ProSound News - December 2008 - (Page 32)

[32] ally, I would do some low-pass filtering Cubase as .WAV files at 24-bit/88.2k with the Weiss EQ. Many Hank resolution. “I still have a really good Williams recordings have vocal peaks. analog tape player, a customized When I did The Complete Hank [Ampex] 440 with some Inovonics Williams box set in 1998, I sparingly electronics. It’s just a reproducer—it used the digital limiter built into the reproduces 1/4-track, 1/2-track and Neve DTC to control this problem. On full-track. They had a full set of tones Unreleased Recordings, I used a Weiss on each tape, so I was able to line DS1-Mk II to address similar vocal them up and transfer them just right. peaks. However, because the DS1 can I transferred them with a stereo carbe set to limit a specific band at as nartridge, even though they were mono row or wide a bandwidth as I like, I recordings. I transferred them 2-channel mono: left-side groove on channel Alan Stoker, recorded-sound and moving-image was able to reduce the peak in a more subtle fashion. This fine-tuned band one, right-side groove on channel curator of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum limiting produced a sweeter vocal tone two. That was a good thing, because in a lot of cases, there would be some “After that,” he says, “I would put it overall while allowing the other instrunoise in one side of the groove that was through a Pacific Microsonics HDCD A-to- ments to breathe.” not in the other. You could take the quieter D converter and convert that analog signal The Place For Mastering to 44.1 and capture it at 32-bit float into www.theplaceformastering.com side and focus on that.” “The thing about disc transferring,” the Sequoia workstation. “Sometimes,” he continues, “I’d have Country Music Hall of Fame says Palmaccio, who received the .WAV files via hard drive, “is it is a technical the Weiss EQ-1 LP as a digital equalizer, and Museum process, but there’s quite a bit of artistry in and the Weiss DS-1 Mk II limiter. Occasion- www.countrymusichalloffame.com it. And [Alan] is really amazing at it.” The recordings needed varying amounts of crackle and pop removal, Paltop engineers such as his friend Don maccio adds. “My method was to keep Murray, who, with producer Thom Bell, them at 88.2 and use Algorithmix Scratchcrafted revered recordings by the SpinFree Pro to do a general cleaning, to get rid ners, the O’Jays, the Delphonics and the (continued from page 20) of the first layer of crackle, tics and pops. Trammps, among others. After that, depending on how much noise Gold writes with a Synclavier, and still “I like my generation an awful lot,” uses score paper, to bring his inspiration was on the track, I would go back and Gold offers. “I didn’t like the strictness of to life, as heard to dramatic effect on manually remove pops, or just unusual classical music per se, even though I do— tracks like “Friends” by Mary J. Blige and noises, using Magix/Sequoia’s Spectral this morning, I had my cello out and “You Got Me” by the Roots and Erykah Cleaning. Those two things did the bulk of played Bach for an hour. I love the founda- Badu. the noise reduction.” tions of all music. But the looseness of this Palmaccio also used Adobe Audition’s In the contemporary climate, though, group of people, the early blues bands—I The Studio may not exist, he admits, Click/Pop eliminator. “ScratchFree Pro was was in a blues band with Todd Rundgren without his voluminous arranging gigs. the primary program,” he explains. “On for a short while—and the camaraderie But this, he adds, is part of the business the really noisy tracks, multiple, light passes was a lot different than Curtis Institute of music. “The future is a little cloudy, of ScratchFree were used. Sequoia was was. That appealed to me. But I’ve been because the business of music is a little used to remove larger, individual fascinated with making records since I was cloudy now,” he says. “Owning a studio clicks/noises. Finally, if I had a really stubvery little. I remember listening to Motown is not what it was at one time. Anything born noise that Algo or Sequoia wouldn’t records thinking, ‘What’s going on here?’” in business changes, but life goes on. remove, I’d go to Adobe Audition.” Gold learned engineering through This year, I’ve had a very busy year as an The primary equalizer, says Palmaccio, hands-on experience and observation of arranger. I don’t question it, I just think was an SPL PQ 2050 mastering equalizer. that at my age I know an awful lot of people and people know a lot about me, so I tend to get a little more work than I might have gotten 20 years ago. “You have to adapt, and I was good at adapting,” he adds. “That’s why the Roots have been here practically since the place opened; I think they showed up about a year later. I was already having a lot of success out of the place by that time, but they certainly helped give it a push. Brandy and Monica was already No. 1 with a big string arrangement [“The Boy is Mine”], and Rodney Jerkins, who grew up about 60 miles from here, was using the facility. “I’m always trying to figure out how to stimulate more business for the studio,” Gold continues. “You try to expand your reputation. My love for rock ‘n’ roll is still as avid as my love for classical and R&B. Yet I grew up in a town like Philadelphia, which was an R&B town, so in order to really make a good living I had to become an expert at rhythm & blues more than rock ‘n’ roll.” Hank Williams (continued from page 20) cleaner, there’s more immediacy.” Stoker is drawing praise for his 1981 transfer of the acetates to Ampex 1/4-inch tape at 15 ips, though he credits the late Bob Pinson, the Hall of Fame’s records-acquisition official, with preventing their loss to history. “[WSM photographer] Les Leverett rescued them—metaphorically—from the dumpster,” Stoker explains. “He kept them, and thank God that he did. Les contacted Bob Pinson. Bob said, ‘To make sure they’re preserved, we need to get those over here and let us transfer them.’ We had a full transfer studio at that time, which I had started in 1980. Bob and I transferred them one by one. They are 16 inches in diameter, and there’s about 15 minutes on each side.” The tapes lay dormant through a yearslong custody battle, ultimately settled in favor of Williams’ estate, though not before his daughter, Jett, and her husband, attorney F. Keith Adkinson, fought to prevent the release of the recordings with additional, overdubbed instrumentation. It was not until January of 2006 that the Court of Appeals of Tennessee named the Williams estate sole owner of the recordings. “I did a play-through of a couple of the discs,” Stoker recalls, “and the tapes that I made back in 1981 sounded so much better than the discs sounded even today—they’ve degraded quite a bit since then. Tape is a really good storage medium, if it’s taken care of, and we had been taking care of them.” Stoker baked the tapes, which had absorbed moisture, and transferred them to Philly Sound —Christopher Walsh The Studio www.myspace.com/thestudio215philly psn December 2008 http://www.theplaceformastering.com http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com http://www.gracedesign.com http://www.myspace.com/thestudio215philly http://www.gracedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProSound News - December 2008

ProSound News - December 2008 Sound Business Contents Hank’s Best Yet Sound Recording Studio Showcase: Great City Productions Software Tech Tracks Sessions Anticipating Post’s Future Post Showcase: Eargasm HD Audio Post The Business of Being Creative Sound Innovations: VRsonics VibeStudio Spatial Design Suites Field Reports: Product Profiles Yes We Can Hear Obama Live Sound Showcase: Stone Temple Pilots Centerstage Soundcheck Sound People View From the Top Product Spotlight Classifieds Advertiser Index Company Index Music, etc

ProSound News - December 2008

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