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Davedog, post: 451864, member: 4495 wrote: and the really tellin
Davedog, post: 451864, member: 4495 wrote: and the really telling part was when we got the first of the two PCM 70's. I stopped using the Yamaha's during that period and everything has Lexicon all over it.......sigh..
You and a million other guys, pal. ;)
That was one of the sonic signatures of that time. Think about some of the hits from those days - Asia's "Only Time Will Tell", Bon Jovi's "Runaway", Heart's "These Dreams", Thompson Twins" "Lay Your Hands On Me" .... just a few examples of "that" sound. We were simply trying to sonically mimic what was popular at the time....
Did we overdo it? LOL, yeah. When I listen back now to what I did back then, I feel like I need a towel to dry off afterwards. Lol
But it was what was popular, and sonically trendy. For those of us who were mixing in those days, I'd bet that we were all at least a little guilty of swamping our mixes with digital verb from time to time. ;)
I had been using a Yamaha Rev 7, and had a few SPX90's in my rack, along with a Roland SRV2000... but once I got a Lexi PCM 70, and then an 80, it's like I felt compelled to use it on everything... so you definitely weren't alone. ;)
OMG! Yes.... I had the Rev 7 (still have two in storage) SPX
OMG! Yes.... I had the Rev 7 (still have two in storage) SPX 90 (I think theres one in there too) My favorite was the Roland SDE 3000. I STILL wish I had that one though for the life of me I don't know what I'd use it on. And of course the ever present Alesis Quadraverb! We also had an AKG BX 5 spring and a little plate reverb which the name escapes me. It was about 4' long, had the drive controls on one end and was covered in black tolex....??? And of course everyone surely had a moment with the horrid Tapco 4400.......Of course my particular SPX90 had two settings. Short snare and long snare. I'm not sure if I powered it up today the selector buttons would even work beyond those two settings.
Of course now...I use the EMT140 emulation from UAD...I use a plugin emulation of the J37 tape machine....And Echoboy. What was old is now new.
@Davedog A lot of that gear we're talking about played a huge p
Davedog
A lot of that gear we're talking about played a huge part in defining the sound of the 80's.
I listen to songs now from that time and can wager good guesses as to what was used on the mixes. There was definitely a signature sound there.
SSL became one of the popular desks in pro studios during that time, Peter Gabriel's Studio was featured on a cover of Mix Magazine around 1985 or so, the one in the old mill, and it sported the biggest Solid State Logic console I had ever seen, probably still the biggest, with a 96 input mainframe ...and sidecars as well.
Those desks had their own sonic character too, sometimes that sonic signature gets forgotten about, overshadowed by Neve, Trident, MCI, API, Helios and Harrison.
Peter Gabriel, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, Roxy Music, Phil Collins, David Bowie, Dokken, INXS, Madonna... and many other artists all had hits in the 80's that were mixed on SSL consoles.
It too played its fair share as a part of the sound of that era.
FWIW
Davedog, post: 452105, member: 4495 wrote: You would expect that
Davedog, post: 452105, member: 4495 wrote: You would expect that big of a console in the owner's room. Gabriel is one of the majority owners of SSL. There are larger SSL's but most of them are dedicated to the film industry....movies take a LOT of tracks.
Yup... LOL...you beat me to it. I was going to say the same thing in regard to film. There are some mammoth SSL consoles out there dedicated to soundtrack mixing. I'm thinking I remember seeing one of those huge beasts in a picture taken at Skywalker several years ago?
Probably they're into the more modern SSL digital consoles by now... don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Hi, I'm not a recording engineer, but I do have a question that
Hi, I'm not a recording engineer, but I do have a question that can only be answered by one of you guys. My father left me a pair of E.M.I. DLS-1 studio monitors. From what little I could glean off the internet, it appears to be a rare release of the studio monitors used in Abbey Road circa 1960 (a.k.a. REDD.36) Does anyone here know anything about them (the E.M.I. DLS-1's). I've found so little on Google about them, that I get the feeling they belong with the recording console discussed in this thread.
