--- commercial music sounded good

--- "Pro"Tools came on (I'm sorry, I hate "Pro"Tools with a passion...)

--- people didn't make a big deal about lipsyncing or not really playing on stage (i've mixed many concerts where the drums were the only thing that was really coming from the stage)

--- you had to understand audio to be in the recording industry

--- tape was cheap

--- spring reverb (actually, i have a small home-built unit i use)

--- tape echo (not the crap they have now, the real stuff)

--- moonshine (we had a teacher in high school who had a still... and used it)

--- people trying to help newbs learn

--- people modding equipment to sound better (there is an advantage to Behringer mixers being Mackies clones... ULN pres with a few changed components == XDR pres from the VLZ series)

--- when people used correct terms (like VLZ preamps... it should be XDR preamps... VLZ is the series of the console...)

--- the lack of an undo that didn't involve more editing (i think razorblades and splice tape are the greatest tools ever invented by man and should be used as often as possible)

--- when it was assumed you knew how to edit tape if you were a recording engineer... now they ask you "how good are you with a razorblade?"

--- Adventures of the Gummi Bears

BrianAltenhofel wrote: --- the lack of an undo that didn't involve more editing (i think razorblades and splice tape are the greatest tools ever invented by man and should be used as often as possible)

--- when it was assumed you knew how to edit tape if you were a recording engineer... now they ask you "how good are you with a razorblade?"

Really? Obviously you take pride in your manual dexterity.. but!

In today's world of (mostly) digital recording, one really does not need tape editing skills to be a recording engineer, and I don't see that as a bad thing. Considering the large amount of albums that are either tracked entirely on digital, or tracked on tape and dumped to DAW almost immediately, there really isn't the need for tape splicing that there used to be. No need to force these technical skills on people who won't get a chance to use them.

I also find it odd that you ENJOY tape splicing.. didn't so many pros switch to digital BECAUSE of the ease of editing/shorter crossfades, etc? I think you also suggested there that the more editing you do, the better ... as long as its on tape ("should be used as often as possible"). One of the main philosophical arguments against digital recording is that the ease of editing promotes digital manipulation over actually playing well. If you're so good with the razorblade and splice tape, you're a menace to the music, man! :lol:

Mike

whew.. well I have to admit I am pretty old, but not that old. I never found tape editing and splicing much fun at all and i sure dont miss it.
Thats sort of masochistic to me!! :lol:

I guess because I have lived in both the analog and digital ages, I have a tendancy to take the best of both worlds.. sometimes I track to tape because I like the way it sounds, then transfer to digital because I dont like the razorblade.

that being said, my remember when -

- that "katchunk that 8-track cassettes made in the middle of your favorite song. :roll: Thanks goodness that format died away.

- looking out the window of your car at any intersection and seeing piles of frazzled cassette tape on the ground....signs of someones frustration with an eaten tape.

- O-scopes in every studio.

- when electronic hardware, mainly mixers and keyboards, actually used wood in their construction.

Other things I remember (great list on top!)

- Mics were placed more than 3" from the source

- Multi-tracking facilities had 4 or 8 tracks to work with

- There were no headphones except for the singer's overdub

- As a studio hired player, you have two shots at getting it right...after the second blown line, you were gone.

- Charts and arrangements

- Cassette masters

- No external preamps...everything was from the board

- Dynamics

- Singers saying "Can I do that again?" instead of "Can you fix that flat note?"

dynomike wrote: I think you also suggested there that the more editing you do, the better ... as long as its on tape ("should be used as often as possible").

Didn't mean it that way. What I meant was if you do need to edit the tape, you should do it on the tape.

Also, Kevin, I'm not all that old either. I just turned 19.

--- when concerts didn't cost an arm and a leg

--- when radio played more than 40 songs per week

Here are a few more before I forget:

"Import" albums

Synthesizers before they were programmable. In other words you twist buttons for three hours, and if you want a new sound you lose everything you have just done. Arp Axe comes to mind as well as one of the very early Korg models and a few of the classic ones also.

Real strobe tuners... Do people still use these? I have a 50's or 60's Conn model I believe.

