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 2013
As I was putting this issue together I noticed a bit of a common thread... education. My interview with Jim Anderson illustrates how a recording engineer became a professor, and won some Grammy Awards while he was at it. John McBride told me how he, as a studio owner, has recently ended up starting an academy. In our talk with Chuck Ainlay he mentions how he moved to Nashville to study recording at a university and ended up dropping out to work in the field. Tape Op Magazine itself started as a way for me to learn more about the art of music recording. I never went to school to learn how to engineer and produce albums. (Unfortunately I didn't study journalism either!) When I started this magazine I had a lot to learn about recording, and the results from my humble home studio improved with what I was able to gather from others.
Most of us in this field are constantly learning more about our craft. In these interviews you can see many paths that people have taken, and the many ways they go about their work. But the best thing is that all these people have taken the time to talk with us and share their experiences. And from that we all get an education.
Enjoy! Larry Crane, Editor
PS: Speaking of getting an education, check out our new online "Questions" forum, where we hope to build a repository of quality recording information!
— LARRY CRANE,EDITOR & FOUNDER
"With him?" Mark Knopfler seemed amused about us coming along for an interview with engineer and producer Chuck Ainlay at Mark's British Grove Studios in Chiswick, London. Mark predicts it will only t...
For years I've received brief emails from Damian Taylor. He might be in some remote location or some major metropolitan center, making records with a wide variety of artists. Frequently he'd have some...
John McBride's Blackbird Studios in Nashville probably has the largest assemblage of recording equipment in the world, and no expense has been spared on the eight rooms or ensuring the quality of his...
Jim Anderson has had a multifaceted career in audio, from the beginnings of National Public Radio, to audio for The Muppets, to President of the AES Society, to engineering albums for some of the best...
Over the past two decades, Jesse Cannon has worked in nearly every aspect of the music business. At 15-years old, he entered a recording studio with the punk band he played drums in; but when the reco...
Wes Dooley loves ribbon mics. He's carried the torch for these fine tools for many years, and his AEA Ribbon Mics company manufactures some of the finest microphones of this type, as well as specializ...
I've been travelling the world capturing music in many countries for a number of years now. Recording in Indonesia (with engineer Suny Lyons), Peru, Egypt, and Korea has been exhilarating, but behind...
If you are working with a group of people making a record, there is one certainty: World class studio or basement pad, you will end up turning a short break into a long one by showing each other ridic...
For years I'd get brief emails from Damian Taylor. He might be in some remote location or some major metropolitan center, making records with a wide variety of artists. Frequently he'd have some speci...
Wes Dooley loves ribbon mics. He's carried the torch for these fine tools for many years, and his AEA Ribbon Mics company manufactures some of the finest microphones of this type, as well as specializ...