Augh! So much to do!

[lo.fi.love]

OK, so I kind of bit off more than I can chew with this whole project studio. I'm now about six weeks into my massive studio rebuild and I'm going totally CRAZY because it's also been that long since I made any music!

I've been playing around with my 34b and my dual-well cassette deck, making clever little loops and whatnot, but I'm aching and itchy because I know that the really, really good part will have to wait until I've fully assembled everything.

I'm still waiting on my order of 620 male RCA plugs, which I'll need to solder (most of the snakes are already cut to length, stripped and tinned). I'll also need to calibrate my two 34b decks and my Otari MX5050 MKIII-2, and maybe the 48. Then, plug everything in, do a bunch of trouble shooting, and set up a consistent operating level...

(Plus, I'm setting up a blog to write about all of this, and document it and share with other devotees and curious individuals... )

And then... compose a new piece, acquire and accumulate the sounds and instruments to record the piece with, blow through twenty razor blades and maybe ten Band-Aids during the editing process.... maybe a bottle of Maker's Mark and a lot of time spent alone, late into the evening on Friday and Saturday nights...

I suppose I'm fairly close to getting it all together, but I'm getting a little burnt out. I think I've spent about forty hours on just prepping the snakes (cutting, stripping, and tinning), and the connectors haven't even arrived yet. Fix this, fix that, remove oxidation here, replace a fuse there. It's getting kind of tedious now.

Maybe I'm just venting. I also wanted to share what I've been doing lately. I'm also asking for a little inspiration: Show me some pictures of your studio. I'll show pictures of mine as it gets closer to completion.

Ok. Time for bed. I'm going to get back on the horse this week, so to say, and keep pushing.

 

[sweetbeats]

I...know...how...you...feel.

That's not inspiring, BUT...

I know what HAS inspired me when I've started feeling burned out (which has happened SEVERAL times since I started this analog leg of my journey about 3 years ago) is simply having something to record...a project that needs done. No, I don't have all that is ideally needed at the time, but it pushes me to focus on what is absolutely needed at the time which gets some things taken care of, I produce something (which is always a pick-me-up) and I remember that I don't need half of what I'm working on and for a time that releases me from the burdens I've placed on myself...its elective, Jeff. Have fun and remember that you get to pick the timeline, so be realistic. Also, sit down in the room where most of your gear is, even though its all funky right now, and just look around for a bit...first think of how much the stuff cost new; how absolutely far out of reach it was, and its sitting there soon to be integrated and functional. Gear that was made in a way that is seldom seen anymore. Then just take a few minutes and dream about the things you'll be able to do; things you want to do and realize that your dreams aren't eluding you. They are patiently waiting knowing that you'll catch up with them.

Hi-"lo" Silver, away!

 

[Victory Pete]

I know how you feel. I have been rebuilding my studio since May. I have added alot of new (old) machines and have rebuilt some of the building. I am getting burnt out and forgot I am a musician. Well finally tonight we are going to play in the half finished studio. I need it!
VP

 

[jedblue]

Ah yes Jeff, Zen and the Art of Analog Recording. It's the journey that's the fun, not the destination. That's how I've decided to look upon it all. Otherwise I might consider suicide.

It's one thirty on Sunday morning here in Sydney and I'm sitting here with a beer after another Lonely Few live to two track recording session. Man, they are hard work. And because it's the Lonely Few nothing ever goes smoothly. The old Studer desk and all the vintage mikes performed just fine but the electric twelve string let go two wires from it's pickups when the volume pot fell apart and it had to be dismantled and re-soldered in the middle of the session. The Gallien Kruger bass amp kept blowing fuses until I figured out it was a faulty guitar lead that was causing it. The old Fender 75w valve combo couldn't get the sound we needed (too clean by half) so I had to go back and get my even older '64 35w combo to replace it and to top it all off, on the last tune the Revox PR99 has dropped channel 1 completely and won't now record on it at all.

All in all, a typical Lonely Few recording session. Good job we can always do it in mono so the last track got done on the remaining Revox channel. It'll all be mastered (if you can call it that) down to mono anyway.

So, three tracks finished in the session the usual Lonely Few mayhemic manner - which is what I set out to achieve.

Perhaps the mod of transport chosen to ferry the old GA35 combo from my place to the studio earlier in the day sums up what it can be like trying to keep some of this old stuff running.

Unfortunately, later on today I have to go back and load out the whole band. I think I might need the trike for that job .

