using tape machines when mastering from digital source?

[jkhuri44]

gday guys,

just wondering if anyone can shed some light on the use of tape machines when mastering from a digital source.

someone i know recommended that I ask mastering engineers to "run the mix through the tape machine without going to tape and recording the output, just to get the colour of the electronics, etc"

sounds like a moot process to me, if you're compressing and EQing with a lot of outboard....however, i could be wrong...

does anyone have any experience with this, and or can shed some light on their experiences.

[rick]

we do it sometimes , when a client has the horn for the idea.
it works by a process they call magic .

it makes things sound , "softer" less digital ?
there are a bunch of ways to do it better ( which we do all the time) but if the clients has heard about the magic process
and want a piece of it on their tunes
we roll the tapes and press record
we have an amazing machine with magical heads etc etc and its a well maintained atr machine
but if nobody every asked i would never do it

[jkhuri44]

haha, i knew thats exactly what you would say.

the bands manager im working with is insisting i ask for it...so we'll see :P

[musikwerks]

But Rick, how else are you supposed to get those magical adjectives into your mix.... "warm", "punchy", "vibey", "old skool" and "classic"???

[jkhuri44]

But Rick, how else are you supposed to get those magical adjectives into your mix.... "warm", "punchy", "vibey", "old skool" and "classic"???

i've had one of the worst weeks for a long time dealing with bs like this...i wanna kill the person who invented audio buzz words !

[rick]

1. magical = pultec
2. warm = pultec
3. punchy =pultec
4.vibey=pultec
5.oldschool=pultec

good thing we have 5 pultecs ( gee thats lucky ) one on each ...

oh yeah pultec = classic :)

but seriously usually all those words means somebody wants it to sound better , they just dont know how to say it
so if somebody is staying that stuff then its time for you to make it sound better.
if you think you cannot do that then maybe its not about the sound at all
..... pick your battles is my advice

[Text_Edifice]

are we to infer from all this that pultec = everything sounds better?

:?

[rick]

nothing to infer .... you know that already

[David W]

Hmmm....

I don't get it?

I think my mixes are fine but I don't own a Pultec. Oh well back to the drawing board.

[David W]

Actually come to think of it I did a mix the other day without a compressor on the mix buss and loved it.

I'm starting to think the internet is telling me lies.

[TimS]

Actually come to think of it I did a mix the other day without a compressor on the mix buss and loved it.

I'm starting to think the internet is telling me lies.

Hmm....

[jkhuri44]

u know, i reckon if i told em i mixed it on a board, they'd believe me! is the sad story!

i think the mixes sound good...im dealing with more of a mental battle here, hahaha

[heathen]

u know, i reckon if i told em i mixed it on a board, they'd believe me! is the sad story!

i think the mixes sound good...im dealing with more of a mental battle here, hahaha

I hate weeks like that, set it up on the ironing board and say"YES IT WAS MIXED ON A F#$%ing BOARD" you reckon that will work?

[rick]

[quote="jkhuri44"]u know, i reckon if i told em i mixed it on a board, they'd believe me! is the sad story!

i think the mixes sound good...im dealing with more of a mental battle here, hahaha[/quote]

yeah thought so , thus the pick your battles bit

[jkhuri44]

maybe i should make a website and umm, copy pics from this site, and link them to an mp3 and say, "i mixed it here"

(insert turtlerock studio pic to make rick go mad)

[heathen]

maybe i should make a website and umm, copy pics from this site, and link them to an mp3 and say, "i mixed it here"

(insert turtlerock studio pic to make rick go mad)

Ahhhh yes, plan B.

[jkhuri44]

Actually come to think of it I did a mix the other day without a compressor on the mix buss and loved it.

I'm starting to think the internet is telling me lies.

funny u say that, the mixes im working on now sound better without it as well :)

but as i've found it depends on the project, haha

take the interweb with teh grain of salt, it lies alot :P

[heathen]

Actually come to think of it I did a mix the other day without a compressor on the mix buss and loved it.

I'm starting to think the internet is telling me lies.

funny u say that, the mixes im working on now sound better without it as well :)

but as i've found it depends on the project, haha

take the interweb with teh grain of salt, it lies alot :P

Y4eah generally no comp is better than plugin comp, it will sound bigger as soon as it's removed.

[Thirteen]

I didn't think that it would make much of a difference, then I heard what happens to the bottom end when switching the machine from 30 ips to 15 ips, and I loved the sound of the bottom end at 15ips. It was night and day on an Ampex ATR-100.

