Keeping it Real to Reel.

deLYS

I just happened upon one of these. I always wanted a reel to reel, but when I came home to assault the web for knowledge this ebay auction was one of the only sources of info I found on this piece from my google skills.I'm most interested in confirming the Motown heresay, because on ebay it's most likely some car salesman snake oil. I'm also very interested in any literature to catch up on, or word of mouth knowledge on the sessions of this early Motown setup if the statement is true.Link me up, or put it down, whatever you know I'm thoroughly intrigued by this right now. I got Apollo and moon missions to listen to all week! And enough 1/2 inch tape to fuel a whole label. I stopped recording sessions on tape about five years ago, not so much by choice, but with how expensive it was becoming. I used to purchase only hour long (much smaller) tapes from Guitar Center for like $100 back then I was so psyched to get boxes of sealed shit! I have absolutely no engineering or production experience with analog, only performing as a musician in the studio, so even tips on running this dinosaur will be useful to me!

SPlDEY

Is that a suitcase model? It looks pretty decent. At the old Record store we started here in Vegas, we had a few Reel to reels for sale. They're all very intriguing. We had a suitcase model similar to the one you linked that was very James Bond. About the whole Motown thing, I think I see that posted on too many Ebay pages. I don't know if this'll help you but:



- spidey

johmbolaya

O-Dub had asked about some of the tape machines and recording studio at Motown a few months ago (maybe last year), so I go back to one of the photos of the tape machines Motown DID use:


Upon looking at the eBay page, that looks more like a home consumer reel than something that would be used for a company like Motown. That's not saying they didn't use it, but it looks like something Smokey Robinson would have at home to hear demos, or maybe record demos, although it seems unlikely since they (Motown) were known for recording as quickly as possible so as not to waste tape and time.

Here are some links to articles about their tape machines, it gets into maintentance and whatnot:
http://www.recordingeq.com/2006motown/06motown23.html
http://www.recordingeq.com/2006motown/06motown06.html

As you will say, Motown originally recorded on 3-track machines, similar to what Frank Zappa used in the early days, pre-Freak Out[/b]. Those quickly became obsolete and 4-track became the standard until the late 60's.

I bought an old Sony reel-to-reel about 15 years ago, used it to make the first batch of my Crut albums. It was in mono, and since I didn't have a mixer, everything was in mono. I could record 2-channels and that was it. But I was able to do some cool lo-fi things with it, and I kept it for the longest time. It also came with its own microphone and I was able to make some trippy feedback sounds with the built-in speaker.

As far as maintentance, there are a number of websites and forums out there which talk about head alignment and cleaning, or even head and pinch roller replacement.

You should head to the TapeOp forum if you are serious about it:
http://www.tapeop.com

These are guys who not only deal with studio-quality tape machines on a regular basis (the guy who started the magazine also runs Jackpot Recording Studio in Portland), but also have consumer reel machines and are diehard analog junkies.

Here's a page that might be of help:
http://www.bassboy.com.au/getreel/site/value.htm


I want to get into it again, and if anything, if you do record everything to digital, you can master to analog and see what kind of results you get. That's what I plan to do once my project is done.

deLYS

I think it's a suitcase model, it's the same as the one in that auction. It comes in a green case where you lift off the top. The microphone is so ancient looking, but everythings in tact, I just need an empty reel so I can listen to some of the ones I have.

Thank you so very much for those links to their recording history, now I got something to bite into when I get off work! I was 0 for 3 with google!

I get tapeop in the mail, probably more cause it's free. I obviously didn't have my eyes open when I subscribed cause I never even thought of them having a forum! I'm new on bulletin boards in general, I gotta sit back and think sometimes.

They probably have all the esoteric knowledge on the old equipment, despite the magazine going pretty digital, they do talk some old school shop, I loved a Les Paul interview where he talks about everything he invented and how he sped up tracks with Mary Ford. Gotta go sign up.

They must not have a Biz Markie thread on their forum so it's beyond my radar. haha!

deLYS

I want to get into it again, and if anything, if you do record everything to digital, you can master to analog and see what kind of results you get. That's what I plan to do once my project is done.
That sounds sooooo much cooler than my izotope vinyl plugin, haha though I've never gone as far as mastering anything I've done at home.

johmbolaya

That sounds sooooo much cooler than my izotope vinyl plugin, haha though I've never gone as far as mastering anything I've done at home.

I'll have to look for that. I have been looking for some recent tape/analog-related plug-ins, but anything to tweak a sound in the hopes of coming up with something interesting, or different from what I expected, is good.

jonblack

i have an old valve powered suitcase reel to reel similar to this...

it had a line in and out so i used to use it to run stuff through (really dry drums etc) to get a bit of life into them.
really nice natural overdrive too when you throw a hot signal through it and turn it up a bit.