 

[ausrock]

Jed,

Is that a Moody amp?

 

[mixsit]

OK, so I kind of bit off more than I can chew with this whole project studio. I'm now about six weeks into my massive studio rebuild and I'm going totally CRAZY because it's also been that long since I made any music!

I've been playing around with my 34b and my dual-well cassette deck, making clever little loops and whatnot, but I'm aching and itchy because I know that the really, really good part will have to wait until I've fully assembled everything.

I'm still waiting on my order of 620 male RCA plugs, which I'll need to solder (most of the snakes are already cut to length, stripped and tinned). I'll also need to calibrate my two 34b decks and my Otari MX5050 MKIII-2, and maybe the 48. Then, plug everything in, do a bunch of trouble shooting, and set up a consistent operating level...

(Plus, I'm setting up a blog to write about all of this, and document it and share with other devotees and curious individuals... )

And then... compose a new piece, acquire and accumulate the sounds and instruments to record the piece with, blow through twenty razor blades and maybe ten Band-Aids during the editing process.... etc.

When things like this are high on our worry' list.. in the scheme of things, considering where we might be otherwise..

We are quite blessed you know.

 

[JRSIV]

I really dug "There Was Never Any Anger There" lofi! I love electronic/experimental recordings and the sounds and loops here were very interesting. Cage and Stockhausen are influences but I've been interested in avant garde/concrete meets dance grooves for awhile.

If you go to my ReverbNation page there is an album I did back in 1999 called "Organ Loner". I only expected to play it for friends but I printed some CD's up and was able to sell some at gigs and to other experimental musicians. Good luck with the new studio and I hope to hear more of your stuff....

 

[jedblue]

Jed,

Is that a Moody amp?

Good picking Ausrock, it's an old 1964 35w three speaker Moody GA35 Vibraverb. It's a nice old amp.

 

[dodgeaspen]

Just take your time and do it right so you don't need to go back and retrace mistakes and go nuts latter down the road.

 

[lo.fi.love]

Thanks, everyone, for the words of encouragement! I agree that we are VERY fortunate to even have the access to recording technology and that we can fill our lives with music. We are very, very lucky to have these opportunities.

That's all I'm writing for now. I just cleaned my room and I'm happily sitting in front of my mixer, dreaming of what will be...

 

[sweetbeats]

Okay...

My turn.

PLEASE take the time to read it even though it is long, if you can. I really need help.

I feel like I'm losing sight. I have pretty much everything I need to fill the roles that have come forward in this process over the past several years though I need another power conditioner and a crossover for my 2.1 monitor speaker setup. What I need is perspective. Can any of you offer that to me? I don't care if it is negative or positive, encouraging or discouraging, I just need some polarity because right now I'm just in a fog.

I know for sure the Ampex MM-1000 is IT for me as far as a multitrack machine and there is short term work to be done yet before I can start functionally working with it. Because of its size the entire studio control room (which is about 6' by 8') has to be rearranged. My monitor speakers are on wall-mounted platforms that will have to be moved, and both computer flat-panel monitors (also wall-mounted) will need to move. The mixer, my 12-channel Tascam prototype mixer is on a partially wall-mounted table...It'll have to move. Once all the stuff moves then I need to rearrange every piece of rack-mount gear which is anywhere from 40 to 45 rack-units of gear depending on which mixdown deck I end up using (which is a whole 'nuther story...). The rearrangement is the result of the 34U upright Ampex rack I got with the MM-1000. It solves a lot of problems but it needs cleaned up and then gear needs to be moved into it. The order and location that I end up racking all the gear needs to be figured out, based on the most logical for patching, and then there will be many cables to fab. Back to the mixer...It still has 10 channels that need recapped (IIRC there are 70~80 caps per channel strip) I have to redo the wrist-rest upholstery job, and I need to make trim panels out of rough walnut stock I have. A little more on the MM-1000...I'm almost through cleaning up the disassembled tape path and transport plate. Then it'll be time to reassemble, mechanically and electronically align the machine which will be time-consuming because it'll be my first experience aligning a vintage Ampex machine and there are many differences in the process to what I'm used to. Eventually I'll be recapping the MM-1000 as well as doing some upgrades on the amp cards, and at that time I'll be deep cleaning each electronics module.

