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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:52 am
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I hear ya, FSB - different strokes, etc.

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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:37 am
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Miami Mike wrote:
I hear ya, FSB - different strokes, etc.
I totally agree with the different strokes, Mike.

In the early days long after I listened to my home built “cough, cough” crystal radio which I loved with one earphone, stereo high fidelity orthophonic sound was presented (stereo was distributed circa 1958), and yet there were fans of mono who proclaimed stereo as inferior while they stretched back and listened to that honking big full range speaker and/or horn in their living room. The stereo mixing was often suspect in some areas. It was not immediately standardized either in the recording studio or on record, but it was very good. Headphones only emphasized and popularized that (dinky ones did the same for iPods and cellphones).

I do have mono records from that time of introduction (such as a rare live Satchmo audiophile recording). that might refute that proclamation that all stereo was a step in the right direction, however. Stereo (just like Quad) became experimental with successes and perceived failures, and yet I can’t recall hearing terrible stereo just better stereo. One exception. Master cut discs are said to have a limited life for optimum desirable playback pressing of vinyl. There are records that were pressed from a Master cut disc that had too many pressings, and the result was a cheaper marketed, and sometimes not cheaper, copy passed on to the consumer. You’d find these in compilation records, and sometimes in your prized LP that didn’t sound as good as your buddies’. You’ll also find poor records from Masters that should have been destroyed. These over pressed cutting discs were later used to make bootlegged fraudulent recordings mono or stereo, and don’t think digital will save ya.

Digital can degrade by production or naturally over time too. The initial recordings are far from standardization, and the nature of the beast is such that development will change it and probably not mature like analog. Marketing gives us a potpourri of digital recordings and playback. The commercial best is seldom passed on. For example, compare early CDs to the best audiophile versions. Inexpensive quality classical versions were everywhere where pop/rock would more often than not put quality on the shelf with a tier related price tag. Why are the better quality versions not readily available as the more common ones now that they have seen their development heyday? Easy answer $$$$$. Streaming tends to up the challenge (sometimes). Easy answer again $$$$$. Still, any format and related is enough to appreciate in one’s lifetime.

https://www.pressingvinyl.co.uk/index.p ... g-lacquer/

Early mono recordings do have their large share of terrible recordings, but mainly because of the primitive miking. Perhaps, a wire recorder was used for the original. Maybe a metal or wax cylinder was the culprit. The microphone might have been a horn that resembled that of a gramophone, or a wall microphone that did the same job. Odds are it was a lousy mic or poor use of a decent one. Poor acoustics or poor sound proofing in a studio, inconsistent speeds, and many other inconsistencies including poor material for the discs all added to the entertainment.

Mono got considerably better as time moved on, and when stereo came along, all the right practices and equipment were pretty much in place. OMG look at all the cool toys to be built and played with. :shock:
It was the producers who dabbled and made stereo what it is by using different techniques. It was the creative brains behind the success just as it was later with surround sound. The producers gained celebrity status.

Phil Spector’s mono Wall of Sound is legendary, and his methods should be in every serious recording enthusiast’s back pocket of knowledge if only to show what one can achieve outside of the box. He hated stereo because it upset his apple cart, and two speakers meant that the sound would change with the listener’s use and placement of the speakers. I remember laying under an early 60s stereo console with my father to get a different full effect. This compromised the producer’s intention.



Esquivel “King of Space Age Pop”, who performed with elaborate light shows before others, is known to have used two bands in separate studios recording stereo simultaneously tweaking instruments and vocals and manipulating both as if they were simply separate tracks to pan or expand or diminish or whatever for his sound.


Many others have added their contributions, but it’s plain to see that whatever tools are used, it’s like using hand tools in place of power tools. Budget and choice is important, the builder is another. That little project with the basic tools just might outshine the big one. Make it your own. :wink:

I was once told that the perfect amplifier is a straight wire.

FSB

For those who haven’t chimed in yet, we’d like to hear your story and how you use your gear for recording. 8)
Break a leg.

