garyrc Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 A slight tangent .... Does anybody know which artists, producers, or labels still use analog tape to record, even if they release in digital? Is it 30 ips, 15, or what? How about tape formulation, width, number of tracks, and type (brand/model) of recorder? What are the original music elements recorded on in making a new American film? Thanks ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Jake Shimabukuro's Album "Dragon" was recorded on tape. It sounds wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Tony Visconti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Some studios still like to work in analog. It's funny, now that the technology has improved to the point we could make killer machines and tape. It's not just for nostalgias sake, but for the quality. Good post Bruce. It is intriguing to think about what could be produced today and a little sad that RTR may one day go the way of the 8 track. As far as tape, I have all I will ever need and as you and Groomy pointed out its still available. Does anyone have a Studer or Otari? Never had one but if the budget ever allows..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I was looking at a 16 track 1" Otari a couple of years ago. I just didn't feel like I could justify it, although a couple good friends of mine would have loved for me to get it. The Studers are just too far out there... The quality with Dolby SR was/is really good. If you didn't need to go over 16-24 tracks, you were set. Now we are used to 100+ tracks on digital recording. I think it takes the life out of the performance, but that's a whole other story. Gary, I do know that Bruce Swedien (Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney...) loved to record certain parts to tape and bounce to digital for the editing. Not sure if he still does. I think he especially liked to do the drums on analog, because of the wonderful fatness he could get (for want of a better term). Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AltmanEars Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I still have a 1/2 track a77 with Mark Levinson boards... I havent heard it since 1987 but it is stunning. I bet you could buy an a77 for the price of a steak dinner at Morton's. I also doubt anyone at Levinson even knows about the boards. BTW the a77 with the boards sounds marginally better than a Studer a700. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkytype Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 PWK spent many happy hours taping his local symphony orchestra. I wonder what recorder he used. Gary, In the mid to late '70s I was fortunate to tape record the Arkansas Sympathy Orchestra with PWK in Little Rock. The players were pretty bad (hence his renaming) but it was live music and a good reference for the ear. Since Paul and Valerie were contributors to the orchestra's fund raising entity, he had free reign "behind the curtains". PWK used a Revox PR99 MK II 1/2 track running at (I think) 15 IPS. http://www.reeltoreel.de/worldwide/PR99-2G.htm He used a pair of spaced omni AKG mikes flown from the light grid. I used a Tandberg 10XD 1/2 track with Dolby running at 7.5 IPS. http://www.bassboy.com.au/getreel/site/samples/tandberg/10xd/10xd.htm The mikes I used were a Neuman U47 & U87 in a mid-side (MS) configuration also flown from the light grid. One of my fond memories of those sessions was when we were setting up our gear. I was using some rather stiff microphone cable and complained to PWK that it wouldn't lie flat on the floor. He gave me that mischievous PWK "look" and said, "Lee, it can't possibly lie flat---it's round!" With the exception of Otari, I have never been a fan of Japanese-made decks. If there is a brand worse than Dokorder, let me know! Most have poor tape path geometry when trying to use 1.5 mil tape. Some Tascam models were OK but the multi-track decks needed outboard noise reduction to compensate for the non-standard narrower track width. As a past owner of both Revox and Tandberg decks, I'd probably recommend any 1/2 track high speed (7.5 & 15 IPS) Revox from the B-77 forward. Keep in mind that Revox used heads with a round profile shape as opposed to the more conventional parabolic shape. This allow for better head contact at the expense of accelerated headwear. BTW, headwear increases (or decreases) as the square of the speed. A deck running at 15 IPS will wear the heads four times faster than the same deck running at 7.5 IPS. If you have a vintage deck and need replacement heads, alignment tapes or recording media, I highly recommend JRF Magnetic Sciences. http://www.jrfmagnetics.com/ I've used John French to relap a dozen or more 1" & 2" 16 and 24 track heads as well as the source for new heads. With proper head alignment, you should be able to get at least two lappings before the head gap becomes too wide. