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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => Reason In Audio => Topic started by: canada on January 29, 2005, 05:46:27 PM

Title: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: canada on January 29, 2005, 05:46:27 PM
I heard stories in school about the verb chambers that were used at EMI back in the day.  When you listen to mid to early Beatles recordings, the reverb is gorgeous. Just flawless.

Does anyone here know more about this procedure?  Which studios employ/employed these chambers, who builds/built them?  Any anecdotes about them?

I'm also a huuuge Beach Boys fan, but I can't seem to find out about what kind of reverb devices were used at Gold Star or Western or even Motown in the sixties.  Wondering if they were plate or even spring reverbs instead of the chambers.

Thanks in advance!
If you can't tell, I'm a reverb junkie.

Cheers
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Bob Olhsson on January 30, 2005, 12:18:10 AM
It was ALL of the above! A GOOD plate often sounded better than a mediocre chamber but we used them in any imaginable combination.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on January 30, 2005, 09:52:09 AM
Yes, as Bob says, it was "all of the above."  At Abbey Road there were (back then) three chambers.  The one The Beatles used the most was the one in Studio 2.  It had several clay pipes placed randomly around the room, and was mic'ed with Neumann KM56 valves.   I have used it many times, and it was indeed amazing; short delay, but very much character.  Not sure, but it may still be there.  It was to Ringo's left (if you look at the photos of his drum kit in the back corner of the room.  The door to it was under the clock in the centre rear.) AR also had great EMT plates.

At Stax we had a couple of very wierd chambers, concrete, long, narrow, dank, wet, and the home of a rat or two, down in the basement. But they, too sounded awesome.  I think the mics there were EV's.

EMT plates were heavily used in the 60's.

Here at Compass Point, I recently cleared out all the old equipment, boxes, and other assorted collected junk from one of the two old chambers upstairs.  I put one KRK speaker in it, and two Beyer mics.  The sound of it blew me away.  We have good EMT's and I use them and love them all the time.  But this chamber...wow.

The convenience and space saving of modern digital units makes them attractive, inexpensive, and easy to patch in and use.  But there is no comparison to a GOOD chamber or a well tuned plate.

Best to all,

Terry M
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: David Kulka on January 30, 2005, 10:46:32 AM
In the 60's there were basically two ways to get reverb -- echo chambers and EMT plates (which were introduced in '57).

As I recall, Chamber 3 at Western (the one connected to Studio 3, where the Beach Boys hits were made) was in the back of the building, about 8 x 15 with non parallel walls and a sloping (or maybe sawtooth) ceiling.  The walls, ceiling, and floor were covered with several coats of shiny varnish and the room was sealed with a "meat locker" door.  There were two speakers at one end (Altec 604's?) and two microphones, the location escapes me now.  I made a sketch of it one time, I should find it one of these days.

The sound of the room would change depending on humidity and temperature.  There were several other echo chambers at Western, and one of them could only be accesssed from the back alley.  One time an engineer heard weird noises in his echo returns, it turned out that a homeless guy was camping out in the chamber!
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: antti on January 30, 2005, 11:14:45 AM
Abbey Road still has the echo chamber in studio 2 and
6 EMT plates if I remember right. Terry, you recorded
Isaac Hayes's 'Walk On By', right? One of my all time
favourites and a reference. What was your approach
to that? Mics, mic placement? What was the set up for strings?
12-2-2? Was it cut live or did you overdub some parts? Thanks,

Antti
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: J.J. Blair on January 31, 2005, 02:10:37 PM
FYI, if you are using Altiverb for your DAW, they have the United Western reverb chambers sampled and available.  They also have Wendy Carlos's EMT 140 plate, which when mixing in the box, is probably the verb I use 95% of the time.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Bob Olhsson on January 31, 2005, 02:32:41 PM
David Kulka wrote on Sun, 30 January 2005 09:46

In the 60's there were basically two ways to get reverb -- echo chambers and EMT plates (which were introduced in '57)...

There were the 3 Fs, Fisher, Fender and Fairchild... Laughing
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: RMoore on January 31, 2005, 02:53:41 PM
I have 2 of the F's: Fisher & Fairchild,
The Fisher Spaceexpander sounds cool in its special way...
I use it a lot..
Both are pretty noisy.
I haven't used the Fairchild in ages..
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Bradley Danyluk on February 02, 2005, 01:34:12 AM
It's funny, I absolutely detest the reverb sounds on old albums, especially the Beatles.

