When I were a lad I only had one fret and I had to play all the notes on it

[Sercet]

14 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

My first experience in a "commercial" recording studio (i.e one we had paid for the privilege of using), was in 1980 at a 4-track facility in some "out-buildings" behind one of the music shops in Leicester. It was a fairly basic set up with a TEAC/Tascam 4-track reel-to-reel machine and an HH 4-bus mixing desk. The only effect available was some delay/reverb produced by running the signal out to a spare stereo reel-to-reel machine. At the time were still doing our home recording in the percussionist's parent's lounge and were used to all the high frequencies being absorbed by the soft furnishings and the fact that we were recording on compact cassette, so we didn't think to compensate for the fact that we were now playing in a far better acoustic environment and being capture by much better microphone (and that the results wouldn't have to go through two further generations of cassette tape before they reached our listeners). Therefore the results were a rather thin and overtly bright sound. That didn't stop John Peel from playing our songs when they were released as part of the "Angst In My Pants" double EP on Deleted Records.

Which band was this please?

[BigRedX]

3 minutes ago, Sercet said:

Which band was this please?

 

The Midnight Circus (named after The Pretty Things song).

 

Off the back of a glowing review by Johan Kugelberg in Ugly Things magazine of our contribution to "Angst In My Pants" we were asked to produce a retrospective CD for Chicago's Hyped To Death records which is still available even though the cassettes and vinyl are long gone...

[Waddo Soqable]

54 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

My first experience in a "commercial" recording studio (i.e one we had paid for the privilege of using), was in 1980 at a 4-track facility in some "out-buildings" behind one of the music shops in Leicester. It was a fairly basic set up with a TEAC/Tascam 4-track reel-to-reel machine and an HH 4-bus mixing desk. The only effect available was some delay/reverb produced by running the signal out to a spare stereo reel-to-reel machine. At the time were still doing our home recording in the percussionist's parent's lounge and were used to all the high frequencies being absorbed by the soft furnishings and the fact that we were recording on compact cassette, so we didn't think to compensate for the fact that we were now playing in a far better acoustic environment and being capture by much better microphone (and that the results wouldn't have to go through two further generations of cassette tape before they reached our listeners). Therefore the results were a rather thin and overtly bright sound. That didn't stop John Peel from playing our songs when they were released as part of the "Angst In My Pants" double EP on Deleted Records.

Angst in my Pants certainly rings a strong bell, I no doubt heard you on the Peel show or a mate may have even had the actual proper copy of the EP

Did this come out in 1980 btw? 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Waddo Soqable

[Waddo Soqable]

I just found my old home made jury rig "microphone" 😁

[Sercet]

30 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

The Midnight Circus (named after The Pretty Things song).

 

Off the back of a glowing review by Johan Kugelberg in Ugly Things magazine of our contribution to "Angst In My Pants" we were asked to produce a retrospective CD for Chicago's Hyped To Death records which is still available even though the cassettes and vinyl are long gone...

Just listened to it on YouTube.  I liked it.  Then I took a look at the list.  Surprised to see the band I played in back in ‘79 are listed.  

[Waddo Soqable]

11 minutes ago, Sercet said:

Just listened to it on YouTube.  I liked it.  Then I took a look at the list.  Surprised to see the band I played in back in ‘79 are listed.  

Have you got a link to that on YouTube? 

[BigRedX]

16 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Angst in my Pants certainly rings a strong bell, I no doubt heard you on the Peel show or a mate may have even had the actual proper copy of the EP

Did this come out in 1980 btw? 

 

Yes right at the end of the year. We were the last of the 8 bands to submit our recordings which were done late June/early July when we were all back from university and then sent straight off to Deleted Records for the cutting session (done by Porky). I got my copies of the EP just before Christmas, and about a week after John Peel had played it for the first time. That was the kind of lead time you were looking at for vinyl back then, and since it was our first proper release it seemed to take forever. My next release on vinyl in 2013 took less than 8 weeks from sending off the master recordings to receiving our records and that included over a week's break while we approved the test pressings.

[BigRedX]

13 minutes ago, Sercet said:

Just listened to it on YouTube.  I liked it.  Then I took a look at the list.  Surprised to see the band I played in back in ‘79 are listed.  

Which band were you in? There's a good chance that I have your record!

[miles'tone]

"Angst In My Pants" Brilliant title! 

 

My first foray into recordings was with a Marconiphone reel to reel contraption that we bought super cheap at Oxfam.

It probably weighed the same as a Mini.

Myself and my drummer pal actually hitchhiked across the Netherlands with it to meet the other half of the band who had already gone ahead and scored some work on a farm in the boondocks somewhere (can't remember where now and couldn't even pronounce it then)

The other two had travelled light with a flute and acoustic guitar, we travelled not so light with two suitcases filled with the Marconiphone and spare reels, a Yamaha keyboard, a saxophone and my ABG!

