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Circle 11 on Reader Service Card May/June1993 Vol. 27, No. 3

serving: recording, broadcast and sound contracting fields

magazine

THE RECORDING ENGINEER

6 Cover Story: The Post Group at Disney-MGM Studios by John Barilla Come with us to Orlando, Florida, where among the famous theme parks lies a sophisticated post production outfit. 17 Audio, Video, Stage and Lodging All under One Roof by Randy Savicky A super studio in an old NYC building. See page 6 21 Masterdisk—Re-Visited by Larry Zide Disk mastering is alive and well, and there's a changing future. 34 Historical Perspectives: by Peter Hammar and Don Osofske Return with us to the real beginnings of recording video and audio on tape.

Ea THE ELECTRONIC COTTAGE

13 Hot Tips: Photo Opportunities in the Studio: by John Barilla 11.chniques and tips to help get you into this growing field. 32 Just a Mic and a Mac by Shelley Herman

See page 13 He does it all at home, but he gets it onto good-selling CDs.

DEPARTMENTS

2 Calendar 10 New Products 52 Buyer's Guide: Power Amplifiers 63 Classified 65 PPH

About the Cover

• Rob Hill is the Senior Audio Engineer at The Post Group at Dis- ney-MGM in Orlando, Florida. See our story on page 6. 2 db May/June 1993 4 10+ 1** 44 *1 * +1 +1 0 +1 441 • 1 Ilaiift• EQ60 When ultra low owe it to yourself to check out theMakes EQ60, the Coffee , /o , Analogamd,re wC i/k* i Switchable . EV o Notch Filters oli" o requisitescuracy and in ease a Graphic of use Equalizer, are your main you pre. Ultra lowBuilt-in Parametric OK o Analyzer rii o Controls from: PO Box 842, Silverado CA 92676-0842 Ultra low NoiseDigital Phone 714-649 2346, Fax 714-649 3064 ctK' EY"OnlySounds o o Easy 2 Flashing Great to Use LEDs Circle 14 on Reader Service JRF is proud of its reputation as a leader in the field of magnetic hf iA Wi / W M - E XCE L LENC E ads. Our technical and engineering staff is committed to providing W N / I w Distortion clr' g +I nlyaga agi 249 Kennedy Road • P.O. Box 121 • Greendell, NJ 07839 noise d ed ica t ion Systems Tel.: (201) 579-5773 • Fax: (201)579-6021 mow Checklist (-98dB), sonic ac- Circle 15 on Reader Service Card so l oo 1 Mr 4 1*• * 144 +1 mplin it YES NO, there can be no substitute for dro - to quality and service. o Card is the result of [V o o / / -

the recording industry, we at JRF feel • Full line of replacement heads • F• as T t• echn ,re 3M• ica l parts MCl/Sony iab l A le ss s dealer is erv parts tance ice t dealer ha t 's • Op• t Magnetic ica l /D ig i Head ta l A Refurbishing ssemb ly the finest products and services: L:1 IN STOCK unmatched for quality Alignment You can write them at 135 Fifthberexhibits 13-15ries Ave-ronments at of seminars, that theScecifying is Orange will the sessions long Country and take DesigningAudio title and place of Novem- a se- ing DimensionsNovemberitsmented 13th, will Convention 14th, by be the and open Center LDI93 15th 10:00 show. inSystems Orlando, am Exhib- to to Create 6:00 Sound pm Envi- this nue, New212formation York, 677-5997 NY 10010 or call fax JacquelineFlorida. 212 677-3857. Tien The conference at is supple- Convention,start which thinking will about be held the 95th AES 1993. LDI93 is sponsored by • Sound in Entertainment: • It's not too early nor too late to MAGNETIC year on October_7AOth in New Responsive to the needs of 1 Calendar M u n comp r om i s i ng SCIENCES E XCE L LENCE . magazine. For in- Light- contracting, consultants,Company, Entire video contents recording, copyright film 1993 sound, by etc. db Publish- Application formack,ing subscription NY Company, 11725.Telephone:7145) 293 is Commack should published Road. (516)586-6530. be Suite made bi-monthly on 1010, the sub- Com- db by Magazine db Magazine Publishing owner, andthis that issue. thereCommack is Rather Road,mack. no Suite intention thanCommack NY 11725and NY place 1010,funds. 11725. Sales andsions, Commack, a of an offices trademark$18.00 Second additional Single traderscription NY $21.00 11725. per Class copies are symbol ',Irk per year postage mailing atr year ($28.00 form next e are cois 203 infringe- in rd in $3.50 to paid Commack ing published office. Canada)and per the , b Road, each. at year roadcas rear payable Com- outside for Post- Suite Editorial. t of a individuals ud in each 1010, io U.S. -v U.S. issue. isua Posses- Publishing, l . s and Subscriptions ound firms r e in in fo rcemen professional are t - audio ment.I eachin occurrence,an editorial wemaster: state fashion Form that and 3579 to thus') should the be uenefit names sent are to of t..3er.loniy db the Magazine,203 trademark National Advertising Sales db, The Sound Engineering Magazine (ISSN 0011- Trademarked names are editorially used throughout Associate Publisher Brent Harshbarger C on t r ibu t ing E d i to rs Dan Mockensturm David W. Frankel Wilton CT 06897 Shelley Herman E d i to r /Pub l ishe r Bruce Bartlett 4 Wilton Crest Robyn Gately Drew Daniels 203 834-9936 Len Feldman Senior Editor John Barilla Elaine Zide Larry Zide Manager The ELAR Audio Library

Handbook of The Microphone Sound System Design. .Handbook. • John Ear&

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Signature (required for chargecards) 4 db May/June 1993 York City. This time however, it will offeringHilton."that advantages could not to be attendees achievedthe at for the New York Cityventionbe Hilton held Center. Hotel at the Jacob Javits Con- firmedConvention the advantage in Sanwhere Francisco of AEShibit having Conventions con- requirements all have been have outgrown exhibits onFeldman. a singleheld for floor severalmembers —a benefit agreed years,”according that the AES ex- tp Convention Chairman Leornard The dates include a Saturday stay, JULY/AUGLiveMAY/JUNE Sound —IntimateMAR/APRRadio Clubs andJAN/FEB to TV Major Audio/Sound Stadiums. Reinforcement in Permanent Installations. "Our experience at the`The 93rd AES AES Convention Committee NOV/DEC SEPT/OCT The Electronic Cottage and Project Studios. Post Production —Coast to Coast. State of the Recording Art. db Visits Houses of Worship. • GUIDE: Signal Processing Equipment, Part I, (delays, reverbs, • GUIDE: Tape, Tape Recorders and Accessories, Microphones. SMPTE —October 30-Nov 2 (LA)NAMM -1994 Jan 21-24 (Anaheim) • GUIDE: Signal Processing Equipment, Part II, (noise gates, NSCA —April 2-4 (Orlando)AES —October 12-Nov 2 (New York) NAMM —Jan 15-18 (Anaheim)NAB —April 18-22 (Las Vegas) 1993 Editorial Calendar • GUIDE: Consoles and Mixers, Work Stations. • GUIDE: Speakers: Performance & Monitor. n o ise r educ t ion , l im i ter s , c ompre s sor s ) . AES at 60 East 42 Street, New York, NY 10166, or call at 212 with Kenny Neal661-8528. (Blues Quartet). "thecharges.breakdown, dates daysexhibitors of being According thus October used avoiding for will to 7-10 setup Len benefit were and overtime Feldman, not from week- available at thelowest Hilton." discounted air fares, while Here'san the USIA tour schedule: of Africa, this time May 12-15MayMay 9-11 4-8 Nairaobi, Mombasa, Addis• Ababa, Kenya "Big" Kenya Ethiopa Ed LearnedFor information, is off contact again on the AES in New York Show issue. • GUIDE: Power Amplifiers. Winter MM NA Show issue. SMPTE in LA Show issue. NSCA & NAB show issue. c rossover s , e qua l izer s ) . gascar pages forParis, the stories France zania ofhisrundi new audio a dv en tu r e s June 10June ReturnJune 6-9 to 1-4 U.S.A. Antanandrivo, Lilongwi, viaMay 25-27May Mada- Bujumbura, 22-23 MalawiMay 21,24May 16-19 Butare, Bu- Kigali, Entebbe, Rwanda Rwanda Uganda Now that he's back, watchMay these 29-31 Dar Es Salaam, Tan- The AES 95th CONVENTION

DATES: 1993 Oct. 7 through Oct. 10 LOCATION: Javits Center, New York, NY Audio In The Age Of Multimedia

AES Conventions have become a driving force in the delination cf new audio technologies. The AES Convention is the listenirg and observation post on the frontier of audio. The 95th AES Convention in New York, "Audio In The Age Of Multimedia", will provide the attendee a wide vista of the audio scene of the coming nineties. Prepare yourself or the radical departures and developments that will make the nineties the most exciting decade in audio.

A Uri 0 Audio Engineering Society, Inc. 60 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10165 USA k212) 661-8528 or (800) 541-7299...except N.Y Fax (212) 682-0477 6 db May/June 1993 It started with a mailing from a public relations firm about the Post Group at Disney-MGM in Orlando. facility with no problem. The Post Group is located well within the Disney World grounds. So while at Coincidentally, I was heading for Orlando for the NSCA (Sound Contracting) show, so a few phone-calls askedtheir Seniorlater building, Editor and I we Johnwas could set Barilla see up for to theThe telephone a tour tour buses Post of interview the whisking facility. Group Jack by loaded Peter, When with at I the arrived, eager head Disney-MGM faces. of I thewas When told group. we where returned, This to is go, his I and in- arrived at their terview. LZ. Tampacoast on themiddle andstate. west theeconomic ground coast healthy Strategicallytuitously engine between thestorm, young Or-the for the effects sheltered city centralp much located o John s t of -p of F. r the of odu Florida from in c a t all the ion capricious i ill- ndu has s t been ry Wh . tropical i for- le Studios Post Production lando areaKennedy is a Space recreationaltainment centerfated and tourist-industry on winds won- thesouthern and east remains Florida the still enter- reels from itsderland own in that Disney boasts World. a unique And while city of0 productionhaveo their r i en facilities, t ed e own nit te studios r ta is inm en not and t what s ) at h post- ou is all ld sur- surprising that the outsideicingprising the so many Disney ismost independent thateral prolific organization.Disney they generations clients empire should producer (which been be of serv- the has family- world's for sev- Paradise in Orlando, Florida thestudio major complex entertainment draw clients hubs like from e} How can any remotely located ,e

thecoming entireof Florida the film, heartbeat and TV fast and of be- RLANDO IS THE HEARTBEAT ,t. theNew reason York and must Hollywood? certainly Part be the of fortuitous location with long sunny 3,000parablesouthe miles?shooting climate, rn California days, so why all travel offers year long; a com- but one that contains a full-sized L-1011 airplane! It's minus its wings and entirecanand beoff length passenger rolledtail the for floor. to forward. seats be easy sure, is But The access what the passenger and is body, for the truly full compartment shoots, which special. body has but is is a fully-configured split the on The dolly-type cockpit, entire down its assembly in wheels and one lit including piece only cockpit a few feet the cockpit can be seamlessly rolled together for full interior shots. O NE OF THE UNIQUE FEATURES of the Disney sound stages in Orlando is the York, but none of the disadvan- Things likevantagesclue: trafficpromotional of "Here's Hollywood jams, brochure a air and place and New provides with the a ad- noisetages." pollution, What disadvantages? special fees and Aline culled from a Disney-MGM JOHN BARILLA permits for shooting in public places—all of which are nonex- istent on the Disney-MGM lot. One other advantage to independent producers is the liberty to work with either union or non-union technicians, crafts persons and talent—something they call "a flexible labor environment". All of this points towards cost-efficiency un- heard of in New York and Holly- wood. Almost every conceivable backlot is available—even authentic urban settings from skylines to brown- stones are available, not to mention the naturally occurring wet- lands and forests. But what about the post-production end of Disney-MGM; what could possibly be the advantage here when post production depends more upon equipment than environment? The success of this facility probably rests on the sheer youthfulness of the venture. They are curiously not bogged down Figure 2. The audio suite. with the resistive inertia found in older studios, such as the need to justify investments in outdated And Jack answered, "A good fifty the attitude is generally very good. equipment. percent of it is Disney or Disney Quite frankly, equipment-wise, A few years ago, under the lead- driven, but part of our mandate is you can get videotape editorial ership of Post Group General Man- to increase what we call third party anywhere in the world these days, ager, Jack Peter, Disney-MGM was sales, which are true outside cli- so we really rely on the client serv- able to rapidly upgrade and remain ents to the area." ice aspect. It's quite a nice environ- a state-of-the-art facility. Their ele- My next question was what were ment to work in. And if people are gantly simple design and cost-effi- you doing before you hooked up working on an extended project cient organization allow the post with Disney? they can take advantage of some of facility to attract big projects from the Disney World features—the all around the world. I recently Jack Peter said, "Before the Post talked with Jack Peter, and the re- Group hired me, I was director of sulting conversation gives us more film post-production at Optimus in Chicago, which is a commercial insight into the studio's wide- Figure 1. Jack Peter spread success. film editorial house. Our paths kind of crossed at NAB one year My first question Jack, I've been and here I am." looking at the literature on your facility, and it's quite impressive. I wanted to know what advan- How long has the Post Group at tages are people finding working in Disney-MGM been in operation? central Florida now as opposed to the other centers of film and video? Jack's reply, "Just four-and-a- half years. It's still a baby." Jack's reply, "Well, I think they find a certain freshness about the I then asked where did they (Dis- area and the people. By and ney-MGM) do their post before large—at least for the Post Group that? operation—everyone has relocated

And Jack responded, "It was at here from somewhere else, and so qp there's a camaraderie, a pioneering any number of places: from New York to Hollywood to Miami to a feeling, if you will." number of local places. They were Sort of like California fifty or kind of all over the map. sixty years ago? I understand that you don't do Said Jack,"Yeah, we're really try-

only your own work, I then asked ing to make this market happen, so eunr/Apinj C66I. about that? when we get people in to do work, L 8 db May/June 1993 courses." an interesting project you've worked on recentlyparks, the resorts, that you'd the golf like E n t e r ta inm en t .to tell us about? t hof r e eCenter - the s c r e public en l at aun Cape ch s tour imu Canaveral."There's la t out i on there a It's —a couple big part of those, actually. with the audiospaceaudio presented campcompany project atWe finished the in on that Kennedy Orlando, binau- went a Space intoproject the recently for a roundral sound, headsets. but it's It's called kind of like sur- devicemore thatral realistic (Ed. approximates Note: than Binaural the standard archi- audio stereo is all theviewsbit soundsound out ofmost sources on design time, oftecture the that for but room. spaceimaging, in a the it's of project It Synclavier coast." a having took gotten human quite head). been rave a recorded re- on a like that? a really fun project and we created around here is we operate mostly Figure 3. The Foley stage at work. I next wanted to know if there is Jack came right back with, I asked then, how do you lock up Jack's answer, "The way we do it It was a binaural R ena i s san c e That was binau- We lockon Sony up to 24-track the Sonys digital at all recorders. bay andworkpoints marry print the in in sound the the Synclavier porches. to the pic- bay We work off a happenedess.was inture. But a the creatively,prettyand Synclavier I thendon't straightforward take want the room it fun to into part overblow proc- a sweetening it; it ingwhere something they were out essentially of nothing. creat- We do alling thefinished ninety sweetening percent a run and of on —we've the the audio been do- itnice givesmixing project usdeon's andwork some that on for exposure show, it was anyway this fun. "Welcome to —is facility Nickelo- what It Freshmen". was a because calNickelodeon client, is albeit doing. a very They're big a one. lo- VH1 and Nickelodeon. Right now they arecompany, occupyingOrlandosal which area). (which two also sound also They're owns MTV, has a Viacom facilities in the withablestages them. to We open at have Universal, up very a nice extensive and relationship we were doaudio a lot facilities of their audio here, over so they here." try to One of the other shows we just "Nickelodeon is based at Univer- that's where allity? themain sweetening features of your rdio facil- videohavean tape. the SSL ability 5000 Welargest have consolemade projectors to of up of loop the in three three it, to rooms. set film : rooms, The or and capableup above of and mixingand in final a the sweeteningfeature. back, mixing so We're happens. room we're is There's physically the there.canset do Of up some course, in pretty Surround it's elaborate Sound, a fully so we mixes auto- We doing,room an but awful that'sest it'smated lot board capable board. tied of Solid Foley to of I athink State doing Foley record- it's mix- Logic stage. the makes. larg- plications.ing, There's ADR work, a and Sony sometimes 3000 36 just roomsimple gets voice-over used for work, a variety so the of ap- machinetheinput rooms room console are to the tied in (5) into the Sony a room central 3324 and all haveof it, overkill, sodigital I'm using I guess, 24-track it. but And recorders. that's I happen to pabilities there, whatof is new your audiothe usagea Synclavier, editor hardbrary. also disc might where And editora we're so be weSonysound house that com- 3000 about to design our will go console CD to along li- round room purchase which in with it. also It's has a bit that room up pretty nicely." satelliteyoubased uplink canthe system; start Sonic anding? downlink Solutions. it's at 2-track expandable ca- It's and — a take Mac it B r oad ca s t O pof e r a t it ion s is up like? to 24," said Jack. by athe division uplink of and Disney downlink called gets used ways.used One in way really is that a couple the property of different through.numberthat ofdown There there celebrities here are are, is also frankly, so that a large number pass quite and a so visible of press conferences where some- Now, can you tell us what are the Jack's reply, "Our audio facility is "The second room is a smaller I wanted to then know what sort"The third room is the Synclavier My next question"Actually was; about we're the leaning towards Jack's response, "Well, primarily, and it gets - .!net we thing big happens with a corporation, or . lmething happens with the Cathy and Regis show. There are points on the property that are all fiber-optically connected to our machine room —so we're linked up to them and so, for instance, if Mi- chael Eisner (Disney president) is having a press conference out at Ep. we can take that feed and sena it up to a satellite for use by anybody in the country who can bring it down and use it for a news program. 'The other thing we're able to do is if there are celebrities that come down—like Robin Williams, because he was the voice of the genie in Aladdin, we're able to give him a national press tour without him ever leaving the complex here. We can put him on camera, send that signal to the uplink station, and all the talk shows can bring that down for their use, whenever they feel like it. Figure 4. The Synclauier room at the Post Group.

I think we've already seen decentralization dustry is driving a lot of that they want to take advantage of it, change. And we're really position- but the trick is, what do they do of the audio industry ing ourselves to take advantage of with all of the stuff in the machine beginning. that new generation of computer room? We still have a fair amount technology. We're seeing that cer- of that, but I think we're small tainly with the Sonic Solutions de- enough and still new enough to "For us (the Post Group at Dis- vice—which is basically a com- move with these changes. ney-MGM), we tend to use it when puter that you can edit audio on; "I think we've already seen de- we're in a jam; when we need some- and we're seeing it in video with centralization of the audio indus- thing looked at and reviewed devices like Avids (a Mac-based try beginning. If you've got a little quickly. We can send a signal up video workstation) which are ran- bit of money you can buy a couple of and bring it down in Burbank for dom-access non-linear systems. I these devices, put a shingle out and approvals (from Disney's head- think we're in a position where you're in business. But this is quarters). And we've also used it we're going to be able to capitalize where the client services and the for ad agencies in New York when on that and stay at the forefront of talent issues come into play. We're they've got to review and approve a it. Certainly video tape is not going able to attract some really top tal- spot. It's certainly more expensive away, and audio tape is not going ent; and producers and directors than Federal Express, but it's very away, but how you get your product will always be attracted to that. immediate. It depends on what the produced is changing fundamen- "The assumption is that you've scope of the project is and how criti- tally; it's being done more and got the equipment and you've got cal the time factor is. Sometimes it more on computers. It's a history the technology, but facilities like might be worth a thousand bucks thing: we're in the right place at ours are really full service. You to get the approval instantane- the right time to take advantage of don't have to run around town to ously." that. get a project completed, and depending on the scope of your pro- I asked then if Jack had any clos- "We're not a twenty-year old fa- ject, that can be a real benefit. We ing thoughts on where the Post cility, so we can still react to these deal with a lot of half-hour shows Group at Disney-MGM might be changes. Some of the older facili- and regardless of what they're qp headed in the future? ties in Hollywood have a lot of tape about, there's a lot that goes into "I think in a real broad sense, machines—hundreds of them, and them. It's always easier to stay in that the industry is changing fun- they know the computer future is the same facility when you're doing damentally, and the computer in- right here at their doorstep and a complex project." 6 £66 I eunr/ADiAi eunr/ADiAi I £66 6 10 db May/June 1993 just channel input and output MPA MPUTER CO bleamplifiers. ofavailable providingCONTROL for The remote technology the P-1000 control Series is and capa- of Price:Mfr: TOA depending Electronics on applications eithermonitoring, Windows and or it Macintosh works using com- viewfunctions theputers. on/off include The monitoring status the ability of and each control to ampli- re- fier within a given system and ad- Circle 60nels,tive onlevels, Reader and circuitry, reverse Service display signal mute Card the specific status polarity. chan- of protec- TRIAXIAL OUTDOOR employs six Ferro-fluid cooled low- radical-scaletriaxiall o adedSYSTE , M device. s technology i gna l -a The l igned to system solve Wav ef utilizes ron t glassfrequency horn,large The drivers environments. horn measures coupled The 84 low to end a fiber- inches from frontacoustical to back problems and has associated a with hasdling a 90 is by rated 90 degree at 1,200 pattern watts, at and 6 dB Price:Mfr: Community temexcess Lightblehorn. of of & Sound withstanding 100 Fully miles weatherproof per wind72 hour, speeds by and 72 the capa- in inch mouth. Power han- a gasketed conduitdrive boxa inner cpoints. with oax horn ia a l m is oungland The t covers ed system h igh 250 - is f r to equen matched cy with NEW PRODUCTS Circle 61nut on entrance. Reader Service and Card midrange horns. The dual 1,200 Hz 1000 to 10k from the inner • M ed ia l ink T e chn o logy" ' • Leviathan II is a fully horn includes hanging brackets and is now sys- - - - COMPRESSOR/LIMITER • Occupying only one unit of rack space, the DL441's features include, switchable hard/soft knee compression with ratio control in both modes, auto attack and release to constantly follow the dynamics of the signal and preserve transients while allowing excessive peaks to occur, peak level control, adjustable between 0 dB and +16 dB, utilizing Zero Time ResponseZero overshoot circuitry. The unit is switchable for +4 dBu or —10 dBu and uses balanced XLR inputs and outputs. Mfr: QMI I Drawmer Price: Circle 62 on Reader Service Card

