A while back one of our lovely readers e-mailed us some info on a new recording magazine that was starting up and wondered (sarcastically) if Tape Op was worried about the competition. Well, while I was in LA I came across a copy and as soon as I picked it up I knew we'd be tearing the fucker to shreds. Okay, so I think there's room for a mag that would cover home recording in a glossier way than Tape Op but this is certainly not it. We're treated to fluff pieces on well-off rock dudes (like Karl Wallinger, Allan Holdsworth, Kip Winger, and Yngwie) and their home studios. First off, who cares what these hacks record on. Second of all, these jerks have sunk more money into their private little studios than most commercial studios have. Third, how does this relate to the reader? It's like reading a mag about hot little sports cars that you'll never afford. In order to make up for this they run a roundup on cassette multitracks that reprints some dull ad copy as an article and a few pieces on compression and mixers that seem to be copied right out of the manuals. To their credit, they do run some product reviews of affordable items (like SansAmp, Event's 20/20bas speakers, Tascam DA 38) but the reviews, on closer inspection, were a little sketchy compared to the guys who write for EQ or Recording. I guess I was actually hoping for something a lot better that would relate to people who were recording at home on a small budget instead of a "Home Recording of the Stars" format. One big letdown.
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