"What am I gonna do with all this crap?" -- Tales of a Recovering Gear-A-Holic

So my case is:

>> Space wise I have all my gear and media in one large room (studio space) even though that includes two closets full of "extra" stuff.

>> Money wise, I have bought well and fixed and sold enough extra gear to more than cover the cost of what I kept

>> I use the gear sporadically, so its not a huge drain on my time

So, I have no issues with space, investment or time drain.
I still have too much stuff I will probably not use, buti t's really hard to convince myself that I need to downsize or stop buying stuff I "want".

Is this all part of the self deception?

(Its not an addiction...I can quit anytime)
 
Well once again you can (for example) just use your 16 track deck for that session instead of the 8 track deck that you were planning to use if the 8 track deck is down right before the session. Also if your seriously recording you shouldn't be repairing the decks yourself if you are not qualified in which case none of your decks should be out of service for more than a week or two anyway.

Of course with my ideology, I would argue everyone should drive the smallest most fuel efficient cars and wear clothes only to keep you warm... but I don't.

I'm just trying to point out to think about your situation a little bit more before using the word 'need'.

Well no its not as simple as that. For instance if you're planning to use the 8 track and the 8 track is down then you use the 16 track. Now if you really need the 16 track and the 16 track is down then what? However if you have 2 16 tracks or 2 8 tracks then its a simple case of firing up the working deck. As far as repairing goes I should very definitely be repairing my own equipment if possible. I'm good at it and I know what I'm doing. Furthermore there is no one in my area that services reel 2 reel decks.


But I already drive a very efficient car in the form of a 2006 Honda Insight and no intention of owning 10 tape decks.
 
Hey sweets,
As far as not being available to your family because you are in your gear cave,
Well, at least it could be worse.
You could be drunk at the bar every night, be gambling online, or have a secret familyi in another town.
And you are at least aware of the problem.

I think there is a natural ebb and flow that some of us go through where we
Get an interest and then start collecting stuff only to go through an inevitable purge cycle later.

Only to regret getting rid of the stuff later! But that's something you just have to work through.

Good luck
 
Yes.

I'm really thankful to have had my eyes opened before it was too late. My decisions were becoming more and more irrational...impulsive...rescuing gear instead of making good on things my family needed and which I had promised to do. Ugh.

The pinnacle moment was when I clicked Buy It Now on the Ampex 440-8...I felt sick...first I contacted a friend for advice which led to me coming clean with my wife and that was when she really opened up...and when I was finally ready to really listen. Stumbled some since then but its this awareness and a heartfelt desire to do right for them that is keeping my path much more straight.

In reality the "hobby" is good, or can be good you know? It's an activity that recharges me. It IS part of who I am, this person that enjoys refurbishing, tinkering on this equipment that provides a satisfying medium for capturing the sounds that are constantly being created in my mind...and of course the process of capturing is very recharging...but so is keeping up the property and house, effecively managing our finances, reading to the kids, taking care of myself so I can be effective at work...all that stuff. I've discovered that the same "me" that enjoys going into such great detail on my refurbs and sharing about it...sometimes going to a relatively "nth degree", is the same me that enjoys putting that same level of detail into the work on our remodel...lately my head is filled with the planning and mental processing and...obsessing I guess...over what to do next and lining up help and thinking/dreaming about how much I will get done and what it will look like, etc. as opposed to being filled with the gear projects. Its equally satisfying. So the trick with me is that I need to be "doing" on that level with something always...and if it isn't something that benefits others I will do something that mostly, almost entirely, benefits me. That's the imbalance because it keeps going, and going, and going until its just plain not right. So somegood tools have some out of this realization...tools for how I can see when I'm going a bit sideways in the future and the medicine is to start in on a project that has been asked for, and in very little time I'm having a great time at it and at the same time knitting myself to the important hearts here at home. And its funny how it works out, because when I do that there seems to be more interest in the things I'm interested in...I don't feel so alone in my hobbies. I think my wife and kids are wary of them because of how I "go away" when things are out of balance but when I'm doing what I was made to do in serving them, not only does it feel great to me but now all of the sudden there is interest in MY world too which is a pleasant surprise.