FIXED INSTALLATION SYSTEMS • The MC-82, intended for vertical installations, is 10-in by 10-in. by 26 -in, high, while the MC-82H (shown here) is intended for horizontal installations such as under balconies, and is 10-in by 10-in by 30 1/4-in. wide. Both feature a line array design incorporating a constant beamwidth high-frequency horn (with a 1-in, compression driver) and is mounted between two high performance 8-in. woofers. They handle 200 watts power, deliver maximum SPL of 122 dB and provide 110 H by 70 W. A universal mounting hardware system, featur- ing twelve attachment points is included. Mfr: Renkus-Heinz Price: Circle 63 on Reader Service Card

SIGNAL PROCESSINGAMF' • The SPA-2 includes to high - power amplifier channels. The signal-processing section consists of a customer specified tow-way crossover, one delay line, a sub-sonic filter, a compression-driver equalizer, a parametric equalizer, cinema screen compensation (if applicable). Power is 500 W per channel at 4 ohms, 300 watts at 8 ohms, crossover is a Linwitz-Riley 24 dB/octave

or customer specified, the HF equal- qP izer has 1 dB steps, the parametric adjusts frequency, amplitude and Q for one LF anomaly and the subsonic filter is switch selectable in 10 Hz increments from 10-80 Hz. Mfr. BGW Price: $2199.00 Circle 64 on Reader Service Card L L C.66L aunr/AIDIN aunr/AIDIN C.66L L L 12 db May/June 1993 Price: $849.00 Mfr: Yorkville Sound Price: depending on model Mfr. Audio Techica US XLR quick mount and shock mount Circle 65 on Reader Service Card Circle 66 onAT847/RW Reader remote Service poweredoffer Cardflange. units identical The AT915 characteristicsAT915AMR/C, double /H/AT935AMR/C, andAT933PM/ML, /ML. goosnecks /H, as single /ML, goosenecks and double unitsusual toelite cabinet be suedthrow has forangled designstage while a a 102 horntight permits monitor allowing dB for floor sensitivity better more features performers on-stage a from specially to a to 52V phantomceiling-plateare powerabove. also operation. The similar or AT933module in-linechaneable series and TheAT935 thread-adapter feature featuresgoosenecks power series elements, either mod- feature mountincludes AT915QMR/C,s integral or ound the inter- subminiature - r e /H, in f power o r ML; c emen t a ppers. l ior ca tused as ionsigned s a formonitoring crossover optimum P-350 array. elite full-range withshow A elite processor off specially-de- sound their subSTAGE may woof- ONITOR M boot be tops! This 350 W are boundaryules The AT845R/R and mics. W Both accept 9V 12-in driver-with-horn. The un- MIC LINE section, send the release, include the suggested list and there must be a • The low-profile elite EX-350 • A new mic line, designed for Send to New Products Department, db Magazine, 203 Commack Road, If you are a manufacturer and want your new product listed in this manufacturer. The Reader Service Number under each product is computer processed when received and sent to the respective New Products are edited from information supplied by the manufacturers who, in turn, send out the information. Suite 1010, Commack NY 11725. photo or diagram included. JOHN BARILLA THE ELECTRONIC COTTAGE

Photo Opportunities In The Studio

• As a producer/engineer who this can be sonically brilliant, yet When quantization is fully imple- plies his trade in the world of con- creatively quite sterile. mented, every note intended to temporary pop music, I confess Every once in while, though, I get come in on the first beat of a musi- that much of what I do has become to work with a musical artist cal phrase comes in precisely on routine to me. The relentless beat, whose natural inclinations is con- the first beat—not a millisecond the awesome drums, the dogged trary to prevailing trends; some- earlier or later. This power to bring synchronically of computer-con- one whose musical ideas are so all performance into such radical trolled music—these celebrated spontaneous that I am challenged uniformity with just a few key- marks of a hook-laden record are both creatively and technically. strokes on the computer is a temp- all too easy to achieve with today's Such a person is Gene Koebler, tation that is difficult for most peo- technology. Because of this tech- whose musical palette ranges from ple to pass up. After all, it does nology, we often end up reducing the heaviest rock to acoustic folk to make the playing sound tighter music to a compilation of data quasi-New Age. Words are poor and punchier than it actually is. rather than a performance that here to describe the intense indi- Since virtually everybody else is needs to be captured. The result of viduality of his music; in reality it playing to that standard of preci- transcends all the categories men- sion, why not avail yourself of it? tioned, but those categories are Well, one good reason is that "real" useful in pointing to the kind of dy- musicians do not conform to such namic we are trying to capture on an arbitrary standard. Their per- Figure 1. Gene Koebler tape. There is no cruising gear al- formances are always within a cer- rehearses in John Barrila's lowed, no comfortable lapse into tain specification that we call "pro- studio. formula here; there is just the fessional," but they are not rigid. sheer outpouring of Koebler's crea- Gene Koebler wanted this realism tive energy, buffered, directed and in his tracks, so any MIDI perform- amplified by my skills as producer. ances were done "au natural"—in real-time, with all the nuances left UNDERLYING intact. PHILOSOPHY While some of Koebler's pieces This project, Koebler's second al- use strictly acoustical and electric bum, is exciting to work on for a instruments, typically the process number of reasons. One reason is would start in his own pre-produc- that we are using a production tion studio—a true Electronic Cot- methodology that marries MIDI tage remotely situated on a se- recording and acoustical recording cluded estate. There he would in a totally natural way. While usually record bass, drums and many musical projects today in- grand piano using sampled sounds volve samplers, synths and com- from his collection of MIDI mod- puters, most of them also rely ules. To enhance the realism of the heavily on the process of quantiza- performances, Koebler played all tion—which means having the the drum parts using a MIDI drum computer alter the timing of the kit. Composed of various foot ped- actual performance to fit with its als and drum pads, the drum kit eunr/Aonqp eunr/Aonqp own internal clock. What usually triggered an Alesis D-4 sampled results is a picture-perfect track in drum module giving him the best which all the nuances of individu- of both worlds: realistic perform- coot

ality have been neatly ironed out. ance coupled with the hottest digi- CL tally recorded drum sounds. After in tight—one at the bridge, one PHOTO he had finished these underlying near the neck. In the control room, OPPORTUNITIES rhythm tracks in his own studio, I played with the relative volumes Unless your camera is close at we transferred them to my multi- of each mic until I got the most flat- hand you may miss many a photo track machine and proceeded to do tering blend. These two inputs opportunity. The same holds true all the acoustical overdubs and were also compressed and subtly when recording a spontaneous, in- mixing at my studio. This is where processed through an Aphex Aural tuitive performer like Gene Koe- the fun began! exciter, which helped to bring out bler. As engineer, I cannot be so ab- the characteristic individuality of the instruments. Finally, to even sorbed in getting a good sound that IN THE STUDIO I fail to record a great performance. out the frequency response of the An expert string player. Koebler While he is usually quite definite neck, I used equalization and a plays multiple instruments in that as to his basic rhythm tracks and BBE Sonic Enhancer. The entire family of instruments, and we used microphone chain was followed by lead vocal melody, everything else many of them in this recording: 6- for Koebler is a completely open a single-ended noise filter to keep string and 12-string acoustical gui- book. Since he has such a well- everything nice and quiet. Inter- tars, mandolin, dobro, dulcimer spring of ideas, I find it best to let estly, some of the instruments and also electric 6- and 12-string him experiment for a while (in benefited by configuring the mics guitars, and fret-less bass. There front of an open microphone, of in a stereo-panning arrangement, was also lots of hand percussion— course) and call him in for a listen, but some did not. some of which was fairly exotic in when I feel things are beginning to My conclusion is, the bigger the nature—as well as wood and metal gel. The photo analogy holds here instrument, the better it sounds in flutes. I experimented a bit on too: what I do is simply shoot a stereo. In other words, the big-box mic'ing arrangements using two whole role of film and hope for one Martin guitar sounded best spread and sometimes three mics on the great shot. With Koebler there is out, while the mandolin sounded acoustical instruments. The loca- always an inspired performance best when both input channels tion and choice of microphone were for every track he lays down. Some- were collapsed into mono and based on the nature of the instru- times it occurs after repeated panned to one side in the mix. ment. In general, however (in the takes, but other times it's the first case of acoustical stringed instru- attempt that is golden. It's impor- ments) we ended up with two mics

• ire td4, —

64 CHANNELS. W hir , CABLE READY. 111 SometimEs it seems like you can't get there from here You've got a thousand great ideas,, and just about as -rany plugs in your hand. What you don't have is enough input channels. Well, allow us to aive you some input about a new way to solve your • ' dilemma. It's a TEs:am M3500 in-line mixing console. Choose either the 24 or . rt- • '"" 32--..rack mixer and by si-nply flipping a switch, you can double it to 48 or • P.' 4 I 1.• • k"' t••• 64 mix positions.

And, with a suggested retail price of $7,999 for 24 inputs or .1111.1:47 1,,;6"—: k it-1 .116.. •-•00 S8,999 for 32, it Aont -Ake up a lot of your budget, either ) ' 1 If you're planning to build a 24-track development ) I 1 studio, here's another advantage: The M3500 is the I I pe -fect match for the USR-24,Tascam's one- inc-i 24-track recc rdertgether, they mE ke the most c.c.st effective studio available ••• ea/

Ft just may ke tha- you •./ dolt need a huge corle to entarge your capEbilitie.; The M3500 offers you a new, -nore effective approach tolraditional mi

•A TASCA M,

'9,12 TEX A:mica, Inc, 7733 Telegraph Road, AikmtebelkA- CA 90640, 2131726-0303 Circle 21 on Reader Service Card tant to be able to recognize the de- the control room, played back his finitive performance when you vocal in solo mode, and we all had a hear it, and not keep working it good belly laugh. But after the lev- into the ground. By knowing ex- ity had subsided I started think- actly when to say, "Stop, that's a ing, "Hey, why not use this unique take," the freshness of the perform- sound deliberately in the song?" ance can be preserved. The intro and outro of the song in Some interesting anecdotes from question was a highly image-filled these sessions will serve to show passage and his chomping sounded the degree to which spontaneity a bit like a lady with stiletto heels was overtly cultivated. Having re- walking across a hardwood floor. corded Koebler many times, I no- So we recorded two tracks of noth- ticed that he had an interesting ing more than his rhythmically idiosyncrasy. Whenever he sang or clacking teeth and panned them played his instruments, he would left and right in the mix. The result clamp his teeth together in rhythm was an extremely evocative per- with the music. (It reminded me cussion track that could not have initially of jazz pianist Erroll Gar- been better performed on any ner's well-known grunt). In most of known instrument. And so the art Koebler's songs, this artifact was of "dental percussion" was born! well covered by the instrumental On another occasion Koebler music, so it went unnoticed. At one asked me if! had any bongo drums point, however, we were recording that he could play. I did have a set a quiet passage in a song and there of bongos, but one head was torn. was this very audible chomping We didn't want a sophisticated Figure 2. Gene Koebler adding sound between the lyrics that MIDI sampled sound, but rather vocals. Note the mic outline sounded much like a cross between the simple, primitive sound of the barely visible behind the screen. temple blocks (or some such human hand slapping a real object. wooden percussion instrument) At that point, we were grasping at and castanets. I brought him into straws, but Koebler started tap-

, • • — •.kgr r•Ailip. •••• aLS" 1 ,„„ ,, • ,

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• 16 db May/June 1993 BarilidsFigure islolation 3. Recording room. guitar in JAN/FEB J U L Y /AUG L ive MAY/JUNE MAR/APRRadio and TV Audio/Sound Reinforcement in Permanent Installations. A M—JanNAMM NSCA —April 2-4 (Orlando) SEPT/OCT SMPTE—O c t o b e r 3 0 -N o v NOV/DEC • • G U IDE : S peake r s : P e r fo rmance & Mon i to r . • GUIDE: PowerNSCA Amplifiers. & NAB show issue. AES in New• YorkGUIDE: Show Tape, issue. Tape Recorders and Accessories, Microphones. n o• ise r educ t ionc , rossover l im i s ter , s e , qua c l omp resso ize r s r ) s . ) . Winter NA MM Show issue. SMPTE in LA• Show issue. GUIDE: Consoles and Mixers, Work Stations. GUIDE: Signal Processing Equipment, Part II, (noise gates, GUIDE: Signal Processing Equipment, Part I, (delays, reverbs, The Electronic Cottage and Project Studios. Post Production —CoastState to of Coast. the Recording Art. db Visits Houses of Worship. 15-18 Sound —Inti mate Clubs to Major Stadiu ms. (Anaheim) 2 (LA) 1993 Editorial Calendar the guitarofping his upside acoustical the rhythm down across guitars on the his and back it of one fromlap ringing) (insounded order and interesting. I to pointed keep the two strings So he placed theseof slapsthe bizarretail controlmics to —one sound of EQ'ing, at room. the a the whole guitar I After head, managed lot and a one to whole retreated at get the lot into eralended timeslike up during using Indian the this tabla recording technique drums. And sev- so, we house. Kiddingdent around,shaker." broughtdevice he started weple this Another dubbed of thesessions. to fortuitous "nasal what light. has been While acci- called "found he wasto only imitatealas, kidding,put theKoebler there a shakercutting shaker but was mentioned sound no on some part shaker vocal by mypercussion" in side that harmonies, the in the song, he'd is like but another to anatomical of thesnorting glass I out saw it as another Perhaps the most unusual exam- a AES —October 12-Nov 2 (New York) AM-1994NAMM Jan 21-24NAB —April (Anaheim) 18-22 (Las Vegas) rhythm. Of course be missed. So I asked him to keep blendthepressed EQ. scratchinesson I snorting asked thephoto him sound while opportunity to with and I perform hyper-com- some brought intense that out should not likework theseture isworked. lend serious oftilatingpretty another the Despitethe art, performance, whole unique 16th lengthy the and passage note comical touches for (which triplets), Koebler's na- a was guy hyper-ven- but it cording.mark to a very personalized re- fection.tificialwasteneers Sometimes too standard and the much producers greater time of recording seeking is clear: an per- ar- Don't knowbe or slightly care.vatement the Likewise,fore captured minds outskill and it of hearts in on is focus, fades film the of in forever. seizing re- may no capti- one will the A timeless moment be- mo- cording studio photo opportunities millions; and even though it might onecome that and comes go. Don't your way. miss the next The moral of this story for engi- 11 RANDOLPH P. SAVICKY Audio, Video, Stage & Lodging All Under One Roof

Kampo Cultural & Multi-Media Center: Downtown New York's Home For Local & International Com- mercial Professionals & Multi-Disciplincto, Artists.

ULTIMEDIA, THE MERGING receptions, and overnight accom- Kampo, was voted among the wren of digital video, high- modations. Best Releases" of 1992 by the lis- quality audio, and "We feel that New York City is a teners of WNYC's "New Sounds." computer graphics, is microcosm of the world, and Professional dancer, teacher, and consideredM one of the most exciting Kampo Center embraces the cul- renowned hip hop artist Roger G and dynamic industries of the '90s. tural and artistic diversity of the recently completed postproduction Today, many companies are jockey- city's international community," of "Hip Hop With Roger G," an in- ing for position to take optimum explained Gabrielle Riera, Direc- structional workout video pro- advantage of the synergism offered tor of Kampo Center. "Fundamen- duced by Kampo Center Produc- by multimedia, and many record- tally, we are a cultural center that tions. ing studio owners are among those has continued to thrive because we George Benson, Patti Austin, pondering their next move. can accommodate our commercial and the Harlem Boys Choir have One studio in New York City, clientele successfully. also filmed music videos in Kampo Kampo Cultural & Multi-Media "As a totally integrated facility, Hall. Center, has already anticipated Kampo Center provides both art- The Black Leadership Commis- this merging of technologies. Over ists and corporate clients with the sion On AIDS (BLCA) produced the past decade, Kampo has technology, services, and education "Choose Life," a 12- part cable tele- earned a world-wide reputation as to realize their creative and com- vision series at Kampo Center. a multimedia facility for both local mercial goals," she continued. "We "Choose Life" is designed as a and international commercial pro- want them to be able to present learning tool for viewers to gain fessionals and multi-disciplinary their vision or their message to the knowledge, information, ideas, artists. world in the best way possible. Yet, and methods for promoting AIDS at the same time, we're small education and prevention in the enough to be personally attentive African-American community THE BUILDING to all of our clients' needs." across the nation. Emmy Award- Filling a six-story cast iron build- winner Cliff Frazier supervised ing off Broadway in Noho, Kampo RECE NT WORK the four days of production. Center features a complete multi- In addition, a sound-for-film pro- media facility all under one roof. Kampo's ability to provide multi- ject was recorded by the 26-piece This includes one-inch on-line and media technology while offering Walter Thompson Orchestra for quality service and personal atten- three-quarter-inch off-line video David Hannah Productions and tion at affordable rates has at- post-production suites with a sepa- soundtracks for two films were re- tracted an impressive and wide rate voice-over booth, a 24-track corded by Deep Creek Productions range of clients over the past year. audio recording studio, and Kampo at Kampo Center. One of its films, Hall, a 1,100 square foot multi- "Wedding Banquet," won the first purpose live performance and pro- prize "Golden Bear" at the 1992 duction space. Commercial work Berlin Film Festival. Commercial work thrives at Two additional floors at Kampo thrives at Kampo Kampo Center as well. Pepsi, Bry- Center are available for film, Center as well. ant Air- Conditioning, House Of video, and photography produc- Seagram, and other major corpora- tions, art exhibitions, workshops, tions have completed commercial Major label recording artists like projects in Kampo's audio and Randolph P. Savicky is President Al DiMeola, Dr. John, Al Grey, and video studios. of RPS Communications, Center- Poster Children have recorded in Production companies like port, NY, a public relations and the audio studio. The New York- S.A.B. Productions, Tonal Images, marketing company specializing Buenos Aires Connection's debut and Conner & Company Film- _•.•661 eunr/AoNqp eunr/AoNqp _•.•661 in the professional audio, video, Compact Disc, 'The New Tango," works have used the Kampo facili- broadcast, and music industries which was recorded and mixed at ties to produce "I Am Every 18 db May/June 1993 And The Lavender Moon," a song videofor forby a Los "Handel's Grammy Lobos Award, Messiah: which and was the A nominated sales "Nicktoons"Woman," for a documentary Nickelodeon, on Whit- "Mko wonSoulful a Grammy for Celebration," "Besting," Contem-ney Houston, Houston's whose artists and recent "I Have Noth- music video, York Times and Time MagazineWalking In tocompleted with Thedency Woods"), Lee at its Kampo. Blessing as second Signature itsporary (author season play- just Soul work- of Gospel "A Album." comeswright-in- Pulitzer residence, PrizeannouncedTheatre winnertheater and its wel- Ed- Company, third groups which year such recently of as resi- Signature fullverse arraythe client of Timespublications base, video Of itsp India. as Albee Kampo and lward ayw r offers audio ranging igh t - equip- in a from - r e s iden the ce f New o t r h eHall have attracted professional Signature have been reviewed in troller,CMX 3500ment. computerized Grass The video Valley suite 100 edit SEG, includes con- a three-Sony one-inch quarter-inch recorder, SP edit Sony re- 1993-94 season. Productions of Figure 1. The Kampo Audio Live Room The facilities offered by Kampo To meet the needs of such a di- A recent addition is the Amiga corders,corders, and Sony Sony Betacam VHS recorders. SP edit re- lineboothcilities editingdigital and2000/NewTek three-quarter-inch room. also video house Video effects. a voice-over 'Master off- with The video fa- Adams-Smith 2600 synchronizertures a Solid State Logic 4044 E (DAT)Panasonic recorders,quarter-inch,820 24-track Digitalputer a completeSeries and Audio recorder, Otari Total Console Tape half-inch, Recall, Ampex with G Studer Series and A- Com- gearB piano,ture, andrack microphones, full one-inch (three selection machine layback), and lock-to-pic- a MIDI of Steinway outboard iswill availablethatspecial make is surerack. not for requests provided that them," for the in-house, equipment said equipment Riera. we videotaneous editing communicationartists suite, recording and is the avail- audio audio and video able betweenmediaproductions network Kampo Hall, capability. the because of its Simul- multi- AUDIO EQUIP MENT The audio recording studio fea- "If any of our clients have any Kampo has become the choice of timetracks code, of house audio, sync, program and video, RTS in- concertsbyof recordingtory this live.Chapin Ensemble unique and Trio Kampo video reapedtercom). aspect and to simultaneously Zasis taping the ofrecording The network Improvisa- benefits the their Center enables studio record (including 24 and video tape live performances. classes. These include Japanese language, calligraphy, brush paint- Kampotural also and multimedia offers center, a wide range of 'Master,the asand multimediaarts, well Shamanicing, as yoga, Butoh classes workshops. audio dance, theater, classes at Some Aikido Kampo Haitian of on martial dance, the SolideditingCenter State and Logic include the NewTek recording CMX Video video on-line the early MKA M 1970sconsole. by Kampo Harada, the Japanin Calligraphya Japan master for calligrapher Education more than 40 and years. teacher In tolished fostercultural Kampo interculturalFederation, exchange, CenterSoshi in Soshi or New which awareness Grand estab- York currently Master, founded has timediaing facilitiesand theater,by the supporting experimental at music, Kampo700,000 both dance are arts, the de- students perform- traditional includ- worldwide. artsthe transcendwell-being humansigned spirit," cultural becauseand toances other support barriers said they and special nourish workshops, Riera. this events. awareness. 'The exhibitions, The mul-1953, Kampo, who is also known as THE REASON FOR For example, the Thomas Balancing its role as both a cul- Kampo Center was founded in As a promoter of international "The arts are essential to our well-being because they nourish the human spirit,..." essential to our 'The arts are Choir Jose Feliciano Larry Coryell New York-Buenos Aires Connec- tion Patti Austin Poster Children Teruo Nakamura Warrior Soul Production: Agencies/Produc- ers/Directors Adam Dubin Productions Bill Graham Productions Conner & Company Creative Music Con- cepts Deep Creek Productions Dick Scott Entertainment Doghead Films Envy Music Lenny Grodin Productions Black Market Productions Mustapha Khan Part- nership Works Platinum Vibe Rocking Horse Filmworks SAB Productions Tonal Images Vinnie Giordano Productions Zack Smith Music

Audio Department 24-track audio Figure 2. Audio Control. recording studio with 21 foot x 28 foot live area, 11 foot x 11 foot and bring people together. At Kampo Cultural & isolation booth, and Kampo, we feel that it is important Multi-Media Center: to provide a multimedia venue for artist/producer's the creative and artistic expres- Client List sion of people from different cul- Recording Artists: lounge with complete tural backgrounds." Al DiMeola Al Grey Anton Fig home entertainment Danny Gottlieb Deborah Harry Dr. John George Benson Harlem Boys system.

