Studio Recording Techniques Through the Years - Photos Please!

Keep the photos coming guys. I love those old 'consoles' pics.

 

One console identified! Plus another mystery.

Wonderful, thank you! That clarifies things immensely.

As an aside, where is the EQ section of that Nashville console? Is it all patched outboard gear? And you actually answeed two questions for me.

This next picture is a screen capture from the fascinating Pennebaker movie of the process of making the Original Cast Recording of "Company", which has some incredible COLOR shots of the 30th St Studio and Steven Sondheim closer to the beginning of his career working out and overcoming the normal complications of polishing a Broadway musical.

It was recorded in an 18 hour+ session on May 3, 1970, with Fred Plaut as the engineer, but because of a dramatic musical performance issue (no spoilers here), the final solo performance was overdubbed in another studio by Frank Laico. We have been trying to figure out where that was, but I think you have narrowed it down considerably. Definitely not Nashville, and not A, I think.

Here's two shots of the mystery studio, one of Frank and Producer Tom Sheppard, and the other of a mystifying meter bridge that your pictures resolve. The fader knobs are different than the ones in the Nashville photo, FWIW. Also, the "custom console" section of the History of Recording site has more console pics.

The last picture is another mystery. It is the schematic on the back wall of the 30th St Studio that is just low resolution enough to defy viewing. There is another view of it in a picture of the Brubeck Quartet listening to a playback (OK, I'll include that pic, too).

If anyone has a clearer shot of the schematic it would be a treat.

Thanks again,
Dan

PS the picture with Tony, Teo, and Frank with a beard I think is in 1970 or 72. Frank was away on vacation and developed a facial rash keeping him from shaving, so he had a beard for one month. I have a specific date for the picture somewhere, but can't get to it right now.

 

Not sure (can't say I have any hands on experience with any of those), but I do have the full resolution photos at home, so I can see if there are any more clues. George Schowerer might also recall.

A (799 Seventh Avenue) was A&R by 1970, so definitely not that.

Ah, yes, here are the rest of the Nashville pics, albeit still at a lower resolution:

http://www.historyofrecording.com/columbianashvilleconsole.html

This is yet another Columbia console, incorrectly on the MCI page:



http://www.historyofrecording.com/MCI_Recording_Consoles_Variations.html

I have a larger version, but IIRC it is still hard to make out. And I thought it was for Studio A, but I could be wrong.

Probably 1970 then. I would assume by '72 they would have had a new console.

 

Cool photo of the Brubeck Quartet digging sounds! Note the studio flow chart tacked on the wall behind them.

 

Wendy Carlos' studios through the years...

http://www.wendycarlos.com/photos.html

Later, Chris

 

This actually settles an old bet for me.....

 

YES!!!
Amazing music from an amazing human being.
Beauty in the Beast gets regular play in my house.

 

Also, 2 comments on the Brubeck photo:

1) I'm not an expert on any of the Columbia studios, but that sure looks different from the later shots of 30th St. I'll have to watch the Glenn Gould video again.

2) Neither of the schematics on the wall seem to match the one in George's photo.

 

Ah, very cool. Thanks!

 

Hello Dan,

The third photo is actually a Neve 8108. It was originally installed at 49 E. 52nd Street, second floor (I forget the designation). It had early Necam and Plasma meters. There was a great story about the Plasma meters catching fire on one of the early sessions on it. The guy with the mustache is Billy Messina, a great tech. This console was moved to the fourth floor at 49/52 and was a centerpiece for a mix room (406) until 52nd street closed in 1992. I mixed "Soul Gestures in Southern Blue" Vol 1-3 on that console (among others).

The fourth photo is of an MCI 536. I don't believe the MCI was at 30th street. It was also moved to the fourth floor (415) and became a mix room for Larry Keyes, most famous for doing many of the great quad mixes for Columbia.

The console with the vertical bridge is a custom Columbia Desk. I've only seen one in person. Frank is pointing at the buss assignments for each channel. The similar console at 49/52 (408) had API 550's retrofitted under the buss assignments and API faders. It was actually a nice console.

The picture that Lukpac posted is interesting because it has Langeven faders (the arcing faders). They weren't smooth in any way. They were actually stepped attenuators. Many of the Columbia consoles had two sets of Langevin's, one above the other. If you wanted to make a smooth volume move you had to move the one above and the one below together. If I remember, one fader was db and a half steps and the one above was a half db steps. If you ever heard a Columbia fade that jumps in level, it was most likely done with Langevin faders.

 

Thanks Mark!

 

I have a hunch it is the section above the main faders, but that's just a guess. Each channel has a section with two sliders that go from 12 to 0 to 16 (can't tell which is + and which is -) and two knobs. Presumably 2 bands per channel, but I can't tell exactly what the knobs do. Again, I'd guess they select the frequency, but I could be totally wrong about all of this.

 

Your point 1): Yes, it is different than later shots because this is the original control room, not the later one. The one in the Gould video is the earlier one, thus, this one.

2) You are absolutely right! I didn't look closer. So which Studio is George's photo?

Here is one of Johnny Mathis in the same control room as Brubeck (or at least I've ASSumed it was the same one):

 

I'm guessing the schematic from George is from 'A', since that's where his other photos are from.

Yeah, that's the same control room. The schematics appear to be the same and the mono 300 is in the same place in both shots.