So trying to figure out what to do with the "crap" is a measure of trying to declutter the stumbling blocks sitting around here that call me off-track. At this point I'd be happy if somebody just came and took the 440B-1 in the Ampex roll-around as well as the carcass in the Russ Lang console...it may get to the point where I put them out at the street or put them in FreeCycle...taking them up to, what was it...free geeks or something? Sounds noble but I'd kill my back trying to load them up and they probably wouldn't want them anyway.
 
And now to blow that deep thought right out of the water...

MAN its going to be a tough one to decide about the 440C...I actually slid it off that work table into the roll-around tonight to in order to spool some junk tape on a takeup reel I just sold...first time I've actually mounted reels on it. MAN is it clean...seems to be working well though I can tell the Sprague clutch in the supply brake is shot but I think I know where I can get replacements...but the motors are strong and actions are positive...Its just a neat machine to work with because it is just dirt simple...doesn't even have a tape counter. It just says "Hi...I print sound on audio tape...I read sound off of audio tape...I move tape...you do the rest." No autolocate functions, no fancy tension sensors...

So...I'm going to hold off making hasty decisions on that one. Wish I had a headblock for it but that can come later if I decide to keep it.

But that other 440 in the roll-around and the 440 carcass in the russ lang console need to go for sure.

And I guess I should decide to be comfortable with some of it for now because I'm remembering a lot of what's sitting around is there until I totally go through the MM-1000...once its up and running and especially once I convert to 2" that will define what spares I need to keep anymore. I don't know all what is working and not on the machine itself, or on the electronics (for instance) for channels 9~16...one reason I'm hanging on to that stack of electronics carcasses...extra meters and pots and such. Many of them are consmetically sad and so at some point I can strip and salvage and junk what's not needed.

Cory, if you can get the 8 track going, keep it. I love my 4 track and I'd love to get an 8 track version.
 
Cory, if you can get the 8 track going, keep it. I love my 4 track and I'd love to get an 8 track version.

When you say 8-track are you talking about the 440-8?

Its gone...just a few parts left...a bunch of it is getting used for the MM-1000 conversion to 2" 16-track.
 
My People!!

Seriously though, I had to cut off purchases and I have sellers remorse anytime I unload something. I had to get back to what inspired me in the first place. Making MUUUSICC!! The glory days of prolific writing with a cassette four track, one guitar, one bass, one keyboard, one effects box, an amp and a Beyer Dynamic equivalent of a SM57.

THen you start wanting your recordings to sound bigger better sparkllier thicker rounder warmer .. more glorious in general. But 47 purchases later, I realize what I need to get better is work on my songwriting. A good song is hard, recording is easy.

BUt I loved/love reading about the theory, the history, the modifications, the best bang for the buck, easy fixes, self maintenance, fellow recordist's stories...hours go by. And free time of course takes a hit with marriage and a child.

WHat I am finding I have to do is to set out a simple setup to use at one time, all else is stowed away covered under a bed or above the closet on a little loft. ONly then can I come into the room, have a little recording setup connected and ready to rock to capture ideas and actually produce things...music, snippets, sketches, whatever. The old fulfilling feeling comes back.

I love my collection of sought and sourced gear. I love learning about them and their history and uses. BUt i need to store all but a few at a time which I can rotate out for display like my own little Louvre museum.

THank you for your time..:)

Mike
 
My People!!

Seriously though, I had to cut off purchases and I have sellers remorse anytime I unload something. I had to get back to what inspired me in the first place. Making MUUUSICC!! The glory days of prolific writing with a cassette four track, one guitar, one bass, one keyboard, one effects box, an amp and a Beyer Dynamic equivalent of a SM57.

