Tag Archives: tapeopmagazine

Tape Op magazine does a feature on the process of making music with Sufjan Stevens. (Click on the scanned image to see the next page—it’s a ghetto webpage, I know.) I wouldn’t have guessed it, but he utilizes a much simpler range of equipment to produce his albums. He creates music with a meticulousness that matches the intricacies of his songs.

Recorded with an MS57? I think that her voice on that record sounds so amazing!

She was about five inches from the microphone and we didn’t use a pop filter. So when she hit it – PFT! – I would have to go into Pro Tools and quickly drop the thing. I did that all manually. Once in a while you can still hear a punch. I didn’t know about pop filters. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to use SM57′s for your voice. I do it all the time, but everyone’s telling me, “no, it’s for the snare drum…”

The way he goes about explaining his lack of expertise in the technical aspects of music production makes me love his songs so much more.