Mixdown decks...I'm either going to settle on using the Tascam BR-20T...it still needs to be setup/aligned/calibrated. Not sure if it will align as the heads show wear. The alternative is the Ampex 440C. It needs to be gone through...It is in decent shape but things aren't functioning right and I don't know how deep that goes...maybe (probably) just connections that need cleaned or bad relays...I'm sure bearings may need replaced...OH! That reminds me...eventually I need to go through and replace all the bearings on the MM-1000. Anyway, the 440C will eventually get the same recapping/deep-cleaning treatment as the MM-1000. ALSO, the 440C has the non-servo capstan motor but I have a servo motor on a 440B I recently picked up in a good Ampex console, so the idea is that I put the 440C in the Ampex console with the servo motor. Oh yeah, and the 440C needs heads. Once its all together then it is time for setup/aligning/calibration...then compare with the BR-20T...then sell the one I prefer less.

Selling stuff...I'm not sure if I'm going to part out the partially restored Ampex 440-8, or finish it off and then sell it. Either way it means work. I still have most of the parts of a Tascam M-308B that need sold off as well as a bunch of select parts for a Tascam 388...and two recapped/calibrated/modded-for-any-machine Tascam DX-4D's...literally a pile of other 'stuff' that just needs to go. Time and effort...its all taking up space in my shop and mind.

But wait...there's more: The dbx 150X units I'm going to have available to use with the MM-1000 if I should want noise reduction should be recapped eventually, at least the power supply sections. The two CRL SEP400 multiband dynamics processors I got recently need recapped...thinking of some conservative opamp upgrades too. The 388 isn't done yet. Tape cover needs polished, transport bay needs cleaned up, it needs reassembled and then the whole setup, align and cal bit...bunch of PCB's that need recapped. Then there's the Tascam 234 project...siamesing two bad decks into one...why? Dunno.

I figure it will take 2+ years as my family (wife and 4 young children), work (busy full-time + job) and faith take priority, though this deep interest of mine isn't making any of those any more balanced.

It might sound nuts, but I KNOW this is the process I've had to go through to gain the knowledge of what I want/need and the basics of how to use it/maintain it...there are SO many interdependent decisions. I went through this with my digital rig and I haven't changed that for years. No desire, no need. I'm approaching that with the analog rig, but I'm getting foggy.

What would YOU do given these circumstances?? What do YOU think?? I want to know your thoughts if you were in my place, not what you think I should do based on what I'm saying and what my plans are. I just need YOUR perspective as that will help me find mine again as I think through your thoughts and questions.

Thanks in advance.

 

[The Great Cobb]

difficult

Its hard to give advice of any kind for too many reasons to count, to anyone for any reason/situation. You never know what it is like to walk in their shoes and that makes it impossible to know how theyll feel when the reality of the decisions that come with the advice come to be.

But i feel for you in your situation. I started out just making music, then got caught up in equipment and the cycle of fixing, upgrading, etc never seems to end until i find myself spending 90 percent of my time working with the equipment trying to get it set up ideally rather than actually using it to create something. But some people have more fun tinkering and building a studio than recording in it so everyone gets something different and its hard to say how much time planning is too much.

If you like building things up and taking them apart more than writing/recording music then you arent stuck, you are right where you want to be! Your oversized project is actually "just right" if the thrill you get from it is the planning, building, and technical stuff.

For me personally, what haunts me constantly is that i am a creative person, not a technical one. And what i need most is a setup that requires minimal time to start up, minimal manpower to operate, but with a sound quality that is decent enough that if something i do as a scratch idea becomes "the" take, i can salvage it. I am a 3am song idea kind of guy. I also am the kind of guy that gets severely attached to the random glory of demos and first takes. So that fuels what i seek in a recording setup.

If you like tinkering more than recording, then i say go with the full build and try to enjoy the ride, because, in the end youll have put so much into it over time that it will be the "getting there" that will be your fond memories as much or moreso than where you end up.

But if you just want to make music i say sell it all and get the 388 running masterfully and start making the most of your creativity. I am posting a link to a band that used a 388 on their album... you tell me... does music ever need to be higher-fi than this to sound great? I sincerely doubt it.

http://www.myspace.com/willoughby

 

[cjacek]

Cory,

What would I do? Well, I would severely downsize, even more so and focus my perfection driven restoration skills on just one machine and one matching mixer. The rest I would let go. Seriously.

I would keep the 150x units (as you can use it on +4 gear) but would NOT recap / upgrade anything, if it sounds fine (same goes for everything else).

What's actually important and not what seems important, IMHO.

As you list all of the things above, I would ask myself, is it really important and could I live without it, in a real world music making environment?

