Hey all,

I'm writing an article about my "new" A80 for my website.
Could you tell what famous albums/songs were recorded using a studer
A80 multitrack??
Thanks for your time


Tony
www.HighVoltageRecording.com

On 13 Dec 2004 04:37:32 GMT, (PKAAUDIO) wrote:

locked up with an Audio
kinetics Q-lock, through a Neve 8068 with (god help us) Necam 1

I'd ask for Gods help with the Q-Lock before the Necam.

Mark

Good point. A80's were tough to lock with their DC capstan control. Q-Lock
was very quirky. Maddening at times. It never caught on fire though, the
Necam did!

John Lennon's Double Fantasy. Although 24 tracks were out in 1980, John
recorded this album on two A80 16 track 2" machines, locked up with an Audio
kinetics Q-lock, through a Neve 8068 with (god help us) Necam 1
BRBR

Were you at The Hit factory at the time? I was, and while I wasn't on the
project, I don't recall hearing anything about the dual 16 track thing, and I'd
imagine I would have. There was normally one A80 24 track in the 6th floor
studio where John and Yoko recorded, and we did have a 16 track headstack, but
I was under the impression that they were running a single 24. Your mention of
this is the first time I've heard it.

The Neve was supposedly the last of its kind made until Ed Rak at Clinton
prevailed on them to build two more for him a few months later. It wasn't the
best sounding Neve I've ever used (late builds had evidently downgraded the
design somewhat if I recall Geoff Tanner's comments correctly), and it did have
Necam, which was a very big deal at the time.

By that time the control room had been redesigend acoustically (by Dave Smith
IIRC) for a Paul Simon album produced by Phil Ramone some time earlier. The
improvement in the sound of the room was absolutely tremendous.

I'm not trying to refute your story, just curious how you got the info. Perhaps
we even know each other from back then...


Ted Spencer, NYC

"No amount of classical training will ever teach you what's so cool about
"Tighten Up" by Archie Bell And The Drells" -author unknown

Hi Ted,

Yeah we know each other. The dual 16 tracks are accurate, I know, I aligned
the machines every day. The Neve is an 8068 for sure. Ed Rak got two 8078's
soon after as you said. He still has them!
The Phil Ramone album you mentioned with Paul Simon I believe was "One Trick
Pony". That 8068 was later merged with another in the new Hit Factory building
and Flying Faders were added. They later sold it off. Too bad. Jon Smith
assisted on Double Fantasy. I'm sure you know him.
He's still in NYC, as am I. The wide tracks and Tony Levin made one hell of a
low end!!

Should get together some time. Hope all is well.

Peter K.

Hey Peter K

Ok...now I know who you are, and of course I defer to your recollection.
Somehow I missed the memo back then about the dual 16s. It *was* a lockout
session after all...

Jon Smith assisted me many times, and was the lucky staff guy to be on John and
Yoko's project every day. He had lots of interesting stories about it, but
somehow the 16 track lockup one wasn't one of them.

Glad you're alive and well and in town. It would definitely be fun to do a hang
sometime soon, and with Jon too. Surprisingly few of us are still kicking
around the biz from back then...



Hi Ted,

Yeah we know each other. The dual 16 tracks are accurate, I know, I aligned
the machines every day. The Neve is an 8068 for sure. Ed Rak got two 8078's
soon after as you said. He still has them!
The Phil Ramone album you mentioned with Paul Simon I believe was "One Trick
Pony". That 8068 was later merged with another in the new Hit Factory building
and Flying Faders were added. They later sold it off. Too bad. Jon Smith
assisted on Double Fantasy. I'm sure you know him.
He's still in NYC, as am I. The wide tracks and Tony Levin made one hell of a
low end!!

Should get together some time. Hope all is well.

Peter K. BRBR

Ted Spencer, NYC

"No amount of classical training will ever teach you what's so cool about
"Tighten Up" by Archie Bell And The Drells" -author unknown

I just did a session at Clinton this past week and it's a couple of 8078's
that
Ed has. I cut my teeth at Automated Sound in NYC in the early '80's and they
had a pair as well. I always loved that board. Can't say the same for NECAM,
though !

Kevin Halpin
BRBR

Automated had done some mods to their Neves IIRC. What I definitely do remember
is that they were the best sounding Neves of their generation I've ever used. I
wonder where those consoles ended up.

And yes, Clinton's Neves weren't (aren't) the same model as Hit Factory's was.
They also have a full monitor section on the right side, old-school style. I
still record there from time to time.


Ted Spencer, NYC

"No amount of classical training will ever teach you what's so cool about
"Tighten Up" by Archie Bell And The Drells" -author unknown