EP1 Creative Recording with Tape Op - What Makes a Great Recording?

[@Bville-E]

My favorite Magazine is now my favorite U-tube channel !!!!!!

[@rushinsteele257]

My cousin played for Daniel Johnston so I got to meet him. I often think of Daniel Johnston setting up his tape recorder and plugging a mic into it. You become divided into 2 parts. One is thinking like a musician and the other is thinking like the person capturing the recording of the musician. There’s a point in the mixing phase that puts both parts of the process together. The production becomes just as musical. The instruments and tools you use become the composer. Eq , comp , effects adding color. We have so much more at our fingertips these days. Daniel didn’t know anything about ad converters or a treated room. Nothing about the latest plug-in. It’s not about the gear. It’s all about finding your own identity. A tape deck or a studio faculty. Just create. Be creative. Learn instruments , Push your own boundaries. Use whatever you got.

[@matthewsouthworth3848]

Well, it's almost too obvious to mention, but there are countless Elliott Smith recordings that aren't sonic masterpieces that are also incredibly moving recordings. Especially on From a Basement on a Hill, things like "The Last Hour" with its bent steel tape reel scraping in the background, adding to the middle of the night intimacy of that fragile vocal. A "better" recording would be SO much less powerful.

[@liammcooper]

Long-time subscriber, Larry Crane's a legend for offering it for free. I enjoy the audio-visual stuff Tape Op's putting up, hope you do more.

[@omelashomelas]

In the Wilco documentary, Jay Bennett says if you generally like a song you're going to fall in love with the little things that are wrong with it

[@TeddyBullard]

rip

[@CorinneStevie]

It took me years to understand this about the recording process vs great music

[@leonardo41477]

Just read Tape Op and all the question will be answered. Thanks Larry, et. al!!

[@stingylizard]

Robert Johnson,Dallas and San Antonio. Noisy perfection. Lomax recording's are the high bar.

[@lucianoluggren]

I like that Larry is more of a philosopher than an audio engineer answering this question.

[@JaeHimself]

Love the magazine and this series is starting off to be super dope. Keep it up fellas.

[@BTRS77]

Thanks for this new series. Love it.

[@kevinmurtagh4996]

Guided By Voices/Robert Pollard is the best evidence that great recordings are subjective. 99% of people out there would consider a lot of the classic lo-fi mid-90’s GBV recordings to be “bad”. For me and solid minority of others, they are perfect records. Sure, much of that is that the songs and performances are amazing. But I also just love that 4 track cassette sound. Not to mention that the sound matches perfectly with the vibe of the moments those records were made.

[@hungri-yeti1885]

So cool to hear your voice!

[@mikeg1745]

LC is the g.o.a.t.!!!

[@zachjarrett8730]

Does the capture compliment the source; on a elemental level as well as enhancing the “song” as a stand alone event.

[@spike8683]

why do neither of these men have any frown lines or wrinkles? not even smile lines?!? hahahaha bro with the cap on looks like he's had some work done! respect!

[@Jon-BEDM]

This reminds me of a Bruce Lee lesson I saw footage of once, or maybe it was a Karate film, but anyways, the point is, he says “emotional content” is the sign of proper technique, and that seems true of recording, too.

[@Murray_Mark]

The crux.