$2.50 AUGUST 1978 VOLUME 9 - NUMBER 4

DING EQUIPMENT www.americanradiohistory.com Ir-irmIIma ,. foIo.

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studio owner /constructor David Porter with construction foreman Earl Thomas at Music Annex, Menlo Park, California

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Distributed throughout the United States by IUTTEERIC 5[1 UE)II0 Accept our invitation to contact us and discuss your studio needs. 7037 Laurel Canyon Blvd -, North Hollywood, California 91605 / 982 -6200

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www.americanradiohistory.com AUGUST 1978 CO is DING VOLUME 9 - NUMBER 4 engineer/producer - the magazine to exclusively serve the Contents Recording Studio market . . . all those - whose work involves the recording of commercially marketable sound.

- the magazine produced to relate .. . Recording ART to Recording SCIENCE page 20 BILL SZYMCZYK, ED MASHAL, .. . to Recording EQUIPMENT. THE - by Tom Lubin n page 30 - THE RECORD PRESSING PROBLEM 4I U by Bill Szymczyk page 36 SMALL AND MINIATURE REVERBERATION CHAMBERS Editor /Publisher MARTIN GALLAY . the characteristics of sound transmission in Managing Editor.. P ROBERT MARICH heavy -gas filled enclosures - by Michael Rettinger Consulting Editor PETER BUTT page 42 Film Sound: The Band's LAST WALTZ .. . Operations Manager . D. KEITH LARKIN - Business Manager V L. GAFFNEY from over a quarter -of -a- million feet of Circulation Manager .. PATTY COLLINS 24 -track audio tape - by Ed Lever page 56 DISC MASTERING ... views from around the world. Seven leading mastering engineers discuss their craft - D by Howard Cummings page 60 The BUCHMANN-MEYER LIGHT PATTERN TECHNIQUE "RECORDING engineer /producer" is pub- lished six times a year by RECORDING & BROADCASTING PUBLICATIONS, 1850 the cover - Departments: Whitley Avenue, Hollywood, California Reflected light from a test record forms a plot demonstrating an application of the Buchmann- and is sent to qualified recipients in Letters page 14 90028, Meyer technique for measuring cutting head fre- - the United States. One year (six issues) sub- quency response. The bands represent test tones of New Products - page 71 scriptions for other than qualified individ- frequencies from 100 Hz to 30 kHz, which were cut at Classified - page 82 levels. spectrum is achieved by uals or companies may be purchased at the different The effect Late News - page 87 moving the light source from a perfect 45° angle from following rates: the plane of the record. (See page 60.)

United States (surface mail) . . $9.00

United States (air mail) . . . $17.00

Foreign (surface mail) . . . $9.50

Foreign (air mail) . . . $19.00

THIS ISSUE OF R -e /p IS SPONSORED BY THE FOLLOW! NG LIST OF ADVERTISERS o AKG Acoustics 62 Harrison Systems .. 96,97,98,99 Scully Dictaphone 49 Abadon /Sun, Inc 68 Inovonlcs, Inc. 68 SESCOM 88 Allison Research 39 Interlace Electronics 60 Shure Brothers cvr 4 Amek 3 JBL 29 Sierra Audio 4 -5 RECORDING engineer /producer is not Audloarts Engineering 89 Jensen Transformer 72 Soundcratt 23 made responsible for any claim by any Audio 8 Design Recording . 85 King Instruments 67 Sound Designs 34-35 person based on the publication by RE- Audio Diagnostic 76 Klipsch 79 Sound Workshop ... 61,63,65,87 CORDING engineer /producer of material Audio Industries Corp. 47 Lexicon, Inc. 45 Spectra Sonlcs 7 72 submitted for publication. Audlomarketing 62 MCI 14 -15 Studer Revox America 59 Material appearing in RECORDING Audltronlcs 31 MRL 16 TAD 75 Audio-Technics, US 27 MXR 25 Taber Mfg. 58 engineer /producer may not be reproduced Auratone 36 Mic Mix 78,86 Tangent Systems 11 permission the publisher. without written of BTX 81 Milam Audio 12 -13 TEAC/Tascam 17 Rudi Breuer 56 R. K. Morrison 64 Telex 82

Communications Company . 81 Neutrik 80 3M Company 52,64 Crown International 57 Rupert Neve, Inc. 18 -19 UREI 40,74 dbx, Inc. 71 OmnICraft 54 Valley Audio 23 í Data West 93 Orban Associates 53 Valley People 77 Delta Labs 69 Otani Corporation 33,95 Westlake Audio 50-51 Electro-Volce, Inc 43 Panasonlc /Technics 37 White Instruments 55

Eventide Clockworks 70 Peavey Electronics 73 Windt Audio Engineering . 88 Controlled Circulation Postage Everything Audio 2 Pioneer Electronics 75 Yamaha International 41,84 paid at Garner Industries 74 Quantum Audio Labs 66 Zlmet Pro Audio 8 Los Angeles, California Raindirk Limited 83

Postmaster: Send form 3579 for address correction to..

RECORDING engineer /producer P.O. Box 2449 Hollywood, California 90028 (213) 467-1111

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ti 1 dB) . the price . . you won't find any Twenty-four channels on a thirty- t new are iv NPR spec it Cat inns measure/I by MOO! RN NF CORNING two-channel mainframe . 13.500 in the -Hands on Repn/1-. October otter coinoles in the world thin- 19/ / I flexnhi.tvie*edviasa thirty twochannel mainframe, Mon. 1202. which the mown 42Ib 16.860 surpasses enlh even clean., Ana compare with: Tangent. nuoetet performance

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Tangent . . . clean sound that won't clean your pockets. for additional information circle no. 3 R-e,11 www.americanradiohistory.com 1' -When t decided to build a studio at the Playboy Resort. the first person I turned to was Jerry Milam because I of his knowledge and experience in JERRYM LAM studio engineering. Well. Jerry provided more than sophisticated equipment. He con- DELIVERS THE sulted with me on every detail of the recording business. Planning. financing. construction. installation and training. Together we deve loped a 'state -of- the -art' studio that delivers great sounds. SOUND I That's why owe him a lot more than he charged me."

Andy Watermann. Owner SHADE TREE STUDIO. Lake Geneva. WI

. 40itor f

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for additional information circle no 4 www.americanradiohistory.com FULLY AUTOMATED 24 TRACK SHADE TREE STUDIO PLUGS INTO LAKE GENEVA RESORT. Jerry owned and operated his own 24 -track studio and he's engineered over 1000 sessions. So. he knows what a studio must be able to do. And. because Milam Audio has sold and serviced more than 50 major installations in the past five years alone. he really knows the equipment that can do the job. So he sells only the best and services what he sells. It's that kind of personal commitment that helps keep his customers operating profitably. You know. Jerry's client list reads like 'Who's Who' in the music business. and they all swear by him. That's because his installations are equal to anything available in Los Angeles. New York. Nashville or anywhere else."

Jerry Milani and Andy Waterman behind the MCI -528 console.

Jerry introduced me to his friend. Rudi Breuer. who's probably the top studio builder in the business. He's really the craftsman who made the acoustics and sound- proofing become so comfortable and beautiful. -\ In fact. Rudi added a soundproof window that can either be fitted with sound and light absorbent panels or left open for a fantastic view of the woods and rolling countryside. Rudi and his own crew controlled the quality and costs. then finished on schedule. It's no wonder that Jerry collaborates with him on all the big jobs."

SHADE TREE's main studio features Jerry started in this business exposed sound absorbent ceiling beams and as a musician and his heart acoustic surfaces framed in rich redwood. is always in the music. That aware- ness makes a tremendous difference in the completed studio." erry flies his own company plane liar and covers the Midwest like his own backyard. So. before you talk to t anyone else about a studio. I'd suggest you talk it over with Jerry Milam. I He'll deliver the sound."

MILAM AUDIO 1504 NORTH 8th STREET / PEKIN. ILLINOIS 61554 3093463161 EXCLUSIVE MCI REPRESENTATIVE IN THE MIDWEST Also representing more than 50 other professional product lines s4 DOLBY. including OBX AUDITRONICS NEUMAN UREI EVENTIDE PARASOUND CROWN LEXICON BOW ALLISON ANC BEYER and MRL. Ask the professionals about Jerry Milam. A complete list of clients The view outside can inspire a performance inside and previous installations is available upon request www.americanradiohistory.com \M\C \I\ Professional Lcttcr5 Recording Equipment. Available through these from: Michael Rettinger practical informa ion and new insight make dealers: Consultant on Acoustics an article successful, then I think the article Encino, CA is both convincing and successful. USA. This is in reference to the article Audio Consultants "Acoustical and Architectural Design of Nashville, . Studios" by Woody Smith in the June, 1978 from: Orrin Charm Audio Industries Corp. Hollywood, California. issue of your magazine. Audiovisual Systems Audio Techniques Inc. The paper is flawed by numerous Hollywood, CA Stamford, Connecticut. grammatical and technical inaccuracies. "Shielding, Grounding, & Safety ", by Ken Milam Audio Corp. Examples of the former occur in writing Fause (June, 1978) is the first, clear, Pekin, Illinois. Pacific Recorder boundries" for boundaries, "symetry" for comprehensive, and (almost) accurate and Engineering Corp. symmetry, "aleviate" for alleviate, "it's" for article on the subject to be published San Diego, California. its, "cocophony" for cacaphony, and others. recently in audio journals. I can personally Recording Studio Equipment Co. Examples of the latter occur in listing only verify that his system works, having used it N. Miami Beach, Florida. the axial modes of a 10' x 12' x 15' room and in the design of recording consoles, studios, Sound 80 Minneapolis, Minnesota. ignoring both the oblique and tangential and other audio gear. In the design of any Southwest Professional Audio modes or resonances, which far outnumber audio system, the grounding and shielding Austin, Texas. the axial ones. must be considered as an electrical circuit, How can such an article be convincing? and not just connected together indiscrimi- World -wide: nately. Audio Y Consultoria reply from: Ken's point: No loop; no magnetically Mexico D.F., Mexico. R. Barth KG induced noise voltage" Woody Smith must be considered Hamburg, W. Germany. Vice President, Engineering along with the fact that some form of loop is Pieter Bollen Geluidstechniek b.v. Abadon /Sun, Inc. absolutely necessary in a signal circuit to Eindhoven, Holland. San Antonio, TX enable current flow; only in the shielding Cepak Automation Ltd. Wellington, New Zealand. Thank you for your letter of July 11 circuit can the loop be left open. Signal Chromacord Corp. regarding the "grammatical and technical circuits, shielded or not, are still susceptable Lachine -Quebec, Toronto -Ontario, inaccuracies" of my article as published in to induced noise currents. However, "B" Canada. Recording Engineer/Producer magazine in (flux density) is proportional to current (if Continental Far East Inc. the June, 1978 issue. I'd like to extend my electrically created) and to the square of Taito -Ku, Tokyo, Japan. Teknik SDN.BHD. most sincere apologies for the grammatical distance. Thus, sensitive signal Dagang routing Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and typographical errors which occured, leads away from high-current cables, power Hope, Bennet, Blackburn Inc. however I do not feel that the technical value transformers, and loudspeakers is far more Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. of the article should be overshadowed by a cost -effective than trying to enclose Ingeson Ltda. needless concern for spelling mistakes. everything in mu- metal. Also, signal leads Bogata, Columbia. Klarion Enterprises Pty. Ltd. As to the "technical inaccuracies ", it was should be run in steel rather than aluminum South Melbourne, Adelaide, clearly pointed out in the article that the conduit to afford shielding from stray Australia. initial calculations are merely a basis for magnetic fields. MCI (Professional Studio design and not applicable to real world The one apparent error in Ken's excellent Equipment) Ltd. London, England. conditions. Further, we felt that a lengthy article is in the circuit diagram for a separate Platten S.R.L. discussion of axial, tangential, oblique and "technical" grounding system (Figure 5), Buenos Aires, Argentina. any other resonant modes would have apparently a typographical foulup. The Professional Sound Equipment drastically added to the complexity of the diagram should read as shown. The Company Ltd. article without adding to its practical value. receptacles with isolated ground pins Kingston, Jamaica, W.I. Roje Telecomunicazioni S.P.A. My intention was to provide basic (GE8200 -IG or equivalent) are made for Milano, Italy. information about our method of room hospital use and are not U. L. approved yet. Schleusner, Heinz, O. design in a format which anyone could Unfortunately, many of the ground -loop- Lima, Peru. understand and utilize. Whenever the noise problems I have encountered have Singleton Productions Inc. Barcelona, Spain. technical aspect exceeds the practical been in pre- existing situations it is really - Studio Equipment S.A. value, the article must become a burden on quite simple to design a quiet and safe Paris, France. the reader. Our intent was and is to serve ground system when starting from scratch Tal och Ton A.B. the reader, not confuse him. - where it was not practical to completely Goteborg, Sweden. I should also point out that less than one - rewire the equipment. In these situations, an Vitaphone (pty.) Ltd. third of the article has been mentioned in "Over- Ground" or "Brute -Force Ground" Johannesburg, Republic of S. Africa. Yushin Company Inc. I sincerely feel that the scheme has your letter. usually been effective. Since Seoul, Korea. remaining two -thirds is the important part, ground loop noise is caused by the flow of N.V. Trans European Music S.A. not the first third. Considering the article as current between ground points, and Dilbeek, Belguim a whole, I am very pleased with it and the returning through signal leads, by providing practical information it contains. If great a direct line of significantly lower impedance quantities of equations and calculations are to a reference ground, the noise currents 4007 N.E. 6th Ave. necessary for an article to "be convincing", I will be divided and the noise induced into the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 33334 Phone: (305) 566 -2853 Telex: 51 -4362 think this one might have failed. But if continued overleaf .. .

R-e/p 14 www.americanradiohistory.com MCI Introduces...

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People Building for People.

Motivated by the need for MCI people, acting in MCI is a company built human -engineered equipment, concert with this ergonomic by the individual pride and MCI people channel their genius philosophy, have earned MCI participation of people. It is this towards producing technically equipment a world -wide personal pride of dedicated innovative systems that are bio- reputation for innovation, ease individuals upholding the high mechanically designed so that of operation, quality, durability, standards set for themselves the person in control is just that... and serviceability. that produces the finest pro-

in control . fessional recording equipment available.

If you are interested in recording with the best, call MCI or the MCI dealer nearest you.

The Standard of the Industry. 4007 N.E. 6th Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida USA 33334 (305) 566 -2853 / Telex 514362 for additional information circle no. 5 www.americanradiohistory.com signal will be proportionally attenuated. I've shown with three red x's. complete installation, including the to field This can be accomplished by connecting Second, you say "By code, the neutral... component devices, is subject and approval by the local a #12AWG or larger wire from each major also must be bonded to ground at the inspection Therefore, piece of equipment's ground point directly service entrance point." Yet you don't show authorities having jurisdiction. stated in the article, it is essential to verify to a reference or earth ground. For long this connection in the drawing. Is this an as a ground" scheme will be runs, a #1 /OAWG or larger may be used and oversight? Or is the ground incorrectly that "clean before securely bonded to the #12's. All connec- bonded? acceptable to these officials - tions must have extremely low resistance. Third: You say all receptacles "should be beginning construction. routing of signal leads is The lower the impedance of this extra lead tested for correct polarity" but you give no The point about the to ground, the greater will be the attenua- reason or advantage for doing so. well taken. Good practice demands of cables according to function tion of ground loop hum. Apparently, the hot and neutral are treated segregation level separate bundles I repeat that this system should only be identically in your diagram, neither and signal - forming level, line level, used where it is impractical to impose a connected anywhere to earth ground. for power, logic, microphone level, video, and so on. These proper grounding design. Misapplied, over - Please clarify for me. loudspeaker grounding can create worse problems! Thanks for the fine article. should be run in separate conduits as well. My thanks and gratitude to Ken Fause for Ah, yes, conduits ... I should have raised his extremely "sound" article, and for his reply from: the specific point that Orrin mentioned: to valuable assistance in evaluating previous Ken Fause aluminum conduit is lightweight and easy grounding and shielding designs. My thanks to the above readers and the install and therefore popular. It is also many others for their kind compliments virtually worthless as a magnetic shield. In from: Douglas Kramer about the article. My apologies for the our own consulting practice, we add the Seattle, WA confusion raised by Figures 4 and 5. Due to following note to electrical construction I've read Morrison 's book on grounding personal commitments the article manu- drawings: and shielding. In your article "Shielding, script was submitted quite too close to press Make technical power, utility (audio) runs in steel Grounding, & Safety" you've filled in the time for the comfort of either the publisher power and signal specifics that he only generalized about. or the author. In the resultant haste, the raceway (conduit). Aluminum for lighting Thank you. rather complex artwork went awry. raceway is acceptable than 4 Three questions: Your diagram on page Corrected versions of Figure 4, Audio circuits only if spaced more feet from signal raceway runs. Cross 61, copied here, has three loops in the safety Ground via Equipment Safety Ground raceway runs at ground both ends of each mains power (printed last issue on page 61) and Figure 5, power and signal - all circuits to conduit are tied to the safety ground (green Clean Technical Ground (page 62) appear right angles. Route spacing between wire). (The panelboard -end of the green with this letter. The corrections to Figure 5 maintain maximum runs. wire is attached to the conduit through the are identical to those Orrin calls for. power and signal Force" approach to wire which is bonded to the panelboard.) Orrin is quite correct in noting that As to the "Brute to me this is audio's This is a direct contradiction of your isolated ground receptacles are not grounding: It seems the statement (italicized) Each piece of audio currently U. L. listed devices - they are equivalent to sweeping the dirt under equipment and each type of ground considered strictly special purpose carpet - the dirt doesn't go away, you just lumps in the carpet. associated with that equipment connects to receptacles and are manufactured in a hide it and wind up with agree, though, if time and a single defined point by a single path." Are distinctive color to prevent confusion with I am forced to things these ground loops intentional exceptions standard devices. There are many budget will not permit doing reduce noise to your rule? Your later statement (page 62) situations in electrical construction where a correctly, the approach may "All signal shields should be insulated from wiring method may be approved but there is page 86 conduit and enclosures" makes me believe not a complete U. L. listed device available - continued on the connections should be severed where to accomplish the task. In this case the

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alai audio sta,dasdvatrun .. , we helped wide is the stardands. Each tape comes with whát e notes. detailed instructions awl application The MRL catalog includes tapes fol all studio you applications. In addition to the usual spot hequency tapes, we make singletone tapes. rapdi swept frequency tapes, wideba,d of

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The impedence roller The heavy -duty is strictly professional power supply fea- caliber Along with the tures a pro-quality heavy dynam:cally- toroidal transformer balanced flywheel, it This assures that guarantees better each deck function tape -head interface will receive its correct Therefore, reducing voltages without any the possibility of fluctuations. Even if dropouts during a your 40 -4 runs critical recording constantly for session. 24 hours a day.

Our exclusive Thanks to our single Function Select record /playback initiates TAPE/ head, you'll hear SOURCE, PLAY- existing tracks in BACK /RECORD sync with full fre- and dbx ENCODE/ quency response DECODE modes while over -dubbing with just one button. at 15 ips. Additionally, FET circuits (not mechani- cal relays) enable you The optional dbx module to punch in and (DX -4) gives you a dynamic punch out without range of over 90dB. pops. Full IC logic and motion - Because it's integrated, its sensing circuit lets you electronics are perfectly Heavy -duty motors, bear- enter play mode quickly calibrated to match the ings and brakes assure you Individual, removable PC without risking tape spill recording /reproduce of smooth tape handling cards carry the electronics or stretch. circuits of the 40-4. throughout the long hours for record, reproduce and of the multitrack bias amps. So calibration recording process. or replacement comes quick and easy lust swing down the meter panel for quick access. `Price subject to dealer preparation charges where applicable.

TASCAM SERIES BY T EACt. A new generation of recording instruments for a new generation of recording artists. TEAC Corporation of America 7733Telegraph Road; Montebello. California 90640.1n Canada TEAC is distributed by White Electronic Development Corporation (1966) Ltd. R -e /p 77 for additional information circle no. 7 www.americanradiohistory.com Neve NECAM Computer Mixing. Chosen by leading music recording studios as the only approach to automation.

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4171 ..A.14,44;1/4-41tx.rjr-)4).1/4v414. P.;e-x tat Picture shows the first Neve NECAM ,4 I installation at Air Studios, London.

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www.americanradiohistory.com Bill Szymczyk Ed Mashal Joe Walsh and the Eagles by Tom Lubin

Bill Szymczyk at his Bayshore Recording.

Tom Lubin: How long did it take to do Ed Mashal: I can look back at some of my you're out of the studio you're done, you ? Criteria checks and I was in the studio for can think about something else for awhile, Bill Szymczyk: Overall - over a period of 100 hours in one week ... I still have the before you have to go back and think about nine months. stubs. that project again. I can't work on twc or Bill Szymczyk: When we work, we work. three projects at once.

Tom Lubin: Haue any idea hour -wise? We do minimum 10 - 12 hours a day. Ed Mashal: It's hard to say. Tom: So you like to totally immerse Tom Lubin: You like working that way? yourselves in one project? Tom Lubin: f know, but when you say Bill Szymczyk: That's the only way to do it. Bill: I do. I'm just trying to figure out this months, the band could be on the road. When we are in the studio, the only thing we hour thing. I would say 2,000 to 3,000 hours. Bill Szymczyk: We were working a good have to do is work on this thing, this project, three weeks and maybe two weeks off. So this record. The only other time we need is Ed Mashal: Easily. we had to work four months - I would say for sleeping and eating. It condenses it - Bill: Over nine months. They are perfect- five solid months - 10 hours a day. that's all you think about. Then the time ionists. R-e/p 20 www.americanradiohistory.com The Soundcraft Series 3 console is ideal for 16- or 24 -track recording studios demanding technical sophistication at a reasonable cost. It has been designed with all the facilities the professional engineer expects plus a few extra features you're sure to appreciate. The technical specifications are excellent, partly due to the use of new integrated devices, giving high slew rate, extended power bandwidth and ultra low noise.The front end circuitry is truly state -of- the -art giving a 1dB noise figure. The extended range of modules allows up to 32 tracks of monitor mix independent of the input channels whilst the layout allows engineer and producer to work together without getting in each other's way. Working with Series 3 is a real pleasure. It is logical to use and sounds excellent. Ask for the 8 -page colour brochure or contact one of the dealers listed below. We think you'll be impressed.

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Tom: HOTEL CALIFORNIA? Tom: What sort of monitors do they use at Bill: No - HOTEL CALIFORNIA was Criteria? done half at Record Plant in L. A. and half at Bill: I don't care what they had. I had 4311's. Criteria. [Laughter] When I arrived on the scene, they didn't have any Dolbys, they didn't Tom: Where did you mix it? have 24- track, just a 16 -track non-Dolby Bill: Criteria. studio when I got there. And now they have four studios, all 24- track, all Dolby. -The Cast - BILL SZYMCZYK: When Bill Szy- Tom: If you haue your choice between 30 or mczyk left the navy in 1963, he began 15 ips and no noise reduction Dolby or dbx, preparing for a career as a television what's your choice? director /producer. New But the York Bill: 15 ips Dolby. City recording scene proved to be a stronger attraction than colleges Ed Mashal: I'll go with offering radio /television curriculums. that, too. And I'm a young guy! His "temporary" summer job at a Bill: Something recording studio led to work at such happens to the bottom at 30 ips in noted facilities as , the mix, you crank it and it just ain't Caribou and Criteria. Szymczyk's there. credits as engineer and /or producer include albums by J. Giels, B. B. King, Tom: On HOTEL CALIFORNIA, how long , Johnny and Edgar did you go into rehearsal? Winter, Phil Ochs, The Bill: Maybe about a week. and more recently Jay Ferguson, Joe Walsh and the Eagles. He recently Tom: Did you have most of it wrapped up? Ed Mashal. Photo by Jann Zlotkln. opened Bayshore Studios, his own Bill: No - we had about three tunes ready 24 -track recording facility in Coconut to go when we started that album. The rest Grove, Florida. of it came down in the studio. angles - two shots or closeups or a master shot and all that stuff. That's basically what JOE WALSH: Recording artist Joe Tom: The strings there's quite a bit of we do when we make an Ealges basic track. Walsh - first met Szymczyk in Cleve- strings in the intro. land in 1968 and the two soon Bill: Jim Ed Norman wrote those charts. Tom: And then became good friends. During the cut it together? next decade, their paths crossed Bill: Yes, we'll fill up 10 reels and then listen Tom: Where do those recordings? to them. many times. Hit albums by Walsh did you We call our Listen including BARNSTORM; THE Bill: Record Plant Studio here [Los Man. We'll sit down and just listen to each SMOKER YOU DRINK, THE PLAYER Angeles] with Sid Sharp and his boys. part intently. And then we'll A/B the same YOU GET and BUT SERIOUSLY verse out of 10 tapes to get the primo scene, FOLKS were produced by Szymczyk. Tom: Did you use any special techniques the primo shot of that verse. Then we use Walsh is a former member of The with the mike? It sounds very symphonic. that. It just involves a lot of editing. James Gang and performed as a solo Bill: That was the only technique I knew. artist before joining the Eagles. We had a huge room to do it in. I don't know Tom: Do you record your drums with the if you ever saw Studio C at the Record Plant. bottom heads off? ED MASHAL: After completing It was built in an old movie sound stage so it Bill: Yep. All the toms. audio engineering studies and was just monstrous. Had a tile floor and I'd finding no paying recording work in say at least 50 - 60 foot ceilings. I used two or Tom: How big is the kick? New York City, engineer Ed Mashal three 87's for mikes and maybe RE20's on Bill: That one's old - 21 -inch - because he moved to Miami. Persistence in job the basses and cellos. Worked my way up to didn't get the 25 -inch until this album. hunting paid off when Criteria hired 87's on all violins. I like putting everything in Mashal in 1973 and his employment stereo on six or eight tracks there brought and then Tom: How many drums does he haue? him together with eventually mixing them down to maybe two, Szymczyk. Mashal has Bill: [Laughter] A lot of drums! Just to set handled three tracks, for the whole string section. engineering on recent Szymczyk- up now, there's got to be a 10- foot -long produced albums and now works out stack of snare drums in two rows. That's of Bayshore Studios. Tom: You seem to strive for a textural just snare drums. And he's got to have sound, in many ways, a theater for the ears. another 20 toms of various sizes and various TOM LUBIN: Interviewer Tom Bill: Hopefully, yes. I like to cover the entire makes. Lubin is chairman of the Audio spectrum on every record - anything from Department at the College of Re- a simple country acoustic to the entire Tom: What do you usually use for a cording Arts in San Francisco. An group. I want everything from 20 cycles on microphone on the toms? experienced producer and engineer, up to 20,000 cycles if you can hear that high. Ed Mashal: Well, when we were in Criteria, Lubin is also a writer with several I want to have something going on in all that. we were using 87's. Since we moved into our credits including an R -e /p article on own place, we use Sennheiser 441's. voltage controlled attenuators. He Tom: Do you go for a number of takes and They're great mikes on toms. spent six years with Columbia then combine them to get the best of each Studios in San Francisco and has take? Tom: What do you use high hat? recording on credits with numerous Bill: On the basic track, oh yes. Lots of 24- Ed: It's a little lavalier mike that Sony makes artists including Steve Miller, track editing. Making Eagles records is called the ECM50. Confunkshun and many Berserkley almost like making a movie where in film you Records acts. go shoot one scene 50 times from different Bill: It's got no bottom in it whatsoever.