Record Companies: Atlantic Figure 3. The Video On-Line Room at Kampo. Records Chemistry/Mercury Re- cords Columbia Records EMI Re- cords Geffen Records Hollywood Records IRS Records Pow Wow Re- cords Relativity Records Sa- voy/Malaco Records Sire/Warner Bros. Sony Music Tee Vee Toons Radio & TV Commercials Bryant Air-Conditioning Coca- Cola Nick Toons Pepsi-Cola House of Seagram

THE KAMPO LAYOUT Kampo Cultural & Multi-Me- dia Center: Facilities First Floor

Production Studio: The multi- qp purpose production studio (dimensions: 21 feet x 54 feet with a ceil- ing height of 14 feet) is wired for multiple cameras, 32 microphones, 24 tracks of audio, time code, house sync, program video, program audio, and RTS intercom, and con-

nects to the editing suiteeunr/AoN I — with £66 61 splits to the audio control room and inch, and Panasonic Digital Audio tion, character generator, Toaster a mezzanine control room/projec- Tape (DAT) recorders; Steinway B paint, dual frame buffers, chroma tion booth—for a variety of fully in- piano; full selection of outboard FX color processor, frame grabber, tegrated recording situations. This gear, microphones, and MIDI rack and digital video effects. studio is temperature-controlled, (Akai S1100 sampler/Mac SE, etc.) soundproof, and includes a 12 dim- Fourth Floor Third Floor mer theatrical lighting package Video Department: One-inch Loft Space: Traditional Japa- and dressing rooms. Multi-camera on-line and three-quarter-inch off- nese tatami room, hardwood floors, studio production packages are line video editing suites and voice- and exposed brick combined with also available. over booth. PA system, TV monitor, and vide- Second Floor Equipment: CMX 3500 comput- ocassette recorder. Designed for Audio Department: 24-track erized edit controller; Grass Valley classes, conferences, workshops, and multi-media productions. audio recording studio with 21 foot 100 SEG with AMS- 100 audio fol- x 28 foot live area, 11 foot x 11 foot low video option; Sony BVH-2000 Fifth Floor isolation booth, and artist/pro- one-inch recorder, Sony BVU-850 ducer's lounge with complete home SP three-quarter-inch edit re- Loft Space: Newly renovated entertainment system. corder; Sony BVW-40 Betacam edit 2,400 square foot space with hard- Equipment: Solid State Logic recorder; Sony PVW- 2650 with DT wood floors, a kitchen, and two 4044 E Series Console with G Se- player; Sony PVW-2800 edit re- bathrooms, and with sleeping ries Computer and Total Recall; corder; Sony SVO-16 VHS re- quarters in the rear. It is designed Studer A-820 24-track recorder, corder; Amiga 2000/NewTek Video for film, video, photography shoots, Ampex quarter-inch, Otari half- Toaster with Lightwave 3D anima- and receptions.

"Drew's Depending On You."

Drew Johnson asked me to tell you that he's counting on you. As MDA's 1992 National Poster Child, he's helping me spread the word about MDA.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is stealing Drew's muscle strength and taking away his ability to walk. It'll also shorten his life unless we can stop it.

Thanks to you, we know much more about Drew's disease than we did just a few years ago. Our scientists are testing treatments that might someday work. But it takes time and money.

Drew's just one of "my kids." They all deserve a future. They're depending on you.

Give to MDA. M D R Muscular Dystrophy Association National Headquarters / 3561 East Sunrise Drive Tucson. AZ 85718 /(602) 529-2000 20 db May/June 1993 1993 May/June db 20 LARRY ZIDE Masterdisk, Re-Visited

Masterdisk of New York City is one of the venerable mastering houses in the U.S. Years ago, we did a story on the then-new direct metal mastering of LP records. There have been changes in the industry since then and changes at Masterdisk, so we thought it appropriate to schedule a re-visit.

E DECIDED TO INTERVIEW Then we asked just how these do get on CD or a cassette these days, at least two of their you find that clients come in know- that's standard. I do a lot of differ- mastering engineers ing what they want or do you have ent twelve inch type of records, and it was decided to guide them along to what's avail- dance, raps, that I always cut vinyl thatW it would be both Scott Hull able and what kind of choices that for, but the LP has kind of died out and Tony Dawsey. First we spoke can be made? over the years. Cassettes and com- with Tony Dawsey. Said Tony, "I think sometimes pact disks are the main thing that we end up making." We first asked Tony what he does people have an idea of what they with a recording as it first comes in. want, and other times they leave it Our next question was, what can up to you, you're the engineer they an incoming client do on his tape, feel they trust you, so on and so that he brings to you, to make it eas- Began Tony, "Well to start off forth. I'll decide then myself, for ier for you? with I'll say that when I get a tape the most part, normally I don't from any mixing studio engineer, I "I just think that hopefully it's re- have people asking me what A to D feel that what they have on the corded well from the start, and converter you are going to use, or tape is basically what they want. then it's mixed down properly and are we going to stick in the digital So when I play the tape back here, if you could just make it the best domain, or whatever. People just whether it's half inch, quarter you possibly can in each stage, don't do that. I think that your inch, DAT, 1630, in listening to the then that'll make my job a lot eas- reputation speaks for itself, and material, I decide then which ana- ier. Once in a while you do get a people come to work with you for log to digital converter I feel is nec- tape in here that's done so well that that. They know that you are going essary to benefit the project. There you barely have to do anything to to do the best possible thing you are several different ones we have it, where other tapes need a lot of can to improve and make their pro- here, the Pygmy, the Wadia, the work, a lot of EQ to make them ject as good as it can be. Apogee, etc. It's at that point I de- sound very good. It really varies "People are a lot more laid back cide what I feel is best for that, de- from engineer styles though. A lot pending on the music, its dynamic at this part of the mastering stage, of different things account to how a range, and so forth. because you have to go through the tape sounds. I would just recom- initial recording which could be mend that people get it as well as twenty four, forty eight or what- "They have their limitations, possible. Try to fix whatever prob- ever many tracks. After that you there are certain things I like more lems that might be there before mix down on to two tracks, what- they come here. Sometimes you about some than others depending ever format, and when they come on the project, and what type of have to fix problems here, but, in here, this is what we got and hopefully, you don't have to end up music is, I'll decide then. I don't we'd like you to do the best that you want to give out my secrets, so to doing that," said Tony. possibly can. I don't feel like people speak, as to what type of music I'll pressure you into using anything. use whatever converter with, but They leave it up to you, basically. A W HAT EQ UIP MENT IS that's basically how I do it here. A lot of clients are familiar with all USE D? lot of people I work with may have the different type of converters, a tape coming in on DAT but it We now wanted to know about and they may comment on one in some of the equipment that you are doesn't necessarily mean that they particular, but for the most part, want to stick to the digital domain. actually working with to produce people leave it up to me." this final CD or cassette master? A lot of people like the big analog qp We now asked, if most of the work sound that I achieve with various Tony replied, "Again, you have a you're doing ending up as CD's or equalizers on my console, my expe- choice when you come here. You as cassette, or is there still a lot of rience with it. If the client wants to can either stay in the digital do- LP production? use the digital equalizer that's no main, if you have a DAT or a six- problem I'm more than happy and Said Tony, "I don't think there is a teen thirty tape or if your tape is willing to do that, but that's an- lot of LP production, that's really half inch or quarter inch analog, other decision that you have to use cut down a lot over the years, but you use analog EQ. So you have a right at the start of the session." just about everything is going to choice right there. I use eunr/AolAi standard CO6L lZ 22 db May/June 1993 TechNeumann equalizers, equipment and with NTP com- Sound binegoodies to give on the a nice console big that analog I com- sound that a lotpressors of the and a clients few other little like. Other just another creative thing again, bility.different ASony; lotconsole. of a digitallot people The of don't different equalizers. tendhavethan to people I that, really make in the digital domain I Harmonia Mundi causelike of a the lotroom, digital thetypes. which de-essing Wet is have er a istequalizer a totally ics Neve capa- . here with automated in a one de-esser, compres- causede-ess they a want record things in the very studiodigital bright be-sors equalizers, and other different lots of different charac- you recently been workingtakes on?gets a little a little bit worse.that ofsound. that by So de-essing using A off, lot this of so it people that you may have have a fear the cassettes don'tlot distort.taken of times, off That's too by much the high time I'm end. fin- So a it's something yousingsto haveished make or to it talks decide equalizing sound with right, that the record, if someone trying just allject. kinds He's of just people. incredible. He re- Bradford when you're doing the session and centlyrappersman collaboratedgoing named withthat to I'm be crazy with a big an about array project,working that on I is thethink a project." gentle- is of different jazz musicians and what he's done is combined hip-hop world,corded some this invery, Europe, projector rap very some all and in excited over jazz the together. about this I'm pro- just thedifferent project.He hadCalifornia, to musicians So travel the some format to and here get fingers that with in he New these on York. lieve,allchose these if to I'm different go not to mistaken, was studios, aMarsalis DAT. there So I be- from is on it, Lottius Smith, NE W PROJECTS "There's a lot of different types of Now, we asked Tony, what have "Something I've done recently a Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi Guru. Harmonia Mundi, Gangstar. digital equalizer He's one of the esss, He re- digital it just be- just see what it sounds like. And at equipped.Figure 1. Tony's room at Masterdisk. Most of the rooms are similarly cutsmust on be the a good album. twelve Again, to different fourteen ofhe DATs;tries. comesover so in the righte So and veartists, world he rywhe he there chose r has e and . musicians a various to I wholeplay use a coun- lot and back, DAT, recorded so onthat what heperhaps point has on I on the just a tapePanasonic start what 3700, feeling, and based forconverter that. In I talking feel would with him, be best he used whatsays Iwasn't felt he'll really was leave best. into that I usingchose up to digital analog me to do EQ, ferringonter howment that it youwants. onsound equalizesounds. using myEQ So being analog that again, one You it he that of console likes end you I the I use up both know and differ- my and trans- the that equip- agree af- type he of eachthat andande point, every from n a t na there cut log after - from to on -d all you've ig to i ta 1630 these c l transferred onve tape. r t er At s differentdifferent EQ settings, DATs and a whole you end lot up of hewe wants putuses it, itdigitalsequencing three-quarter-inch in we get the editor the running the spacing in tape. order my room, video be- I that whichhave tape. a Sony So from there I sequenced the tape, "The whole work was done all After that's done then he'll tell you 'I wanttween five songs. DATs' or and whatever you compile it. toamount give of the cassettes, record company and what- you have hehe wanted, hasthe on basically.stays Sony thatonceDATs in digital it tape or theever goes cassettes. I'm is digital they editor. onto just the want. the data here domain At 1630 that that So using from tape point, that it EQ'd going to stay in a digital domain asto help it out, to make the transi- tion from one cut to another as thinkevenones, they acrosssomesmooth sound cuts you the want louder board, as pretty to possible. make than I consistent would the the level next You don't 1630 tape want you run off all of their a final master? what'scase,from on sometimes, cut the to tape cut. it originally really It's not depends itself. always the knowto it's be donecutBut going differently, to it cut to does vinyl, throughout sound when consistent rather you the album." than from end,thethe you'd record inner have that band, to had be a meaning careful lot of the high not end to of put too much high end there or you "Again, my attitude is whatever Tony answer, "If you had a cut on We wanted to then know what has necessary to make them happy and make the record sound good. Sometimes you have to work a little harder on some than you do on others, but that's just part of the business. "It's never going to stop, and I think as long as people want to spend some money they'll have something for you to spend it on. I still think the top mastering studios will be around for a long time.

NOW WE TURN TO ENGINEER SCOTT HULL We began by asking about a recently finished Bruce Springsteen album? How did that work come in? Figure 2. Tony Dawsey. Scott said, 'The project depends a whole lot on what they have done up to that point, obviously. In the case of the Springsteen stuff they might get inner band distortion. chance of playing that back with- hadn't been edited together yet, so Sometimes you have to compen- out any complications, as opposed we needed to take individual sate either by de-essing or having to the one in my room. So the tech- batches from the individual songs a lower level as you got in toward nology does not stop in this busi- as they were mixed and assemble the center grooves. With a com- ness. Every year something new is them. It came in on DAT. pact disk you don't have that type coming out to make whatever bet- These were Bob Clearmountain of problem." ter. I don't feel that you would have mixes that he did for the TV spe- Continuing in this vein we asked the problems that you did many, cial. The CD wasn't of the entire if, for example, a sound from a syn- many years ago in dealing with show, so some songs were removed thesizer—which is very deep bass something like that. Before we for flow and for other artistic rea- heavy, would present serious prob- could say this is a major problem sons, some songs were moved lems trying to cut it on an LP? we would have to change the EQ, around in the set because once you definitely would have to do test "I wouldn't say that entirely, they started removing songs then cuts first and find out if it is, in fact, what I would have to do is some the set didn't work quite as well. a problem, because it might not be, test cuts. I think the engineer, if he "Usually there are several num- might not be." has any cutting experience, if on bers, in case of the Paul McCartney the inner bands something like We now would ask you if there is Live record we did a few years ago, what you just said happened, you anything that you want to talk and the case of Eric Clapton would do a test cut and know that about at this point? 7'wenty four Nights both of which whatever level you could get away were a number of years ago, there with playing it, playing back clean. Responded Tony, "Just that, I were multiple performances and in Of course, like you said, on the guess I'm kind of from the old certain instances we took from compact disk you don't have that school. I believe in keeping it sim- some and from others and occa- problem, but when it comes to vi- ple. You know I remem ber! have a sionally from sound check that had nyl you just have to make a test cut favorite teacher who used to say just been the best performance, be- of that first. Sometimes you may 'kiss all the time' I'm sure you cause the actual performance had have to do a little EQ adjustment know all about that, keep it simple, been flawed by technical difficul- but, hopefully, not. You don't want stupid. That's how I try to ap- ties, or whatever. In this instance to do that, because you want every- proach the mastering from what- there was just one performance, thing sounding similar. ever type of music and artist I'm they had already picked their final "We probably would end up cut- working with, just try and keep it versions of them, there were no qp ting a project like that on DMM, simple. Just believe that, unless studio fixes or overdubs on these and it's just an incredible piece of they tell me otherwise, that what- tapes; these were raw mixes off the machinery where it works a lot bet- ever they have on their tape is ba- live multi-track masters. In other ter than, say the first ten or twenty sically what they want and just try words, they had recorded live to years of when an LP came out. So and do the best we can in working multi-track on a twin 48-track that type of machinery, again tech- together. I become part of the team Sony digital machine, and these nology playing a major role here when a person comes in my studio were re-mixes of those tapes with- would probably have a better and I just try and do whatever is out any studio fixes or clean-ups CZ C66t eunr/ADLAJ eunr/ADLAJ C66t CZ 24 db May/June 1993 theirother choice than takes re-mix at effects, that point and and bal- it hadancing. been They clear had chosen to them all why of they could or couldn't use some of them. happened between the songs, so thatnot meanting. include finding What they adon't ways lotshow hadthe of recall as of decided making most itthe the went part if show, chatterI to believe down. we they do even just Actually, is that used Bruce used to the cover any did entire I do of mistakes a couple or editedit sound and that's totallylead-outs alwaysthe as repeats, if the from goalit thecover hadn't because actual songs eventualities. all been record- a of second the time But at I the think end for of with me. " songs had the lead-ins and the offerent work to players. find little It takesthat? pieces quite that a lot you differentcordedeventhey're though inmakes times different a the band playing of tracks sound the countries live the are year way re- in and a studio, and dif- can fade into and cross fade out of, reallyand make there. it sound Technically, as if you we were use becausethe Sonic it quickly Solution's gives editing me multi- system in real timea largetrack in a number capability. digital of editing EQ control, It choices allows me to try that"Bruce" particularanso (there's audience sometimesme show veryisn't might aand because the sophisticated lot it's be any end going of audi- degradation. of very "Bruce" one high EQ song control on quality, It also give so there Whatences that love EQanother control to do time for allows they're Bruce me to shows). going do is match up audiences, fade one basshis playerdrummer kit,environment, might slap ifmakewitchcraft, be, his it frompiece a repositioning strings, moved,piece nice what of is controlled of or audience. as audience a you and reallyvery hear into It's difficult a just another not trying at all to performance. At the end of a song a andwhen oversometimes they again. get things to So hear those get them distracting things over we might go after removing some of "It's literally just as if a producer We asked, just how do you do "heee" , "v000" Figure 3. Scott Hull. tothe things chatter, that were the happening audience on laughing notan tostage audio include production. that them you is don't A to way see find you because other try it's it'sanduse from sopieces audience much the more same of from consistent show, audience, the because same —it's day I almost always canamazing be from how different hall to hall. audiences It's always tionalthingsa big tour because challenge and we it were was with an mating them interna- finding up trycult. toother, makesongs In it and some from sound that cases one natural, continent became we didn't very we to diffi- an- even onemade segment it clear and the that beginning it was of the end of togetherlonganother. process in a In natural of this getting way case, with that it the all was put a fairly way the artist wanted it done. whathis heBruce people wanted, wasn't were and here able that's and to knew be how here, we but approveceivedproceeded or a to reference from make that changes copy point. of to." that He re- to ple? Is that the media you stayed DA7' tapes from Springsteen's peo- editingsomething and else assembly? in order to do your with or did you convert them to tem.Solutions So those is are our then disc transferred editing sys- intocalled;directly the Sonic digital to Solutions digital, to digital hard-disk D to transfer D as it's leastmostediting through throughout all system. the of duration, the It assembly resided at there al- comeand in editing directly stages. via AES-EBU Originals or can getface. directlySony standard I've on got disc and a off tovariety disc Sonic. inter- of ways I can dorecorded conversionsUSEFUL? at 44.1 as well? or did you have to quency response improvements at 48 k inevitablyversions, albeit needs to the be slight con- fre- ARE CONVERSIONS Now, we asked, had you received Scott explained, "Well, the Sonic Our follow up question, were they "No there weren't additional converted. The Sonic has very high- ous work, as well as making it for that are: the Neve allows me quality converters built in with sound pleasing to listen to from top plus/minus 1 or 2 dB in 1 dB incre- software that you can select on or to bottom. That in a big way, is ments at a wide variety of frequen- off. As high tech as they are, they what mastering is all about. If it cies, but the Harmonia Mundi for still do affect sound quality. I per- was just a matter of equalization the first few dB gives me half dB sonally believe that a 44.1 kHz re- there's a wide variety of digital steps. If I'm stuck between cording that is not converted, boxes that people can have in their whether or not to add any top, or sounds better than a 48 k record- small studios or in a back room at add something in the mid-range or ing converted. Ultimately, you the studios. It's really a matter of take something out of a bottom, have to convert to 44.1 so I don't the creative work of making it I've got a choice of a 0.5 dB, 1 dB, quite see the logic in recording at sound consistent. What I generally 1.5 dB, 2 dB, or 2.5 dB while on the 48. If we had an extended band- choose to do, and this depends pro- Neve it's 1 dB steps. As picky as width media to give to the public, I ject to project, is create one of two that seems to sound, that can would probably be totally for a 24- things. I'll either create a master, make a pretty big difference, just bit 48 k type environment or some- digital master, that's the entire how much you want to remove. thing maybe that even exceeded show and then work off it, that'll "It's a creative decision. Each that. But we don't. Conversion, to either be DAT or 1630 U-Matic; or equalizer sounds a little different, me, sounds worse than the small I'll work directly off the Sonic. as well. The Harmonia Mundi 's 1 improvements that you get at 48k, That's a little more preferable." dB at 4 k sounds different than the answered Scott." Our next question. How much Neve's 1 dB at 4 k. Having to do Now,did you end up doing a sin- time can you put into the Sonic? with the shape and the way that gle CD out of this or were there mul- they do the actual digital filtering." tiple CDs because of the length of "As many disks as you want to add. I've got a little over four gi- the concert? W HEN YOU USE ONE gabytes of hard disk space, so I can Said Scott, "Single CD, that's run two large album projects con- OR THE OTHER. part of what made the editing a lit- currently on the disks. Even with This led to asking Scott if there tle more challenging. The laser this thing, with a whole bunch of are times when you would prefer to disk that had been released of the alternate takes, and a long live use one, and there are times when show was an entire, full length, I'm performance, I still had some addi- you would prefer to use the other? guessing now, about a twenty-song tional hard disk space. I don't have sort. I'm not sure, I don't have it in Scott's answer, "Yeah, and quite to re-create anything on the hard often you've got a hunch about front of me. It was long, the entire disk, this is what's nice on some of show." which one will work, but some- the better hard disk systems. It'll times you end up surprising your- We inquired of Scott, now you play back through my edit, liter- self by trying the other one and it have the entire pre-edited version of ally, what a video house would call sounds a little different, it's doing your songs in order and you're in an edit decision list. It'll play back something a little different har- the Sonic Solutions hard-disk edit- through that off of the hard disk in monically. Each song, each prob- ing system. Now you're applying real time. I don't have to re-print lem you address, you get a differ- within that system, some EQ and that as a complete entity back to ent response from it. You can only other controls. Are there also out- the hard drive. So, it allows me to really go on the way it makes you side controls with which you might stop and start anyplace in the se- feel, or the way it sounds. One dB, also be working? lection, I can repeat that second for instance, at a particular fre- Sott's reply, "For me, one of the chorus bit that I'm having trouble quency on one device might sound small drawbacks of the Sonic sys- with EQ on, for instance, I can re- more like two dB on another de- tem is that they are still working peat that over and over quickly by vice, just because of the way they on the interface for the EQ. It just clicking on the keyboard. I'm are affecting the material-that it's sounds wonderful, but what hap- not rewinding tape, that's what's grabbing. Each device, correlates pens is when I'm working with a great about random-access edit- to analog. Massenberg EQ sounds client, it's not able to do always do ing. It also makes a great playback different then an E-V EQ, or White exactly what I need it to do. Suffice format for the same reasons. EQ,. It correlates into analog as it to say, I use outboard digital EQ "At that point I ran the Spring- well. There's a different algorithm, almost exclusively when I'm not steen digital audio through a por- a different way that they go about editing per se, or when I'm not as- tion of the Neve DTC, called The making the EQ. There are sonic sembling a piece together. So I Prism which is an extended ver- differences among A-toD convert- might pre-EQ a piece of audience sion of the Neve DTC 1. It's not ers, as well. to insert it into the live perform- stock equalization of a Neve DTC 1 "On analog-to-digital conver- qp ance or I might pre-phase a seg- prism system. They added a quite sions from analog masters, even if ment that needs to be cross edited good sounding equalizer section you carry the project through an into another segment. What's nice that supersedes the original analog multi-track and analog con- in the case of mastering is to as- equalization. So I used that por- sole and analog two track, if you're semble the entire show or assem- tion of the Neve and I also used the going to release a CD, it's got to be ble your entire master, because Harmonia Mundi digital equalizer converted to digital at some point. that's really what a job is. It is all in series, but I was not utilizing Actual choice of conversion can making it sound as if it's a continu- every function of each. The reasons make a big difference oneunr/ApiAi the way C661 gZ 26 db May/June 1993 we didherethe just is recording a recently Elvis sounds. Costello For release example, that logwhich multi-track was an analog and analog master, mix; ana- a ofout the Sonic of the Solutions Neve, or system you'rethe toone top one going hadsounds end had anew out little and atype device a little little so that that's something better was tighter richer now going extension that's outgood and bottom , to one but, warmer, become innice end, what warm their became sounding a critical piece, that ter?what, to actually makeyou use a CD the mas- right converterers, forent Lexicon the devices: haddecision sent Apogeeofdidn't us mastering converters, is a how proto- you really EQ. convert It need sounded that much very in the way What this entails, is literally re- back fromtiononce it.an appended There placing CD with areCD on as appropriate advan-facturing the it their so 1630 master that U-Matic houses informa- the tape to tape CD format. actually with use a cision.conversion What's becomes nice an about artisticPygmy that, converters,digital. de- isDolby if SR We Wadia tried convert- a number of differ- theing future."stuff aboutmachines,differences goeschine optical. chine alignments away that if when between That's it the you and wasn't playback are even alltages; a format talk- identical recorded thatmanufacturing is much of lower on a on, ma- maintenance houses or can play mastering tion housesThere's stage andmat is CD at a manu- 1630 been this U-Matic some point. tape. advancesthing." Sonic whichmastering.project, Solu- And that's yousupposed do a good less to be equalization as empirical in as that areproblems playinga U-Matictapecost, that a being tape tape come there's can, back damaged up when on digital in a you much ma- shipping less error chance as oftions a are is going working beyond with the different experimenta- CD manufacturing plants to enable Now our question is, you're going Scott's answer, "The ultimate for- optical 1/2 CD, an optical write- -in. 30 in/sec tape to Juliet Letters, ginning the coding for the CD actually on cartback upis their awhere if cut CD's, a does (most radiocan it they radio be station end? critical setthe stations What U- it Matic? is we've up production going set so do, to deci- play trackatthat home, five,calledwhen to to totween when the allowdone). actually he nextwhen where cues the song the Inup up the track DJ, begins, cue CD's their to previous or the ends there's CD the it's where the playerspecially listener song song's doessions, a space one or and with song when be- so they begin a we'll live and performance, handle that here. Es- liveto do concert when you'reto tape.music playtions dealingmake listener interactively track it tothe with useful playfour five. space to a tracks havewhen or for between with. What it he something both plays off, it won't track A lot radio does track play and four of is sta- for four through and trying the it all won't to of izesappropriate is as much to of make a production thoseCD's."people breaks'. deci- love to re-sequenceplay their through the space after track laugh) withthan the theyit's CDally format, were,the allpiece remain artistartistic they're now partmake involved of incorpo-the a music. of and bunch having person judgmentsion their producers in, of That'sIt's as qualitative fun because who calls production it something issong need something is.song doing about andIs to In or and deci- he where the that re- a not is talking lot is everybody he has of introducing this about to cases going real- the they previous to the be next away,"that,all saidadditional I sortstricks don't Scott.rating of want and songs a funsions. bunch different to and at give of little People the different them ways ends are all fluff of of doing little hidingsend CDs like that the tape more off to CD prep and Our question, are you entering all Said Scott, 'That's correct. Those "Well it's 'what's he saying here"? That should be really fun for you Oh-give them all away (Both the pause. of track five. But then You have to utilize be- you're doing? bonus for people toAll find of a if sudden they it left will look like the have I leftthe anything CDwanted runningit'slisted to out while somethingter, includethen that they on there that after any you'd wereincrementing, as the will oftrack band a about theof little beparticular silence numbers label a a track, minute or special all copy jumping at or it's disc but of the so around. a af- not where end sudden of in the start the CD, middle the big issue iswant mix-down to telldoing format our dishes and readers or something." onCD what player it is is losing its mind. And issue.tal,mastering We're analog-to-digital finding format. more Analog projects conversion, vs. digi- I benefit from a transfer to a high- already touched upon, but is a big when it'sTherethe out is performance ofbeen aquality wide its an occasional varietytal. of normal the twocome mixes. Some track environ- of in of way analog machine. on those of analog, simply digital That's but projects there's still buy withoutrealold compromisingment. special analog Sometimesproduce equipment sound the some old to actualimproving surprising can it, tube add a hopefully, gear the results ora emotion, large proportion the feel of of them on digi- body can notice thatThat's I wasthe quite even hi-fl fine, tion.tivation. articles a smallwant much. little technically-perfecttechnical It People in needs which don't characteristics to they necessarily be don't theand stuff, motiva- digital of they it gear too out there that can there." itlieve wasthat's done that allrealize the it digital, end sounds what of they're better then it. tre- If because listening they really to. be- sidermendous! my job I often wellsmirk done or say chuckle when that no- I from con- me and "Well, the people will see on a OK, Scott, another question, Scott's answer, "What's become a "I've also been reading some of music and that's really the mo- Figure 4. Doug Levine, President of Masterdisk

