Categories
Microphones Pro Audio Archive

Primo Microphones Circa 1980

Download the entire 12-page Primo Microphone Catalog Circa 1980:

DOWNLOAD: PrimoMicrophoneCatalog

Models covered, with specs and photos, include: Primo CMU-503 and P-77, P-88 ‘professional’ studio microphones;  UD-876M and UD-959 Live Sound mics; and a huge range of general-purpose stage mics including: Primo UD-905, UD-876, UD-866B, UD-871B; Electret Condenser models EMU-4520, EMU-4516, EMU-522, EM-518, EMU-4517; plus many more mics and accessories.

From what little information I can gather, these mics seems to have been made in Japan and then sold in the US by ‘primo,’ which also made telecommunications mics and/or mic elements.  I have never come across one of the these units.  Anyone?

Best half-tone cover image ever, btw.

Categories
Mixtapes Recordings

Winter 2011 Mixtape

It’s time for another compilation culled from the endless crate-digging.  This season’s harvest seems to have slant towards country-rock and psych-folk.  If you see me, ask me for a copy.

1. “Ohio River, She’s So Deep And Wide” by Winifred Smith.  From ‘Folk Songs Of The South’ by Winifred Smith.  RCA Victor #61100

2. “It Ain’t Easy” by Ron Davies.  From “Friends” A&M SP 8021

3. “Broken Hearted Blues” by T-Rex.  From “Tanx” Reprise 0598

4. “Dear Mary” by The Steve Miller Band. From ‘Sailor’ /Capitol ST 2984

5. ”Jamie” by Hedge & Donna.  From ‘The New Spirit Of Capitol’ Capitol #SNP-6

6. “Hope” by Mason Proffit.  From “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream” Ampex A-10138

7. “Reflections” by The Chambers Brothers. From ‘New Generation’ Columbia C 30032

8. “Bad Night at the Whiskey” by The Byrds.  From ‘Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde’ Columbia CS 9755

9. “Innervenus Eyes” by The Bob Seger System.  From ‘The New Spirit Of Capitol’ Capitol #SNP-6

10. “In Your Life” by Tower.  From ‘Collecting Peppermint Clouds’ Technicolor Dream Records T.D.R. 002 (Originally a Decca b-side)

11. “Baal” by Exuma.  From “Exuma II (Air)” Mercury SR 61314

12. “The Joys Of Life” by Karen Beth.  From “The Joys of Life” Decca DL 75148

13. “Atlantis” by Donovan.  From ‘Barabajagal’ Epic BN 26481

14. “Take My Home Country Roads” by Olivia Newton-John.  From ‘Heavy Hits’, Adam VIII LTD # A-8010

15. “I’m Losing You” by Dwight Twilley.  From “Sincerely” Shelter SRL-52001

16. “My Love” by Paul McCartney.  From the 7” single Apple #1861

17. “August Day” by Hall & Oates.  B-side to “I don’t want to lose you” RCA PB-11424

18. “I Go Crazy” by Paul Davis. From the 7” single Bang # B-733

19. “Only With You” by The Beach Boys. From ‘Holland’ /  Captiol MS 2118

Follow the link for more information…

Continue reading “Winter 2011 Mixtape”
Categories
Connecticut Audio History Recordings

Bridgeport CT Punk Rock 1985 : : : update : : :

Came across this 1985  7″ at a yard sale this past summer.  The band is called ‘Rude Awakening’ and the A-side is “Teenage Suicide.”  The label tells us that it was recorded at Downstairs Studio, Bridgeport CT.  Label is Incas Records, whom I believe I had some contact with some years ago when I was scouting for some re-issue material for Anthology Recordings.   ‘Teenage Suicide’ is sort-of punk-opera with lots of different sections, changes, etc.  My pick is the B-side “Wanted” which has a classic Johnny Thunders vibe.  Check it out:

LISTEN: Wanted

Update: Tom Boudreau, writer of ‘Wanted’ and guitar-player for ‘Rude Awakening’ got in touch with PS.com.  Here’s a few words from Tom about the band and the studio:

