"Baking" Reel-To-Reel Tapes

Recently, I accepted a job to transfer some 30-year-old reels - Polish radio dramas, stored and never heard since their original broadcast. It is important, of course, to preserve this type of obscure stuff.

Opening the package, I first noticed the brand of tape: "Shamrock". This rang a bell for some reason, so I did a quick search for some information on Shamrock tape. Evidently, this is about the very worst tape that one could record on, being super-susceptible to what is called "sticky-shed syndrome". They weren't trying to confuse customers that this was Scotch brand recording tape, were they?

In the late 1970's, most tape manufacturers changed the binders in their tape formulations (the binder being the glue that holds the rust on the plastic tape) due to health concerns. Unknown to them, this hygroscopic compound would, over the course of years, pull moisture directly out of the air, and get somewhat gooey, allowing the recorded layer to separate from the plastic tape. This is not only bad for the recorded media, but also for the equipment that it gets played back on.

So after a bit more research, I purchased a wonderful device which would remove the water, and render the tapes playable. It is compact, and holds the exact temperature needed for "baking". It can also make banana chips - it's a food dehydrator! This is one of those times that the DIY mentality has given us the absolute perfect solution to our problem.

The tapes played back perfectly, with great fidelity. The only problem was that they were all in Polish, which is all Greek to me! It seemed to me that since I could hear the actors moving around the recording space, interacting with each other, yet heard no pages turning, this show was memorized and blocked out the way a stage play would be. Very impressive - it lent a sense of realism to the entire production! I hope to get a bit of a translation soon.

HERE is a little snippet, some of the opening. The couple seems to be doing some pillow talk...not really discussing the barking dogs that introduce the scene. Well, that's what I hear, anyway. Let's hope it's not too off-color!

"The Linkup" STINKS

Once upon a time there was an online filesharing/backup company called Streamload. It was good - offered quality service at a good price, even offered freebie filesharing.

Then the company changed into MediaMax. It was not as good - service was nowhere near as good as it was, MANY important files "backed up on secure servers" were lost, never to be seen or heard again, very poor customer service, but we paying customers still had hopes that it might return to it's former quality.

Now the company has changed into "The Linkup". It is just plain NO GOOD. Service is essentially NONEXISTANT. ALL the remaining files from MediaMax have been lost, absolutely nothing is accessable. No links to files work: the audio that you may try listening to on this blog is GONE, although I have PAID for a service that guarantees the files to be there.

While I am trying to get my money refunded from these thieves, I will also try to find another (quality) backup company to store my files, so that they can once again be shared with my blog visitors.

My apologies for the technical difficulties.

DO NOT USE "THE LINKUP". AVOID THIS SHADY COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. DO NOT DEPEND ON THEM TO KEEP YOUR FILES SAFE. BE SURE TO TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE.

The Newest Oldest Recording

This beautiful archaic device is a PHONAUTOGRAPH. Invented in 1857 by Frenchman Leon Scott deMartinville, a printer and writer, it was created to show how sound waves looked: possibly as as an "oral shorthand". The idea being that one could LOOK at the squiggly lines and tell what had been said (!).




The original design (1857) used a barrel-shaped wood-and-plaster horn (the auricle) and scratched the sound waves into a lampblacked glass cylinder. A later design (1859) changed the horn to a more tapered metal horn, and transferred the scratches to a blackened piece of paper wrapped around a cylinder. Notice how there is even decorative scrollwork shown on the original diagram of the machine!




SO - my point being, they've just discovered phonautograms from 1860 that are able to be "played" and are recognizable - predating the other "earliest" recordings (from 1888)! There are a few other, older phonautograms, but they only sound like squawks and warbles...nothing recognizable.





Here is a phonautogram, showing the white scratch in the lampblack (soot) on paper. The sort of sad thing about the phonautograph is that is was NOT for reproducing sound, just for creating a representation of sound on paper. The phonautograms that were recently discovered had to be digitally scanned and "played" in a virtual environment. Leon Scott died in 1879, penniless and for the most part, forgotten. At least Thomas Edison knew that people would want to HEAR their recordings of sounds, and not just LOOK at them! What the heck would people ever use a GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION of sound for, anyway?!?




Listen to the earliest known recorded sound that we can recognize HERE.



"Au clair de la lune, Pierrot répondit" - it has an otherworldly, sort of ethereal quality to it...and what more would one expect from sound salvaged from SMOKE?!? Time travel, indeed...

Another Sample

And here's another quick sample: this is a track by Paddy Leitsch titled "Untitled Number Two". This was recorded live in a small club this past February. Paddy is the only person playing on stage, the rest of the band is just his own backing tracks playing through the PA. Tentatively calling this "GUITARAOKE", he plans on doing some gigs with this same lineup in the future.

I know that the crowd was certainly interested in what was going on - they kept looking around for the rest of the musicians, surprised to see just one guy onstage, shredding on his lit-up guitar! They hadn't seen anything like this before! Groovy.

This was simply recorded with Lamont (my binaural dummy head), and a bit of reinforcement from the original recorded tracks. Try it with headphones on - you'll get the feeling that you're sitting in the front row, with people all around you. Small club, no way to get away from the patrons...

Go check out Paddy's latest album HERE.

Check out his site HERE. (Yes, "Guitar Dragon Dojo" is him.)

Check him out live, when he plays near you!

Some Audio

Here's an audio example of some of my recent work. This is a Chicago group calling themselves "Her Majesty's Secret Service", doing their renditions of some of the best James Bond soundtrack music. They play the stuff live, IN COSTUME. Too cool.