Mastering technology is changing fast. We asked Douglas G. Levine, President of Maserdisk Corporation, To tell us just where he sees the mastering facility going and how he sees the process evolving? • In my mind the answer to these questions starts with what will remain the same at the mastering facility and why master at a large multi-room facility such as Masterdisk. Whether working in the analog or digital domain; or producing CDs/cassettes/vinyl, the mastering house is your final opportunity for artistic input. Suddenly, after weeks or months of recording and mixing (it is rumored that Donald Fagen started recording his soon-to-be-released Kamakiriad engineered here by Scott Hull, over 5 years ago!) the day of reckoning comes.Paranoia maxima sets in; why did we mix on those monitors? or what were we thinking or drinking during the mix? This is the point where quality mastering is crucial to helping creative individuals maximize the impact of their work. Mastering is a highly specialized art involving but not limited to editing, sequencing, equilization , compression, and noise reduction. I would go to a dentist for a tooth ache, a cardiologist for heart pain and a mastering facility for sonic relief. At Masterdisk we offer experienced and technically advanced engineers, state-of-the art equipment and a professional environment. Over the last decade we have seen the introduction of more formats and equipment than the previous history of recorded music. At last count, we offer at least five different A/D converters, which all have their unique attrib- utes. As the technology boom continues the devoted mastering facility will remain vital. The producer or artist receives valuable and objective input from a mastering engineer who works on over a hundred projects per year. This 'fresh set of ears' is especially important after coming out of a project studio. In this rapidly advancing world of robotics, virtual reality and interactive TV, it is refreshing that over half of the sessions at Masterdisk are done on vintage analog gear, although digital processing is available in all of our rooms. Many projects are mastered both analog and digitally or might require digital de-essing. At our facility one can find Ampex ATRs, over 20 years old or a Marantz DCC player, not yet out of the box! Over the next 3 -5 years there will be some changes or additions at the mastering facility; some of which are predict- able and others less certain. Will DCC/Minidisk succeed in the consumer marketplace? Minidisk would have very little impact on mastering, as compared to DCC which would require a $200,000+ capital investment. First the pre-mastering process would take place, where text can be written and configured for display. Mastering for DCC involves merging text with music which would be displayed on the screen of a DCC player (perfect for Karaoke). The success of DCC would be favorable for the established mastering houses. One certainty is that the technology boom marches on through the 90's. In audio processing this can be summed up as the great data compression race' not unlike the computer and telecommunications industries. Recently, Sony Corpora- tion and Sonic Solutions , Inc. have introduced their respective versions of24 Bit Mapping, which allows for the input of tip to 24-bit data and the output of 16-bit data. The end goal is the reproduction of high-quality sound. This technology qp will surely be embraced at Masterdisk. Hard-disk storage systems will also become more prevalent in the 90s, as well as magneto optical (MO). Sony has introduced the PCM 9000 Digital Master Disc Recorder that uses MO discs as its recording medium. MO discs are re-re- cordable, highly reliable (not susceptible to dropouts) have a long shelf life and are excellent for archiving 20 or 24 bit data. The price tag on the PCM 9000 is $44,000. Remaining state-of-the-art will never be inexpensive. There will always be a niche for the devoted multi-room mastering house. A place where full service, experience, and professionalism abound. aunr/ADA C66[ L L

HANDBOOK OF SOUND SYSTEM DE- SOUND RE INFORCEMENT FOR SIGN by John Eargle CHURCHES by Curt Taipale In one complete up-to-date book Tapes recorded during an actual seminar, you here are all the practical as well will hear Curt present on these tapes not only as theoretical aspects of sound re- the basics of microphones, but how to get the inforcement. The detailed chap- most out of your console both in a live setting ters include information on elec- and in the studio; how to deal with feedback, trical fundamentals, acoustical how to recognize phase cancellations caused by fundamentals and psycho- acous- poor speaker placement and much, much more. tical aspects; high-, low-, and Helpful diagrams are enclosed where appropri- mid-frequency systems; micro- ate. This is your chance to learn from Curt's phones in sound reinforcement mistakes and his triumphs. His accomplish- and system architecture; central ments and his failures are freely shared in an loudspeaker arrays, distributed systems, encouraging manner. speech reinforcement and paging systems; sys- Four cassette tapes, nearly five hours! tem intelligibility; high-level sound reproduc- $35.00 #14-991 tion, a theater sound overview, and sections on live music reinforcement, line arrays and sound THE NEW RECORDING STUDIO columns. HANDBOOK by John M. Woram and Alan P. 347pp. Hardcover Kefauver $37.50 #12-991 This new edition has been ac- cepted as the long-awaited replacement to the original book INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL RE- published in 1976. The new edi- CORDING TECH NIQUES by Bruce I3prtlett tion is not "old wine in a new bot- Geared primarily for the aspiring pro ional, tle." The revision has been done by Professor Kefauver. He is the 14. this book provides mprehe- Introduction to sive discussion of i a ng, engi- Coordinator of the Recording Arts Professional Recording Techniques neering and pp ction tech- and Sciences Department and Di- niques. Speci coverage of rector of Recording at the prestig- microphones,lk crophone tech- ious Peabody Conservatory of Music. The book niques, pkefiling, sequencing, is used by most of the recording schools and and MID M'also included. universities here and abroad. This book contains all the basics for the recording studio en- 416pp. Paper gineer, as well as more advanced information $29.95 #8-991 covering MIDI, Automated Consoles, SMPTE Time Code and Digital Audio. This book has been and remains the "bible" of the audio in- THE SONGWRITER'S WORKSHOP edited by Harvey Rachlin dustry This book and cassette meets the 525pp. Hardcover songwriter on the le 1 that he $45.95 #13-991 practices his through sound. Beginnin an idea for LIVE SOUND! by David Scheirman a song, it traveJ ough inspira- This excellent video is targeted at first-time us- tion and cre • y, writing lyrics, ers and musicians new to the field of sound re- making a o, understanding inforcement. However, the video contains in- MIDI ow to pitch songs to sider tips and sophisticated approaches to the in . Each lesson is to be using the equipment. learned hrough reading and also The video covers: hearing the lesson, and is taught • Equipment selection by experts such as John Barilla. • Loudspeaker placement and setup 96pp. and 2 cassettes, Paper • Mic selection and placement $24.95 #9-991 • Monitor systems • Mixer Position THE SOUND REINFORCEMENT HAND- • Processing/effects BOOK by Gary Davis and Ralph Jones • Crossovers/Equalization This second edition of a very popular book has • How to Soundcheck an additional 40 pages and covers all basic aspects of sound reinforcement. 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This book is written to help producers and engineers in the $49.94 #2-991 studio get the best possible results from the high quality standard equipment in use today. 256pp. Hardcover CONCERT SOUND AND LIGHTING SYS- $39.95 #6-991 TEMS by John Vasey This book shows how to set up, maintain, and operate sound and lighting equipment for the STEREO MICROPHONE TECHNIQUES performance of amplified music or any kind of by Bruce Bartlett touring production. An excellent reference and/or guide to procedure, the book provides This book is extremely timely for descriptions of all the components that make sound engineers and video or up a system, explanations of how they all work audio producers. Also, as Digital Audio Tape (DAT) production be- together, and photographs and illustrations comes less costly to use in the that show specific equipment and proper stage field, all electronic media will be setup. trying to achieve the highest 178pp. Hardcover level sound production possible. $27.95 #4-991 This book tells how to position the correct microphones in the proper locations in order to record optimal HANDBOOK FOR SOUND ENGINEERS: quality stereo sound. The many illustrations THE NEW AUDIO CYCLOPEDIA by Glen and clear organization easily explain the theory Ballou behind stereo mic'ing methods, and describe This brand-new second edition specific techniques, including comparative has been updated to include the evaluations. In addition, it offers suggestions latest in MIDI, cinema sound, on session procedures and stereo troubleshoot- tranformers and compact discs. ing as well as recent developments in binaural Readers learn the new develop- and transaural stereo and stereo boundary ar- ments in audio electronics, cir- rays. cuits, and equipment. There is also an in-depth examination of 192pp. Paper disc, magnetic, and digital record- $24.95 #3-991 ing and playback. 1,400pp. Hardcover $99.95 #5-991 GLIDE TO SOUND SYSTEMS FOR WOR- SHIP by Jon F Eiche This book is written to assist in BROADCAST SOUND TECHNOLOGY by the design, purchase, and opera- Michael Talbot-Smith tion of a sound system. It pro- cull, in This is an introduction to the SOUND SYSTEMS vides the basic information on technical aspects of sound in radio MIS sound systems that is most VA)RSHIP and television. It examines in de- needed by ministers, members of tail the main items in the broad- Boards of Trustees and worship cast chain: studio acoustics, mi- and music committees, interested crophones, loudspeakers, mixing members of congregations, and consoles, recording and replay even employees of musical instru- (analog and digital), and the prin- ment dealers that sell sound sys- ciples of stereo. It offers a easy tems. To be of greatest value to all, it is written technical treatment of audio prin- to be both nondenominational and "non-brand- ciples and broadcast hardare. name." 224pp. Hardcover 183pp. Paper $42.95 #7-991 $24.95 #1-991 LIVE SOUND MIXING setting levels, working with the console, doing by Duncan R. Fry a recording, overdubs and mixdown. This is a Live Sound Mixing is the first book that shows very important video for all persons planning you how to pull a great sound from a PA sys- on setting up a studio. tem. Author Duncan Fry is a survivor of many Approximately one hour long years on the live sound trail. People used to $34.95 #18-791 say EAh, you can't learn how to mix from a book!' With this book, you can! This is an easy- THE STUDIO BUSINESS HANDBOOK: A to-read and understand "hands on" book that GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL RECORDING every live-sound engineer should have. From STUDIO BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT the basic principles of how a system works, by Jim Mandell through troubleshooting when it doesn't, the Here is a comprehensive survey book is packed with useful information, many on the state of recording studio clear diagrams, helpful hints and detailed ex- business and manag ment in the planations. There are examples of every type of nineties that inclu rtup and equipment you're likely to come across. equipment cost c sons from 164pp. Paper low budget to class opera- $26.95 #11-392 tions; equi nt purchasing strategies; e, -setting factors; actual ekaliples of pre-session contra q'how different studios THE RECORDING SERIES BASIC MULTI- handle billing, c 1.,t applications, payment TRACK RECORDING TIPS with Rick Shaw guarantees, conflicts and collections; how to Using a "hands on" approach, this video gives write publicity releases that will get into print; you an overview of the basics in setting up a what to avoid in advertising; personal studio. Among items covered are: 336pp. Paper hooking up instruments, connecting equipment, $29.95 #10-991

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Just A Mic And A Mac

Stevan Pasero is a San Francisco native who has made good. He tours the world performing classical and Flamenco concerts. He is a classical guitarist and as such has also toured the world.

E HAS TRANSCRIBED TO GUI- crophone. I recently acquired one two tracks of a 24 track Studer at tar, sometimes for the and am awed by its capabilities. 30 in.sec., via a Neve 8036 console. first time, such pieces as Tchaikovsky's The HIS FIRST Additional voices, rhythm or en- NutcrackerH and Swan Lake, RECORDINGS hancement, as needed, were on Ravel's Bolero, Handel's The Mes- The first recordings, all on Sugo other tracks of the 24 track. The siah, Beethoven's Symphony No 5, Records, Nutcracker Suite For Gui- multi-track was mixed onto a 30 Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf, tar (1985), Christmas Classics For in/sec. quarter inch two track tape and Bizet's Carmen. Guitar (1986), and Guitar Hear- recorder. Guitar Masterpieces His schooling is in this discipline tongs (1987) were recorded at the (1988), Classic Bouquet (1989), and in order to do these transcrip- Music Annex in Menlo Park, CA. and Pasero Pasero (1990), were re- tions, he must listen to the whole The two guitar were recorded on corded on the same equipment ex- score and reduce the instrumentation to what can be played on a gui- Figure 1. Steven Pasero (left) and Christofer Bock, co-producer of tar. Quite an undertaking! I've lis- Seasons. tened to his recordings and they are awesome.

The recordings have an excellent guitar sound and his method of recording is not unique, but evolved over the course of several recordings. Stevan plays in the classical position with the guitar flat on his lap The later recordings were made with the microphones in front of (above) the guitar, one about 3-in. from 12th fret and the other about 2 /12 -in, behind the bridge and about 3-in, from the sound board. It took many sessions to develop this method, but it was the one that gave him the

May/June 1993 1993 May/June sound he wanted. The microphones were AKG 460s. I would love to hear an experiment with

32 db db 32 the new AKG C 426 B Stereo mi- bought the instrument described below.

