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Issue No. 110
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Welcome to issue #110 of Tape Op.
I'll bet a lot of our readers know this feeling. You labor over a recording, working so hard, and eventually the music gets released into the world. You feel proud knowing something good has been accomplished. And then it starts - the "reviews" trickle in. It may begin with an offhand comment by a friend ("Oh, it was interesting, but it just didn't grab me."), or some anonymous post online ("Who really needs their new album?"). Next comes the local or regional reviews where the writer makes odd assumptions about the style of music you are presenting ("We're a ska/metal/polka/surf band?"), or dumps on it because it doesn't sound like some album that has sold millions ("This is certainly no Hotel California."). Down the line, bigger magazines and websites might weigh in ("Pitchfork only gave us 1.3? Why? Did we piss someone off?").
You've all spent days, weeks, and maybe even months getting the recordings to sound how you wanted them. Relationships between all involved have grown. Everyone is focused on making this album, or release, as good as it can be. But then, at the end of this intimate process, someone may listen once (hopefully they even listen) and pass judgment quicker than it might have taken to record a single keyboard overdub. You know what? Screw the critics. Believe in what you do. And trust your love of music and the desire to create.
— Larry Crane, editor
In This Issue See more →
Asger Christensen & Iris Marie Jakobsen of Aarhus Lydstudie: Recording in Denmark
by Alex Maiolo
Copenhagen may get all of the attention, but just three hours away lies the second largest city in Denmark: the port city of Aarhus. With it's huge university, and rich Nordic history, it's long...
Additional Dialogue with Deke Dickerson
by Larry Crane
A collector of guitars. Owner of Major Label and Ecco-Fonic Records. Record producer and engineer at his Ecco-Fonic Studios. Band leader. Guitarist. Author of two volumes of The Strat in the Attic....
Additional Dialogue with Gareth Jones
I've seen Gareth Jones' name on records since the '80s and have always wanted to meet him. My imagination created a stuffy, meticulous character; an engineer/producer driven by a need for...
Additional Dialogue with Per Sunding
For most of 1997, it was nearly impossible to avoid hearing "Lovefool" by The Cardigans on a regular basis. As one of the rare hits heard on both popular and college radio at the time, its chorus...
Per Sunding and Sweden's Tambourine Studios
Brian Vibberts: Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill
by Chris Vibberts
The silver sedan parked outside has a license plate that read "Dr. Vibb," a nickname I was very familiar with. I knocked on the door and a man — who could've easily been my brother —...
Daniel Miller: The Normal, Mute Records
by Evan Sutton
Daniel Miller has been a figurehead of cutting edge music since he released his first single, "Warm Leatherette," as The Normal in 1978. The rise of his label, Mute Records, soon followed, with a...
Michael Rother: Harmonia, Neu!
Harmonia's five LP box set, Complete Works, contains all the released material of this fascinating German band from 1973 to 1976, including their 1976 collaboration with Brian Eno and four...
Gareth Jones: Depeche Mode, Erasure, John Foxx
Deke Dickerson: Ecco-Fonic Records & Studio
Columns See more →
End Rant
I'm in front of the console, about one hour into a mixing session with a new client in attendance. I've got too much on my mind, an issue of the magazine to write and edit, gear to upgrade...
Gear Geeking
An Ode to Ribbons
by Andy Hong
I can remember back in 2002, when I first joined the Tape Op team as Reviews Editor, ribbon mics were relatively rare, and even new ones, like the now ubiquitous Royer Labs R-12, weren't too often...
Gear Reviews See more →
DIY, Software, Virtual Instruments
SunVox Modular Music Studio: A Detailed Intro to "Tracker" Software
by SunVox | reviewed by Morgan Ross
I have had an ongoing relationship with computer music since I learned how to program PC speaker melodies in the scripting language in the old DOS shareware game ZZT, and while it waxes and wanes...
Mic Preamps, Signal Processors
Decoder mid-side matrix & mic preamp
by Radial Engineering | reviewed by Joseph Lemmer
About the size of a large guitar pedal, the Decoder is an all-analog box that lets you convert mic or line-level Mid- Side signals to stereo Left/Right. It's relatively easy to set up a digital matrix...
Mogaine ribbon mic pre-preamp
by Crimson Audio Transformers | reviewed by Garrett Haines
Many of us love ribbon mics. Arguably, they can be the best option for some sources. But even fans know how low the output level of ribbons can be. Active ribbon mics have appeared in recent years,...
Microphones, Ribbon Mics
X-15 stereo ribbon mic
by Cascade Microphones | reviewed by Geoff Stanfield
The first ribbon microphone was co-invented by Walter H. Schottky and Erwin Gerlach in the 1920s, but the first "broadcast quality" ribbon mics were designed by Dr. Harry F. Olson for RCA. Prototypes...
D12 VR dynamic kick mic w/ active filter
by AKG | reviewed by Scott Evans
The venerable AKG D12 is one of those mics I hear about a lot but don't see in person very often. I've borrowed a few from friends, and each one sounded very different. Plus, hilariously, each time I...
DIY, Mic Preamps
Elements 500-series mic preamps
by Hairball Audio | reviewed by Garrett Haines
Seattle's DIY Wizards are at it again — this time with more preamps taking advantage of the 500-series format. The Elements line-up of preamps includes four models: Gold, Copper, Bronze, and...
Clocks, Converters
Pure2 master AD/DA converter & clock
by Antelope Audio | reviewed by Andy Hong, Chris Koltay, Sarah Register, Jessica Thompson
Here's another multi-opinion review from three of our contributing writers. Mastering and restoration engineer Jessica Thompson recently joined the staff of Coast Mastering in Berkeley, CA. Sarah...
NTR active ribbon mic
by Rode | reviewed by Andy Hong, Will Severin
When RØDE asked Tape Op if we wanted to review the new NTR active ribbon mic, I briefly thought of doing the review myself. But I quickly decided that with nine ribbons already in my mic...
New! EP36: Black Pumas
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.