Categories
Guitar Equipment Icons Recordings

Spring Reverb Defines a Mythic Space Where The Legends of Rock Live

Listen to this audio.

Gtr_Amp_Close_up

You don’t need me to tell you that this is the sound of an electric guitar playing through a guitar amp (speaker).  You would believe me if I told you this was what you were hearing.

***********

*******

***

But what about the space that this happening in?  And what does the sonic event of this speaker-movement sound like in that space?  I can show you.

GtrAmp_in_a_room

…And you would believe me that this is the space in which this event is taking place.

***********

*******

***

Humans are pretty good at using our ears/brain to evaluate a sound and judge the space in which that sound is occurring.  We never had to do this much until about 100 years ago, because until we had technology to record/transmit and playback sound as audio, the only way to hear a sound was to be physically present where the sound was being generated.  So baring blindness or blindfold, if you heard a sound, you did in fact have good direct knowledge of the space in which the sound was occurring.  But we now have the technology to capture and reproduce sounds divorced from their origin in time and/or space.  And we also have devised technologies to synthesize the sound of spaces.  We can synthesize very good imitations of real physical spaces that we have experienced in the flesh.  And we can also synthesize the effect of imaginary and unreal spaces.

Listen to the guitar performance again.

GtrAmp_DigitalReverb_Church

I have taken the close-mic’d guitar-audio you listened to initially and ‘placed it’ into a ‘church-space’ by processing it with a computer-reverb program.  There is no actual physical space captured here, other than the 2-inches between the microphone and the speaker.  But, if we suspend that knowledge, I think that we can all reasonably accept that yes it does in fact sound like the guitar-performance is taking place here:

(web source)

Many generations of computer-programmers have labored for decades to create that sonic illusion, and they have done a pretty good job at it.   Even the cheapest pieces of audio-hardware nowadays come with these digital-reverb programs built-in, and there are generally dozens of ‘spaces’ on offer, from Halls to Churches to Rooms etc.  And most of the time, these reverb-programs are effectively able to convince us of the spaces that their names suggest.

But what about spring reverb?  AKA., guitar-amp-reverb?  AKA, the reverb knob on your old Fender (or whatever…) amp?  Exactly what space is defined there?

Let’s take a listen.  Here’s the same close-mic’d guitar performance you heard earlier; this time, though, I have turned on the reverb knob on the amp.

GtrAmpSpringReverb

It’s evocative, right?  But of what?  And more importantly, of where?  Our brain is telling us that the guitar is now in some sort of space.  But what is that space?  Well, literally, it’s the space and the springs inside this little 9-inch steel can in the back of the guitar amp.

(web source)

But emotionally, we don’t feel like we’re hearing the sound of this little sardine can.  Instead, the guitar-performance (and our imaginations) have been transported to some sort of mythic Rock-Legend-Space.  How is this possible?  Because we have heard this same goddamn accutronics-reverb-tank sound a million trillion times since were little kids.  Because nearly every good-quality guitar amplifier made in this country or any other between the years 1965 and 2000 had one of these little mechanisms in it.  Furthermore, we never heard the sound of this ‘space’ when we were walking down the street, or to the kitchen in the middle of the night to get a snack (crunchy carrots).  We have heard this space a zillion times always and only in context of Rock and Roll.  Either on record, on the radio, or in a club watching a band on an elevated stage.  Through these millions of associations, the sound created by that little metal can has come to represent a sort-of Mount Olympus of Rock and Roll.

(web source)

Or, if you like, the Hall Of Justice of Rock.

(web source)

***************

**********

******

Have you ever read Rock Dreams by Peelaert and Cohn?  It’s a collection of illustrations (with some explanatory text) that attempts to visualize the legends and myths that we associate with various Rock and Soul performers.

All of the personages represented in the illustrations are real, actual people who were born, lived, and died (or will).  But they have been placed in settings which are simultaneously unreal and yet totally expected.  The scenes depicted in the images are not actual places where these people ever set foot.  Instead they are spaces that we have created in our collective imaginations.  And they are very fitting.

