About a year or so ago, a query was made on the ASRC list (and later made it to the Ampex list IIRC) about an appropriate semi-portable, tube based reel to reel recorder for use in a multi location recording project by an unknown "major artist". It grew into an excellent thread with opinions and options from a wide cross section of folks who'd been (or are) involved with tape in the professional arena.
I don't know about you guys, but I love those kinds of discussions and my knowledge of these "portable" beasts grew a great deal from following that thread.
Well, here's a "thank you" post from the original poster and some discussion and links to find out more of where this all led.
"I heard some clips the other day from John Mellencamp's new
album (produced by T-Bone Burnett), which was recorded with
an Ampex and one Microphone, in 3 historic locations (First
African Baptist Church, Savannah, GA; Sun Studios, Memphis;
and room 414 of the Gunter Hotel, San Antonio, TX). I am
assuming this is the project that someone was trying to
scare up a recorder for on this list a while back. An
interview I saw said he found the recorder on ebay for $350.
One of the reviewers I heard thought the record was trash
because it was too "gimmicky", and thought that John was
pretentious for trying to walk in the footsteps of people
like Elvis and Robert. The other thought that the record was
great because it sounded great, and from what I heard, I
agree with him.
-Matt Sohn
On 8/30/10 10:18 AM, Mahern, Paul Cantwell wrote:
Matt,
I am happy to hear that you liked the sound of the Mellencamp record. And yes, I was the one who posted here last year asking for recommendation of a portable recorder. It was Eric Jacobs that suggested that we look at the Ampex 601. I have been engineering records for almost 30 years now and I must say that this was one of the most educational experiences I have ever had. The RCA ribbons we used sounded magical through that 601 preamp - far from clean but amazingly musical.
Here is a video clip of one of the songs recorded at Sun Studios. What you are hearing is the sound of one RCA 44 and the 601. The slap delay is even coming from the repro head of the 601. I would love to know what member of this list think of the sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBrQv66oLxc&feature=player_embeddedVery Best
Paul Mahern
Mahern Archival Engineering
On Aug 30, 2010, at 11:02 AM, Aaron Levinson wrote:
Congrats from Philly as well Paul. The record sounds sweet and natural. Of course the players have to nail it in order to get it right and that is the way it should have been all along. Did you do any splicing between takes? My guess is not as I think the 601 only runs at 7.5 and 15 ips if memory serves and while quite possible it's certainly not as easy to execute as it is at 30.
Is the album available on vinyl? It would be criminal if it weren't.
AA
Aaron,
I work with Paul, and thought I'd chime in here. Rounder is issuing the album on vinyl and you can see more about that here:
http://www.rounder.com/artist/music/default.aspx?pid=64124&aid=98316You're right, if this were only available in digital formats, it would really sell the project short in the end.
Best,
Christian
Christian Rutledge, Manager
Mahern Archival Preservation"