Hiz mics that actually screwed into the tube "PA"

Curly guitar cables

The original "Muff Fuzz" by Electro Harmonix

When tortise shell pics came from a tortise shell

When there was no such thing as an LED or LCD

$5 advance/$7 at the door for even the biggest of bands.

You could listen to Dark Side of the Moon in the original quadraphonic format. They made quad 8-track tapes for awhile like this where each of the 4 stereo tracks would contain part the quad mix.

Quadraphonic headphones (don't laugh, they existed)

Thats it for now...

Oh yea, to go along with what brian said about radio..

-Remember when there were "Album Stations" and "Album Hour"

Karbo

I remember when the early 70's Fender guitars were really 'junk' due to CBS 'modernizing' the plant and you could buy one for next to nothing instead of 10K.....

I remember 'Stereophinic Sound' records right next to the 'Mono" records in the music store....right next to the sheet music.......

I remember when I thought Coors was the best beer on earth...........(WHUT was I thinkin???).............

I remember when I became aware of serious multi-tracking of instruments....Jimi Hendix' Axis Bold As Love....I STILL turn out the lights in the control room and crank it........................

I remember paying $450 for my first car, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Aire in GREAT condition......There was a small hotel suite in the back seat...big enough for me and good ole whats-her-name.....! 8)

I remember the night The Beatles came on Ed Sullivan and the horrified looks on the faces of my Grandma,Dad,and Auntie...I felt so guilty for loving it the moment I saw it............

I remember the night of my FIRST big 'session' and how I learned oh-too-well about pinch rollers on a Tascam 3340.............
(good thing we had TWO)

peace dadogg

....as I sit here reading this, drinking a Coors, I chuckle....

Having worked in both worlds (analog seems sooooo far away now...) I remember:

1. Vinyl records that began to wear out the moment you first played them.

2. Off-center vinyl pressings.....wowowowow......

3. Microphonic tubes.

4. scratchy pots & faders

5. Hours spent on tape path alignment. Repro alignment. Record level alignment. Azimuth alignment. Bias tweaking. Elevated level. And on and on and on. Don't miss that at all!

6. China marker/grease pencil tape marks for editing. (SORTA miss that....)

7. 80 hz head bump that everyone mistook for "Warmth".

8. Oxide shed & buildup. Sticky tape binder. Dropouts.

9. Cross talk between tracks.

10. Mangled tape, worn out pinch rollers & gunky capstans.

11. Bad MCI JH110 relays and molex connectors that sporadically just stopped working, until you opened the unit up to fix it....Problem gone....for 5 minutes. ;-)

12. Spring Reverb units that would "Explode" when bumped or jostled. Many had no output trim, they were just hung on the preamp output of an amp or cheap vocal mixer, if they were "on", they were really on!

13. Bad cheap transistor circuitry - late 60's, early 70's. Before Op amps and ICs, after tubes.....bad ugly nasty odd-order harmonics.

That's my lucky 13. :-) More when I think of 'em........

karbomusic wrote: Here are a few more before I forget:

...

Synthesizers before they were programmable. ...

Real strobe tuners...

...

Curly guitar cables

The original "Muff Fuzz" by Electro Harmonix

...

When there was no such thing as an LED or LCD

...

You could listen to Dark Side of the Moon in the original quadraphonic format....

Quadraphonic headphones (don't laugh, they existed)

...

Karbo

Well, I remember those things... and still have a few....

Like the Moog... yep, got that.

I have a '63 Conn strobe tuner I bought from an auction for $1 at the high school I went to when they switched to the handheld Peterson. You have to hit it a few times for F# to work though. It sits there locked while the rest are spinning. You hit it, it starts spinning like the rest. Everything works perfectly.

Funny you mention the curly guitar cables. I just bought a 3/4 size 1951 Harmony that hasn't been played since before Vietnam (until I got it). I know, I overpaid for it ($120) but it has the ballsy blues tone that I wanted for a couple of songs. Hehe, the string were still left on there with minimal rust, and there was an unopened pack of Martins with a manufacture date of August 1969 (the day was faded so much I couldn't tell if it was a 13, 16, 18, 23, 26, or 28). Anyway, it had a curly guitar cable. It coiled to 5 feet but expanded to 25. Had the old riveted connector covers too. Oh yeah, it sounded better than my Monster 500's. Not sure on the brand, as that wasn't printed any where on the cable.