I guess it's a generational thing... I was an 80's child and really got into music in the 90's so I far prefer modern recordings. I try and try but simply cannot "get" the supposed magic of the old recordings. Everything sounds thin and weak to me, like they're on the other end of a tin-and-string-phone. It only sounds good on a top-shelf system, and that's not my style of mixing. The reverbs bug me most of all. It's dark and too big and there's just too much of it!

Just an alternate perspective. I know it's blasphemy but I can't help it.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: David Kulka on February 02, 2005, 01:34:23 AM
"There were the 3 Fs, Fisher, Fender and Fairchild..."

I guess I should have said "high quality reverb"
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: WhyKooper on February 02, 2005, 01:53:27 AM
I never liked Beatles/Abbey Road reverb much either.  But boy...I LOVE those dvd Anthology remixes.  Including the way the reverb sounds now.  I'm still trying to figure out if the guys who remixed this stuff used new reverb or the old AR equipment.  I've tried getting more info, but contacting those people at Abbey Road is like trying to walk into Ft Knox.

By taking all those original slave reels, syncing up the slave tracks, and remixing stuff like "Penny Lane"...getting it's 37 "un-submixed" tracks sorted out and mixed in the new way...it's just so GOOD sounding.  I've been listening to both the stereo and surround mixes for over a year now.  My gripe is that the entire songs aren't always there on the dvd Anthology.  I don't know why there's not just a section of music "only" on the dvd as was done on the Yellow Submarine package.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Bobro on February 02, 2005, 02:16:53 AM
dasbin wrote on Wed, 02 February 2005 06:34

It's funny, I absolutely detest the reverb sounds on old albums, especially the Beatles.

I guess it's a generational thing... I was an 80's child and really got into music in the 90's so I far prefer modern recordings. I try and try but simply cannot "get" the supposed magic of the old recordings. Everything sounds thin and weak to me, like they're on the other end of a tin-and-string-phone. It only sounds good on a top-shelf system, and that's not my style of mixing. The reverbs bug me most of all. It's dark and too big and there's just too much of it!

Just an alternate perspective. I know it's blasphemy but I can't help it.


Only some one who never understood a word the Beatles said would get on your back for speaking your mind honestly.

For example, I find PF's Dark Side of the Moon, which was proffered as the pinnacle of recording art in recording class, sonic kitsch.

Brubeck's "Time Out", now that's a recording IMO, with sweet use of space- it just shimmers with golden-orange light. Fred Plaut is credited as engineer, also on other recordings I think sound great but I never see him mentioned in articles and forums, don't know a thing about him.

Personally I love even older recordings, 50s back through 20s, especially old East Bloc recordings (Melodiya). Talk about "dark"- yet to my ears just glowing with light.

Those are room reverberation.

-Bobro








Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: claveslave on February 02, 2005, 03:09:59 AM
WhyKooper wrote on Wed, 02 February 2005 01:53

I don't know why there's not just a section of music "only" on the dvd as was done on the Yellow Submarine package.


Probably because the Yellow Submarine re-mixes are a complete disgrace.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: pontuso on February 02, 2005, 04:13:05 AM
[quote title=dasbin wrote on Wed, 02 February 2005 06:34]It's funny, I absolutely detest the reverb sounds on old albums, especially the Beatles.


  In my opinion there is a huge difference depending on what albums you listen to. Up to Sgt Pepper I only listened to the UK mono albums ,which if I´m correct where the only mix sessions Beatles attended(No one was interested in stereo). US Capitol wanted to remix early Beatles albums & singles for the American market. They believed that the UK mixes in general were a little to dry. There are some horrible examples. The guy responsible for the  Capitol remixes of "I feel fine" and "She´s a woman" should be declared "enemy of good taste". Of the UK releases I think the first "Please please me" album where a little to reverberant, but hell, it sounded great on radio.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: JamSync on February 02, 2005, 04:23:46 AM
Bob Olhsson wrote on Sun, 30 January 2005 05:18

It was ALL of the above! A GOOD plate often sounded better than a mediocre chamber but we used them in any imaginable combination.