“(re: the) Rude Awakening 45. That was a few lifetimes  ago. Roughly 25yrs later i can report that we sadly lost my brother / drummer in 05 due to complicated health issues / diabetes. I am still in contact with Joe Stoner (vocals).  Sean (bass) is still local and we have crossed paths over the years.  Joe wrote the A side and i wrote the B side of that record.  All 4 of us built the music. I do not have any contact with Sam Eckhardt who owned and opperated Downstairs Studio. This was an 8 track Tascam board, 388 1/2″ reel, 2 room facility in the basement of Davidsons Fabric in Downtown Bridgeport. A lot of bands recorded there in the mid-80’s. Currently i have a small project studio in my home.  I still have contact with Incas (Records). I have done some tape to cd transfer for them including ‘Ct Fun’ which was a compilation done with many bands from the times including Rude…

Tom Boudreau
www.boneheadstudio.com”

Thanks for getting in touch Tom!  The Davidsons building, btw, is still present in Downtown Bridgeport.  It’s just one of another abandoned buildings in the largely derelict downtown of this once-great city.  The huge painted ‘Davidsons’ signage is clearly visible to all who approach the bus/train station from the North.  I’ve asked Tom for some pics of  ‘Downstairs Studio’; if any arrive I will post them here.   BTW, nice to get a solid, concrete examples of one of the hundreds of busy, active Tascam-based project studios of the early 1980s.  See this previous post for more on the Tascam revolution.

Categories
Early Electronic Music History Publications

Out-Of-Print-Book Report: History Of Music Machines (Smithsonian)

Came across this obscure volume in a rubbish bin several years ago.  Published by Drake Publishers in 1975 and billed as being ‘Prepared By The Smithsonian’ (No author attributed), “(The)History Of Music Machines” (hf. ‘HOMM’) is a b&w hardcover gift/coffee-table book which presents a fairly interesting survey of the history of reproduced sound.  Several copies are available for just a few bucks at amazon. 139pp.

From the introduction (by writer Irving Kolodin):

“Over the years, the debates have continued about the pros and cons of music machines, the impact of their existence on the habit patterns of society,…. their influence for good and evil on taste…  As for taste, it has been driven to the wall, and all but through it, by exploitation of the music machines’ potential for serving the lowest common denominator.  Whether in records, or in radio’s reliance on the Top Forty -those loudest, hardest, often cheapest appeals to the beetle-browed-  selectivity has since foundered on the rock of commercialism.”

Jesus Irving.  Don’t mince words buddy.  Tell us how you really feel.  Note how he allusively slips ‘Be(e/a)tle’ and ‘Rock’ in there.  Nice one.  ANYhow. Reactionary sentiments asides, HOMM is basically a chronological series of photos with explanatory captions.  I find it interesting because it does not attempt to parse recording devices, electric instuments, synthesizers, amplification equipment, choosing instead to include all of these very different (in my mind, at least) type of equipment into the totality of ‘music machines.’  This suggests the view point that music is either made ‘by man alone’ or somehow made ‘by machine.’  It’s an interesting idea.  A very outmoded binary opposition, certainly.  Here are some highlights.

The multiphone, a wax-cylinder jukebox from 1905.

The Stroh Violin.  DS mentioned  last week that he had seen a band in NYC recently that performs exclusively 1900-1930 music on all period instruments.  ‘One of those Violins with the victrola horn’ is apparently employed.  Now we know that this is called a Stroh Violin.

The much-loved Magnecord PT6 gets some praise.

HOMM ends with some (even then very-dated) images of Electronic Music Studios. Above we have the Columbia-Princeton Studio circa 1959 (see my previous post) and below some rare images of the circa ’65 studios at the Catholic University of America.

