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May/Jun 2022
Welcome to issue #149 of Tape Op.
In our previous issue (Tape Op#148) while talking about why he does his beaunoise solo music, Beau Sorenson noted âhow a lot of engineers and producers had a need to satisfy their creativity through the projects they worked on, and that caused conflictâ with the artists they were producing. This is part of the balancing act of being in the studio that we all need to keep an eye on.Not every recording session is an experimentâ see my End Rant this issue â just like not every session is a chance foreveryoneinvolved to be the star. I always feel a need to push my abilities, try different techniques, and sculpt sound in new ways; but, at the same time, I am also very careful not to step all over the artists I work with.In April 2020 I received an email about a Real World Records remix contest, featuring a song, âLove,â by Les Amazones dâAfrique. What a perfect way to give myself a challenge and try some new techniques out! I ended up completely writing new music around these vocal tracks, and had a blast trying out weird gating tricks, sitar guitars, and big Moog drones. I didnât win, but that really wasnât the goal. Getting to do something âfor myselfâ was a giant âreset buttonâ that gave me a little mental boost in the studio.
Rokia KonĂ©Karen Paulina Biswell Over a year later, the publicity folks at Real World Records dropped a line aboutBAMANAN, âa really unique collaboration between a Malian artist Rokia KonĂ© (photo to right) and producerJacknife Lee. The album came to fruition thanks to a connection we made with Jacknife Lee when we launched a lockdown remix contest.â The same contest I had entered! It turned out Jacknife had heard the cool (extra) guitar of Salif KonĂ© included with the remix tracks, leading him to Rokia KonĂ© and this long-distance collaboration.Everything came full circleas Jacknife Lee and I got to chat and discuss many of these same concepts about remixing, working with artists, and pushing for greatness. Another exhilarating âresetâ for my brain; see his interview this issue!
