EV RE55
Frank Stearns wrote:
Hi Roy -
Occasionally I'll stumble across an old LW from the 70s on PBS, and be
intrigued at the sound. It's clean and everything can be heard, and
interesting that all or nearly every mic on stage is an EV product.
I'm always curious:
- was LW audio all live? Was anything pre-recorded with the band just
playing along for the video?
- if it was live, was it live-mixed to the VTR, or was it multi-tracked
and mixed/sweetened later? (I could tell stories about trying to lock an
MM1000-8 and MM1200-16 to an AVR2, but that's a tale best told another
time! w)
- were these done in a network studio, such as CBS Television City or NBC
Burbank, or was an independent facility used?
During its years on the ABC-TV network, the show was produced at ABC's
Television Center at Prospect & Talmadge in Hollywood. Syndication began
in 1973 and the show taped at CBS Television City for a few years before
returning to ABC's TVC. I mixed the show for the '71-'73 seasons.
Throughout its history, the show was either live to the network or live to
videotape. It was done "an hour in an hour" and tape stops were virtually
forbidden. I recall Mr. Welk bragging when someone made a mistake ... "You
see, my Musical Family is made of real people!"
In the earlier years, pre-recorded material was done on the same stage at
ABC on the day of the show taping. Later, pre-records came from an outside
recording studio, where the show also rehearsed.
When I joined the show, most of the numbers were pre-recorded. Slowly, Mr.
Welk recognized the vitality of live performance and liked my work. In my
third season most numbers were live, pre-recording was reserved for a few
specific performers, plus large "production numbers" that would be more
difficult to capture live.
- what console(s) was being used? Much EQ or comp in use?
A custom-built console by McCurdy Radio of Canada was in place from the
late '60s into the '80s. EQ was simple Hi/Lo shelving plus 3- or 6KHz
"haystack" mids, and limited to the 12 submaster channels plus two
patchable spares. There were four LA-2As, I used one on vocals and one on
bass. For the rest, I rode levels.
- anything ever done in stereo?
Maybe some later shows, I'm not sure.
- recently caught a show from perhaps the late 70s that along with the
EVs had what looked like three U47s in use on brass, but they appeared
just a hair too skinny for
47s, yet too fat and not long enough to be the large-diaphragm AKGs of
that era. Does that ring a bell? What was being used?
I'm not sure, I think that was while the show was at CBS.
- I never hear any reverb on the LW shows; I assume that was intentional,
or was there limited access to live chambers or good spring reverb?
(Quad-8 made a pretty good spring unit in those days, if you didn't hit
it too hard. At that time digital reverb was rare (or didn't exist),
sounded terrible, and cost the GDP of a small country. Never saw many
plates in TV studios.)
The PBS re-packaging of the show added some stereo reverb. ABC had EMT
plates. When I joined the show, I was told "no reverb". I cheated on
vocals, strings and woodwinds, and no one complained. Indeed, I would
sneak into the room where the plate was located and advance the RT60 from
the "standard" 2s to about 2.5s, restoring it after the show.
I love this audio history! Thanks for any enlightenment.
Frank Stearns
Mobile Audio
-- .
Thanks for asking.
--
~ Roy
"If you notice the sound, it's wrong!"
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