Motam.. MONITOR: THE RECORDING OF MYER MYER HD-1 HD-1 MACINTOSH Ila FOCUSRITE SEASONS WITH PROTOOLS EQ FROM DICIDESIGN To record Seasons Stevan played a classical/Flamenco guitar, hand- SUMMIT made by Lester Devoe, who resides EFFECTS PR -AMP in Maine. Making this new instru- RACK ment was an experiment, as most 117:34.4 guitars are either classical or Fla- menco. Stevan wanted an instru- AKG 460 ment that when he played full- GUITAR bodied chords or melody he would (gr OTHER INSTRUMENTS) get a masculine sound, for those of MAIN Room ISOLATION BOOTH us unschooled in the intricacies of guitardom, this translates to sus- Figure 2. The floor plan for the Seasons recording sessions. tain, warmth , and volume. He also wanted some feminine characteristics, meaning brighter sound and transparency when clustering cept that Dolby SR was added to with just as much care as he car- several notes together. the multi-track and the mixdown ried his guitar. was to DAT. The mixdown was The next project Songs For The then transferred to 1630 for CD Wild will use the same recording A SPECIAL GUITAR production. architecture as Seasons except He wanted an instrument that His first six records were classi- that it will use CD-20 for 20 bit has enough clarity in the middle cal, but Seasons is Adult Alterna- digital recording. Here is an artist range so when he plays Rasgeado tive, more of an easy listening, using every means at his disposal (the tearing Flamenco technique) eclectic music. Not only did Sea- to make a better recording, and the sound isn't muddy. Using ex- sons win the National Assn. of In- those in the data compression busi- otic woods and special bracing, De- dependent Record Distributors ness are telling us we really don't voe was able to construct an instru- second-place award for classical re- need all of those bits. Am I missing ment with high volume, clarity, cordings, but it got a Pac Attack something? and with extreme transparency award in Mac Report magazine. when strummed, but when played Talk about the best of both worlds. solo, sounded deep and warm. When recording Seasons (1992) the Using exotic woods When making these guitars, only same AKG 460 microphones were one out of ten would come out right, used, but there the similarity and special bracing, so it's very much an art. ended. From there on it was a mic Devoe was able to When Stevan compared the new and a mac.! guitar to his Flamenco and classic Summit preamplifiers were construct an guitars, he found that, even though used, but thats where the analog instrument with high his new guitar is a cutaway and stopped! The recorders (and mix- has a tap plate, modifications ing board and equalizers and re- volume, clarity, and which usually reduce the sound by verb and everything else) were a with extreme about 20 percent, the sound char- Macintosh II FX and II C running acteristics of the new instrument Pro Tools, 8 to 16 tracks (as transparency when are actually right between the two, needed), Sound Designer equaliza- strummed, but when but louder than either of the oth- tion (by Digidesign), mixed to a ers. It didn't come cheap, but it Sony 2500 DAT, and then mas- played solo, sounded was worth every penny. tered to 1630. The recording was deep and warm Although Seasons is a limited done in three home studios, distribution recording when com- Stevan's, his engineer Russell pared to the latest Michael Jack- Bond's, and Christopher Bock's, of When listening to the recording son blockbuster, it is a precursor of Digidesign, a long time associate of of Seasons, I was astounded by the things to come. As one who started

Pasero. Some of the percussion sound of the guitar. When I asked out with just a Mic And A Wire (re- qp and pan flute were sampled and Steven about this he explained corder) mixed with live players for the spe- that on his first recordings he I am amazed at what can be done cial musical effects. He carried his played a Fred Clarke concert clas- with just a Mic And A Mac! E l own Meyer HD-1 loudspeakers sic, but he retired it when he N 66l eunr/ApiAj eunr/ApiAj 66l N Historical Perspective

WARREN SIMMONS Analog Mastering Tape vs Digital Mastering Tape

The following is a detailed comparison of analog and digital tape which we originally published in January 1983. Note what has changed in the last ten years and what has not!

AGNETIC TAPES for digital mastering present unique terphthlate. Familiar trade names are Mylar. manufactured by design requirements that are quite different from DuPont: Celanar. from American Hoechst: Hostophan. from those intrinsic to the formulation of tapes for Kalle. and Melinex. from ICI. M analog mastering. Therefore, an important part The Magnetic Particle. The magnetic particle of a tape is the of any discussion about analog and digital mastering tapes element %hich undergoes the widest design modification to suit should include an analysis of the ways in which the two designs the unique criteria of different tape formulations. In its most differ. Only then can a serious comparison be made: only then widely used form, the magnetic particle is an oxide of iron. can progress be defined and. ultimately, future developments needle-like in its physical form and some 10 to 25 microinches in predicted. length and 3 to 5 microinches in diameter. Chemically. it is First, let's examine each of the basic elements of all magnetic known as gamma ferric oxide (Fe2O3). or just plain "iron tapes and consider these elements as building blocks, which in oxide." themselves may be modified in a myriad of ways. The magnetic Iron oxide is a crystalline material, the construction of which tape architect can then select the proper combination of can be modified by the chemical addition of other materials. In building blocks, fitting them together in specific arrangements magnetic particle chemistry, the other material most often used to achie‘e the appropriate tape design goals. is cobalt. By modifying the crystalline structure with the addition of cobalt. the magnetic properties of iron oxide can be COM MON MAGNETIC TAPE ELEMENTS changed dramatically. Base Film. The foundation of all magnetic tape is the base For example. the most important characteristics of a film. Today's design requirements dictate that a polyester film magnetic particle are coercivity —measured in oersteds—and be used, since polyester's unique properties make it ideall retentivity -- measured in gauss. Gamma ferric or iron oxide suited for all types of magnetic tape. particles have coercivity levels of 260 to 380 oersteds. and Polyester film possesses high-tensile strength. low elongation retentivity levels of 900 to 1500 gauss. Cobalt modification of at working loads and excellent dimensional stability through a those particles can produce coercivity levels varying from 350 to wide range of temperature and humidity. It can be cast 2000 oersteds. and retentivity levels of 1500 to 2500 gauss. efficiently in thicknesses as thin as 0.20 mil (0.00020 inch) and as Other magnetic particles are also available to the tape thick as 5.0 mil (0.00500 inch). Its tensile properties may be architect. Chromium dioxide is one such particle, with varied, producing films of high-tensile strength in the coercivity in the 400 to 600 oersted range. and retentivity longitudinal direction or balanced ones where longitudinal and ranging from 800 to 2000 gauss. Also, the most recent and transverse tensile strengths are similar. Surface smoothness also glamorous addition to the magnetic-particle building blocks is may be varied to fit specific needs. that of pure iron or metallic particle. with coercivity levels Polyester is a generic term, chemically known as polyethylene varying from 800 to 2000 oersteds. and retentivity levels as high as 3600 gauss. It is the tape architect's responsibility to select the proper particle to achieve his design goal. whether it be standard-bias Warren Simmons was the Poduct Manager, Audio cassette tape. high-bias cassette tape. metal-particle cassette Magnetic Tape Division at Ampex at the time of this tape. analog mastering. digital mastering. video, instrumenta- article. tion or computer tape applications. Backcoating. In all current magnetic tape technology, a gloss levels, in general. provide more intimate tape-to-head conductive backcoating has become standard design practice. contact and can improve short wavelength (high frequency) and electrical conductivity is a major concern. By maintaining a response in analog recording as well as reduce bit error rate in minimum conductivity level through the use of carbonous digital recording. materials, electrostatic generation can be minimized. Magnetic surface conductivity levels can be shifted to backcoat conductivity, thereby maximizing magnetic surface perfor- Slitting: In the initial manufacturing stages. magnetic tape mance while still retaining overall adequate tape conductivity processing is carried out in a "web" form with widths of 26 levels. A minimum conductivity level is essential to minimize inches or more. After coating. drying and calendering electrostatic buildup. which, in turn, reduces pickup of operations. the wide webs of coated material are moved to the contaminating particles and provides cleaner running tape. slitting operation where they are cut or slit into the appropriate Yet another consideration in the design of backcoatings is tape widths ranging from 0.150 inch for audio cassette tape that of surface roughness. In this case, design tradeoffs are applications up to two inches for audio mastering. quadruplex important. As backcoat roughness is increased, high-speed video and rotary instrumentation applications. winding uniformit is enhanced. However, the tradeoff penalty Demands for tape-width uniformity are intense. Current is an increase in modulation noise, a most important applications require tolerances of 0.002 inch or less, and future consideration in all high-quality mastering tape designs. requirements are already searching for manufacturing methods Once again, the building blocks available to the tape architect that can perform reliably within v. idth tolerances no greater in the category of backcoatings are many. and the proper than 0.0004 inch to accommodate digital audio track widths of selection is vital to the ultimate performance level of a given as little as 0.006 inch. tape.

Binder Systems. In magnetic tape design. the selection of the COMPARING ANALOG AND DIGITAL TAPES proper binder system is also essential to tape performance. \ ow. after defining the basic elements of all magnetic tapes. Consider audio mastering applications where two-inch tapes ssc can identify systematically. element by element, the might be required to perform reliably for more than 2000 passes differences between the design requirements for both analog during mixdown. re-mix or overdub sessions at 15 or 30 ips. mastering and digital (PCM) mastering tapes. FIGURE 1 is a Compare these requirements with instrumentation tapes that comparison of analog and digital tape characteristics. and these must operate at 120 ips in airborne applications or surveillance characteristics are discussed in detail below. logging tapes and medical body-function monitoring applications which must perform at speeds less than 0.2 inches per second. Durability and frictional properties have become prime considerations, and binder systems which include surface Base Film lubricating characteristics must also change—yet another set of Analog Requirements: A thick base is important to minimize building blocks from which to choose. print-through. Base film thicknesses from 1.15 mil (0.00115 inch) to 1.45 mil (0.00145 inch) are in general use for high- quality analog mastering. Recorder geometry allows up to 14- inch reels holding 5000 feet. while play speeds not exceeding 30 Tape Accumulation/Reels. In the majority of current ips permit 33 minutes of play time. recording devices, magnetic tape is presented to the recorder by Digital Requirement: Due to higher track densities resulting winding on reels. The reel design and physical tolerances of the in narrower track widths (37 tracks on one-inch tape in the reel have become critical to the overall recorder performance. Mitsubishi X-800 recorder), intimate tape-to-head contact is Increasing accuracy of all reel dimensions has been recognized essential, and greater tape flexibility helps meet this need. Since as desirable to meet the higher performance requirements of print-through is no longer a consideration, lower film current analog recording. not to mention the requirements of thicknesses from 0.83 to 0.88 mil can be used. In some hardware digital recording. where narrower track widths make more geometry. linear speeds are higher (45 ips for the 3M systems). precise tape guiding essential. and thinner tapes will permit reasonable play time at these higher speeds (32 minutes. using 7200 feet on a 12/12 -inch reel).

MAGNETIC TAPE The Magnetic Particle MANUFACTURING CONSIDERATIONS .4nalog Requirements: In analog mastering, magnetic Magnetic Particle Dispersion: By selecting different particles are always gamma ferric oxide. Because of recorder manufacturing processes. the uniformity of dispersion or bias current characteristics, particles must fall into the range of positioning of the magnetic particle throughout the surface of 290 to 380 oersteds. Particles must be selected for bias noise the magnetic tape can be modified. Both electrical noise and characteristics, print-through, distortion and saturation dropout activity can be affected by such dispersion. characteristics. Agglomerates, or particle groupings. can cause increases in noise levels in analog recordings. while particle voids can cause dropouts or bit errors in digital (PC M) recording. Digital Requirements: In digital recording. the new term "packing density" becomes an important consideration. Packing density can be considered the number of bits of Calendering: After a magnetic tape is coated and dried, it information which must be handled in any given area of tape. undergoes an operation called calendering. or surface Packing densities are usually described as the number of smoothing. The calendering operation performs two basic kilobits per inch of tape. In analog recording at 15 ips. looking functions: I) It compacts the magnetic coating. resulting in an at a 20 kHz signal. packing densities would be 1.33 kilobits per increase in magnetic activity, and 2) it imparts a design surface inch. If we look at a typical professional digital recorder, smoothness and gloss dependent on the selection of calendering operating at a 48 kHz sampling rate and a 16-bit format, the media and calendering pressures and temperatures. Higher packing density at 30 ips jumps to 25.6 kilobits per inch. Obviously, substantially higher recording density now is in contact. are not extreme for analog requirements. effect, and in order to accommodate these higher recording densities, magnetic energy levels must also increase. The higher energy levels can be realized by increasing the coercivity level of Digital Requirements: Because of higher packing densities the magnetic particle. As previously discussed, through the use and narrower track widths, it is necessary that tape for digital of cobalt, iron oxide particles can be modified to achieve use be manufactured to higher gloss levels to accommodate coercivity levels anywhere between 350 and 2000 oeresteds. more intimate tape-to-head contact. Modifications in binder Current tapes for digital audio applications are being designed systems are required in order to enhance the achievement of with magnetic particle coercivity in the 600 to 700 oersted range. these higher gloss levels.

COMPARISON CHART: ANALOG VS DIGITAL MASTERING TAPES

Characteristic Analog Digital Base iii,;: Composition Polyester Polyester Thickness (mils) 1.15 to 1.45 0.80 to 0.88 Magnetic Particle Composition Gamma Ferric Oxide Cobalt-Modified Gamma Ferric Coercivity (Oersteds) 290-380 600-750 Retentivity (Gauss) 1050-1450 950-1250 Back Coating Resistivity (Ohms / square) I x 104 to 6 x 104 I x 104 to 6 x 104 Smoothness (ti in peak to valley 20 20 Binder Systems Durability Highest Level High Level Shed Low Level Lowest Level Magnetic Particle Dispersion Highest Level High Level Calendering Gloss Level (units of reflectance) 90-110 110-120 Slitting Width (maximum allowable variation—inches) 0.002 Less than 0.002

Figure 1 A comparison of analog and digital tape characteristics

Backcoating Magnetic Particle Dispersion Analog is. Digital Requirements: In both analog and digital Analog vs. Digital Requirements: In both tapes, a high level tape, the smoothness of the backcoating is an important factor. of dispersion is required. but for different reasons. In analog In the case of analog recording. modulation noise is recording, poor dispersion causes bias noise buildup and an deteriorated by surface roughness: in digital recording. the increase in modulation noise. In digital recording, poor same surface roughness can increase error rate levels. In dispersion can cause loss of digital information and an increase addition, conductivity to minimize airborne dirt becomes in error rates. extremely important in digital recording in order to minimize error rate levels.

Calendering Analog is. Digital Requirements: Because of higher packing Binder Systems densities, digital recording requires greater tape-to-head Analog Requirements: Binder systems for analog tapes must contact, which can be achieved through higher gloss levels. By demonstrate extremely high levels of durability to withstand modifying temperatures, pressures and calendering media. multiple mixdown passes. re-mix activity and overdubs. gloss levels can be increased to provide a higher level of tape-to- Surface gloss levels, which promote intimate tape-to-head head contact. Figure 2. These electron scanning microscope photographs, processed at a diameter magnification 0110,000 and a viewing angle 01 45 degrees to the surface, show differences between the Ampex 456 analog (left) and the Ampex 466 high-energy digital tapes. At this magnification, the surface roughness is directly related to the gloss level under standard viewing—the lower the surface porosity, the higher the gloss, as seen in the 466 photograph on the right.

Slitting Analog vs. Digital Requirements: In general, narrower track oersteds (with retentivity levels less than 800 gauss with signal- widths (currently standard recorder design practice) require to-noise ratios possible of only about 50.0 dB) up to coercivity lower levels of slitting error. In analog recording, tolerances of levels of 380 oersteds, retentivity levels of 1500 gauss, and with a 2.0 mils (0.002 inch) have allowed totally acceptable great improvement in particle size, allowing a significant performance, even up to 24-track, two-inch widths. In digital reduction in noise levels. Magnetic particle chemical recording, where track widths of 6 mils (0.006 inch) are not modification through the use of cobalt has provided an even uncommon, more precise slitting has been recogni7ed as highly wider selection of particle energy levels for meeting the needs of desirable, and tolerances of 0.4 mil are being sought after as applications such as digital recording. The advances in binder standard slitting practice. In addition, tape edge weave--or system chemistry have provided increases in durability as have skew —takes on new importance in digital recording because of been described in analog mastering for multiple mixdown the narrow track widths in multi-track recording. passes. Surfaces today are tougher and more durable than in the original magnetic tapes. Backcoating of magnetic tape to improve winding properties, tape pack information and cleanliness of running is a relatively recent design improvement PROGRESS IN MAGNETIC TAPE DEVELOPMENT and has allowed tape performance to improve, particularly The earliest magnetic tapes in the late 1940s were produced from a dropout and overall cleanliness point of view. on #cetate-backed material having relatively low strength and a high degree of sensitivity to dimensional change through temperature and humidity changes. As multi-track recording came into being, a much greater degree of dimensional stability was required as tape widths increased from /14 inch, to 1/2, one THE APPEARANCE OF DIGITAL AUDIO TAPE and finally two inches. The first digital audio tape presented to the marketplace was The DuPont Corporation made polyester base film available Ampex Corporation's 460 Series, formally introduced at the in the mid-1950s. providing a new, high level of strength and AES Show in New York in 1977. Hardware requirements at dimensional stability and also making multi-track recording that time were operating at relatively low packing densities and practical from a tape point of view. wide track widths. The Ampex 460 Series was a 300 oersted tape Continued development in base film technology has which performed satisfactorily on the first generation of digital increased the overall accuracy of manufacturing in magnetic audio recorders. tape with improved slitting tolerances and better tape surfaces. When multi-track recorders (the 3M one-inch 32-track, the Oxide development has taken tape from a coercivity level of 240 Mitubishi one-inch 32-track and the more recent Sony 1/2-inch Digital Audio Recording Tape Specifications

MANUFACTURER AMPEX 3M Tape Type 460 466 265 Physical Properties Base film thickness 1.00 0.88 0.79 (mils) Oxide thickness 0.20 0.20 0.16 (mils) Backcoat thickness 0.04 0.04 0.10 (mils) Total thickness 1.26 1.12 1.05 (mils) Width /14 " n/ a 247 n/ a (mils) Width '/2 498 498 498 (mils, nominal) Width 1" 997 997 998 (mils, nominal) Yield strength ni a ni a 13 (lbs, per inch) • Breaking strength n/ a n, a 21 (lbs, per inch) Magnetic Properties Retentivity 1000 1300 1350 (gauss) Coercivity 310 650 720 (oersteds) Erasure field 1000 ni a n/ a (oersteds, for 60 dB erasure) Performance Specifications Sensitivity 0, +, ni a n, a (dB) Wavelength response 0. +,-I n, a n, a (dB. 1-0.10 mil) 0,' ; 1.5 n; a n, a (dB, @ 0.08 mil) 0, +, -2.0 n, a ni a (dB, @ 0.06 mil) 1.5 MHz Slot S, N >46 n, a n, a (dB) Uniformity 2.0 n, a ni a (dB max, 1 MHz signal) Environment Operating 40-120 n, a 55-85 (degrees, F.) 25-95 n/ a 25-75 (c/i,, rel. hum.) Storage 10-120 n, a 50-90 (degrees. F.) 10-95 ni a 25-75 (%. rel. hum.) n a z Intormation not provided on Specification Sheet.

24-track) made their appearance. low coercivity levels were no The move to multi-track digital mastering will place longer acceptable. Gloss levels likewise were too low for extremely stringent requirements on tape manufacturers. Tape intimate tape-to-head contact and acceptable dropout activity. surfaces will become ever more important as packing densities At the A ES Show in Los Angeles in May of 1981. the Ampex increase, and tape manufacturers will have to improve the 466 Series of digital audio tape was introduced. Design criteria overall cleanliness of the recording surface to meet both the for digital audio tape now had shifted, and a different set of high packing-density requirements in digital audio and the building blocks was selected. Magnetic particle coercivity was desire for lower dropout levels in all video applications. increased to 650 oersteds. and a cobalt-modified gamma ferric As cassette recording in the Philips audio format moves into oxide was used. The binder system was also modified, allowing digital configurations. even higher particle energy levels will be for a higher degree of calendering and for higher gloss levels for required to accommodate the high-packing densities of this better tape-to-head contact. With higher packing densities. narrow-track application. One of the current experimental dropout acti% it \ became a far more important consideration. Philips digital audio configurations requires a coercivity level of MAGNETIC TAPE: ITS FUTURE AND approximately 1250 oersteds—higher than any other current ITS VARIOUS APPLICATIONS recording application. Miniaturization of recording devices such as the micro- Most experts agree that analog mastering will continue to cassette for high-fidelity audio applications and digital audio flourish. Because of an extremely large installed population of analog recorders, efforts will continue to improve the overall cassette recording systems. plus continued movements toward higher packing densities as a result of lower linear tape speeds, quality of analog recording. The current move from /14 -inch will accelerate development efforts in all areas of magnetic tape. mixdown to /12 -inch mixdown, providing about a 5.0 dB improvement in signal-to-noise. is one such example of To keep up with such developments, industry research application improvement. activities, like those of Ampex Corporation's Magnetic Tape Tape manufacturers also will continue their efforts to locate Division Laboratory, will carry on their work, dedicated to oxides having lower noise, higher output. lower distortion and supplying the ever-changing recording industry with high- lower print-through. performance tapes that can meet these challenging needs. •

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YES! I'd like to know more about UMI Article Clearinghouse. UMI A Bell & Howell Company Name 300 North Zeeb Road Title Ann Arbor, MI 48106 USA Company/Institution Address City/State/Zip Telephone ( Introduction to the Charts

We've tried to make the charts of amplifiers as self-explanatory as possible, with slanting headlines on each column that explain what we wanted to show you.

These charts represent entirely what each of the respective manufacturers have sent us in response to our (sometime repeated) requests. You will also see that there are numbers of blank sections within the charts. If they don't have a specification available, we can't list it. But note that many do not have anything under the Features column. This column is where we have invited each manufacturer to state, in as few words as possible, what is special about the product. You can safely assume, then, that when this column is blank, it is because the manufacturers told us nothing.

Note also that we ask for amplifier continuous power not only at the traditional 8 and 4 ohm resistive loads, but also at 2 ohms. As you know, when you parallel speakers, the load is halved. Accordingly, in the real worlds of studio monitors and headphone lines, and the even more real world of performance and stadium systems, effective loads back to an amplifier can well be 2 or 3 ohms. Since modern solid-state amplifiers can handle such loads successfully, we ask each manufacturer for this specification. Note that not all give it. It's, therefore, safe to assume that if it is missing, the amplifier may not be reliable at low loads.

Distortion at normal and full power ratings is also specified. While many amplifiers today can boast of almost vanishing distortion, remember that if you will be pushing an amplifier hard up against its rated power and beyond, distortion will then be rising rapidly. No audio product is really made to be abused, and amplifiers are no exception.

One group of important specifications deals with dimensions and weights. Amplifi- ers, particularly high-power ones, are not lightweights. A few racks can have weights adding up rapidly.

Finally, the price. What we have asked each manufacturer for is the suggested retail price. Different retail dealers establish their own.

