What Are You Listening To?

[Matt]

1 minute ago, sibdane said:

You're talking about the plane ticket, right?

errrrrr..........

[rubecula]

 

 

[MikeO]

Proper late seventies "super-group" UK. Love the size of the drum kit and keyboard array (not to mention the illuminated transparent violin).

 

[Matt]

Royal Blood. Like, all of the the songs on repeat. 

[Romey 1878]

Loving the new Catfish & the Bottlemen album. Might try and get to a gig.

[DavisJD]

Child from Melbourne, Australia.

Blues Rock- very solid live. European tour upcoming.

 

[Palfy]

5 hours ago, DavisJD said:

Child from Melbourne, Australia.

Blues Rock- very solid live. European tour upcoming.

 

I quite like that reminds me of when I used to like a bit of rock in the late 70s, if you like that then Deep Purple’s Burn has that sort of sound from what I remember. 

[MikeO]

Just watched a thing on the BBC with John Stones on music and they asked him what the first CD he ever bought was, reminded me of mine; this was my favourite track on it. Used to love belting out the opening riff on my guitar at home (probably the neighbours liked it less so). 1989 was quite late to the CD party actually because I was an analogue loyalist for a long time (still am); actually having moved to London in 1987 I had no sound system at home for two years because I was listening to music all day (and sometimes night) at work, only bought some stuff when a girlfriend I'd met abroad was coming to stay for a month so she could listen to stuff. Ah, memories.....what a month that was!

 

[markjazzbassist]

analog reigns supreme mike!!! all of my music is on vinyl.  turntable is the only way i listen at home, it is the best.  i even like cassettes with that smeared midrange quality they can have.

[MikeO]

55 minutes ago, markjazzbassist said:

analog reigns supreme mike!!! all of my music is on vinyl.  turntable is the only way i listen at home, it is the best.  i even like cassettes with that smeared midrange quality they can have.

Cassettes can/could give brilliant results with the right people working on them, I know because I worked in the medium for years. What let them down was the poor quality of the majority of domestic players and the lack of attention to detail in most of the big "factories" producing them. Sure I'm repeating myself (not for the first time) but where I worked the staff and consultants were meticulous and time after time we blew client's socks off when they came in and listened to what we could do. I was ultimately responsible for QC but my number two was a blind lady whose sense of hearing was incredible, we were the bollocks in the field and were well known for it; spent the best part of two decades at the company and loved it. The directors never questioned my decisions either, if a batch of 500 or 5,000 sub standard stuff was somehow produced (overnight mostly) it'd be binned without question on my say-so. Loved the job.

[markjazzbassist]

12 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Cassettes can/could give brilliant results with the right people working on them, I know because I worked in the medium for years. What let them down was the poor quality of the majority of domestic players and the lack of attention to detail in most of the big "factories" producing them. Sure I'm repeating myself (not for the first time) but where I worked the staff and consultants were meticulous and time after time we blew client's socks off when they came in and listened to what we could do. I was ultimately responsible for QC but my number two was a blind lady whose sense of hearing was incredible, we were the bollocks in the field and were well known for it; spent the best part of two decades at the company and loved it. The directors never questioned my decisions either, if a batch of 500 or 5,000 sub standard stuff was somehow produced (overnight mostly) it'd be binned without question on my say-so. Loved the job.

yeah as a final format i think it can be nice, but to track directly to it there are limitations due to the lack of track width, small tape thickness, and lack of backcoating. you can't hit it hard like reel tape to get that nice tape saturation (like a 2" tape on a studer or ampex).  when people do track to cassette (not mix or master) they get a sound with little bass content (80Hz and below) and not a lot of treble content (10k and up is gone).  So you get a very midrange heavy sound.  Some people love it and the Cassette culture is alive and well in the states and has had a massive resurgence.  Again this is due to trying to squeeze 4-8 tracks on a 1/8" wide tape.  Most pro studios put that many tracks on 1" or 2" tape.

 

i believe you were duplicating the master to cassette if i remember correctly?  Were you recording mono or stereo?  Noise reduction (dolby or dbx)?  My home studio i still record all analog to reel to reel tape and love it.  So simple to use and maintain versus a computer locking up on you and having to restart and then losing your creative thought.

[MikeO]

54 minutes ago, markjazzbassist said:

yeah as a final format i think it can be nice, but to track directly to it there are limitations due to the lack of track width, small tape thickness, and lack of backcoating. you can't hit it hard like reel tape to get that nice tape saturation (like a 2" tape on a studer or ampex).  when people do track to cassette (not mix or master) they get a sound with little bass content (80Hz and below) and not a lot of treble content (10k and up is gone).  So you get a very midrange heavy sound.  Some people love it and the Cassette culture is alive and well in the states and has had a massive resurgence.  Again this is due to trying to squeeze 4-8 tracks on a 1/8" wide tape.  Most pro studios put that many tracks on 1" or 2" tape.

 

i believe you were duplicating the master to cassette if i remember correctly?  Were you recording mono or stereo?  Noise reduction (dolby or dbx)?  My home studio i still record all analog to reel to reel tape and love it.  So simple to use and maintain versus a computer locking up on you and having to restart and then losing your creative thought.