(footnote: a nod to EKL, originator of the ‘out-of-print-book-report’ in her PARFAIT series)

Categories
Connecticut Audio History

LOFT recording consoles circa mid 1970’s: UPDATE

Pictured above is the very first recording/mixing console made by LOFT (Loft Modular Devices, Inc.).  It is a model 440.  LOFT was a manufacturer of Pro Audio equipment in Manchester Connecticut active in the 1970s.  In 1980 LOFT became Phoenix Audio.

Here’s a close up shot of a Loft model 440 console.  From the first picture, the Tascam 80-8 mounted in the desk to the right tells us that these were boards aimed at the professional project studio/demo studio market.

Another close-up image of a 440, this time a series 2.  These images, and all that follow in this post, come courtesy of LOFT founder Peter Nimirowski.  Peter got in touch with PS after we ran this earlier post which mentioned some of the LOFT outboard gear.  Peter has this to say about LOFT’s consoles:

“Loft … made two series of mixing desks.  The 440 Series  used a Microtran Transformer in the mic pre-amp. This console was probably one of the first low cost professional desks. My understanding is one is in use in CT another in Calif.    (Regarding) the 800 Series: we only made a handful of these boards. This was at the crossover point from Loft Modular Devices to Phoenix Audio.  (We) tried to make the leap into the pro studios. The first console used Allison’s Trans-Amp in the pre-amp circuit. Consoles after that used our own transformerless pre-amp design.  John Roberts was responsible for all Loft and later Phoenix Audio circuit designs. A truly brilliant designer. The consoles were manufactured mid to late 70’s. By 1980 LMD had become Phoenix Audio which did not manufacturer any consoles. When I together with Richard Federman started LMD it was a result of wanting to build a recording studio, not a manufacturing company. At that time except for API, Quad 8 and Maybe Neve, there really wasn’t much of a choice in affordable mixing desks. As far as technology, the first IC op-amp the 709 had just been developed. PC boards where just coming into existence. LMD manufactured all PCB in house. I designed and built the etching system. Everything was done in house.

Thanks for getting in touch Peter.  Here are some images of the later 800 series console, again from Peter’s archive.

Categories
Technical

Gately EM-7 Mixer and EQ-7 4-channel Equalizer Unit

In a previous post, I included the scan at left from a 1969 issue of the AES journal.  It’s an ad for the Gately Electronics EM-7 4×2 mixer and EM-7 4-channel equalizer.  At the time I had hoped to find one of these little setups, and sure enough,  one of the EM-7 mixers came along on eBay.  I checked the sellers ‘completed listings’ and saw that he had sold the companion EQ-7 equalizer unit earlier.  I contacted that buyer through eBay, indicating that I was interested in the EQ-7 should he decide to part with it.  Sure enough, he did.  So I was able to get an EQ7 as well.

All in all it turned out to be a great deal.  It was a bit of a pain in the ass to get these things working, but at the end of the day I ended up with 4 fully discrete mic preamps with discrete EQs, all running on 48v, and all with UTC input and output transformers.

This post will get a bit technical, so follow the link below to read on…  CLICK TO CONTINUE….

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Categories
Guitar Equipment

SUNN amplifiers c. 1970

Download the ten-panel SUNN amplifiers 1970 catalog:

DOWNLOAD: Sunn_Amps_1970_Catalog

Models covered, with specs and photos, include: SUNN Dymos, Solarus, Sonaro, Sentura 1, Sonic 1-40, Sceptre, Sorado, Sentura II, Solos, 200s, 1000s, 1200s, and 2000s instrument amps; plus Sunn Concert Sound System and Coliseum Sound System.

I’ve been using a SUNN Sonaro as our ‘house’ studio bass amp for several years.  E actually found this for me, deadstock, on eBay about 10 years ago.  Since then I have re-tubed and recapped it entirely, and it is really a fantastic amplifier.  Very simple, but always sounds great.  The ‘hi boost’ and ‘low boost’ switches enable one to get some very modern sounds out of this ancient tube head; much more versatile than, say, a Bassman.  The cabinet is not so great.  insufficient low end for many songs.

