Month: January 2014

Categories
Synthesizers

Keyboards of the Seventies part II

Contessa_2Above: What the holy F is this thing?

Today: yet another installment in our ongoing series on Keyboard of the 1970s.  Click here for part one.  As per usual, if you are still using these things today, drop us a line and let us know!  Except for the Rhodes.  There’s nothing new to say about those fkkn things.  So keep yr Rhodes to yrself thanks.

Univox_Compac_piano_1972Above: the Univox Compac Piano.  We had one of these things for a minute in high school.  I think it was $100.  Really terrible sound.  Click here for previous coverage of this atrocity.  

Rhodes_1977 Rhodes_1972Above: the two worst ads Fender ever ran for the Rhodes.  ’77 and ’72.

Novaline_piano_1977Above: The Novaline Piano circa ’77. Never seen one.  Anyone? 

MaxiKorg_1977Above: The KORG Maxi-Korg circa ’77.  Looks pretty cool.  Any of these still working?

Hohner_1977Above: Hohner made many keyboards besides the famous Clavinet.  For instance,,,

Hohner_Contessa_96_1972…The Contessa of 1972.  Farfisa-type organ with accordion chord-buttons in the left hand.  Yikes.

Baldwin_SynthaSound_1972Next time you see one of those shitty old Baldwin living-room-organs at the goodwill, take a 2nd look: it might have the SynthaSound option boards.  Wacky sounds ensue. 

Elka_Stringchoir_1977Above: The ELKA #8609 String Choir.  My K2500 has a bunch of ELKA patches and I kinda like em.  Anyone use the 8609?  How does it compare to other string synths of the era?

Categories
Gold Coast Recorders

P.J. Pacifico’s new EP ‘Overlooking The Obvious’ recorded at GCR

FirefoxScreenSnapz001How are y’all doing today… wanted to L Y K that P.J. Pacifico’s new EP “Overlooking the Obvious” is out now on Viper Records.  I tracked “OTO” last year at Gold Coast Recorders with Kit Karlson producing.  Kit also did the wonderful, huge-sounding mix of the album.  Garrison Starr provided vocals and frequent GCR visitors Chip Johnson and Tim Walsh feature as well.  Tobias Baharian shot this live-in-the studio promo clip for “Bend It Till It Breaks,” and what you are seeing is the actual tracking of the album.

Anyhow, yes that is our timeless RCA BK5 you are hearing on PJ’s voice… once again, I cannot say enough good things about these mics.  Pick one up if you can!  And thanks to Tobias for so lovingly-depicting our giant pile of vintage gear at GCR!

Categories
Uncategorized

I need some advice re: real-time stereo pitch shifting

hello y’all…  I am looking to buy a 2nd-hand hardware box that will allow me to input a stereo analog audio signal and get a clean pitch-shifted polyphonic octave-down.   I’ve been looking at eventide H3000s on eBay but they are just a bit too expensive for what may be a total boondoggle.

I don’t need uber-fidelity; 44.k sampling rate and 16-bit internal processing is fine.  Balanced i/o would be very good but maybe not a necessity?

And pls no speculation or armchair recommendations folks; I am just looking for suggestions from people who have actually used the suggested device personally for this specific task.  Thanks for reading – c.

Categories
Microphones

MXL R40 Ribbon Mics are back at M F dot com for $69.99

MXL_R40_test_setupHow are y’all doin on this bright+chilly day.  Wanted to L Y K that the MXL R40 Ribbon Mics are apparently available again for $69 at musicians friend dot com.  Click here to go to their website.  The prices on this item fluctuate wildly, so if you’ve been considering buying your first ribbon mic (or maybe a knock-around unit for live sound use….???), this might be the time to move.

While not a great microphone on the level of a good vintage RCA or Beyer, the MXL sounds surprisingly good when mod’d with an aftermarket transformer.  We ran an article on this easy+inexpensive process some years ago, and it has proven to be one of the most popular articles on PreservationSound.

Click here to read that article.

…And click hear to check out a listening test that we did of 4 different ribbon mics, including the mod’d R40.