 

Hi Mark,

This makes complete sense; the knobs and armrest looked like Soundcraft (and Frank has said there was a Soundcraft in 30th St. later, but the rest of the console did not look Scraft at all.

And it being somewhere other than 30th St. is a great relief, as there was a door where Billy is standing in 30th St., and where he is is not a path to a doorway! I was befuddled.

Thank you for this. Frank has said his name was Billy, but could not remember his last name. F has also named the fellow in the middle, but it's not in my notes here. I can get it from him next week.

Good, this one made no sense as being 30th St., either. It's from Jim Reeves' website, where it is identified as such.

So it's likely that "the similar console at 49/52" is actually the one that Frank is pointing at? Meaning it's not at 30th St.?

Thanks, Mark, and everyone else; you've cleared up in a day what a group of us have been wondering for years.

Best wishes,
Dan

 

Thanks, lukpac; how did you blow up those pictures without losing resolution? I try it, and get a pixillated mess at the same size you got.

Thanks,
Dan

 

........ Excellent & informative interview with Mark (Wilder) below on his mastering work and studio techniques from the past (Dave Brubeck Quartet).




Bartlett: How does the sound of those early recordings compare with jazz recordings today?

Wilder: It’s amazing how well-recorded the group was back then. The sound is so three-dimensional, bigger than life.

Yet it’s amazing how little the engineers did to get that sound. They just put one mic a few feet from each instrument, and mixed live to 3-track—for left, center, and right. Then they edited the tape and mixed down to 2-track.

The old stuff sounds better than what we’re doing now. We’ve been going in the wrong direction sound-wise for many years. The layout of the stereo stage was more realistic then, too. Drums were on the left, piano on the right, sax and bass in the middle.

It’s easy to hear what each musician was playing because they were separated spatially. These days, you hear each instrument in stereo, on top of each other. The drums spread all the way between the speakers, and so does the piano.

In one Brubeck recording (Castilian Drums, not on this set), the stereo perspective changes radically within the recording. It starts with drums hard left and piano hard right. But when the drum solo starts, there’s an edit and suddenly you hear the drum set spread out in stereo.

At the end of the solo, you’re back to drums left and piano right. These effects are on Brubeck’s albums Countdown (Columbia CS 8575) and Time Further Out (Columbia CS 8490), .

Bartlett: How was the Quartet miked?


Figure 1: Mic techniques used on The Dave Brubeck Quartet (click to enlarge)

Wilder: Columbia was heavy into Neumann M49 and AKG C12 mics back then. Both are large tube-type condenser mics.

On the Brubeck groups, the engineers used one mic per instrument, and each mic was at a very respectful distance, about 1 1/2 to 3 feet away (Figure 1)...

You still hear all the air off the sax reed, and still hear all the tone. They got the placement quickly. Distant miking like this sounds great; I think we overdo close miking.

Studio layout: Drum set on the left, bass a few feet away in the center, piano a few feet away on the right with the open lid on the long stick facing toward the other players. Sax faced the bass player a few feet away. The bass and piano were baffled. Baffles were placed behind the group as well.

Miking: Drum set—C12 about 5 feet up and 1.5 feet in front of the set, angled down toward the snare drum. Upright bass—U 47 about 1 foot from the bridge. Sax—M 49 up fairly high about 1 to 1.5 feet away. Piano—M 49 looking at the strings, about even with the curved edge of the piano, halfway between the soundboard and the lid. (This tends to emphasize frequencies around 500 Hz).

http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/...s_the_dave_brubeck_quartet_art_pepper_and_son


.

 

From a Red Rodney recording session for the Signal label at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack, NJ studio. (photo is by Don Schlitten)

L to R: Ira Gitler, unidentified, Red Rodney, Robert Levin, Ira Sullivan.

 

I've got the special CSI plugin...

Actually, I have copies of the original files.

 

No, I don't feel that the console that Frank is pointing at is the one from 408 at 49/52. That console was for Quad I believe and had the API EQ's and faders. The picture doesn't show that. I can't place that console with confidence.

Attached (should) be an invitation which brags about both the New Neve and the MCI and their locations.

 

That's some kind of trivia to hold on to over many years! Thanks for the fun read.

Too bad about the still-unknown location of that console; I hoped it was no longer a mystery.

Regarding the photos I posted earlier, the one with Frank and Billy Messina is Ted Brosnan.

The one where Frank has a beard was taken January 25, 1971. And my copy seems to be cropped; not sure how that happened. In the original, the guy on the left and Teo's left elbow are visible. The only original view I can find right now is unwatchable (picture from TV screen), but I'll try to update the pic later.

Thanks again for your help, Mark.
Dan

 

That's Ted! Ted had the neatest printing. He must have been a draftsman at some point.

 

Is it Brosnan or Brosman? It's 'Brosman' in the booklet for the Tony Bennett - "Who Can I Turn To" CD from 1995...

Mark,

while on the subject of that great album (one of my all-time favourites ), I hope you don't mind me asking a couple of questions:

i) was the vocal reverb (chamber?) printed to tape live? Also, was there any reverb added to the other two channels of the 3-track or do the RS trio and orchestra just have the natural 30th Street room reverb?

ii) was there a problem with the stereo master or was the choice to remix simply in order to get as close as possible to the sound on the 3-track?

Thanks for all the great sounding re-issues

 

No idea if it is correct, but I believe "Ted Brosnan" has always been listed as the "Recordist" for Bridge Over Troubled Water.