ISSUE ARCHIVE
NO. 173 | Apr 2026
NO. 172 | Feb 2026
NO. 171 | Nov 2025
NO. 170 | Sep 2025
NO. 169 | Sep 2025
NO. 167 | May 2025
NO. 166 | Mar 2025
NO. 165 | Jan 2025
Aug/Sept 2025
While I was editing Chris Tabron's interview that Greg Wells [Tape Op #123] did for this issue, his points about how people misunderstand their roles while recording really hit home, as it's so well-spoken. He mentioned that folks are frequently "emulating the tactics of people but not emulating their strategies." Understanding how others strategize while recording is so much more important than knowing how they bring these thoughts into action. Using a known engineer's plug-in setting is not the same as that engineer figuring out the “why or what” to use "when" in order to get great sounds or mixes. It's a point we come back to over and over in Tape Op. You won't see a yearly "How to Get Killer Guitar Tones" article here because that choice has to be made in the moment, based on reactions to everything going on right then, and – by the way – many times the worst guitar sound is the killer one!
Having a personal bag of technical recording tricks on hand is great. We all carry those around. But knowing why, what, and when to implement them is the key. And making mostly correct choices over and over means you're probably getting it right.
— LARRY CRANE, EDITOR & FOUNDER
I met Chris Tabron in New York at the AES Convention in 2019. We stayed in touch over social media, and I started to realize this was a compelling music maker whose discography was as all over the pla...
He might be one of the best producers and artists out there, but it’d be hard to tell from Charlie Peacock’s humble demeanor when you get to talk with him. His recent book, Roots & Rhythm: A Life in M...
I'm not even sure of when or how we met, but I've known film composer and musician/producer Michael Andrews quite a while. We co-interviewed John Stephens, the brains behind the Stephens Electronics t...
After studying Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music, Vanessa Parr headed to L.A. and promptly jumped into studio work. After almost 13 years at The Village as an assistant and...
Paul Malinowski is a cornerstone of the Kansas City, Missouri rock scene. His production beginnings from the 1990s and 2000s, plus his presence in the close-knit late-'80s scene, helped spawn the now-...
Being in motion while at rest is a good way to describe Detroit’s Zach Saginaw, better known as Shigeto. The self-avowed “jazz school dropout” possesses a critically vetted track record, delivering me...
Jules De Martino and Katie White are The Ting Tings. Their debut record, We Started Nothing, featured the hit song, “That's Not My Name,” one you may have heard in Apple iPod ads and many films over t...
Originally from Mexico City, Felipe Castañeda is the senior house engineer at Sonic Ranch [Tape Op #94]. Felipe is currently working with two critically acclaimed indie artists at Sonic Ranch studios...