I think the spring-reverb box in the guitar amp has come to define such a space.  Not a space of inches and miles, walls and ceilings, tiles and columns; but an imagined space where Rock and Roll lives; an imagined space that we all imagine with uncanny similarity.

Categories
Publications

Recording Engineer/Producer Part III

Spent yesterday doing some tech work in a time-capsule circa 1983 recording studio.  Today’s perusal of RE/P Magazine c.’85 feels especially poignant.

I had never paid attention to the name ‘Dennis Lambert’ before, but wow what a list of credits this dude has.  The Four Tops ‘Ain’t no Woman Like The One I Got.’  Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds.  Survivor.  The Grass Roots.  And Player’s ‘Baby Come Back.’

RE/P identifies Lambert as a master of the ‘Crossover Hit,’ which basically means that his music has an incredibly broad appeal that spans multiple listening tastes.   Based on his credits, I think this is accurate.  Dude had a book published called “Producing Hit Records,” and I think he earned the right.  This interview was conducted as his active career was coming to a close.

Sony Electronics recently unveiled a new product called the SONY DASH.  It is a ‘personal internet viewer,’ sort-of like a clock radio-meets- iPad.  I worked on the product launch for months as music-supervisor and never once did I recall that SONY actually had a major pro-audio product named DASH in the 80’s/90’s.  The DASH digital-multitrack has vanished to that great of a extent.  Crazy.  These gigantic, expensive machines were the historical bridge between 24-track analog tape and DAWs like Pro Tools.  A lot of really, really big records were recorded on the DASH, but at this point, they offer neither the ‘sound’ of analog tape nor the convenience/editing ability of DAWs.  God only knows where these monsters have ended up.  Feel like I saw one of eBay for like $1500 last year.

Here we have a competing digital multi-track from Mitsubishi.

Effectron!  What happened?  Where did your knobs go?  Bad move guys.  Unlike the circa ’82 blue Effectron with the great, tactile interface, this later digitally-controlled version was not a hit.

Love, love my DBX 900 rack.  I have five 903 compressor cards, one 902 De-esser, and 2 of the gates.  These are a great value in outboard gear and they take up so little space.  Highly recommended.

As much as I like older audio equipment, I do not miss hardware gates.  Not at all.  Thank you Pro Tools and the Digital Hygiene that you make possible.  There are certainly many creative applications for these devices, but overall this is functionality that is much better served by the DAW.

Seems like a pleasant lady.  Interesting how FOSTEX is really going after the non-technical-person market here.  As-in., “I write songs. I want to record them.  Don’t care about specs ETC.  Here’s a pic of me writing a tune.  Here I am looking pensive.  Also here’s the product.”  TASCAM had a very similar product range at the time, but conversely, they wanted to convince you that their 16-track 1″ machine was ‘actually serious kit, for real!’

Categories
Publications

Recording Engineer/Producer Part II

Looking through the August and October 1983 issues of RE/P today.

What has changed since 1982?  There is an even bigger focus on digital recording – primarily new 2-channel Digital Mastering platforms.  There is also more discussion of Dolby noise-reduction.  This is certainly the direction that the 1980s were heading.

Today I will be going to a local studio to (attempt) to service the 1983 NEVE console installed there.  I don’t think it has been switched on for 10 years.  Wish me luck.  Expect a full report soon….

Audioarts appears again.  CT.

Speaking of Connecticut:  when I was growing up, ‘Eastcoast Sound’ was the local guitar store.  It was a gigantic cavernous former roller-rink (or so i heard…) steps from Candlewood Lake in Danbury CT.  Where FOREIGNER songs will blast from small-power boats until the end of time.  Anyhow, I had pretty mixed experience with Eastcoast.    Some good deals on used guitars and amps; not always the most professional salespeople.   A couple of years ago I came across this little gem on Youtube.  Incredible but true:

OK.  We’ve got Anaheim CA in 1983.  We’ve got a studio employee named Les Claypool.  He has a mustache.  Draw your own conclusions.

I would certainly buy a new Echoplate 3 for $1700.  Kinda miss 1983 right now.

Epcot Center: a true American icon on the 1980’s.  Here we get an in-depth study of the sound system installed there.