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R a/p 23 for additional information circle no. 10 www.americanradiohistory.com Ed: Yeah, all kinds of snap. We lay that on So we built out of wood what looks like a Tom: Well, how did you get "here" ?How did top of the high hat and it kicks ass. half of a log cabin, took the top of a nine -foot you break into the recording business? Kawi piano that we have and pushed the Bill: Sweeping floors in a place called Dick Bill: It's cool. And I've got some overheads piano inside. We can mike it from five or six Charles Recording Service in New York for cymbals. I found a pair of mikes in the feet up, but it's totally isolated. The inside is City back in February 1963. Screen Gems New York Record Plant, PML's, Swedish all treated with insulation. There's no demos were the biggest client they had. It mikes. They're just gorgeous. leakage at all. was strictly mono to mono. Two mono machines and I think that near the end of my Tom: What model, do you know? Ed: Not in or out. tenure there, they got a stereo machine. So Bill: PML -DC73. Bill: It's the purest sound you're going to get we would just do ten generations back and in a rock and roll studio. forth for mono overdub. Tom: On "Hotel California ", was the acoustic guitar recorded at the same time Tom: Is that the piano that you used on Tom: Is that where you are from, New as the drum and bass? Joe's record? York? Bill: In most instances, yes. Bill: Yeah. We went out keyboard shopping Bill: No. I was originally from but I and found this baby in Miami and it's was in the Navy from 1960 to 1963. I was a Tom: Do you use an isolation booth? gorgeous. sonar man so they taught me electronics. I Bill: Yeah. went through a year's worth of Sonar Tom: Your responsibility for equipment School in Key West. So then I got out of the Tom: A basic Eagles session. brings up a broader question, Bill. As a Navy and was waiting to go to college. I had Bill: Your basic Eagles session? Drums, producer, what do you think your function been accepted at Columbia and a couple of bass, two guitars and piano or three guitars. is? other schools in New York. I had been Or sometimes drums, bass and one guitar Bill: Henry Kissinger. hanging around in New York and had met a and two keyboards. lot of people, so that's where I wanted to go Tom: Good answer. after I got out of the service. I was looking for Tom: If they say to you, they want to record Bill: That's it. a job to last me until the fall when I was going an acoustic piano and guitar along with an to go to college to become a TV director/ electric guitar and drums, do you worry Tom: Any advice for a young producer? producer. about mixing the acoustical instruments Bill: I'd say, good luck buddy! [Laughter] with electric instruments or save them for Yeah, I get five letters asking that question Tom: That's what you wanted to do as a overdubbing? each week. kid? Bill: It's not my concern at all. If they want to Bill: Right. I got out of the service in do it, that's what we do. At Bayshore, I built Tom: Right. What do you say to them? February and went to work in the studio half what we called a Polish piano trap. I've been Bill: I don't know what to say. I really don't. as a janitor and half as a maintenance man, bitching and moaning about the way studios A lot of times I start thinking how the hell did changing tubes. They had two amps to work treat grand pianos for years. Everywhere I get in this position? How did I get here? with - two mono Ampex 300's and that was you go, you've got to put the top down on And I don't have the answer. It was just a it. So it was not real hard. I did mostly the the piano and put 80 million packing quilts series of events that led me to be here. I floor sweeping in the lobby and very little of on it and then you've got to have the mike didn't even set out to become a record the maintenance. three inches away from the strings. I said producer. I just wanted to be in TV. this is dumb. Tom: How long did you stay there? Bill: Eight months. When the end of the summer came all of the colleges were asking me to send them the bucks. They wrote me, 'You're accepted where is your money? Let's go." But by then I was having too much fun watching records being made. So I said, I'll just have to blow college off here and stick with this. This looks pretty cool. "HOTEL CALIFORNIA" Gritad. - studio C . Control Room Tom: So you were in engineering right off the bat? Bill: Yes. I totally came up through this thing as an engineer. Strictly through studios.

Tom: Were you able to start engineering at Dick Charles? Bill: Just began. I got underway doing little three piece demos.

Tom: Where from there? I went to Regent Sound in New York. AC. GUITAR Bill: RAMA Bob Lifton is one of the guys. He and I are still great friends to this day. He had a four - DRUMS BASS GUITAR GUITARS track studio then. So when I first walked into L OH PML DC -73 Direct El. Guitar #1 KM -84 there, I said, wow that was the first time I R OH PML DC -73 Electro -Voice RE16 El. Guitar #2 KM -84 had seen half -inch tape. Four track meant I Floor Toms U -87 Ac. Guitar KM -84 could record something on there and then U -87 Ac. Leslie Rack Toms Speaker - add some things later. Kick Sony C55P 2 - KM -84's Snare Shure 546 Hi Hat Sony ECM 50 Tom: When did you leave Regent's? Timbales U -87's Bill: 1967. I really cut my teeth there. Lifton R-e/p 24 www.americanradiohistory.com MorE Than GrEat Specs, Great Ideas.

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additional information circle no. 11 Re/p25 www.americanradiohistory.com taught me damn near everything that I know doing James Gang and B. B. King. Right? about it. He had a huge room. You know, it Bill: Those were the first things of any was going from three pieces up to 50 pieces, success. But there were many things in front 10 strings, five horns, rhythm section, of that which went up against the wall and background singers and a lead singer. We slid down - that didn't stick. I sang lead and would have all of that to do on a four track. two or three other guys would get together, You would do union dates involving three or musicians and myself. I'd engineer while four songs in a three -hour period. they did the track. I sang lead and we would all sing background. It was a tune somebody Tom: You don't make mistakes on those wrote. So three of us would go in and do a kind of dates? whole monster group record, mix it down Bill: No, and you don't have an assistant and call it some group and would sell it to 7 either. You had to set all of that up in front Kapp for $1,000.00. It would cost us $29.95 Joe Walsh and Bill Szymczyk. and go with it. You had to be really on your to put it together and, hell, it was a great way Photo by Tom Lubin. toes. By the third or fourth run down, they to make a living. Just working off of the wanted to know that you were ready. advance. a one -man army. He had a drummer and a bass player and he did everything else. Tom: What did you do after Regent? Tom: Were you able to make your own Bill: Jerry Ragavoy opened a place called deals? Tom: What about the liue album? Did you the Hit Factory. I was his first engineer. Bill: You mean as far as the legalities? go back into the studio? Bill: We did not overdub a thing on that. We Tom: What were you doing when you were Tom: Yes. recorded it on a Saturday night, mixed it on at Regent? Bill: Pretty much so. It was really simple Sunday and we were cutting masters on Bill: I started off editing together a Morey deals. It was singles we were talking about, Monday for that particular album. Amsterdam children's album. That was the not albums. We would just do two sides. first job at Regent Sound. Slowly but surely They would offer a contract and as long as Tom: Any particular problems with it? he brought me along. They did a lot of the money was there we would say yes, sign Bill: No. It was a piece of cake! We were agency stuff. Very little pop stuff or R&B it and give them the masters. supposed to do two nights but the first night music. some clown cut the cables to the trucks so I started to get my own little clientel then. Tom: During that 1971 period with the the guys had to stay up all night and wire it Van McCoy and I met. He liked me. We James Gang and B. B. King, you produced back together. The next night we had started doing things together. There were a one while engineering the other, but did not Pinkerton guards watching every five feet of few other people, too - Arthur Gordon, do both? that cable. So we had two shots at it and we who had a bunch of old acts - Phil Ochs Bill: On B. B. King I did not engineer the only got one and that is the album. That's it. and Tom Rush, Jim and Jean, David Blue tracks, that's right. Joe Zagarino did. He and people like that. The Electra Asylum. was a guy that I taught. I felt that I was still Tom: During that period you were working Or then it was just Electra. Slowly but surely green as a producer and he engineered like I with , too. I started to do four -track dates that were did because I taught him how. I wanted to Bill: I was just his engineer, that was all, later going from demos to masters. I was actually have my mind totally free to worry about B. in 1971 or 1972. The James Gang live album doing albums. B. King and the musicians and the tunes - was around 1969, 1970. It was sort of a one- and not about buttons, levels and EQ. So for shot deal. The earthquake had happened in Tom: Was it about then that you were able the first time I jumped back and said I'm just L. A. and I was living in Colorado and I was to get involved in productions? going to be a producer. actually looking for a gig. I quit ABC. Quit Bill: No. Not for awhile yet. It was not until I my job as staff producer and said I am going started working for Ragavoy. I realized that, Tom: They were both live records, both to be an independent producer. Well, not wow, he's a producer - one of the living rather unique. much happened. So then Joe said, hey, I legends in the music business so far as I am Bill: One was outside, a day in Cook want you to come and make a live album concerned. It wasn't until I started working County Jail which was pretty far out. with us. But in three days I was looking for at the Hit Factory that I said, "Well, hell, I something else to do. can do this as well as anyone else." By then I Tom: Do you happen to recall what the set- had built up enough clientel and I was a free up was? Tom: You were living in Colorado? lance engineer at that point. I had enough Bill: We had a 16 -track truck. An upright Bill: Yes. Moved to right after the people believing in me as an engineer. piano was the only thing that we could get in quake. Freaked me out. I don't see how you Then after awhile I started to realize that there. I would say that it was a usual set -up people live in San Francisco. the reason that they were believing in me for what I would do then - four or five was I was doing all of the work. They loved mikes on the drums, bass direct, piano, Tom: If you're raised in California, you don't it. Here's an engineer that will produce for guitar and about four mikes for the horns. think much about it. What did you do in them and everything. They get all of the That would probably be about it. Colorado? credit and pay him 20 bucks an hour and Bill: A guy that was also working at ABC everything is cool. So after realizing that I Tom: Did they do one performance and you named Larry Ray. He and I set up our own said, "Hell, I'd rather do it for myself." had to get it? record company, quotes, and had it through Bill: Exactly. Famous Music. It was called Tumbleweed Tom: Did you go into it more as a co- Records. We signed up about nine acts in production basis or did you really go out Tom: Was there much studio overdubbing Colorado and spent a million dollars of their and actively look for bands? after the remote recording? money in a year. Then it all folded up. We Bill: Oh, I went out and actively looked. Bill: No. I only overdubbed two things on survived for a year. Very much so. Somehow I got hung up in the four B. B. King records that I made with After Tumbleweed, which would be about Cleveland for awhile and that's where I him - the strings on the 'Thrill Is Gone" the end of 1971 or the beginning of 1972, was found Joe [Walsh]. I found two or three and lead vocal on "Humming Bird ". when my career really started trucking. For other bands. That was actually a little later Everything else was done live. a gig I was working with Rick Derringer. He on in 1968 when I was working for ABC. and I were old friends. I was producing his Tom: What about the James Gang? album, ALL AMERICAN BOY - his first Tom: During the ABC period, you were also Bill: Tons of overdubbing because Walsh is solo album, at Caribou. So he was R-e/p 26 www.americanradiohistory.com Autli -Tecimica introduces Ike new microphones... and a pleasant surprise.

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AUDIO -TECHNICA U.S., IN(..; Dept. 78RE 33 Shiawassee Avenue. I airlawn, Ohio 44313 In Canada: Superior Electronics, Inc. R ,p 27 www.americanradiohistory.com producing a bunch of things and I was "a Colorado and he had no management. So point."

great engineer" according to him. So he he and 1 and a friend of his named Patrick said, "God, come to New York, I have to do Cully were sort of managing him, trying to Tom: Haue you done all of your recording in a Johnny Winter album and an Edgar direct him on our own. We had no idea what this country? Winter album." I went and engineered we were doing; we were just doing what felt Bill: I've done all of it in this country - never THEY ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT and good. But he and Joe met this guy named recorded outside. But 1 have been . "Saints and Irving Azoff, who was an agent at some everywhere in this country, I'll tell you that. Sinners" was a tune left over from the STILL funky little agency, and Irving totally ALIVE AND WELL sessions. The album believed in Walsh and started going on the Tom: It is a loaded question to ask what SAINTS AND SINNERS came out much road with him, taking care of his business your favorite studio is - outside of your later. and everything. Then Irving started working own place. for Geffin and Roberts, and then the Eagles Bill: [Laughter] Of course it's a loaded Tom: Where did you record those? were there. So Walsh was opening for the question. I've built the greatest studio in the Bill: Hit Factory in New York, both of them. Eagles on some tour and that's when they country and possibly the world. But of The studio I founded and then left to go to met. They'd sit up all night and play course, it's built for me. Studios are ABC. They moved me to L. A. and then I cassettes of their albums to each other .. individual places. went to Colorado. It was like a big wide things like that. And the Eagles wanted to circle. know how he did that sound. It was cool. Tom: Who built it? "Ain't like our records; ain't like Glyn Bill: Rudi Breuer. He's here on the West Tom: Was it about this time you met the Johns," they said. So Walsh says see Bill Coast. He's built a bunch of Record Plants. Eagles? Szymczyk and they said let's get him. I think He's built some studios in Canada and Bill: Not for a while. Walsh and I were still within six or eight months I started working Chicago. He's built a lot. When he got to us, making his solo records - BARNSTORM on ON THE BORDER. Let me just say he'd built 40 some studios. The man came and THE SMOKER YOU DRINK, THE something. has been my idol in, gave me a bid, told me what it was going PLAYER YOU GET. It was around '73.1 did through this whole thing. When he was to cost and told me when it would be done. It

a couple of J. Giels records. We did doing HONKY TONK WOMAN, 1 was just was within the penny and it was done within BLOODSHOT which had "Give It To Me" cutting my teeth in the studio. I have had a day of what he said. And you cannot argue on it. We did two or three of those albums. two idols in this business. Glyn Johns for the with that. We did the Fabulous Rhinestones and still English rock sound of the 60's and Tom worked with Walsh. Dowd for the New York R &B. He's a Ed: Really! When he came down, Bill asked monster; he's legendary in New York, how long it was going to take. The guy said Tom: You were still living in New York? during the eight years I was there. 50 days. Bill said when can you start. He said Bill: No - I was living in Colorado - tomorrow. And it was just one of those - commuting. I was on a plane every Monday Tom: Did you remix the tunes that Glyn and they just went right in and, boy, did they going to New York and every Friday going recorded? work their asses off! to Colorado. That happened for a couple of Bill: Yes. Afterwards, after I finished that years for whatever I couldn't do at Caribou. album, I went over to England and Tom: What do you think is a realistic figure We did a lot of work at Caribou. We did presented him with his own copy. We went for building a studio these days? Walsh's album there on ABC. The Eagles out to dinner and got drunk all night long. I Bill: Half a million, fully equipped. were all through Irving Azoff. asked him what he thought and he said When Walsh's career started to take off, [accent inflection], "I don't like those Tom: How big would it be? around "Rocky Mountain Way ", he didn't mixes," and I said, "Baby, that's the way it Bill: Not that big. It would be 40- or 50 -feet have a manager. We were all living in goes. You got nothing to say about it at this long and 30 -feet wide.

Tom: That's a pretty good sized room. High .+..aI ceiling? rKIONI Ed: Not very high. Maybe 10- or 15 -feet.

Tom: Big control room? Ed: Fairly.

Tom: I'd still like to know what your favorite ag studio is - outside of your own - and why. Bill: Gee, I think it's six of one and a half dozen of another. It's like what consoles are you used to, what machines are you used to and what kind of mikes you're used to. It's ett, trek c like, if you've got your act together, you can ~ .áwi I 'Oft. record good sound damn near anywhere. C0R. a, Tom: You're very adaptable as far as studios go? 'THEME FROM BOAT WEIRDOS' irr VIM ErgLEEU SEAS, Bill: I'll go anywhere at any time.

DRUMS GUITARS Tom: Do you try to get certain monitors? L OH PML DC -73 Amp KM -84 Bill: Yes, 1 do have a set monitor system. 1 R OH PML DC -73 2 - KM -84's Leslie Speaker have made all my records the past six or FI. Toms Senn. 041 eight years Rack Toms Senn. 441's on 4310's. Everybody says our BASS monitor system is flat. There's no such thing Kick Sony C -55P Direct Snare Shure 57 as flat. Flat doesn't exist. That's a figment of Hi Hat Sony ECM 50 FENDER RHODES everybody's imagination. So 1 just insist they Direct get either a Crown 300 or a large McIntosh amp and drive two 4310's. R-e/p 28

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for additional information circle no. 13 www.americanradiohistory.com Tom: Do you work entirely on those? Bill: Yes. Everything. Even now. Tracks, The Record Pressing Problem ? overdubbing and mixing. The quality of pressings is a topic of great concern in the recording industry and participants in this R -e /p interview were quite outspoken on the subject. Tom: So you must not monitor at incredible loud leuels .. . I did in I Tom: I understand you are very dissatisfied with the quality of records being Bill: early on my career and when made today. realized my ears were starting to go, I said, Bill: We've got a big thing going now about the quality of pressings lately and "Whoops, time to back off here." we're about ready to unleash a barrage on the industry of artists and producers banding together and demanding better quality - better plastic. It just bums me Tom: [To Ed Mashal] Are you based in out intensely to work your butt off; you get Dolbys to take away the hiss; you get Florida also? the best master unit you can possibly get; then you get your test pressing back Ed: Yes, originally from New York. Went and it just sounds [makes a grating sound]. down there in 1973 because I couldn't get a job in New York. I thought of all the places to go and thought Florida would be Tom: Yeah, or the edges being so bad that it won't track on a changer. a good place. It looked Bill: Yeah. It looks like a waffle when you take it out of the sleeve and it's full of like it was going to happen. Rice Crispies, too. Every other bar, you've got pops and clicks and scratches. New York was on the way down; within the next five or ten years, there would have to Tom: What you're saying is that you feel that the way to treat this is by saying to be another city on the East Coast that would take the music business, so I went to Miami the manufacturer .. . Bill: To the powers that be - the record companies. They've got to upgrade their in 1973. By 1974 I was working at Criteria, quality. and '74 Bill moved to Miami where I met him. And Miami's cool; you know, the BeeGee's stuff that's happening now. Tom: Do you think it's likely that in this country there will become a - producers /artists organization? In England and in some parts of Europe there's a number of different organizations where, oh, engineers have banded together Tom: Where were you working in New York? and they set certain standards and various organizations along those lines. Do you think that's likely to occur in this country? Ed: I was majoring in music, minoring in Bill: Well, what have we got? We've got the RIAA and they do nothing. They send electronics. I got out, stumbled around, tried to get a job; got this job at Dimensional out gold and platinum records is all they do. I don't see them doing anything else, but I'd like to. for no money. Worked for about a year. I was going to Institute of Audio Research, When Joe's test pressing came back, I showed the Eagles and said, look what too. you're up against, to the artist. And to be very honest, it pissed them off greatly. is Henley, who a born organizer, right away wants to do something about it and I Tell me how many similar can dig it. I'm on his side. We're thinking about getting a bunch of big acts Bill: stories have together so that when we make an album, we press two million anyway, we'll you heard. Flow much did you get paid on your first gig? [Laughter] demand somehow that they upgrade their quality. They have to do it. They keep raising the price of records, but the quality of records goes down. They used the Everyone Responds: Nothing! energy crisis three, four years ago - when there was the oil embargo and all that It's a - as the excuse for the grade of polyvinylfloride going down the tubes. It never Bill: privilege to be in this business. came back. Ed: And when I finally did ask them for money, they said no. So I said, you won't be Tom: Do you want me to put in this article your opinion on this? mad if you don't see me next weekend? They said, "Nope." So I just picked up Bill: Sure. I'd like you to put it in there, because I'm bummed out. I hate it. Look at all the hardware manufacturers making all these great things to make the final everything I owned, put it in the back of the VW went to tape more gorgeous and in the last step of the whole process, it goes right down and Florida the summer of '73.1 the drain. got down there and knocked on Criteria's door every other day practically. They got tired of seeing me and finally gave me a job Tom: Well, I think the consumer is getting upset about it. I think a lot of consumers are buying an awful lot of expensive equipment. as a maintenance person. Bill: The more equipment they get, the more they realize what a rotten record it is. Tom: Is that where you first met Bill? Tom: That's right. Places like Cal Stereo couldn't exist unless they had lots of Ed: Yes, met Bill down in Miami. people buying their equipment. So if there are people buying that kind of When I got tired of getting planes equipment, at some point, somebody is going to be upset about it. Bill: on every Monday and Friday. I I Bill: Yeah. But it's the standard. You know, all the records sound that way. The realized had to move to Fleetwood Mac album on Warner's and they get another album on Columbia and a place where there's a studio. At this point, I another album on RCA and another album on Capitol, and they all sound the Caribou was totally booked. got same. aced out of Caribou about three times and had to go either to L. A. or New York. Tom: You think European pressings are better? decided I couldn't live there anymore. It was ridiculous. So I moved Bill: Yes. Especially with classical, you can just look at them. They are twice as to Florida. thick and black. Criteria was happening then. Walsh had done some work at Criteria and he liked it. I had spent a year in Key West going to Sonar Tom: Do you think it's the vinyl manufacturer, technique or the equipment ... ? Bill: No. It's the bosses. They're too damn cheap to make good records. That's School. I dug the tropics. I thought, hey, this is great. I'm gonna check that out. So that's what it is. It's the corporate structure in America. I mean, that's really what it is. how I wound up there and ran into Ed. Joe: We're talking revolution here! [Laughter] They don't care. Bill: They don't care. As long as the consumer is going to buy, five million, ten Tom: You went to the tropics for "Theme million Eagle's albums, they'll press it on sand. They don't give a shit. From Boat Weirdos "on Joe's album. It was quite a project from what I understand. R-e,p 30 continued overleaf .. www.americanradiohistory.com ... five years ago. I've done all of Shaun Cassidy and Leif Garrett on it. most of Donny and Marie, plus Al Martino, Sammy Davis, Debby Boone, the Supremes and others." "After 20 singles and 12 albums on this console, 25 of them gold and platinum, I guess you could say my Auditronics 501 (serial number 0002) is a real money -maker. It does what I want as well as when it was new, and I'm still cutting on it today." Independent producer Michael Lloyd is one of over 300 satis- fied Auditronics console users. If you'd like to learn some of what they know about Auditronics console quality and reliability. circle reader service number or write to 3750 Old Getwell Rood, Memphis, Tennessee 38118 (901) 362 -1350 auditronicf inc. Re/p31 for additional information circle no. 14 www.americanradiohistory.com How did it come about? Bill: Yeah. Maybe seven feet. The four track Sterling Sound. Bill: I own a little cabin up in was later transferred to 24 -track for on five acres on the side of a mountain. We overdubs. But the drums and the bass were Tom: When you do your mastering, do you were going to go up there, take the band and done in stereo mixed together on two try to make sure that everything that you take a two track or something like that and tracks. hand to the master man is going to be do some demos for a week or so before we The actual cabin, the studio part, was set exactly flat? actually went into the studio. up great. The main cabin of the boat where Bill: That's perfection - to be able to give We planned this for about two months in we had the musicians was carpeted and the master tape to Sterling and not have advance and were going to do it in January curtained so it was tight enough for us. The them do a thing. But that's impossible to do, of '77. Well, North Carolina went to 10 fantail section of the boat, right behind the I've decided. You can always make it just a below and snowing. I couldn't even get in to main cabin, was all plexiglassed in and had a little bit better. But I have been doing less my property. This happened a week before nice big window about 10 -feet wide between and less over the years. If I'm at Sterling, I'm we were set to go. So Joe and I had to decide the cabin and the fantail; it was exactly like a only one step at 10K or one step at 12K, what we were going to do. We got all these control room and studio. Two 4311's and a whereas five years ago I was two steps and guys coming down, so we said what about a four track. It was great. I think the spirit of ten years ago I was right over. But yes, the boat? We knew we had to have one at least what happened there comes out in the ideal situation, technically, in me doing my 60 feet or better to actually make a studio record; the comradery of that boat lasted all job is to get it down on the two -track out of it. We found The Endless Sea; it's a the way through that record. exactly. real custom, one -of -a -kind boat that was built by one guy. It had two twin diesels and Tom: There's quite a lot of bass on your Tom: Will you take your mixes and make a slept 10. records. leveled master? So we had them take all the furniture out Bill: But not as much as on them Reggae Bill: No, I'll do that in the mastering room. except for a couch or two, and set up the records! For instance, on Joe's album, one tune was drums and electric guitar. We had three half a dB down and one was like a whole dB amps set up and Willie had his bass set up. Tom: No question about that. Do you have down. But the more albums I make, the less We rented a Tascam 16 -in /4- out board, any problems when you go into mastering? I have to do. took my four track, with four Dolbys and a You must haue a very good mastering unit. whole bunch of half -inch tape, and went Bill: Yeah, Sterling Sound. Tom: What's the best way for someone down to the Florida Keys for a week. We'd breaking in to learn the craft? work maybe four or five hours a day. Tom: Do you use the same fella? Bill: I came at it from an engineering point of Bill: I've been using the same fella since my view so my answer is to do what Ed's doing Tom: A low ceiling. first album, Lee Hulko, the guy who owns now, you know, hook up with someone that's in it and learn it.

Tom: Do you think an electronic and music The Record Pressing Problem ? background is essential? Bill: Oh yeah, it's a must. I don't have the Ed: All albums are to them is units. musical background as far as formal training Bill: It's like how many units of 6C104 did we sell last week? goes. Every piece of musical knowledge that I've picked up, I've picked up through 16 Tom: Well, I've heard records equated to coffins. years in studios. My entrance into this was Bill: Shoes is my favorite one. Shoe salesmen. So we have to go to the Clive electronics, so I'd say to a young guy, you've Davis's and we have to go to the Joe Smith's and we have to go to the Walter got to have one or the other - preferably Yetnikoff's and we have to say, look, we can't put up with this anymore. If one act both. That means the musical end and the does it, the corporate structure will, of course, totally snow them in. But if you get electronics. five or six monster acts - say Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Paul McCartney, and others - and then, like you say, have an organization, then we can demand that Ed: I came right out of school the perfect our records be pressed in Germany. Or at least if you're going to press them here, example of that. I majored in music and upgrade the plastic that you're pressing them on. minored in electronics. Bill: That's perfect. He's set up to do it. Tom: Do you think there is any existing organization that could handle this? B ill: No. They're all owned by the corporate structure, too. The RIAA supervising Ed: While at the Institute of Audio Research board is ex- record company presidents. That's where they go to retire, to a in New York, I learned a lot. meaningless organization. Bill: You're involved with something like that up in San Francisco, aren't you? Ed: We're going to also try to involve Ralph Nader in it, somehow. Tom: I teach at the College of Recording Tom: I think that's a very good idea. Arts. Ed: But if we do it, or the artists do it, it will affect every major label. Ed: I'm amazed at how education has grown. When I was going to school, you B ill: We love having something new to fight. couldn't go to learn anything about this, you know. Tom: Do you think that record stores would go along with you? B ill: I don't think so. Because they don't care. It's still "shoes" to them. Bill: It's an organized thing now. It's not just a- learn- while -you -earn thing, on- the -job Tom: Yeah, but they have to deal directly with the consumer. training anymore. Bill: They'll just pass it back to the corporate. It's returns. They don't care. All they are is a clearing house. Once they sell a record, it's sold. They've made their Tom: How are you able to both produce profit. If the customer brings the record back and it's defective, they just trade him and engineer? one. The record store keeps the record, sends it back to the manufacturer and Bill: I produce and we both engineer. gets his four bucks back. It all rests right back in the board room. Tom: Do you try to have Ed take a lot of the engineering stuff? continued on page 88 R-e/p 32 - www.americanradiohistory.com the best $3000 two channel recorder for under $Z000*

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www.americanradiohistory.com ... SMALL and MINIATURE demands quality REVERBERATION CHAMBERS the characteristics of sound transmission in Heavy -Gas filled enclosures

by Michael Rettinger Consultant on Acoustics Encino, California

( w Photographed at RECO RD PLANT, Los Angeles, CA

' ... I mix with AURATONE" 5C Super - To introduce a reverberatory note in which the room is filled. Sound- Cubes© the little powerhouse recorded program material, so- called The pertinent equation describing this speakers. They tell me exactly what reverberation chambers are used in the fact is the formula which follows: will be in the grooves. You hear it all Sabine with recording industry. These are very live AURATONE" I" T = 13.8 (4V)/cSa rooms rarely smaller than 1,600 -cubic feet Join "Q" and with some having avolume as large as 5,000 - where other seasoned cubic feet. They must, obviously, exhibit T = reverberation time in seconds music world considerable sound insulation in their walls, c = velocity of sound in the gas pros, top record ceiling and doors so that what sound can be = 1130 feet /sec. at normal company transmitted into them cannot be built up temperature for air executives, therein by multiple reflections. Some S = total interior surface of room engineers, producers, and art- studios have two or three such chambers, room in square feet ists who lay it on the line with while for Capitol Records, Inc., this writer a = mean absorptivity of boundary AURATONE*. designed a quintuplet one below its parking material each trapezoidal chamber V = volume of enclosure in Durability, flat full -range re- lot, with cubic feet sponse, amazing power extending wheel -spoke fashion from a han- central lobby. dling, and Such large enclosures are necessarily The same equation holds true in the MKS portability expensive to construct and space - system, where c is expressed in meters /sec. have made consuming, and considerable effort has (344 m/s), u in cubic meters and S in square AURATONE* been directed to effective substitutes, like meters. 5C's the Record EMT units, (essentially a large thin metal The reverberation time of a room is Industry's plate), multi- tapped delay lines of the analog defined as the time that is required for the favorite or digital type, etc. They are chiefly two - mean squared sound pressure therein, "mixdown monitors,-... for dimensional reverberators, some of which originally in a steady state, to decrease 60 comparison and final mixes, au- can only generate a simulated decay effect dB after the source is stopped. but not one of a sound growth variety. For The velocity is ditioning, remotes, and reference of sound given by the this reason less costly and smaller following formula: standard speakers. reverberation units are of interest to the /d)'2 See your dealer or order Factory recording industry. c= (gP, Direct (30 -day return privilege, Over the past 17 years this writer has where one -year guarantee). $65.00 per c° been contacted several times each year by g = ratio of specific heat of gas pair. Shipping and handling add: persons interested in his patent of a at constant pressure to that U. S.: pair; $4.00 Foreign: $9.00 miniature reverberation chamber. The at constant volume. For prac- c pair. Calif. res. add sales tax. o patent, which expired on May 30, 1978, is tically all gases at normal Mail to: AURATONE numbered 2,986,228, and is assigned to the temperatures this ratio varies E P.O. Box 698 -C17, Coronado, CA 92118 Radio Corporation of America, now RCA little, being in the range C Ship pair S C's. Amount Enclosed E Corporation. of 1.2 to 1.5. te The chamber is a device based on the idea P = static pressure of medium 0E3 Name (Please print) Job Title Date that an enclosure filled with a heavy gas, in (essentially the atmospheric Shipping Address which the sound velocity is slower than in pressure in the absence of a to air, has a longer reverberation time than an sound wave travelling through City State Zip equally large room filled with air. This is true the gas) p Please send additional information. because time is inversely proportional to the d = density of gaseous medium speed of sound in the gasseous medium with R-e/p 36

