ERA 3 - Characteristics

Direct Tape to Mono Recording

(1930-1963)

• Era covers 2 decades of recording techniques.

• Recordings in 30s and 40s were captured straight to disc

• Only in late 40s that studios transferred to the cheaper and more reliable analogue tape recorder

ERA 1 - Capture

Topics

• Noise

• Live Recording (Single Take)

Capture - Noise

• Hiss from poor signal-to-noise ratio

• Distortion (Tape Saturation) caused by high gains or recording “hot”

• Surface noise (Scratching and Crackle) from the disc

Capture - Live Recording (Single Take)

• All performances were recorded live. Limited microphones were used, often one for multiple instruments. Proximity to the mic would determine the overall balance. Softer instruments like vocals would be closest to the mic with drums further back.

• Result in Poor Balance compared to contemporary standards

  Instruments are masked. Can’t hear some quieter instruments that lie in the same frequency range.

• Recordings often had mistakes:

• No Editing!

• No audible edit points (cuts)

• Abrupt endings (No fade)

• Not always strictly in time (loose tempo)

ERA 1 - Instrumentation

Topics

• Solid body Electric Guitar

• Hammond Organ

• Acoustic instruments

• Hollow body guitar

Instrumentation - Solid body Electric Guitar

• Inspired and spawned Rock ‘n’ Roll (and other genres) and formed part of the basic rock band set up of Drums, Bass, E. Guitar and Vocal

• Electric Bass replaced the double bass which was still widely used in 50s Rock ‘n’ Roll

• More sustain and a bigger palette of sound with different guitar amps and effects pedals.

Instrumentation - Hammond Organ

Generally paired with a Rotary ‘Leslie’ Speaker in Blues and then went on to be standard instrument in Rock

Instrumentation - Acoustic instruments

Horn sections were often used in genres like Jazz and Soul

Instrumentation - Hollow body guitar

• Significant in Blues and Jazz.

• Less sustain than a solid body guitar

Style

All styles in this era were recorded live and consisted of mostly acoustic instruments.

• Jazz - Big band, Bepop, Gypsy, Cool jazz

• Blues, Country, Rhythm & Blues, Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Era 1 - Mix

Topics

• EQ

• Dynamic Processing

• FX

• MONO

MIX - EQ

• Limited frequency range - lack of high and low frequency content. Resulting in mid-range (honky) sound

• No EQ processing available, only until the later part of the Era (e.g. Pultec)

• Contemporary recordings use the full frequency range

MIX - Dynamic Processing

• Wide dynamic range - Perceived loudness is quieter compared to contemporary recordings

• No dynamic processing available, only until the later part of the era (e.g. Fairchild)

MIX - FX

• Reverb - Ambience from the room the instruments were recorded in i.e. ‘Live Room’

• Slap Back Delay - Tape delay effect used widely in rock ‘n’ roll. Sun record’s Sam Phillips was the pioneer of the sound

MIX - MONO

Stereo did not exist. Experimentation with binaural was underway but commercial music was not released in this format.