Growing up we also had one of these ‘Concert’ PA heads.  We used it briefly in our teen-age garage band.  For some reason, it regularly shocked the lead singer. Even if he was not touching anything else.  It basically kept him in a constant state of terror.  sorry J.  It was all we could afford at the time.  The CONCERT is a solid-state amp and it is not recommended.

SUNN amps have an interesting story.  From Wikipedia (abridged by PS.com):

“In early 1963, The Kingsmen, a band based in the U.S. state of Oregon, became known for the song “Louie, Louie“. After their hit single, The Kingsmen soon embarked on a fifty-state national tour. Because the band was used to playing small hops and school dances, many of the members found themselves ill-equipped with the amplifiers that they were currently using. Bassist Norm Sundholm discovered that his bass amp was not nearly powerful enough to play larger concert halls. Sundholm enlisted the help of his brother Conrad to help solve his problem. By 1964, the Sundholm brothers had designed a high powered concert bass amplifier. … Thus, the Sunn Musical Equipment Company was founded.”

What Wiki does not tell you is that Conrad’s ‘solution’ was basically to add a pre-amp stage to a Dynaco Mark 3 home hi-fi amp and stick it in a big speaker cabinet.   This basic design would provide the essential platform for all the classic SUNN amp heads.  The crucial point of all of this is that all the classic SUNNs (including the humble Sonaro) use the very powerful 6550 output tubes coupled to an ultra linear output transformer.  To my knowledge, no other major instrument amp manufacturer was using ultralinear transformers in 1970.  Not even the Ampeg SVTs of the era use ultralinear operation.   This fact gives SUNN amps a real advantage in accurate low-end (bass) sound reproduction.

I’ve also owned a Sunn SCEPTRE, and other than the crappy-sounding sold-state reverb circuit, it was pretty great as well.  It is still easy to get a great deal (around $400) for many of these classic SUNN heads, and I highly recommend them, especially since you can now easily get the proper high-voltage filter caps that these amps need.   This makes it very very easy to re-cap the amps for proper operation.

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To download the original schematic for the SUNN 1200S, click here: 1200s_schem

Categories
Concert Sound Pro Audio Archive Publications

Tannoy Wildcat Live-Sound Speaker Line c.1984

Download the four-page 1984/5 Tannoy Wildcat Live-Sound Speaker Catalog:

DOWNLOAD: TannoyWildcats1984Catalog

Models covered, with detailed specs and photos, include: Tannoy Lynx, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Leopard, and Cougar units.

As i mentioned in a previous post, the word ‘Tannoy’ is used as generic-descriptor for ‘PA speaker’ in the UK.  This would presume that Tannoy speakers were, at some point many years ago, widely used in the UK for public-address applications.  Nowadays Tannoy speakers are generally only sold and used for high-end home use and recording/mixing/production suites.  I’ve never encountered any of the ‘wildcat’ line.  Anyone?

From this very helpful website:

“In 1984 the Research and Development team at Tannoy wanted to prove that the Dual was an excellent solution to very high quality live music performance venues. Clearly, with the sizes of magnet and levels of efficiency available it could not compete with the outdoor rock concert systems from Altec, Meyer and JBL but there was a niche in the cabaret and small club market where the sound quality needed to be considerably higher than that to which people were accustomed. Specially adapted Duals were designed that had more power handling and greater sensitivity than had ever been produced before by Tannoy. These were fitted to a range of very robustly made cabinets with reinforced handles and corners suitable for mobile cabaret or fixed contractor installation work. The line was christened the ‘Wildcats’ and was the start of a very successful venture into high quality voice and music provision for sophisticated venues such as clubs, theatres and churches.”