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Accuracy good enough for even the most demanding performance, there's nothing ordinary about its professional, that's what Technics quartz -locked meters. The RS -M85 features Fluorescent Bar -Graph direct -drive turntables are all about. And thats why meters. They're completely electronic and therefore radio stations use them and discos abuse them. highly accurate. Response time is a mere 5µS. Now you can record your records as aczurafely Theres also a peak-check mode plus two selectable as a Technics turntable plays them. With the RS -M85, brightness levels. our new quartz -locked direct -drive cassette deck. Not To all this sophistication, the RS -M85 adds all only does it have the kind of transport accuracy that's this: A separate, coreless DC motor for reel drive. hard to beat, it has that kind of price, too. The reason Dolby NR! Full IC logic control in all modes. A low - for all this accuracy: The performance of Technics noise, high -linearity amplifier section. And a direct drive combined with the precision of our 3- position bias /EQ selector with bias fine adjustment. quartz oscillator. Also available is Technics RP-070. An optional The RS -M85's servo-controlled system compares lull function infrared wireless remote control. the motor rotation with the unwavering frequency of Technics RS -M85. Compare specifications. the quartz oscillator and instantly applies cor-ective Compare prices. torque if any speed deviations are detected. FREQ. RESP. (CrO2): 20- 18,000 Hz. WOW AND To complement that accuracy, Technics FS -M85 FLUTTER: 0.035% WRMS. S/N RATIO (DOLBY): 69 dB. has a Sendust head with a high -end frequency SPEED DEVIATION: No more than 0.3 %. response of 18,000 Hz, low distortion and exz ellent Technics RS -M85. A rare combination of audio dynamic range. technology. A new standard of audio excellence. Since there's nothing ordinary about the RS -M85's Dclby Is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. Technics Professional Series R-c.p 37 for additional information circle no. 18

www.americanradiohistory.com 30, 1961 May M. RETTINGER ETAT 2,986,228 May 30, 1961 M. RETTINGER ET AL 2,986,228 MINIA7V'RE RE:EP.EERATICN CHAMBER SYSTEM MINIATURE RE7EREERAT:ON CNABEER SYSTEM

May 8. 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 8, 1957 Filed Filed May 4 Sheets -Sheet 2 d/

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Rettinger. . REVERBERATION For the general case we may write these The three questions most often asked of CHAMBERS statements: this writer in regard to his patented device T, _ (13.8)(4V,) /caS, were "How well does it work," "Is such a Thus, the sound velocity in a gas which chamber commercially available," and weighs nine times as much as air per unit T2 = (13.8)(4V2) /(caS2 /3) "Would you recommend that one build such volume, like Freon 12, is one -third that in air. T, /Tî = (V,S2) /(3S1V2) a unit as a commercial item ?" The following This is true assuming no change in the ratio is a brief history of the test data of the T, /Tî = 1 of the specific heats and no change in the device, which is illustrated on Figures 1 and atmospheric pressure of the gas. In the case V, /S, = 3V2/S2 2 taken from the patent paper. of Freon 12, the sound velocity has indeed The 3 x 4 x 5 -foot model chamber was For a cube, there is the following been measured close to one -third that in air, built of 1/16 -inch thick steel, reinforced relationship: so that the reverberation time of a chamber internally by bars 10 and 14 with the intent of filled with dichlorodifluoromethane is three x; /6x; = 3x /6x'. reducing pronounced low- frequency panel times as long as when the same chamber resonances and placed inside a plywood x1 =3xî contains air. box 48 made of 3/4 -inch plywood. Similarly, for the same reverberation Thus, when x, = 30 ft., x2 = 10 ft., the Unfortunately, the model chamber walls period, a chamber filled with Freon can be following can be said: were insufficiently treated on the outside much smaller than one filled with air when with a viscoelastic compound. This lack of V, /Vî = 303/10' = 27,000/1,000 both exhibit the same average boundary mechanical resistance on part of the walls, absorptivity a. This reduction in room or Vî /V, = 1/27 plus the fact that the chamber had parallel volume is represented by the factor 4V/S, For other parallelepiped enclosures, the walls, resulted in a pronounced resonance which is the mean free path of the sound ratio is similarly large. This is not to say that of the chamber at 407 hertz. The reverbera- reflections in the room, or the average miniature reverberation rooms should be tion times for most of the audio frequency length of sound reflection r. In the case of a parallepipeds; indeed, they should not be of range from 100 to 4,000 hertz, however, cubical enclosure with side x, when we such a shape. Preferredly they should have were well above three seconds for the 60 equate 4x3/6x2 = r/3, it turns out that the non -parallel walls, so as to avoid coincident cubic foot chamber, which theoretically was Freon -filled cube may have 1 /27th the reinforcement of the normal modes of equivalent to one of approximately 1,600 volume of the larger air -filled cube for the vibrations in the chamber and thus avoid a cubic feet, (10 x 12 x 13.6 feet). same reverberation time. tone bias. Since this writer retired from RCA in R-e/p 38

www.americanradiohistory.com and now, i4 THE automated fader! KtlEX PROGRAMMASLG cRANNEL AND GROOT, mUTES. AQTOMA71C MUTE OETECTl0k) LED Akio rto tiloES retrofit 1.5TE M. ILLOANINATE$ FADEX CONVERTS EX1 STING Lo(.tC. TO SIGNAL vsl-ERN N._ 'Ault latLAY CoMSOLES TOR AUTO 1VTÏ6 N --v.hkeN 1-ig.oGRAtANAEt ATCENuKtioN El(EED.5 11N:INE S1R 1A NI) PM )0bae, RGAR.OLGS Or ATTN. So4P.c.E. ALLISON 65-K PRoGRAFLA mute FE PROGRAMtAMLE O.L..O STE ALLOwS FADEX :FITS tÑ pLA( S. ii lw-I-ER.t/qki CNPNNE_* GROLS. .:;11NNIDATtb W.H..x. solo I:LAVING L.E.-b MKSTER Tsco.IGL, ,swA.tis AmD;INANK.o -ro THE Tslsw VCt -15 )REN ANY SOLO IS kw PoAcE. srA, %N-riz.0DLIce No Auoto LIN) MOSi ,-10 S.GRADIA-r masmaster CoNitAtTS Ni rAtiex STp,Tu OF CrASES,NC.oNIDERAZL.g M 5 GR-oLlP MASTER MoVErlIENT REM_ ZE

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3 resistance, such a lead -plywood chamber 11 i does not exhibit the pronounced metallic ...J . t ring which the model steel chamber - ® ® ® ® exhibited. A concrete chamber acts similarly without much frequency accentua- tion due to wall resonances. We are here not concerned with the normal modes in a room, whose number is Well, frankly, we think much of the marginal perfor- didn't dependent only on its volume. Coincidental mance of the digital delay lines we'd seen to date. We vowed resonances can be avoided by slanting the we wouldn't get into the DDL ballgame until we could field an walls and entry we'd be really proud to see in a UREI uniform. not employing an integral relationship for the three orthogonal mean But now, our time has come! The UREI Model 927 Digital dimensions. Delay Line! The proud result of over two years of intensive The 407 hertz ringing of the model research and development, now available at a very com- chamber was due to the resonances of the petitive price to set new standards of performance and reliability. wall panels. Even so, the effect could be very much reduced by the installation of a dip Are you tired of gain pumping and transient overload that is filter, either in the loudspeaker or the typical of companding A/D converters? Tired of whistles at microphone line. the high end? Tired of pre- emphasis /de- emphasis filters tak- As far as this writer is aware, such ing 12dB of high end headroom just to meet the 90 dB spec? chambers are And are you tired of not being able to believe what you read not commercially available. about digital delay line specs? Well, you should be! The RCA made a limited market survey and felt technology is here to eliminate that nonsense in digital audio there was not enough demand for such an systems. item to construct it on a mass production basis. And this writer is not about to enter Our Model 927 uses a unique A/D system we call "instan- into production of such a unit, even on a taneous floating point conversion" to take care of those prob- lems without any of the annoying side effects inherent in limited order basis. However, if he were in other floating point and delta modulation systems, and the recording business, he might just have without resorting to companding and /or high end pre - two or three built, in place of buying solid - emphasis to achieve >90 dB dynamic range. Ultra -sharp state reverberators or other types of one 8 -pole, 6 zero Cauer filters put an end to the whistles and dimensional- or two -dimensional sound beats. The result? A clean 92 dB dynamic range with lull - delay devices. There is simply no substitute power bandwidth to 12kHz at all delay settings (distortion for using "the real McCoy ", even in typically 0.07% at full rated output). miniature form, when it comes to reverbera- As a bonus, you get FOUR separate, isolated outputs, each tion chambers with their random phase and thumbwheel switch -adjustable to 127 milliseconds in 1mS amplitude relationships in three-dimension- steps. al reverberation. So - write us or ask your UREI dealer for a Model 927 data The acoustic conditions of a small, air - sheet. You can believe the honest and complete specs it lists. filled reverberation room have been Get one for your next delay job and prove to yourself that - documented. In 1976 the National Bureau of "our time has come!" Standards in Washington, D. C., built a concrete reverberation chamber 7.4 -feet (2.26 m) long, 6.24 -feet (1.9 m) wide and 5.28 -feet (1.61 m) high. (This project is described in the article, "A Small -Scale, Multi- Purpose Reverberation Room ", by D. S. Pallet, E. T. Pirce, and D. D. Toth, 8460 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley, California 91352 767 -1000 (213) Applied Acoustics, October, 1976.) The Exclusive export agent: Gotham Export Corporation, New York

R-cíp 40 for additional information circle no. 20

www.americanradiohistory.com enclosure had a volume of 244 cubic feet Reverberation Time Seconds (1.9 cubic meters) and was built entirely of 200 Hz 500 Hz 1.000 Hz 5,000 Hz concrete. The walls consisted of standard Before Treatment 5.0 3.2 2.0 1.8 concrete blocks while the ceiling was cast After Treatment 1.2 0.6 1.0 1.0 concrete, eight- inches thick. The ceiling was actually removable and was isolated from Excepting for the steep rise at the bass, the direct sound or music level which is to be the supporting walls by a strip of Neoprene- the reverberation characteristic of this so affected. Indeed, the reverberated signal jacketed fiberglass board. The chamber also small -scale reverberation chamber was may be 20 dB below the direct signal and had a steel door with an air -borne sound remarkably smooth. still, the modified signal sounds remarkably insulation rating of STC -50. To flatten the reverberation time reverberant. This is probably because the The measured reverberation time "T" at characteristic of the enclosure, the Bureau reverberatory character of such signals is 200 hertz was four seconds and at 1,000 of Standards introduced some low - not judged by total decay time, but by the hertz it was two seconds. From the Sabine frequency absorbers in the form of thin first 10 decibels after decay has started. This reverberation time equation, the following panels and also made sure that the relative reverberatory effect may be increased by can be computed: humidity in the chamber was at least 50 %, employing a great distance between the since a lower relative humidity tends to loudspeaker and microphone in the T = 0.05V/aS absorb the higher notes more than the lower reverberation chamber and by placing the where ones. The reverberation times of the small loudspeaker in a corner of the enclosure. S = total interior boundary reverberation chamber before and after the It may be noted that this writer had to also = 236 square feet introduction of some low -frequency install low- frequency absorbers in a V = volume of chamber absorbers are described in the accompany- "standard -size" reverberation chamber of = 244 cubic feet ing box. 2,500 cubic feet or larger to flatten the a = average boundary absorptivity The question whether a reverberation reverberation tone characteristic of the The results indicate that a = .13 at 200 period of 1 second or slightly less between room. In addition, no room, no matter how hertz and .26 at 1,000 hertz. This means that 100 and 5,000 hertz is sufficiently long for large or how its boundary surfaces are the total absorption "A" at 200 hertz was 236 introducing an effective reverberatory note treated, can have a reverberation time x .13 = 3.07 sabins and at 1,000 hertz it was into a recording depends, of course, on the longer than one second at 10,000 hertz 6.14 sabins. It could have been that at 1,000 type of music which is to be so modified, or because of the molecular air absorption. hertz the 2.7 square feet of Neoprene- the type of signal, like speech, which is to The calculations for this effect may be found jacketed material at the ceiling contributed sound as if it were uttered in a deep cave, in the writer's "Acoustic Design and Noise substantially to the absorption at that etc. Generally, the level of a reverberated Control ", published by the Chemical frequency, but this is only a theory. signal may be markedly low compared to Publishing Company in New York.

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for additional information circle no. 21 www.americanradiohistory.com THE IAST I BY ED LEVER. CANYON RECORDERS ` -

In preparing the "script " for The Last demands on the soundtrack for a precise were accented in the audio mix. If the Waltz ", producer /director Martin mixing process to match sound to picture. drummer was both singing and playing, both Scorsese and The Band's Robbie Robert- For example, in producing the soundtrack the drummer vocal and drum instrumental son defined the audio /visual objective as ... to correspond with what a movie viewer tracks were highlighted. Thus integrated, a front row - Winterland Auditorium - would hear if he were located at the emana- the combined audio and visual perspective Thanksgiving Day, 1976, perspective for ting camera positions during the concert, as gave the viewer /listener a unique sense of every theater -goer, with audio emanations the camera angle changed from edit to edit realism. The mix flexibility could only be very closely related to visual angles. camera the relative level and pan position of each achieved by using multi -track record - The concept of continuing, close -up fram- instrument and vocal track in the mix had to recording hardware and techniques in pre- ing of musicians (few wide -stage shots and be adjusted spatially. if the drummer was paring the soundtrack. no audience reaction scenes) put special framed in a given shot, drum audio tracks Because of a continuing relationship with

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NOTE: Level of lead vocal is compromised for continuity. LEGEND C 6- KEYBOARDS 1 - DRUMMER VOC 7 - KEYBOARDS 2 - LEAD VOC u 8 - DRUM KIT 3 - 2ND VOC 9 - BASS AMP 8 DIRECT 4 - 3RD VOC 10 - GUITAR AMP 8 DIRECT 5 - GUEST VOC 11 - GUEST INST. AMP. 0000000000000000 PAN

LEVEL

1 3 4 5 - -6- 7- 8 9 10 11 1 - - 2 3 4 5 - 6- -7- - 8 - 9 10 11

GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DUBBING GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF DUBBING CONSOLE RELATIVE SETTINGS CONSOLE RELATIVE SETTINGS

1 Graphic representation (of camera 2 Graphic of first frame of footage angle) of last frame of footage from omen 2, following the edit from camera I just prior to a and continuing on. picture edit to camera 2. A CLOSE -UP LOOK AT AN EDIT

R-

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The CS15P The CO15P condenser omni repair your CS15P or s 5 micro- condenser extends 4fequency response to the very phone, when returned to Electro -Voice cardioid limits of audibility, 20 to 20,000 Hz. Unlike for service, at no charge - no matter microphone is equa other "omni's;' the CO15P maintains what caused the damage! at home in a recording environ its ;'directional polar pattern at the We can do this because we build these broadcast studio. When hand-held very highest frequencies. microphones to meet our standards for puts sex appeal jji a voice with its ba Perfect for the distant miking performance, ruggedness and durability. boosting proximity effect. With shaped of an entire orchestra as well We accept nothing less, and if you're on instru- high -frequency response and its abiity as up close individual a professional, buying a professional to handle high sound ments. And like the CS15P, it's quality microphone, you shouldn't either. pressure levels (140dB phantom powered and it's rugged. with 1% THD at 1kHz), the The Electro -Voice warranty CS15P is ideal for close -up u Electro -Voice backs up these two System C vocal or solo instrument mik- U Liu microphones with the only uncon- ing applications. CAMMIMMIMIM ditional warranty in the business: When boom mounted, the for two years we will replace or IM CS15P has better gain- before- feedback and a better signal - Elecrroli/oicé to -noise ratio than most shot- Ey company guns. It's phantom powered a Sultan and it's rugged. 600 Cecil Street, Buchanan, Michigan 49107

ditional information circle no. 22 R-e /p 43 www.americanradiohistory.com The Band and its Shangri-La Studios, Can- type of quarter -inch stereo master. The Synchronization Systems yon Recorders assumed a major role in con- entire dub master is then transferred and a Because the primary purpose of music in ceiving and assembling the post production new generation made while making periodic most films is simply to support or enhance system that allowed the interface of record - changes to achieve continuity in overall level visual presentation, it is customary to pre- recording type hardware with film post pro- and equalization. The transfer is called the mix music down to a few tracks. Although duction machinery, described as follows. "print master ", which is analogous to the this method is both adequate and efficient disc master obtained through a somewhat within the context of a regular film, it Standard Film Procedures similar mastering procedure. obviously limits the ability to re -mix what To fully understand just what made this It is important to mention here that one might have originally been discrete music motion pictures soundtrack so strikingly significant distinction between record - tracks while dubbing the picture. Neverthe- different from others and why it made such recording and film sound recording is in the less, most motion picture sound dubbing an extraordinary contribution to the film's audio storage medium. Initial dialog and facilities are set up to accommodate only impact, it might be helpful for those of us in music may be recorded on magnetic tape this "pre- dubbed" music format. As a result, record recording to briefly review the similar to that used in record- recording. prior movies of live concerts have followed standard procedures and equipment This is then transferred to 35 mm mag the same practice in which the live tracks currently in use by our audio engineering sprocketed format identical to that used for are pre -mixed in the studio to provide a brethren in the Movie Biz. To begin with, a storing the picture image, except that the familiar format for the dubbing mixers, who motion picture audio format typically photographic emulsion is replaced by a then simply cut the music to match the consists of three basic elements: dialog, magnetic -oxide coating. edited picture. music and sound effects. Dialog is generally Although seemingly cumbersome, this The problem with this approach is that a recorded on magnetic tape while simultan- format is actually very appropriate and recording engineer, while mixing in the eously shooting the film (environmental practical for motion picture purposes. By studio, would be tempted to treat the acoustical control and ambient noise using similar transport drive mechanisms program as he would for an album mix. conditions permitting). Associated for both picture and sound, a high degree of Thus a soundtrack ends up representing pertinent audio information (such as precision and special form of flexibility in what someone would hear if seated in some rustling bedsheets, doors slamming, heavy both synchronization and multiple editing ideal spot in the concert audience. Although breathing, and so forth, can, if possible, be can be more easily achieved. Sprocketed the camera angles would change and give captured at the same time. If not, these film can never slip on a toothed "capstan" the movie viewer a changing visual sounds as well as some dialog, which for driving element so that by phase -locking the perspective, the audio perspective would various reasons may not have been driving element motors from a single power remain fixed. satisfactorily recorded, can be generated signal source, called the "distributor ", To keep many tracks of music synched later during the "re- recording" (jargon for numerous reels of film (each carrying up with picture, a system was developed film people's equivalent of overdubbing). separate audio tracks) can be made to move combining the conventional 60 Hz resolving The dialog, additional sound effects and together sprocket -by- sprocket in either system called Sync -Lock and a more the pre- recorded music score are all direction as if mechanically linked as one sophisticated system employing the EECO maintained as discrete program tracks on piece. A group of such linked machines, SMPTE time code synchronizers which we separate reels of mag (or magnetic) film until including the film projector, is called a "film had successfully used on a number of the final audio combining takes place. The chain ". In this arrangement, the many reels previous record projects. mixing process, called "dubbing", is actually of film can be perfectly synchronized, yet at Using the Sync -Lock device, a 60 Hz accomplished while viewing the edited the same time kept discrete. Temporarily reference signal is recorded on one channel picture to insure proper synchronization disengaging any machine's drive motor from of the tape and used as a sync "code" later and level correlation between the many the master distributor buss permits a mixer during the transfer phase. The reproduced various sound tracks and the picture. to "slip" (or re- adjust) information on a code from the tape and a corresponding What results after all of the mixed particular track. Correct relative timing of reference signal from the film chain or segments are assembled is called the "dub all the tracks can ultimately be achieved sprocketed machine (designated as the master ", analogous to record- recording again during the dubbing assembly. "master ") are combined in a phase TRANSFER OF "CUE" TAPE TO MAG FILM comparator, from which a resulting error EQUIPPED WITH signal is generated. This error signal PILOTONE HEAD TO REPRODUCE (whether a voltage or frequency) is then MONO 60 Hz SYNC AUDIO TAPE used to control the speed of the capstan MACHINE AUDIO CUE TRACK MAO RECORDERS motor in the "slave" tape machine. By varying the tape velocity, relative changes between two respective sync code signals 60 Hz CAPSTAN SYNC CONTROL can be compensated for, to correspond exactly to one another in frequency and SYNC LOCK phase. However, there is a major drawback to SYNC DISTRIBUTION BUSS (60 HF Internal reference from map m cann be .ub.l,lulea REF 60 Hz Sync -Lock. The program material on the for a film chain SYNC I two machines will maintain synchronization

10 pronlde Corretl audio formel (Done DISTRIBUTOR only after they have first been matched for Imuel picture editing. Done on 'KEW Editing Machine.) I/ together manually. Since Sync -Lock cannot distinguish between the identical pulses in DETAIL Of 'PILOTONE METHOD OF RECOROING THE SYNC REFERENCE SIGNAL PILOTONE AUDIO the code, shuttling and restarting the two /EMEAD HEAD machines to establish sync requires I DECK constantly going PLATE back to physically align a / ..gml I. r. are.oro it d.greeF 001 of ammo. from "start mark" reference on both the film and I In. ludlo .19.01 .o eF not o In .d.re rim II tape before initiating program sync. R-e/p 44

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R-e/p 45 for additional information circle no. 23 www.americanradiohistory.com Otherwise, it is obvious they will run and then automatically goes into the overdubbing in the studio or by a complex together, some but with constant "offset ". "address mode". In this mode a coarse form recovery technique involving phase - of synchronization take place, in which the compensated combining of other tracks so EECO SMPTE Time Code slave machine is rapidly sped up or slowed that only the leakage of the instrument in Although originally designed to lock two down until the frame comparator sees the question would remain. This technique video tape machines, SMPTE time code same frame address information. At this involved the use of noise gates and rather synchronizers can sync any two magnetic time the unit automatically switches to the drastic equalization to recover a usable tape machines together. It is similar to the 60 "flywheel mode" in which the fine timing track constructed from the remaining Hz Sync -Lock in that the synchronizing unit pulses are compared to achieve an even leakage signal. controls the speed of a slave machine to closer degree of synchronization. (In this To facilitate the ease of eventual post match the master by reading and comparing mode of operation, an electronic buffering production mixing, most of this repair work the pre- recorded time code signals from the circuit is incorporated to prevent any erratic and general clean -up was done at the respective machines. movement of the slave tape.) Shangri -La Ranch studio. From this activity, What makes this system far more The major advantage of the SMPTE detailed logs and notes were generated to sophisticated is the signal which both system is that it eliminates the tedious and systematize the extensive tape library identifies exact address and fine provides time consuming problem of lining up tapes (more than a quarter -of -a- million feet of two - timing pulses. Rather than being a constant to a "start mark" each time prior to engaging inch tape) and to indicate particular frequency of identical pulses, it is a complex the synchronous play mode. In other words, problems very explicitly so that further code made up of numerous bits of binary a mixer can start a tape machine anywhere corrections could readily be made during information. These binary pulses are and the slave machine will automatically dubbing. grouped into 80 bits, which comprise a search out the correct relative address prior Meanwhile, another situation developed frame. Its speed is 30 frames per second, to engaging synchronous operation. which might have become a further which corresponds to the frame rate of complication, but in fact turned out to be magnetic video tape machines which the Preparing Tracks For Mixing both a successful piece of production and a time code was originally designed for. Before post production mixing of "The vehicle for a demonstration experiment. An Instead of presenting a continuous Last Waltz" began, there were numerous additional sequence was written into the sequence of pulses defining time code other tasks which had to be completed. script by director /producer Martin address only, two kinds of information (fine The basic live tapes had been recorded by Scorsese who decided to record and film timing pulses with address) can be the Heider/Filmways Remote Truck with The Band, The Staple Singers and Emmylou separated when read by the synchronizer so Elliot Mazer engineering. Picture editing Harris on the MGM soundstage for a special that each form of information appears as a was now started. The seven hours worth of scene. Using the MGM soundstage would continuous flow of data. Within the 80 bits of recorded music was brought to the Shangri- permit a carefully staged and complex each frame are eight binary words denoting La Ranch and reviewed to ascertain the sequence of camera shots. The problem for address. Each of these binary words are quality of the individual tracks and the the performers was to maintain the same broken down into four fine timing pulse suitability of the various performance music tempo and performance continuity in subgroups. segments. each take of "live" studio tracks while doing The timing pulses within the code appear During this reviewing phase, a number of numerous re -takes from different camera 10 times per frame (thus 300 per second), problems were discovered in the live multi- angles. and provide a signal to the synchronizer track masters. For example, a 60 Hz hum Rather than lip- syncing to pre- recorded which is used in a manner analogous to the had somehow been printed along with the music, it was decided to pre- record only the 60 Hz resolver. A much finer degree of program on random tracks. (This was the basic tracks and the background vocals. resolution, however, is achieved due to the result, perhaps, of low line voltage fed to the These pre- recorded tracks were used higher frequency of these timing pulses. remote truck from the concert hall power strictly as cue mix and were not recorded While one part of the circuitry is reading the service.) Some of this hum could simply be for use on the final master. They were done fine timing pulses, another comparator or eliminated through the use of filters (actually in a studio on 24- tracks and afterward, circuit is constantly comparing the frame UREI Little Dippers). In addition, occasional during the soundstage shoot, played back address information from the two machines. microphone or instrument amplifier failures from the Enactron Remote Truck via small When initiating the system, the synchron- during the concert produced some tracks stage monitors as low level cue mix to which izer first compares this frame information which required restoration either by the groups performed live. Vocals and instrumentals from the soundstage were

ON TIME TRANSITION recorded on a second 24 -track machine CODE FRAME FRAME which ran in sync with the 24 -track playback FRAME BW1 FRAME BW2 SECONDS 8W3 SECONDS 8W4 MINUTES BM, machine. The EECO SMPTE time code 1 2 4 8 0 1 10 200F 2 4 8 10 20 40 u 1 2 4 F synchronizer (BE450) and the edit code reader (BE420) were used to lock the two 12 16 20 28 32 36 40 BIT COUNT machines together, the combination hereinafter called the "B" system. MINUTES 9W6 HOURS 8W2 HOURS BWH SYNC WORD T T TI IT P P P 0 102040 u 1 2 4 8 1020 0 0 0 0 U P P P P I I Since each tune had to be performed over many times, numerous lengths of tape were 44 4A 52 56 60 pre- striped (pre- recorded) with SMPTE BIT COUNT time code on one channel. After each good TIME AND INFORMATION SHOWN- 16 HOURS, 42 MINUTES. 31 SECONDS. FRAME 23, DROPPED FRAMES take, the particular tape segment was slated BW1-BW8 " OPTIONAL BINARY WORDS. 0's MIEN NOT USED and logged to identify it with the corres- DF = DROPPED FRAME BIT. I INDICATES DROPPED FRAMES, 0 INDICATES NO DROPPED FRAMES ponding U " UNASSIGNED BITS. 0 UNTIL SPECIFIEO camera take, whereupon a new

0 - PERMANENT ZERO segment of tape was loaded on the record

P = PERMANENT ONE machine and the process repeated. Since each of the live recordings were R-e/p 46 SMPTE Edit Tinte Code www.americanradiohistory.com "...Mutual trust and respect.. . Of') .. harvesting gg . DOxi gold & platinum in Clovis", t `tspY d \,\B F a \. e+° d 9e \sY :pa' '. eoJPb°os°e ' 'p9d tPotoeat °° 0 c ,.'b s '43°I...0Lt p1 aJ ae\t`á0ata a` r..0 4 at a a Jce(eeocJ`Oct\ P C F`6P`o d\aceV oa C 5 °t ZNR t`e\`c t \ 9'9.6,°,119(0s:, 4 \Ot\\ et d Np\,\.YO\\Yá, pe\P c 9. stJtp,;,00 tt°s N °e°° t aa` a te e .164(4,-. Na. m e 900Y)tp 0,6 as o NOS' \ t Y o° att eat ,0 c Y ot °. we e'°%, tJs o^ s a\. L QJ°ae6 eats stod`oYOJ°°jdteam' soco ;\ttNOt e e°o9°NJtoa\ e°° o,ae\\ tp`s C,\°'s sed °ted °t tpat SoS d°a\ as,o9ce as \maoY Yd,o9 SNF. ''',..,30". e°c\ot a°d et os\SONS ta^°t a°dtso K;Y P\a tbeego,P pec te° toOPO toJe(YmJS'.mP°p:P' CO mad 090)''t M° \\Y a\°9 b.9 '°4',-9:..:\''''o \`PN. ßst °t etfotbeea\

