Beware of the “Moneymaker”
by Larry Crane
In the creepy back room of my studio is an old plastic mail tub that we've nicknamed the "money maker". Why the "money maker"? Well, this tub is full of percussion instruments, like tambourines,...
Columns
by Larry Crane
TOC Intro #36
by Larry Crane
I gotta tell you about the second annual Tape Op Conference, which was held at the end of May in Portland, OR. It was a blast, with around 600 people turning out from all over the world. We had panels...
Good Will?
by Larry Crane
A few months ago I started a session with a local band. While booking the time, the singer/guitarist told me one of the main reasons he was coming to record with me. It turns out that a year...
TOC Intro #35
by Larry Crane
I recently had a great visit with a former Tape Op writer and fellow studio owner from another town. When I asked him about possibly writing reviews of some of the cool gear he was using he responded...
Paint by Numbers
by Larry Crane
When I was a kid my mom worked with ceramics. She had a business, out of our home, where she made incense holders, "pencil pots" and other small, hand-made items that sold pretty well in the...
TOC Intro #34
by Larry Crane
This magazine started exactly seven years ago. I find that amazing, and I'm also pleasantly surprised by the world that has grown up around Tape Op. Sure, there's the magazine that you hold in your...
More Music, More Music!
by Larry Crane
I was working on a two-week session for the upcoming fifth Richmond Fontaine album in November, engineering with J.D. Foster producing. One of the first things that J.D. did when we arrived at the...
TOC Intro #33
by Larry Crane
Well, the results are in. After my asking about the ratio of reviews to interviews last issue, I'd have to say a vast majority of our readers would like us to keep the reviews section at the length it...
Warning Signs Regarding Potential Clients
by Larry Crane
One part of running a recording studio is dealing with the booking of studio time, fielding the phone calls and talking with "potential clients". Most of this is fine, chatting with folks about...
TOC Intro #32
by Larry Crane
I'm gonna take the space here to plug what's become a major source of entertainment for me and many of my friends. At www.prosoundweb.com/recording/mm/week1/mm.php you can find what's known as The...
The Job
by Larry Crane
The other night I finished a session which got me thinking. The project I was working on wasn't all that interesting to me, in fact I doubt anyone besides the artist involved will ever find much...
TOC Intro #31
by Larry Crane
It's the end of summer, so why have I spent so much time indoors? Making records (check out the new Sleater-Kinney, One Beat, dammit), buying and remodeling a house, moving, going to weddings, editing...