OK this is going to go on for a while…  So follow the link below to READ ON…

Categories
Publications

Commercially Marketable Product

Decided to stick with the ‘recording mag circa 81’ theme for a little while longer.  For the rest of the week we will be taking a look at “Recording Engineer/Producer” magazine in the early 1980s.

“Recording Engineer/Producer”  (hf. RE/P) was published between 1971 and 1992.  Read a quick and educational ‘love-letter’ to RE/P  here. We can roughly pin this as the time-span between the first affordable multi-track tape tape machines and the dawn of the ADAT, which was the first home-recording digital multitrack machine.    I am not suggesting that these particular pieces of technology were uniquely responsible for the fate of this publication but it interesting to note none-the-less.

If we can safely assume that “Modern Recording And Music” (see previous posts here and here) was aimed at home-recordists, RE/P is very clear that it is aimed at professional users working in commercial fields.    And this is indeed a more technical, more advanced publication.

Here’s a look at some of the content and products on display in October of 1982 from within the pages of RE/P.

The unstoppable Q makes another appearance.  This is a great article, with detailed notes on microphone and outboard gear techniques that Jones and Bruce Swedien were getting into at the time.  Oh and what were they working on in late 82?  A little record called THRILLER.

Man the Effectron is great.  There are like a million of these things out there; i see them for as little as $50.  Alright I am gonna put it on the line here; here is one of my very earliest studio productions featuring the device above.  Circa 1996.    I am not even going to try to explain this other than: if you can’t really sing…  you can use an Effectron (or any other LFO time- modulated delay) to turn your vocal performance into something else entirely.  Especially if the song/lyric is appropriate.

02 My Way

Our survey of this issue will go on for a while… so follow the link below to READ ON….

Categories
History Publications

Modern Recording And Music Part 2

So.  5 years later.  1981.  How had ‘home-recording’ coverage changed?  The range of products had increased, certainly.  There is still a focus here on consumer and prosumer tape decks and tape stock, vague ‘reader-questions’ such as “what does a producer do,” and of course the Teddy-Pendergrass tracking session notes.  The publication does seem to have gotten more sophisticated though.  We now see ads for expensive test equipment and console automation.   Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting bits and bobs c.  ’81.

I have one of these MXR limiters.  They can be purchased for under $100.  Initially I used it often to group-compress drums together with bass for hip hop tracks; lately I’ve been using it for parallel drum compression and it works great for that.  Very aggressive sound; quiet, good fidelity.  The ‘channel-link’ button seems to do very little; also the input (or output?) gain is not matched between the channels; annoying to work around but it’s worth the hassles for the sound.  Pick one up if you can.

Q is right to demand his Auratones.  This is a truly great product.  I had an old banged-up pair for years, and about 5 years ago I put a newly-manufactured pair of “Avantones” in their place.  The Avantone is just as good, if not better.   What are these speakers and why are they so good?  First off, don’t believe the language in this ad.  These speakers do not sound great, and they CERTAINLY do not give a mixer “all that will be in the grooves.”  These speakers are ‘real-world reference speakers.’ Unlike big, expensive ‘Studio Monitors,’ Auratones/Avantones  have no low end and no high end.  They sound, instead, like the majority of actual speakers that normal people will actually hear your work on.  This is crucial to mixing.  In the audio-post-production (IE,. sound work for video mediums) world we call these ‘TV speakers.”  As-in, ‘hey charlie, lemme hear it on the TV speakers.’  As-in, Auratones/Avantones sound pretty similar to the speakers that are built in to a decent TV set.  But: even better: they can handle very high power.  If you need to, you can put pretty heavy watts into these guys (well, at least the Avantones) and you will not damage them.

I love editing audio on the Avantones.  They just sound good at low volume levels.   Audio playback on really expensive speakers at low level always puts me off.  If I have to spend 3 hours editing drums, i would much rather do it at a quiet level on these little guys.  BTW – in my experience – artists generally hate these things.  The artist will always prefer hearing playback loud, and on the expensive speakers.  Be prepared.