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R-e/p 47 for additional information circle no. 24 www.americanradiohistory.com made while the two machines were This would create problems, as 24 individual scheduling and were willing to accommo- synchronized, they all matched the pre- reels of mono mag film (or eight reels of 3- date and assist the production in trying recorded reference and thus matched one track mag film) would have to be used for something unconventional. The Goldwyn another exactly. This method made for each tune. What would result is a dubbing stage is essentially a replica of a flawless intercut editing so that not only requirement for a massive library and film motion picture theater in which a mid- tempo, but also vocal phrasing, would storage - as well as thousands of splices section of the seating has been removed and match when the music recorded with each and the loading and unloading of a multitude replaced with a flat open area to accommo- camera shot and take was compositely of reels. This would involve finding and lining date the mixing console, patch bay, and edited together to make the edited final up a "start mark" on every reel before producer's desk. The normal film sound picture. (To insure that the final edited tapes engaging and interlocking the system. equipment - that is, the film chain of the live recording synchronized to The approach that was finally used consisting of numerous 35 mm mag picture, the 60 Hz reference signal from a involved the set up of multi -track recording transports - is located elsewhere. This generator was used to interlock camera and equipment and associated interfacing in a arrangement isolates the producer and the multi -track record machine.) Using the motion picture dubbing stage (film's mixers from the noisy, distracting activities SMPTE system to synchronize the two equivalent of a mix room) whose facilities of the 35 mm mag transport operators, who multi -track machines together completed would be modified to handle 24 or more load and unload reels constantly. Since the the chain so that the 60 Hz film sync channels of music. The effective combining mixers' area was open except for the Quad - reference signal, when transferred to the of the two types of facilities into one seemed Eight mixing console, Canyon installed its new live masters, would provide the means to provide the best of both worlds. multi -track equipment and EECO synch- by which to interlock these new tapes back ronizers right there next to the console. to the picture. Dubbing Stage Layout Aside from the extensive wiring connecting The production at the MGM soundstage The Samuel Goldwyn Studios were the two 24 -track Ampex machines, 40 was Canyon's first opportunity to use and selected primarily because they had one of channels of Dolby, auxiliary monitor mix demonstrate to the producers the accuracy the only two ultra high speed film chain and EECO synchronizer control lines and flexibility of this type of equipment and systems operating in the country. In together (without the benefit of concealed its value during an actual production phase addition, the executives and staff were conduit or troughs, by the way), the usual of the movie. The system worked so well extremely cooperative with respect to line inputs and buss feeds to and from the that the producers recognized its potential CAPSTAN PLAYBACK OF LIVE in the post production process. CONTROL MULTITRACK MASTERS SYNC %PORT CONTROL COMMAND LINE LOCK 24 TRK Alternative Approaches FILM AUDIO TAPE MASTER CODE 23 To Music Dubbing CHAIN '12 MACHINE With filming of selected sequences at the \IISMPTE CODE 60 Hz I soundstage completed, post production DOLBY commenced. As there were no existing DECODE 60 Hz REF. facilities where The Band could effectively FROM LINE EECO mix the multi -track tapes directly to film DUBBING CONSOLE AUX. GEAR SYSTEM with recording studio equipment and RACK procedures, several possible approaches were proposed to deal with this problem. DOLBY ENCODE One way would be to do it at Shangri -La Studios by pre -mixing 24 tracks to 35 mm XPORT CONTROL mag film using a % 24 TRK -inch video cassette of the AUDIO TAPE COMMAND LINE work print edit. In this way, it was felt that MACHINE (PLUS CAPSTAN CONTROL) PRE -STRIPED 23 superior quality product would be obtained SMPTE TII,E CODE "SLAVE" SMPTE CODE not only from the use of The Band's own equipment, but also because the group's DOLBY PRE engineers could actually perform the mix DECODE -DUB themselves. (Under most circumstances, SYSTEM the mix would have been done by the film AUX. MON MIXER sound union post production engineers.) This solution, however, proved unfeasible DUBBING CONSOLE because the studio was in use for mixing MONITOR SECTION "The Last Waltz" record album. But even if this had not been the case, the picture THEATER PLAYBACK couldn't have been seen in full screen NOTE: Distributor can be because the monitor and room characteris- incorporated in and MONITOR SYSTEM run by projector. tics were very different from that of a typical theater. It was felt that an effectively realistic mix could not likely have been achieved. MASTER" ALSO -USED DUMMY EECO "B" 24 TRK Also, a horrendous task of setting up mag WITH SYSTEM SMPTE machines PRE -DUB SYSTEM and associated circuitry would be TRK 23 required to make the audio mixing studio "MASTER" "SLAVE" suitable for film post production activity. CODE CODE TO EECO "A" Another approach would have been to INPUT INPUT MASTER CODE INPUT transfer 24 tracks directly to sprocketed mag format and mix from the 35 mm mags. ETC. R-e/p 48 www.americanradiohistory.com dubbing board were hardwired directly from the mag machine room upstairs. Without the benefit of auxiliary line access There are few things in life connectors - both the interfacing cables and connectors from the multi -track equipment had to be routed to enter the as well respected as a Scully console at the patch bay. (This consisted of 96 lines to access all 48 tracks plus a few Take our 284B -8 for instance... dozen more for all the aux gear!) The cabling had to be tagged for easy identifica- Most Recording Studios have. tion since the room was booked with other The Scully reputation always commands respect. Look to projects during the day and mixing of "The the standard DC Servo -Drive and Constant Tension for high Last Waltz" was scheduled for nights. value and dependability. The 2848- 8...another classic performance by Scully. Pre -Dubbing of "The Last Waltz" The difference between a standard movie For complete details, write or call Scully Recording In- pre -dub and the corresponding steps in the struments, Division of Dictaphone Corp., 475 Ellis Street, post production procedure in "The Last Mountain View, California 94043 (415) 968 -8389. Waltz" (which we also called the pre -dub) is that, rather than mixing down all the channels of the multi -track audio tapes to stereo at once, the pre -dub was basically a form of multi -track transfer wherein as many channels as possible could remain discrete. This was done because a great many individual tracks were erratic in level and some, for various reasons, were of poor quality. To achieve continuity on each of these tracks it was therefore necessary to compensate for discrepancies between the live performances and how they sounded recorded on tape. For example, a horn player or vocalist weaving in front of a microphone is acceptable in a live performance, but the recorded signal on tape would not be usable. Occasionally it was desirable to combine certain groups of tracks during this pre -dub transfer process while still providing maximum flexibility to adjust pan, level, equalization, etc., from edit to edit during the music dubbing. In order to know which tracks were possible to combine without losing this necessary mixing flexibility, it was necessary to review the work print of the picture (though it was not necessary to do this in exact sync with the live tapes). Before pre- dubbing could even begin, however, SMPTE time code had to be printed on the multi -track masters and the 35 mm mag film prints in order to provide a reference pulse for the EECO synchroniz- ing system. Ideally this should have been done during taping at the live concert. Since it had been decided to use a second multi -track machine as the pre -dub transfer recorder, the EECO "A" system was used to lock the two Ampex 24 -track machines together. (The "A" system differed from the "B" system in that it employed a computer- ized dual cue controller accessory.) Monitoring the second pre -dub machine O Scully through an auxiliary mixer, a number of Recording Instruments individually restored discrete tracks as well as some group- combines (two or more For classic performance. discrete tracks mixed down to one track) - continued on page 52 R,,ip49 for additional information circle no. 25 www.americanradiohistory.com 7fiq a J A world of rie ideas are found in Westlake Au io's second generation studios

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from . oostb design to down beat... r Wettl 631 Wilshire Boulevard Los Anele, California 90048 - 12131 655 -0303 57 (\ sf1i ys,}rI1 R-e/p o sIl® 'Teta 698845 www.americanradiohistory.com continued from page 49 - were transferred one at a time until the pre - or flutter in the slaved audio machine. In the Once all the tracks had been transferred, dub was completed. Due to the fact that case of picture deletions, then, correspond- thus completing the multi -track pre -dub numerous passes had to be made over each ing edits in the music were done at a later master tape, a stereo rough mix was section of the tune, the EECO "A" system time (after the entire song or selection of generated and recorded directly to mag film. was used because its chase and cueing music from the two-inch tapes had been This was easily done after completing the features could automatically shuttle and re- transferred to mag format) by the music pre -dub since the sync system needed for synchronize the two tape machines editor. this purpose was already set up. Before together from the controls a of single When it was possible to re -mix and beginning the rough mixes, a "pop" was machine. This had the incidental advantage transfer while viewing the picture, a system generated at the dubbing stage on the of group -combining sections to be re -mixed was devised so that the two multi -track master pre -dub tapes used as a reference or updated if necessary, simulating some of machines and the rest of the film chain for synching the mags. Now, the pre -dub the benefits of automated mixing. (including projector) would run in exact from the slave machine was simply placed Ideally, a simultaneous view of picture sync. Since the projector and the associated on the master machine. while repairing or transferring the live tracks mag machines comprising the film chain These rough mag stereo mixes were then was desired. This, however, was only used a different format for interlocking, (60 sent to the music editor (Ken Wamburg) feasible in cases where there had been no Hz resolving with a sprocketed format) a who ran them together with the edited picture edits for the duration of the song or second EECO synchronizer was used to picture and hard cut the stereo mag to musical segment. It must be remembered join the two separate systems together. This match the picture edits. Starting with the here that the film and tapes of the seven was accomplished by printing SMPTE time "pop" as a reference index, the music editor hour concert were ultimately condensed code on a reel of sprocketed mag film (35 then generated an "editor's code" describ- into a two hour movie. Obviously, wherever mm) which was then loaded onto one of the ing in feet, frames and perfs (perforations) a picture deletion edit appeared during a dummies in the film chain. Because the exactly where the edits occurred. song, a corresponding music edit would be dummy followed the projector, the SMPTE Meanwhile, the final pre -dubbed mixes, required. time code output could be used as the each consisting of from 18 to 22 finished Also, any hard edits of the two -inch master time code source, enabling the tracks (only a handful in conventional films) masters had to be ruled out at this point, as second EECO unit to slave the first multi- on two -inch tape were then transferred via these tapes would also be used for mixing track machine to the dummy. Since the the EECO "B" system is a sprocketed the live concert album. Furthermore, any other EECO system slaved the second format using 35 mm mag machines, with tape edits would interrupt the continuity of audio multi -track to the first, the two heads changed to accommodate first six the pre- recorded SMPTE time code tract. previously independent systems were thus tracks and then three tracks, so that all the While passing over the edits, the disjointed joined so that the projector, the mag tracks in each tune could finally be code information would momentarily machine film chain and the two multi -track transferred (starting with two groups of six confuse the synchronizer, causing a glitch recorders would all run together. each and then in groups of three as needed). Again synchronization was achieved using SMPTE- striped magnetic film as the time The job called for a smooth operator. code source to lock the multi -track to the A/V people needed a high quality mastering film chain in the same manner as was used cassette that would also stand up to high speed to lock the multi -track reproducer to the use. At 3M, we designed Scotch Brand AVM Mastering Cassettes to fill the bill. projector. A tough polyester backing reduces the chances Once the pre -dubbed multi -track of tape jamming while a specially designed oxide "master" tapes had been transferred to 35 improves high frequency output and signal - mm mag to- noise. film, each group of reels compris- We packed it in a sturdy cassette with a ing one song or musical segment was then five screw design for easy access to the tape pack. manually edited to match the edited rough And we have it the smoothest operator stereo mix using the editor's code. Next, the around the Scotch AVM Mastering Cassette for edited pre -dub transfers contained special high -speed mastering. continuous (non -interruped) See your Scotch Brand dealer today. music tracks for each song or musical segment and could thus be loaded on the film chain for final SMOOTH OPERATOR. dubbing to picture along with dialog and effects.

Actual Dubbing Dubbing is the actual audio mixing of all the tracks down to stereo which is analagous to the stereo mix -down process in record recording. Since most of the erratic EQ and level changes in the various individual instrumental and vocal tracks were corrected during the pre- dubbing process, so that all the mixers had to really do was to adjust the relative level and pan changes of the pre -dubbed tracks in order to make the stereo perspective follow picture. The more complicated fader moves "Scotch" is a registered trademark of 3M Company had been rehearsed during the pre- dubbing, so the conventional dubbing of sound to R-e/p 52 for additional information circle no. 26 www.americanradiohistory.com picture was mostly finer tuning. Etc. As Needed. One interesting departure from conven- each carrying tracks ACTUAL DUBBING O from the same tune tional film dubbing was console layout and FILM CHAIN o plus machines for TO PICTURE seating, which is usually divided into three DISTRIBUTOR dialogue and BUSS O sound effects. sections with one section and mixer each for 3 TRN the dialog, music and effects. Because most MAG DUMMY of this film centered around music, pratically the whole console was devoted to music dubbing - with as many as six music mixers working the board at one time.

It should also be pointed out that dubbing 10 TO 20 DUBBING a is in a piecemeal DISCRETE for film performed AUDIO MUSIC TRKS CONSOLE PLUS DIALOGUE fashion. All the individual audio mags used REPRODUCERS AND EFFECTSA for section of the film being worked on 6 TRN each 2 MAG are loaded onto the film chain, including the DUMMY reel on which the mix is actually recorded. Since standard film speed at the rate of 24

frames per second works out to 90 feet of 6 TBa MAG film per minute, the 1,000 -foot reels used DUMMY STEREO limit the length a to roughly of continous mix MASTER OUTPUT BUSS 11 if reel is mixed /3S MAG STEREO minutes. So even an entire RECORDER the MONITOR continuously (without interruption), DOLBY BUSS various reels still have to be edited together ENCODE to compose the final soundtrack. The resulting stereo mag mixes (each reel containing 11 minutes or less of continuous music) must be edited together by the MONITOR picture editor while viewing pictures (again, AMP SYSTEM visual and dub master are kept in sync by the film chain). The final assembly of these mag reels forms the "dub master" and is similar to assembling the quarter -inch DISTRIBUTOR stereo master for an LP record.

Another Limiter? So ask the cynics. That's why we made the Orban 418A quency saturation due to excessive EQ. special. It's a stereo compressor/limiter/ high frequency The recording studio can use the 418A to generate limiter system that compresses the dynamic range of com- master tapes which will transfer to disc and cassette grace- plex program material with astonishing subtlety and free- fully and cleanly. The subtle, dynamic high frequency con- dom from side -effects. It simultaneously and independently trol means that the high frequency equalization can be used controls the high frequency energy to protect preemphasized more freely than ever before without danger of overload. media (like disc, cassette, and optical film) from high fre- The cassette duplicator and optical film recorder can co-tdi- quency overload distortion. It's cleaner than most linear tion problem masters to maximize signal -to -noise and and amplifiers (THD at 1 kHz is typically 0.02% for any degree eliminate high frequency splatter in these touchy life demanding media. , of gain reduction), and stereo tracking is locked -in for without adjustments. The Orban 418A isn't "just another limiter" -it's a time- The 418A is highly "smart" and automatic. There are only saving system that handles chores ordinary limiters can't three controls that affect the sound quality. This means that touch. Your Orban Dealer has all the details. Write us for the 418A can speed the process for budget -conscious cus- his name and a brochure with the complete 418A story. tomers (like commercial producers) and bring them back again and again. The 418A is also ideal in the broadcast Orban Associates Inc. production studio ahead of the cart recorder, where it 01 guarantees clean carts, free from overload and high fre- 645 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 957-1057

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for additional information circle no. 27 www.americanradiohistory.com continued yet to be explored. manually (as in prior EECO systems) offset MQS Synchronization System it each time. This is invaluable during the As in any new endeavor to improve or Specific Application pre- dubbing process because the old EECO create product, a first attempt involves a Of The MQS System system with the BE450 has limited offset good deal of experimentation. Because the Although there are many possible capabilities. Before being able to offset, it pre -dubbing and dubbing stages of this applications of the MQS synchronizing first had to achieve address sync. Once in project involved so many tedious and system to film sound post production, the the "flywheel mode ", the operator of the cumbersome steps, Canyon Recorders had ones reviewed here are only the most machine would have to manually advance or no trouble conceiving new applications for obvious in relation to our application of retard the offset, one frame at a time while the SMPTE -based EECO MQS synchroni- synchronizing systems to "The Last Waltz" viewing the offset meter. This involved trial zation system that would eliminate many film soundtrack. and error listening until the desired amount time -consuming operations. Coupled with It is necessary to first deal with the MQS of offset is achieved. The desired offset Goldwyn's new automated console and system without the benefit of automated would then have to be noted and then dubbing stage, much work could be mixing. "Pre- dubbing" audio to mag manually attenuated in the final run. Even condensed when applied to future "music" sprocket format is still necessary to transfer though the operator knows the correct movie soundtracks. tracks for recovery and for adjustments in amount of offset, he must first achieve The MQS synchronizing system is the continuity of each individual track before address sync each time prior to manually most recent development in the evolution of dubbing to edited picture or, more typically, returning to the selected offset. Because it the EECO line of synchronizers. It is needed to obtain, in one operation, a multi- was necessary to engage address sync well microprocessor -based, unlike its predeces- track "master" which will continuously in advance of the program material to be sors, giving almost unlimited flexibility in match the picture if the film has been edited offset, this becames a very tedious and time function. It can synchronize as many as to delete sections of a performance. But consuming process. three audio or video tape machines at once. instead of having to use two EECO The MQS system, on the other hand, To execute even more complex functions, it synchronizing systems - one to sync up although it too must first achieve address can be interfaced with a computer terminal. the two multi -track tape recorders and the sync, can be pre -programmed for a specific The basic MQS unit is small, portable and other to sync the SMPTE- striped mag address offset between two tape machines. very easy to operate. Coupled with an dummy of the film chain with these two Once the desired offset is determined, the automated mixing console, such as the multi- tracks - the MQS system can sync MQS computer will remember it and Quad -Eight that Goldwyn recently installed up all three at once. automatically search to it every time the on its new dubbing stage, Canyon But that's not all - one very important tape machines are started. It does not need Recorders feels that the MQS synchroniz- feature of the MQS synchronizer is that it to be manually set each time. In addition, the ing system has many capabilities that have can achieve address sync without having to engaging of address sync well in advance as with the EECO BE450, is not necessary. Because of the offset feature and its ability to sync up three machines, the MQS -100 system could have been used to create a continuous pre -dub multi -track transfer. This would eliminate the need to edit aARAMETRic together the discontinuous pre -dub mag transfers of each song or section in which deletions corresponding to picture edits have been made. Using the MQS synchronizer, the procedure for the pre -dub is as follows: 1. Roll picture and tape machines with "0" ® n7 CO C) offset while transferring from machine #2 to o/t[O machine #3 until picture edit deletion is J O reached. oIM)óMt o/6, 2. Stop. Determine and set cue point 1 (offset) on machine #2. 3. Roll picture back to a point just before the edit and stop. This will allow enough OMNI CRAFT'S REMARKABLE NEW EQUALIZER time once the picture is started for all the Tunes three overlapping bands: machines to get up to speed and achieve LOW: 20 - 1K Hz. MID: 100 - 5 K Hz. HIGH: 500 - 24K Hz. relative sync before reaching the desired Bandwidth is adjustable from 1 Db /octave to 17 Db /octave. edit point. While rolling the picture back, the Peaks and dips symmetrically ± 20 Db. other machines will automatically follow and Discrete amplifiers in signal path insure low noise and distortion. "park" at the same cue point, with machine There is an application for this versatile equalizer in every studio. #2 parking at the desired offset. Including yours. 4. Start picture. All the machines will Two channels $650.00. Dealer inquiries invited. follow in sync. OMNI CRAFT INC. 5. To continue transfer, punch in record Rt. 4 Box 40 Lockport, Illinois 60441 (815) 838 -1285 on machine #3 exactly when passing edit point. If one is fortunate enough to be equipped with an automated console capable of R-eip 54 for additional Information circle no. 28 www.americanradiohistory.com ALL TRKS SIMO Looking To The Future Combining efforts of professionals from This method would allow con- the film and music industries proved to be uninterrupted mixing tinuous TRK the dubbing phase. A 24 TRK 24 an enlightening experience for both groups. during "PRE- "pre -dub" transfer step would UN- EDITED DUB" is a trend, be required, using two multi - This kind of undertaking growing tracks and punching in after of course, as a result of several recent resetting offsets to yield a multi- track "master' which matched blockbuster films centering around music edited picture. themes - most notably disco music and science fiction. SMPTE The technique for mixing audio to DUMMY M2 M3 correspond more closely to picture developed in the production of "The Last M1 EECO MOS-100 Waltz" is in itself unique and now that it is 00 becoming refined, similar mixing effects can be employed in soundtracks of future films. PROD. PROPOSED USE OF MOS -100 IN By taking the mixing process as "far" as we SOUND POST PRODUCTION did, Canyon Recorders discovered that closer coordination of sound and picture DISTRIBUTOR can greatly enhance the emotional impact of a film. This is, of course, our subjective programmable mixing, then most of the recorder. However, if picture edits have evaluation. But almost every reviewer, tedious process of pre-dubbing can be occurred during the song, the mix must be whether he liked "The Last Waltz" or not, eliminated altogether except in the case done in sections, in a manner similar to the complimented the effect created by the where picture edits occur to delete sections previously described pre -dub procedure soundtrack. of a continuous song. The various changes employing the MQS offset feature, except The growing interest in film sound will, in in level and pan can be performed one at a that the transfer machine #3 is now the turn, necessitate better quality sound time, track -by -track (while viewing the master mag machine on the film chain. Not systems in theaters. Hopefully, the overall edited picture) and memorized in the only does the MQS synchronizing system impact of "The Last Waltz" and other console computer. save many time-consuming steps in such concert or music oriented movies will spur Once a satisfactory mix has been instances, it also saves tape wear and the industry to make greater improvements achieved, the entire song can be mixed generation loss, as well as allowing the for the sound -conscious movie -going public. (dubbed) directly to the mag film master flexibility to mix directly to picture.

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for additional information circle no. 29 www.americanradiohistory.com SEVEN LEADING MASTERING ENGINEERS DISCUSS THEIR CRAFT from interviews by Howard Cummings' For the very best Studio Construction available ... i usually wears nail bags - carries hammer and tape - drives crew very hard `,y: and smiles all the while ! ! 'UnoJd With the rising interest in record quality, material put on 45's and inner grooves of Occasionally, he's caught the industry has become increasingly LP's is referred to as the so- called inside looking at plans. Is also concerned with the way recordings are diameter effect. Studies indicate the known for doing work all treated after master tapes leave the studio. phenomenon is first noticeable at 2,000 Hz f over North America, giving As a result, the role of the disc cutter, which and grows more severe at high frequency. until 10 years firm estimates, exacting ago attracted little attention, The reason for the loss is well documented. has become the focus of great interest. The rate a turntable rotates is, of course, a dates of completion and Howard Cummings talked with seuen constant. On the other hand, the linear No BULL!! cutters about their craft, which is a key link length of grooves decreases when moving in the chain that delivers the studio intent of toward the center. He pleads guilty of con - the artist, producer and engineer to the Using an LP disc as an example, a stylus structing the following consumer. will move at a faster groove speed (linear studios : distance a stylus travels in a given unit of Century 21, Winnipeg, The two basic formats of the disc - the time) on an outer groove as compared to an Canada, new studio seven -inch 45 and 12 -inch 33 -1/3 LP - each inner groove. If identical program material is Sound Interchange, present unique demands on the work of the being transferred to disc, the outer grooves Toronto, Canada, new 3 . disc masterer. offer a greater linear studio Aside from obvious length for storing audio d differences in diameter that affect the information. A playback stylus tip, Superscope, San Fernando, F4. California, new studio mechanical cutting process, the two types measuring seven- tenths mils (.0007) in Chicago Recording Company, of records are intended for separate diameter typically, is too large to detect high Chicago, Illinois, Studios 1, markets. frequency modulation curves crammed into 2 and 3 "The 45 is the worst part of the disc - small diameter 45's and inner grooves of Bill Szymczyk's Bayshore cutting business," said Bernie Grundman, a LP's. This situation is called scanning loss. Recording Studios, Inc., Coconut Grove, Florida, disc masterer with A &M Records in Such scanning loss is accompanied by new studio Hollywood, California. "Forty -fives are the increased distortion. The Shade Tree primary way of getting the artist before the Playboy Club public and, for that reason, we have Lake Geneva, Wisconsin pushed Inside diameter effect is one of several new studio the playback systems to their limits. As the reasons cutting engineers may use a +2 to +5 Group Four, Hollywood, Calif. systems were improved, we've just pushed dB higher drive setting for 45's. Though it them further and we're riding KBK Earth City Studios just a touch won't increase the dynamic range, the St. Louis, Missouri under intolerable distortion. A lot of additional power will create noise at middle producers want Village Recorders this loudness so it will and low frequencies (distortion) resulting in new studio attract attention." the additional "loudness" many producers under construction To illustrate his point, Grundman desire. Other factors for cutting 45's at He leaves a trail of 'Happy described his typical 45 mastering set -up higher power levels include an awareness Customers', and is easy to when referenced to a 5.5 centimeter per that such discs are destined for juke box and second cut +4 +2 follow ... and his prices are at dB. LP's are cut at to +4 AM radio play as well as the fact that the dB above the meter reference zero while a records are often used on cheap, poor fantastic ! ! ! +4 to +6 reading is common for 45's. As a quality playback equipment by consumers. result, a +4 dB is a "hot" setting for an LP, "The 45 is a bastard," concluded another Call for information and details while for a 45 this is considered "cool ". cutting engineer. Though Grundman has gone RUDOLF A. BREUER as high as +7 or +8 dB for a "super hot" 45, he explained, "I Rapport With Producers 805 / 273 -3792 would prefer to cut at reasonable levels. I While the different marketing and hate to see levels pushed over +6 dB technical requirements of 45's and LP's Lic. No. 238315 are because of inside diameter effects." usually obvious to the disc masterer, other A high frequency loss from program factors relating to program material are not

R e/p 56 From interview material copyrighted by Howard Cummings, 1978 www.americanradiohistory.com Would you believe a real -time spectrum analyzer with a 60dB dynamic range?

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Al A

And al6Hz to 20KHz bandwidth? At S2595?

