x 47947 ookto. "Tuk ERN $1.95 yes RICo R c, / FEBRUARY 1983 VOL. 9 NO. 2 RDING TECHNIQUES PORTS: RTA 1232 Real Time Analyzer E 27 Realtime Equalizer The Most From Your Efiects www.americanradiohistory.com a yov 0k `tia re< oe 0.4%-tt ea$`o<`éJk yt o\ e\1 sávcioé at`eec es tie stiae.c\\\.,9.`so.tire`9eatiJ `L Jea,O\e e\1 ' e.t+ ,oe F,"e9e9, ece eea os .r eo\o yo a c e es. Fr cae aeò 0e ,4e,oaa` ao ctis .cs s o 0%p \eti tras.eJctis . los¿aeß d`oawet Pnag eeioa ye ocese`sJar1Ga°sa\tieá_IX" 9c`otsaPaeiQJas\ e yc0 00 {o eá .a es pi etpa Qe `e \\a \ P\`sA c ea oe aea e0e as os oP ow a es ac a at es ea eteo, a a\y E oati aae a Op rof Z`eero\a s aJati aF roJa.ota\ aá OC` 8r o3 pe tira<a`tie e°oeRaea`e s á.9 oot .al \e` FPPot ;a\.t1 a\\oc Qoa\ecv o 0,ae \Ja,ot ood`o aea \ep\ só\00 aea\e a CIRCLE 10 ON READER SERVICE CARD b www.americanradiohistory.com FEBRUARY 1983 /h ERN VOL. 8 NO. 5 CoDIING cke llW%IIC THE FEATURES THE STAPLES 3 V ,. , a,. STUDIO NOTEBOOK #12 ti+ a.;# LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 2 By James F. Rupert 10 Back to the issue of borrowing money, ~Stik4ASti4 '. TALKBACK 6 44.44 --0." » this month's S.N. discusses the Small The technical Q&A scene. Business Administration's SCORE and ACE programs. It also tells you where to THE PRODUCT SCENE 20 obtain SBA catalogs and pamphlets. The notable and the new, with items from Banner, Phase Linear, and Nakamichi, among RECORDING TECHNIQUES -PART X others. By Bruce Bartlett The care and handling of your tape is a very HANDS -ON 42 delicate matter. Preventing hiss, dirty heads and Fostex's Model 250 Four Channel Cassette Re- misalignment, as well as improving your re- corder-By John Mon forte cording tape's performance are the topics of Electro- Voice's Entertainer Model 100 Powered this month's Recording Techniques. A veritable Mixing System -By Chip Stern grooming and health care manual for tape. AMBIENT SOUND PROFILE: PETER TOSH By Len Feldman 48 By Jeff Tamarkin This month the subject is digital. Sansui's Tri - The reggae artist from Jamaica talked to MR &M's code PCM processor makes use of it, and dbx Jeff Tamarkin before his Felt Forum appearance introduces a digital audio processor. on his U.S. tour with Jimmy Cliff. They dis- cussed his album, Mama Africa, among other LAB REPORTS issues. Yes, mon -an interesting time, indeed. By Len Feldman 50 Banner's RTA -1232 Real Time Analyzer GENESIS -"LIVE" Rane Corporation's RE 27 Realtime Equalizer By Rob Patterson 36 Genesis itself may have achieved a rebirth -as NOTES producers of an excellent new "live" sound. Rob By Rick Chinn 56 Patterson speaks to several of the people re- Using various effects wisely and well is the topic sponsible for this sound, including Genesis Phil this month. Collins, who really does still care. GROOVE VIEWS 61 Reviews of albums by Bananarama, Ronald COMING NEXT ISSUE! Shannon Jackson, Al Cohn and Count Basie, Recording with Spyro Gyra and The Psychedelic Furs. Recording Techniques -Part XI Profile: Philip Glass ADVERTISER'S INDEX 72 Modern Recording & Music I , Mhts-.l ..essiii 1;,,; 11,11 ul lin Flak, us. Ni 11b:.i Design s...., .i,y Iki.S Lr MHhM F'uU_,nq G,i{ r, unI nol br Cover Photo. Ebet Roberts u t_y I,r.mia.on I I bl.r.i Sec c;la. dl r'I, . 'Nc.. AOrr, n4dni:y ntl,Crs Genesis Color Photo Ebet Roberts u eU' f'.1LL c.. ai I, d,.!, i .i Sut rq,11,t1 I _ L,,1,1 I sn SZOU _. , a,.> ALM pt, Genesis B &W Photo' Courtesy of Atlantic Records I yo i Ior ut), FY 0111,1t {7t , n,r.t tr I,aU acr.dncu Genesis B &W Concert Photo Ebet Roberts r,tn a,t . Jra F, .i_, .L ., MH6ti, 4,b1e.1u17U Tosh Photos. Larry Rossman 11,'l+ UIJ l.un;i, lill , 1 ityl, FEBRUARY 1983 1 www.americanradiohistory.com /MODERN INCOMING ItT.Tt /nusiic y tJ JOHN WORAM Editor A Hearty Calibration I have a small 4 -track home set -up and would like to find out GENE SCARAMELLINO how to adjust my machines (TEAC 3340's and TEAC 22 -4) for RICKI ZIDE bias and EQ, as well as other basic maintenance info. Does MARK WALDSTEIN TEAC publish any literature on the subject? Could you recom- Associate Editors mend any other literature on the subject? Could you recom- mend any other literature available to non -trained people who can follow instructions, but lack the know -how? LEONARD FELDMAN -Paul Lenart BRIAN ROTH Cambridge, Technical Editors MA We received the following response from Drew Daniels. CRAIG ANDERTON ROBERT ANGUS TEAC and Tascam service manuals