THen you start wanting your recordings to sound bigger better sparkllier thicker rounder warmer .. more glorious in general. But 47 purchases later, I realize what I need to get better is work on my songwriting. A good song is hard, recording is easy.

BUt I loved/love reading about the theory, the history, the modifications, the best bang for the buck, easy fixes, self maintenance, fellow recordist's stories...hours go by. And free time of course takes a hit with marriage and a child.

WHat I am finding I have to do is to set out a simple setup to use at one time, all else is stowed away covered under a bed or above the closet on a little loft. ONly then can I come into the room, have a little recording setup connected and ready to rock to capture ideas and actually produce things...music, snippets, sketches, whatever. The old fulfilling feeling comes back.

I love my collection of sought and sourced gear. I love learning about them and their history and uses. BUt i need to store all but a few at a time which I can rotate out for display like my own little Louvre museum.

THank you for your time..:)

Mike

Mike,

You've pretty much nailed it, almost word for word, to my own thoughts about the issue.

I've pretty much realized that 85% of what I own is there to marvel at and feel good about, kinda like a little museum / shrine. I'm not fooling myself. I pretty much know where I stand now, which is a complete contrast to the time when I collected all this gear. I gathered it all under false beliefs but now, thinking back, I wouldn't have all this history, marvels of engineering, which do inspire (in a different way), if I was in my present mindset.

Laugh or not, I find myself doing a full circle to my days of using a cassette deck and a few other essentials, a mega minimalist setup. I don't know what it is but shedding all this excess, in the recording process, tends to dramatically increase my inspiration and energy and.... creativity.

Believe it or not, I couldn't care less now about getting a bigger, smoother, warmer sound, having tons of options, tracks, high speed, wide tracks etc..... It was a killer of inspiration. I'm having a ball with the bare essentials, some would say a limiting setup, wow & flutter, dropouts and all that cassette goodness. I think for a musician it's healthy to be limited in that way.

I don't know if or when I'll use my other gear, a nice collection of "one of each" from the TASCAM / TEAC but I like that it's there but not for the purpose I had intended. Expectations and reality are indeed two different things. The reality is that I've learned a lot about myself, my gear and life in general.

Making music is what it should be about, you're right. I don't want to make a self made prison out of all this equipment, stifle my music making abilities. It unfortunately does that when left unchecked. One has to perhaps go through this hell to realize. One needs to ask themselves the hard questions: Why am I doing this?
 
I just did a count of the analog/vintage equipment I have and it comes to 12 pieces. I somehow think that there are many more people here that have way way more than 12 pieces. If I follow through on my R2R plans I'll have 3 R2R decks 2,4,8 track which will give me a modes 15 pieces.
 
One thing I haven't seen from any of you guys, which is a bit worrying.... is talking about your satisfaction with the sound your getting from your recordings. Is having 20 reel to reel machines really making your recordings sound any better? are you really more satisfied with your recording sound?

In a word, yes.

I'm only using two machines these days, the Otari 8-track and the 3M M-23 2-track. For me, it's mainly a matter of how easily I get the basic sound I want when I track and mix to tape. I have a little Yamaha digital standalone which is just as clever and convenient as can be. However, it takes a lot more processing and tweaking to come close to where I get tracking to the Otari 8-track without much effort beyond very basic stuff, like compressing vocals and maybe a room mike on the drum kit to get the sound I want.

I used to have a room full of big 3M machines (and less room for instruments and people), and they sound really great, but the Otari is really quite good, too, and has several advantages, such as being smaller, having less transport noise and being gentler to the tape. I still mix to a 3M M-23, and that is a scary sounding machine... way bigger than the Yamaha standalone could ever dream of sounding.

Cheers,

Otto
 
When you say 8-track are you talking about the 440-8?

Its gone...just a few parts left...a bunch of it is getting used for the MM-1000 conversion to 2" 16-track.

