July 23rd 05, 10:36 PM
Here are some very limited highlights of an interview with Walter Sear
from Stereophile Magazine. While interested parties can and should read
the original, of which I am enjoined only to present a small amount
with exegesis, the following is of great interest for reasons where not
obvious, I will of course explain.
>>>>...a quick stroll around the three studios reveals a treasure trove of tube and analog professional gear: a pair of Sgt. Pepper-era Studer recorders plucked from EMI's Abbey Road studios; an early Modular Moog synthesizer Sear built with Bob Moog; and a collection of 250 new and classic microphones.<<<<
>>>> The studio's motto reflects its founder's disarmingly frank outlook: "The recorded sound sucks-we're trying to make it better."<<<<
>>>>Guttenberg: A lot of engineers are spending fortunes on old Neumann mikes.
Sear: Because the musicality is there-and sure, the damn thing's
frequency response looks like the Swiss Alps, but who cares? Just
remember, it was designed to record orchestras from 12' up, and 12'
back from the proscenium arch. But now they're shoving the same
microphone against the singer's tonsils and expect it to sound good. I
usually put a dummy mike right up to the singer, and the live mike back
3' or 4'. <<<<
Sear goes on to explain a preference for vinyl over CD, and that he
built his first studio woth Russ Hamm in 1970.
What the article doesn't mention is of course as interesting, but you
can't cover everything in one short piece. However, readers should have
been appraised that Russ Hamm wrote, literally, the book on why tubes
are still a preferred audio amplification device even today-an AES
paper that stands today and for all time as definitive on the vacuum
tube in audio as "Milton's Marilyn" does on the eternal appeal to the
greatest of cinematic idols.
This may be found at http://stereophile.com/interviews/305sea
from Stereophile Magazine. While interested parties can and should read
the original, of which I am enjoined only to present a small amount
with exegesis, the following is of great interest for reasons where not
obvious, I will of course explain.
>>>>...a quick stroll around the three studios reveals a treasure trove of tube and analog professional gear: a pair of Sgt. Pepper-era Studer recorders plucked from EMI's Abbey Road studios; an early Modular Moog synthesizer Sear built with Bob Moog; and a collection of 250 new and classic microphones.<<<<
>>>> The studio's motto reflects its founder's disarmingly frank outlook: "The recorded sound sucks-we're trying to make it better."<<<<
>>>>Guttenberg: A lot of engineers are spending fortunes on old Neumann mikes.
Sear: Because the musicality is there-and sure, the damn thing's
frequency response looks like the Swiss Alps, but who cares? Just
remember, it was designed to record orchestras from 12' up, and 12'
back from the proscenium arch. But now they're shoving the same
microphone against the singer's tonsils and expect it to sound good. I
usually put a dummy mike right up to the singer, and the live mike back
3' or 4'. <<<<
Sear goes on to explain a preference for vinyl over CD, and that he
built his first studio woth Russ Hamm in 1970.
What the article doesn't mention is of course as interesting, but you
can't cover everything in one short piece. However, readers should have
been appraised that Russ Hamm wrote, literally, the book on why tubes
are still a preferred audio amplification device even today-an AES
paper that stands today and for all time as definitive on the vacuum
tube in audio as "Milton's Marilyn" does on the eternal appeal to the
greatest of cinematic idols.
This may be found at http://stereophile.com/interviews/305sea