On to the charts... 40 db May/June 1993 1993 May/June db 40 0 6e\

AB INTERNATIONAL ELECT. NC. 1200 2 800 1350 1950 20-206 005 0.05 025 0.25 20-20k 1.9 5.25 68 $2,699.00 Fully modular, soft clipping, led display +-0.25 19 15 1100 2 525 850 1100 20-20k 0.05 0.05 .025 0.25 20-20k 1.5 5.25 39 $1.249.00 Signal/clip indicators, led display option +-0.25 19 13 900 2 350 590 775 20-20k 0.05 0.05 0.25 0.25 20-2: 1.5 525 34 $1,039.00 As 1100 model above +-0 19 13 600 2 270 425 20-20k 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.1 20-20k 1.5 5.25 33 $829.00 Signal/clip indicators +0.25 19 12

ALESIS CORPORATION RA100 2 75 100 20-20k .05 0.19 20-20k 0.5 3.5 15 $349.00 UL and UA listed 1 19 requires no fan. 8.5 Short circuit protected.

ALTEC LANSI4G CORPORATION 9441A 75 100 20-20k 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 10-50k 0.75 1.75 1.75 $682.00 Balanced inputs. poweredaccesory +0,-3 19 sockets, front-panel controls. 200W 12.8 Bridged into 8-ohms. 9444B 2 200 300 20-20k 0.05 0.05 0.1 0.1 10-90k 0.78 34 5.25 $990.00 Balanced XLFtbarrier strip inputs. 0.-3 19 level controls on back panel. 12.75 300W bridged into 8 ohms 9442A 2 100 150 10-50k 0.1 0.1 0.1 01 10-50k .775 532 5.25 $764.00 Balanced inputs, powered accesory +0.-3 19 sockets, back-panel controls. 200W 11 brisdged into 8-ohms 9446A 400 600 20-206 0.05 0.05 0.01 0.1 10-90k .78 525 52 $1.886.00 Balanced inputs.1200W bridged into 8- +0,-3 19 ohms, level controls on back panel. ARX SYSTEMS See a* etl ow pigs 2 SS1200 425 625 20-20k 0.02 0.04 20-20k 0.775 33 $1,342.00 Balanced inputs, 2 fans.phase reverse. +-0.4 or 1.6 switchable bridge, all mosfet. SS600 2 250 350 20-20k 0.02 0.04 20-20k 0.775 26 $999.00 As above +-0.4 or 1.6 SS300 100 150 20-20k 0.02 0.04 20-20k 0.0775 15 $679.00 Jack input. XLR output, fan cooled. +-04

BGW SYSTEMS GTA 2 360 625 1000 20-20k less 0.03 less less 3-85k 1.73 5.25 78 $2,199.00 Twin power supplies, balanced in- than than than +0,-3 17.5 puts w/looping XLRs and 1/4 in. 0.05 0.1 0.1 16.3 TRS. GTB 2 300 450 425 20-20k less 0.03 less less 3-85k 1.54 5.25 50 $1,539.00 Balanced inputs w/looping XLRs and than than than +0.-3 19 1/4 in. IRS, fan cooled, large LED 0.05 0.1 0.1 14.3 status indicators. GIG 2 325 550 20-20k less less less less 1-85k 1..61 45 3.5 $2,099.00 Active Blanced inputs. subsonic fitters than than than than +0.-3 19 forced air cooling, 5-way binding posts, 0.1 0.01 0.1 0.1 17.5 Neutnk Speakon connectors.

750F/G 2 300 450 425 20-20k less 0.01 less less 3-85k 1.5 7 55 $1.699.00(F) LED status indicators, thermostat

than than than +0 ;3 19 $1,849.00(G)fan control. 850 w/2 ohm single channel. 0.05 0.1 0.1 15 (G) stereo 50 dB range metering.

65001 2 100 150 20-20k less less less less 3-100k 0.9 3.5 28 $599.00 Barrier strip inputs/outputs w, than than than than +0.-3 19 1/4 in. TRS. optional XLR bat- 0.1 0.05 0.05 0.05 12.9 anced inputs, rearmounted level controls

75001 2 200 300 20-20k less less less less 3-85k 1.18 5.25 36 $849.00 Barrier strip inputsioutputs

than than than than +0 ;3 19 w/ 1/4 in. IRS, optional XLR balanced 0.1 0.05 0.1 at 12.4 input, rear mounted level controls.

Perform- 2 200 300 20-20k less less less less 3-85k 1.61 30 3.5 $799.00 Active balanced inputs, forced air cooling. ance than than than than +0.-3 19 LED indicators. XLR and 14-in outputs. Series1 0.1 0.05 0.1 0.1 13.5 Pedorm- 2 100 200 2-206 less less less less 3-85k 0.76 32 3.5 $929.00 As Series 1 above. ance than than than than +0.-3 19 eunr/AoN qp qp eunr/AoN Series 2 0.1 005 0.1 0.1 13.5 ,poe'

RAMP SYSTEIVIS (ADIANTM3E INVI9CC1) Advantage 2 40 65 0.05 alaa 0 5 20-20k 1 3.5 22 Stereo/mono bridge, front or rear controls CPA-130 +0,-0.5 19 peak indicators,passive cooling. 10 Advantage 2 200 325 0 3 0.08 1 20-20k 1 5.25 33 650W-bridged mono,fronVrear controls, CPA-650 +0,-0.5 19 peak inclicators.passively cooled. 0.08 11 Advantage 60 60 0.05 20-20k 1 3.5 15 Available as 060E0 with a 9-band egalizer, 0-60 +0,-0.5 10.2 Available as D6OM with 9-band eq and 11.4 2-chan mixer

BRYSTONEIRYSTON VERMONT 50 100 1-100k less less less 0.01 1-10034( 0.75 1.75 18 $775,00 Full twenty year warranty on than than than 19 .all units 0.01 0.01 0.01 10 2 100 200 1-100k less less less 0.01 1-100k 1.0 2.25 30 $1,175,00 Modular construction. than than than 20- 19 0.01 0.01 001 20k 9 2 250 403 1-100k less 0.01 less 0.01 1-100k 1.25 2.25 45 $209500 All triple good plater contacts. than than 20- 19 .01 .01 20k 13.5 500 800 1-100k less 001 less 0.01 1-100k 1.0 225 45 $2,t95 00 All discrete. than than 20- 19 00t 01 20k 135

CARVER CORPORADON P1200 2 450 600 5-80k 0 1 0.5 20-20k 1.5 3.5 21 $1250.00 Bridged mono operation-70V direct +0.-.5 19 drive operation, remote/sequential 12.75 power on-LED power meters- XLR P11250 2 465 625 5-80k 0.1 0.5 20-20k 3 5 11 $1,500.00 Has 70V direct drive operation, +0,5 19 LED power meters. XLR, IRS inputs 10.75 clipping eliminator circuit.

P11803 2 600 900 1100 0.1 0.5 1.5 5.20 46 Bridged mono operation. 70V direct 19 drive, operation-dual detachable 12.75 power cords fully modular. P12400 2 750 1200 1500 0.1 0.5 5 1,5 5.20 52 Same 19 12.75 M120 2 40 60 2-120k 0.1 0.5 20-20k 1 10 $560.00 Bridged mono operation. headphone 19 lack- XLR. TRS, barrier strip in- 12 inputs-clip indicators, M300 2 110 150 4-70k 0.1 0.5 20-20k 11 $680,00 Bridged mono operation, headphone +0,-.5 19 tack- XLR, TRS, barrier strip in- 12 puts-LED power indicators. M600 2 200 300 5-80k 0.1 0.5 20-20k 23 $820.00 Remote/sequential power orVoff 19 circuit-convection cooling- 11.56 bndged mono operation XLR. M900 2 350 450 5-80k 0 1 0.5 20-20k 3.5 24 $995.00 Same, with fan cooling. 19 11.56

C ARV N FET 1 300 500 20-20k 05 05 20-20k 37 $679 00 Mosfet circuitry, speaker guard 1000(W) 19 protection, short circuit current 10 limiting thermal shut off switch

FET 450 2 125 450 20-20k 05 .05 20-20k 32 $499 00Same 19 10 FET 150 300 400 20-20k less less 20-20k $399.00 Has 9 band graphic equalizer, 401(W) than than 1 19 thermostatic protection 0.1 0.1 10

CREST AUDIO, INC. Fcv220 2 110 60-18k 0.015 0.015 0.025 0.025 60-18k 0.775 3.5 42 $880.00 Isolated X-former-coupled (bypassable).fan. +0.-3 19 14 May/June 1993 1993 May/June Fcv440 2 220 60-18k 0.015 0.015 0.025 0,025 60-18k 0.775 15 50 $1.188.00 Same as above. +0.-3 19 14 u1601 2 120 20-20k 0.015 0.015 0.025 0.025 20-20k 0.775 3.5 33 $768.00 UL listed. fan cooled. 42 db db 42 19 11.5 u1901 2 225 300 400 20-20k 0.015 0.025 0.025 0.025 20-20k 0.775 3.5 40 $966.00 UL listed, fan coiled +0,-0.5 19 14 u11201 2 280 450 20-20k 0.015 00015 0.025 0.025 20-20k 0.775 3.5 42 $1.39800 As directly above 19 14 u12401 2 330 580 20-20k 0015 0.015 0.025 0.025 20-20k 0.775 3.5 61 $1,674.00 As above. +0.-0.5 19 16.5 4601 2 300 425 20-20k 0.015 0.015 0.012 0.02 20-20k 1.03 3.5 52 $1.750.00 Tailored for mid arid high freq. +0.-0.3 19 applications. 16 3301 2 220 330 400 20-20k 0.015 0015 0.0.25 0.025 20-20k 0.9 35 49 $1.390.00 As directly above. +a-0.3 19 16

CROWN FillERNATIONAL, INC. MA600 2 235 340 410 20-20k .05 .05 .05 05 20-20k .725 3.5 39 $1,295.00 PEP .0 compatible. ODEP. IOC, balanced 0.01 19 XLR input, front panel level, SP! indicators. 16 air cooling ground isolation switch. MA1200 2 320 495 200 20-20k 05 .05 .05 .05 20-20k 0.775 3.5 44 $1,595.00 As above 0.01 +-0.1 19 16 MA2400 2 520 820 1100 20-20k .05 .05 05 .05 20-20k 0.775 3.5 51 $1,995.00 As above. 0.01 +-0.1 19 16 MA3603 2 1165 1655 1800 20-20k 0.05 0.05 01 0.1 20-20k 0.775 3.5 56 $2.895.00 As above. +-0.1 19 16 CT200 2 100 155 20-20k .05 .05 .05 05 20-20k 0.775 3.5 21 $790.00 P.I.P and 10 compatible. grounded bridge, 0.1 19 70-V direct mode.bridged mono. ODEP. 16 10C.balanced input barrier block connector. CT400 2 210 230 20-20k .05 .05 .05 .05 20-20k 0.775 3.5 31 $1.050.03 As directly above. 0.1 19 16 CT800 2 305 410 20-20k .05 .05 .05 .05 20-20k 0.775 5.25 46 $1,550.00 As above 0.1 19 16 CT1600 2 540 850 20-20k .05 .05 .05 .05 20-20k .775 7 57 $1.990.00 As above. al 19 16

ELECTIK WOICE AP2300A 100 150 10-50k less less less less 20-20k .775 5.25 32 $ 810.00 Available with precision stepped than than than than 1 19 attenuators. Has rear mounted 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 11 level controls and octal crossover sockets.

AP2600A 2 200 300 7-85k less less less less 20-20k .775 525 39 $1040.00 Same than than than than 1 19 .03 .03 .05 .01 12.75 AP3200 2 400 600 10-90k less less less less 20-20k .775 5 .25 52 $1,890.00 than than than than 1 19 05 .05 .02 .01 15.75 7300A 2 250 425 500 7-85k 003 20-20k .775 525 39 $1,040.00 Each amp individually measured and 19 certified for power and distortion. .03 .03 .05 .01 12.75

-r,nn 400 600 850 10-90k less less less less 20-20k .775 5.25 52 $1,830.00 Same than than than than 1 1 19 .05 05 .02 .10 15.75 qp qp

HAFLER PROFESSIONALA WSION OF ROCKFORD CORPORATION P1200 60 EV, 10-40k 005 .01 10-40k 1.1V 3.25 18 $500.00 Has 60 watts per channel. balanced

Of 19 1/4 in. and XLR inputs. lateral 2 9.5 mosfet outputs, level controls.

P2400 1 120 2u , : .10k .005 .025 4-40k 1.2 5.25 27 $630.00 Has 120 watts per channel, bal- or 19 anced 1/4 in. and XLR inputs. 2 10.5 lateral mosfet outputs. I P5000 1 325 450 10-40k 01 .025 10-40k 1.5 3.5 40 $1.203 00 Yields 325 watts per channel.

or 19 balanced inputs, lateral mos- eunr/AolAi £661.

2 14 let outputs, front panel level controls 7 Ct 44 db May/June 1993 0 5 hn hn hn hn B 1. limited parts and dBv 18.9 labor warranty. than than than than $620.00 U.L. 1.75 20-20k 19 less +4 less listed 10-85k less less and carries five 50 year 2 9055 WP- $1.735.00 63 20-20k 7 less 1.1 less 20-20k less less 600 300 2 6290 XL PROFESSIONAL 1 0 hn hn hn hndBv 18.9 than than than than 5.25 Same $89900 20-20k 38.6 less +4 less 10-85k less less Same $699 3.5 00 28.6 20-20k 300 less +4 less 200 10-85k less less 150 2 100 WP- 2 9110 WP- PANASONIC Has $680 00 2 PROFESSIONAL rack 3.5 32 1.1 +0,-1 less less 250 20-20k space 150 less less 75 unit, AUDIO variable 2 SYSTEMSSR6615 R 6 0 5 30 0 2-0 ls ls ls ls +,1 1 . 3 $940.00 Has 2 3.5 34 rack 11 +0,-1 less less 500 20-20k space 300 less less 150 unit, modularSR6630 2 0 hn hn hn hndBv 189 than than than than 20-20k '25 71J $1.810.00 525 75 Same 20-20k less +4 less 10-60k 2 less less IPA 250 35f 2 we. 9220 4 0 hn hn hn hndBv 18.9 than than than than 20-20k IPA 70 PLUS 2 9440 0 02 1 inputs, fan cooled, 19 compact 0.25 5688.03 Has 1/4 20-20k 3.5 25 1.0 in 0.1 0.1 and .025 barrier 01 350 5-65k 225 150 strip 2 700 MX 10-50kOSC AMC PlIODUCTS 400 240 2 NCIPS 800 20-20k 150 150 IPA150T P 0 2 2 2010-50k 200 120 300 40-20k 300 300 2 IPS 400 1PA300T PEAVEY Ei_ECTRO WS A 6 0 10 5 2-0 01 . 00 00 55k .7 52 4 $90 Built-in $99.00 0.775 5-50k 0.07 0,07 5.25 44 0.1 150 20-20k 150 0.1 100 limiter 6 on each channel,MA6 level $638.00 Has 5.25 1/4 24 20-20k 1 in. 01 XLR, 01 and .025 barrier .01 250 5-60k 150 100 strip 2 1200 0 0 9speaker connectors, ad- 19 $1.258.00PANE 3.5 47 Dual CORPCRAilON 20-20k mono 1 0.1 design, 0.1 0.02 750 8-300k 500 fan 01 330 cooled.4000 2 1/4 MX X 70 10 40 -0k 0 00 01 . 2-0 10 .5 4$2,398.00 20-20k 5.25 1.0 64 Open 0.1 1100 0.1 1400 input 720 0.05 8-100k .01 architecture. $838.00 Has 2 5.25 1/4 34 20-20k 1 in. 01 XLR 0.1 EX and .025 .01 barrier 450 5-65k 300 200 strip 2 1400 5 0 1 9in barrier strip inputs. 19 1 1500A !P e\

t vr C ORPORA T ION kcl e ° ,se c's" CP cd t o e ncn C' ?o*S e epe * 0 6

2P6 \‘ ,1, 4

2 •\ ‘. ‘‘..

. 01 . 0114 0.1 19 0.1 0.1 +0.-1 than 0.1 than than than . 01 . 01 75balanced system. power XLR and supply 1/4 17.5 in speed and phone amp tan, 175 channels, input. 19 rear to front 19 0.1 0.1 coling 0.1 0.1 than 0.1 than than 0.1 than 01 than 0.1 than than than . 5 .5 .5 .513.13 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 . 6 .6 .6 .61913. 15.06 0.06 15.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.05 005 005 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 .e5 .0 0 0 z °1. o§ os§ o . 9 0-0 1 34 0$749.75 As 13,4 above $498 40 Level 40 -20k 75 1 0.19 plus 26 19 control. 70V 20-20k 1 line0.5 5499.99 selectible Distortion output. 5.25 26 20-20k 1 0,01 subsonic half-rack $99.99 Detection 20-20k 10 0.7750.01 filter. 7 Circuitry width, rear-mounted (DOT) leds level . 5 -0 14 .5 5$1,049.99 5.25 1.4 5-50k 45 As $874.990.05 Barrier-strip above. 5.25 40 1 5-50k 0.05 irVout. bridgeable. level 4 2.\‘' \ 9 000 - 19 balanced indicate XLR. DDT. separate 15.50 19 channel+-1 level+1,-2 +-1 0 - 1 controls. 19 19 +0.-1 +0.-1 0 - 1 controls, auto bridging. 19 +0.-3 0 4 e e p c,,J c. ° 0 ' pestle e p e s - 52 controls, 1.4 jack 5.25 inputs.+-1 1 inputs, optional fan 19 cooling. rear1 1 inputs, fan cooled, 19 rear gain controls.1 cp 5 `0` o.. -

4.5 825 5.75 . gain controls 9.5 9.5 124 controls 11.5 14.4 7 9vanced thermal mgmt.17.9 system.. 17.9 package. 12 11 15.9 \ e` o ej 5 fzf.' .eo 44 9 \0. 5 0L.

e ,s drivercuitry. and output full circuitry. complementary Balanced bridging input cir- 0°6e\

FIBINS-HENZ, NC. P-2500 2 400 6i:X1 700 20-20k 0.05 0 025 20-20k 1.2 3.5 48.5 $2,092.50 Chip-Guard protection,servo-controlled +0,-5 19 variable-speed fan. 16 P-21154 2 300 500 600 20-20k 0 015 0.025 20-20k 1.1 3.5 45.5 $1,530.00 As above. +0,-5 19 16

SOUNDCRAFTSNEN A100 2 60 60 10-100k 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 20-20k 1.25 1.75 17 $49.95 Gold RCAinputs, semi-torroidal power +-0.1 17 supply, MOSFET amp 10.87 A200 2 125 190 10-100k 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 20-208 1.25 5.25 27 $469.95 As above, linear power supply +-0.1 17 10.87 A400 2 205 300 450 10-100k 0.05 005 0.05 0.05 20-20k 1.25 5.25 30 $759.95 As above, phase control regulated power +-0.1 17 supply 10.87 PM860 2 210 315 450 20-20k .05 .05 .008 .05 20-20k 5 20 $599.00 Has high current design to allow 8.5 stability with 2 ohm loads. 14 450X2 2 210 315 450 20-20k .05 .05 .008 .05 20-20k 1.2 5.25 28 $849.00 High current MOSFET amp with 19 balanced or unbalanced inputs. 11.75 900X2 2 375 675 900 20-20k 05 .05 .008 .05 20-20k 1.22 5.25 59 $1,599.00 Same 19 16.5 300X4 2. 600 900 450 20-20k .05 .05 008 .05 20-20k 1.0 5.25 60 $1,399.00 Multi-channel MOSFET, 2, 3 or 4 3 205 300 19 channel mode indicators, front 4 14 panel-mounted circuit breakers.

SOUNDTECH PL150 2 55 75 15-30k .007 1.23 1.75 17 $41990 Single rack space, clip. protect. 19 power and bridge/mono LED indica- 8.5 tors, protection circuit. PL250M 113 200 300 18-31k .007 123 3.5 30.8 $449.90 Built-in 9 band graphic EC). clip. 19 protect, power and temp LED Ind- 16 cators protection circuitry

PL500 2 165 250 20-20k A5)7 1.23 3.5 39 $599.90 Clip, protect, power. temp. and 19 bridge/mono LED indicators, pro- 16 tection circuity. PL 1000MP 4 165 210 20-20k .007 1.23 3.5 59 $1.099.90 Four channels, clip protect. power 19 temp and bridge/mono LED inthca- 16 tors. Protection circuitry. PA5013 2 25 50 50 5-10 08 0.04 0.03 20-20k 1 1.7 3.5 $279.03 Same, and balanced version also 8.5 features level controls and clip- 6.2 ping indicators. PA100U 2 50 90 100 5-103k 0.08 0.04 20-20k 1 1.7 5.5 $324.00 Switch mode power supply design 8.5 reduces size and weight Set up 10.2 for unbalanced signals. PA10013 2 50 90 100 0.07 0.04 20-20k 1 1.7 5.5 $359.00 Same, and setup for balanced or 8.5 unbalanced: balanced version features 10.2 level control and clipping indicators..