Bill Porter told me that RCA NY used to call down to Nashville and demand that he tell them how he set up his EMT and he would always refuse! He really got a kick out of it...not to mention the great sound he got on those Everly Brothers' records. I believe one of his tricks was that he used the airconditioning to keep the plates chilled so the 140 sounded brighter.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on February 02, 2005, 09:29:04 AM
WhyKooper wrote on Wed, 02 February 2005 01:53

I'm still trying to figure out if the guys who remixed this stuff used new reverb or the old AR equipment.  I've tried getting more info, but contacting those people at Abbey Road is like trying to walk into Ft Knox.


I have been told that, wherever possible, the re-mixers used the original chambers and/or plates at Abbey Road.

I believe that the "less than full" sound complained about by posters in this thread would apply mostly to the horrendous re-mixing or re-mastering performed by Capitol for the US releases.

Capitol should have been arrested for what they did to The Beatles sonically.  But at least they sold some records...
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: WhyKooper on February 02, 2005, 11:02:07 AM
Yeah, I haven't heard all the re-released remastered Capitol cd Beatle stuff.  The only thing I've had close listens to is the dvd anthology.  Which I think is absolutely great.  Especially after having also devoured the Lewisohn Beatles studio notes book.  

I just wish all the complete songs were there.  I think Penny Lane is one of the few.  Besides the surround mixes, it is so nice to hear Penny Lane with a natural stereo balance instead of the mix the guys were stuck with making from the tons of submixing they were forced into back in the original sessions.  If the remixes indeed utilized the original chambers and plates for reverb, I think they did a much better balance of all the original effects this time around.

Based on some of the criticism, guess I'll take a closer listen to the surround mixes again on the Yellow Sub dvd.  I haven't listened in a while, but I really liked the balances and eq on the new surround version of Day Tripper (I thought) last time I put that dvd in.  Since Paul/George/Ringo/Yoko sat there at AR and approved the mixes together themselves, you'd figure they'd have caught any strangeness that they didn't like.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Bob Olhsson on February 02, 2005, 03:28:17 PM
pontuso wrote on Wed, 02 February 2005 03:13

...Up to Sgt Pepper I only listened to the UK mono albums ,which if I´m correct where the only mix sessions Beatles attended...

Sgt. Peppers was the first Beatles album mixed in stereo but I'm told nobody attended although George Martin signed off on it. The mono is quite a bit better.

All "stereo" prior to Sgt Pepper was a kludge Capital made for US release from a copy of the final 4-track work tapes. Because it was produced/intended entirely for mono, it was strange to say the least.

Capital added insult to injury by crediting the Capitol A&R guy who supervised this kludge (in addition to taking off all the low-end) as being co-producer with George Martin.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: howlback on February 03, 2005, 02:03:05 PM
They recently released the first 4 Capitol records in a box set, with both stereo and mono "mixes".

Thanks Bob, now I know why the mono mixes sound better!  I much prefer the Beatles post Rubber Soul, but mann that stuff sounds good!

-KEnt
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: pontuso on February 03, 2005, 07:06:27 PM
Bob Olhsson wrote on Wed, 02 February 2005 20:28

pontuso wrote on Wed, 02 February 2005 03:13

...Up to Sgt Pepper I only listened to the UK mono albums ,which if I´m correct where the only mix sessions Beatles attended...

Sgt. Peppers was the first Beatles album mixed in stereo but I'm told nobody attended although George Martin signed off on it. The mono is quite a bit better.

All "stereo" prior to Sgt Pepper was a kludge Capital made for US release from a copy of the final 4-track work tapes. Because it was produced/intended entirely for mono, it was strange to say the least.

Capital added insult to injury by crediting the Capitol A&R guy who supervised this kludge (in addition to taking off all the low-end) as being co-producer with George Martin.


Bob.. Parlophone released what they called stereo albums right from the beginning in march 1963, almost a year prior their breakthrough in US.Most of the early tracks though, I would rather call double-mono (vocals to the right,backingtrack to the left) since Abbey Road got their first 4track late that year. All this according to the excellent book "Beatles Recording Sessions" by Mark Lewisohn. I´ve read that George Martin was not particularly happy about those mixes.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Bob Olhsson on February 03, 2005, 10:46:37 PM
I just took a look at that. It's interesting because some people at EMI studios had told me this around 1969 and the head of Capitol A&R at the time had told me the same thing around ten years later.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on February 04, 2005, 11:36:15 PM
Antti Uusimaki wrote on Sun, 30 January 2005 11:14

Abbey Road still has the echo chamber in studio 2 and
6 EMT plates if I remember right. Terry, you recorded
Isaac Hayes's 'Walk On By', right? One of my all time
favourites and a reference. What was your approach
to that? Mics, mic placement? What was the set up for strings?
12-2-2? Was it cut live or did you overdub some parts? Thanks,

Antti


Hi Antti.  The whole story of Walk On By was just added to my "Forum of the Month Club" entry...

