Ni...
WGNS
By Brent Burton and Eric Bruns
WGNS was born out of necessity. Inspired by the total lack of underground radio in the Washington, DC area, Geoff Turner began making punk rock mix tapes for friends from the basement of his parent's...
Suma Recording: Ken & Paul Hamann make recording history
Looking at my Pere Ubu liner notes, I noted the frequent appearance of the last name "Hamann". After some confusion, I realized that there were two different first names which accompanied it. I learne...
Affordable Recording on a Mac
By Rob Lodes
In the last issue of Tape Op, Rich Hardesty's article, "A Beginner's Guide to Digital Recording With Your PC," was really inspiring to me for two reasons. First, that you were doing an article, on com...