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I actually bought an old Ampex 601 mic pre to dirty up my tube mic, and the weird thing is it did the opposite; it took the gritty edges off the mic and rounded out some of the high end, even seeming to tighten the bass (tho' I think that was a result of what it did to the high end). Yes, I could cr...

It might seem like a stretch, but I think it's worth it: Look for an Alesis Masterlink used or on close-out. I got mine for I think $850 demo'd, and it's great. Some people say they've heard better converters, but I love the sound of the machine, and while the EQ is kinda clunky to use, it works jus...

I'm on DJEG's page: Owned mine since a guy from Cali shipped it to me 5 (6?) years ago. I live in NY. A friend who's a good tech came over and was impressed how little alignment/calibration it needed -- basically we stuck a reel of 456 on it and I've been going since. It's been a real workhorse, and...

Depends on your audience. My own feeling is that your ears are the number one arbiter of quality, and it's good to have 5 or 10 reference tracks around to check your ears against. Ultimately, though, doing what others do to their mixes can group you into a real limited sound that might not have long...

This might sound kinda touchy feely, but keep a journal, too. Write down settings that work -- you'll kick yourself when you listen to a recording that nails the perfect vocal tone and you can't remember what mic you used or what room you recorded in or what effect you used. And look up the "oblique...

Blue, this is really interesting -- I'd agree with Joel except I'd love to actually hear the difference between (1) sending the whole submix into the pre and (2) keeping one good room mic discrete. You could post 'em for our scientific inquiry, and we'll stab and poke like AE scientists. I always li...

I got into a fender bender, though no car damage noticeable. That same night I had to play out, and felt no noticeable pain, though I had an SG hanging on my left shoulder. But two days later my left hand goes numb, and 10 days later I still have no feeling in my left hand's index or middle fingers....

Once you've got a couple tracks of the song recorded, one thing you can do is set up all your mix down levels, put the TSR in 'edit' mode, hit record on whatever machine you're mixing down to, and spin the reels up to speed. Record just that "spin up." Now that you have a mixed-down recording of you...

Look up a guy named Dan Rugh (danrugh.com). He books shows, runs a label and some other diy stuff there. Used to run 814, but I think it's changed names. Really good guy. Works harder than John Holmes. Tell him Chandler sent you.

I meant "moral issues." It's the Clinton liberal Democrat in me.

Duc: I was thinking about this the other day in re: Starbucks. I had some kinda conception that it was a liberal thing (Joni Mitchell CDs for sale, New York Times readily available), then I was realizing that it was prob'ly the most bourgeois place on Earth. I think it's the way the word gets fucked...

Interesting... I just put together a little suitcase ($2.99 plastic jobber lined with bubblewrap) for summer travel, when I tend to go out of my mind not being able to record. I picked up a Zoom MRS-4 and have yet to pick up a 128 card for it, but the 32 that came with it is good for a song or two. ...