Month: January 2011

Categories
Connecticut Audio History Recordings

Bridgeport CT Punk Rock 1985 : : : update : : :

Came across this 1985  7″ at a yard sale this past summer.  The band is called ‘Rude Awakening’ and the A-side is “Teenage Suicide.”  The label tells us that it was recorded at Downstairs Studio, Bridgeport CT.  Label is Incas Records, whom I believe I had some contact with some years ago when I was scouting for some re-issue material for Anthology Recordings.   ‘Teenage Suicide’ is sort-of punk-opera with lots of different sections, changes, etc.  My pick is the B-side “Wanted” which has a classic Johnny Thunders vibe.  Check it out:

LISTEN: Wanted

Update: Tom Boudreau, writer of ‘Wanted’ and guitar-player for ‘Rude Awakening’ got in touch with PS.com.  Here’s a few words from Tom about the band and the studio:

“(re: the) Rude Awakening 45. That was a few lifetimes  ago. Roughly 25yrs later i can report that we sadly lost my brother / drummer in 05 due to complicated health issues / diabetes. I am still in contact with Joe Stoner (vocals).  Sean (bass) is still local and we have crossed paths over the years.  Joe wrote the A side and i wrote the B side of that record.  All 4 of us built the music. I do not have any contact with Sam Eckhardt who owned and opperated Downstairs Studio. This was an 8 track Tascam board, 388 1/2″ reel, 2 room facility in the basement of Davidsons Fabric in Downtown Bridgeport. A lot of bands recorded there in the mid-80’s. Currently i have a small project studio in my home.  I still have contact with Incas (Records). I have done some tape to cd transfer for them including ‘Ct Fun’ which was a compilation done with many bands from the times including Rude…

Tom Boudreau
www.boneheadstudio.com”

Thanks for getting in touch Tom!  The Davidsons building, btw, is still present in Downtown Bridgeport.  It’s just one of another abandoned buildings in the largely derelict downtown of this once-great city.  The huge painted ‘Davidsons’ signage is clearly visible to all who approach the bus/train station from the North.  I’ve asked Tom for some pics of  ‘Downstairs Studio’; if any arrive I will post them here.   BTW, nice to get a solid, concrete examples of one of the hundreds of busy, active Tascam-based project studios of the early 1980s.  See this previous post for more on the Tascam revolution.

Categories
Early Electronic Music History Publications

Out-Of-Print-Book Report: History Of Music Machines (Smithsonian)

Came across this obscure volume in a rubbish bin several years ago.  Published by Drake Publishers in 1975 and billed as being ‘Prepared By The Smithsonian’ (No author attributed), “(The)History Of Music Machines” (hf. ‘HOMM’) is a b&w hardcover gift/coffee-table book which presents a fairly interesting survey of the history of reproduced sound.  Several copies are available for just a few bucks at amazon. 139pp.

From the introduction (by writer Irving Kolodin):

“Over the years, the debates have continued about the pros and cons of music machines, the impact of their existence on the habit patterns of society,…. their influence for good and evil on taste…  As for taste, it has been driven to the wall, and all but through it, by exploitation of the music machines’ potential for serving the lowest common denominator.  Whether in records, or in radio’s reliance on the Top Forty -those loudest, hardest, often cheapest appeals to the beetle-browed-  selectivity has since foundered on the rock of commercialism.”

Jesus Irving.  Don’t mince words buddy.  Tell us how you really feel.  Note how he allusively slips ‘Be(e/a)tle’ and ‘Rock’ in there.  Nice one.  ANYhow. Reactionary sentiments asides, HOMM is basically a chronological series of photos with explanatory captions.  I find it interesting because it does not attempt to parse recording devices, electric instuments, synthesizers, amplification equipment, choosing instead to include all of these very different (in my mind, at least) type of equipment into the totality of ‘music machines.’  This suggests the view point that music is either made ‘by man alone’ or somehow made ‘by machine.’  It’s an interesting idea.  A very outmoded binary opposition, certainly.  Here are some highlights.