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/f/40/6490/?SQ=feb 7ca95b12f485671209d733180c794

Thanks,

Terry
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: canada on February 06, 2005, 04:50:15 AM
I'm afraid I would be quite disillusioned if the reverbs I'm hearing on the Beatles Anth DVD aren't the genuine article.

Calls for a conclusion, but I can't find the information!

Cheers, and thanks for the replies.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: George Massenburg on February 06, 2005, 07:32:07 AM
Hey Terry,

I'm a HUGE fan of "Trashy Dog".  I would appear that you engineered that as well as played everything that Cropper and Pop Staples didn't.  And, in fact, you don't have alot of engineering credits.  What did you do back then?

George
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Jonas as on February 06, 2005, 08:14:45 AM
canada wrote on Sun, 06 February 2005 10:50

I'm afraid I would be quite disillusioned if the reverbs I'm hearing on the Beatles Anth DVD aren't the genuine article.

Calls for a conclusion, but I can't find the information!

Cheers, and thanks for the replies.


Remember an article i read around the time that anthologhy was released where Martin where saying that the mixes where done on a original TG mixer, altough not the same as where used on abbey road, and that they where using an rebuilt  chamber wich was close to the original, but a bit on the bright side.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: canada on February 10, 2005, 02:15:04 PM
I must be a dork for assuming they ran the chamber mix to tape!

Cheers!
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Brian Kehew on February 20, 2005, 07:14:22 AM
(Please see; www.recordingthebeatles.com)

Our upcoming book has taken over 13 years to research and will have a significant amount of detail on this. Probably more than you might want to know, but as a reverb junkie myself, maybe not! The book IS nearly complete - were are working hard on the final chapter now. Sorry if this sounds like hype (I guess it is) but it is EXACTLY the information you seek.

The Echo Chamber section alone is about 8 pages. It covers the history and changes to each chamber - who designed them, who implemented them, the monitors and mics used, the sizes, uses, tricks etc. Including detailed photos of the equipment used in the "Echo Racks", as they were called in the 1960's. There were also EMT plates and other time-delay devices invented just for EMI. (We also have sections on the other studio used by the Beatles, with detail on their chambers/plates where available).

The Beatles' "Anthology" was indeed done with an Abbey Road chamber, however - despite probing the minds of the former studio staff - they were unable to come up with the proper setup for the chamber, and it does sound quite unlike the "old days". However, we were lucky enough to find the old setup in our research and it will be in the book...
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Brian Kehew on February 20, 2005, 07:25:16 AM
I can see why many people would not like classic chambers. They can be VERY thick and heavy sounding. Plates would probably suit them more, but even these can be muddying and complex compared to many digiverbs.

But, the quality of a chamber is obvious when you hear it; literally MILLIONS of reflections bouncing around, with Doppler effects and surface reflections off every surface level. Like a drum room mic - when the quality is good, it does enhance the musical quality of the source sound. But when it's bad, it just mucks things up. Studios with existing chambers (usually built in the 1950's or 60's) still use them as main reverbs on a lot of things.

Every time I'm at Capitol, we use their chambers - all of which sound quite different. On the '60's and '70's, they USED to have a phone line you could hire for a certain length of time - you'd send your mix over the line to Capitol and they'd send it into their famous chambers. They would return the chamber sound back on another phone line! I think with high speed WWW, they should offer this service again....!
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Bob Olhsson on February 20, 2005, 08:30:29 AM
I heard about some guy in LA who had a bunch of EMTs you could dial up and rent by the hour.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: WhyKooper on February 20, 2005, 02:21:57 PM
............"Please see; www.recordingthebeatles.com).Our upcoming book has taken over 13 years to research and will have a significant amount of detail on this....."