It would help me, a lot, to actually spend some hours in the day tracking, making music, to gain better perspective and those things, which I once thought important / necessary for my studio, become trivial, usually.

Do you really need all of those extras, accessories?

There's a need to simplify, in order to gain clarity, IMO.

There could have been a case made for not going in that deep with the servicing / restoring but I understand your perfectionist nature. That is why you need to work with it and provide it some breathing room. Otherwise, you'll suffocate.

Lastly, why the extensive recap / upgrades? I think being selective here helps. It's a monstrous journey.

 

[sweetbeats]

Okay...greatgreatgreat...thanks guys. Okay.

First of all, you bring up a great point to clarify, Cobb, in that I REALLY enjoy creating/capturing/mastering music. That's still, and always will be the unifying purpose of this entire adventure is to be doing that. I also obviously enjoy the restoration part of it. There are a couple parts to that enjoyment though. One part is transforming something into the potential I can see when it is all dirty and maybe not fully functional. It (the piece of gear or whatever) has been neglected or just plain worn out and maybe left for dead. Paying pennies for something that needs some work that can fulfill a need better than anything I could otherwise afford is a thrill. Restoring that item to a state closer to new is even better. I have a hard time doing certain types of things halfway...saying 'good enough'. The other part is that I just don't like other people's dirt and scunge on it. Maybe that sounds bad, but it is part of adopting the gear and making it mine...my territorial pissing I guess. The third is an offshoot of that in that if I'm going to have it opened up for cleaning and repairing I may as well recap (if indicated by age or leaky/bulging caps) so I don't have to pull it out later...that brings a very real sense of DONE for me. Like the power supply for my mixer for example...it is recapped (thanks to Ethan on THAT one ) and when I look at it in the rack I know it can stay there for a long time barring unforeseen component failure (which new electrolytic caps can arguably help avoid). So its part of a ritual of adopting new gear and it just so happens this analog adventure has introduced a LOT of new gear, not all of which I have kept but from all of which I have learned. But the music...I DO miss that and I'm tired to some degree of the refurbing but it is hard...the stuff is scungy...and not all works. And I'm part way into everythi and I hate half-done jobs.

So that addresses some of what you are saying too, Daniel.

What do you define as "extras and accessories"?

My one machine and mixer is the MM-1000 and the M-__...but I need a mixdown deck and I don't feel like I can decide until both options can compete on a fair (fully functioning) playing field...?

Not done thinking about what you guys are saying...not at all. Thanks.

 

[cjacek]

What do you define as "extras and accessories"?

My one machine and mixer is the MM-1000 and the M-__...but I need a mixdown deck and I don't feel like I can decide until both options can compete on a fair (fully functioning) playing field...?

By leaving out the extras / accessories, I generally mean stuff that doesn't immediately impact the music making process. Just to strip away unnecessary stuff, is all I meant.

The MM-1000 / M-____ is the foundation, bread / butter, is your whole sound - studio. Be careful with piling on needless stuff. I can't tell you what that is. It's important to take conscious inventory of what you're putting on top of that. It can get out of hand.

I am of the opinion, if it were me, that I would choose right away, best guess, which mix-down recorder I'd be focusing on (if any) and..... get rid of the other one. Choice made, Bam... case closed, it's in the past, focus restored.

 

[sweetbeats]

Haha! MAN that's such a refreshing thing!

You and I are alike in a lot of ways but that is one in which we are different...I will ponder in an OCEAN of contingencies. That's why its hard to decide between the BR-20T and the 440C...I'm almost entirely confident that I'll like the sound of those over-engineered high voltage discreet electronics in the Ampex better than the Tascam, but the Tascam has all sorts of handy features on its full servo transport...not mention the 3rd timecode track, and I just don't know yet if the bells and whistles will outweigh what I expect in the sound quality.

So I avoid decision until all the contingencies can be ironed out...and that does leave an ocean...

And all those other extras and accessories cover all sorts of other contingencies as well...

 

[Chilljam]

It's very difficult to judge what things you need and what things you don't need when you can't begin using all your gear and see how everything fits together and sounds... but of course very little of your gear is fully functional.... i see the dilemma.

You have awesome gear, you bought very high quality recorders. With a family, fulltime job and everything else, it's difficult to maintain and run not to mention restore all this gear... you have been trying to do that whilst having a 'collectors' mindset where you want everything to look and feel just like it did back in the 60's. The first thing i would do is forget about the cosmetics and just get all your stuff running.

