Some days you get it, some days you don't...

  • Thread starter Thread starter jedblue
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jedblue

jedblue

beep beep beep beep beep
Mixdown on side one of Davey's solo all analog album...

Studer configured Vocals 1, Guitar 2, gentle L/R pan. Spring reverb out and back into 9. Nagra IV running tape echo out and back into 10, vocals only. Sounded nice. Didn't bother with the Yamaha digital. Funny how sometimes a spring reverb does it. Sounds hideous on it's own though. No other outboards.

StuderMixdown.jpg

Otari 5050 on playback, Revox PR99 on record...

Decks.jpg

Five hours, three tracks only, two okay, one not. Should be simple - just guitar and vocals. D'oh!, nope. Track 3 seemed to sound okay going in to the Revox then just lost something coming out. Backwards, forwards, backwards, forwards... Couldn't seem to get it where it needed to be even listening off the playback head and adjusting eq filters on the fly just to see if we could hit it. Put a five band parametric in the insert and that didn't really help either. Took it out. Recorded two passes anyway. Waste of tape. Not there, not good enough. Ran out of time. Difficult vocal track to start with anyway. This one might need some BBE and Compellor on the main bus?

Ear's have gone. Go away and think about it a bit. Part of the problem is on the original tracking tape, part of the problem is on the resulting mixdown tape. Together they just don't make it. Seems to vary as it progresses, guitar sounds great all the way. Vocals are the problem. Places where it sounds fine and places where it just goes away. It's in the eq not the levels. Davey's mike technique isn't the best to start with. Might need the parametric back in and fader movements and parametric twiddles on the go. Can't really change the Studer filters on the fly - no knobs, switches only. They are switched in and out like a Pultec, too noticible. Going to be a two man job I think, one on the parametric and one on the fader. Maybe it's just a bad track? Maybe this one just isn't good enough to start with?

Try again on Sunday. Re-clean heads (again) and demag both decks before starting.

Two down, six to go. Hoping to get pristine one pass mixdowns and avoid having to use the splicing block. Nope, looks like it'll have to be chopped up and re-assembled... Albums are a lot more work than singles. Why do we subject ourselves to this? Why not just suck it all into 'Tools and automate it? Lordy be, once upon a time this was the only way to do it.

Must be love?

Beats the day job but...
 
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If what I hear on your myspace page is what you have been doing with that gear I am loving it. Great sound great production.
I love it when someone comes in hear and has the balls to post their stuff recorded in all analog.
I think I could learn more from you than some of those that wont post anything they have done and only give upity advice.

Thank you
 
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