Studio Recording Techniques Through the Years - Photos Please!

ahh - the famous capo on the bass photo

 

Serge Gainsbourg writing and recording Initials BB. Studio part (recorded at Pye/Marble Arch studios, London) starts around 4m20s.

 

that's a very interesting instrument lineup in the top photo:

looks like Paul playing his Epiphone Casino, John is on his Gretsch Nashville, and George on a Burns Bass - and the amp is a Hybrid VOX (solid state pre amp with a tube power amp) - probably a 7120

note the VOX column speaker used as a monitor - not the most Hi Fi unit!

I don't have time right now to look in my "Beatles Gear" book (if it's even in there)

anyone have an idea what session this might be?

 

Not sure exactly what day, but definitely looks like a Revolver session.

 

Yes, Revolver sessions. Basic track it looks like.

 

Being a huge Hendrix fan here are some pics of Hendrix in the Recording Studio in his early days.
g a big Jimi

 

IIRC, that is from the "Paperback Writer" session. Several shots from that session were printed in The Beatles Monthly.

 

do you think George played bass on "Paperback Writer"?

 

Looks like RCA's own RT-11 tape recorders in operation.

 

I hope not being duplicate a post, here The Beatles White Album sessions, some video clips along a cool footage:

 

One of the best sounding drum recordings ever imho.

 

Posted by Andrew Sandoval on Facebook:

 

This issue of Billboard had a 24 page insert on Bell Sound, including various studio (mostly control room) photos:

http://books.google.com/books?id=wQ...oard "bell sound"&pg=PA41#v=onepage&q&f=false

There's a shot of their 2" Scully 12-track in there.

 

Interesting that despite that big promo push, it was apparently the beginning of the end for Bell. From Chasing Sound: Technology, Culture, and the Art of Studio Recording from Edison to the LP:

"Fujii and Cronin then built a 12-track recorder unlike any other in that it used two-inch tape. At the time, 8-track recorders using one-inch tape were the accepted standard, and 16-track recorders using two-inch tape had been installed in a few studios. The advantage of using two-inch tape and only 12 tracks was that it produced a much better signal-to-noise ratio than the 16-track recorders because of its wider track width. Thus, thought Weintraub and his associates, Bell Sound would be able to compete favorably with New York's 16-track studios like Regent Sound and the Record Plant because their distinctive technology would draw customers; they would lead rather than follow the pack.

Ironically, the studio's technological leadership ultimately served to undermine its reputation and led to the exodus of both mixers and clients. On December 26, 1967, they christened the 12-track recorder and initially it proved to be quite a success, but only with the advertisers, not the music companies as Bell's owners and engineers had expected. Then, recalled Teig, "we ran into a major problem." The problem with the 12-track, "that bastard twelve," as Anne Phillips remembered it, was its very uniqueness. Because there was only one, and it was not compatible with any other recorder in the city, clients could not take their tapes elsewhere for mixing or overdubbing if Bell was fulled booked, as it usually was. Even if they did all of the work at Bell, from recording to post-mixing, they could not be assured of the machine's availability. Several former employees and customers recalled the 12-track as "the beginning of the end" for Bell Sound, but it was not the only factor. In January 1968, Dan Cronin was killed when his private plane crashed as he flew to Upstate New York for the weekend. His death was both a personal tragedy and a professional loss from which Bell Sound never recovered."

http://books.google.com/books?id=TS...v=onepage&q="dan cronin" "bell sound"&f=false

 

And Bell Sound was ultimately a casualty of the bankruptcy of its final parent, Viewlex, in 1976, at which point Bell closed its doors for good. One of the last Bell Sound mastered lacquers was an early 1976 Sire 45 mastered by Sam Feldman. Interestingly, the date on which Bell christened that 12-track recorder was exactly the same as when BBC1 in England first aired The Beatles' (home) made-for-TV movie, Magical Mystery Tour - but that's another kettle o' fish.

 

1966 film of Sonny & Cher in the studio recording their second album (no actual S&C music is heard). I assume this is Gold Star.

 

Yep, that's Gold Star.

 

Beach Boys recording good vibrations Video...........

 

"Recording" it, anyway

 

quick side bar ... for a little outboard gear porn!

Tech shop with outboard gear from the Village Studios in L.A. ......drool time...

 

No. Paul overdubbed the bass on "Paperback Writer."