Need your guys' honest advice...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Seeker of Rock
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RICK FITZPATRICK said:
...Especially an Ampex 440 ;)
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and? So? ??????!!!!!
....and the photo of me and my AG is???? where???? :D :D :D
...you owe at least photo of AG with no "me", you can keep "me" for history books ;)
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
Tomorrow. I just picked it up :D :D :D Holy moly. Talk about motors :eek: God, this is one BEAUTIFUL machine :cool:
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See, I (we) told ya!! :eek: :D :D
 
Motors! :D
 

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Women ain't got nothin on those pair! :p B E A U T I F U L L!
 
The only thing wrong with an Ampex 440 is that I don't own one .. :(
 
Aaawww,... forget about it!!

Digital is sexy!!! :eek: ;)
 

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hey seeker...

screw it. do what you are doing. make your album. just get it done and don't get hung up on any one piece of gear. its just gear. you already have gear that does the same job. My advice would be to save your money for a well-maintained 4/5 or better condition half track machine that won't need any work. since this might take you a while to find a machine like this, just get it done as is. if you're really not happy with it, when you find a better machine you can always re-mix...or just run your digital mix to tape and back when the time comes.
 
Seeker of Rock said:
Beck, I have always valued your advice and recommendations, so no reason to stop now. I'd like to pick your brain a little, though....there are always minor improvements you can make, and it seems an infinity of what the possibilites are to "improve" a sound, so I'm just curious I guess as to why you would strongly recommend tape here. Tape for 'mastering' or mixdown, or both?
Mixdown deck, 1/2 track (or 2 track stereo??)...I think you guys tried to explain this to me a few months back. Sorry, but I still don't get it :( :( :o :(
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Thanks!

Mastering/mixdown is one step for me -- 1/4" half-track @ 15 ips.

Just think airbrushed sound. I’m not sure what else to say except it just sounds better to me. Personally, an all-digital product is an affront to the senses… I can certainly hear it. Mastering to analog is like putting everything through a filter that makes it more palatable to the human ear. Consider what reverberation does to dry sound.

And when adding reverb, you don’t want the listener to say, “Hey, nice reverb.” You want the listener to be affected by the composite sound without the senses consciously unraveling the mystery. Ambiance shouldn’t be obvious – it should allow the music to come alive without drawing attention to the method. (This is why I’m skeptical of “digitally simulated analog” because it’s basically a caricature – an exaggeration of a quality.)

All technical-speak aside, the essence of the analog magic is its ability to bring out the flavor of the music without being obvious.

My compositions go from multitrack and MIDI synced instruments to half-track master, and from there to CD.

:)
 
Seeker of Rock said:
Cool, thanks man. All of the tracks on the MSR work, it is just the NR that doesn't. It is still set up for GP9 and with only two tracks, the hiss would probably be minimal, so maybe I'll do that. Probably wouldn't be as big-sounding as a 1/2 track deck due to the tape width of two channels on the MSR, 1/32"per track, compared to 1/8" per track, right? But I guess it would be a great way to gauge the overall "effect" I think is what you are say. Just curious and want to get some ideas...what machines do you guys own that you mixdown to?
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Heck, at one time 24-48 tracks used to eventually be mixed down to cassette tape!
 
Beck said:
Thanks!



And when adding reverb, you don’t want the listener to say, “Hey, nice reverb.” You want the listener to be affected by the composite sound without the senses consciously unraveling the mystery. Ambiance shouldn’t be obvious – it should allow the music to come alive without drawing attention to the method. (This is why I’m skeptical of “digitally simulated analog” because it’s basically a caricature – an exaggeration of a quality.)
:)
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I respect your opinion, for sure, and agree with it up to a point. Think of the old Motown recordings with all the natural room or plate reverb, reverb you can certainly hear. An obvious reverb (or any other effect) has it's place. What would the first Van Halen album be if not for all that over the top reverb! You can hear reverb stand out all over the place on every Zep album, and not just as an obvious effect. I think different music and songs, artists, call for different things. James Taylor and Bob Dylan don't need a boat load of effects. No one "needs" them, but some great music has been enhanced in obvious ways using effects whether created natural or with a piece of hardware. Just my thoughts.
 
Yep, that’s right… but I’m speaking of creating a natural space. I guess I didn’t make that clear enough.

My reference is for illustrative purposes, as the topic isn’t reverb, but analog tape. So to be clear, IMO, the mastering phase isn’t the time to be using tape as an obvious effect. It should effect the outcome unobtrusively.
 
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