Categories
Guitar Equipment Pro Audio Archive Publications

Johnson Sound Systems of Manitoba circa 1951

Download the abridged (10pp from 20pp) JOHNSON SOUND SYSTEMS circa 1951 catalog:

DOWNLOAD: JohnsonSoundSystems_catalog

Alright here’s a real obscurity for you.  JOHNSON was a brand/dealer of ‘musical merchandise’ in Brandon, Manitoba Canada in the 1940s/50s.  I’ve scanned the 10 pages from their circa 1951 catalog (the date is a guess based on the particular microphone models available in the catalog).  I’ve omitted the pages featuring luthiery parts, electric razors (!), etc.  Amplifier models featured include:  The Johnson Vibrante, Maestro, Johnson Junior guitar amps; and the Johnson M1, M2, M3, and J1 PA heads; plus Hofner classical and archtop guitars, mics from a few makers, Celestion Rola G-12, P-44, Z10Z0 speakers, plus pickups, etc.

For a few words about JOHNSON and its founder Albert Johnson, plus photos of many later models of Johnson amps, visit this site.  The most interesting fact: these amps were not re-branded pieces from another manufacturer; they were in fact unique designs built on the familiar+dear Hammond chassis.

Categories
Guitar Equipment Icons Publications

BOSS guitar effects and associated audio products 1984

Download the entire twenty-four-page 1984 BOSS full-line catalog (7.3 MB file).

DOWNLOAD: Boss_Full_product_Line_1984

Products covered, with full specs and photos, include: Boss DD-2 digital delay, HM-2 heavy metal, CE-3 and CE-2 chorus, BF-2 flanger, CS-2 Compression Sustainer, DM-2 (analog) delay, OC-2 Octaver, VB-2 Vibrato, TW-1 touch wah, GE-10 equalizer, plus many more pedals; HC-2 handclapper and PC-2 Percussion synth; DE-200, DM-300, DM-100, RX-100 tabletop delay/reverbs; SCC-700 effects controller; BX-600, BX-400, KM-60 mixers; plus many more odd items.

Volumes can be said about the BOSS brand of audio products.  BOSS was created in 1976 as a guitarist-oriented division of the ROLAND corporation of Japan.  They arrived at their classic form-factor of a small cast-metal pedal with large foot-switch and safely recessed knobs in 1977.  Since then, these devices have become as ubiquitous as the electric-guitar itself.

Audacious, perhaps, but probably accurate.  When a young kid gets the guitar and amp he has been wanting, the next thing he wants is a ‘pedal.’  And more likely than not, that pedal will be a BOSS pedal.  To a novice guitar-player, these effect units literally open up a world of possibilities, offering the potential to free the instrument entirely from the acoustic sound that the vibrating strings create and into a world of engineered audio.

When I was a kid learning to play guitar, the BOSS digital delay pedal (ie ‘Echo pedal’) was our holy grail of pedal effects.  These things were so expensive that almost no one could afford one.  They cost as much or more than your amplifier.  On the other hand, we had no interest in the DM-2 ‘Delay’ (read: Analog Delay) pedal, which has more limited echo time and ‘impefect’ ‘analog processing’ which causes noticeable high-frequency loss on the echo repeats.

Ironic now that the DD-2 digital delay pedal is nearly worthless, while the DM-2 and DM-3 analog delay pedals of the same era trade for upwards of $400.  I have been using a DM-2 in my live-performance guitar setup for several years and it is a truly great device.

I used one of these percussion-synths for a long time too.  These are very cool if you can find one cheap.

I can’t imagine that this mixer sounds very good but shit it is funky.   A cosmetic holdover from the 1970s BOSS line.

Have you seen ‘THE BOSS BOOK” (no author attributed) from Hal Leonard Publishers?

I encountered this 122-page volume at the bookshop one afternoon and I have to say: it is one of the best books in the (albeit limited) genre of ‘musical-instrument-writing’ that I have come across.  Extremely dense, rigorous, and well-illustrated.  If you have ever used guitar-effect pedals in your work, I highly suggest that you pick it up. “TBB” traces the development of each of the effect devices from their inception through discontinuation.  This history is in many ways the history of the evolution of the electric guitar and audio processing in the 1980s.  A lot to think about.