Got an original Muff Fuzz available for my use. He said I won't get it to keep until the auction after he dies.

How old are you? LED's are REALLY old. LCD's on the other hand....

If you mean DSOTM quadraphonic as in 4 track mixed as 4 tracks (LF-RF-LR-RR), then yep, I got that. I also got some old quadraphonic headphones. And people think the surround sound headphones that some gamers (me included) use are high tech....

Anyway, I remember that you had to have talent to make it in the music industry at one time.... not this BS we have now of who can be the best tool out there....

Wow, started to mention Martin strings but didnt

It sits there locked while the rest are spinning.

If it is like mine, the calibration switch is hanging as it is spring loaded. Just give it a good flick and it should start working. Also, don't forget it won't spin till the tubes warm up. I hit mine for a year before I figured that out!

Karbo

remember when, musician and producers / engineers still had creative and experimental (and spontaneous) ideas and not did the clean that is and will sell perfect aproach without soul...

karbomusic wrote: A few things that I no longer see or do anymore:

--Good compressors only having 1 knob...

name 1

I'll help you:
La2a? = not
La3a, La4a, etc: ? = not
Fairchild, 1176, any dbx, neve, etc = not
innovonics? = not
ect. ect. etc.

Are u sure some of the old PA style rack compressors didn't have this? u know an just an input gain, no thresh etc... or am I just gettin old which is a distinct possibility... I definatley ran something similar years ago, now could there be 1 other knob somewhere, maybe but can't remember. If I can find the name I will post it.

Karbo

karbomusic wrote: Are u sure some of the old PA style rack compressors didn't have this? u know an just an input gain, no thresh etc... or am I just gettin old which is a distinct possibility... I definatley ran something similar years ago, now could there be 1 other knob somewhere, maybe but can't remember. If I can find the name I will post it.

Karbo

dbx...their "Overeasy" line...really pretty decent in live apps.

Midlandmorgan wrote: [quote=karbomusic]Are u sure some of the old PA style rack compressors didn't have this? u know an just an input gain, no thresh etc... or am I just gettin old which is a distinct possibility... I definatley ran something similar years ago, now could there be 1 other knob somewhere, maybe but can't remember. If I can find the name I will post it.

Karbo

dbx...their "Overeasy" line...really pretty decent in live apps.

no...the over easy line had a small pot and a slider.

RecorderMan wrote: [quote=Midlandmorgan][quote=karbomusic]Are u sure some of the old PA style rack compressors didn't have this? u know an just an input gain, no thresh etc... or am I just gettin old which is a distinct possibility... I definatley ran something similar years ago, now could there be 1 other knob somewhere, maybe but can't remember. If I can find the name I will post it.

Karbo

dbx...their "Overeasy" line...really pretty decent in live apps.

no...the over easy line had a small pot and a slider.

One knob? (I call pots knobs)

Definately not DBX overeasy, this would be old, silver faced, one big analog meter and what I thought was one input gain "pot"... would have been around in the 70's /80's & old school solid state.. Its been that long so maybe I just don't remember the other knob... would have been quite large 3-4 rack spaces maybe... Of course the company I remember having it then had a bit of handmade gear so who knows what it was... I do think though there was no ratio or threshold, attack/release, just increase input gain for the amount of compression. Sorry if I'm not more specific, its been a very long time.

Karbo

A little late to the party, but...

1. You could test your tubes at the local drug store... and probably get the replacement there as well!
2. A "can" was an empty "bud" can for $10.00 - (Actually glad these days are gone, but what replaced it is stupid in comparison.)
3. An early "release" was an event
4. You actually had to have talent to be a working musician
5. Being in a garage band was cutting edge AND cool
6. Creativity wasn't garageband
7. Live to 2 track was about as good as it got - if it wasn't a good take, you played it until it was!
8. Real horn sections
9. REAL strings
10. Moog
11. Melotron
13. B3
14. Drummers who played with style - not a plug-in track
15. We didn't have to try to get "that analog sound"... it already was.
16. A local electronics parts house that stocked all kinds of GOOD parts
And probably what I miss the most... discrete circuits that you could actually repair with parts from that local electronics repair parts house.

Gawd I'm old...

Max