Start with the most important thing, the mixer.... get 8 channels working right, even if the pots are still a little squeeky or whatever, forget about recapping everything, just the leaky caps.

Next do the ampex mm-1000, get it working.... i know your gear is just so cool that it's a shame to have it looking like it does... but priorities things... id want to get everything working and in use so i can see what i can sell off and what im still missing.

You really only need the ampex and the tascam mixer to start recording again. Personally, unless you know you absolutely must have the more portable 388 for recording... i wouldn't touch it until i sorted the rest out (even though from what how it sounds.... this is the recorder that you are closest to finishing).

Once you get the mixer and mm-1000 running, you will know if you need to replace more caps.

Obviously you will need a mixdown unit... what i would do? probably sell the br-20 and buy a good mixdown unit where everything works, yes it will be more expensive but at least you want have another restoration job.

Good luck.

 

[sweetbeats]

Chilljam...goodness...for being in a transitional phase you seem to have quite a bit of direction.

Extremely helpful.

The Tascam mixer is fully functional save for one channel where there has been a couple kludgey mods (BUSS MASTER pot is bypassed so the BUSS OUT jack always passes signal at unity gain). Other than that there is occasionally a pot or two that is just a little scratchy, but it quickly disappears with a couple sweeps. None of the remaining caps are bulging or leaky. In fact, caps that I have tested that have been pulled are well-within the spec...don't know about the ESR as I haven't a meter for that, but with that all said there probably isn't really a good reason to recap any more of it right now I guess...just hard because I started it, and 10 channels are still scungy looking...I suppose I could just cosmetically clean those channels up though...But, bottom-line, with the successful repair and recap of the master section this mixer is, for all intents and purposes, fully-functional.

MM-1000...yeah...its actually pretty close to being cosmetically decent. Really, I think it calls for no more than 8 hours more work to have it cleaned up, back together and ready to move and start getting it lined up. I was going to do all that out in the shop and temporarily patch something together out there as far as some pre's and something monitor the playback, but I'm thinking a little more clearly...the mixer is ready and waiting...I've got the two Tascam LA-40 mkII's...I already have a 16.5' 16-channel TRS-TRS snake...I'd need to change one set of ends to XLR...those would go to the LA-40's, the TRS ends would go to the bypassed dbx 150X's in the MM-1000 console, and then I've already got short TRS --> XLR 8-channel adapter snakes (bottom line here is that the LA-40's are XLR in and out on the balanced side, and the MM-1000 is XLR for in and outs but the dbx 150X's are TRS...If I put the 150X's in the loop it saves me having to change both sets of ends on the 16.5' snake. So...yeah...finish cleaning it up, get it back together and move it, hook it up and have some fun. Wow. So then that drives the need to rearrange the studio but I don't have to worry about moving all the rack gear yet if I'm just going to start having fun with the MM-1000. I'll need to relocate the monitor speakers, computer monitors and the mixer table, but I can do that. Then there will be room for the MM-1000 and I can at least stop freaking out that it is sitting in an unheated space.

Yes, the 388 is closest, but the reaility is that I don't even know where that is going to live...I have no idea. I've always had an affinity for the 388 ever since I first saw one several years ago. It would be the perfect unit to have setup near my 4-year old's drums so we could jam and track, but there's no room. Wih a little help he can mix and operate the transport. He's a little engineer. He gets it, but there's no room, so it really makes no sense to spend time on that at this point...I really don't see myself selling the 388.

What do you define as a "good mixdown unit"???

Okay...

1. clean up and rearrange monitor speakers, computer monitors and mixer table in studio booth
2. finish basic cleanup of MM-1000, reassemble it and move it to the studio booth
3. modify 16-channel TRS ~ TRS snake
4. MM-1000, meet M-__.

Hey...this helps.

P.S. I've come so close to selling the 234 as a parts or repair set, but I keep thinking "how do I play my old 4-track masters"? I presently have on loan my Dad's 424 mkII, but I'd like to get it back to him. Gotta have a cassette 4-track...right? Right?

 

[cjacek]

I will ponder in an OCEAN of contingencies. That's why its hard to decide between the BR-20T and the 440C...

See but that's my point exactly, that I'd rather NOT drown (and possibly take loved ones with me), a scenario which, IMO, takes priority.

 

[sweetbeats]

Exactly. Yeah, I wasn't saying that creating that ocean was a GOOD thing.