Oh, OK. Yeah, that's what I was talking about. Hard to keep up. :D

Got to get that MM-1000 together then. ;)
 
My decks:

Ampex 440A 4 track
Ampex 440B - transport only
TEAC 3340
TEAC 3340 Parts deck
TEAC 2340sx
Tascam 32

Mixers:
Tascam M-35
Soundcraft Series 200

I have no good reason to get any of them because they all have a different usefulness.
 
Oh, OK. Yeah, that's what I was talking about. Hard to keep up. :D

Got to get that MM-1000 together then. ;)

Well I'm happy to say that it is essentially "together"...just in hibernation at the moment during the remodel but all the lights work and the transport is fully functional and I've confirmed that all tracks record and reproduce...and they sound good. This is regarding 1" 8-track operation which I'm going to enjoy for a bit before taking the 2" plunge. Needs calbrated which is the next step though I've got to finish affirming that I've resolved a tape speed fluctuation issue and finalize some tape path mods.

What a beaut!! :D
 

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Hah

'beats I actually emailed the guy about that 234, I was interested only in teh RC-71!!!! He never emailed me back so you musta got to him first!!!! :drunk:

I've been ridiculously busy and or gone the past few weeks so I haven't followed this thread that closely, but I know the feeling. I've started to get rid of stuff and curtailed the acquisition. It really came home that I have any number of ways to record something, but no really good working environment, and even less new material!

There was this jangled mess of cables and it all jsut needed to be disconnected and redone. So that is going on now...

I had it totally backward! So, I'm going back to the roots so to speak, got the Kurzweil piano back in center place, cleaned up, hands warmed up....

And making the place easy to use and probbaly a few more trips to FreeGeek (but they do have a store there and I *did* pick up a few RCA cables :spank::spank::spank:
 
What you are talking about *totally* strikes me the same as did cjacek's approach...scaling back...distilling. Just a piano, one mic and a 244...less do-dads = more time for thoughtful mic placement, more focus on the performance...and the sounds are great.

Just had a "session" here yesterday. Recorded 4 daughters of some friends of ours. Their Grandma's health is not good and she's a country away...she wants to hear her grandaughters sing...ages 10 to 16 I think?

Anyway, it took me no more than an hour to set everything up from being packed up, pressed RECORD and let it run for a couple hours and let them do their thing...no formal rehearsal, just capture. Took a couple hours to extract the keeper stuff which amounted to 17 songs.

We all had fun and the disc is ready to head off to Grandma.

I confess it was tracked to HDD through my Yamaha 01X. But it was just two mics (Studio Projects B3's) set in an M + S array, no pad or lo-cut filters switched in...no processing whatsoever except for normalizing the files. I took a little time to pick a nice spot for the mics in the room and made some assumptions about where they ought to stand and put some rugs there. My whole focus was capture what they sound like in person and for them to feel comfortable and natural and it worked I think. The room was nice too...our new bedroom in the addition which is unfinished and empty at the moment. Concrete floor, 15' x 11' with a 76" ceiling. Here's my favorite one they did.

The point is that it was another one of those "what is it that I really need?" moments...and it fit on a small desk when setup, and in two small bags when packed up. Now, I'm not going to purge down to that. I do enjoy the aesthetic, process and sounds of the analog stuff. But if its REALLY about the music and there is a purpose or specific cause or goal, then the last thing I want to care about is what the recording medium is and what brand is on the gear. I know my 01X and I've used those mics several times like that and there is just no substitute for knowing the gear...which is the other falacy of gear addiction...you never get to know a piece of gear and, IMO, then you never really get past maybe 30% effective with anything, at best. I've done a 24 track on-location session with the 01X (and a carload of other gear) and I've mixed 3 full length projects with it, so I know how to use it just from sheer experience with it. We are over the top busy right now but this is just a really special family and who can say "no" to the cause? I mean, really? So I didn't want to make my usual mistake of over-thinking and over-engineering the setup...make it easy for me and it makes it easy (and comfortable) for everybody. Seems one of the best things I can do as an engineer is to get out of the way. So I picked what I know works well and is simple. It was a whole lot more fun than staring at the piles of who-knows-when gear you know? :o
 
My whole focus was capture what they sound like in person and for them to feel comfortable and natural and it worked I think. The room was nice too...our new bedroom in the addition which is unfinished and empty at the moment. Concrete floor, 15' x 11' with a 76" ceiling. Here's my favorite one they did.