I applaud Avantone for being straight-forward and celebrating their product as being ‘bass-impaired’ and ‘real-world.’  I think that if you had believed this 1981 ad and purchased a pair of Auratones as your main mixing speakers, you would have been very disappointed.  As a 2nd or 3rd pair of studio speakers, tho, they are great.

Pretty incredible that tape stock once made such an enormous difference in the quality of your recordings.  It is a similar concept as data compression today.  But while bytes are basically free, i.e., we all seem to have more data-storage capacity than we need, regardless of the bit rates and sampling frequency that we chose, tape was expensive!  I remember once purchasing a blank cassette tape for almost $60.  The shell was made from a ceramic composite.  What mix-tape could have possibly justified this expense? I think I was like 12 years old btw.

Nice.  Another piece of CT pro-audio history.  I recently came upon a large folio of original documentation on the entire ‘Loft’ line.  There is very little information on the web about this short-lived manufacturer, other than the later employment of its founder Peter J. Nimirowski. Looks like this man ran fast+far from the pro audio world.  If I can ever scare up a piece of this hardware I plan to write a feature on them.

Update:  Peter got in touch with PS.com after we published this article.  Peter tells us that he stayed involved with LOFT for several years after the firm was sold.  Peter also turned us on to the existence of LOFT consoles.  We have no information regarding these consoles in the archive, so if anyone out there can share any images/data ETC., please do.

Ah.  The classic.  These Technics decks just look so great, and they sound great too.  I had 3 or 4 of these at one time, literally pulled from the dumpster of an Ad Agency that ran out of storage space.  Someday another will turn up.  I don’t believe that these decks had balanced I/O, which would put them well in the camp of consumer audio gear, but if I remember right the sound quality was on par with any Tascam or Otari 50/50 that I ever owned.

********************

***********


The biggest development of the year in audio, however, was no fleeting piece of hardware: it was a new audio-product-delivery technology that would forever change the world of music and audio.   The Compact Digital Audio Disc.  The CD.

There has been a lot of discussion about the recent decline of the Recording-Industry.  A lot of accusations of poor moral decision-making on the part of music (non) purchasers; a lot of charges of greed and short-sightedness on the part of the industry; a lot of chatter that this was all ‘inevitable’ due to ‘information sharing’ in the ‘internet age.’

Can we consider, though, that perhaps it was not illegal file-sharing that began the collapse of the economic basis of the Recording Industry.  Perhaps instead we can trace the problem to the decision to encode consumer audio as data.  To forever free audio from issues of mechanical reproduction and the consequent loss of fidelity that occurs every time a mechanical copy (be it magnetic tape or embossed disc) is made.    Once the Recording Industry made the decision to offer these digital copies (I.E., CDs) of their content for sale, they essentially surrendered the one piece of control that they possessed up to that point: The ability to manufacture clones of their products which were identical in quality to the original.  By making and marketing CDs of their recordings, Record Companies essentially gave away the privileged access that they once had sole control over.

Sure, there were bootleg LPs and Tapes sold before 1981.  But they did not, COULD NOT, sound as good as a Label copy.  A bootleg CD sounds exactly the same as a Label CD.  It has to.  And a downloaded WAV file ripped from a CD sounds exactly the same as a label CD.  It has to.

Categories
History Publications

starting at the beginning

Decided to build a recording studio.  It won’t cost me a ton of bread.

I heard that it’s important to have a private, personal space to ‘work out ideas’ etc.

I’ve been reading up on where to stick the microphones.  So many loud noises.

This shit is hella confusing tho.  Might have to go to special recording school/camp.

***********

*******

***

“Modern Recording Magazine” was published from at least 1975 through 1981.  This is all I can confirm from both the internet, and from my own digging through physical copies of the magazine.  Based on the content of the advertising and editorial, the publication seems clearly aimed at the new species of ‘home-recordists’ birthed by the advent of the TEAC/TASCAM multi-track recording equipment (see scan at head of this article).  There is a lot of discussion of tape stock, graphic EQs, where to stick the mics, what goes down in a ‘pro session,’ etc.  Unlike “Recording Engineer/Producer,” another publication of the era, this magazine was not aimed at working professional sound engineers.   There is plenty of interesting content, though.  For instance, well-known music writers Nat Hentoff and Craig Anderton contributed some pieces.