Sounds interesting but in what ways does it differ from the Lewisohn book?  Is your book going to reference equipment used to specific sessions, or just be a rundown of equipment that existed and how it generally worked?
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: canada on February 22, 2005, 07:45:39 AM
Sounds like an interesting book, I'd hope it doesn't re-cover too much ground from other works though.  Definately looking forward to checking it out.




especially the part about the reverb!
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on October 12, 2005, 11:53:46 PM
George Massenburg wrote on Sun, 06 February 2005 07:32

Hey Terry,

I'm a HUGE fan of "Trashy Dog".  I would appear that you engineered that as well as played everything that Cropper and Pop Staples didn't.  And, in fact, you don't have alot of engineering credits.  What did you do back then?

George




Hey George,

Sorry to be so long in answering this post, but for some reason, I just now saw it, and that was almost by accident!

Thanks for the nice comments regarding "Trashy Dog."  I originally recorded that track for a solo album that was released by me as artist on Stax's Enterprise label.  On that version, it had a (very tongue-in-cheek) "vocal" which delineated the dance known in my head  as the Trashy Dog.  Obviously the version you're referring to was the one by Steve Cropper, Albert King, and Pop Staples, on the "Jammed Together" album.  When Stax was preparing that album, they were looking for tracks for one or all of those guys to play on.  They liked the "Trashy Dog" track, and we decided to use it for Albert.  Steve Cropper often got credit for playing on that, but it was actually me.  I played everything except the drums (Steve Rhea) and the overdubs by Albert.  Of course, I engineered and mixed it.

"Back then," I guess I did a lot of everything, from writing to playing to engineering to mixing to producing;  really, the same as today...sad that I haven't progressed, at least to the A&R stage as yet...but you're correct, credits weren't dished out "back then" like they are today, so often none of us were credited for tasks such as engineering, or perhaps even producing!

Sorry I missed seeing you at AES...I came to one of the playbacks, but you'd already started.  Next time, I hope!

Best wishes,

Terry
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: vernier on October 13, 2005, 12:41:09 AM
Some great recordings with live chambers: Simon & Garfunkle (Columbia), CSN&Y (Heider), Byrds (Columbia), Sinatra (Capitol), and David Crosby "If I Could Only Remember My Name" (Heider), which is a great example of what a digital verb *can't* sound like.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Sarusan on October 14, 2005, 02:22:39 PM
David Kulka wrote on Sun, 30 January 2005 07:46

As I recall, Chamber 3 at Western (the one connected to Studio 3, where the Beach Boys hits were made) was in the back of the building,


Were the chambers hard wired to the studios then?  The verb on the Mamas and Papas records, which I'm assuming were mixed in Studio 3, sounds more like chamber 5 which is off the back alley on the second floor.


Steven


Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: vernier on October 14, 2005, 05:44:56 PM
You reserve the chamber, then patch in from whatever control room you're in.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Sarusan on October 15, 2005, 12:57:24 AM
vernier wrote on Fri, 14 October 2005 14:44

You reserve the chamber, then patch in from whatever control room you're in.


I was lucky to spend a lot of time at Cello and get familiar with the chambers there and how to access them.  I'm curious as to whether they were dedicated to specific rooms in the past and not on a patch bay.

Steven




Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: robmix on October 15, 2005, 05:44:11 AM
Sarusan wrote on Fri, 14 October 2005 11:22

David Kulka wrote on Sun, 30 January 2005 07:46

As I recall, Chamber 3 at Western (the one connected to Studio 3, where the Beach Boys hits were made) was in the back of the building,


Were the chambers hard wired to the studios then?  The verb on the Mamas and Papas records, which I'm assuming were mixed in Studio 3, sounds more like chamber 5 which is off the back alley on the second floor.


Steven





I recently heard that the Mamas and the Papas also recorded at ABC/Dunhill which later became Lionshare. Three chambers there, all of which are now storage rooms.

Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Josht on October 15, 2005, 01:30:40 PM
I know this is kind of out of the time period being discussed, but does anybody know what the reverb on Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Fleetwood Mac album are from?
Josh
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: vernier on October 16, 2005, 02:23:42 AM
Whatever Sound City and Record Plant had at the time, (which I don't know).
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on February 24, 2008, 12:35:53 AM
Antti Uusimaki wrote on Sun, 30 January 2005 11:14

Abbey Road still has the echo chamber in studio 2 and
6 EMT plates if I remember right. Terry, you recorded
Isaac Hayes's 'Walk On By', right? One of my all time
favourites and a reference. What was your approach
to that? Mics, mic placement? What was the set up for strings?
12-2-2? Was it cut live or did you overdub some parts? Thanks,

Antti


Hey Antti,

Three years late here (sorry, but somehow missed the question the first time around).