We did the entire five-song demo in two recording sessions - the first session was drums, bass, guitar and keyboard, laid down live. The second session was overdubs of the four-piece brass ensemble and vocals. A bit of post-production tweaking and preliminary mixing by me, then a few hours of final mixdown with the producer, and voila! (be sure to say the "V", yer an idiot if you say "wallah") - finished demo: ready to play for club owners and get hired and make some money!

I have to admit that calling this "work" makes me feel a little guilty. I really enjoyed the sessions, and working with every one of the musicians involved. What fun! If the recording sounds good, it's mostly their fault. I just hit the "record" button.

Click below for the track.

Enjoy!

My Qlist (Mic List)

Before I post some audio examples (soon!), I thought I might show a quick list of the microphones I'm currently using (LDC is Large Diaphragm Condenser, and SDC is Small Diaphragm Condenser, of course):

2 Apex 140 Miniature Cardiod Condenser Mics
1 Apex 215 Dual-Ribbon Mic
1 Astatic 930VP Variable-Pattern Boundary Mic
2 AT4040 LDC Mics
2 AT803 Miniature Omni Condenser Mics
2 AT803b Miniature Omni Condenser Mics
1 AT875R Short Shotgun Condenser Mic
2 ATM63HE Dynamic Mics
2 ATM25 Dynamic Mics
1 AT Pro-1 Dynamic Mic
2 AT Pro 8HEx Headset Hypercardioid Dynamic Mic
3 AT ST90 Mark II Dynamic Mics
3 CAD E300-2 Multi-Pattern LDC Mics
2 CAD equitek e70 SDC Mics (omni & cardioid capsules)
4 CAD M179 Multi-Pattern LDC Mics
1 CAD M9 Tube/Valve Mic
1 CAD Trion 6000 Multi-Pattern LDC Mic
1 Heil PR 40 Extra-Large Diaphragm Dynamic Mic
1 "Lamont" Binaural Dummy Head
2 Naiant MSH-1c Miniature Condenser Mics
4 Realistic PZM Pressure Zone Mics (Modified)
2 Shinybox 23 Ribbon Mics (Modified)
2 Shure SM57 Dynamic Mics
1 Shure BG-4 SDC Mic
1 Superlux S502 ORTF Stereo SDC Pair
1 Superlux WB-383 Miniature Condenser Clip-on Mic
1 DiMarzio Clip-In Acoustic Guitar Pickup

Plus a few mighty elderly clunkers that barely deserve to be classified as microphones, but I do occasionally use them for their unique..."clunkiness".

The Maestro

Speaks about why music stinks these days...




I refuse to wear brown lipstick (if you're confused, you just don't get it!).




On the Monkees show.

Some Equipment...And A SECRET!

Here's a list of some equipment used at "the Moonroom":

2 VF-160 Digital Multitracks, Linked For 32 tracks
2 VF-160 EX Digital Multitracks
Behringer ADA8000 Mic Pre / ADAT
2 Rane DC-24 Compressor / Limiter / Noise Gates
2 Rane VP-12 Voice Processors
Antares ATR-1a Auto-Tune Intonation Processor
Peavey 213 FX Equalizer
Fostex D-8 Pro DAT Recorder
Pioneer PDR-509 CD Recorder
Sony MD Recorder
Sony Portable MD Recorder
Zoom H4 Flash Stereo / 4 Track Recorder
Fostex R-8 8 Track Reel To Reel Recorder
Fostex 12 X 8 X 2 Mixer
Soundcraft 8 X 2 Mixer
Boss SE-50 Stereo Effects Unit
Alesis Microverb II Reverb
Kenwood Turntable
2 Akai 1/4" Reel To Reel Recorders


That's just a start. Sure, some of that equipment seems old - it is! Been doing this since 1988. Hold on to your old stuff long enough, and it becomes VINTAGE.

Now for the SECRET. Make sure that you don't tell anyone...

It doesn't really matter what equipment you have, what really matters is that you know how to use it well. Seriously. No kidding. Ask anyone who's been recording for at least ten years. "Equipment" is much further down on the list than the guys selling the magazines would have you believe. Important, just further down the list than skill, familiarity, and experience.

3-D Sound? 3-D Microphones!

Here is a picture of "Lamont", my dummy head, used for recording binaural stereo. Binaural recording is a process used for ultra-realistic stereo. A pair of high quality omnidirectional microphones are mounted on either side of the lifesize resin head, picking up sounds exactly the way a real head would. This allows for some startling effects: a whisper right next to the ear, a flute solo that travels around the listener, people speaking in a room...all with incredible depth and vivid tangibility.

Then there's this oddity - an obscure Crapitol/EMY album from 1963 called "With The Dummies". Might this be where Frank Zappa copped the line in Camarillo Brillo: "She said her stereo was four-way"? One of the tracks on this album, "Eight Ears To Hear You" was later cribbed as "Eight Arms To Hold You" by both The Beatles and Veruca Salt. This album remains unheard by all but a select few, since it was recorded in the highly experimental octophonic format. Rumors of an 8-track release are unfounded - so far, the few 8-tracks that have turned up have proven to be fakes. Also rumored to have influenced Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips (see their album "Zaireeka", a 4-cd set designed to be listened to on 4 different cd players simultaneously!).

NOW BACK TO THE REAL WORLD...Here is a groovy picture of an assortment of microphones used here in the Moonroom. Since I was originally posting about binaural recording and 3-D sound, here is a 3-D photograph! Click on the picture to get the big version, cross your eyes until you get a third version in the middle of the original two, focus on it, and there you have it - microphones in three dimensions! Wow! And how many 7 foot square moon posters have you seen, let alone in 3-d?!?




Why name him Lamont? Click the funky-looking bar below to find out...

Test - 1, 2, 3, 4 - test, test!

This is just a test. If this were a real emergency, you would have been instructed where to listen for more information. This is only a test. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!