Hummm....
First off the going price for an Ampex ATR 100 2 track, 1/4 inch =
recorder in=20
"good condition" is about $ 1,500.00. There's little reason to pay any =
more for=20
one.... yet there's listing after listing of these machines for 3,500 =
and up....=20
hummmmm.....=20
next I've seen an ad for an Ampex MR 70 machine for $ 14,000.00 !!!! =
Now=20
there ain't no way that a 2 track is worth 14 grand.... sure it's not =
readily=20
found, but it isn't god's gift to recording and won't make your =
recording sound=20
that much better....... Hummmmmm......=20
There's a "feeding frenzy" going on with older "vintage" =
equipment. =20
Don't get suckered into it. There's no reason on earth why a LA-2=20
compressor/limiter should go for over 3 grand, except that it's =
somewhat=20
rare. It won't make your recordings sound any better than they do =
without=20
it. Truly... if ya can't make good sounding recordings without =
lots of=20
weird and hard to find equipment, ya gotta ask yourselves if =
you're really=20
making any good sounding stuff at all....=20
(Make sure to listen to these and other =
recordings in the=20
original vinyl disks if you can, or if you must listen to them digitaly, =
=20
listen to them in SACD format. DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYTHING in a mp3 =
format,=20
or in plain CD format!) - also - if you don't have an SACD player, =
shame=20
on you!! These are far better in sound quality than anything =
available in=20
the digital format, and are the only recordings you should listen =
to when=20
you're doing serious listening to the older recordings! SACD is =
10 times=20
better in quality than a regular CD. ) Too often "today's" music and engineer is overwhelmed with filling =
every=20
space with something..... yet it's spaces in music that define the =
apparent=20
loudness of the next section. I was driving in my van between =
jobs and=20
the "Brian Jonestown Massacre" came on.... sounded "mushy" but somewhat =
OK.....=20
then good ol' KUSF followed it with Donovan's "Season of the Witch".... =
huge=20
guitar, in your face vocal, great overall sound. Why? =
=20
because of the space allowed between the notes, the "open-ness". =
Remember.... no one buys a record =
because "it's=20
recorded good"... they buy it because the music's good......
there are lots of folks who seek to =
separate you=20
from your money in the "music business" and ya gotta watch out for =
them....=20
Also there are 1 inch 2 tracks, costing over $12,000 being =
sold.... these=20
are really worthless in my opinion...
I worked at CBS Records' =
recording=20
studio here in San Francisco for a few years - cutting disks.
100% =
of ALL=20
the records I cut - and that included some Bob Dylan, Santana, Bill =
Evans,=20
Herbie Hancock, ConFunkShun, lots of jazz, lots of good ol' Rock =
and=20
Roll,even some Funk and some Classical stuff - were cut using an =
old=20
Ampex 440B machine. None were 1/2 inch two track Masters. =
But=20
everyone loved the way their records sounded, and likely if you grew up =
with=20
vinyl records, you loved the way they sounded too.
So you =
DON"T=20
NEED MORE THAN A GOOD 440B machine or a good MCI JH110B, in 1/4 inch 2 =
track=20
format to make GREAT sounding Master Tapes.
Don't get sucked =
into=20
all the 'hype'.
1/2 inch 2 tracks are good I agree on that, but 1/4 =
inch 2=20
track is just as good as far as sound is concerned..
Listen to the =
"old"=20
records..... like vintage Sinatra, or most of the records recorded in =
the 60's.=20
Get Donavan's "Season of the Witch" recorded in the 60's.... =
listen to=20
the vocal and the in-your-face-guitar.... can you do better????
Those great =
sounding=20
records used less equipment than you already have.... yet they sound so =
damn=20
good don't they? So Why is it that these ancient things sound better =
than the=20
stuff you're putting out??? ahhh that's the question.... well I worked =
at CBS=20
records in the middle 70's and got to see some of the great recording =
engineers=20
in action. They didn't have tricks, they simply worked with =
good=20
musicians who could PLAY and the engineers just tried to capture what =
was going=20
on in the studio. We had "vintage gear" because we had the latest =
then-available stuff. Nothing was special or magic. What =
was magic=20
though, was that we didn't allow the musicians to record their =
parts=20
independently of the rest of the band.... it was pretty much all done =
together.=20
There were few over-dubs, and you couldn't go in and punch in for =
a few=20
notes here and there..... if a solo was bad, you re-played the =
entire solo=20
until you got it right. And we knew that to sound "loud and big" =
you had=20
to contrast yourself against "silence".=20
Listen=20
and learn from the great sounding recordings of the 40's, 50's and =
60's.... they=20
had far less quality equipment than the smallest studio these days =
has.....
99 percent of the records made in small studios sound =
horrible.=20
Some are unlistenable.
Yet the studio most come out of has =
more=20
equipment, better quality gear, than the studios
of the 1960's and =
70"s and=20
even the 80's. Lame musicians make lame dull music.
Lame =
untalented=20
recording engineers make weak sounding recordings.
There isn't =
any piece=20
of equipment that will fix bad talent on either side of the glass. =
There=20
isn't a piece of gear that will make a weak recording sound better. =
There=20
isn't a piece of gear that's going to make up for the fact you may not =
have any=20
real talent.
Just because you 'want' a recording studio, and =
'want' to=20
be a recording engineer
doesn't mean you should be one, or should =
have a=20
home studio.
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