Turtlerock Forum

And thought of you chaps...

treasure i see

See anything you like?

Si... I love the look of the synth 100 console. Primitive, but cool... and of course heavy.

would go well with your avatar...

Hey, that Roland electric piano is the exact same model as my first piano!

oh and the EMS is cool too ;-)

There was also a stack of b77 and a77, a box of maybe 10 auratones, a large pile of single driver horn mounted speakers and heaps more...

mylesgm wrote:There was also a stack of b77 and a77, a box of maybe 10 auratones, a large pile of single driver horn mounted speakers and heaps more...

You talking VCA gear?

yep.

Quick! take it away... It's burning my eyes...

That old junk?

I'll swap you all that old junk for some casiotone my daughter likes playing with that I found on the side of the road.

be quick, this offer won't last!

mylesgm wrote:would go well with your avatar...

or well with this badboy. Not mine BTW.

That synthi 100 is worth a LOT of money....I'm talking over $50,000 !!
(if you can find a buyer... Only 30 made)

NYMo wrote:That synthi 100 is worth a LOT of money....I'm talking over $50,000 !!
(if you can find a buyer... Only 30 made)

Eureka!

I knew nothing of this Synthi 100, so off I went to google...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMS_Synthi_100

so let me clarify that none of this is mine and the studio in question is the sound research studio of the VCA of which I was the engineer/manager for a few years. I dropped by to track a string session and rhythm session for an upcoming album and picked my jaw off the floor when I looked into the side room...

Is it for sale?? (suppose I could sell the Porsche...nah !)

I actually owned one for about 15 minutes once (dont ask !)

Would I buy another....nah...but if I had a tech ...!

and none of the gear is for sale...

Where's the other 5 blocks from the System 700?

in other boxes... there was a large pile and I only opened three or four.

... I spent a few years in the SRS back in my day - didn't see any of this stuff though... Recorded Jazz through the "State of the art 02r" that replaced the obsolete "Harrison"...

h.a.r.r.y.a.r.v.a.n.i.t.i.s

Well I hope students are getting to use this stuff - if not...someone should be sacked or shot!

In fact - they should be forced to use it as part of their education - write and record a piece only using this stuff!

@Chris, not sure what their plans are but somehow I doubt anything interesting will happen with it. Sad but speaking from experience.

@harry, its true the harrison was replaced but first with a vile Roland DM-80 digital workstation which I found in cupboard when I first started working there. That was replaced with an 02r and a DAT, then protools when I arrived. I did some upgrades myself one of which was finding an Lexicon 480L in another cupboard and a pair of LA4s all of which required minimal work to restore. I also installed a Chilton Mk3 24:8 console I found disused in the film school but shortly after I left someone blew up the power supply and we suspect that badly damaged the board and that was replaced with a Toft 24. The studio was designed by Graham Thirkell and features a custom built pair of sofit mounted biamped speakers with a bespoke active crossover. Also the rear diffuser is a wall of actual cork bark which not only works well but looks uber cool.

I believe they have plans to refurb the studio and get it back into action, though what sort of action they mean I have no idea.

So much potential for a GREAT educational facililty and courses incorporating this gear - everyone can get some great cool plug in that is redundant (and uncool) next week - but how many learning institutions in this world would have this gear?? AND a Thirkle designed room!
No one has any balls anymore!!!!!
Shriveled flacid learning institutions!
If this was in Europe - France or Berlin or Austria.........

The Tasmanian wrote:Well I hope students are getting to use this stuff - if not...someone should be sacked or shot!

As someone who finished a degree there in the past couple of years, in total I spent 60 mins in the studio during my degree. Once recording for a visiting artist (30 mins, 3 tracks. I think 2 takes of each), and then once for a mate to do a quick recording. We had a 'unit' in 3rd year called "Recording something something..." that consisted purely of being given a time to go into the studio, and record a track to submit for assessment. It was just a pass/fail grade, with no time for listening back in the control room let alone mixing. I think everyone got 45 mins back to back, so I felt sorry for the engineer on those days!

It doesn't surprise me that it's full of great stuff, from memory there was one of the first Fairlights in there for a while- but it's pretty messy, and there's a shitload of junk as well. Old PC's, boxes of ancient paperwork etc.


I didn't realise you used to work there Myles- how long ago was that? I'd be interested to know what sort of stuff you did in there, as it wasn't really a place I got to check out much. From memory the control room was also very narrow?

Chris- the upside is you could probably take the gear and no one would notice. Rumour has it the year before I started a few grand pianos were stolen from VCA....

Yeah - but it should be all about the ART of music - and marrying it with the ART of recording.
Every institution in this country is so generic and dumbed down - why weren't you taught the above?
Anyone can learn scales/mic types etc - it like going for your driving licence.... or toilet training.....
I'll go away now and fume!

I learnt very little from VCA the institution- but made some wonderful friends and peers that taught me a shitload about music and life. No matter how much they do 'streamline' education they haven't managed to kill that yet!

I used to run the studio providing recordings for the students, teaching classes on recording techniques and technology and also running it professionally for outside hires. Often the outside hires involved me hiring students to play on those projects as well. Was a great period of my life and a massive growth for me as a producer, engineer and artist and I have many great memories of that place. That said, institutions can be very frustrating/limiting places to be creative but they can also be amazing hotbeds of creativity and inspiration and often that is based on what the individuals put in and not what is 'handed down' by the teachers. I know from both of my degrees that I learnt a lot because I sought out learning, demanded it, pursued it and then when opportunities came I made the most I could out of them. In my first year of study at VCA I composed, collaborated or performed for over 25 separate theatre shows, music performances, film scores, art installations, dance works and almost all of them were extra curricular. That lead to lots more work and I've had a steady stream of work directly/indirectly related to that year ever since. When I was teaching at VCA I often encouraged students to ask for more opportunities, to ask for permission to use the studio etc. I can count on the fingers of one hand how many students actually did pursue those options hard, all of them are successful, some are aria award winners...

I don't what plans they have for the SRS studio but I hope they make the best of it.

Yes a narrow control room but one of the best sounding rooms I've worked in. The dead room was a very fat sounding room and the orchestral room was also designed for recording and sounds excellent as long as the air con is off. I've tracked Orchestras in 5.1 for soundfirm there, the australian showband, the RAAH project strings and rhythm sections and numerous other large ensemble projects and yearn to have a room like that more readily available in Melbourne. Also the mic list was small, 4x u89, 2x TLM170s, a few 441 and 421, DIs and a pair of HV Bruel and Kjaer omnis so I really learnt how to use resources...