ERA 2 - Characteristics

ERA 2 - Early Multitrack Recording (1949 - 1969)

• This era covers 5 years of developing multitracking techniques.

• Concept album emerges (Greater experimentation)

• Studio becomes part of creative process

• Music producers become key components to the success of records

4 - Track machines (Studer J37)

• Producers would record lead vocals to one track and spread the remaining parts across the rest - allowing for separation of parts

• Performers would still generally perform the basic song together.

• Particular parts of a song could now be re-rerecorded - Technique was known as ‘dropping-in’ & ‘dropping-out’ meaning that the whole song would not have to be re-recorded if a mistake was present

• Like early mono recordings, lots of sub-mixing took place during the initial capture prior to the sound reaching the tape. (i.e. drums would have multiple mics but only take up one track

• Large ensembles (e.g. orchestras) were still ambient mic’ed

Capture: 4-track machines (Analogue Tape)

• Noise

• Overdubbing

• Bouncing

Capture - Noise

• Hiss from poor signal-to-noise ratio

• Distortion (Tape Saturation) caused by high gains (recording ‘hot)

• Surface nose (scratching and crackle) from the disc

Capture - Overdubbing

• 4-track tape machines meant that live recording in one take was not necessary

• Important parts (i.e. vocals) could be overdubbed or recorded separately (resulting in more clarity) if there was a free track

• Birth of Concept album. Artists/bands used the technology to experiment with techniques in the studio, creating music that was impossible to reproduce live

• Parts could be layered through ADT (artificial double tracking) or just be double tracked (resulting in Multiple layers of different parts)

Capture - Bouncing

• Bouncing was used to free up tracks to record more parts/layers (i.e double track the vocals and guitars).

• Generally, all the tracks from one 4-track machine would be bounced to 1 track of a new 4-track machine to allow for more space

Results of bouncing too often:

1. Loss of quality (Reduced frequency range and build up of hiss and noise

2. Added distortion (Tape saturation)

3. Destructive editing (can’t change balance between parts)

4. Introduction of wow and flutter

5. Issue of synchronisation between the machines

Instrumentation

• Solid Body Electric Guitar

• Pedals

• Mellotron

• Theremin

• Analogue Synthesizers

Instrumentation - Solid Body Electric Guitar

• Well and truly established as guitar of choice in popular music

• Found in a variety of styles: Reggae, Funk, Heavy Rock and R ‘n’ B

• Guitarists were at the forefront of the bands and were admired for their virtuosic skills.

• Techniques included - Hammer-ons, Dive Bombing & Tapping

Instrumentation - Pedals

Wide variety of FX pedals were used and became synonymous to the style:

• Wah Wah pedals in Funk and Reggae

• Distortion in Heavy Rock and Metal

• Overdrive in Electric Blues

• Fuzz

Instrumentation - Mellotron

• Famous Flute sound used in Strawberry Fields by the Beatles

• Tape Based keyboard

• Used Prerecorded instruments that was triggered by pressing a note on the keyboard.

• First signs of sampling

Instrumentation - Theremin

• Used in Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys

• A synth that uses antennae to produce a note

• Was used in sound design for SciFi movies which made its transition into popular music

Instrumentation - Analogue Synthesizers

Mix

• EQ

• Dynamic Processing

• FX

• STEREO

Mix - EQ

• Limited (Narrow) frequency range (lack of high and low frequency content)

• Still considerably better than Era 1

• Better high and end but low end was lacking (The kick drum particularly suffered)

• No extensive EQ processing but a few EQ modules were available

• Contemporary recordings use the full frequency range

Mix - Dynamic Processing

• Wide dynamic range (perceived loudness is quieter compared to contemporary recordings)

• Fairchild and LA-2A were available for a warm valve sound.

• Soft Clipping (distortion) added to the overall punch and tone of the recording.

• Limited instances of compression and generally used over several tracks or a vocal

Mix - FX

Reverb:

• Plate and spring reverb is a form of mechanical reverb

• Spring reverb in guitar - Especially found in Rock

• Plate reverb was a large metal plate with an input and output transducer on it - Bright reverb used on snares or vocals

ADT, Phaser & Flanger ushered in the Psychedelic sound

Mix - STEREO (Early)

• Novelty use of stereo

• Extreme/Polarised panning e.g. Drums panned hard left, Vocals panned hard right.

• Contemporary mixes uses full stereo field and vocal, bass and kick are always centre

ERA 2 Editing

• Could edit parts

• Could Splice parts

• Could Comp certain parts together - so could record the verse and chorus at separate points and link them together.

• All destructive editing

ERA 2 MAIN THEMES

• Limitations of the technology

• Poor Balance

• Dealing with noise

• Remastering

• Drum capture issues

• Stereo

• Keyboard instruments