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R p57 for additional information circle no. 31

www.americanradiohistory.com HIGH FREQUENCY LOSS AT INSIDE DIAMETERS

SCANNING LOSS

Bob Ludwig, A stordisk, New York City.

always as clear cut. As a result, cutting engineers say close communications with producers is critical to achieve the desired sound. In some instances, a disc masterer will take the initiative to suggest or make changes in the mastering process based on his understanding of the product a producer wants. "Often, it all depends on who it is," said John Golden, a cutting engineer at Kendun Recorders in Burbank, California. "There have been times when I've made a comment that will be a fairly inventive idea the producer will consider for the artist," he STYLUS said. "1 do get involved in certain edits, TIP which is one of the few things you can get involved with in the cutting room, unlike a mixer who has more control." Several other disc masterers said they will often limit or compress, particularly when cutting works of popular artists. "There's a certain amount of freedom we Heads have to generate an esthetically good ForTape product," explained Mac Evans of Master - phonics, in Nashville, Tennessee. "It's not a matter of where a client walks in and says, 'I Head for TABER want +2 dB at 10 k, 3 dB of limiting, 6 dB of compression and cut -off filters.' It's more like - 'let's see what we can do with this.' It's At Taber you get precision work, quality results and low price ... working closely with the client and unmatched by any other audio head manufacturer. understanding what the client desires. If you have We will install three new heads in your full track Ampex assembly a client that desires an 'AM sound', for only $97.50... Scully at $186.00. Or, wear permitting, an Ampex we'll go for it." or Scully three head reconditioned assembly for only $45.00. Bob Ludwig of Masterdisk in New York City added, "When you're cutting classical, is $310.00 for VTR audio priced at only you use a classical technique of doing the new heads installed, or $100.00 for four least to the product. When working with four reconditioned heads. (Add $25.00 if disco there's more compression monitor post needs lapping). or rock, and limiting." Ludwig, who has formal music Loaner assemblies are available. training, is a well -known masterer of classical music. For heads, head for Taber ... the best source available. Different Mastering Philosophies end for free brochure. Though cutting engineers in North America generally consider it their responsibility to "improve" program material - based on what a producer is trying to achieve - disc masterers elsewhere in the world have traditionally taken the opposite view. Outside of North TABERManufacturing & Engin ering Company America, the dominent philosophy for years has been that a transcribe 2081 Edison Ave. Leandro, Ca. 94577 (415) 635 -3831 disc cutter taped program material as literally as possible. If poorly engineered master tapes are received, it is not uncommon for the disc

R- p 58 for additional information circle no. 32 www.americanradiohistory.com when cost is more important than price Value conscious recording engineers specify the Studer B67 because it outperforms its competitors on the criteria that matter most to the discriminating recordist: Studer state -of- the -art performance Long service life with low failure rate Speed and ease of user maintenance If you've ever had to scrub a session because of a faulty recorder, you'll

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In Revox Canada Inc., 1819 - Tenn. 37203 / (615) 329 -9576 Canada: Studer www.americanradiohistory.com The Buchmann -Meyer Light Pattern Technique Rugged high Because common electronic signal measuring devices could not be used to check the frequency response characteristics of a cutting head, at one time no reliable method existed for evaluating the transfer of electronic audio information to a lacquer or wax disc performance by the cutting head. It was known that reflected light from record grooves seemed to be related to the audio information on the disc, but it was not until 1930 that the phenomenon was clearly explained. In that year the German scientists - Gerhard Buchmann and Erwin low cost mixers Meyer - published a paper that, among other things, described a method for using light pattern plots to check the frequency response of cutting heads. For studio Now known as the Buchmann -Meyer technique, the test was based on the principle that a properly calibrated electromagnetic cutting head will register a constant stylus -tip velocity or sound system at all frequencies when activated by an alternating current of constant voltage. To understand how the plot of light can represent frequency response, it must be remembered For remotes that an electronic signal is transferred to vibration of the stylus tip. The movement of the stylus tip is etched into the lacquer in the form of grooves - the level of which is measured For stage monitor in stylus velocity. Cutting a series of test tones on a disc is the basis of applying the technique. The test disc is held in direct sunlight, or other columnated light source, and, when the plane of the disc is positioned at a 45° angle to such rays, a series of bands denoting each test tone can be viewed by the unaided human eye (see cover and accompanying photos). The 45° angle is used to obtain a proper reflection. Light reflecting from the grooves forms the plot. Banding on the test disc can also be checked right on the lathe, if a cutting studio is equipped with a special light mounted above the lathe. As with sunlight, the artificial light source is mounted at an angle of 45° from the plane of the test disc on the lathe turntable. Bands from the test tones are compared to each other. Typically, 1 kHz is the reference tone and other tones are higher frequencies. The 1 kHz setting is popular because it is the crossover point on the RIAA disc playback curve. Also, the Buchmann -Meyer technique is ineffective because of problems with constant amplitude at frequencies lower than 1 kHz. The expectation when comparing bands is that all will be the same width. If one or more bands are not the same width, the frequency response of the cutting head is uneven. In most cases, the bands are compared by simple visual comparison (using one eye). The visual comparison is believed to be within ±0.5 dB accuracy. If significant variation is noted between bandwidths, a caliper of some kind is used for reference The measurements New Model 12X4A mixer measuring variations from the tone. can be used to discover the frequency response variation with a great deal of accuracy. The formula calculating inputs $2,928.00 with eight variations is as follows: dB= 20 log A / A: where Over 500 INTERFACE ELECTRONICS mixers are A i is the reference frequency (tone) now in use in recording studios and sound systems and wherever high performance at low cost is A , is any frequency of interest needed. These mixers have been used in making As an example. the 1 kHz tone measures just over 40 mm at the standard reference level (a gold records and they are also specified by many stylus velocity of 7 cm /sec peak for mono and 5 cm /peak for 45° stereo using the NAB rock groups for road use because of their standard). If the bandwidth of interest is 46 mm, compared to a 40 mm reference, using the ruggedness. reliability. flexibility, immunity to stray frequency interest is at +1 dB variation. fields. and high performance - equal to or better formula indicates that the of than that of consoles costing many times more. It must be noted that bandwidths do not get smaller as groove diameter gets smaller. The Mainframes are available for 8 to 32 inputs. and reason is that as wavelengths become shorter when moving toward the center of a record, modules can be ordered as needed. the modulation slope for a given frequency increases in the same proportion. Hence, both SERIES 200: two track stereo factors are self -cancelling. SERIES 104: four mono or stereo tracks or submixes The Buchmann -Meyer technique was widely used until dynamic feedback cutting heads SERIES 108: eight mono or stereo tracks or heads response and submixes were introduced. The new design cutting linearized frequency reduced SERIES 316: sixteen tracks distortion. As a result, cutting heads now remain calibrated with great accuracy, even after is Included are echo sends, cue sends (lour on the replacing styli, and so frequency response testing not as critical. However, the principles 104 -108 -316). solo. equalizers, pan pot. six step in- that Buchmann and Meyer identified are applied to other disc -related tests. put gain adjust with two input pad positions, conduc- tive plastic sliders. fully modular plug-in construction using plug -in integrated circuits throughout. balanced transformer inputs. output transformers optional. New high slew rate IC's assure full output to 20 KHz. MANY OPTIONS AND CONFIGURATIONS ALLOW YOU TO HAVE IT JUST AS YOU WANT IT, STAGE MONITOR mixer Model 104L makes eight independent mixes. uses color coded knobs and large lighted VU meters. optional headphone monitor. intercom.

"American quality at Japanese prices." Left: Buchmann -Meyer light pattern on JVC Test Record (TRS- 1000). no RIAA equalization, 5.0 cm /sec., all same level. Right: The RIAA playback curve below 1 kHz is INTERFACE depicted on this test record. The equalization required by the RIAA curve is applied grad- ELECTRONICS ually. hence, the light plot takes a "Christmas Tree" form. The Cover: Buchmann -Meyer light pattern showing frequency response of test cuts at hall 3810 WESTHEIMER speed. Cuts are deliberately varied to demonstrate variations in level at different freq- HOUSTON, TEXAS 77027 uencies (100 to 30 kHz). As example, top 2 bands (innermost diameter) are same frequency (1 kHz) but differ by 6 dB. It can be seen that the louder is twice the width of the (713)626 1190 other.

Photos taken at the JVC Cutting Center. Hollywood. Special acknowledgements to Stan Ricker of the JVC Center. and Hugh Allen of Gotham Audio. Hollywood.

Re/p GO www.americanradiohistory.com are employed only in special cases or if specifically requested by a producer.

Flash Peaks And Disco Because of improvements in modern playback equipment, Grundman feels that more flash peaks go through without limiting. The result, said the A &M cutting engineer, is that newer records have more Chris Blair "air" and are more "open" at the top end. A. Makino (left) and Toshio Kikuta (right), One trend noted by Golden is that more manager recording & studio, King Records, at EMI's Abbey Road Studios. Tokyo. transient material is being recorded in cutter to return them to the client with a studios as a result of close miking. Also, the down, but if it's not necessary, I don't use it. request that they be re- recorded. This is "punch" of the disco sound is being worked About 75 per cent of the product I get needs extremely uncommon in North America into more types of pop music. These factors something and I use the PDM made by EMT and done only if there is severe, uncorrect- combined mean that wider grooves are for compression." able problems with master tapes. needed to transfer program material to disc. The complexities of mastering certain A view typical of what is held by cutting There is less land area - the surface area kinds of music aside, Grunduran feels that engineers outside of North America was between grooves - as a result. the services of a good cutting engineer is voiced by Werner Grimme, who masters for In some instances, grooves may even be essential for a producer seeking a specific Polydor Records in Germany. "Our task," cut into one another, which is called over - sound. he said, "is to achieve a disc identical to a cutting. This is possible because a playback "That's what a good mastering engineer is good tape." stylus rests in the lower one-third of a good for," he explained. "He gets to see a lot Equalization and limiting may be groove. Spacing grooves so they cut into of product. He sees what everyone else is introduced, but only if asked for or one another is risky because skips will occur doing around town and from that stand- approved by a producer, Grimme said. if the pressings are of poor or mediocre point, he's one of the most objective people Reverberation, on the other hand, is never quality. Also, loud program material - the producer can come to. He's gone added. especially if it involves flash peaks - through four or five different projects in the Two other disc engineers from outside modulates the playback stylus and could last few days, so he's flexible; he's not North America expressed similar opinions. create enough momentum to cause skips. locked into any one sound or way of doing Toshio Kikuta of King Records in Tokyo, "With more of that, you have to find things ... Most producers are right here Japan, and Chris Blair of EMI -Abbey Road something to control it," said Golden, with us when we cut." in London, England, said that limiting and speaking of the punch in popular music. compression are rarely introduced at the "Sometimes I may use a small amount of Test Records Of Program Material cutting stage. Such signal modifying effects compression just to hold the kick drum One important part of the disc mast-

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www.americanradiohistory.com erer /producer communication process is preparing a reference cut prior to final mastering, according to Grundman. NEW LITTLE RED "1 have done it the other way but I let the client know the risk he's taking because disc, being a completely different medium STUDIO MONITORS from tape, gives you no guarantee you'll get ì* what you want," he said. 'There are so many BIG RED SOUND things that can go wrong, you don't know FOR ONLY $440 until you play it. The client should then take the reference cut home and play it on a A PAIR... system he is familiar with so as to judge it The standard reference more accurately." monitor for many recording "If a producer is after a certain sound, he o studios across the country may be willing to pay a little extra to get it," is the Mastering Lab /Big explained Grundman. "He may be back Red and Super Red System. three or four times to get it right before it This same standard is now comes out." available in a small size... The importance of a reference disc is a Little Red Studio Monitors. point of disagreement, though. Only about This system is ideal for 30 per listening rooms, A & R cent of clients at EMI -Abbey Road departments, small mix ask for a reference disc, said Blair, though rooms and even the home producer and artist are often present during listener who wishes to mastering. Grimme and Kikuta said that the hear music exactly as it demand for reference discs is small and was originally recorded. clients are seldom present for mastering. Only $440 a pair. Visit When a customer asks for unusual your audio dealer or send equalization changes, Golden will prepare for specifications. two reference cuts. One will conform with the client's request and the other will be what Golden recommends. The client can then compare and choose. audiomarketing ltd. "We usually insist that they get a 142 Hamilton Ave., Stamford, CT 06902 TEL: 203 359 2315 TELEX: 99 6519 reference disc before they get masters," DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED added Golden. "As far as mail -in work, they want it to sound like the current number one hit, even though it may have a high school marching band background. In the event they don't want a ref, I'll cut one and listen to AKG's C- 414EB. it." Fast becoming Lacquer Quality Criticized the standard in When the mastering process begins the professional question of which recording blank (or studio applications lacquer disc) to use faces the cutting engineer. Masterdisk stocks blanks from all In less than just one year, several three major manufacturers - Transco, hundred professionals have switched Pyral and Audio - because, as Ludwig to our latest large diaphragm, explained, "at some time you're going to get professional condenser a bad batch from someone there's a lack microphone -the C- 414EB. - of consistency." Why? Because the C -414EB costs "It seems almost impossible to pick out substantially less. yet outperforms its the best one from each of the said three," nearest rival hands down with these exclusive features: four selectable agreed Kikuta. "The quality of each brand polar patterns improved maximum varies on imports by lots from time -to- time." sound -pressure level capability through "When they're at their best, the Audio built -in 0, -10 and - 20dB attenuation selector blanks are the best blank in the world, as far C -414EB (greater than 155dB sound pressure level microphone as being quiet and free of defects," said capability) a three -position, low- frequency shown above Ludwig. "I would say Pyral has the highest with rolloff switch with 14dB octave slopes optional freedom from off -axis coloration level of consistency. I do a lot of classical H -17 uncompromisingly smooth and natural sound cutting and I have some pressing plants that shock -mount characteristics a -plus new level of robustness just demand that I send them Pyral blanks." windscreen and dependability. We call it professional Golden feels that Pyral discs, which are perfection. You'll call it a new standard in microphone applications. Test it soon. made in France, are the best because the (On special order, the C- 414EB/Remote product has the least orange peel - areas unit is available for remote control of which have high background noise - and polar patterns) blisters. "But they're about $16.00 for a 14- inch lacquer, which we have to pass on to /4 AKG the consumer," he added. "And as long as the consumer pulls records out of the sleeve PHILIPS AUDIO VIDEO SYSTEMS CORP. with his fingers and stacks them on record players, it's almost a waste. Basically, though, the quality of all blanks is not where

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www.americanradiohistory.com I'd reject 20 out of 25 before I'd cut on them." three brands from time -to-time. "It becomes even more crucial when I find "Psychologically, the Transcos always out what we pay for them," he continued. "I looked better under the microscope - they have to ask myself why aren't they prefect? looked shinier and cleaner in color - The time involved inspecting these blanks is whereas Audio was always 'black,'" incredible! When you have two rooms Grundman said. The Pyrals are dark but cutting with double -lathe systems and you they're real shiny. They're more consist - have to take 10 minutes inspecting each antly perfect. We have a much lower blank, it really adds up. Then you have to rejection rate with them. But overall, I think package the defects and take care of the I'm getting better results with Transcos." paperwork to get credit on the defects ...I think Audio and Transco are neck- and -neck Cutting Heads and Amps at the moment; they're equally bad." The preoccupation by many persons with Vibrations resulting from uneven lacquer the power of amps driving cutting heads is coatings that a Westrex advance -ball head the source of many "misconceptions ", transfers to discs are an occasional problem according to Grundman. Noting that power Grundman experiences at A &M Records. It amps of 600 watts per channel are available, should be noted that much of the equipment he said that too much emphasis is placed on Grundman operates is many generations raw power. A more relevant concern is the older than equipment in general usage efficiency of cutting heads because today. A &M Records' mastering operation excessive power is not needed by efficient was designed and partially equipped by heads. Inefficient heads, he noted, simply Holzer Audio Engineering waste excessive John Golden at Kendun Recorders, Burbank. Corporation power. Photo by Howard Cummings. (better known as HAECO), which is now "It is so rare that we exceed the power of defunct. HAECO had been closely our amplifier that I don't know why we'd we'd like it to be." associated with A &M Records. The disc need more power," Grundman said. "We Golden was one of 15 Los Angeles -area mastering community in Hollywood use 150 watts per channel. Most of our amps disc engineers who toured the Audiodisc recognizes that Grundman is one of few are Crown 300's that HAECO and A&M plant in Winchester, Virginia recently. The cutting engineers who could use the dated designed to work with the cutting head." inspection was informative. HAECO equipment successfully in today's King Records is equipped with a 'They have to approve so many discs per competitive market. Neumann cutting head and four Neumann day just to meet orders that it creates Because of problems associated with his amps, with one amp modified by the firm's problems," Golden said. "While I was there, cutting head, Grundman prefers Transco staff. The custom unit is of tube design with they rejected about 80 per cent. Then, when blanks because, he said, the lacquer is 250 watt output. Kikuta explained it "has I got the good discs [at Kendun Recorders], smoothest. He added that he does use all been further modified over the past two

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www.americanradiohistory.com sTanDARD TAPE mAAUAI... A NEW AND VALUABLE DATA BOOK FOR THE AUDIO TAPE RECORDIST, ENGINEER OR DESIGNER A&M's Bernie Grundman. Photo by Howard Limited edition on heavy stock in laboratory binder. Charts, Cummings. nomographs, diagrams, and "How to" tips of interest to those years to achieve a so- called 'natural sound' familiar with the fundamentals of magnetic recording. Data we have strived for. We are completely supplied relative to: Head losses, flux levels, azimuth, reproducer satisfied with this sound." amplifier response and its relation to induction loop plus head Golden, like Kikuta, works with a SX 74 Neumann head. The system is and amplifier curve, wavelength charts. Techniques of measure- cutting powered by a 600 watt per channel ment: Induction loop, constant current, track widths, losses to Neumann amp. magnetized components and recorded signals, distortion, Grimme has both a Neumann SX 74 head fields related to erasure and noise, head resonance, static and Ortofon DSS 731 at Polydor Records. problems and wear patterns. The Neumann head is powered by a Neumann amp that delivers 600 watts per Available postpaid for $45.00 each. California residents add sales tax. channel while a 500 watt per channel Order from: Ortofon amp powers the Ortofon. Five of six cutting rooms at EMI -Abbey Road are equipped with Neumann cutting ROBERT K. MORRISON ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIALS heads and amps. Blair said that the sixth has 819 Coventry Road Kensington, CA 94707 an Ortofon DSS 732 cutter with amp. or "Ortofon is the only other head compar- ROBERT K. MORRISON able to Neumann," commented Ludwig, "in Standard Tape Laboratory response and phase characteristics." 26120 Eden Landing Road it5 Hayward, CA 94545 Neumann Lathes Widely Used Though cutting engineers usually have no option except to use whatever lathe equipment their companies operate, they Scotch Brand's Standard A/V Cassette is are not reluctant to introduce modifications. a loveable tough guy -an old friend who'll be there Lathes of Neumann manufacture are most when things get rough. Like when there's high widely used by the cutting engineers speed dubbing to be done. Or when the job interviewed. It is estimated that up to 80 per calls for day -in, day -out wear and tear. cent of lathes operating worldwide are of High energy oxides, a rugged polyester Neumann manufacture. Grimme, Blair and base material, and a high impact plastic cassette give this tough guy character and durability. Golden use Neumann exclusively. Both The Standard Cassette is available in 20, 30, Neumann and Scully lathes are used by 45, 60, 90 and 120 minute lengths. Ask for the Kikuta, Ludwig and Evans. popular AV File System, (96 cassettes) or "We have four Neumanns and one Scully the standard package of 40 cassettes. lathe, except for video disc cutting lathes," See your Scotch Brand dealer today. said Kikuta. "We have made improvements in one Neumann especially for half -speed cutting and, as a result, we have gained such LOVEABLE TOUGH GUY. merits as the reduction of mechanical noise and wow and flutter in low -speed cutting." Ludwig and Evans use Capps accessories in conjunction with their lathes. The Capps unit is an add -on electronic accessory for Scully lathes that controls pitch and depth of cuts. Golden has also modified his lathe, which is of Neumann manufacture. "Instead of having four knobs on the high - frequency limiters, we now have two for sibilance problem areas," he explained. "We've also modified the programmers so it will cut a ten -inch 33 rather than a 12 -inch disc, or a seven -inch 33 or a 12 -inch 45 with a 3C0 flip of a switch." The programmers are plug-in modules that contain circuits for cutting discs in various formats. The program material "Scotch" is a registered trademark of 3M Company directs the lathe to execute the proper sequence of events for the desired speed - R-e/p 64

www.americanradiohistory.com usually 1:1 or half -speed - and the ap- it without any hassle. But if you do a lot of Kikuta said they usually make a flat transfer propriate disc size. over- cutting, it's harder to plate. You're (or 1:1 transfer) of program material to disc.

At A &M Records, Grundman has Scully - cutting deeper than you have to and you run Introducing no modifications to program lathes. "We have to fight with our systems a into problems of 'unfill' when you press." material during the cutting process is, of little," he said, referring to the older lathe The reference to a plate relates to electro- course, the dominant practice of cutting hardware. Though he would like the forming a pressing master from the lacquer engineers outside of North America. opportunity to work with Neumanns, he disc a cutting engineer prepares. When a On the other hand, Golden at Kendun said he would not necessarily wish to polyvinylchloride record does not match the Recorders - operating under a different replace his existing equipment. He noted mold of the electro- formed master in places, philosophy - may find it necessary to make that other cutting engineers with Neumanns it is said to be deficient because of unfill, so many modifications to program material have imitated the sound A &M Records which is also referred to as non -fill. that he'll prepare a second generation achieves with the Scullys. Two factors are working master tape. All equalization, largely responsible for creating the sound, Evaluating Master Discs limiting, compression and other signal he feels. Once a lacquer has been cut, some modifications will be introduced by the "Part of it is the people that run the masterers feel that it is important to check it cutting enginéer when preparing the equipment, but part of it is the coloration of against a tape in a side -by -side comparison, working master. The mastering engineer each system," he said. "None of them is referred to as an A -B test. In these can then make a flat transfer of the working perfect. The cutting head is a miniature instances, two discs are cut simultaneously master (with all equalization) to the lacquer. speaker and you're asking a mechanical -a test lacquer for listening and a master, "I'll make 1:1 transfers when there are so device to reproduce the whole frequency which would remain unplayed. many moves to make within a short time spectrum." "We're primarily concerned with the that I don't want to become a basket -case The Scully lathes have been retrofitted comparison on the inner diameter to see over the course of 18 sides," explained with Lyrec motors found in Neumann units, how much we're losing," said Grundman. Golden. The consistency will also be better enabling direct drive of the turntable. "Usually, I have to add in the top end, the 10, with 1:1." "I see a lot of Neumann cuts and the lathe 12, 15 k area, to open it up on the inner Using such 1:1 transfers with a working is doing its job, but the system hasn't really diameter even though the pressing won't master saves lacquers, in many instances. been 'pushed, he observed. "Nowadays, if have as much top as the lacquer." Without a working master, many lacquers you want a competitive disc, you have to Blair, Grimme and Kikuta also A -B tape could be ruined when a complicated know how much you can cut into another against disc. Such a comparison, however, equalization routine is not performed groove and be safe. If you have one groove is rarely done by Golden. correctly by the mastering engireer on each cutting into another groove, but both of "1 think the disc should be looked on as a lacquer. those grooves are five mils [wide], the actual separate entity unto itself and people should The working master tape also has distance from the walls that are cutting into not necessarily try to compare it to the two another purpose in the industry. It can be each other from the center line could still be track," explained Golden. "It's a different used by other cutting engineers to produce three mils [wide] and the stylus is only three - format completely." master discs when a large first pressing of a quarters mil. The stylus would go right past When cutting a disc, Blair, Grimme and record is required. The masterer who

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www.americanradiohistory.com makes the first disc and duplicate tape will Telefunken equipment, which he feels is pre -set settings). usually be credited for all master discs. In also excellent. Kikuta uses four Telefunken Ludwig's Neumann console has Neu- most instances, though, only pressings from machines and a Scully unit. "I think mann selectable band equalizers "which are his master disc will be sent to reviewers and Telefunken is the best," Kikuta said, "in quite flexible," the Masterdisk cutting broadcast outlets because the quality of mechanical stability and tape passing." engineer noted. "We also use parametric masters from other cutting engineers will Grundman operates a Scully tape Sontec's, which are very good, having a always vary. transport at A &M which he said is durable Class A amp type pre-amp." and easy to use. "I would speculate that the "Neumann has come a long way in Tape Transports Studers are better than a Scully," he added. flexibility," he added. 'They originally felt Most cutters interviewed use tape 'They look great." the tape comes fully prepared and you transports of Studer manufacture. transfer 1:1. I mean, what else would you "European machines, as a whole, had Customizing Consoles want to do?" he concluded. motion- sensing in the '50's that Ampex is Several cutters said that modifying Ludwig's tongue-in-cheek statement just now putting on their machines," said console equipment gives them better referred to the traditional European Ludwig. Ludwig, Evans, Blair and Golden results. One example is the console Golden philosophy that cutting engineers transfer use the Swiss -made tape transports. uses at Kendun Recorders, which was program material to disc as literally as "The down -time is maybe eight or 10 designed internally by Carl Yanchar and possible. Neumann equipment is now hours per year, if that," said Golden of his built by Sphere. engineered with signal modifying cap- Studers. "They just run forever. That's a "I think the board is the best you can get; abilities as this attitude is changing. serious item [down time] with a preview there's things you can do with it that I Blair gave a comprehensive description of machine. You can't pull in another two haven't even figured out yet," Golden his console, outlining its features. The EMI track; it's just not the same. The tape path explained. The board EQ is very good. It TG 12410 has level changes, balance [of Studers] is superior and it tends to really will cover virtually every combination with controls, switchable NAB /IEC, replay handle the tape very nicely. I can say I've the parametrics." Dolbys, comprehensive tone control for never lost a master on a machine." At Masterfonics, Evans said that the program and advance -head channels. Studer A -80 advance -ball head machines circuitry of his Neumann SP272 console has Other features are SQ quadraphonic are used at all six of EMI -Abbey Road's been re- worked extensively. "We feel this decoder, limiters, compressors, high and cutting facilities. Blair said that the ease of has given us a one or two per cent edge over low pass filters, test oscillator, vertical maintenance and simple alignment some other similar consoles," he said. "It's amplitude limiters, a high level output unit, procedure are two advantages to using the not a drastic thing, but in this industry, we're remote controls for tape machine and lathe, Swiss -made equipment. not dealing with drastics, we're dealing with integral calibrated disc playback system "The Studer preview machine," added one and two per cents." (can be re- injected through console), overall Ludwig, "has far and away the best The SP272 is not as flexible as newer program faders, comprehensive monitor, transport and has an extremely low wow models, Evans noted, because it does not VU switching and tape copying capability. and flutter." have a double board system (two sets of The equipment Grundman uses at A&M Besides Studers, Grimme also has controls facilitating instant change -over to Records is, again, older than hardware his counterparts operate. "We have to scramble like mad in a 'spread' [band spacing between program The QA-201 Stereo Reverb selections] sometimes and run around pushing Dolby's and equalizers in and out," Like two live chambers in a rack mount module he said. "I've had as many as 19 different moves in a spread and a double system would have helped. But we have never let it MIME get in our way ... whether it takes us two or three lacquers to do it. But otherwise, it's a very simple system." Program material that needs radically different equalization, limiting, compression and other modification from selection to STEREO REVERE selection is not uncommon. In such OA -201 instances, the dynamic characteristics of each selection varies for one or more reasons. Recordings were made at different Compressor /Limiter plus 3 -stage Overload Detection studios; generation loss affected selections keeps the sound natural by avoiding "spring noise." with overdubbing; different engineers were used on each selection; recording equip- Individual Channel High Frequency Equalization ment varied; different types of tapes were useful for modifying the sound of the chamber. used. Another common occurance is for the XLR and phone jack connections, and a wide range mixing engineer to become fatigued when of input and output levels for full compatibility with preparing master tapes. Treble equalizers professional and semi -pro equipment. are gradually turned up as the mixer loses hearing sensitivity during all -night work Balanced inputs are standard; balanced outputs sessions. optional. Monitor Amp Output Suggested retail price: $450 The performance of monitor amps is something that varies noticeably from manufacturer to manufacturer. Grundman, uAnium who uses McIntosh 250's, had tried another AUDIO LABS. INC "that was checked out to be the most 1909 Riverside Drive /Glendale, California 91201 /Phone (213) 841 -0970 phenomenal thing on earth, but it was impossible to listen to!" he said. "It sounded R-e/p 66 for additional information circle no. 43 www.americanradiohistory.com very dry and brittle - hard as nails. l've always thought that some sort of meas- urement should be devised that would tell you about an amp when it's tied to a speaker. Our shop feels that the amp under test may change its characteristics when checking it on a bench connected to a THE dummy load." The GRF Tannoy monitor speakers that Grundman uses were not adjusted and have no equalizers. No tone controls are on the back of the speakers either. Because he is so familiar with the monitor system, he WORKING easily works around its shortcomings. Clients who are familiar with many other studios tell him the monitors are excellent, Grundman added. "1 listen at an average listening level that KING. works for me," he said. "1 EQ at that level and if someone asks me to turn it up, !don't know where I am. I feel my speakers are very representative of what most speakers sound like in the home. Now l've got so many of my clients tuned in to them, they run over here with mixes to check them out. These monitors are not excessive in any area and they're one of the smoothest speakers on the top end." The Hartley speakers that Ludwig uses at Masterdisk have a very high damping factor and he is satisfied with the Marantz 500 unit and 500 watts per channel that drives them. A pair of stacked Quads and Pioneer ribbon tweeters, which are tri -amped by Mark Levinson crossovers, are other major components of Ludwig's system, that also includes some JBL 100's. He listens to the speakers at 95 dB SPL. "The ribbon tweeters in the system are crossed over at 7 k and put a silky top on everything," he said. "1 love the system; I can listen to it all day and never get tired of it. Once your ear gets used to the transient response and low distortion you hear in electro- static speakers, you don't like This King positions, loads and anything else." Ludwig noted that there are several ejects blank or prerecorded tape cas- philosophies for room acoustics. One, settes faster and more reliably than advanced by Tom Hidley, suggests a room any cassette loader made. And, you be symetrically balanced so it can handle any set of speakers. need fewer operators. You can de- "It's a valid philosophy but I can't go along pend on The King. Worldwide. with it because of the type of speakers I like to listen to," he said. "My elect ro-statics like to radiate from the front and back plus they're set into the room so I go with that living room environment. l've done a little tuning to compensate." Altec 604-8G monitors are the most popular speakers at King Records, according to Kikuta. When playing 45's, Auratone 5C's are used as sub -monitors. KING Kikuta added that no modifications have e been made to the speakers nor is an World Leader in Tape Tailoring Systems equalization system used in the monitoring room. King Instrument Corporation, The room curve at Masterfonics is the 80 Turnpike Road, Westboro, Massachusetts 01581, USA result of extensive research. Many listening Phone (617) 366 -9141 /Cable KINGINST/ Thlex 94-8485. tests were conducted using outstanding cut by leading phonographic records All King Instruments am nianufartumd under nne or mare t the fnllnxing I..S. Patenta: mastering engineers in determining its US. Pat. S,,,, 3Itl7lf:1, :i :1Ki4,:I ís72 ill,:r737:lrs. 3717:114. 3753,tt5.3,a2544U.1 1ther l',S. and fl.n -ign Patenta ending design. "lt has a gentle roll off; it's down 2 at 10 k, 3 R-c/p 67 for additional information circle no. 44 www.americanradiohistory.com a idea at 12 k and 4 at 16 k," explained Evans. "On because it's between 50 and 100," said twitch to better the low end, it's flat to 20 Hz in both rooms. Golden. "For duration, no less than 30- l J High -end flatness becomes harsh and hard seconds. If it's shorter, I find myself to work with. Low -end flatness does not rewinding a million times." bother me in the least and I would like to Ludwig and Evans feel that 40,100, 700 or hear rumble if it exists. I want to know if 1 k, 10 k and 15 k alignment tones are a good 3 7 there is something there." practice. He emphasized that alignment Evans continued, "John W. Gardener, tones at both extremes are most useful. J - Inc., tunes our room with a B&K third - When disc masterers say they prefer The leader in i octave filter set attached to astandard B&K three basic tones, their comments are often features, per- ,__/ o s SPL meter with pink noise. We have a bass - misconstrued by others in the recording formante, and trap in the rear of each room, but with only industry. The reason for this centers around REPRO draping reliability in LEVEL on the side walls, followed by cork, tape transports. Cutting engineers have replacement recorder electron- followed by stone, followed by heavy -wall only three gain adjustments on tape construction around the monitor cabinets." transport units high, midrange ics. 3 -speed Ea; reduc- - and low. distortion- Originally, ing circuits; remote control. Evans used 4320's "because it Hence, tones in these areas are useful while was the 'standard speaker of Nashville' at others are extraneous to Compatible with most transports. adjusting the tape the time," he explained. "1 quickly found I transport. needed something better to eliminate the However, at the console, cutting Inovonics' 'Tieing' and to have a better environment. I engineers have a full complement of think a monitor system can 'lie' to you." controls to process material. Though Westlake TM -1 "splinter lips ", bi -amped opinions vary, many disc masterers like a Magnetic speakers using a crossover between the wider selection test tones of at the console horn and tweeter, are used by Evans now. because they feel circuitry in tape playback Recorder The system has all JBL components with machines is not perfectly accurate. White filters for tuning and White Permutations at localized frequencies can crossovers. Auratones are often used as a be detected with additional alignment tones; Electronics reference for small speakers. allowing the cutting engineer to correct 375 Model -$690 program material. Inovonics Inc. 503 -B Vandell Way Need For Longer Alignment Tones Incompatible Noise Campbell, CA 95008 Working with tapes from various clients Reduction Equipment 1408) 374 -8300 ñ presents many problems, but the mastering "dbx, contrary to their advertising, needs engineers seem to agree on one point. most alignment," said Ludwig. "It's not level Alignment tones, which are often lacking, sensitive but everything else is so frequency should be of durations of 30- seconds or response sentitive that you need as many more. tones as you can get." "What bothers me most is when some guy "I don't care what it is, recorded where or WE'RE sends a tape in and aligns his two track while under what circumstances," added Evans. KNOWN BY he records his tones," said Golden. "As "It is an obvious standard engineering THE COMPANIES soon as he's done aligning, you're lucky to practice. Anyone that ignores tones WE KEEP. get 10- seconds of steady tone, if that. When because dbx says, 'No reference level tone that happens, you might as well not have necessary', is not an engineer." AKG tones at all, so I just put up my alignment Golden added that he often gets tapes AMBER tape and go with that, unless its Dolby or recorded on semi -professional dbx dbx." equipment and it is not compatible with his AMPEX Working at A &M, Grundman said he is professional dbx hardware. The semi -pro AUDITRONICS used to dealing with what might be dbx units, the 120 Series, filter tape hiss but BEYER described as "the major Hollywood do not process the bass signal. Noise is product." The main alignment tone he treated COUNTRYMAN over the full spectrum by prof- wants is in the center frequency, 10 k or 12 essional dbx units, the 150 and 150 /180 CROWN k, and 50 or 100 Hz. Series. DBX "Dolby is all right, but they don't have to," "I had one situation where a guy came in he said. "If the Dolby is set up right, it should I EVENTIDE CLOCKWORKS and had to transfer off his tape recorder be close enough to the 700 or 1 k. I use an onto mine," recalled Golden of problems JBL oscilloscope for azimuth; the left channel with tapes recorded on semi -pro dbx LEXICON goes on one axis and the right on the other equipment. MARSHALL to see when it's right on. I use the 12 kHz for IM distortion on master tapes has been an high end EQ and azimuth. increasing problem that Ludwig ORBAN PARASOUND and Evans "1 would prefer 1 k really," he continued. noted. OTARI "We think, in discs, of 1 k a lot because it's "Many engineers will pile level onto a tape SOUNDCRAFT the crossover for RIAA. Fifty Hz is nice to without realizing that a threshold effect SOUND WORKSHOP have because of the slope of the machine. If takes place whereby there's a build -up of the music is a bit bass heavy, I just use the 50 distortion when you try to transfer it to disc, TASCAM Hz and turn it down - sometimes 1 do that. especially on inner diameters," said Ludwig. In the end, it's what comes off the monitors." "I cut a record for Dick Burwen through There was nearly unanimous disagree- one of his crystal -clear sound systems with ment with Grundman's statement that 110 dB of call toll free dynamic range or whatever," he Dolby alignment tones are not needed, continued. 'The tape was super clean 800 -531 - -7392 however. As Blair said, "I feel Dolby is really clean. We put levels on inner RBRDON SUN, INC. important. In addition, I like 16 k, azimuth diameters that I know would be pure hash P tt Bo. b520 San Antonio leas 7821r, band, 100 Hz, 1 k and 10 k." on most normal recordings, that were "For the low end, 1 have been using 70 Hz playing back cleanly at that kind of inner