We had stayed in for a month beforehand saving up two Giros each and somehow managed to get over there and land our jobs on the farm. We got sacked on the first day! 😂

Somehow we managed to stay out there for 8 months busking around, and had a great summer out there, recording absolutely bonkers music and comedy skits. It was 1994 and their hottest summer for a century. 

The Marconiphone was left in the attic of a farmhouse when we headed home. It's probably still there as I bet no body has been bothered to try and lift it!

 

Thanks for the thread. Good memories that I'd forgotten had actually happened! 😊

Edited March 26, 2023 by miles'tone

[Franticsmurf]

My first studio experience was in the place we used to rehearse - a properly converted basement beneath a terraced house. The neighbours must have been deaf. We'd been rehearsing there for a few months and spoke to the owner about recording a 4 track demo. Next thing we knew, we were introduced to a guy called John (as a reminder, his mustache and beard were in the shape of a 'J') and his 8 track reel to reel machine. He set up the mics in no time and we played through 4 songs, overdubbed guitar solos and the main vocals in a three hour session. We had a very relaxed and laid back mixing session after which we had several cassette copies and the master tape. My mate, the drummer and also a graphic designer, created the cassette box covers and hand coloured 10, which we sold in a local record shop. Years later, seeking a new singer for a version of that band, we found the guy we took on had bought a copy of the cassette. Alas, we'd dropped all four songs by then.

[Rich]

6 hours ago, naxos10 said:

 Squeeky Trike

 

Next band name right there.

[Beedster]

Folks, love these tales, thank you. I posted this thread having spent a few days sorting out some recording gear here ahead of some voiceover work I'm doing, and having had to move the important gear to a new location, I realised that in no more than a 4u rackcase and a rucksack I have more gear than I could have dreamt of in the 70's/80s - 8 lovely mic pres and a whole lot of digital processing emulations courtesy of my UAD Apollo x8p, a rather special analogue processor in the shape of an SSL Fusion, and in the Townsend Sphere L22 a mic that can get pretty close to replicating many of the classic mics of the last 50 years.

 

But there's a part of me still wants to do it all with two of these  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Beedster]

3 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

I just found my old home made jury rig "microphone" 😁

 

A work of art  

[Chris2112]

This is the best thread title ever. 

[Velarian]

I used to use a Teac A-108 cassette deck which allowed you record left and right channels separately. I would have loved a 4-track portastudio but they were outside of my budget. 
 

 

[BigRedX]

In fact the whole history of my DIY cassette band could be viewed as an exercise in making do with what you have.

 

For the first 3 years of the band's existence at the end of the 70s our instrumentation was: two acoustic guitars fitted with magnetic pickups, a solid electric balalaika that I had made in woodwork classes at school, two reed organs that were not in tune with each other so only one could be used at a time. Our "drum kit" was a home-made affair composed of anything that made a suitable noise when hit, fitted to stands made out of broomsticks using retort clamps "acquired" from the school chemistry lab. Our singer also played a plastic toy trumpet and sometimes managed to almost get tune from it. The only amplification we owned was a Carlsbro Wasp 10W guitar amp. For recording purposes we were able to borrow a bass guitar, but because none of us had spent much time thinking about bass parts, it was only used on the occasional song. We would also hire a mixer amp, microphone and speaker from our local musical instrument store each time we did any recording. This was the set-up we used to make the first album and most of the second one. 

 

By the time we came to record our contribution to "Angst In My Pants" we also had two "proper" electric guitars - a no-name Stratocaster copy and one I had made in the woodwork shop at school whilst I should have been studying for my A Levels. After that we added a Boss Dr Rhythm drum machine, Casio VL-Tone and I bought my first bass guitar and later a Wasp synth out of my student grant money.

[Waddo Soqable]

3 hours ago, Velarian said:

I used to use a Teac A-108 cassette deck which allowed you record left and right channels separately. I would have loved a 4-track portastudio but they were outside of my budget. 
 

 

That is a very similar machine to the one that the rich girl I mentioned had, I think it's in fact the same model, I remember the "simul- sync" shtick.. this would've been 79, so not sure when these first came out. 

[Waddo Soqable]

3 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

In fact the whole history of my DIY cassette band could be viewed as an exercise in making do with what you have.

 

For the first 3 years of the band's existence at the end of the 70s our instrumentation was: two acoustic guitars fitted with magnetic pickups, a solid electric balalaika that I had made in woodwork classes at school, two reed organs that were not in tune with each other so only one could be used at a time. Our "drum kit" was a home-made affair composed of anything that made a suitable noise when hit, fitted to stands made out of broomsticks using retort clamps "acquired" from the school chemistry lab. Our singer also played a plastic toy trumpet and sometimes managed to almost get tune from it. The only amplification we owned was a Carlsbro Wasp 10W guitar amp. For recording purposes we were able to borrow a bass guitar, but because none of us had spent much time thinking about bass parts, it was only used on the occasional song. We would also hire a mixer amp, microphone and speaker from our local musical instrument store each time we did any recording. This was the set-up we used to make the first album and most of the second one. 

