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Having long ago moved into the 24-track analog domain and subsequently the Pro Tools/G4 digital domain, I couldn't have done it without the many hours I spent on the Porta 05. Yes, I still have the deck and the manual. E-mail me at bugpup@earthlink.net and we'll work something out.

Put a PZM on the floor in front of the amp. Throw a towel over it. It should provide great chunk when combined with a close mike. Also, try an EV666 on the cone in the back of the cabinet. Combine it with the front mike on the speaker. Always a combination of mikes for complex, bitchin' guitar tones!

The Tuned Reference series by Event are much better than the 20/20 series. Better bottom with the TR8. The Tr5 is a great disposable speaker for the price. I use Tannoy Mercury M2 monitors and picked them up because of the great bottom end. Same drivers as the Reveal series, but difference porting, ...

There will be more Senate Hearings on May 13 for this issue. Check CSPAN or CSPAN2 for TV coverage. They are always a hoot to watch.

I'd have to agree with Matthew. To get the best sounds of 'tape' you need to get a deck that doesn't use noise reduction. Get a deck where when you print louder to tape, it doesn't screw up the noise reduction encoding, but rather gives you the great saturated sound of tape.

No amount of limiting and compression are too much when it comes to vocals if it's a rock track with alot of guitars. I've been having issues lately dealing with digital stereo buss compression. The vocals seem to really jump around in a way that they never do when working in the analog domain using...

Mackie's suck. Avoid them like the plague. In the Pro Audio world we refer to them as 'chackies' because that's what the EQ sounds like. They are reminiscent of the worst of the Amek consoles. The first choice in your price range would be to look into an Allen & Heath or replacing the Soundcraft wit...

I'm probably forgetting some, but it's somewhere around 32. I've engineered in 22. Lots of different gear and monitoring situations. It's important to visit other rooms to get a grip on sonic anomalies and comfort factors. As an engineer, you'll always seek your core set of equipment, but be incline...

If you have an analog tape deck, azimuth is certainly the thing most useful to use an oscilloscope for. A 10Khz tone is usually the optimum frequency and then comparing phase on the outer tracks (i.e. track #1 and #24) or the middle two trackswith the scope will allow you to adjust the head angle as...

I'd take the door off. With a cardioid mic and the singer in the closet, the mic is going to be picking up basically everything inside and what is outside will be seriously attenuated by the pickup pattern. That said, if your control room is just outside the door, the engineer's monitor level could ...

Fan noise is an annoying reality of the new digital recording systems. I've seen baffles used in the studio, I've seen blankets and pillows socked in around the unit at home. Isolating the units and running proper cable lengths to get the machine out of the control room is probably your best bet. Re...

When you monitor during recording, you will be monitoring either the input signal or the signal coming off tape via the sync head. Some decks will allow you to switch status of tracks individually. With a straight dump of tracks or recording many at once for the first time, latency shouldn't be an i...

Get this setting: Lake Tahoe. Studio set up in what used to be Donna Summer's old ski chalet by Steve Thompson of the Club House. View out the doorwall from the end of the console was of the Lake. Every night capped by a spectacular sunset. 80 input SSL J-series console, tons of rented gear from Des...

Top 3 choices in the studio for electric bass/bass amp cabinet are: Neumann U47fet, Electro-Voice RE20 and AKGD112. I have tried the Shure Beta 52 as well and found there's really too much of a midrange scoop to get the definition that bass cabinet needs, but it's killer on bass drum. As for upright...

Check with one of the larger Post Production facilities in Los Angeles. I understand the Fairlight systems don't have issues with this which is why many Post houses are heading toward that gear. Some will probably have the proper Pro Tools setup for translation. Better yet, visit the Digidesign offi...