Recording 50s Style

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
This is a really cool video I thought I'd share. There was talk of recording with a ribbon mic in another thread. In the first few minutes of this clip, they record an entire 3 piece band (with vocals) using just 1 ribbon, and it sounds great:

Recording, '50s Style - YouTube
 
The single ribbon works nicely with it's dual sided, figure-8 polar pattern...you just have to fine tune everyone's position relative to the mic.

Of course...it works if you have the players, and keep it sparse...but it's also a gutsy move, considering modern styles...because you really have to nail it during the takes...there's not much you can do later on to edit the individual instruments, but then that's the whole point...commitment and simplicity.

I think many of today's younger recording crowd would be somewhat shocked and stymied if they had to record like that, and not having a DAW to edit with or millions of plugs to add...:eek: :D...but back in the '50s and into the '60s, many records were recorded with these types of simple setups.
 
Yeah I mean I don't know if it's a reason to rip on the younger crowd because that's a valid style, too, but really just to show that simplistic recordings with character and idiosyncrasy can kick ass and sometimes less is more. Granted, that is still probably a million dollar studio after all the gear and treatment...
To me, the recordings in that video sound better than everything currently on the radio.
 
:D

I wasn't really ripping on the younger crowd...I mean, you could just as easily say the DAW crowd, whatever the age.

The point was that it's a gutsy way to record, and these days, not many would be willing to leave the comforts of their ITB world. That goes right on up to the top pros.
That's a reality...not a rip. ;)

That said...it's not realistic either to think that style of recording would work for modern music production styles.
So there's no good/bad about either...just a matter of making a production decision and going with it.

IMO, the key isn't the '50s equipment...it's the '50s mindset...to have a bunch of musicians playing live and making all your mixing decisions right there on the spot. They didn't think of doing it any other way.
Of course...they didn't do it as a stylistic decision, like it would be made today. They did it because that's all they had. :)
If there was multitrack recording capability and lots of mics and all that...I'm sure they would have used it to its fullest potential.
 
Yeah I agree with all that, actually.

What's interesting is that as he adds more and more mics in, by the end you can really hear the phase creeping in and messing with the pure sound from the first, 1mic recording.
They make a quip that rap artists wouldn't want to record in their studio, but honestly I think that would be really cool to hear. I love idiosyncratic recordings that break the norms, that would really be pretty amazing to hear rap on a 50s setup.
 
RAP leans heavily on sampling, looping and lot of synth-based tracks...which again, isn't realistic in that '50s studio environment...but if you brought in the backing tracks and just had the rappers in there doing their thing on top of that...I think it would work well enough...it just might be freaky to them, not having the same options they are use to. :D

But hey...look at Motown and Soul music...while it had a little more production options and sophistication than what was there in the early/mid '50s, it was still really limited compared to what we have today...and yet those guys laid down some of the greatest grooves and churned out exceptional hits that still stand up today.
I find today's R&B and RAP/Hip-Hip much more sterile sounding than the Motown music, even though there are more options today.
 
Ya, I posted that link in the ana rec thread when it came out;
"
04-23-2017 #1209
garww

user-online.png
1K Silver Member
reputation_pos.png
reputation_pos.png
reputation_pos.png
reputation_pos.png
reputation_pos.png
reputation_highpos.png
reputation_highpos.png
reputation_highpos.png
reputation_highpos.png
reputation_highpos.png
reputation_highpos.png







SOS has a newish vid on '50s analog, some of you may enjoy watching;
404 Not Found
​



I don't know how typical it is when we had big labels with mega studios and the likes of SUN and CHESS records , but I was still digging the video.
 
that was bizarre in a good way, the single ribbon. ..old tube gear.
i wish they'd had a bit more sound sample but theres the piece around 17:52 to hear the recorded music and it sounds just like those old records....

always amazed me how they could get so much into simple gear, then this video shows one mic!
live with one mic then move the players around, fine angles. crazy, but sounds really good. the experience the engineer had about the gear compressing without setting anything, just running stuff through it was compressing. ...natural tube circuit doing its thing.

that dude did some serious gear homework.
 
Part of it is the gear, but straight wire was the order of the day back then and the vid kinda' misses that. I think they are more of a step beyond Rudy Van Gelder which is barely late '50s
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top