www.americanradiohistory.com diameter. All I attribute it to was a clean tape." Transferring the build -up of distortion is difficult and the result on a master disc is not always predictable, added Evans. "It's subject to the way the power or cutter reacts to it and the tracking of the sylus I use for playback," he explained. The idea of transferring distortion may seem ludicrous to some. After all, who would willingly want to transfer distortion? However, when master tapes have distortion that cannot be processed out without damaging program material, the cutting engineer has no choice - short of having master tapes re- recorded. The distortion is transferred as "cleanly" as possible in an effort to prevent multiplying the problem in making another generation - the master disc. Bright Studio Monitors Problems with alignment tones, noise reduction systems and distortion aside, monitoring systems in studios are the source of other difficulties. "I have tapes that come in which sound so dull because the studio monitors are so bright," said Ludwig, summing up the opinion expressed by others. "It sounds like they recorded it through the tape backing." He continued, "Let's take a situation where you have a room that's flat at the console - which is a very unnatural act because it doesn't happen in nature. If you put a speaker in a corner 20 feet away, some DeltaLab DIGITAL DELAY -- studios will equalize it so it's flat up to 20 k. If No compromise, sound quality at a surprisingly modest price. you put a flute player through it, the high When we introduced the DeltaLab DL -1 DIGITAL DELAY a few end of it should be rolled off naturally. I months ago we said that its sonic performance would be as good as the believe in having speakers flat out to the most expensive delays, at the price many lesser units. source and then letting things happen as digital of they will, or build into your monitoring But recording studio engineers across the country who have installed system a pre- determined roll off of 6 and used the DL -1 tell us that it actually sounds better than some of dB/octave - something reasonable like the far more costly units it has replaced! that. I also feel that any good engineer can The DeltaLab DL -1's sonic accuracy and freedom from coloration work with any monitoring system if he come as a welcome surprise engineers who have knows it." to grown accustomed Another problem with program mat erical to accepting sonic compromises -- gritty quantizing noise, frequency - disc masterers receive was outlined by response abberations, a characteristically "digitized" sound quality -- in Grundman. Many 30 ips tapes have low end order to get the benefits of the delay. problems because engineers use recorders The DL -1 offers: designed for 15 ips speeds. It is not always possible to bring up the low end when Three outputs with independ- Dynamic range 90dB or better. making the lacquer, especially if the ently selectable delays. Delay lengths 5 160 recorder was set up poorly when the master Input and output levels adjust- from to millseconds. tapes were made, said Grundman. able from 0 to +24dBm (balanced). Engineering problems aside, the cutters Internal front-panel control by- Frequency response 20 -15kHz also run into difficulties with written pass to prevent unauthorized At All Delay Lengths. instructions from the sender of master tampering. Suggested retail price: $1200. tapes. This is most frustrating because it is The DL -1 has many applications -- unobtrusive speech amplification simply the result of carelessness and is time - consuming to correct. in church, theater or hall; concert sound reinforcement; dynamic disco "Poor labeling happens about 50 per cent installations; and many delay, echo and special effects in the recording of the time," observed Golden. "Most of the or broadcast studio. write the timings in time, people don't For details and the name of your nearest distributor, write or call correctly. They'll write the times down when Phil Markham at DeltaLab Research, Inc., (617) 458 -2545. they do the mix, then go back and edit and not adjust the legend." He noted, "An interesting conclusion I've DeltaLab Research, Inc. come to is that when a box comes in DeltaLab 25 Drum Hill Road, Chelmsford, Mass. 01824 scribbled or messy with a haphazard legend, it has program material with sloppy splices, Available at Quality Dealers mis- timings, and so forth."

for additional information circle no. 57 R p 69 www.americanradiohistory.com e, r[ocL5 units and to incorporate several operating CROWN REAL -TIME ANALYZER and convenience features that should prove MEETS NEED FOR A LOW -COST, to be of real value to the multi -channel RUGGED, AUDIO BAND ANALYZER recording studio. The Crown RTA -2, real -time audio For example, all functions and operating analyzer, is a new tool designed for fast, modes can now be controlled remotely on accurate, on site equalization and analysis an optional remote control unit, including of sound systems. The 32 filters included in selective reproduce and varispeed. This the RTA -2 provide a dynamic range for the means that overdubbing on any one or a unit of 60 dB and a bandwidth of 16 Hz to 20 combination of the eight channels can be kHz. The range and flexibility assure quick controlled from inside the studio by the on site system equalization checks as well as musicians, for instance, instead of from the speeding up the basic equalizing process. control room. As for varispeed, both coarse The RTA -2 includes a built -in 5 -inch and fine controls are incorporated in the scope with a lighted graticule for photo-

remote control, to permit changing pitch or graphy or for viewing in dim light. The built - precisely matching selection length. in pseudorandom pink noise generator As a complement to the remote control, contributes to accurate equalization. Otani is also offering a remote tape timer with an easy -to-read LED readout and a return -to -zero feature, the latter extremely useful in mix down. Other features include freedom from clicks or pops when punching into record, automatic monitor switching to properly match input or tape to record, reproduce, or sync mode, constant tension system for better tape handling and timing, dynamic braking for smooth stops, a direct drive DC The RTA -2 front panel has both balanced capstan servo with 30 and 15 ips speeds, line /mike and unbalanced line/mike outputs built -in 700 and 15,000 Hz test oscillator, for pink noise and both unbalanced plus easy accessilbility to electronics and line /mike and balanced line /mike inputs. OTARI INTRODUCES transport assemblies. Scope displays are switchable to full or 1/3 FULL -FUNCTION ONE -INCH Price of the MX -7800 is $8,695.00, octave and can be set for 10 dB or 5 dB per EIGHT -TRACK including floor console. division on the scope. Integration time on A new one -inch eight -track recorder, said OTAR1 CORPORATION the filter circuits can be fast (normal) or by the manufacturer to be the first full 981 INDUSTRIAL ROAD slow. The slow setting averages the function eight -track machine, was shown by SAN CARLOS, CA 94070 spectrum when needed for measuring Otani for the first time at the Audio (415) 593 -1648 system response. Speed selection is Engineering Show in Los Angeles. separate for the 16 Hz to 630 Hz filters and Designated the MX -7800, it is said to sell at a for additional information circle no. 45 for the 800 Hz to 20 kHz filters. price considerably lower than competing The Crown RTA -2 uses precision, full-

HELLO

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R o n 71 for additional information circle no. 47 www.americanradiohistory.com wave detectors for an accurate display on program that has report- each frequency band. edly resulted in an excep- Jensen transformers The RTA -2 weighs 22 pounds and tional unit at a competitive By measures 171/4- inches deep. The front panel price. It's unique feature is is configured for EIA 19 -inch rack mount the use of a limiter on input Wide Bandwidth with a 7 -inch panel height. Provision is to prevent overload of the Not only does Minimum Transient Distortion included on the RTA -2 to hook up auxiliary delay line. units to expand the utility of the unit. Two this ensure that continuous Low Noise pairs of external inputs may be X -Y optimum modulation and displayed, useful for on site check -out of noise parameters are maint- component distortion or for establishing ained effortlessly, but also system headroom. Rear panel gain controls opens up a whole new range are provided for each input. External display of effects possibilities. Used outputs can be connected to a storage with 100% feedback around scope or to a larger display. the delay line, the limiter Front panel controls include pink noise controls the level and output level control (including on /off) and creates a sustained signal 40 dB attenuation switch; an input level that can be further modif- control (which includes "Calibrate" settings ied by another input signal with precise 20 dB difference); fast /slow with the varied delay. The integration time switching for high and low unit is divided into two sec- Years of transformer manu- frequencies; range selector; and full to 1/3 tions: audio frequency chain In addition, standard and controls and delay sec- facturing and design experi- octave band switch. scope controls are provided for positioning, tion and controls. ence, combined with computer gain, brightness and focus. The audio section pro- assisted technology, have en- The RTA -2 lists for $2,595.00. vides an input attenuator abled us to make asignificantly CROWN INTERNATIONAL, INC. which contols program level audible improvement in the 1718 W. MISHAWAKA ROAD into the limiter and through the performance of audio trans- ELKHART, IN 46514 audio chain, The Spin control is formers. (219) 294-5571 situated in the feedback path and allows feedback informa- Write or call for information for additional information circle no. 50 tion to enter the limiter. One - 1617 NORTH FULLER AVENUE W.JO. hundred feedback is HOLLYWOOD, CA 90046 SCAMP S24 percent (213) 876 -0059 TIME SHAPE MODULE possible withour fear of over- load as clamps and sustains the (Visitors by appointment only.) ADR's S24 Effects Package is the result of the limiter a carefully considered development signal at its threshold level of +6 dBm with- out degradation. The auxiliary input is an alternate input allowing a signal mix into the main audio path. This may be desired when cross linking signal between two units to create NEW! 'stereo' reverb, or when adding externally processed signal. [e.g. equalized, gated, etc.] The flange control integrates direct signal in feed -forward manner in either positive or negative phase relationship. This gives maximum flexibility for phasing effects and is normally used in the short delay [I] mode period. Incorporating a degree of Spin when flanging will enhance the effect, while increasing the delay and Spin will create a Model 1100 hollow characteristic. Line /Microphone Audio Mixer Maximum ADT effect is achieved with the longest delay [II] and the flange control set Six Line /Microphone Inputs Phono Preamplifier, RIAA Equalization fully to ' +' or ' -' dependent on the effect Monaural Output Monitor Output required. Alternatively when real -time signal Rack Mountable Transformer Isolation is required to distinctly predominate, the Equalization VU Meter delayed signal from the S24 unit can be routed via the Scamp mother -board for OUTSTANDING GUARANTEED PERFORMANCE mixing externally in the real -time signal IMMEDIATE DELIVERY - ECONOMICALLY PRICED path. The delay section incorporates a delay Specifications may be obtained from pot, with manual sweeping operation in two ranges. [1.2 mS -11 mS (I) and 11 mS -45 mS (II)] dependent on the range switch. A constant visual indication is given of delay PEGAR BONICS setting by two green LED's above the control, whereby maximum delay is IN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY indicated when the lefthand LED is fully off LEADER and the righthand LED fully on. EF [envelope signal 3750 Airport Road Ogden, Utah 84403 (801) 392 -7531 The follower] control is derived from the main audio signal level. It increases the delay [manually established] R-e/p 72 www.americanradiohistory.com The red hot sound of Journey has echoed across America to the thunderous appreciation of literally JOU millions of enthusiastic fans. And Peavey sound Tours with Peavey Sound Gear... gear has been right there with them from the very "For the sweetest stage sound start.Day after day, month after month, constantly there is." being set up and torn down, loaded and unloaded under the most extreme ,onditionss

Gregg Rolie This kind of treatment can put even the best made equipment to the test. But when others fail, Peavey hangs right in there. Because Peavey's rugged construction thrives on the road life. But no matter how dependable your gear is, it's only as good as it sounds. Journey says it's the sweetest stage sound there is..., we couldn't have Aynsley Dunbar said it better.

115

.0*

Neal Schon

Peavey Electronics Corp. 711 A Street Meridian, Mississippi 39301 ©78 Ross Valory Steve Perry

for additional information circle no. 51 R-e 73

www.americanradiohistory.com proportional to the program modulation. Multi NU Eyestrain? The modulation control effectively varies the swing about a predetermined delay time. Get the Red out [e.g. with delay pot set mid -way, maximum modulation will give swing over the full range with NIDIGRAF of delay time, Range I or 11.] The frequency Our new Model 970 VIDIGRAF display generator control determines the rate of swing from makes any standard TV monitor or receiver a bar 0.1 to 10 Hz. The red LED is used to indicate graph display of up to 32 multi-channel audio level meters (VU Meters) or frequency spectrum limiter function operating and below increments. Ballistics closely approximate VU threshold. A green LED shows signal I eter standards. Alpha numeric Symbols are present but not at optimum level. electronically displayed on the screen: no over- lay masks are required. The composite video AUDIO & DESIGN RECORDING output drives any NTSC monitor; an optional RF ST. MICHAEL'S, SHINFIELD RD. adapter converts any NTSC TV sel to a bar graph display. Input cards for 16 and 32 channels. VU READING RG2 9BE, BERKSHIRE, UK or spectrum. make the 970 modular and expand. or fordable. able. and very al P. O. BOX 23047 So. get the Red out. Rest your eyes on a VIDI GRAF at your UREI dealer. HONOLULU, HI 96822 dynamic wow. Microscope illumination uses for additional information circle no. 54 fiber optics and an optional CCTV camera NEUMANN VMS 80 GROOVE mounts on the scope for monitor display of SPACE COMPUTER LATHE the grooves. The entire lathe assembly is air The 59th AES Convention in Hamburg cushion suspended within the cabinet, saw the premiere of the Neumann making for efficient isolation from ambient Company's most revolutionary develop- rumble and touching by the operator. ment: the VMS 80. It is their greatest visual Many innovations have been included in and technical design change since 1957 the VMS 80 design: stylus use hour meter, when Neumann added pitch and depth integral banding unit, automatic groove control to its 1931 originated line of disc echo suppression, digital indication of mastering lathes. percentage of available radius used,

VIOIdWr' mild OM A crystal time base is used to control both automatic run -up of stylus heat from outside OW xwM ammo .. the DC servo turntable drive and lead screw to inside of the disc, elimination of the pitch ° drive motors. A hydro oil bearing, a control knob and the introduction of a land development inherited from the videodisc meter and a control permitting easy setting : technology at Neumann, coupled with of both groove width and land width and through- the -bearing vacuum chuck air feed, indication of the resulting pitch in lines /inch. Exclusive export agent provides minimum rumble, eccentricity and The Groove Space Computer, for the Gotham Exporti Corporation. New York i first time, provides an analysis 16 times each revolution of the phase and amplitude relationship of the adjacent excursions of the next successive grooves to be cut. This is accomplished by means of several digital delay lines in the preview system, likewise timed from the crystal time base. The resultant control signal permits grooves to "snuggle" into each other, something never before possible. The computer can even command the lead screw to stop moment- arily when very loud modulation is followed by very soft modulation and the grooves close up quickly. The VMS 80 will be delivered starting in the Fall of 1978. GOTHAM AUDIO CORP. 741 WASHINGTON STREET NEW YORK, NY 10014 (212) 741-7411 for additional information circle no. 55 UNI -SYNC MODEL 1003 The Garner 1056 High Speed MIKE SPLITTER The Model 1003 is a 10 x 3 microphone Professional Tape Duplicator. splitter that is specially constructed for You'll get perfect dubs time after time with Garner's common capstan drive. It sound reinforcement as well as recording drives the master and 5 slaves at consistently the same speed. And Garner uses and broadcast applications. The 19 -inch only glass bonded ferrite recording heads -which outwear ordinary metal heads rack -mountable unit has ten female XLR 10 to 15 times. In addition to quality and accuracy, the 1056 is fast -2 minute tape connectors for its microphone inputs. From loading and 60 ips duplicating speed. The 1056 has a 3 -year mechanical and a 1- there you can go three ways from each year electronic warranty. Garner is the choice of professionals. You'll see why. input: Direct output for phantom powering Look to Garner for quality electronic audio and from main console for condenser micro- video products. For more information write or call: VAV 4200 N. 48the Lincoln, NE 68504 OOOOO®O®®ri GARNER GARNER INDUSTRIES 402-inc ®aon000®®o-

R-eip 74

www.americanradiohistory.com The new one -inch TAD driver is truly unique. There is nothing else like it. Use it with your favorite horn and you'll get a frequency response from 800 to THE NEW 22,000 Hz. So one speaker does the same job it used to take both a tweeter and super -tweeter to do. Saves weight. And money.

The secret is the TAD driver's TAD* DRIVER, beryllium diaphragm.

The diaphragm is the heart of a driver. It must be both light yet rigid. We used beryllium to achieve a standard of per- IT GIVES YOU formance never before known to the professional. Every single tone - no matter how subtle or how complex - is captures and reproduced just the way it is played or recorded. The resulting MORE sound is a revelation. The quality of both parts and workman- ship, plLS the same care in assembly given a fine watch, makes the TAD driver a new standard for the entire industry. BY GIVING YOU It allows the driver to reproduce fre- quencies up to 22,000 Hz without any major drop -off in response and permits it to withstand high input power. LESS. If your ob involves professional sound reproduction - on stage, in concert halls, in clubs or studios - you have an obligation to yourself to hear this 411w remarkable driver. With the arrival of the TAD driver the state of the art just took a quantum leap. Technical TAD Audio Devices A Division of U.S. Pioneer Electronics Corp. 142 Redneck Avenue, Moonachie, New Jersey 07074 Telephone: '1)440.8234

nical Audio De Redneck Avenue onachie, New Jersey 070 send technical data for the TAD duct line. (Dealer inquiries also invi

NAME I s (Please L ^ (' TITLE COMPANY DIVISION

ADDA ESS

ATE Fly 'PHONEI Area Code, 'TAD is Technic» the profess'' U.S. Pioneer for additional information circle no. 56 www.americanradiohistory.com phones; and splitter outputs consisting of The Model 1003 microphone splitter expander modules. The stacking of two bridged outputs with ground lift retails for $840.00. additional expander modules increases the switches on each. UNI -SYNC, INC. total number of microphones that the One of the unique features of the 1003 is 742 HAMPSHIRE ROAD AC24M is capable of powering. Note that that it can be rack mounted. The rugged 14 WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA 91361 the AC24S must be used in conjunction with gauge steel chassis is tough enough for the (805) 497 -0766 the AC24M. road use where The AC24M is ready for use as it comes in or studio splitters take for additional information circle no. 59 plenty of wear and tear. The transformers the box. The power supply requires 105 to are dual Faraday shielded, therefore PHANTOM POWER MODULES 120 volts AC, 50 to 60 Hz, for proper eliminating hum and buzzes. This maintains FROM ELECTRO -VOICE operation. The power supply may be super low distortion with no ringing and The Electro -Voice Model AC24M is a inserted anywhere in the microphone line exceptional isolation. remote AC power supply designed for use between the microphone and the mixer with condenser microphones. Inserted in input. the microphone line between the micro- Suggested price for the AC24M is $96.00 phone and the mixer, the AC24M provides and $81.00 for AC24S. Prices are slightly 24 volts DC via the phantom method. The higher on the West Coast. AC24M will power two microphones ELECTRO- VOICE, INC. directly and with the use of the AC24S 600 CECIL STREET expander modules, will power approxi- BUCHANA, MI 49107 mately ten microphones, depending upon (616) 695 -6831

I current required for each microphone. air for additional information circle no. 60 QUANTUM AUDIO LABS PROFESSIONAL RECORDING CONSOLE . In reverent quest of the last dB Just introduced by Quantum Audio Labs, John Joseph Boyle the Model QM -8B is an 8-input x 4 -buss December 20, 1947 - August 9, 1978 console. The unit incorporates all the features of the QM -8A, its predecessor, For those of us lucky enough to have known John Boyle. his passing from this physical including an 8 -track monitor section, cue world is a time of tremendous sadness, yet it system, built -in talkback and a genuine VU is also a time of great strength. John was able meter for each buss. In addition, the QM -8B to see the future as it related to the music, offers several new features as standard the equipment and most importantly, the equipment. people involved in pro audio. It was his great Each input has a solo button, a smooth foresight and energy that inspired so many to follow his visions and his ideas. His accomp- conductive-plastic fader, a switchable 15 dB lishments, through his involvements with AI- pad for the mike preamp, a deluxe 3- knob/6- tec, TEAC/Tascam, Express Sound, Sound frequency equalizer with In/Out switch, 3 Workshop, and so many others are numer- special effects sends (cue, Echo 1 and Echo ous, but they are far surpassed his by inspir- The AC24S expander module is designed 2), stereo panning, and 4 output assignment ation to those he touched. In a competitive in- for use with the AC24M. Utilizing a switches. There is a Pan In/Out switch to dustry such as ours, John was always able to convey the importance of the music and the mechanical nesting concept, the AC24S select direct or panned buss assignment. people. The gear was John's vehicle to what mates with the AC24M to provide a rugged Remote mike powering ( "phantom power ") he cherished most, bringing friends and mechanical package. The AC24S draws the and direct channel outputs are available as music together. We will miss John dearly, but power it requires from the AC24M power options. he will live on in everything we do. supply and distributes it to four additional With the monitor section features, an 8- - From Johns' friends in the industry sets of microphone connectors. There is a track tape machine (16 -track optional) can who loved him dearly connector on the top of the expander be mixed to stereo and monitored without module that will accept additional AC24S disturbing the console's input channel

.. . OFFERS TO LOS ANGELES AREA STUDIOS:

Professional audio system and component repair, modification, evaluation and consultation. illlll1111 11111111H Tape machine repair, calibration and modification. inn Overhaul by appointment. n 100% semiconductor replacement stock carried for Ampex AG- 440A/B /C, MM 1100, MM 1200, AUDIO DIAGNOSTIC 3M M23, M 56, M 64, M 79. Substantial stock for MEASUREMENTS Ampex ATR -100 and Studer A 80. P. O. Box 91857 Frequently Los Angeles, California 90009 replaced mechanical parts stock on hand for Ampex, 3M and Studer machines. (213) 546 -2132

R-e/p 76 for additional information circle no. 58 www.americanradiohistory.com TRANS-AMP m LZ

©©J I o)ó4f}©-Tafp@e9 YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT IT. NOW HEAR IT FOR YOURSELF.

Sure. .. when compared to transform- over transformer coupled preamps. er mic preamps, TRANS -AMP' LZ Transparency, definition, fidelity, exhibits superior noise levels, fre- warmth, smoothness-call it what quency response, transient response, you like, TRANS- AMP'LZ makes phase response, distortion character- music sound real. istics, and CMRR. Compare for yourself. The new Of course... Direct Disc, Inc. TRANS-AMP' LZ album by The New handles any level Dave Brubeck Quar- you can give it, tet, "A Cut Above ", and passes a was cut using stan- square wave like dard console trans- a champ. former mic preamps But what on one of the sides. about the sound? í D The other three In compara- sides (it's a double tive listening album) were cut with tests worldwide, TRANS- AMPT"^LZ TRANS -AMP' LZ mic preamps... users have report- the perfect A -B ed a truly signifi- comparison. cant improvement

Individual TRANS- AMP'LZ modules are available for use in new circuit design. Complete TRANS- AMPTMLZ Transformerless Mic Preamps are now available in two styles: Retrofit kits for all MCI Series 400 & 500 consoles. Plug -in card for standard 15 pin edge connector.