Details were more often than not were that I was given a Dolby A master (15 ips mostly) and decoding that from a Studer A820 onto a Studer  A80 running at 3.75 ips) while encoding Dolby B (C never caught on) which then went to the factory for production. Stereo obviously but we certainly got more than 10k at the top and lower than 80Hz of bass, 16k and around 50Hz from memory, though admittedly that was playing back the finished article on a top end cassette player; as I said the average domestic players couldn't deal with the band width sadly. Dolby circuits on domestic stuff also a problem because they didn't work well so most people played them without as it gave them more top end and they lived with the "hiss".

[markjazzbassist]

1 hour ago, MikeO said:

Details were more often than not were that I was given a Dolby A master (15 ips mostly) and decoding that from a Studer A820 onto a Studer  A80 running at 3.75 ips) while encoding Dolby B (C never caught on) which then went to the factory for production. Stereo obviously but we certainly got more than 10k at the top and lower than 80Hz of bass, 16k and around 50Hz from memory, though admittedly that was playing back the finished article on a top end cassette player; as I said the average domestic players couldn't deal with the band width sadly. Dolby circuits on domestic stuff also a problem because they didn't work well so most people played them without as it gave them more top end and they lived with the "hiss".

Top of the line stuff mike, no wonder your results were stellar.  Funny how those studers and other gear you used are still considered the best of the best 40 years later.  True Quality, they don’t build em like they used to.

[pete0]

Radiohead were hacked and rather than pay up chose to release the old material with the proceeds going to charity. Personally don't know enough about music to appreciate 18 hours of demos so won't be spending the £18 for the whole thing but good on the band putting two fingers up to the fucker who hacked them. 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/11/radiohead-release-hours-of-hacked-songs-to-benefit-extinction-rebellion

[Matt]

2 hours ago, pete0 said:

Radiohead were hacked and rather than pay up chose to release the old material with the proceeds going to charity. Personally don't know enough about music to appreciate 18 hours of demos so won't be spending the £18 for the whole thing but good on the band putting two fingers up to the fucker who hacked them. 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jun/11/radiohead-release-hours-of-hacked-songs-to-benefit-extinction-rebellion

Easier done when you’re successful millionaires bit still admirable. Hope they catch the hacker and nail the fucker to the wall. I despise anyone who exploits others for personal gain.

[MikeO]

Heard this on the radio today, remember the first time I heard it in 1988 (Radio One breakfast show getting ready for work) and I spoke to my brother on the phone later in the day and said, "...heard this amazing track this morning..." and he'd heard it too and agreed. Brilliant first album (Ancient Heart) but then slowly disappeared; shame, she had so much potential. Always got the feeling she ended up taking herself too seriously and her music became too obscure and self-indulgent. Saw her play live in Hammersmith once, was really memorable.

 

[Gwlad]

Mike Sweeney Sounds of the 60s on iplayer

[Romey 1878]

NF - The Search (Album)

[Bailey]

Finally found The Kooks... always knew of them but was heavily into hip hop at the time so they passed me by. Going through Spotify and they are one of only a few bands I have heard that sound better live. 

[MikeO]

22 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Finally found The Kooks... always knew of them but was heavily into hip hop at the time so they passed me by. Going through Spotify and they are one of only a few bands I have heard that sound better live. 

Goes to show never judge people by the little you know online; Bailey = heavily into hip-hop I'd not have believed, I hope you're over it now.

[Bailey]

1 hour ago, MikeO said:

Goes to show never judge people by the little you know online; Bailey = heavily into hip-hop I'd not have believed, I hope you're over it now.

Still love it Im afraid but decent stuff is harder to find these days! Saying that makes me feel old! 

[pete0]

35 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Still love it Im afraid but decent stuff is harder to find these days! Saying that makes me feel old! 

Got a friend who djs old hip hop on YouTube/ps4. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM0e1KeSjY9mD32gg2t3OaA

[MikeO]

Not "Vexations" by Erik Satie, which '...consists of a short theme that is traditionally played 840 times in succession. When it was first performed publicly at the Pocket Theatre in Manhattan in 1963, the New York Times critic attending fell asleep and the audience dwindled down to six people. According to the 1971 Guinness Book of World Records, an audience member shouted “Encore!” after it was finished.' Takes over 18 hours to play apparently; shortened version here, really catchy.

 

[markjazzbassist]

I love Satie.  The Gymnopedes are beautiful

[Romey 1878]

Walking On Cars - Colours (Album)

[MikeO]

Love this!

 

 

[MikeO]

 

[Romey 1878]

Mallory Knox - Mallory Knox (Album)

[MikeO]

17 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

Mallory Knox - Mallory Knox (Album)

Had a listen and like that a lot; they're playing in Exeter in Oct, might go. Also playing in Liverpool on Sept 23rd I see.

[Romey 1878]

1 minute ago, MikeO said:

Had a listen and like that a lot; they're playing in Exeter in Oct, might go. Also playing in Liverpool on Sept 23rd I see.

I'm going to the Liverpool gig  

This album is very different in terms of the sound because they lost the lead singer, and have now gone in a different direction. I liked the previous stuff but I like this edgier sound as well. Really looking forward to seeing them.