Thanks,
Bob
Culper721, post: 452781, member: 50826 wrote: Hi, I'm not a reco
Culper721, post: 452781, member: 50826 wrote: Hi, I'm not a recording engineer, but I do have a question that can only be answered by one of you guys. My father left me a pair of E.M.I. DLS-1 studio monitors. From what little I could glean off the internet, it appears to be a rare release of the studio monitors used in Abbey Road circa 1960 (a.k.a. REDD.36) Does anyone here know anything about them (the E.M.I. DLS-1's). I've found so little on Google about them, that I get the feeling they belong with the recording console discussed in this thread.
Thanks,
Bob
Cool. Can you upload a picture? The reference I can find to REDD.36 speakers is from the Recording The Beatles book in which they do go over lots of EMI details and the REDD.36 speakers is mentioned. In fact theres a whole couple of pages devoted to it. So being able to see what you've got and compare might be enlightening for you.
Davedog, post: 452785, member: 4495 wrote: Cool. Can you upload
Davedog, post: 452785, member: 4495 wrote: Cool. Can you upload a picture? The reference I can find to REDD.36 speakers is from the Recording The Beatles book in which they do go over lots of EMI details and the REDD.36 speakers is mentioned. In fact theres a whole couple of pages devoted to it. So being able to see what you've got and compare might be enlightening for you.
Wow! I was actually just reading an interview the authors of that book. I'm still working on getting them (the EMI's) out from the corner where they were stored. I'm going to need help moving all the stuff, so I probably won't have pictures till this weekend.
For now, they look exactly like this: http://zozosir.blog…
Also, I was able to find a review of them in a copy of Audio Review, August 1960
www.americanradiohi… (It's on page 44/100 of the pdf.)
If you could post scans of the pages from "Recording The Beatles" discussing these, as I've read it does, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Bob
I wish my scanner would allow that and I may give it a shot. How
I wish my scanner would allow that and I may give it a shot. However, the pics you posted are the REDD.36 speakers except that the REDD.36's have a taller "stand" that they sit on...presumably to raise them to ear level for someone working in the control room. That being said, they began manufacturing them in 1957 and were designed by Peter Dix. Maybe a sweep through his history might reveal something??! They are 'powered'....way before powered monitors became the 'norm'.The amp used is a Leak TL25 tube amp. One of the best built at the time. Probably still is.....The main speaker is a 13"X9" elliptical speaker with two tweeters and an EMI designed crossover with controls for the woofer and the tweeters.
They were installed as the main studio monitors in Studio One at Abbey Road in 1959 or so and came "as a package that included the REDD.37 4 track console and the REDD.38 BTR recorder. They were known as "The Column Speaker" at Abbey Road.
They stayed in use until the sessions became more electric and bass guitars showed up as they didn't have enough low-end extension and volume to keep up even though they actually brought in multiples of the speakers for more oomph. So they were moved to the machine rooms that housed the 4 track machines. There they used them as talk-back monitors between the control rooms and the machine rooms where the Tape Op engineer was situated. The Tape Op could also communicate with the main engineers and the producers even though this wasn't a common practice as lower level people at EMI were instructed to "speak only if spoken to". This was the use until 1966 when EMI moved all the tape machines into the control rooms.
Fun stuff!
Davedog, post: 452789, member: 4495 wrote: I wish my scanner wou
Davedog, post: 452789, member: 4495 wrote: I wish my scanner would allow that and I may give it a shot. However, the pics you posted are the REDD.36 speakers except that the REDD.36's have a taller "stand" that they sit on...presumably to raise them to ear level for someone working in the control room. That being said, they began manufacturing them in 1957 and were designed by Peter Dix. Maybe a sweep through his history might reveal something??! They are 'powered'....way before powered monitors became the 'norm'.The amp used is a Leak TL25 tube amp. One of the best built at the time. Probably still is.....The main speaker is a 13"X9" elliptical speaker with two tweeters and an EMI designed crossover with controls for the woofer and the tweeters.
They were installed as the main studio monitors in Studio One at Abbey Road in 1959 or so and came "as a package that included the REDD.37 4 track console and the REDD.38 BTR recorder. They were known as "The Column Speaker" at Abbey Road.