[Thirteen]

But Rick, how else are you supposed to get those magical adjectives into your mix.... "warm", "punchy", "vibey", "old skool" and "classic"???

i've had one of the worst weeks for a long time dealing with bs like this...i wanna kill the person who invented audio buzz words !

]

Nothing compared to the flowery prose that comes from Hi-Fi buffs when they waste a fortune on snake oil. They get home, turn it on and think that they can hear all kinds of glaring changes to the sound when they change the mat on their turntable from felt to cork, or remove their metal volume knob from their amp and put on a wooden one painted with C37 lacquer. Suddenly the top end becomes "focused" and has more "speed" and the sound field regains coherence while the bottom end centres and gains precision and depth.

[jkhuri44]

i heard subtle nuances of peat, with overtones of sherry cask, when i switched over to RCA copperwire spun by Japanese virgins under moonlight.

[TimS]

But Rick, how else are you supposed to get those magical adjectives into your mix.... "warm", "punchy", "vibey", "old skool" and "classic"???

i've had one of the worst weeks for a long time dealing with bs like this...i wanna kill the person who invented audio buzz words !

]

Nothing compared to the flowery prose that comes from Hi-Fi buffs when they waste a fortune on snake oil. They get home, turn it on and think that they can hear all kinds of glaring changes to the sound when they change the mat on their turntable from felt to cork, or remove their metal volume knob from their amp and put on a wooden one painted with C37 lacquer. Suddenly the top end becomes "focused" and has more "speed" and the sound field regains coherence while the bottom end centres and gains precision and depth.

Now, who is sounding like a HiFi buff?? hehehe ;-)

[Chris H]

But Rick, how else are you supposed to get those magical adjectives into your mix.... "warm", "punchy", "vibey", "old skool" and "classic"???

i've had one of the worst weeks for a long time dealing with bs like this...i wanna kill the person who invented audio buzz words !

]

Nothing compared to the flowery prose that comes from Hi-Fi buffs when they waste a fortune on snake oil. They get home, turn it on and think that they can hear all kinds of glaring changes to the sound when they change the mat on their turntable from felt to cork, or remove their metal volume knob from their amp and put on a wooden one painted with C37 lacquer. Suddenly the top end becomes "focused" and has more "speed" and the sound field regains coherence while the bottom end centres and gains precision and depth.

Now, who is sounding like a HiFi buff?? hehehe ;-)

Tis nothing compared to the verbal hyperbole of the wine buffs.....

Petit verdot struggles for ripeness in Bordeaux, but has no such problems in sunny Australia, let alone the Riverland. This medium-bodied wine has the usual deep colour, but unusual fruit sweetness from a mix of black plum, blueberry and blackberry, finishing with soft tannins and no obvious oak.
Drink Now-

The only bit i will take notice of is the "Drink Now" advice!!!

[TimS]

Drink Now - advice well taken!!

[David W]

Petit verdot struggles for ripeness in Bordeaux, but has no such problems in sunny Australia, let alone the Riverland. This medium-bodied wine has the usual deep colour, but unusual fruit sweetness from a mix of black plum, blueberry and blackberry, finishing with soft tannins and no obvious oak.
Drink Now-

You know your life's over if you here that kind of dribble come out of your mouth.

But wait....

I tracked the voacls through a vintage U47 longbody into an original Neve 1073 going strait to tape via approximatly 3-4 db compression on my newley re-capped Rev A blue stripe 1176.

[TimS]

But wait....

I tracked the voacls through a vintage U47 longbody into an original Neve 1073 going strait to tape via approximatly 3-4 db compression on my newley re-capped Rev A blue stripe 1176.

ooooh, them sexy words!!

[Chris H]

It's words like......... meaty,.... warm,.........potatoes and gravy,.........that really take the cake!

[rick]

"i played the songs through the new $248,000 Digital to Analog convertor that if your all lucky we will bring to intergrate 09, and what was immediately apparent was there was nothing left to do - the mix sounded amazing !"

"i took jamils money and sent him out the room wondering if maybe he should have gotten more for his money...you know a pultec or something "

...perfect day :)

this hasnt actually happened .. but i dream

[Chinagraf]

I've just finished recording vocals all afternoon with my sister. After I patched her through my Pultec, she became easy to get along with, and quite polite. They really are magical.

[David W]

I really whish I had known about this Pultec thing when I was younger and trying to pickup chicks.