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
Jul/Aug 2019
"How do we stay interested in the art of recording?" It's a question I was considering recently, and I feel fortunate that I remain excited about mixing songs, producing records, running a studio, interviewing recordists, and editing this magazine after twenty-plus years. But how do I keep a positive outlook on something that has consumed a fair chunk of my life, and continues to take up so much of my time? I believe my brain loves the intersection of art, craft, and technology. I love the problem solving. I love taking a song in its raw form and making it into something bigger, more dramatic, and able to reach more listeners. I'm proud to help inform and educate others through Tape Op, my instructional videos with LinkedIn Learning, and the occasional recording workshops I offer at my studio. I like staying busy.
But it's the act of putting art and knowledge back into the world that keeps me going. I adore that I can help others leave artifacts and albums behind for future generations to hear. I cherish every email Tape Op gets from an appreciative reader, and every person I've met that tells me they love this magazine. It means a lot. I don't take anyone's enthusiasm for granted – I feel we have to earn it with every issue.
I'll keep making records, and I'll keep doing interviews. Thank you, everyone.
Extra special thanks to Zoran Orlic for providing more amazing photos from The Loft than we could possibly run. Here's one more of Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline talking shop. Interview with Jeff starts here.
— LARRY CRANE,EDITOR & FOUNDER
I've been in studios and rooms all over the world. I've seen where The Beatles spent hours creating masterpieces. I've been in the room where Buddy Holly's hits were made. I've stood at the mics that...
Formerly chief engineer at Sear Sound [Tape Op #41], Tom Schick proved his skills in the studio with artists like Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Sean Lennon, and Rufus Wainwright. As a freelance engineer...
Being that Spencer graciously helped Tape Op set up our interview with his dad, Jeff Tweedy, and that he sat patiently as I asked so many questions, we thought it'd be fun to talk to him about growing...
In March of 2018 I met Holly Herndon at a hotel on the outskirts of Berlin, just two weeks before she was set to defend her Doctor of Musical Arts Music Composition dissertation from Stanford Universi...
From humble beginnings in Hobbs, New Mexico, and a childhood spent moving from oilfield to oilfield for his father's jobs, Ryan Bingham rode bulls and eventually learned to play a guitar given to him...
Part of my job with Tape Op is talking with our advertisers, and I particularly enjoy talking with the smaller, boutique audio makers. Of that group, Avedis Kifedjian is one of my favorite people to c...
Dave Cook, recording and live engineer extraordinaire, has worked with The B-52s, King Crimson, Cindy Cashdollar, David Bowie, Amy Helm, Ravi Shankar, Mamadou Kelly, Maya Beiser, Suzanne Vega, and man...
When I visited Nashville and interviewed Vance Powell [Tape Op #82] years ago, I met his buddy, Mitch Dane, who shared the Sputnik Sound studio space with him. Over the years Mitch and I have spent ma...