 

By the time we came to record our contribution to "Angst In My Pants" we also had two "proper" electric guitars - a no-name Stratocaster copy and one I had made in the woodwork shop at school whilst I should have been studying for my A Levels. After that we added a Boss Dr Rhythm drum machine, Casio VL-Tone and I bought my first bass guitar and later a Wasp synth out of my student grant money.

Great stuff 👍, I remember the Wasp synth, I never had one but they had a few at a college in South London somewhere, that did a little electronic course in the evenings for a few weeks, a couple of us went a few times, but other than "playing with" their gear didn't really actually learn much. 

Surprising really that an "official" course like that even existed in those early days as it was all very new then.. 

[Velarian]

49 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

That is a very similar machine to the one that the rich girl I mentioned had, I think it's in fact the same model, I remember the "simul- sync" shtick.. this would've been 79, so not sure when these first came out. 

I think it was around 1981 when I had this. I started my first proper job at the end of 1980 and as I was still living at home, paying very little board, I was able to afford it.

 

I’ve just remembered that my guitarist mate had one too so we were able to do some rudimentary ‘multitrack’ recording by recording two tracks on one machine, bouncing them both to a single track on the other one and then adding a third track etc. I’m not sure we did many iterations of that because it was a PITA, the quality wasn’t great and you effectively had to mix the recording with each pass. Still, happy days. 🙂

Edited March 27, 2023 by Velarian

[Waddo Soqable]

18 minutes ago, Velarian said:

I think it was around 1981 when I had this. I started my first proper job at the end of 1980 and as I was still living at home, paying very little board, I was able to afford it.

 

I’ve just remembered that my guitarist mate had one too so we were able to do some rudimentary ‘multitrack’ recording by recording two tracks on one machine, bouncing them both to a single track on the other one and then adding a third track etc. I’m not sure we did many iterations of that because it was a PITA, the quality wasn’t great and you effectively had to mix the recording with each pass. Still, happy days. 🙂

Having two would've been very cool !  I seem to recall her one worked quite well but of course it was a huge step up from a mangy Woolies cassette player, so it's all relative. We used it as a backing machine playing live a few times as I recall. 

I remember we did some fairly large free "hippy" festival thing up north somewhere, and I don't think the audience quite knew how to take it... Backing tapes, a Punk (me) on bass, a small girl on single note Korg synth and another lady singing who was fairly distinctive, she was a very posh "Sloaney" type who was also I'm afraid to say a heroin addict.  We went out as "Rehabilitation and the Needleworkers"  😁 happy days indeed.. . 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Waddo Soqable

[Crusoe]

20 hours ago, Beedster said:

Strings, who mentioned strings, luxury, all I had was a fret 😀

You had a fret? An actual fret made of metal? Luxury!! Don't even get me started on fretboards and necks... an old fence post that I found in a field were all I 'ad.

[Crusoe]

Double (fence) post

Edited March 27, 2023 by Rich

[Rich]

14 minutes ago, Crusoe said:

You had a fret? An actual fret made of metal? Luxury!! Don't even get me started on fretboards and necks... an old fence post that I found in a field were all I 'ad.

 

11 minutes ago, Crusoe said:

You had a fret? etc.

Two posts, by the looks...

 

Wooden post? Eee you were lucky. The best we could manage were a couple of scraps of cardboard held together by a bit of mouldy baling twine covered in sheep muck.

Edited March 27, 2023 by Rich

[Rich]

For anyone who hasn't read it, I highly recommended Mo Foster's excellent book "17 Watts?" (also published as "Play Like Elvis"). Full of anecdotes and experiences just like these. 

[BassTractor]

In the late 70s we used a "Sound-on-Sound" reel-to-reel stereo recorder (Akai, I believe  -  everyone had an Akai).
I think it could mix 'n' bounce, but at any rate it could bounce ...

 

... BUT the crux is in the bounced signal's time shift due to separate Play and Record heads on that model.

Cue BassTractor writing STEREO music specifically designed for that delay bouncing --- a bit like a two part round, but with the second part coming in very soon after the first part starts.

At that point in time I'd already been in real recording studios, and later I'd use a Portastudio, but that Sound-on-Sound thing is still the most fondly remembered.

I still have a tape somewhere with music like that, but on that tape it's a fluke: we had no idea about the delay whatsoever, and the second part just accidentally fit the first. Maybe that bit is part of the fond remembering: unplanned stumbling over fluke coincidence ... by accident!