PA-1200 2 250 400 600 3-180k less 0.06 20-20k 750 3.5 15 $999.03 Fully dual-monaural design uti- than 1 19 lizing switch mode power supply 0.1 12.53 P4-1600 2 350 500 800 15-45k 001 0.1 20-208 0.775 3.5 17 $1,499.03 19 16

STUDER REVOX ANERICA, NC. 8242 2 200 300 20-20k 0.01 0.01 20-20k 1.55 18.4 40 $2900 00 MOSFET drive and special bipolar +0,-0.3 6 power transistors. two power 14.2 transformers, mono bridgeable. 488 2 150 250 30-15k 0.1 30-15k 19.5 46 $995.00 Fully complementary from input to .0-05 +0,-0.5 5.5 to output. mono bridgeable 13.5 C66[ eunr/ArciA qp qp eunr/ArciA C66[ . qt eo 0,03

°00:: c‘e\5 lO 0\ Grs2P cpe 16:4e(‘ e Kk. `Se'' 0.••\ "044ec. e5 0 ,set co o cs\ eg g,. 0 90 :s 9° :<,.--{ e\c,$):0 s txe x#3' ce .NO° cpc‘\ • C.P octS z.`" .,c,,X0 _ce p coe csk-* ,00-‘ stJe 9 ,0c6 " ve's"c°

SUNN SPL7450 2 275 450 10-50k less 1 003 1 5-50k +4 525 38 $899.00 Two speed fan. compressor, male than +0„-3 19 and female XLR input connectors 0.05 15 and balanced 1/4 in. 2150 1 150 250 10-50k 01 5-40k 0625 14 25 $599,99 +0,-3 19 3.5 SPL6000 2 175 300 10-50k 0.05 5-50k 0.625 35 25 $699.00 +0,-3 19 25

SYMETRIX 220 2 20 20 20-20k .02 .03 20-20k .5 1.75 9 $349.00 Stereo. 2-channel or mono-bridged 19 operation. Balanced XLR/balanced 12 and unbalanced 1/4 in. inputs. P-1030D 2 100 150 0.02 0.05 0.03 0.01 20-20k +4cIB 525 39.8 +0.-2 19 13.75 P-10600 2 200 300 0.02 0.05 0.03 0.01 20-20k +4dB 525 44.2 +0-2 19 13.75 P-1090D 300 450 0.02 0.05 0.03 0.01 20-20k -1-4dB 5.25 48.5 +0.-2 19 13.75

YAMAHA CORPORATION OF AMERICA 350 500 10-50k less less less 10-50k 1.23 5.25 $995.00 High-power stereo operation with than than than 18.88 500W/channel. or 1.000W in bridged 0.03 0.05 0.05 1725 mono operation-forced air cooling. P2350 175 250 10-50k less less less 10-50k 1 .23 5.25 $795.00 XLR and 1/4 in. input lacks, bind- than than than 18,88 wig post and 1/4 in output 1a0k5- 0.03 0.05 0.05 11.25 forced air cooling. P2075 2 50 75 10-50k less less 10-50k 1.23 1878 $395.00 XLR and 1/4 in, input lacks. bind- than than 18.88 ing post and 1/4 in. output Jacks 0.05 0.003 14.38 compact and lightweight. P2160 2 80 125 10-40k less less less 10-50k 1.23 3.4423 $595.00 Same than than than 18.88 003 0.05 0.05 14 PCA002M2 4 30 700 10-100k less less less 10-50k 1.23 7,95 $2.79500 High power "audiophile" monitor than than than 18.88 amp with calibrated meters. .005 001 0.01 18 May/June 1993 1993 May/June 46 db db 46 Addresses

AB International Electronics, Carvin QSC Audio Products Inc. Inc. 1155 Industrial Avenue 1926 Placentia Avenue 1830-6 Vernon Street Escondido, CA 92025 Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Roseville, CA 95678 Crest Audio, Inc. Bane Corporation 10802 47th Avenue West Alesis Corporation 150 Florence Avenue Mukilteo, WA 98275 3630 Holdrege Avenue Hawthorne, NJ 07506 Los Angeles, CA 90016-4304 Crown International, Inc. Renkus-Heinz, Inc. P.O. Box 1000 17191 Armstrong Avenue Altec Lansing Corporation Elkhart, IN 46515-1000 Irvine, CA 92714 P.O. Box 26105 SoundCraftsmen Oklahoma City, OK 73126 Electro-Voice 2200 South Ritchey Street 600 Cecil Street Anaheim, CA 92705 ARX Systems Buchanan, MI 49107 P.O. Box 0842 SoundTech Hafler Professional/Division Silverado, CA 92676-0842 255 Corporate Woods Parkway of Rockford Corporation BGW Systems Vernon Hills, IL 60061 5910 Crescent Boulevard Box 5042 Studer Revox America, Inc. Pennsauken, NJ 08109 Hawthorne, CA 90251-5042 1425 Elm Hill Pike Nashville, TN 37210 Biamp Systems(Advantage JBL Professional P.O. Box 2200 Division) SUNN 14270 NW Science Park Drive 8500 Balboa Boulevard 7975 N. Hayden Rd. Northridge, CA 91329 Portland, OR 97229 Scottsdale, AZ 85258

Panasonic Pro Audio Systems Symetrix Bryston/Bryston Vermont 6550 KateIla Avenue, 17A-7 4211 24th Avenue West

979 Franklin Lane qp Cypress, CA 90630 Seattle, WA 98199 Maple Glen, PA 19002 Peavey Electonics Yamaha Corporation of Carver Corporation Corporation America 20121 48th Avenue West 711 A Street P.O. Box 6600 Lynnwood, WA 98046 Meridian, MS 39301 Buena Park, CA 90622 /V £66l eunr/AnIN £66l /V PETER HAMMAR

(contued from page 39) A Historical Perspective In 1985 we published this article on the birth of the video recorder. Who was its "Father"?

UDIO-FOR-VIDEO" has become a major development You will recognize another of the many audio in the recording and production field during connections in the development of video recording, Ray the past five years. Clearly, as a business and Dolby of audio Noise Reduction' fame, who became the as an art form, audio and video are moving second person to join the Ampex VTR team almost at the closer together. However, this "new" audio-video engi- inception of the video project. Dolby, not yet out of school neering synergy should come as no surprise. Both spring at the time he began at Ampex, made major contributions from the same source, audio. As a close relative, audio will to the development of the video recording art. want to share in an important birthday that video will Next year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the event soon celebrate, the introduction of commercial videotape that has affected all of us for three decades—the recording in 1956. introduction of the world's first practical videotape Audio can take credit for being the "father" of other recording media, including magnetic recording. In magnetics, some of the people who originally made audio tape possible in this country and abroad also contributed directly to the creation of instrumentation, data, and video tape recording. For example, John T. Mullin, the man who introduced Ampex and Hollywood to audio magnetic recording in 1946, developed the first working videotape recorder (VTR) prototype for the Electronics Division of Bing Crosby Enterprises in 1951. Mullin used a fixed-head, longitudinal-scan multi-channel format for his video recorder. To build the machine's transport, the Crosby engineers used parts from an Ampex Model 200 audio recorder. Crosby sold his Electronics Division to 3M in 1957, which became their Mincom Division. Mullin joined 3M with the other Crosby engineers. In a bit of video-for- audio reverse engineering, they used the closed-loop capstan technology that Mullin had first developed for Crosby video as the basis for the transport of 3M's famous "M" series of studio audio recorders. At Ampex, video was the figurative rib taken from the body of audio. Officially, members of the Redwood City This Ampex VRX-1000 started a revolution in television video team that developed the first commercially production methods and programming. successful VTR were listed as employees of the Ampex recorder, the Ampex VRX-1000. It was in April of 1956 Audio Division, the name given on the cover of the that Charles Ginsburg and his five associates unveiled "Preliminary Manual" for the machine. Ampex created a their invention at simultaneous demonstrations in separate Video Division only after the successful Chicago and Redwood City. Unlike the fixed-head introduction of the VTR in 1956. Crosby, RCA, and BBC videotape recorder prototypes, the Ampex VTR was the first to use spinning heads and slow tape speeds to achieve the high writing speeds Peter Hammer waa the creator and curator of the necessary for video. Ampex Museum in Redwood City, CA at the time of The thirtieth anniversary of videotape recording this writing. Today he operates his own video studio in the California Bay area. means more than one company's milestone. The event became a watershed in the history of television, creating a new kind of program production industry in a medium dependent on live stage methods and Hollywood film techniques. Besides color video, no single technology changed television as much as the magnetic video recorder. Nineteen eighty-six marks the beginning of the fourth decade of change and innovation in television production. The arrival of digital audio and video, with the ability to manipulate picture and sound without generational loss, represents the greatest challenge for creative program production—and audio engineering—since tape arrived here after World War II. With audio-for-video, audio people are only now fully realizing the engineering and production opportunity that video tape created back in 1956. Starting next year, I hope audio engineers will join their video brothers in taking note of the start of the truly remarkable technology of the VTR. The best way to mark the occasion is to renew our efforts at preserving both original television programming and the machines that recorded them. But we need your help out there in the field! Many broadcasters and production studios have old two-inch videotapes that have been squirreled away in closets and on the bottom of tape library shelves. Some people don't realize that many of these dusty, old "quad" Prototype of the first commercially successful videotape tapes represent rare, irreplaceable video footage showing recorder, the Ampex Mark Ill VTR in early 1955. the early days of the business. I've met broadcasters and producers who assume that archives—somewhere, somehow —have copies of all

,°•1.:-.1-THE.SOUND..,•e•Lz. . - • • .--•*-••:•*-':: Professional Audio & Audio/Video Cabling Systems ENGINEERING';.;7‘; Since 1974 .....;:: •.-- MAGAZINE_•...•. • Wireworks Corporation 380 Hillside Avenue Hillside, NJ 07205 (908) 686-7400 Fax: (908) 686-0483 Toll Free. 1-800-MIC-WIRE

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important television and radio material. In fact, the protect program producers, owners, and other equity majority of videotape masters of both national and local holders such as actors and musicians. Much of this programming have been erased or destroyed over the footage is vitally important in showing the birth and years. We should help preserve these very beginnings of development of videotape, and simply must be preserved. the industry by encouraging broadcasters and producers We are looking for early black and white and color who have old tapes to donate them to archives for high- newscasts, network or local, and old videotaped quality transfer to modern media, as well as for programming from any market, large or small; any preservation of the original tapes. recordings of network feeds from 1957 to the early 1970s The Ampex Museum of Magnetic Recording, which is of either national news events or entertainment shows; not an archive, can serve as a conduit to connect the any commercial spots, local or national, that may be holders of early video footage with archivists around the sitting on a shelf somewhere. And don't forget kinescopes country. The major archives can offer proper legal cover and old films made for TV! for program donors, protecting the owner of the physical Naturally, any important antique hardware and media who may be holding copies of programs not accessories, video or audio, should also be conserved for originally authorized for duplication twenty or thirty the future, if for no other reason than to be able to play years ago. The fact is, with our cavalier, throw-away back increasingly outdated video and audio recording attitude towards preservation in this country, much of the formats. programming that archivists have saved was originally Help us save an important part of our culture. Spread "bootlegged" and held by private collectors. Meanwhile, the word among your audio and video contacts about the the dumpsters of certain broadcasters, networks, and kind of material we're looking for. When you find producers continue to overflow with our national something, arrange for donation to the appropriate entertainment heritage. archive that will preserve the original and carefully Although they may not own the content, private holders make preservation copies. Or call me, Peter Hammar, at of original programming who want to donate and my office at (415) 941-0295 or at the Ampex Museum in preserve tapes and discs can easily be protected from any Redwood City, California, at (415) 367-3127, for further supposed copyright infringement involved in a donation reference. to a non-profit archive. The major media archives can also Thanks to all of you, and happy birthday! PETER HAMMAR and DON OSOSKE

A Historical Perspective The Birth of the German Magnetofon Tape Recorder 1928-1945

This article is a revised version of one that first appeared in db in March 1982. With research assistance from German media historian Heinz Thiele, the authors have added new information obtained from sources that included BASE AGFA AEG-Telefunken, the German radio stations, the Deutsches Meseum and now long retired audio engineers.

HE DEVELOPMENT OF MAGNETIC recording was Valdemar Poulsen, the Edision of magnetic recording, not exactly an overnight event. From its intro- invented almost every known form of magnetic storage. duction in 1898 as the Telegraphone wire recorder His first idea, in 1896, was a magnetic version of Edison's Tto the controversy of today's digital technology, cylinder phonograph. Poulsen spiralled piano wire magnetic recording has gone through stormy times. around a brass cylinder, with a laterally-moving magnetic pick-up head pushed along by the rotating cylinder. Playing time was thirty seconds. By 1899, the Peter Hammer waa the creator and curator of the Dane had developed magnetic recorders that used spools Ampex Museum in Redwood City, CA at the time of pulling wire past the record head at two meters per this writing. Today he operates his own video studio second, with a recording time of several minutes. Poulsen in the California Bay area. Don Ososke was then with the Ampex Standard Tape Lab, and today operates an audio recording studio also in the Bay Area. also made a machine that used a steel band to record syndicate was very successful in their attempt to com- sound. He even made a magnetic disc recorder whose mercialize magnetic recording, although the Lorenz pick-up head moved along a spiral guide, very much like Company in Berlin almost succeeded. the magnetic disc video slow-motion recorders developed Around 1933, under the direction of S.J. Begun (who by Ampex and others in the 1960s. And all this before later headed Brush Development in Cleveland), the 1900! Lorenz Company began work improving one of Curt Unfortunately, marketing people regarded Poulsen's Stille's ideas, using a steel band as the recording medium. technical breakthroughs in magnetic recording as a Lorenz had enough faith in magnetic recording to design curiosity, a toy. In 1905 the Danish engineer sold his its "Stahltonband Maschine" or "steel sound machine" for Telegraphone patents to the highest bidder and went on to use in radio stations as a transcription device. In fact, by do research in other areas of electricity, including radio the mid-1930s, several European radio services, transmitters. including the Germans and the British, had used steel Lee DeForest, the inventor of the modern vacuum tube, recording on the air. Steel-band recorders had reached a wanted to perfect magnetic recording—many of quality level almost equal to the broadcast wax disc. DeForest's early Audion tube diagrams used a wire During the world-wide depression of the 1930s, people recorder as the theoretical sound source. However, relied increasingly on radio at home for entertainment. DeForest's efforts were frustrated by lack of cooperation For broadcasters, the Thirties was a time of tremendous from Poulsen's successor, the American Telegraphone growth in entertainment programming. Most radio Company. stations used recording lathes to cut lacquer or very thick For shipboard radio recorders in the 1920s, U.S. Navy wax discs for use in time-delayed broadcasts. However, researchers Carlson and Carpenter improved the the wax discs could only be played two or three times Telegraphone with vacuum tubes, and added something before the grooves were worn. Also, the radio engineer new to the record circuit—AC bias. But their Navy could not easily edit a program recorded on a disc. The sponsors lost interest in communications recording and necessary disc-to-disc transfers to edit out mistakes led to the two were forced to drop the project. Had the Navy had high generational loss of sound quality. a bit more foresight (easy for us to say today), we might Naturally then, magnetic recording on a long, thin have had relatively high fidelity magnetic wire recording strip of material offered the broadcaster editing and as early as 1923. The Navy's reaction reflected an attitude multiple-replay capabilities that he did not have with that continued from Poulsen's day: magnetic recording discs. But the Lorenz Company's steel-band recorder was was more a curiosity than a practical tool. out of date before they could get their machine to the The next attempt to commercialize magnetic recording broadcast market. Steel as a recording medium was was made almost a quarter-century after Poulsen, when impractical at best. You edited with solder and a welding Curt Stille in Germany formed the Telegraph Patent torch. A fifty-minute reel of steel tape measured over two Syndicate in 1927. Stifle envisioned magnetic recorders feet in diameter, and weighed almost 40 pounds! for dictation, automatic telephone answering, and even The machines could even be dangerous for their music reproduction. None of the members of the operators. The English version, the Blattnerphone, used

Neumann wax disc recording lathes at Sender Hamburg in 1931. Recording lathes were the forerunners of the Magnetophon in German broadcasting. (Photo courtesy of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk Archives, Hamburg, Germany.) The first Poulsen Telegraphone, circa 1898.

at the British Broadcasting Corporation until as late as Pfleumer knew about the wire Telegraphone and the 1950, was operated in a metal cage so that if the steel band early experiments with steel-band recording. flew off its reel during fast-forward or rewind, the Around 1928, Pfleumer was in Paris on a business trip. engineer on duty wouldn't lose a hand, or worse. While sitting in a cafe, he was thinking about magnetic The expense alone of solid steel tape was high enough to sound recordings. He reasoned that, instead of using prompt the German radio service's chief engineer H.J. expensive, heavy steel tape for recording, he could use his von Braunmuhl to look for an alternative to steel. There cigarette-mouthpiece-label technique to make cheap, had to be a better answer to magnetic recording than steel lightweight magnetic tape. Instead of bronze powder, band. iron powder could be mixed with lacquer and spread on a paper tape. FROM STRA WS TO CIG A RETTES Pfleumer's combined knowledge of paper tapes from TO M AG NETIC TAPE his cigarette work, and his understanding of magnetism In Dresden, Germany, the Universelle Company had and electro-acoustics was crucial to his success in making been building cigarette manufacturing machines since the world's first magnetic tape recorder. He knew, for the turn of the century. One of their engineering example, that the iron particles had to be as small as consultants in the 1920s was Fritz Pfleumer, whose possible to achieve the highest possible frequency previous discoveries included drinking straws made of response. For Pfleumer, the all-important binder plastic, as well as new forms of foam rubber. material to glue the particles to the tape was no problem One of Universelle's machines was designed to make at all. He just used the same lacquer he had used for the cigarettes with a thin band of real gold around the bronze on the cigarette mouthpieces. mouthpiece. Even for 1928, using gold on cigarette Pfleumer's first tape recorder, built in 1928-29, mouthpieces was becoming expensive, so the company sounded just awful: distortion, background noise, wow, put Pfleumer to work finding a substitute for the gold. and flutter. But the point was, the thing worked! One did Pfleumer developed a bronze powder that he mixed with not need a solid piece of ferrous material to record sound lacquer, spread on a wide, long strip of paper, and then magnetically. The engineer described his recording tape slit into tiny pieces for gluing onto the cigarettes. as "a 300-meter-long roll of the recording material which Pfleumer was somewhat of an audiophile. He liked lasts twenty minutes and costs only one Mark 50 Pfennigs good-quality radios and recording devices, and did much (about 25 cents) to make. The paper, called Pergamine, is experimenting on his own. Of course, like most engineers, only 0.04 mm thick." He pointed out that, with his new stories about the new recorder, after several private demonstrations. AEG (Allgemeine Electricitaets Gesell- cliaft, or "General Electric Company") in Berlin, was Germany's second-largest electronics company, after the Siemens Company. AEG designed and manufactured professional and consumer electronic products, much as its business associate General Electric did in the United States. At AEG in 1930, Pfleumer's first demonstration of his tape recorder, which he called a "sound paper machine," was less than convincing. His magnetic recorder, like others before it, sounded poor. However, for the first time in history, engineers and managers were far-sighted enough to see the potential for tape recordings. By 1932, AEG had signed a contract with Pfleumer to buy his patent outright and develop tape recording. Detail of the Telegraphone record/playback head. (Photo The engineers at AEG tried to make their own tape at courtesy of the Deutsches Museum, Munich.) first, according to one account, buying carbonyl iron at the corner drugstore and spreading it on paper "ticker tape." The sound they got from the tape was terrible, and recording system, the tape editor could trade his welding they soon realized that the problems of spreading thin torch for a pair of scissors. coats of iron-filled lacquer onto strips of paper tape were Unhappily for Fritz Pfleumer, the German patent best left to a chemical concern. office in 1936 denied him his 1928 patent, finding the American J.A. O'Neill's 1927 magnetic tape patent valid. THE FIRST TAPES As far as we know, O'Neill never did make workable In the early 1930s, the chief executive officer of AEG, magnetic tape or a recording device of any kind. Herman Buecher, heard about his engineers' problem. In 1929, Pfleumer took his invention from Dresden to He called his old friend in Frankfurt, Carl Bosch, who Berlin, to sell it for development. Newspapers there ran was the head of the powerful IG Farben chemical

In 1938, the German radio or "Reichsrundfunk" became the first broadcaster in the world to adopt tape as its transcription and time-delay standard. Shown are AEG Magnetophon K-4 "HTS" AC-bias models at Radio Kiel, circa 1943. At the start of their joint venture with AEG, BASF switched from paper to a cellulose-acetate film. The early carbonyl iron tape was brittle, but much stronger than the first paper tapes. BASF's trade name for their acetate basefilm was "Cellite," so they called their new iron-oxide formula tape "Type C." Manufactured through 1942, Type C tape had a rust-colored oxide with a gray backing. By 1943, BASF had introduced a third kind of tape. Luvitherm or "Type L," a homogeneous tape/basefilm of polyvinyl chloride. Though much stronger than the Type C acetate tape, the PVC did stretch. Type L tape was made by dumping the iron oxide into the PVC vat, and then extruding the mixture into a solid film. Because the iron oxide was mixed throughout the tape, Type L could be recorded on either side. Another IG Farben member, Agfa at Wolfen, later joined BASF in the production of

Neumann disc cutting head, in use circa 1931 at Sender Hamburg. Both wax and lacquer discs were used for the broadcast-quality recordings. (Photo courtesy of Norddeutscher Rundfunk Archives, Hamburg, Germany.)

combine, to see if the two companies could make the development of the magnetic tape recorder a joint venture. In 1932, AEG's Buecher and IG Farben's Bosch arranged for a member of the IG Farben group BASF, ("Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik" or "Baden Anilin [dye] and Soda Factory"), in Ludwigshafen, to begin intensive research into the problems of making good magnetic tape for the new AEG machine. The first BASF tapes made in 1934 for the Berlin Radio

Show was made of pure, powdered carbonyl iron. The The first "ring head," invented by Eduard Schueller in iron, which looks like black dust, was mixed with lacquer 1932 at the Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin. Schueller and spread onto a cellulose acetate film, which was then joined the AEG Magnetophon team in 1933, bringing cut into five millimeter-wide strips (6.35 mm = 1/4 inch) with him his ring head patent. several hundred meters long. BASF's first tape had no Photo courtesy of AEG- Telefunken Archives, Braun- schweig, Germany. trade name, and was simply called "IG Farben carbonyl tape." Mechanical problems with AEG's prototype recording tape. In 1944-45, American GIs invading Magnetophon postponed the planned 1934 unveiling of Northern Europe found a lot of Type L tape. Both BASF the new recording process until the Berlin Radio Show and Agfa were able to steadily increase their tape the next year. production until war's end in May of 1945. By 1935, the researchers at BASF had progressed from The origin of today's one-quarter inch tape width carbonyl iron to iron oxide with smaller magnetic standard came from a combination of good engineering particles that resulted in better electrical performance. and coincidence. In 1935, just before the introduction of Today's iron oxide tapes are essentially refinements of the first AEG/BASF recorder and tape, the companies these early BASF formulations. jointly decided to widen the tape from its original 5.0 mm to 6.5 mm (just a hair over one-quarter inch). The engineers chose the wider tape for greater strength and better electrical performance. We still do not know why they chose the number 6.5 mm. When the Allied engineers examined the captured Magnetophons and their BASF/Agfa tapes, they measured the 6.5 mm width as a quarter inch, plus or minus "a tiny bit." The 0.15 mm difference between a quarter inch and 6.5 mm was really not worth noticing. With the interruption of German tape manufacturing at the end of the war and the importation of American 3M (Scotch), Orradio (Irish), Audio Devices and other tape, the official width of magnetic tape there became 6.35 mm as well.