assume the reader has VICKI GREENLEAF already acquired the basic skills, e.g., reading voltmeters and NAT HENTOFF oscilloscopes -not much more difficult than reading a gas STAN HYMAN FRED RIDDER gauge -and can of course, follow step -by -step procedures. The JAMES RUPERT more recent Tascam manuals are combined Owner /Mainte- Contributing Editors nance manuals which include some of the best non -technical writing for user maintenance and calibration I've seen. ELLEN ZOE GOLDEN Beyond the Tascam Owner's /Maintenance manuals, TEAC ROBERT HENSCHEN publishes only The Multitrack Primer, a basic entry -level JOE KLEE primer on the jargon and techniques of recording, sound, and ALLAN KOZINN signal producing and carrying elements of a recording system, STEVE ROW but the bibliography contained in the Primer serves well as a JEFF TAMARKIN Music Reviewers guide to a solid reading foundation in the subject. Books like Everest's "Acoustic Techniques For Home and Studio," and Woram's The Recording Studio Handbook advertised KAREN COHN here in Advertising/Production MR &M are books that should be among those in your library. As far as the actual calibration of the 3340S and 22 -4, you'll need the service manuals to locate the DAVID KRAMER adjustment trimmers Layout and Design and find the recommended voltage levels to check on your audio voltmeter, but beyond that, the setup procedure is the same for (analog) +3 SPARTAN PHOTOTYPE CO. any tape recorder, dB over peak bias at 10 kHz for a Typographers quarter -mil record head gap (like Tascam) and set the EQ for the flattest response. The necessary test gear can be pricy, BERNADETTE WEBER especially if you want to use a pink noise alignment tape in Circulation addition to your other gear, and you can look forward to a learning period of anywhere from a few hours to several dozen LARRY ZIDE hours, but you may save a substantial amount of time and Publisher money over the years not having to rely on repair shops who are not always as highly motivated as you are when your tape Editorial and Executive Offices MR &M Publishing Corp. equipment needs a tuneup. If you're making tapes for clients 1120 Old Country Road Plainview. NY 11803 to play on other recorders, you will definitely want to acquire 516 433 -6530 an oscilloscope to keep your head azimuth aligned to a standard Editorial contributions should be addressed to The test tape, and this procedure will require frequent checks Editor. Modern Recording & Music, 1120 Old Country to Road, Plainview, N.Y. 11803. Unsolicited manuscripts that make trips the service shop prohibitive. will be treated with care and must be accompanied Daniels by return postage. -Drew Applications Engineer Tascam Production Products TEAC Corporation of America 2 MODERN RECORDING & MUSIC www.americanradiohistory.com Why Beyer microphones give you more extraordinary performance for the most ordinary applications. Beyer M 201 There are other microphone When you need a rugged and You may not always need a alternatives when high versatile microphone, condenser microphone for sound pressure is a factor. consider the alternatives. "critical" recording applications. allamm As Sennheiser claims, the MD 421 For over 10 years, engineers have Some engineers prefer condenser undoubtedly stands up to extremely used mics like Shure's SM57 for the microphones like the AKG C 414 high decibel levels and has other widest variety of applications in the to accurately capture the subtle features that have contributed to studio. And we feel that one of the nuances of a violin or acoustic piano. its popularity. But if you're already main reasons more engineers don't But should you have to deal with using the MD 421 to mike loud use the Beyer M 201 in this context the complexity of a condenser system instruments or voices, we suggest is simply because they don't know every time this kind of situation that you investigate the Beyer M 88. about it. Those who have tried comes up? The Beyer Dynamic M 88's it in the full gamut of recording The Beyer Dynamic M 160 frequency response (30 to 20,000 Hz) situations have discovered how it can features a double- ribbon element enhances your ability to capture the distinguish itself when miking for the unique transparency of true personality ( including exaggerated anything from vocals to acoustic sound image that ribbon mics are transients) of bass drums, amplified guitar to tom toms.