ISSUE ARCHIVE
NO. 171 | Nov 2025
NO. 170 | Sep 2025
NO. 169 | Sep 2025
NO. 168 | Jul 2025
NO. 167 | May 2025
NO. 166 | Mar 2025
NO. 165 | Jan 2025
NO. 164 | Nov 2024
Sep/Oct 2019
Is there a simple answer to this? Does a quick proclamation that explains everything one needs to know about music recording in a nutshell exist?
I keep deluding myself, thinking that I can somehow clearly sum up everything about the art of capturing music as sound recordings. Maybe it could be a philosophy; a simple mantra to accept what is and change what one can. Or maybe it's a way to reset one's mind and expectations; to be open to beautiful accidents. Or maybe it could be a way to lightly hold onto the rudder with an eye on the course ahead.
I wake up in the middle of the night, with fleeting thoughts that seem to lead to the summation of this absolute truth of recording – "Now I can pass on this knowledge!" But, as I gain consciousness, it all slips away – a fantasy that is unattainable. My own personal, unreachable enlightenment.
Maybe there is no golden truth. Maybe there's no way to encapsulate so much knowledge that would have to take far too many variables into account. We have to work hard, adapt, listen, suggest, learn, be hyper-aware of everything, change our methodologies, and strive for the best work we can do in every moment – and accept every situation for what it is.
But tomorrow I will work harder and become stronger at my craft. It always gets better.
When laying out Tape Op we often never seem to have enough photos, but in issues like this one we had too many to choose from.
Here are two outtakes from this issue:
Above is a photo, by Brian Silak, with a full view of Arun Pandian's Siemens/WSW rack that includes a pair of ELA 75-15 Siemens Universal Equalizers as pictured on this issue's cover (story on page 44).
And this is Tchad Blake in his home studio with his son Stan from a 2012 photo by Victor Levy-Lasne of [mixwiththemasters.com].
More photos from much of this issues' content are at [tapeop.com] and in our digital PDF edition. -JB
— LARRY CRANE,EDITOR & FOUNDER
From a not-so-obvious career path that began by servicing early samplers, to engineering parts of a Michael Jackson's HIStory, to his current life in England and mixing in the box, Andrew Scheps has c...
A young intern fresh out of Full Sail University gets a big break (and a nickname) from Missy Elliott, works alongside producers and engineers like Timbaland, Jimmy Douglass [Tape Op #130], Demacio Ca...
Matt Rollings has been music's best-kept secret for some three plus decades, but that's slowly changing. A live and studio keyboard ace who has played on thousands of recordings and anchored the bands...
Drummer, producer, and engineer Darryl Moore (aka: JMD, Jamm Messenger D, Jamm Messenger Divine) has helped seminal hip-hop groups Freestyle Fellowship and The Pharcyde develop their sound. As a drumm...
Brian and I drove to Philly on Sunday, December 3, 2017, to attend the first of two world premier performances and recording sessions for Symphony for a Broken Orchestra by composer David Lang, a lumi...
We first interviewed Eric Valentine in Tape Op #45 and discussed his production career and techniques. Eric is well known as a producer and engineer for working with Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, Good...
The National are a musical group who have been together for 20 years, have released multiple critically acclaimed albums, all while retaining the same lineup for the entire time. The band consists of...
The Ocean Blue have been making dreamy pop albums since the late '80s. Their new release, Kings and Queens / Knaves and Thieves, is a perfect example of a self-recorded album that works in the best wa...
I have a habit of getting low key obsessed with certain artists, especially producers and engineers. For months I just can't stop listening to records they've touched. Earlier this year I had a few mo...
In Tape Op #16, my pal Stephen Murray interviewed Tchad Blake while he was in the middle of co-producing Pearl Jam's Binaural album in Seattle. Nearly two decades later, Tchad and I sat down in New Yo...