They stayed in use until the sessions became more electric and bass guitars showed up as they didn't have enough low-end extension and volume to keep up even though they actually brought in multiples of the speakers for more oomph. So they were moved to the machine rooms that housed the 4 track machines. There they used them as talk-back monitors between the control rooms and the machine rooms where the Tape Op engineer was situated. The Tape Op could also communicate with the main engineers and the producers even though this wasn't a common practice as lower level people at EMI were instructed to "speak only if spoken to". This was the use until 1966 when EMI moved all the tape machines into the control rooms.Fun stuff!
Davedog,
Thanks so much for the info. I grew up with these speakers in the house; however, my father stopped using them when I was very young; probably because they were incompatible with his store bought receiver? Thus, they were more furniture than speakers for most of my life.
From what I've been reading, it appears that these monitors are somewhat rare and historic and definitely deserving of a better home than my storage room.
I couldn't find much on Peter Dix; other than a few blurbs and some pictures showing how dignified he dressed. I did notice that a forum member here named "Russel" worked with him though: https://recording.org/threads/emi-806-mic-amps-redd-style.42092/page-2#post-375053 Have you ever corresponded with him?
So far as the history of speakers go, how would you rate the REDD36 as an important reference point in the evolution of speaker design and studio monitor design?
Also, is there any way you could you take a picture of the pages with your phone; just so I could read the text? I found one picture but I can't read the second page.
Thanks again!
Dave's (@Davedog )excellent post covered nearly everything that
Dave's (Davedog )excellent post covered nearly everything that my book does. Here's what the book mentions:
"When the speakers were eventually retired from use, many of the Leak amps were taken out of the cabinets, and the EQ circuits were removed to restore the amplifier's "flat" operation. These amps were then sold to employees, who often took them home as domestic "HiFi" amplifiers. By 1975, there were only two REDD .36 columns left at Abbey Road".
The book does also mention that these column speakers were eventually marketed in the US; with the title "EMI Doctor Dutton Studio Monitor Loudspeaker With Built In Amplifier".
Lol... quite the long model name, but it did describe what they were. According to the book ( page 254, last paragraph), and I quote:
"It is interesting to note that most EMI products were never sold outside the company, but developed only for in-house use. However, the column speaker was evidently considered commercially viable for America".
Source: Recording The Beatles,
Kevin Ryan, Brian Kehew, Curvebender Publishing; copyright 2006
DonnyThompson, post: 452793, member: 46114 wrote: Dave's (@Daved
DonnyThompson, post: 452793, member: 46114 wrote: Dave's (Davedog )excellent post covered nearly everything that my book does. Here's what the book mentions:
"When the speakers were eventually retired from use, many of the Leak amps were taken out of the cabinets, and the EQ circuits were removed to restore the amplifier's "flat" operation. These amps were then sold to employees, who often took them home as domestic "HiFi" amplifiers. By 1975, there were only two REDD .36 columns left at Abbey Road".
The book does also mention that these column speakers were eventually marketed in the US; with the title "EMI Doctor Dutton Studio Monitor Loudspeaker With Built In Amplifier".
Lol... quite the long model name, but it did describe what they were. According to the book ( page 254, last paragraph), and I quote:
"It is interesting to note that most EMI products were never sold outside the company, but developed only for in-house use. However, the column speaker was evidently considered commercially viable for America".Source: Recording The Beatles,
Kevin Ryan, Brian Kehew, Curvebender Publishing; copyright 2006
Hi Donny,
Thanks for the "amplification"; so to speak.
I'm not sure when that long name took hold; or if it ever did in the States. The longest name my father gave them was (the) "E.M.I. studio reference monitors". I did manage to find an ad from the year they debuted, and the same year he bought them, and they're simply referred to as "E.M.I. DLS-1"
http://www.american… (see pg 44/100 of pdf)
I'm very interested in reading the rest of the text from the "Recording The Beatles" discussion; as I can only read one page from this picture:
I'm guessing my interest is rooted mainly in a desire to better understand who my father was and what taste he had.
Thanks again,
Bob
Some history on this console after Abby Road Beatles console up
Some history on this console after Abby Road
Beatles console up for sale
https://www.bing.co…
nice
nice