Yes, I recorded Walk On By with Isaac.

It was done almost all live, except for the strings.  Even the vocal was done with the band, Ike singing live as he played Hammond and directed the players.  There were a few vocal direction comments (chord changes, timings) that had to be removed from the mix.

The setup would have been my normal one, mostly Neumanns of the day, esp 87, 86, 84, and things minimally mic'd.

The strings were overdubed, and I have now forgotten the exact setup, but 12-2-2 sounds prob about right.

Best (late) regards.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: aamicrophones on July 18, 2008, 03:37:44 AM
According to an interview I read with George Martin.  The "chamber" at Abbey Road were large concrete Culverts with a Tannoy at one end and a microphone at the other.  Which I believe was a ribbon but don't quote me on that.

Dave Thomas
www.aamicrophones.com
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on July 18, 2008, 09:48:57 AM
Actually the Studio Two chamber is a fairly large-ish room with several "rounded concrete road-culvert thingys" placed at odd intervals inside.

The mics when I used them (early 80's-90's) were Neumann though, although they have probably been changed many times over the years.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: jimmyjazz on July 22, 2008, 11:18:40 AM
My mix room has access to 2 large spaces that might work well as chambers.  One is very hard and live, and the other is softer and more diffuse.

Any suggestions on a basic setup to try first?  Should I drive the space with a full-range monitor or something smaller?  Should I pick up the wet signal with an LDC, a SDC, a ribbon, or a dynamic mic?  Omni?  Cardioid?  Other?  Drive from the boundaries or the center of the space?  Record from the boundaries or the center?

I know, I know . . . "yes"!
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on July 22, 2008, 12:05:39 PM
Jimmy, it truly is just trial and error.  Some of the coolest chambers I've ever used seemed to slightly defy logic at times.

I've even used a bathroom that sounded great.

Currently, I have KRK's (forgot the model, they have yellow cones), 2 of them, driving the room, and Beyer dynamics picking up.

Neumanns (old ones, such as 84's) work well, but usually it comes down to sing something that is not as essential in the studio itself.

I have been wanting to try something new and sdc, such as NT-5's in there though.

Good luck.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: jimmyjazz on July 22, 2008, 12:35:28 PM
Thanks, Terry.  If you're using 2 monitors to drive the chamber, does that mean you're sending a stereo feed at times?
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on July 22, 2008, 11:33:12 PM
No, it's a mono feed.  That generally works much better.

I just stacked the two speakers one on top of the other, to excite the room a little more.

Stereo mic'ing though.

There's a thread around here somewhere with photos and dimensions of our chambers.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: compasspnt on July 22, 2008, 11:38:01 PM
Here's one thread at least.  These pix show just one KRK...now I have the second speaker stacked on top of that one.

Pages 9 & 10 have a lot of info.

 http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/mv/msg/20649/0/12 8/6490/
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: jimmyjazz on July 23, 2008, 08:38:18 AM
Many thanks, Terry.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: Steve Hudson on July 23, 2008, 01:28:48 PM
Jim, have you heard Bruce Robison's chamber over at Premium? Pretty cool sound, but I can't recall what he was micing it with. I sometimes run a feed into the tracking room at 5am (long decay, great drum room) and mic it with whatever omni isn't being used somewhere else (KM83 or Beyer M101 usually). There's almost no absorption in that room so it sounds like a big chamber. I did the same thing at my old place in Driftwood, which had over 3,000 s.f. of tile on the floors. Amazing reverb.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: jimmyjazz on July 23, 2008, 08:07:53 PM
I haven't been to Bruce's place, but I do recall seeing his chamber being featured in an article.  I've been in that tracking room at 5 AM -- it has absorption in the drum corner, right?  That's about it as I recall.
Title: Re: About Sixties Reverb:
Post by: philmagnotta on October 20, 2009, 11:06:26 PM
When did the Moody Blues start recording in stereo?
What ever happened to Tony Clarke?

I've only heard US mixes of thier stuff, which often certainly didn't lack reverb, but some of thier recordings seemed to have potential.
Probably because of the actual material, but somehow I always thought they needed a better mix.
What do you guys know about thier production, et, al?