Steve Albini article on analog recording

Russian Recording · Post by **Russian Recording** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:40 am

eh91311 wrote: The big room drum sound at Electrical would probably suffer the most if recorded to digital. It would definitely change sonically.

total, complete bologna. the room does not know what it is being recorded to. I've recorded there digitally and is sounds fan-fucking-tastic.

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:26 pm

Russian Recording wrote:
eh91311 wrote: The big room drum sound at Electrical would probably suffer the most if recorded to digital. It would definitely change sonically.
total, complete bologna. the room does not know what it is being recorded to. I've recorded there digitally and is sounds fan-fucking-tastic.

It probably sounds fantastic for digital, russki-guy. You used the recording medium that you prefer, in a great room. Good for you. The room doesn't care what you record on, but the results are different between any digital and any 2" analog tape recorder. It just is.

Yes, I've read that people bring in digital gear and record there, but the studio doesn't provide digital multi-tracking hardware, intentionally. That's not a bad thing.

No need to get into the analog tape vs digital/computer recording thing again. Let's just say, the results you get from using either are different.

Russian Recording · Post by **Russian Recording** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:11 pm

eh91311 wrote: The big room drum sound at Electrical would probably suffer the most if recorded to digital. It would definitely change sonically.

No need to get into the analog tape vs digital/computer recording thing again. Let's just say, the results you get from using either are different.

Im not trying to get into any "thing" again, I am just pointing out that your comment that "the drum sound would suffer from being recorded digitally" is just plain silly. The drum sound might suffer from an inexperienced drummer, crappy drums, a shitty room or a terrible engineer, but not from the medium it is being recorded to. No big deal, let's be friends.

gregnrom · Post by **gregnrom** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 4:47 pm

Hey all,
Sometimes when people write/talk about Steve they use the studio and his name interchangeably. It is easy to get the wrong impression.
We are operating a commercial facility that rents out two recording studios to any musicians, producers, and engineers. We're built to accommodate any format around. Of all the non-Steve sessions that go on here, 1/3 of them are usually digital. One year, we had 10 months of Pro Tools sessions.
While we may have the best analog set-up around, that is only one option. We don't impose an ideology on our clients (unless that ideology is not being a total piece of shit). Thanks to a great network of friends and engineers, we have access to a bunch of instruments and gear, for any occasion. We'll rent out a friend's PT rig fairly regularly.
Steve probably won?t ever use PT in a session, and has strong reasons for it (carpal tunnel, bad graphics, CRT noise). That has nothing to do with the session in the other studio though.

By the way, I am a big fan of donkey-punch (digital performer, not the sex act). The MOTU 828mKII has been a blessing for me. I have yet to record a whole record on it, but it is handy for a whole mess of other things.
Greg Norman,
Famous Golfer
Electrical Audio

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:15 pm

Russian Recording wrote:
eh91311 wrote: The big room drum sound at Electrical would probably suffer the most if recorded to digital. It would definitely change sonically.

No need to get into the analog tape vs digital/computer recording thing again. Let's just say, the results you get from using either are different.
Im not trying to get into any "thing" again, I am just pointing out that your comment that "the drum sound would suffer from being recorded digitally" is just plain silly. The drum sound might suffer from an inexperienced drummer, crappy drums, a shitty room or a terrible engineer, but not from the medium it is being recorded to. No big deal, let's be friends.

Be friends? Yeah, OK.

The digital versus analog tape thing has been beaten to death by multitudes of believers of both sides. Each side is right. I'll let it go at that.

I read gregnrom's post and he clarified that Electrical Audio records on all formats. Like all other studios, they want to be able to satisfy all customer demands. I agree with him that Albini's recording preferences & Electrical recording studio get linked together by many, including me, in error. I'm sure that sessions recorded at Electrical onto digital media sound just fine.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 7:30 pm

joelpatterson wrote:Me neither. Strictly Digital Performer. I'm not about to bend to the winds of fashion, no'siree.

Same boat here, with paddles shaped like a d and a p.

Jeff

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:33 pm

Microphone placement, among other things, would make a much bigger difference that digital or analog....

Anyway nice artical, thatnks for the post.

wayne kerr · Post by **wayne kerr** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:24 pm

InvalidInk wrote:Microphone placement, among other things, would make a much bigger difference that digital or analog....

Anyway nice artical, thatnks for the post.

microphone placement?

oh, puh-leaze, that is sooooo geeky.

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:06 pm

All I know is, I'd kill to be able to record to 2" tape rather than binary code any day. I'll literally kill people. Find me victims, I'll do it.

Okay, so I'm exaggerating. I'd kill to record on 1" tape.

bobbydj · Post by **bobbydj** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 2:46 am

Does that mean you'd sneeze on someone to record on cassette?

joelpatterson · Post by **joelpatterson** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 5:13 am

That's kind of a kinky way of volunteering.

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 6:59 am

No, but it does mean that 1/4" tape will get you an Indian burn, or an atomic wedgie, on the nearest passerby.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:12 am

alex matson wrote:Ooh! I always like hearing more about the RADAR!

As an aside, Brain Paulson was just mixing a record I tracked on RADAR and after listening to a few of the roughs, expressed interest in getting one. Those converters are just absurd.

alex matson wrote:Is the album out yet?

It's a band from Bloomington, Indiana called Griffy Rhodes. The album will hopefully be out before Christmas. It's called Something Like The Truth. The band had some financial issues and since they're putting it out themselves, there's been a bit of a holdup.

alex matson wrote:Was the folkses pleased wif de results?

The band was extremely happy given the time limitations involved. The studio was a joy in which to work. Greg was a fantastic assistant and even the interns were completely on the ball.

drumsound wrote:AS far as I know the band and Chris were quite happy with Electrical and the results therin. I'll get Chris to chime in.

Yeah, it's a great studio. We tracked the project at three other studios and brought my RADAR to Electrical to mix, since that's what all but a few organ overdubs were recorded onto. We mixed to an Alesis Masterlink at 24/88.2 and a 1/4" ATR machine at 30ips. We chose the 1/4" for the master, although there were some nice things about the digital mixes, too.

eh91311 wrote:The big room drum sound at Electrical would probably suffer the most if recorded to digital. It would definitely change sonically.

We piped drums and a few other things out into the rooms in Studio A and brought a mic back to a couple of faders during the mix. The funny thing is that the ambience was something I actually preferred on the digital versions. But that's just me.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

bobbydj · Post by **bobbydj** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:10 am

I so know I'm going to regret asking this but what's an "atomic" wedgie? Wedgie, I know. But "atomic"??

jeddypoo · Post by **jeddypoo** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:33 am

it's the wedgie for today's military-industrial complex. The wedgie that Dwight Eisenhower warned us against.

Actually, I don't have a proper definition. But it hurts. Hey, by the way, you wanna try a Hertz Donut?

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Steve Albini article on analog recording

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