The Jan’76 issue which I read today featured “Part II” of “The History of Magnetic Recording” by a Robert Angus.   This article revealed that the earliest magnetic audio recorders were demonstrated in the year 1900 and marketed and sold in the United States as early as 1908.    Goddamn that is a long time ago.  A young Danish engineer named Poulsen patented the idea in the US around that time.  For all the details about Poulsen and his predecessors, visit this page.

The earliest champion of magnetic recording in the United States was Charles D Rood, pictured above on the eve of his 92nd birthday.  Rood was the archetype of the 19th century plutocrat:  he made his career as an oil salesman, made his millions popularizing the Hamilton watch, and then lost it all trying to manufacture recording equipment.  He was a character of mixed-reputation; here the NYT lampoons him in an article from 1911:

Poulsen/Rood’s Telegraphone was the earliest mass-marketed Wire Recorder, a recording device which works pretty much the same way as a tape recorder, but with a piece of magnetic wire in place of metal-coated tape.

(web source)

These machines were not intended to record music.  Given that (as the NYT article tells us) Rood hated smoking, drinking, cussing, and cavorting, I think we can fairly assume that he was not too much into music.  What Rood was into, clearly, was business: and the Telegraphone was created and sold as a business dictation machine, designed to be used with a telephone as the input device.

According to Angus’ article in “Modern Recording,” Rood seems to have turned down or ignored every possibility to promote, exploit, and grow the technology that he was manufacturing; instead, he seems to have devoted his energies towards stock manipulation, lawsuits with AT&T, and selling equipment to the German Navy (in the 1930s….).  Rood even ignored Lee De Forest’s experiments using the Telegraphone for use in sync with Motion Pictures.  In 1912.    This is a full 15 years before “The Jazz Singer” debuted.    BTW, if you are not familiar with Lee De Forest:  He invented the vacuum tube.

If anyone has ever used a Telegraphone, drop a line and tell us about it.

Categories
Uncategorized

just good design

The Advent 300 FM stereo receiver was introduced in 1976.  In audio-speak, ‘Receiver’ indicates a device which combines a tuner (radio receiver), a pre-amplifier (a device which governs audio control functions such as level, source selection, etc), and a power amplifier (a device with high current output in order to drive speakers to a listening level).

I have always admired the design of this piece, and I was excited to pick one up today (in the box, no less) at an Estate Sale for a few dollars.

The ‘industrial’ styling of the piece is striking considering the era.  It almost looks like a piece of industrial paging-equipment.  IT stands to reason that the design was motivated by the fact that the major selling point of the unit was a sort of ‘less-is-more’ attitude.  This unit sacrifices high-wattage-output (which few people ever use anyway) in order to devote more dollar-value to a higher-quality signal path throughout, and more R+D efforts.  Advent clearly knew that the design was stellar; they even included a graphic representation on the box of the unit.

Here is a scan of the entire manual, in case you want to check out the details.  I really like the way that this manual is written.  The writing is very much in-line with the electronic philosophy of the unit.  For instance, there is basically no ‘instruction’ to it – the unit is so simple that it hardly needs any explanation.  Instead, the manual focuses on the ‘why’ of the unit.

Manual: Advent300_Manual

There is a schematic printed on the bottom of the unit, which is a good thing, because my 300 did not work when i hooked it up.  The schematic revealed a likely culprit, and after opening the unit and replacing a few internal fuses (located AFTER the power lamp!), it was cooking.  And it works well, especially the tuner.

