Customer Reviews

Tape Op: The Book About Creative Music Recording

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A most interesting collection of articles and interviews from Tape Op (the magazine) early issues. The angle taken in this material is decidedly different from what a reader usually encounters in the world of recording technique literature (particularly the glossy monthly magazines), where the virtues of the latest, greatest, and most expensive piece of magical digital gear are extolled.
Instead, Tape Op focuses on making do with what you've got, and where you've got it plunked down. Stories of really engaging music and CD's made with simple, inexpensive, "obsolete" 4-track gear (cassette even!). Engineers freely admitting that some "mistake" or chance event provided just the element that a particular tune needed. In short, a really refreshing perspective in comparison with much of the literature available discussing the mega-buck, high tech studios in the major recording centers cranking out hits from the latest boy band.

There were times when I grew a little tired of the "digital sucks" rants. But just when I started to feel that fatigue set in, an article would come along which more clearly represented the overall message of this book: what works (and matters) is taking a creative approach to using whatever gear you have available to capture music--be that an inexpensive all-in-one digital workstation, or a vintage Neve board feeding a big old 2-inch format Ampex analog recorder running at 30 ips.

So, that's the word from Tape Op: just get out there and do it. Learn the recording craft. And use and train your ears to understand what sounds good musically and what doesn't. By the way, Tape Op the magazine is free--that's right, really and totally free. (These guys are definitely marching to a different drummer, folks). Subscribe at tapeop.com . It's a special day for me every time a new issue shows up in my mailbox.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I am fairly new to recording, and I just happened to find this at a large, chain bookstore. It is so good! These are not interviews where someone talks about how great it is to be using digital machines. These are creative people talking about what they love: making and recording music. For me, as a beginner, this book has served as a gateway to many other fine sources and as extra fuel to my own enthusiasm for the subject. Not only was this book great for me, as a beginner (in fact, some times i was a little confused), but my friends who have been writing/recording for over ten years loved it too - maybe even more. Some things I found particularly interesting: Quasi on the advantages of recording drums in a kitchen and "f-ed up" drum effects, The Apples In Stereo on running their studio, Brian McTear on recording independent bands in Athens, GA, Guided By Voices on why they were "lo-fi," Steve Albini on the nature of recording, Man or Astroman? on how they got started recording, Steve Fisk, Hillary Johnson, Don Dixon, Pavement, Elliot Smith, tips on basic recording, building your own pre-amp, a microphone guide, ideas like using a pair of headphones as a microphone, how to overproduce a rock record, and that's not even half of it. THIS BOOK IS CHOCK FULL OF GOOD STUFF FOR EVERYBODY WHO LOVES MUSIC. Please buy this book so that they can put out more good stuff like it. Please email me if you are into this kind of stuff, curious about the book, etc. (one other thing, my copy has an introduction by Tony Visconti, not Elliot Smith, FYI)

An incredible collection of essays and interviews.

TapeOP not only offers a glimpse at how some amazing records were recorded, but also give insight into how artists meld the spontaneity of their art with the technical aspects of recording.

It's not just a book for engineers, but an inspiring look at musicians working hard to record--not for fame or money--but just for the hell of it.

Tape Op magazine is an incredible resource for people who love the process of engineering and recording music. It's a magazine I can't live without, and I had to have this book which turns out to be a bunch of older articles and stories about people recording music. I love it! Creative people recording in creative ways! Well done Larry Crane! And thanks for a great deal on the book Amazon!

Larry and his Tape Op contingency continue to be perhaps the only audio goumands left that are not digitally hynotized zombies. This is a great read for people who truly love to hear warmth and creativity in their recorded music.

Once again Larry Crane and the Tape Op squad have brought forward a refreshing compilation of interviews that look at the work-a-day world of recording music for the love of it. It is nice to read about ordinary people who just do it because they need to. And big names that just do it because they need to. Its not a job it's a calling if you will.

If you are just starting out as a musician looking to record or are someone who has been to the mountain but forgotten what got you started on the journey, this is for you. If you want to read how the latest number one with a bullet was recorded or if you want incredibly deep technical info then maybe this isn't for you. Not that there isn't technical info here but this is more about the passion of recording not the super-techno-babble of it. So fill your passion tank and stop feeling like your alone in the world and drop the greenbacks on a worthwhile read.
Tape Op rocks.

TapeOp is a great thing and so is this anthology. The articles are all about the recording of specific groups, the use of equipment, and the engineer/producers involved. In keeping with the admirable ethos of TapeOp, it doesn't try to covertly sell you gear or endorse, it's message is that great music has been made with a variety of means.

I give it 4 stars instead of 5 for two reasons. One is that it isn't quite as fun to read as current issues which have a bit more variety in the overall mix. It's got historical value and even better, it doesn't feel dated and has no ads, which is all great, but it does lack a certain something you experience with the current magazine. Reason two is organizational and to me, more significant: it would have been really nice to correlate where the articles came from. I think TapeOp readers probably would be happy to feel they have every issue in order and be willing to do what it takes to get them, presented in volume(s) and chronologically, for ease of reference and clarity. I'm not sure how this is organized, it's hard to tell, and I wish this were not the case.

Carping aside, it's still better than many other things. And it should belong on the bookshelf along with Behind the Glass, Bobby Owsinski's books, many other issues of TapeOp, and Bob Katz's inscutable yet brilliant tome on mastering.

Lots o' cool ideas and great insight on home recording techniques used by Elliot Smith, Grandaddy, and others. A real plus if you missed the early issues of the TapeOp mag.