In the recent issue of Tape Op magazine issue No. 86 Jack Miller gives an in depth interview about the recording techniques, technical information on everything from microphones used to how they modified the "reverb tank" to actually work on those early Duane recordings. Details on mic techniques moving into the stereo world when they were still in the mono world, working with Duane, Lee Hazlewood and others. A very interesting walk back in time and a great read.

Here's a bonus article addition to the hard copy.

Link...

thanks

the online article alone is a good read..you seldom hear an old pro engineer applauding digital recording...good for him, still working with his ears and not his memories

cheers

Yes, a good read. I like how the old studios designed and actually BUILT their consoles and stuff. And details about how one room was superior to the other due to this or that specific reason... Fascinating.

thanks

the online article alone is a good read..you seldom hear an old pro engineer applauding digital recording...good for him, still working with his ears and not his memories

cheers

-- neatone

It is. The hard copy is a really good read. He talks about the microphones they used in the early years when they were recording Duane, and what had on hand to "make do with". Compressors, EQ's, tape machines, etc... He said they basically had two good microphones [U47's] and mic'd up everything else with what sounded like to him was garbage. LOL What struck me as fascinating was how they approached working in stereo.

Basically they had three consoles. One would record everything hard panned left, the other hard panned right, and the last would be center. Back in those days he said they didn't have designated [close] mic's so everything was set up to bleed other instruments. So when they started to work with this type of stereo mixing they would record guitar into one console say panned hard right, but since the guitar amp was near say the bass amp (which would be run through the center console) you would get a little bleed of the guitar amp over in the bass microphone. As a result in the final mix it wouldn't sound like the guitar was panned hard right, it would come off sounding panned right but a little center. Very interesting.

I love getting details on how they approached recording back then. It makes you rethink how you can approach your recordings in this digital age.

That's beyond thought-provoking. Three consoles, each with a different purpose... And using the negative results of mic bleed to make a positive.

I need to subscribe to that magazine.

Thanks for posting all this.

surprised there were no rca ribbon mics involved..

reminds me of the other southwestern studio genius..the great norman petty.

that great driving buddy holly guitar sound was as much about a compressed room mic picking up hollys hard strat strumming acoustically as it was about the sound of the strat thru the amp...nothin chugs like that, sound was huge

havent seen a tape op in years, glad to see they are still cuttin it

cheers

surprised there were no rca ribbon mics involved.. -- neatone

Hey neatone, He said they did get a few of them years later but in the beginning he said they only had two U47's a untold number of EV mics including a 666 they used for an overhead (it sounded like they weren't too pleased with the results but that's all they had), and a 633 they used on kick. Gold American mics on bass and guitar (4 total, and it sounded like they looked prettier than they sounded ) and that's about it.

well a pair of u47's isn't a bad start!! haha

they blew minds when they came out post war...dependable, good output, rugged ie. no ribbon stretching issues..really revolutionary... to this day in use..george martins go to mic for the beatles

and they look cool too

cheers

Wow, that was a fun read. Thanks!

Yeah. I loved reading that article in the hard copy where he talks about going through a junkyard (IIRC) and listening to all those big ol'tanks 'til they found the right one. And the owner of the joint was actin' like, "Are you guys effin' nuts?"

In the studio with one of those mics.

In the studio with one of those mics.

-- Deed Eddy

yes! was google image searching for that very pic!

classic

and now in best album of 2011 charts as well

great!

the gods got it right!

cheers

In the studio with one of those mics.

-- Deed Eddy

What amp be that Deed?

That's beyond thought-provoking. Three consoles, each with a different purpose... And using the negative results of mic bleed to make a positive.

I need to subscribe to that magazine.

Thanks for posting all this.

-- troy6120

He said they started out working with stereo when they acquired a 10 channel console a Collins TV board that was setup like two consoles in one board (studio A/studio B). One was panned hard left the other hard right. Later he figured out that he could add a third console via the busses on both to mix stuff in the center. That setup was introduced around the time they cut Duane's third album Twang's the Thang 1959. But if you look at Duane's albums his first two were offered in stereo. I don't know if they originally were or if they were remixed at a later date? Maybe Deed knows? Because if they were that would put the stereo console in the picture a year or two earlier.

Yeah. I loved reading that article in the hard copy where he talks about going through a junkyard (IIRC) and listening to all those big ol'tanks 'til they found the right one. And the owner of the joint was actin' like, "Are you guys effin' nuts?"

-- tubwompus

Ha! Yep Jack says a 2100 gallon tank is the correct number. For others that don't have access to a copy, Jack adds an interesting detail to the picture about that reverb tank. Apparently when he showed up it would give off a nasty ring that didn't sound that great on recording. Jack's solution was to build a box outside the tank holding the microphone so that it was not inside the tank but listening outside the porthole of it. He said that was in place just in time for Duane's first sessions.

That's a Howard amp, custom made by Tom Howard McCormick who ran an electronics company in Phoenix, Arizona and who also made amps under the Howard and later, Murph name.

That pic is iconic, from the gear to the sneer.

cheers

Thanks for sharing that, Snorkel. The online copy was a great read, so I might have to hunt down the paper one to read up on Duane, etc.

And that picture is just too cool, Deed!