FACTORY: EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION BY: Valley People, Inc. EUROPE P.O. Box 40306 Scenic Sounds Equipment 2821 Erica Place 97 -99 Dean Street Nashville, Tennessee 37204 London W 1 V 5 RA 615- 383 -4737 Phone 01 734 -2812 Telex 27 939 SCENIC G

R-e/p 77 for additional information circle no. 61 www.americanradiohistory.com be permanently connected without THE WORD FOR TODAY crosstalk. Standard on the SR 20 input channel modules are a variable gain preamp IS with input pad on mike and line and switchable high pass filter; three bank equalization with parametric mid -band; "NATURAL" three auxiliary sends may be pre -selected to [More or Less] either pre or post fader by an undermodule link; and an input insertion point for limiting or special effects. For years, all reverbs were just The output modules give control of left that - simply reverbs - until and right master outputs. Facilities they development of the MASTER - provide include four subgroups all panable ROOM. to the main output faders; two master faders MASTER -ROOM claimed Natural setting. Additionally, two echo return with solo; a comprehensive meter system Sound and demonstrated what is channels are provided in the monitor for either the four subgroups or the program meant by that with its unique, section, each of which can be assigned to selected on the monitor system; two full ambience properties of: any combination of the four mixing busses. auxiliary masters are provided with pre -fade The output section includes buss trim monitoring; and patch points on each controls, a board master fader and a VU subgroup and master for additional external Natural delay prior to first echo meter on each buss. equipment. The Master Natural group of first order XL connectors Control Module of echoes accommodate the inputs and outputs, and a the SR 20 allows the engineer to monitor all Natural build -up in amplitude separate pair of multi -pin connectors Natural pattern random diffu- facilitates interface to an optional patch bay. sion An 8 -input expander can be added to the Natural build -up in echo density system at any time, increasing its capacity to Natural proportioned decay 16 inputs. (A 12 -input version of this console Natural flat frequency response is also available, the Model QM -12B.) Natural smoothness without limiting High quality transformer -balanced mike inputs, wide dynamic range mike preamps and electronically balanced line inputs assure quiet operation in actual recording As a result of MASTER -ROOM, studio conditions (88 dB signal -to -noise "NATURAL" is now the key word ratio). For instance, the console measures in reverberation equipment, but a -70 dB output noise when its controls are word that is too often used set to yield +18 dBm output level from a +4 without regard to its true mean- dBm nominal input. ing. The QM -8B's total harmonic distortion is typically 0.05 %. Its signals with the console without affecting So thanks to all who have high slew rate (greater than 10 volts /micro- the main mix. helped to make "NATURAL" Itig second) is fast enough to assure good Technical specifications on the SR 20 word in reverberation devices. transient response. Quantum provides a include equivalent input noise of -126 dB. one -year warranty on parts and labor. Also, sensitivity: -80 dB. Maximum output: From the originator...the one QUANTUM AUDIO LABS, INC. 18 dBm. Noise: better than -75 dB overall. who backs it up with perfor- 1909 RIVERSIDE mance. DRIVE Frequency response: 30 Hz to 20 kHz ±1 GLENDALE, CA 91201 dB. Output operating level: 0 dBm including (213) 841-0970 insertion points. Equalization: ±16 dB at 10 kHz, ±16 dB at 100 Hz, and ±18 dB at 1.8 for additional information circle no. 64 kHz to 7.5 kHz continuously variable. A &H's NEW 20 CHANNEL Price of the SR 20 is $6,250.00. Also MIXING CONSOLE AVAILABLE available is a 28 input version, the SR 28, for FROM AUDIOMARKETING $8,400.00. A new live concert and theater mixing AUDIOMARKETING, LTD. console, the SR 20, is now available from 652 GLENBROOK ROAD Audiomarketing, Ltd., exclusive U. S. STAMFORD, CT 06906 distributor for Allen and Heath. The (203) 359-2312 sophisticated SR 20 is a fully modular mixer for additional information circle no. 65 with totally expandable format which allows up to 20 input channels to be fitted. JBL ANNOUNCES ITS NEW Its fully modular construction enables FAMILY OF PROFESSIONAL rapid 'in field' servicing and parts POWER AMPLIFIERS - replacement as well as a greater degree of THE 6000 SERIES flexibility and fidelity - qualities not found Six amplifiers are included in the 6000 in standard mixers. The grouping of each Series. The 6007 and 6008 deliver a channel into twelve mix busses greatly minimum of 60 watts; the 6011 and 6012 eliminates a sound engineer's mechanical deliver a minimum of 100 watts; and the tasks, allowing him to concentrate on the 6021 and 6022 deliver a minimum of 200 creative aspect of his work. watts. Each pair includes a model with an ft\/I T C Along with the routing to Subgroups, audio output transformer (the 6007, 6011 M1X stereo masters, auxiliary masters, auxiliary and 6021) and without a transformer (the MICMIX Audio Products, Inc. sends and the PFL system, each input 6008, 6012 and 6022). 2995 Ladybird, Dallas, TX 75220 channel offers a transformer balanced, low One outstanding feature of the 6000 (214) 352 -3811 noise, input stage with low distortion and Series is modular construction. With the high headroom. Mike and line signals may exception of the power supply and output

R.e/p 78 www.americanradiohistory.com "We have been blessed by our Maker with two ears and only one mouth, which indicates that we should listen more and talk less. This is the way we sell loudspeakers. "The Klipschorn" is the next best thing to original sound. It's like being there, because that's the way I designed it. "The Klipschorn loudspeaker out- performs every speaker in the world for high efficiency and low distortion, and we've tested the others in our laboratories. "The Klipschorn loudspeaker is still made with all the care, craftsman- ship and quality that I made my first one with 40 years ago. By hand. "The Klipschorn loudspeaker is the ultimate in sound reproduction. But all my exhortations, all the specifications in the world, won't tell you what your ears can. "This is all we ask. Listen and compare. If you don't hear the difference between Klipschorns and other speakers, you're not ready yet. "Just listen." klipscl r Please send me your FREE color brochure on the full line of Klipsch loudspeaker systems, along with a list of Klipsch dealers. Name Address

City State_ Zip

klipsch PO. Box 688 RE9 V. Hope, Arkansas 71801 In Canada: Superior Electronics, Inc L. Paul Klipsch, inventor of the Khpschom loudspeaker Made from selected hardwood veneer,-

R-e/p 79 for additional information circle no. 66 www.americanradiohistory.com Performance reliability of the 6000 Series full power operation, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, into a is ensured by an advanced protection 4 -ohm load, and less than 0.2 per cent total circuit, which senses true dissipation of the harmonic distortion. output devices even under extreme JAMES B. LANSING SOUND conditions of load impedance and line 8500 BALBOA BOULEVARD voltage. Cooling is accomplished by NORTHRIDGE, CA 91329 convection over a generous heat sink area. (213) 893 -8411 No transients are produced by turning the for additional information circle no. 68 unit on or off. The audio output transformers available SOLID STATE LOGIC in the 60 -watt 6007, the 100 -watt 6011 and SSL4000 AUTOMATED CONSOLES transformer, the entire amplifier circuit is the 200 -watt 6021 have been designed for Solid State Logic Limited of Oxford, mounted on a single board, which can be minimum distortion and power loss. The England, has introduced their SSL4000 - removed from the rear of the unit with the transformers allow full power operation, 35 40 channel automated recording consoles. mainframe still mounted in a rack. This Hz - 20 kHz, into an 8 -ohm, 16 -ohm or 70.7 Already in use in several studios throughout unique "field interchangeable unit" offers V load, with less than 0.2 per cent total Europe, the SSL consoles offer the artist, professional sound engineers swiftness and harmonic distortion. producer and engineer complete freedom ease of servicing previously unavailable. The 6008, 6012 and 6022 amplifiers allow from operational details, allowing full concentration on musical creativity. Every input module of the SSL4000 includes an instrument quality compressor/ noise -gate /expander and a four band variable -cue parametric equalizer. Full tape machine remotes are included within each channel. The unique super -cue logic automatically provides artists with correct fold -back sources, even during complex punch -ins. The SSL4000 automation system is

composed of a mini- computer with floppy - disc storage as well as an alphanumeric keyboard and CRT display. Also included is a SMPTE time code generator /reader and fast learning intelligent auto locator. In addition to level, mute and grouping memory, the SSL automation also provides

pas'sh/9 ac O °os/:s aa/y /ys/S e full record- keeping of track assignment, sé °a/f99¡ae 'c song titles, dates and comments, as well as ka9ca; ` e° c 'acea qd ac°Gp°a presettable punch -in timing and editing of 026». a doc o stored mixes. All commands are entered e%a:á 0/20;á / / into the keyboard in simple English. a" att 0?pa°b/a,aaa a /t '/s°a9vt°"Iisia 4r°. Sierra Audio Corporation has been a/b, ai?c appointed exclusive representation of SSL Hemisphere s°cP'earres Western 0// co9 °a s fe, 'cAa for the entire including Asia. A complete operational /he7o///haoid° o s aas A s oi system will be on display at the November ,yi AES convention. s, ti,, 'AS qG SOLID STATE LOGIC, LTD. y CHURCH ROAD, STONESFIELD v,, . ó,o OXFORD OX7 2PD, ENGLAND FO Mahwv S SIERRA AUDIO CORPORATION 1V: YS. 621 S. GLENWOOD PLACE 930 0j BURBANK, CA 91506 M 2oS CO (213) 843 -8115 9A 29 for additional information circle no. 69

R-eip 80 for additional information www.americanradiohistory.comcircle no. 67 INTERFACE HIGH be switched to 400, 1,000, 2,000 or 4,000 Hz, PERFORMANCE EIGHT and the low frequency rolloff can be INPUT MIXER -SERIES 400 switched for flat or 12 dB/octave at 50, 100 For quick, precise, The Series 400 mixer is said to achieve or 200 Hz. Echo Send can be used for effects high performance, reliability, and ease of such as reverb requiring a postslider send, and economical operation with low cost and is suitable for and an echo return is provided. Cue send audio frequency mono or stereo recording, small sound can be used for cueing or monitoring, and systems, or any application requiring up to can listen to any one input solo or any analysis... eight inputs and one or two outputs plus combination of inputs, preslider. Slider ..... n-e rJ echo and cue. The eight inputs are suitable masters and VU meters provide output . for balanced 150.600 ohm signal sources at' control. Construction is entirely modular levels from -50 dBm to zero dBm; internal and plug-in and utilizes new high slew rate -b i-:.... pad switch protects the normal 20 dB plug -in integrated circuits with blow -out A s a^, headroom at all levels and each input is protection. Good design and shielding fitted with an LED overload danger provide immunity from stray fields or r. -i ''',^i o F p ..* indicator to aid in setting input gain. inteference. These mixers are also available on special order with 12 inputs. ...use the versatile Specifications include flat response within 1 dB from 20 to 20,000 Hz with 12 dB boost new ARA -412 -27 -G or cut at specified frequencies with the equalizers, distortion under .05% at 400 Hz With an ARA- 412 -27 -G you can analyze and measure all frequencies in real almost to the clip level, normal 1 volt output time into within the audio bandwidth. Use it to test 600 ohms (unbalanced) at zero VU with microphones. isolate cross -talk, balance approximately 20 dB headroom, and crossovers, check speaker deficiencies, extremely low noise levels. Inputs are XLR -3 test tone controls, adjust equalization. and many other purposes. type, outputs are phone plug. The eight $2,950. Write for free input version measures 15" x 17" x 5" and your technical (FOB San Diego) bulletin on the ARA 41? 77 C weighs 16 lbs. List price is $1,300.00. INTERFACE ELECTRONICS communicATions 3810 WESTHEIMER HOUSTON, TX 77027 comPnnY (713) 626 -1190

3450 Noell Street NorozoII Three 12 dB equalizers and a low for additional information circle no. 70 San Diego, CA 92110 r -' frequency rolloff provide for full professional Telephone (714) 297 -3261 equalizing; the mid frequency equalizer can 11 Superior SETE from BTX 00 d

4300 Reader and Video Display -JILL i - '-,.r

4200 Reader and Digital Display BTX guarantees superior performance from 1.5 to 1200 IPS even at -18dBm or with any degree of time jitter. BTX guarantees superior reliability and assures it with a 100 -hour operational burn-in prior to shipment. BTX guarantees time-code system compatibility with its complete line of cost -effective modular building blocks. For complete information, call:

The BTX Corporation 438 Boston Post Road Weston, Massachusetts 02193 617- 891-1239

for additional information circle no. 81 R-e/p 81 www.americanradiohistory.com CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING :74MiT3LiLZWrIIZIIIRK1 i[]: F theory and working CONSOLES RATES information and emphasis on KITS A WIRED practical AMPLIFIERS - $45.00 Per Column Inch - uses MIC., IO, ACN,LINE, "MICROPHONES HOW TAPE, DISC, POWER (2' /a X 1") - THEY WORK AND HOW OSCILLATORS One inch minimum, payable in ad- AUDIO, TAPE SIAS vance. Four inches Space TO USE THEM" SUPPLIES maximum. by Martin Cnllord Op 103ÌN.5SYCAMORE AVE over four inches will be charged for .18.5 M LOS CA. 9003E 224 Pages 97 Illustrations VNG - 1 V(P ) ELES, at regular display advertising rates. $8.95 Hardbound: $5.95 Paperback Postpaid for additional information circle no. 73 BOOKS R-e /p Books P. O. Box 2449 Hollywood, CA 90028 PRO AUDIO EQUIPMENT HANDBOOK OF AND SERVICES SOUND SYSTEM ENGINEERING P.A. and custom touring sound systems, MULTICHANNEL by Don & Carolyn Dans studio equipment and turn -key install- RECORDING 296 Pages 8':x11 ations, theatre and disco sound. Repre- by F. Alton Everest Hardbound - S19.95 senting over 100 audio lines including: R -e/p Books 320 pages 201 illustrations AKG, Allen & Heath, Alembic, Altec, - P. 0. Box 2449 Hollywood. CA 90028 The book that covers it all ... Ampex, B &W, Beyer, BGW, Cetec, a comprehensive guide to all facets of Cerwin -Vega, Celestion, Community multi -track recording ... acoustics ... SOUND RECORDING Light & Sound, dbx, Denon, Dokorder, construction ... studio design ... by John Eargle. JME Associates Dynaco, Emilar, ESS -Pro, E.V. For- equipment ... techniques ... and "The best book on the technical sythe Audio, Fons, Furman, Gallien - much, much more. side of recording . thoroughly Kruger, Gale, Gauss, Goldring, Grace, Hardbound $10.95 - Paperback $7.95 recommended." J &H Formula 4, Kelsey, Koss, Lamb, - Studio Sound Langevin. 3M, 3A, Marantz, Meteor, R -e /p Books 338 Pages, Illustrated with 232 tables, Mitsubishi, Maxell, Malatchy, MXR- P.O. Box 2449 Hollywood, CA 90028 curves, schematic diagrams, photographs Pro, Otari, Russound, Revox, SAEC, and cutaway views of equipment. Sennheiser, Scotch, Shure, Sonab, MICROPHONES: DESIGN Sí6.95 each Sound Craftsman, Soundcraft, Sound R -e/p Books Workshop, Sony, Switchcraft, Sescom, and APPLICATION P. 0. Box 2449 Hollywood. CA 90028 Stax, Supex, Tapco, TDK, Tascam, by Lou Burroughs Technics, TEAC, Thorens, Utter, West A practical, non -theoretical reference EQUIPMENT Penn. manual for those involved in the ALL EQUIPMENT ON DISPLAY IN A application of microphones for recording, WORKING ENVIRONMENT. COMPETI- TV, motion pictures, sound ONE STOP FOR ALL YOUR TIVE PRICING d COMPREHENSIVE reinforcement. PROFESSIONAL AUDIO REQUIREMENTS SERVICE. Hardcover - $20.00 BOTTOM LINE ORIENTED K & L SOUND 75 N. Beacon St. Watertown, MASS 02172 R -e /p Books F. T. C. @NEWER COMPANY P.O.Bos Pensecole, Florida f617) 926-6100 1Attn: Kan 8tapr) P.O. Box 2449 Hollywood, CA 90028 8057 32506 We Offer Our Complements Modular tape components and electronics.

PA oou cTS OF SOUND RESEARCH

When you design a custom tape system to record, to monitor or to play, specify reliable Telex tape components. You'll collect NICATIONS, INC. the compliments. With our complements. 9600 ALDRICH AVE. SO. MINNEAPOLIS. MINN. 55420 U S A Europe: 22. rue da la Legion- d'Honneur. 93200 St. Denis. France For detailed information please write. Canada: Telak Electionics. Ltd.. Scarborough. Ontario

R-e/p 82 for additional information circle no. 72 www.americanradiohistory.com FOR SALE: FOR SALE: As we phase in our new 32 CHANNEL Spectra Sonics 1024 -24 recording con- 2 Altec A7 Speakers $300 ea. MIXING CONSOLES we will have several 18 2 Phase Linear 7006 Power Amps used 24 CHANNEL MIXING CONSOLES sole. 24 in -out. Producer's desk. ea. $500 for sale at half the original cost. These months old. Excellent condition. $25,000. V -FET Power Amps .... $800 ea. 2 Yamaha B3 Tycobrahe Model MXL -24 consoles weigh (805) 966 -6630,966 -1271 1 Westrex 3011 Cutter Head with amps $3.000 only 86 lbs., and have 3 bands (each with Mid, 1 Neumann complete Disc Cutting Sys- 3 selectable frequencies) for Low, GOING 16 - Need mixer & recorder, will tem with SX -68 Head and JG66 Amps, Con - and High frequency equalization on each consider used equipment. sole, Tape Deck, EQ, etc. $20,000 input, three assignable sub -masters, two HAVE TO SELL: Yamaha PM1000 - bought 1 Bushnell 24 x 12 Console $15,000 (stereo) main outputs and two monitor or 1 Generator $200 new and used as studio mixer only. DuKane 30 -50 effects outputs. (Total of four outputs, 1 3M 56 8-Track Recorder $6.000 Ampex 8 Trk Recorder - Good Condition All Prices FOB Hollywood with pan -pots on both main and monitor DBX 158 - 8 channel noise reduction brand UNITED RECORDING outputs.) The main outputs have a very new - MRL 8 trk test tape brand new - 6000 Sunset Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90028 fast dual -band peak limiter which saves Also have High Speed 8 trk cart duplicator (213) 469-3983 costly amplifiers and loudspeakers from and 4 Telex 300 reel slaves. the damage of high level instantaneous Contact - Bruce Anderson, National Record- Tascam, TEAC, Sound Workshop, Otarl peaks that occur in live concert sound ing, P. 0. Box 5010, Texarkana, Tx. 75501 dbx, Nakamichi, MXR, Dynaco, ADS, E -V, reinforcement. Because of the dual -band (214) 793 -4116. Eventide, Shure, Matteil, Ampex, AKG Pro, separation, these limiters do not make Beyer, UREI, Sfax, Sennhelser, TAPCO, any audible " pumping" or other objection- RECORDING CONSOLE, LANGEMAN Crown, and more! able sounds at normal operating levels. 16 x 4, EQ, echo, s /r. Used video equip- SEND FOR PRICE QUOTES These consoles are in excellent condition, ment. Info: Malcolm Montgomery, Chief ZIMET PRO AUDIO and include an ATA shipping case (good College- Conservatory of Music, Dept. REP condition). Original (new) price: $10,000. Engineer, 11576 Univ. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221 1038 Northern Blvd. Roslyn, NY Available used at $5,000. (513) 475 -4394 -JACK PANELS 24 Track Datamix Consoles in excellent condition - For Sale. Contact H. Selby. AUDIO CONNECTORS (212) 477-7500 e AMPEX 300-8 with AG -400 elec., cabinet, MULTI-SWITCH 157 E. 1.3rd t. ardena, CA 90248 $4,500.00; 300C -1 with 8 -track heads, SWITCHES (213) 532-4142 - (213) 772-5009 cabinet, $1,000.00; MR70 -3, cabinet, $1,500.00; 350 -2, custom elec. portable FOR SALE: New White Model 140 case, $1,300.00; 354C, portable cases, Send lo, FREE catalog Spectrum Analyzer. Built -in pink noise A Complete One of A,d,o Accessories $1,200.00; 351 -4 deck, $900.00; (3) Altec Immediate Delivery generator. $2,300.00. 1566A preamps, $35.00 each; 604 -C, mon- MASTERTONE RECORDING STUDIOS itor cabinets, $600.00 pair; Presto 8D -G CAUFORNIA SwITCN & SIfiNAI 130 W. 42nd St. New York, NY 10036 with 1D head, rack. amps, equalizers, 13717 S. Normandia Ave., Gardena, (212) 840 -1930 make offer. More! California 90249 1213) 770-2330 (213) 956 -1337 continued -

Raindirk requires representation by established companies to promote their Series m Mixing Console, a flexible, high quality, cost conscious mixing system. RAINDIRK LIMITED All inquiries direct to our factory: Bridge Street, Downham Market, Norfolk, England. Telephone: 036 63 2165. Re /p 83 for additional information circle no. 74 www.americanradiohistory.com EQUIPMENT STAGE /STUDIO /BROADCAST AUDIO SYSTEMS MCI JH -10 Deck with Auto Locator, R EVOX MODIFICATION $2,000.00; Tascam Series 70 -8 Track TO PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AKG, Allison Research, Amber, AMCO, Recorder, $1,995.00; Sound Workshop API, Auditronics. Beyer, Cannon, dbx, E -V and Tangent Pro Products from stock. (213) E7 Edit -All, El -Tech, Eventide Clockworks, PAUL WESTBROOK AUDIO *85 ARROVOANNARROYO ANNEX IVIE, JBL, Lexicon, MicMix, MRL, MXR, Rt. 3, Box 105 Victoria, TX 77901 Pasadena, CA 91109 Nagra, Neotek, Neumann, Nortronics, (512) 578 -4401 or 578 -8072 AUDIO ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES Orban /Parasound, Orange County Otani, Pultec, Ramko, Robins, Russco, Scully, 2 - AMPEX AG440B 2 -track in FOR Sennheiser, Sescom, Shure, Sony, SALE: Soundcraft, Speck, Switchcraft, Spectra Russ Lang custom cabinets. (404) Spectra Sonics 1024 -24 recording Sonics, 3-M, Tascam, Technics, White, console. 24 in 355 -8680 -out. Producer's desk. 18 and UREI. Plus many more. months Contact George or Jimmi old. Excellent condition. $25,000. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON (805) 966-6630,966 -1271 THESE AND OTHER SPECIALTY ITEMS LANGEVIN AM4 CONSOLE FROM OUR FACTORY OPERATIONS 25 inputs, 4 FOR SALE outputs, custom pan pots and Deagan Vibraharp (with CONTACT: phantom power. $7,000 cases) $800 or best offer. Used Baldwin Harpsichord $400 MIDWEST for many years SOUND COMPANY in our 16 -track studio. (with mated amp- stereo) $200 4346 West 63rd Street Great sound! Fender Bass Keyboard $300 Chicago, IL 60629 0312/767 -7272 HOLDEN, HAMILTON 8 ROBERTS, INC. Eventide Flanger (like new) $425 2227 N. 56th St. Seattle, WA 98103 Echoplex $180 (206) 632 -8300 Sony Video EV -310 $350 FOR SALE: Neumann VG -66 2 Altec 15" 604E Speakers (with baffles) cutting amplifier system with HK- FOR SALE: Large MOOG Synthesizer. 3 JBL 12" speakers (with baffles) $250 66 high frequency limiters in 72" All components, 2 keyboards, ribbon con- 3 CM Monitor Amps -Model 702 (220 watts) Neumann rack. Make offers to: troller, 2 sequential controllers. Excel- $600 lent condition. Barcus Berry Pickup -Piano $100 WAKEFIELD MFG., INC. SCOTT -TEX 8 Ampex Electronics #440 (no cards) .. $2,000 P. O. Box 6037 Phoenix, AZ 85005 TOR PRODUCTIONS Scully 280-2 S2,200 220 East 54th Street All freight charges COD New York, NY 10022 REVOX MODIFICATION: Variable pitch DON ELLIOTT PRODUCTIONS for A77, In -Sync for A77 or A700, Pro- TRACKS! 67 Park Avenue New York, NY 10016 grammer for A77, Rack Mounts, Slow Total recording systems, specializing in the (212) 679-5670 Speed 1 -7/8, Full Track, Auto Rewind. semi pro studio. Tascam, TEAC, Neotek, High Speed 15 ips for A77, Slidematic BGW, dbx, MicMix, Sennheiser, TAPCO, FOR SALE: Custom De Medio Con- for A77, Machines available with or with- MXR, Shure, S.A.E., and many others. sole, 24 x 16 (to 24 with patching), out mods at low cost (A77 from $695). All COMPLETE STUDIO PACKAGES 24 x 4 monitor, EQ, 4 echo sends, mods professionally performed by Revox AVAILABLE 2 cue sends, many trained technicians. other features. ENTERTAINMENT TRACKS Available with 24 API 550 EQ's. (550 SOUND 9620 47th Street not sold separate.) SERVICES, INC. Brookfield, IL 80613 (312) 486.0020 78 N. Franklin St. Hempstead, NY 11550 GRAY - (415) 771 -5780 (516) 538 -2220

Abuulf,Aiteidlitile.

w+...r i

Just one glance at the Yamaha convert it Into a monaural super There's not enough room to give you P -2200 power amp tells you the whole amp and 'or 70 -volt line output capa- all the facts here, so send this ad story. The case, the handles, the bility for distribution systems.) along with six dollars. (Please. certified whole exterior relate a single. powerful Silent! With a 110dB S N ratio and check or money order message rock -solid reliability, only. No cash stability .05% THD from 20Hz to 20kHz. the P -2200 or personal checks.) We'll send you and high performance.The P -2200 satisfies even the most critical ears. the P -2200 operation manual filled is no hi -fi retread. It's designed for a wide How pro can you go? The P- 2200's with facts. variety of professional Or better yet. see your applications. dB- calibrated input attenuators and Yamaha dealer. Strong! With 200 watts of continuous 50dß peak reading meters are flush overage sine wave power into 8 ohms. mounted. Inputs to each channel have you've got plenty of punch to handle the XLR connectors with a parallel phone YAMAHA high peaks essential to clean studio jack. plus a phase reversing switch. Musical Instrument Combo Division monitoring. as well as all -night cooking Speaker connectors ore five -way in "live" concert reinforcement 6600 Orongethorpe Avenue. or binding posts that take wire or "banana" Buena Pork CA 90620 disco sound systems. (You can easily plugs. Write PO Box 6600 Buena Park CA 90622

o R-e/p84 for additional information circle no. 75

www.americanradiohistory.com FOR SALE: MCI 416 CONSOLE, 16 x 20 DISC MASTERING ENGINEERS EQUIPMENT east largest independent disc (Exp. to 24) w /light meters and 36" Pro- The coast's mastering house is in need two exper- ducer's Desk, mid range EC modified to of enced cutters preferably with a good tech- boost and cut. MCI JH16 w /Autolocator, DON'T TOUCH ANOTHER Ea CONTROL nical background and customer follow- included 16 tk. and 8 tk. heads and guides. until you find out what's really coming through Machine and console in good condition ing. Excellent salary and benefits. Apply resume to: your console. now in use. Availability negotiable. with and Box MAS The Mark Levinson Audio Systems ML -2 $30,000.00. Contact: RKM STUDIOS c/o R -e /p Class A Power Amplifier is the only amplifier in P. Box 2449 Hollywood, CA 90028 1200 Spring St., N.W. Atlanta, GA 30309 O. the world that will show you everything you (404) 874 -3667 have on tape. ENGINEER /MANAGER music and commer- Experienced engineers are telling us that they Current MCI Console JH 528, Stereo A San Francisco - cial production studio seeks chief never knew what kind of sound they were really Quad, 28 in, 24 out. Operated only a few latest factory mods. engineer /manager. Must be able and getting they used ML -2 amplifiers in their weeks. Debugged and until STUDIOS willing to sell ad agencies, etc. Stu- monitor system. For professional applications CHEROKEE RECORDING fac- (213) 653 -3412 dio is comfortable, solid, 16-track we recommend a pair of bridged ML -2's per ility. Salary commensurate with qual- in side. In some cases a pair of ML -2's will be 16 100 complete ifications. Replys held confidence. Scully -track - Model to: sufficient. with 8 -track stack and guides, spare elect., Please send qualifications BOX FSF In Japan the ML -2 was voted the number one remote sync master. Both stacks like new. c/o R -e /p with other $10,500. 16 x 16 APSI console with patch choice for use JBL and Altec and P. O. Box 2449 Hollywood, CA 90028 wide dynamic range studio speakers. Most en- bay plus spare I/O module. 4 band EO (4 Para). bi -FET elect. Very flexible board. gineers report that the ML -2 lets them listen at $5,000.00. Were going 24. ASSISTANT STUDIO MANAGER louder levels with less fatigue for longer periods NORMANDY SOUND We have an opening for the mature of time. (401) 247 -0218 individual seeking a challenging, demand- ing administrative position. Candidates Furthermore the ML -2 Class A Power Amplifier should have prior studio supervisory is built to a standard equivalent to or surpass- EMPLOYMENT experience. Top consideration shall be ing the finest European professional audio given to the person with a background equipment. FIELD SERVICE ENGINEERS encompassing studio mixing; equipment For further information contact: Mark Levinson Manufacturer of high quality tape recorders maintenance; music; and articulate peo- and accessories is expanding its' service fac- Audio Systems Ltd., 55 Circular Avenue. Ham- ple management. ilities in Los Angeles and New York. The suc- We offer a progressive and stimulating den, CT 06514 or call (203) 281 -6333. cessful candidates will be well organized, have to grow apti- environment which can continue a high degree of technical and mechanical administration. Excellent tude, a good working knowledge of recording under proper FOR SALE and broadcast techniques and a professional benefit package is offered. Please submit MCI JH -10 wired for 16. Home use only. attitude and image. resume with salary history to: Excellent. Spectra Sonic 610 Comp. Please reply in confidence indicating location Ms. Sherel Wingard Limiter. Mint. preference. Employment Manager TONY ANGELLO Box RUR CAPITOL RECORDS, INC. Box 176 Tonica, IL 61370 c/o R -e /p 1750 N. Vine St. Hollywood, CA 90028 (815) 442 -3452 P. O. Box 2449 Hollywood, CA 90028 E.O.E. -M F