THE MA G NETOP HO N Our thirty inches-per-second base tape speed also Poulsen Telegra phone, complete (1899). Poulsen originated in Germany with the Magnetophon. Until intended this device—record/PB time = 30 seconds—to 1935, the AEG/BASF R & D team used one meter-per- be an automatic telephone answering machine. (Photo courtesy of the Deutsches Museum, Munich.) second as their nominal standard tape speed. However, the recorder/reproducer suffered from poor mechanical The first laboratory prototype of the AEG "Ferroton" tape recorder in the fall of 1933. The one-motor machine used 5mm-wide carbonyl iron paper tape that was pulled past the heads at one-meter-per-second. (Photo courtesy of the AEG-Telefunken Archives. Braunschweig. Germany.) performance. The selection in 1935 of a new AEG With the postwar dismantling of the Magnetophon asynchronous motor for the capstan drive solved some of factories, American machines dominated the European the problems. In an effort to simplify future production of recording market in the early 1950s. The Germans Magnetophons and set a world-wide standard, the adopted the U.S. figure of 30 ips, converting the number engineers specified a capstan diameter of 10 mm, ±0. A back to the metric 76.2 cm/s. No one ever seemed to ten-millimeter capstan with AEG's asynchronous motor notice the difference. and the BASF tape produced a tape speed of 76.8 From the start of the Magnetophon project AEG faced centimeters-per-second. If the production of the the difficulty of building good heads. The heads originally Magnetophons could be standardized, an odd tape speed developed by Poulsen and found on wire and steel-band really would not matter. recorders consisted of pole pieces with sharpened points When Major Jack Mullin, one of America's tape pushed by springs onto the surface of the recording pioneers, and his U.S. Army Signal Corps engineers medium. Early experiments with the old-style pole-piece measured the Magnetophon's tape speed, they were heads showed that these heads had electrical disadvan- surprised to find it to be almost exactly 30-inches-per- tages. The magnetic lines of force from the pointed heads second (76.2 cm/s). Mullin's Magnetophons inspired the with their separate pole pieces were both horizontal creation of the Ampex Model 200, America's first com- (parallel to the axis of the tape travelling past it) and mercially-successful professional recorder. In 1947, diagonal. The lines of flux which intersected the tape Harold Lindsay, the Model 200's chief designer, used were unfocused and mostly ususable, even interacting Mullin's 30 ips figure in the American machine's design, with each other to create distortion. which later became the U.S. standard. Mullin had lent Lindsay some of his precious pre-recorded Magnetophon T HE RIN G HE A D tapes for test purposes, thus the logical choice of a 30 ips The solution was an invention by Eduard Schueller: the tape speed for the American machine. enclosed ring head. Schueller had worked as a research assistant at the Heinrich Hertz Institute, a technical name stuck, and in 1935, AEG started calling the "think tank" in Berlin, and by 1932 was already machine the "Magnetophon." The name is still used in experimenting with ideas of magnetic recording. Europe today. Schueller found that the most important part of Until 1945, most engineers around the world had not successful magnetic recording was the head. He decided heard of the German tape recorder. It was the to improve on the open pole-piece head design. The result combination of DC bias and World War II that kept the was his experimental ring head. AEG soon offered Magnetophon in obscurity. Jack Mullin has said that, "Once you hear DC-bias recording, you'll never want to hear tape again!" Sir Thomas Beecham, having heard his London Philharmonic on tape in November of 1936, reportedly was so horrified by what he heard that he didn't use tape again until 1950. In 1936, AEG sales people took their new Magnetophon to America for a secret demonstration at General Electric in Schenectady, New York. The DC-bias unit sounded so bad to the Americans that they decided that magnetic recording, at least in that form, was not practical. The most promising market for the then-unperfected magnetic recording machine in Germany in the 1930s was the Berlin-based German radio monopoly, known as the RRG (Reichs Rundfunk Gessellschaft or "Empire Radio Company"). The chief of the RRG engineering section, H.J. von Braunmuhl, was against using View of head assembly and tape path of AEG Magneto- magnetic recording for broadcasting. He liked the tried- phon K-2 (1936), the portable version of the FT-2 shown on and-true wax disc recording lathes with their Neumann the March db cover. (Photo courtesy of AEG — Telefunken heads. However, the progress of the AEG and BASF and Ampex.) engineers interested him. Von Braunmuhl bought several DC-bias Magnetophons and put his best engineer, Walter Weber, to work to see if Schueller a key position on their tape recorder develop- the machines really could be improved enough to be used ment team. Schueller's ring head created the nearly ideal on the air. Meanwhile, the people at AEG was also hard at magnetic flux pattern necessary for better fidelity work trying to perfect magnetic recording. recording. The lines of flux were concentrated in their most useful direction, horizontally (in the direction of the tape). Thanks to the AEG-Telefunken Archives, BASF, the German Radio Archives in Frankfurt, and Hans Westphal of Berlin, we have copies of the earliest recordings made on the AEG prototype recorder in 1933. On the first recordings, the frequency response limit was not more than 3 or 4 kHz, harmonic distortion was about ten percent, and the signal-to-noise ratio was quite poor. By 1935, with the introduction of AEG's first production machine, the "Magnetophon K-1," fidelity had been increased, with frequency response to beyond 5 KHz and wit less distortion. By 1935, the Germans had three of the four necessary ingredients of modern tape recording: 1) a stable transport, which the steel band recorders such as Lorenz Spinning head (4 gaps, 90 degrees to tape path) of had; 2) good tape, which the researchers at BASF had Tonschreiber "Berta": made by AEG, Berlin, circa 1939. created; and, 3) the ring head from AEG's Schueller, with (Photo courtesy of AEG —Telefunken and Ampex.) its good magnetic properties and gentle treatment of fragile tape. The fourth element of magnetic hi-fi recording, good electronics, would have to wait until Weber at RRG had an idea of how to improve the signal- 1939-40, after the Second World War had started. to-noise ratio. He cancelled some of the noise by adding an From Valdemar Poulsen at the turn of the century until inverting bridge circuit with a "dummy" record head to the late 1930's, direct-current biasing was the only the record amplifier circuit. The resulting 180-degree method known to European engineers to reduce noise and phase shift reduced tape noise about three dB. distortion and increase frequency response. As late as 1939, the DC-bias Magnetophon sounded no better than AC RECORD-BIAS an average 78 rpm transcription disc. One day in 1940, Weber was experimenting with this Although AEG initiated the development of the circuitry, making recordings of music and speech as well modern tape recorder, it may have been BASF that gave as pure tones. Weber kept logs of which recorder he had the machine its name. One of the names used by the used, time of day, and what he had recorded. Later, while engineers at AEG in 1932-33 for their new machine was playing back one of the tapes, Weber found that the sound "Ferroton." At BASF, they were calling their tape was fantastic! He was hearing true high fidelity on tape: "Magnetophonband" or magnetic phonograph tape. The extended frequency response, low noise, and low In fact, AC biasing of the record circuit was nothing new. But times were different, and engineers often missed each other's progress. Back in 1927, the U.S. Navy engineers Carlson and Carpenter, using a Telegraphone, had noticed the improvement of AC bias on wire recordings of telegraph messages. About the same time that Weber discovered AC biasing for tape recorders, Marvin Camras of the Armour Research Institute in Chicago had a similar discovery for use with his improved wire recorders. And before and during World War!!, S. J. Begun of Brush Development in Cleveland applied AC bias to some of his wire and steel-band magnetic recorder designs. With the war already in progress in Europe by 1940, it wasn't too surprising that Weber and Camras had not heard of each other's discoveries. In the late 1930s, the Japanese, under Kento Nagai, also discovered the AC- The disc transcription room, Sender Hamburg. circa 1935. bias phenomenon on solid magnetic material. (Photo courtesy of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk After the war, the Allied Commissions in Germany and Archives, Hamburg, Germany.) Japan declared all international patents of the Axis powers invalid. That left the quite advanced Armour patents as the finisher in the post-war AC bias license distortion. He traced the recording back to a Magnetophon field. that used his new noise reduction circuit, checked that For AEG, the beauty of Weber's discovery was that circuit, and found that it was in constant oscillation, they could take their existing DC-bias design and simply dumping high-frequency feedback into the record add the relatively simple AC-bias circuit, while changing circuit. Weber realized that AC record-bias was the the record head only slightly. The playback of the DC-bias answer to hi-fi tape recording. He spent the rest of 1940 Magnetophon was quite good, although its full potential perfecting his AC-bias discovery. was never realized before AC-bias recording. The last After the boss of the AEG Magnetophon lab across production DC-bias Magnetophon had a specified town heard the results of Weber's breakthrough at RRG, frequency response of 50 Hz-6 kHz, a dynamic range of 40 he went to his own researchers and said, "What in the dB, and harmonic distortion of 5 percent. The first AC- world have you guys been doing here, sleeping? Over at bias Magnetophon was rated at 40 Hz-15 kHz, with a 65 RRG, they've just discovered AC bias and turned our dB dynamic range, and under 3 percent distortion. machine into a high-fidelity recorder. We've got to get on Most of the studio Magnetophons in use at the end of the ball here!" World War II were designed as early as 1938. The first

An AEG Magnetophon K-4, circa 1938. The DC bias version had a frequency response of 50 Hz-6 kHz, 5 percent distortion and a dynamic range of 40 dB. Once modified with Walter Weber's AC record bias, the frequency response improved to 40 Hz-15 kHz, with a 65 dB dynamic range and less than 3 percent distortion. (Photo courtesy of the AEG-Telefunken Archives, Braunschweig, Germany.) production Magnetophon, the portable K-1, appeared in German radio stations. Had the Germans classified all 1935. ("K" stands for the German word Koffer or information about the AC-bias Magnetophons as "top "portable case.") The machine came in three cases, one for secret," the Allied probably would have known about the the transport, another for the electronics, and a third machines before the end of 1940! As it was, they had to holding the loudspeaker. At the same time, AEG wait another five years. produced the cabinet "FT" series Magnetophon Fern- gesteuertes Truhe, or "remote control cabinet"). The K-2 and FT-2 were introduced in 1936. The only FT-2 in existence that we know of is now a part of the Ampex Museum of Magnetic Recording in Redwood City, California. The K-3 and FT-3 in 1937 were followed by the final Magnetophon in the pre-1945 series, the K-4, in 1938. The K-4 is the best-known pre-1945 Magnetophon. This is the machine that Jack Mullin and his partner, San Francisco filmmaker William Palmer, used to introduce America to the new technology of hi-fl tape recording. The 1938 K-4 had DC biasing, and after the introduction of AC bias in 1941, a few early K-4s were updated. AEG also made an agreement with the RRG radio people to deliver K-4 decks built to RRG specifications incorporating the AC-bias design. The radio station console machines that Jack Mullin first saw at the Radio October, 1934 Sender Hamburg remote broadcast Frankfurt substation at Bad Nauheim in July in '45 recording on a Hamburg commuter train, using the werre special K-4 HTS ("Handgesteuertes Truhe Lorenz Steeltone machine. (Photo courtesy of the Norddeutscher Rund funk Archives, Hamburg, Germany.) Speziell," or "locally-controlled special cabinet" model). When the war started, everyone in Germany was ordered to switch over to building military products. During World War II, the Allies were sometimes That was as true for tape recorders as for coat buttons. confused about Hitler's location. Live-quality broadcasts AEG produced a very rugged, portable DC-bias version of his speeches simultaneously came from all parts of of the Magnetophon that they called the Tonschreiber or Germany. The Allies suspected some sort of high-fidelity "sound writer." The best-known of the Tonschreibers was recording device, but they overlooked the fact that the Germans had an extremely advanced radio network. A complex web of high-quality land lines (10 kHz bandwidth, 600 ohm balanced line, less than 1 dB loss per 1000 km) allowed remote broadcasts from any location to any other location. In addition, time delay broadcasts had been standard procedure in Germany since the mid- 1920s. To this day, old RRG engineers are amazed and baffled to hear that Americans thought that the Magnetophons were being used to deliberately confuse the Allies as to the location of high Nazi officials. In England between 1942 and 1944, Major Jack Mullin and others had been hearing late -night German broadcasts of live-quality orchestral music. Mullin thought that even a madman like Hitler could not compel tempermental musicians to play at three a.m. However, the audio quality of the transmissions was much better than any recording device Mullin knew. What he heard was the routine use of the Magnetophon, which had been developed as a professional and consumer entertainment device. The Magnetophon tape recorder naturally got sucked Telefunken "Reisz" microphone, circa 1930, carbon - up into the German war effort. The chief of the AEG type. in solid markble housing, 50 Hz-6 kHz. (Photo courtesy Magnetophon lab during the war, Dr. Hans Schiesser, of AEG- Telefunken Archives and Ampex Museum.) said that he had received specific orders from the Nazi government to work exclusively on the DC-bias military the Type B, or Berta machine, which appeared in 1939-40. Tonschreibers for use by the army, air force and navy, Berta was unusual because the machine had an extra, and to ignore further civilian tape recorder development spinning head which could be used to compress or expand until after the war. However, Schiesser kept a secret set sound for high-speed transmission of information. of lab notes in which he wrote of his work on high-fidelity An amazing fact of World War II was that no one on the magnetic recording, including experiments with stereo Allied side seemed to have heard about the hi-fl record and playback heads, which he quietly did on the Magnetophons until the end of the war. This ignorance is side at some personal risk. For Hans Schiesser and many even stranger when you consider that popular German others at AEG and German Radio, the Magnetophon tape magazines and newspapers, publicly sold in neutral recorder was the exciting way into the future of high Switzerland, printed numerous feature articles about fidelity reproduction of sound. • Classified

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The Right Response Company SEC FAS T‘c ..) 2 ; 3 S. 4 - P.O. Box 679 toa Medford, NY 11763 Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery • Reads Time Code from 1/50 - 50x speed • Reshapes Time Code for copying Note: This offer is void where pro- • 60 hz sync from 24 or 30 $395 hibited by law. This offer is not in- frame code tended for sale to minors. DENECKE, INC. 5417-B Cahuenga 81. No Hollywood. CA 91601 (818) 766-3525 • FAX (818) 766-0269 (PPH continued from page 66) 464. The area covered will be the SSL's U.S. headquarters in New Boston, New York, Philadelphia York City. Steve Rainford comes to and Washington DC. The official ti- this position with many years ex- tle for the office is "Otari North perience in the post production in- completion and comprehensive East Regional Direct Sales Office" dustry. He has been a free lance testing for audio speaker designs which is being abbreviated as post-production engineer at Tele- which incorporate ferrofluids. For ONE. Technical support that ONE tronics and MTI and he utilized the United States, Richard A. sells will be supplied by two differ- SSL's ScreenSound in the digital Powlowsky has been appointed ent companies. The MTR-90, MTR- editing/pre-mastering process on sales manager for the domestic 100 and DTR-900 will be handled George Harrison's recent live al- market and is also the primary rep- by New York Technical Sup- bum, which was mixed at The Mill resentative domestically to the port, Inc., Greg Hanks owner. He Studios in England. FerroSound program. can be reached at 212-246 0227. The Pro Disk will be handled by • A nationwide leasing arrange- • Telarc International received Film-Tek and Associates, Inc., ment with audio/video lease spe- a Grammy award for the "Best Laslo Katona and Vince Mosdar cialists L.F.C.I. is currently avail- Comedy Recording" category and it are owners. They can be reached at able for the Nagra-D digital was for an unprecedented fourth 201-797 4999. recorder. Also available for lease year in a row. The Cleveland, OH through L.F.C.I. is Nagra's T- based company has won twenty- • Jon Anderson of Yes has pur- Audio and W-S TC recorders. seven awards since 1980. The 1993 chased Digital Designs speakers L.F.C.I. is based in Clinton Ohio winning record was Peter for his studio. Yes, based in Califor- and is offering a number of lease Schickele's PDQ Bach: Music nia works with holographic im- options to suit different needs, for an Awful lot of Winds and ages. He felt that using Digital De- from True Lease Option which al- Percussion and at the time of the signs speakers creates rel lows the lessee to claim rental pay- award was on the top 15 on Bill- hi-fidelity sound in my room, they ments as tax-deductible, to the Eq- board's Classical Crossover chart. are crystal clear and resound on uity Lease Option which offers a every level from quiet to really fixed dollar buyout of less than 10 • Otari Corporation announced "blasting." percent. For more information on the establishment of a direct sales leasing the Nagra-D recorder, office to be located in New York • Steve Rainford has been L.F.C.I. can be contacted at 800- City. The office will have direct named by Solid State Logic, Inc. 626 5324. end-user sales for the DTR-900, as Digital Products Training Man- MTR-100, MTR-90 and ProDisk ager. Rainford will be based in qp qp g9 C66[ eunr/MDA eunr/MDA C66[ g9 PEOPLE, PLACES HAPPENINGS

• The Special Collections De- • The 3M Company has an- ment, marketing, sales and techni- partment in the Pullen Library nounced that it is establishing the cal support of LaserDisc players, at Georgia State University is first San Francisco Bay area facil- LaserBarcode readers, CD-ROM preserving volumes of rare, dete- ity to manufacture CD-ROM and it minichangers, cable television ad- riorating audio recordings of local will be called Just-In-Time (JIT). dressable converter systems, Georgia radio broadcasts. A grant Located in Fremont, the facility LaserDisc pay-per-view systems, of $22,244 by the National His- currently under construction is WORM and multifunction drives, torical Publications and Re- scheduled to begin production by projection CUBE systems, rewri- cords Commission has enabled the second quarter of 1993. The table videodisc recorders, the department to establish a re- close proximity to Silicon Valley Lasericaraoke entertainment sys- recording lab, expand its collection will enable them to reduce the turn tems, Star Factory karaoke stu- of recording and playback equip- around of their customers to only dios, professional audio compo- ment and make preservation-qual- few hours. In addition to manufac- nents, compact disc autochangers ity tapes of aging archival audio re- turing, the new plant will offer and LaserJuke CD jukeboxes. cordings. The recordings include packaging, distribution and fulfill- radio programming from the 1940s ment services for CD-ROM content • Art Kelm has been appointed as and 50s and unique, unpublished producers. They will also continue the new Director, Technical & En- recordings relating to the career of to offer full services at their Meno- gineering by Record Plant, Hol- the late songwriter, Johnny Mer- monie, Wisconsin plant. lywood. He will be responsible for cer, who came from Georgia. all technical, engineering and sys- • Bruce M. Merly has been ap- tems related areas of the Record pointed to the newly created posi- Plant's four-room operation, and • Focusrite, a company based out- tion of General Manager of will handle day to day manage- side of London, has appointed Howard Schwartz Recording, ment of the technical department. Group One, Ltd. of Farmingdale, Inc. Howard Schwartz explained Art joins Record Plant from Dis- NY as its official distributor. The that because of the technology ex- ney Imagineering Circlevision British company is a manufacturer plosion, the direction of the record- project. He has served in manage- of recording consoles and signal ing company has been changing on ment positions at various Los An- processing equipment. an almost daily basis. With the geles facilities. many options available by the company, a person was needed to main- • Scott Bowden has been named tain constant contact with their cli- International Sales Manager for • Ron Sauro has joined Renkus- entele. Bruce Merly has been the Fluids Technology Division Heinz of Irvine, CA in the newly- Chairman of the Board and Presi- of the Ferrofluidics Corpora- created position of Engineered Sys- dent of SPARS. He also has been tion. Bowden will oversee the sale tems Manager. His primary president and general manager of of audio ferrofluids to loudspeaker responsibilities will be related to Clinton Recording Studios in engineers and manufacturers the sale of the EASE, EASE JR and NYC as well as consultant in this throughout Asia, Europe, Canada EARS acoustical design programs. industry. and South America. He will be the He will also assume the responsi- primary contact to the FerroSound bility for the ongoing development program, which is a customer sup- and training of the company's na- • A new company, Pioneer New port program for speaker manufac- tionwide network of engineered Media Technologies, Inc. has turers. FerroSound also offers cus- system contractors. Ron's exten- been formed by joining Pioneer tomer assistance from the early sive background in music and elec- Communications of America, stages of product development to tronics is based on having operated Inc. and Pioneer Laser Enter- his own company for the past tainment, Inc. The new company twenty years, specializing in will be headquartered in Long sound-system design and installa- Beach, CA. The charter of the new 66 db May/June 1993 1993 May/June db 66 tion. company includes the develop- (continued on page 65) "I've been sold on Beta's superiority since I first tried them. I use them on vocals, drums, amps, and brass because their sensitivity and resistance to feedback make them the perfect fit for the groups I work with. And the Beta 58 Wireless is the first system I've found that gives my artists the freedom of a radio mic without sacrificing sound quality."

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