While brainstorming the "Not So Oblique Strategies" End Rant for this issue, I was reminded of a very simple, but truthful (and not so oblique), thought I've been trying to convey via Tape Op for decades: Creating a place and time for music to be recorded is as important as the tools used to capture the sounds. In fact, I think it's more important.
Whether it's in a commercial studio, setting up a personal space at home, or using other locales as tracking rooms, we all must decide on the place where music will be made and recorded. Then, even more important, comes the task of setting a start and stop time for when the session will take place, as well as determining the goals to reach and what methodology to use. But there are always so many distractions that can deter us.