At last, for the Creative Artist, the Gemini Compact brings .. .

rue stereo compression and real limiting for less than $500. Compression at 1.5:1 and 3:1 combined with 20:1 Limiter. Stereo tracking ±1dB over 20dB range. Superb quality, low noise and distortion - can be used as two separate mono channels. Full details from: - audio Et design recording inc. P.O. Box 23047, Honolulu 96822, Hawaii. Tel: (808) 845 7226

R ,/p 85 for additional information circle no. 76

www.americanradiohistory.com .ynn y,,,n,l EMPLOYMENT

MAINTENANCE /CUTTING ENGINEER Large independent east coast disc mas- :o tering facility seeks an experienced maintenance /chief who is look- I µ engineer `-`,,.,, -I ing for a bright future and who is com- U I l, At pletely familiar and is able to maintain Neumann, Scully, Westrex and Capps cutting room equipment. Other duties will ,-r.r.--- .-, include occassional cutting, R &D projects and construction. Applicant must be able to work with little or no supervision and be of high calibre. Excellent company benefit programs. Salary commensurate with qualifications. Reply with resume to: Box FWM c/o R -e /p P. 0. Box 2449 Hollywood, CA 90028 continued from page 16 - Reply from Ken Fause n,;,;ß , . Figure 4 currents in an existing installation to a AUDIO GROUND VIA EQUIPMENT tolerable level if wide dynamic range is not SAFETY GROUND essential. For new installations we agree grounding -type receptacle to a grounded been specific on this point) the "green wire that it is simpler and cheaper to do it right box." The additional green wire run in ground" is enclosed within a magnetic the first time. parallel with the raceway ground is used to shield. Provided some caution is observed To address Mr. Kramer's specific insure low impedance to ground whether regarding lead dress at outlet boxes, the questions: required by Code or not. As an example, enclosed loop area available to be threaded In the scheme of Figure 4, conventional NEC Article 350 -5 requires a parallel by a magnetic flux is virtually nil, and so the (U. L. listed) receptacles are used - by grounding conductor when 20 ampere induced noise current is extremely small, if code, these are bonded to the conduit at the branch circuits run more than six feet in any. Use of steel receptacle dress plates in outlet box. For instance, see National Flexible Metal Conduit. Mr. Kramer quite lieu of plastic will minimize magnetic shield Electric Code Article 250 -74: "An equip- correctly observes the DC loop thus openings. ment bonding jumper shall be used to created. The isolated Ground Receptacles connect the grounding terminal of a If the conduit is steel, (and I should have discussed earlier and shown in the DYNAMIC VERSATILITY TO ACCENT ANY TYPE OF PROGRAM MATERIAL IS YOURS WITH

DYNAFLANGER M FEATURING TRUE AUTOMATION - WITH PROGRAM CONTENT AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING PROGRAM CONTENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAMETERS THAT YOU ESTABLISH. 1%/f T fC MICMIX Audio 2995 Ladybird M1X Products, Inc. (214) 352 -3811 Dallas, TX 75220

R-e/p 86 for additional information circle no. 93 www.americanradiohistory.com signal ground sled from c ondun ground it is to disassemble each receptacle and n

groom l Figure 5 CLEAN TECHNICAL GROUND '

corrected Figure 5 do break the DC loop Testing polarity of receptacles is mainly a SENNHEISER ANNOUNCES where Mr. Kramer suggests. nod to the existence of some AC -DC WEST COAST MICROPHONE The panelboards shown in Figures 4 and 5 equipment where the neutral side of the line REPAIR /SERVICE FACILITY are intended to represent local distribution is connected to the chassis. Two wire line Effective May 1, 1978, Audio Services panelboards, not the service entrance cords on such equipment are polarized - Company will be performing all repairs, equipment, thus the bonding of neutral to the neutral pin is slightly wider than that for both in and out of warranty, on all ground is not shown. The connection is the hot side. The U. S. standard receptacles Sennheiser microphones, it was announced made at the service entrance to prevent a for 115 volt branch circuits (NEMA 5 -15R recently. flow of neutral current over grounding configuration) are all polarized in this In sending repairs to Audio Services, it is conductors or grounding paths established fashion. It is faster and safer to test polarity suggested that information describing the via bonded raceways (NEC Articles 250 -21 with a commercial plug -in outlet tester ($6 to defect or malfunction be included, and if the and 250 -23). $10 at your local electric supply house) than unit is still in warranty, some proof of the Great music is why we build great consoles.

This album was recorded using a Sound Workshop 12808 recording console. Ampex ATR 100 tape machine 1 7 2V with Dolby A, AKG 451E microphones. fla t The Greatest Hits of 1720 illNii OW Oil ail elli7alIllibIIIBlltfilliV has topped the Billboard classical charts for over six _--u months. This superior recording clearly demon- .,e.. strates the exceptional Greatest Hits of 1720 we Columbia MX 34544 quality build into all ,k,, Sound Workshop products. _,1 ,- us c;:4..:c.+a.+..a.lr1 , t \ Please write for com- T 1(...,111,...,11._, ,gc.tgc, ..it plete information on the 1280 series. d .: . =,=1, .._, . ...

"Che 1280.8EQ with meter bridge

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R-e/p 87 www.americanradiohistory.com -NEWS- information. For example, it clearly shows (continued) why the use of an omni -directional date of purchase. microphone for the distant pickup of an Direct Box Rolls Electronics will continue to service orchestra can only be recommended under Professionally Built for all Sennheiser headphones. very special circumstances; but never as a Studio & Road Use For microphone repair contact Mr. Dick general practice! Topham. It is available in any quantity on receipt of AUDIO SERVICES COMPANY one dollar ($1.00) to cover postage and Switchable Ground 6430 SUNSET BLVD., SUITE 1125 handling. (DB -3) or Unique HOLLYWOOD, CA 90028 GOTHAM AUDIO CORP. Automatic Grounding (213) 465-6169 741 WASHINGTON STREET System (DB -2) NEW YORK, NY 10014 Jensen Transformer (212) 741 -7411 Accepts all levels, pickup SYNERGETIC AUDIO CONCEPTS to 400 -W amp (SYN -AUD -CON) SEMINAR SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED -- continued from page 32 Switchable filter for Synergetic Audio Concepts (Syn -Aud- Bill Szymczyk "miked speaker" sound Con) has a new six -page brochure which Won't change the sound describes its 3 -day nationwide sound of your instrument engineering seminars. The brochure Diecast, engraved box; includes a full schedule for the balance of shock -mounted switches 1978 through May 1979 in ten different One year warranty cities. Chicago, September 13 -15, 1978; Washington, D. C., September 26 -28; New DB -2 DB -3 $74.95 $84.95 York City, October 4 -6; Atlanta, October for Studio Use for S. R. Use 17 -19; Orlando, October 31- November 2; Ask about our snakes, cables and Anaheim, February 27 -March 1, 1979; San other "goodies in little black boxes." Francisco, March 13 -15; Salt Lake City, Windt Audio Inc. March 21 -23; San Diego, April 10 -12; Los 1207 N. Western Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029 Angeles, May 22 -24. (213) 466 -1271 This schedule does not include the many Bill: Up until the point that it's into the in-house seminars conducted within the board. I trust him so explicitly. I don't even audio, military and entertainment industr- go out into the studio anymore. When we Active Direct even go into a brand new studio like here, Passive ies. we're working at a place called One Step Direct Box Box To receive a free brochure and further Up, we'll just bring our microphones and I information, contact Don Davis. know that Ed's going to set it up the way that SYNERGETIC AUDIO CONCEPTS SM-1A ISM-2 we set it up. I know I don't even have to go P. Single ic-splitters" O. BOX 1134 out there. TUSTIN, CA 92680 (714) 838 -2288 Tom: "" has a very b unusual vocal quality. What microphones did you use? SM-3 MS-IA OF THE AVAILABILITY Bill: 87's . .. yeah. I think the unusual quality Quad "Mic -eplitter" 8 x 2 "Mic-eplitter" ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF came from the effects in the mix. It was a "MICROPHONES" ANNOUNCED certain amount of DDL in it; it's limited This 74 -page pocket book on Microphone pretty much, too. Technology is being made available by two years Tom: How do you feel about automated MS-0 MS-8 Gotham Audio Corporation after the first mixing? 12x2 "Mic-sphtter" 16x2 "Mic -splatter" in translation. "Microphones ", for Bill: I hate it. [Laughter] time, gives an easy -to- understand overview misunderstood workings of the of the often Tom: Why? most important transducer in the recording, Bill: I don't need it because I started out, like broadcasting and public address equipment I said before, two mono machines and ten *MS.9 MS-10 chain. Authored by the chief physicist of the generations - sometimes 15 generations. Direct loess: Both active and passive SM -1A for guitars SM -2 and SM -3 for keyboards and venerable Neumann Company of West And after you do about three years of that, electronic instruments. Germany, Dr. Gerhart Bore, the booklet you know what the hell you're doing. The "Mic -splitters ": Low impedance in and out. Will handle +6 dBm. Will pass phantom voltage. covers all of the basic transducer types, and people that need automated mixing are the Isolated grounds discusses and illustrates microphones of people whose first machine they saw was a Thouiondi in we wound the Wald! 16- track. They never learn how to record also manufacture audio transformers, many manufacturers in addition to those We the right way. They learn to throw it on the snakes, audio modules made by Neumann. machine and sweat it later. Where I come SEND FOR YOUR FREE COPY booklet is a must for anyone who This from, if you've got to sweat it, you do it now. OF OUR NEW CATALOG comes in contact with microphones both P.O. Box 590. When I bought my new board, I bought as 12931 Budlong Ave., Qualify from the operating as well the artistic the new 500 Series MCI Board, with Gardena, CA 90247 U.S.A. Engineered point of view. It keeps the formulas and automation, but basically for outside clients. 421 -1828. Sound (213) Products" calculations down to bare essentials while It isn't for me. If you're going to be state -of- J concentrating on useful application the -art as a studio, you've got to have it; the

R-e/p 88 www.americanradiohistory.com hardware manufacturers are driving me Tom: Do you take most of your electronic heard that on their album, I wild. said, "Wait a keyboard instruments direct? minute, I know what that is. Somebody's Bill: Most of the time. hitting on the EMT. Wow!" So we Tom: What did it too. are you going to do about digital We call them "Next Valley Mortars" tape recorders? Tom: What about guitar? because they sound like mortars going off in Bill: Hopefully sell my studio and get out of Bill: Very seldom - I never take guitars the next valley. the business by then. [Laughter] direct. You're cutting away half of what he wants to do. Tom: Do you do any treatment Tom: Pushing to the straight ahead . . . What I record bass on two tracks, one direct drums? microphone do you use on a kick drum? and one through an amp. And I usually try to Bill: I never limit drums. Never. I don't Ed: Well, we've been using a Sony C55P on get a real clean bottom sound on the direct Keypex them; I don't do anything. the kick. Sometimes we go to a RE20, but track and then a top -ier, or a different that C55P usually wins out. sound, on the amp track. Then you can use Tom: When you do a tune, how much as much as you want or all of one or none of editing do you do before Tom: you actually What about your snare? the other when you mix. release it? Ed When we were at Criteria we used the Bill: Once in a great while we're doing 546 and now we use 57's, 56's basically - a Tom: What mikes do you use for guitar? overdubs or lead vocals or guitar solos or Shure mike. He never used either until he Bill: We use 87's; acoustics, we use 84's. something, we'll realize that, whoops, this came to Criteria. is too long and we shouldn't be doing 16 bars AKG Ed: 414's we like a lot. They're good of guitar here; we should only be doing eight. Bill: Yes, those are two mikes that I picked mikes. At that point we'll lop out, say, eight bars. up at Criteria and the high hat mike. But by the time I mix them, that's it. The Tom: On Jay Ferguson's THUNDER only time I'll edit after that is when we're Tom: Anything under the snare? ISLAND, there's an incredible amount of editing for a single after the fact after Ed: No. Very seldom. - the presence on the slide guitar. record is out. Bill: Probably went up three or four more Bill: Once in a great while, I'll stick steps on the equalizer, 4.3. Lots of Tom: Did you use an 87 on Jay's voice? something under there. I just don't like that compression. Bill: Yeah. sound. There's a raucus, raunchy sound that's happening underneath the snare Tom: There's also a sound there that I Tom: In cardiod? drum. swear must be you hitting on the side of an Bill: Yep. EMT. Tom: How high do you put your overhead? Bill: Exactly. I got that from a group called Tom: Do you feel that the sound changes Bill: Maybe six inches to a foot away from Brick. You remember a tune called "Dazz "? much with the pad in? the cymbals and six feet apart. It's subtle and way in there. As soon as I Ed: We don't use the pad.

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www.americanradiohistory.com into what you do, you're moving constantly. For a small studio that doesn't have two or Actually my whole body gets moving. When three additional two-tracks, the phasing we're in the middle of cutting a track and the device is the only answer. However, good as band is looking in the control window, I've they are, the phasing devices still don't got some kind of dance going whatever, create the unique phasing quality achieved depending on what tune it is, and they know by using four two -track tape machines. that the harder I'm dancing the better the take is. If I'm up out of my seat, they know Tom: Since multi- machine phasing is rarely we've got it! It's cool. attempted these days, could you describe the process? Tom: How long did it take you to do Joe's Bill: First of all, all four machines must be record? perfectly matched. Testing is necessary to Bill: That was an on -going period of about confirm that their properties are identical. 16 months from the time that we first went This is important because the effect is like to the boat to do demo tracks to the time the making exact copies from one machine to record came out. Actually, the time in the another. studio was very minimum. It went fast. But A master tape is placed on machine Bill: It does change a lot - yeah. I'd rather the delays due to Joe's schedule and my number one, which is the play machine. The not use it with the pad. The only thing we will schedule were months at a time. There was number one machine output is fed directly do is put a wind screen on it. one period there where we didn't work on it to the input of machines two and three. for five months. Machine two runs at the standard 15 ips, but Tom: Joe, that lead guitar on "Happy machine three is connected to a VSO which Birthday Baby ", is that some sort of a unit Joe Walsh: I had a chance to get really into will vary its speed. that has automatic panning back or what? basic tracks and that helped put it together The output of two and three are brought Joe Walsh: It's a Leslie miked in stereo. later in the least amount of time. up through the board. The outputs of each machine are combined equally - left two Tom: It doesn't sound like a Leslie. Tom: On SERIOUSLY FOLKS, Joe's vocal with left three and right two with right three. Bill: Well, first it goes into an Echoplex and was a compilation of tracks. Right? This combined board output is adjusted to then the Leslie, so it's being repeated. It's Bill: Yeah. match the output level of machine one. The going over and over and then it's going side fourth machine is used to record the board to side. And if you limit both sides, it just sort Tom: The high guitar on "Indian Summer" output. Once everything is checked out and of undulates as opposed to the usual Leslie seems to sing. the levels matched, the master tape is sound. Joe Walsh: That's a Martin Tripolo 18. It's a played on machine one while machine two, Joe is the most unique person I've heard real strong three -quarter size Martin almost three and four record. The speed of as far as this setup goes. It's like his for children. I restrung it in A - it's called a machine three is varied ever so slightly from signature on some of these things. On Jay's Nashville tuning. But the third string, a G just a bit faster to just a bit slower than the album, on Eagle albums, that same sound is string, is actually higher than on a regular standard 15 ips tape speed. in there for just a second. Of course, it helps guitar and then it starts from there. Your when you're working with the best. fourth, fifth and sixth string are an octave Tom: What happens? higher than on a regular guitar. Bill: While the distance between the record Tom: On "Losing Control" the last word head and the playback head of the two time it descends in pitch while the rest of the track Bill: On the basic, he played a Martin 35. machines is the same, the amount of stays the some. And the high string was done on an overdub takes the signal to travel from the record head will be different. Bill: I wanted to tell you about that because I and we overdubbed what he had done on head to the playback was real proud of that. It starts naturally. It's the basic guitar exactly. This is because of the variable speed of a continuation of a natural vocal and all of a machine three. The difference in time sudden just goes completely to Darth Vadar Tom: The phasing effect used in "Life In The constant will result in the two programs in the cellar. It's quite simple. We did the Fast Lane" was intriguing. What equipment being slightly out of phase with one another. whole vocal up to that line - and the line is did you use to create it? Hence, when the two outputs are combin- but phase- cancel at "losin control". I put the machine - the 24- Bill: The effect was achieved with a number ed, they not only sum track - in variable speed and then A/B'd it of tape machines rather than a solid -state certain frequencies. and made sure it was running exactly at 15 phasing device. Solid-state devices, of If the speed of machine three is not course, are simple to use and easy to set up. continuously varied the summing and So after we did the vocal, l said, "Jay, I'm going to punch in this line and I want you to TWO hit that note, 'losin control', and hold it as long as you can. No matter what happens in your headphones, hold that note." So I punched it in, "losin control ", and then I

took the VSO and 1 cranked it way up as fast ONE FIXED SPEED as I could. And after a few trials and errors, I ovu had it so it was rhythmical, so it f- e- e- I- I -1 -1 -1 all ovu the way to the bottom and then we tripled it. [Laughter] Yeah, there was three of them on that line. Right in the center. PLAY RECORD 0 VU THREE Tom: Do you dance? Ed: No, sir. 0OQ TYPICAL BLOCK DIAGRAM OF No, I never learned to dance ONE CHANNEL FOR Joe Walsh: -MACHINE PHASING SET -UP VARIABLE SPEED MULTI because I was always in the band. 0 VU [Laughter] Bill: I think we dance as it is. I think if you're

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www.americanradiohistory.com cancelling, or phasing, will not sweep the Tom: What could you use if you didn't haue Joe: Yeah, and MXR makes a nice round frequency range but stay static. The a VSO? sound. They're a lot less noisy but they still broadrange phasing effect is achieved by Bill: Before VSO's, the engineer would take don't have enough delay. The delay time continuously varying the speed of three ever his thumb and apply additional hold -back isn't long enough for me. so slightly. By the way, if the machine is too tension to the feed reel of number three fast or too slow the effect will sound more machine slowing it down. This was called Bill: Yeah, I like a lot of tape. I put my delay like doubling than phasing. flanging. in my EMT's on max and then I'll delay the send to that through the tape machine. I'll Tom: What kind of adjustments and tuning Tom: How much studio time did creating use that for my main echo. is involved? the effect involve? Bill: Once you get this thing all set up, you Bill: It takes about an hour to set that up. Tom: Creating an envelope around your determine how fast you have to vary the voice. speed and where you want the effect. The Ed: You have to be so accurate. Bill: Right. I like to echo what happens that effect is most pronounced on high Bill: A/B it with tones and all that stuff. They split second after the signal - the main frequency. It's unlikely you're going to want had a little MXR gizmo and the Eventide signal. That makes it just about long to phase the whole tune, so once you've got phasing. enough. the effect the way you want it and where you want it, you cut it into the master you've Ed: But the sound is not the same. Tom: Have you tried the gold foil? been playing: This is why you have to be so Joe Walsh: It ain't nowhere near it. Bill: Yeah, I got one. It's a little too clean. I careful about the levels matching. if you've like the old one. The mono send and a sort been careful with the levels, the phased Tom: Was "Life In The Fast Lane" the first of stereo return. I love that. I don't like it section and the master should intercut. tune Joe did as a member of the Eagles? direct left and direct right. I want the echo to Bill: The first tune he did as a member of just be there - it should be basically a bi- Tom: Do you experience problems picking that group was a tune called, 'Try and Love mono or bi -aural sound, you know. Slightly up noise somewhere in the chain? Again." The first tune he wrote as an Eagle different left and right, but not where you Bill: The only generation loss occurs in the was "Life In The Fast Lane." can pinpoint it. phased section and the phasing masks whatever additional hiss there may be. If you Tom: What sort of a tape delay do you use? Tom: Have you worked with many live aren't satisfied with this, noise reduction Joe: Well, we used the Echoplex for a long chambers? could be used in two and three regardless of time. It was an old tube model Echoplex Bill: Yes, Regent had a great live chamber whether noise reduction was used on the which was the old standard. They haven't when I was in New York. It had a killer live master. You might want to keep the phased changed since the 50's. When they went chamber. outtakes in case anyone has second solid state they lost the sound. But we've thoughts. The pieces of the master that the been getting into some of the digital stuff Tom: "At The Station." I'd like you guys just phased section replaced should always be now. to talk about that tune. saved. You never know when someone will Joe: Well, that was co- written with Joe change their mind. Bill: You've got a new Roland. Vitale who was the drummer and an old friend of mine from Ohio. Musically we just put it together in kind of an A /B, A/B situation because he had that one part but he didn't ever quite do anything with it. I had the other part and we just worked together. And I had about a verse of words and I brought it in to Bill.

Bill: That was one of the tunes we rehearsed on the boat, one of the initial five tracks. One comment I'll make about it is that Joe's "AT guitar sound is the best I've ever gotten. Ew áásOweN. +: That's our usual Leslie, but this time, we had off center a regular amplifier plus he had it into the Leslie. So I put the direct tape sound in the middle - the Leslie sound on both sides. That's the most killer guitar sound I've ever gotten.

Tom: Yeah, it sounds loud. Bill: It's a little speaker.

Joe: A Fender Champ. Bill: And the Leslie cabinet.

c'so Tom: What did you use for microphones? Ed: The mike on Leslie was a 451. The mike on the amp was an 84. DRUMS \ GUITARS Bill: Yeah. Limited the hell out of those! L OH PML DC -73 \ Guitar #1 KM -84 [Laughter] That's cool. I love that sound. R OH PML DC -73 Guitar #2 KM -84 Leslie Watching Joe and I punch in guitar parts FI. Toms Senn. 441 BASS Guitar Speaker is to an because the Rack Toms Senn. 441's Direct 2 - KM -84's cosmic outsider, Kick RE -20 Electro-Voice RE -16 communication is so defined between him Snare Shure 57 FENDER RHODES and I in the studio now. We'll just stop in the Hi Hat Sony ECM 50 Two Direct Boxes middle after 12 hours of working on

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www.americanradiohistory.com sound, we mike it from 12- to 15 -feet. We get Torn: Cassettes or something like that? two 87's about 30 -feet apart and there's a Bill: Yeah. A cassette is the obvious way, to Leslie in the middle. Then we turn it up as me, to reproduce in quantity recorded loud as it will go and then limit that quite a music and get quality. I mean a 99th bit. You can get a real nice churchy sound to generation cassette from the master is going that. to sound better than the best press CBS is giving us out of Santa Maria right now. Do Tom: Do you do a lot of doubling of guitars you follow what I mean? If they go from or do it electronically? Dolby A system in the studio to cassettes Bill: A lot of times it's done electronically, Dolby B, it's going to sound better than an but on At The Station" tune, both Joe and average pressing that you get today. Felder doubled the lead. So the leads are four guitars with the guys doubling Tom: / think everyone is waiting for some everything. new developments in this area. What do something and he'll go - and I'll go, yeah. you see developing in the future for you No words go down. It's just, you know, I go Tom: Moving to another topic, what do you personally, Bill? to the right spot, he goes there and then think is realistic length to put on a record? Bill: I see about another three or four years whang! We're into it and it just goes down Bill: Realistic? I don't want to get over 20 of making records and then I don't know like that. minutes a side. Preferably, I like 18. At 17 to what goes down after that. I've been 18 you can get maximum volume. If you're through 16 years in studios and have never Tom: Is this in the control room? below 17,1 feel you're cheating the buyer. So really had a purpose. One thing has I fell into Bill: Oh yeah. Oh, hell yeah! I got to have I say 17 to 18 is ideal. 17:30 is just ideal. You developed into another and just him sit right next to me. can get ten tons of volume on the record and this. that would help overcome the rotten Joe: You know almost all were overdubbed pressing. When I first settled in what I call the "B" except for vocals done with me in the list - I mean when Joe and I were making control room. Joe: Revolution! When the revolution our records and they were going and hitting comes, everybody is going to have tape the Top 20 and I was making Giels records Tom: Is there an organ in there? players. [Laughter] Ain't gonna be no and they were hitting the Top 20 and I was Bill: Yeah. records! working Derringer, B. B. King and all of that - I figured that's cool, but I wasn't, I didn't Tom: It sounds big. Tom: Do you think records are the way it's consider myself or my acts, the stature of, Bill: It's a regular Hammond B-3 with Leslie. going to be for awhile? say, Glyn Johns and the Rolling Stones - Bill: I hope not. If they don't make them the "A" list of the select five or six acts and the Ed: Tell him our church organ technique. better, I hope they just discontinue them producers in the world. And then with Bill: When we want to get a huge organ and everybody has tape recorders. advent - through weird circumstances -

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Re/p96 www.americanradiohistory.com Joe meeting Irving Azoff and then through ever done. That's because of the Eagles and Bill: I have a plan for him. I've got more of a him meeting the Eagles and then he because of being in that band. plan for him than I do for myself, to be becomes an Eagle and I wind up producing honest with you. We're about ready to start the Eagles and the Eagles wind up being the Tom: Are you working on another album? our first co-production where I'm elevating biggest band, you know, all of a sudden I'm Joe: Oh, no. him, if you will, from the status of engineer to on the "A" list. But for the five -year period I the status of producer -engineer with the act was on the "B" list I thought, this is it. I'll Bill: Yeah, it's called the next Eagle's that he found. We've signed a deal with never get there. record. Asylum and he and I are going, for the first I wasn't particularly uptight about it, but it Joe: My whole album was worked around few projects, to work on them together until was just there. This is a hell of a lot better their schedule. he gets his feet wet - until he gets than putting fenders on Vegas. It's a damn comfortable within that role, being not only sight more fun than that. And then when we Tom: Joe, what do you do if that's a really the technical boss, but like you said. broke through, it's all of a sudden, "Wow! big album and it stands a good chance of Before you wanted me to define my job This is it, huh ?" So I don't know. I'm going to being a big one? and I can define it strictly as saying Henry let the future take care of itself. I don't have Bill: Nothing. He's already in a good band. Kissinger. You have to take these five, six or any big plans. They're going out on tour. The Joe Walsh seven people and make it happen. You've fans who love that album will come and see got to take it out of their heads, through Tom: It would seem to me the Eagles are the Eagles on tour and, more than likely, one their fingers, through all the electronics, going to be around for a long time. They're or two tunes from that album will be played onto the tape, onto the disk and make very yeoman -like about what they do. within an Eagles concert. everybody be happy with each other when Bill: They are and perfectionists in the it's all done. There's nothing to it! And to studio. They have driven me to heights that I Joe: It doesn't necessarily follow that I me, that's the producer's greatest asset - never thought I'd go to in pushing me in my would go to a solo career; I just put out a diplomacy. You have to have the act's job - and depths that I never thought I'd solo album. respect. But at the same time, the act has to sink to! [Laughter] We have hills and Bill: We've done a lot of live recordings know that they can override you. It's got to valleys. You must learn to love the hills and since Joe has joined the band. We've got be give and take. accept the valleys. [All laughing] miles of tape of live stuff and there are some I'm not an authoritative figure; I'm not a They've also done a helluva lot for Joe, killer versions. In the eventual live Eagles dictator in the studio in the working context. too, especially his vocal. Joe Walsh will be album in about a yearand -a -half or two I'm a clearing house; I'm the court of last the first to admit he was never the world's years, there are going to be about three Joe resort; I'm the speaker of the house, you greatest vocalist, but spending a year or two Walsh tunes in the Eagles - as the Eagles. know, the vice president. I don't vote unless in that band with those singers whipped his And they are the best definitive versions of there's a tie. I'll let those guys hear it out and butt in shape and he is great now. He's those tunes ever. I'll just give a little direction here and there gotten to the point where he can say with a and then change a word here and there. Just straight face, "I like my own vocals now." Tom: What are you going to do? keep on top of it, that's all. This solo album of his is the best thing he's Ed: Just a lot. GUEE BACK

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