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
Nov/Dec 2022
Over the last 15 years, my studio career has leaned more and more towards the mixing process. I'm still involved in producing many tracking and overdubbing sessions, but even long before the pandemic I began receiving mixing jobs – many remote and unattended – and I fully embraced the work. As the "10,000 hours" came and went, the mixing of a song became easier and far more intuitive – something I was almost surprised by, but certainly made a lot of sense. However, just like tracking and producing, once a majority of the mixing process became quicker and less difficult, I started to explore avenues in which I could do an even better job. As I scribbled this thought down as one of my End Rant ideas a year ago, I began looking for ways that my mixing could have even more emotional impact on the listener. It was something I was quickly reminded of when my pal, John Plymale, submitted the writing that became this issue's End Rant. I always want to leave my clients – whether they be the artist, producer, engineer, or record label – happy with the final mix, but I am also constantly thinking about the listener's possible reactions as well. I want fans to get emotionally involved and excited about a song, hopefully in the same way so much music has moved me over the years.
— LARRY CRANE,EDITOR & FOUNDER
Tegan and Sara Quin released their first record, Under Feet Like Ours, in 1999, and in the decades that followed they've since touched on every pop sub-genre that excites them – punk, folk, EDM; somet...
Years ago, I met John Plymale at one of our TapeOpCon events. He currently lives in Norfolk, Virginia, and has helmed amazing projects including the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Superchunk, and the Meat Pupp...
For over 20 years, the Toronto, Canada-based intellectual alternative pop/rock group Metric have been perking up listener's ears with daring and blissfully created music. Fronted by singer/keyboardist...
A longtime staple of the Phoenix recording scene, Clarke Rigsby runs Tempest Recording out of a modest-looking but impressively outfitted space behind his home in Tempe, Arizona. He's worked on a wide...
Xenia Rubinos could just as easily be on a bill with Flying Lotus and The Boredoms as she could with Erykah Badu and Esperanza Spalding [Tape Op #147]. Her unique genre-mixing of soul, punk, jazz, pop...
You might be most familiar with him as an actor, but Billy Bob Thornton has been playing drums, singing, and writing songs since he was a teen, long before he stepped in front of a camera. His early b...
Gaelynn Lea is one of the most original musicians and songwriters working today. She also happens, by chance, to be a wheelchair user. Incredibly prolific, she has released three solo albums, as well...