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Hey Lee, thats really fun to read about the PWK stuff. Thanks for sharing. Interesting about the head wear vs tape speed. Not really a concern for me with my small time usage, but it does make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 PWK spent many happy hours taping his local symphony orchestra. I wonder what recorder he used. Gary, In the mid to late '70s I was fortunate to tape record the Arkansas Sympathy Orchestra with PWK in Little Rock. The players were pretty bad (hence his renaming) but it was live music and a good reference for the ear. Since Paul and Valerie were contributors to the orchestra's fund raising entity, he had free reign "behind the curtains". PWK used a Revox PR99 MK II 1/2 track running at (I think) 15 IPS. http://www.reeltoreel.de/worldwide/PR99-2G.htm He used a pair of spaced omni AKG mikes flown from the light grid. I used a Tandberg 10XD 1/2 track with Dolby running at 7.5 IPS. http://www.bassboy.com.au/getreel/site/samples/tandberg/10xd/10xd.htm The mikes I used were a Neuman U47 & U87 in a mid-side (MS) configuration also flown from the light grid. One of my fond memories of those sessions was when we were setting up our gear. I was using some rather stiff microphone cable and complained to PWK that it wouldn't lie flat on the floor. He gave me that mischievous PWK "look" and said, "Lee, it can't possibly lie flat---it's round!" With the exception of Otari, I have never been a fan of Japanese-made decks. If there is a brand worse than Dokorder, let me know! Most have poor tape path geometry when trying to use 1.5 mil tape. Some Tascam models were OK but the multi-track decks needed outboard noise reduction to compensate for the non-standard narrower track width. As a past owner of both Revox and Tandberg decks, I'd probably recommend any 1/2 track high speed (7.5 & 15 IPS) Revox from the B-77 forward. Keep in mind that Revox used heads with a round profile shape as opposed to the more conventional parabolic shape. This allow for better head contact at the expense of accelerated headwear. BTW, headwear increases (or decreases) as the square of the speed. A deck running at 15 IPS will wear the heads four times faster than the same deck running at 7.5 IPS. If you have a vintage deck and need replacement heads, alignment tapes or recording media, I highly recommend JRF Magnetic Sciences. http://www.jrfmagnetics.com/ I've used John French to relap a dozen or more 1" & 2" 16 and 24 track heads as well as the source for new heads. With proper head alignment, you should be able to get at least two lappings before the head gap becomes too wide. Lee Lee thanks for the story..... LOL sympathy orchestra LOL....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 If there is a brand worse than Dokorder, let me know! I don't think there is... I got one of their 4 tracks around '75, and immediately had trouble with it. It was a nice looking design, but hardly anything worked on it, right out of the box. I took it back and got my 3340S, which worked flawlessly. It was about $1150 at the time. Some friends of mine had a Fostex E-16, and did numerous albums on it. It worked really well, and they never needed any real repair on it. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 My friend Sergei uses a Studor A820 Master Recorder to record his vinyl and then playback. He even had a custom remote control unit made. Before he had the remote, he sent me pictures of wires he had routed up along the ceiling and down to his listening position that he would use to control the deck! This picture is a parts machine that I'm storing for him, and sending parts every once in a while. A beautifully made machine. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Hey Greg, I remember reading that Sergei lives in Russia and that you have visited him there. How did you ever meet and befriend Sergei? On these RTR machines and tapes. Is there a chart out there that shows which tapes share the same bias characteristics? Like I know that my machine likes Ampex Grand Master 456 and also 406. But are there others that share the same bias as those tapes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 On these RTR machines and tapes. Is there a chart out there that shows which tapes share the same bias characteristics? Like I know that my machine likes Ampex Grand Master 456 and also 406. But are there others that share the same bias as those tapes? JL: Go to this site. They have very, very high quality new replacement tape that is the same specs as the AMPEX tape. The link below is for the 456 replacement. http://www.usrecordingmedia.com/rmsm1x25pain.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvan Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 That Studer deck looks just like the one used for final mixdown of a recording session I played on at the superlative Studio in the Country. The 24 track work was recorded onto a 2" version of that deck. NICE hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Marshall, thanks for the link on the 456 replacement tape. That helps alot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.