The multiphone, a wax-cylinder jukebox from 1905.

The Stroh Violin.  DS mentioned  last week that he had seen a band in NYC recently that performs exclusively 1900-1930 music on all period instruments.  ‘One of those Violins with the victrola horn’ is apparently employed.  Now we know that this is called a Stroh Violin.

The much-loved Magnecord PT6 gets some praise.

HOMM ends with some (even then very-dated) images of Electronic Music Studios. Above we have the Columbia-Princeton Studio circa 1959 (see my previous post) and below some rare images of the circa ’65 studios at the Catholic University of America.

(footnote: a nod to EKL, originator of the ‘out-of-print-book-report’ in her PARFAIT series)

Categories
Connecticut Audio History

LOFT recording consoles circa mid 1970’s: UPDATE

Pictured above is the very first recording/mixing console made by LOFT (Loft Modular Devices, Inc.).  It is a model 440.  LOFT was a manufacturer of Pro Audio equipment in Manchester Connecticut active in the 1970s.  In 1980 LOFT became Phoenix Audio.

Here’s a close up shot of a Loft model 440 console.  From the first picture, the Tascam 80-8 mounted in the desk to the right tells us that these were boards aimed at the professional project studio/demo studio market.

Another close-up image of a 440, this time a series 2.  These images, and all that follow in this post, come courtesy of LOFT founder Peter Nimirowski.  Peter got in touch with PS after we ran this earlier post which mentioned some of the LOFT outboard gear.  Peter has this to say about LOFT’s consoles:

“Loft … made two series of mixing desks.  The 440 Series  used a Microtran Transformer in the mic pre-amp. This console was probably one of the first low cost professional desks. My understanding is one is in use in CT another in Calif.    (Regarding) the 800 Series: we only made a handful of these boards. This was at the crossover point from Loft Modular Devices to Phoenix Audio.  (We) tried to make the leap into the pro studios. The first console used Allison’s Trans-Amp in the pre-amp circuit. Consoles after that used our own transformerless pre-amp design.  John Roberts was responsible for all Loft and later Phoenix Audio circuit designs. A truly brilliant designer. The consoles were manufactured mid to late 70’s. By 1980 LMD had become Phoenix Audio which did not manufacturer any consoles. When I together with Richard Federman started LMD it was a result of wanting to build a recording studio, not a manufacturing company. At that time except for API, Quad 8 and Maybe Neve, there really wasn’t much of a choice in affordable mixing desks. As far as technology, the first IC op-amp the 709 had just been developed. PC boards where just coming into existence. LMD manufactured all PCB in house. I designed and built the etching system. Everything was done in house.

Thanks for getting in touch Peter.  Here are some images of the later 800 series console, again from Peter’s archive.

Categories
Technical

Gately EM-7 Mixer and EQ-7 4-channel Equalizer Unit

In a previous post, I included the scan at left from a 1969 issue of the AES journal.  It’s an ad for the Gately Electronics EM-7 4×2 mixer and EM-7 4-channel equalizer.  At the time I had hoped to find one of these little setups, and sure enough,  one of the EM-7 mixers came along on eBay.  I checked the sellers ‘completed listings’ and saw that he had sold the companion EQ-7 equalizer unit earlier.  I contacted that buyer through eBay, indicating that I was interested in the EQ-7 should he decide to part with it.  Sure enough, he did.  So I was able to get an EQ7 as well.

All in all it turned out to be a great deal.  It was a bit of a pain in the ass to get these things working, but at the end of the day I ended up with 4 fully discrete mic preamps with discrete EQs, all running on 48v, and all with UTC input and output transformers.

This post will get a bit technical, so follow the link below to read on…  CLICK TO CONTINUE….

Continue reading “Gately EM-7 Mixer and EQ-7 4-channel Equalizer Unit”