Recent content by bdenton

Been decades since I messed with this stuff...maybe somebody else can flesh things out a bit... On a tube musical instrument amp, "Standby" serves a couple (at least) of purposes...keep in mind that, unlike solid-state components, tubes have a finite, and relatively short, lifespan. When...

Back when "producer" had it's original meaning, the mix was part of their responsibilities. It was the producer's responsibility to convey the "vision" of the recording to the engineer. It was the producer's responsibility to "sign off" on the final mix. The producer/engineer workflow might...

As I once heard it described..."Track the skin, then track the tin". I don't like doing it myself...I'm a hard hitter and I have to hit something with my right hand...usually that's my right leg...get's painful after about the third take. But I had read about it somewhere and decided to try it...

We aren't talking high-end stuff here, but... Santa brought me an Epi Les Paul Studio from Musician's Friend...no problem. Santa tried to get me an Epi Dot from Guitarcenter.com...it had been discontinued and they didn't have any in the warehouse...GC guy found one in one of their stores and...

And there's this... Mark Neill: Recording The Black Keys At Muscle Shoals On a related note, I highly recommend the movie "Muscle Shoals", which is a decent documentary of "what all went on" in that little corner of Alabama back in the day...

Thanks for all of the responses, guys...please keep them coming! I haven't done any analog recording (other than cassette PortaStudio) in ages, although I have tried to keep up with whatever's happening in the field. Something I found interesting in you guys' comments is the lack of need for a...

Caught somewhere halfway between a dream and seriously thinking about setting up a tape-based analog studio, and I have a few questions... Obviously wider tracks are wider tracks, but with 2" tape, does 16-track have any advantages other than that over-track. I could probably get by with...

I'm old, so more than once I wrote "Special 4th Class Rate - Sound Recordings" on tape "packaging" before shipping it out. I'm surprised that rate still exists...

You have to remember that a lot of these types of disc-cutters were made for radio stations back in the pre-tape days. Think Magnecorder...or if you've ever used one, think "recurring Magnecorder nightmare"...

And, in response to the question that wasn't asked... If you have single 1/4" "insert" jack (as is quite common), it uses a TRS plug, but it carries two separate unbalanced connections. This is done by what is commonly called the "Tip Send/Ring Return" format. The tip and sleeve form one...

"... it is beneficial to occasionally FW/RW stored tapes ..." While this was the case with later and better-maintained gear, if you go back to the late 60's early 70's, we were taught to ​not FF/RW before or during storage. Tape tensioning was not as accurate as it was later, so a fast-forward...

If you're really adventurous and have access to an old Ampex 35x deck...go for reverse echo...

A +1 on the Toft stuff...it's new, and has respectable EQs...all connections are 1/4" TRS or TS so you can get buy without a patchbay...it's what I'll buy if the lottery gods ever "sorta smile" on me (if it's HUGE smiles baby it's Duality)...

A couple of points, if I may... While expensive, and they may not meet the "real men" criteria, there are TT patchbays that are readily switchable between full/half/none normally and different grounding schemes that use DB-25 connectors on the rear. And you can buy DB-25 x 1/4" / XLR / DB-25 or...

If you stare at the third picture for five seconds you forget there is a microphone in the picture...