The best part of the manual is the ‘in-situation’ ‘serving suggestions’ that Advent offers.  Enjoy a trip to Tasteful Contemporary Home c. 1976:

Categories
Publications

expectations

Electronics are incredible, inscrutable stuff that is handed to us by the gods. (1937)

Electronics are epic and awe-inspiring, and we have captured their essence and can now control it (via Atomic bombs).  (1949)

Electronics have given us the power to reach and control distant space(s). (1951)

We have now built a world organized and dominated by electronics.  See how dependent we are on these objects. (1959)

Electronics are for everyone!  This is the regular, comfortable stuff you are used to! Look at the variety on offer! (1963)

You don’t really care so much about the electronics themselves; they are ubiquitous.  But you do still care about their ability to impact/enhance your life. (1970)

This is not even ‘your life’ pictured.  This is a ‘hollywood’ fantasy scene that you will likely never participate in.  Perhaps if you buy some of the electronics on offer within (none of which are pictured in this image, BTW), you will get some vague sensation of having incorporated this fantasy narrative into your own existence.

***********

*******

***

Is this narrative accurate?

Which came first:  The shift in consumer’s use/understanding of these objects, or marketers’ positioning of the objects?

How much of a factor was the ‘miniturization’ and ‘cost-reduction’ afforded by the widespread introduction of the transistor (1955-ish)?

Categories
Custom Fabrication Guitar Equipment Technical

The Field-Coil Guitar Amplifier

(web source)

The year is 1946.  You are a man of the world.  Bold and sophisticated.  A true musical connoisseur.

(Web Source)

In your stately home you use music to relax and to entertain.  Your Magnavox Regency 155 combination Radio/Phonograph, with state-of-the-art dual 12″ speakers,  serves you well for many decades.  After many long and fruitful years, the day will come that you will pass into the next life; and then I will build a guitar amp from your Enormous Radio.

*************

******

***

When I did in fact purchase this gigantic ‘Instrument,’ as the manual called it, it was far too large to fit in my car.  So with some basic hand-tools I dissected my $25 dollar purchase in the faded parlor where it had sat for a lifetime.  I removed the radio chassis (mostly junk save for some 6J5 tubes), the later-added GE RIAA phono pre (sold on eBay), the 25 watt amplifier chassis (salvaged the tubes, output and phase-inverter transformers), and two 12″ Magnavox field-coil speakers.

Luckily, my purchase came complete with all the manuals, service guides, and original warranty card.  Using the schematic I was able to see how the ‘field-coil’ speakers function in this type of amplifier.

In my previous post on field coil speakers, I went into some detail about this technology and its relationship to more modern speakers.  Now the time had come to actually build a working audio device using this antique technology.

I have completed the piece, and in this article I will describe some of the challenges faced, techniques used, and offer some audio examples of the end result.  This is a somewhat long article, so if you just want to hear the audio, skip to the end…

FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO READ ON….

Categories
Guitar Equipment

Exclusive Bonus Content!

A purchase can sometimes have an unexpected collateral component.

Let’s say you know a lady who is a fan of Charlie’s Angels.  Especially Kate Jackson’s ‘Sabrina’ character.  On the program, Sabrina drove the much-maligned Ford PINTO automobile.  You are at a local library used-book sale and you pick up a copy of the Ford repair manual for this car.

It turns out that the book has an undisclosed bonus-feature which may/may-not enhance the driving experience.

********************************

*********************

*********

One of the more interesting aspects of buying cheap old guitars is the odd bits and bobs that are in the guitar cases along with the instrument.

This point was brought into sharp focus this weekend when I realized that I had purchased a 1950’s Harmony tenor guitar largely due to the antique capo that was on the guitar’s neck.

A ‘Sid Kleiner’-branded Kay guitar from yesterday’s flea market contained some old bank drafts, songbooks, and obscure picks.

I wonder if I have gone off the ‘deep-end.’  But then I remember…  one Will Hoover actually had a book published on some of this folky flotsam.  A book which I bought.  Shit.

Occasionally, a guitar case will contain the original sales pamphlet and/or retail-hang-tags that accompanied the instrument at the time of purchase.  These can sometimes prove to be valuable, selling for between $10 and $5000 (if you happen to find a 1950s Les Paul guitar).

Nonetheless, my favorite random case-finds are antique string packages.  As graphic-design pieces, they reveal a lot about how the guitar manufacturers positioned their instruments and their consumers.  Here is a quick survey of some old packages that I have come across in the past few years.

FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW FOR MORE….