TIA

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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:59 am
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Fender Strat Brat wrote:
For those who haven’t chimed in yet, we’d like to hear your story and how you use your gear for recording. 8)
Break a leg.

TIA


Yes and even if you only record on your tablet or phone too.

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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:50 am
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Bump for post NAMM peeps.

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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:50 am
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I already mentioned my recording software. Here is my old rig (records to an internal SCSI hard drive):

Image

And a recording sample. The guitar was recorded with a Sure Beta 58A microphone.



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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 9:24 pm
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That was great, Ghost. Nice playing. That mini studio sounded very good, but I’m not surprised. I’m old enough to know when Fostex made a huge hit in the 70s. With a built in hard drive, pretty cool.

That’s another fine example on how less can be more to get those tracks laid down. Always nice to have more tools at your disposal, but that can be more work and sometimes it can take time away from actually laying down tracks; but, I think that comes down to how your creative space and setup is, and how comfortable you feel with it. For sure there are other choices with hardware and software, but old school works too. In any case thanks for showing us your gear, and your performance, Ghost. Nice addition to the thread. :D
Everybody's welcome. Jump in. You may help the creative members here. Even your methods, upsides, downsides, likes, dislikes, what have you. Bring what ya got. Love to hear from ya. :D
FSB

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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:55 am
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thanks FSB! In case anyone is wondering:

Drums: Boss "Doctor Rhythm" DR-550MKII drum machine (I did the programming)
Bass: The same MIM Fender Jazz bass I mentioned earlier - straight into the mixing board. I didn't have a compressor at the time the bass was recorded.
Piano: Alesis Keyboard - I don't remember what model - straight into the mixing board. I didn't play the piano track, a friend did.

The piano, bass and drums were recorded in 2004. I added the guitar part in 2017.


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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:43 pm
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Great follow up, Ghost. Thanks. One mention on the compression. Some time back I read an article that did a poll after talk amongst some highly respected audio engineers. It was obvious that when asked they said of any one feature they could have on a mixer what would it be? Compression was the answer (no surprise for drummers). :lol:
Great drum machine. That's why I retired . :lol:

Check out some audio files while they last:
https://en.m.audiofanzine.com/drum-mach ... ias/audio/

FSB

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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:07 pm
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absolutely built-in compression would be my answer too. One of the many reasons recording with software like FL Studio is great. It does indeed have a built-in compressor.

Wow those Dr. Rhythm samples take me back. Those are the demo patches, I would know them anywhere. Amazing what you can remember after over a decade of not doing something.


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Post subject: Re: Your home recording gear?
Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 3:19 pm
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I remember when drum machines were introduced. Drummers then were not worried about the future. Snares sounded like the cardboard box that Jerry Allison used on Buddy Holly’s Not Fade Away. Works for the song but not for representation, and the joke of the early units were that cymbals sounded like tin pans from a garbage dump under a pile of paper. No analog sizzle (more like harsh digital scrapes of a blackboard, or crunching of tin foil, or like nothing ever heard before), no full body sounding wide spread Genie in the lamp gong, and neither could respond with swells and long undulating fading into the distance. Replace a drum kit? How about those electronic drums? Seriously? Not a chance. Theme are toys. Boy, were we wrong.

Along came sampling, and it got better and better to what it is today. Savvy drummers jumped on board with acceptance. Guitarists had another tool to keep time. As the Boss drum samples showed, even the guiro and timbales rock. Very close to the same as the real thing now (ambience aside for the majority), and a bonus of added sounds to explore; however, I haven’t heard machined mallets on a 24 inch cymbal yet so I’ll reserve that opinion. I’m sure it would be good too, but, just like guitarists can hear nuances drummers are no different if not worse.Both real and synth work alongside well with advantages and disadvantages for both. I’d be happy to add electronics to my kit, but my needs (and space) don’t warrant it.

One thing where drum machines fall short is in showmanship. It would be like watching paint dry. :lol: Maybe, they could be hooked up to Vari-Lites.
Or I could hire my cousin the lighting director who’s lit the Astro Dome. :P
FSB

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