The point is that it was another one of those "what is it that I really need?" moments...and it fit on a small desk when setup, and in two small bags when packed up. Now, I'm not going to purge down to that.

Cory, do you know how many hours, days, months, engineers spend to have such a well balanced sound, tracking separately, overdubbing, using a gazillion mics etc... etc....? I know you do but what you've done precisely (and quickly) illustrates my point of simplified recording and let the space / environment do the mixing, level setting, eq'ing etc.... What you've captured reminds me of the way it WAS done many decades ago (which still sounds best to my ears). I've listened to the track (6 times and counting..), which not only is performed beautifully but recorded professionally. It sounds natural, as if I was indeed right there in the room. It reminds me of the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", where the music is especially done right. I hope you noted down exactly what you've done 'cause you can actually recapture (and fast at that) the very same thing with different flavor mics, maybe a tape machine, to give it a different color (ie: 2 cheap dynamics, cassette, for lo-fi retro - the palette is endless). You can actually have the same performance going on, recorded with different gear, tape, cassette, mics and can date your recordings current to 50 years back. Too cool. Seriously, stick to this kind of bare-bones recording. It's really good for you, IMHO. I sense a definite happiness from you. Keep at it my friend. How much gear does one need really, indeed... ;) You've perfectly illustrated what a few pieces of basic gear and talent can do in the hands of someone who knows what to do with it.
 
Thanks, Daniel! :D

I have to say your mentorship over the years certainly guided my decisions on how to approach the session. ;)

"Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" is one of our favorite movies! And a big part of it is the MUSIC...and the clever glimpse at a critical point in music history..."I'm a Dapper Dan man!" HAHAH! :D

That session was just a bunch of dumb luck, and I'm finding those are the gems that can happen if I just don't overthink it. I remember recording my drums with the same mixer and DAW software a couple years back (I've linked it a couple times) and the worst mics I could find for overheads and no attention to the kick mic and the recording sounded, in many regards, up with the best I've ever done and it was the fact that I didn't mess with processing and fancy mics and generally overthinking everything. The outcome was totally unexpected and literally made me sit back and go "Huh! I've been going about this all wrong!"

The next couple years are going to be really interesting for me now that a proper space is coming to setup the stuff, and it will show me what is really useful and what is not...what is worth the burden of taking up space and what is not.

Its too bad that that recording space where we tracked the young ladies will be going away in terms of the ambiance (carpet and furniture will change it, heheh), but that's not a deal breaker.

And I totally understand the ideology of adjusting certain facets to effect the outcome as suitable to the music (i.e. different recording mediums, different mics). Its still simple, and yet opens an endless array of options, but each option is what it is rather than a "Swiss Army knife" solution that can lead to rabbit trails.

I know there are better mics out there but those Studio Projects mics have done really well for me in that configuration. And those young ladies were just fantastic...I'd never heard them sing, and how "good" they were didn't matter. It was for their Grandma...they were a little nervous...VERY modest and humble and then they started singing and its was so great to not be able to stop smiling and to be able to genuinely encourage them. They didn't know much about how/where to stand but I didn't want to distract them from listening to each other by confusing them with "stand this way and here and here blah-blah..." There was one point where I did go in and took about 60 seconds to explain how the two mics were "listening" to them and suggested that they shift a little one way so the stereo image was a little more balanced but I left it as a casual suggestion so as not to distract...no more than that...didn't want them thinking about it much at all but was neat to be doing "post" work at the time of the recording.
 
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