Organ and choir recordings in analog IEC 15ips tape format

astrotoy

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May 24, 2010
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Here is the session sheet that my friend John Dunkerley gave to me for the famous Lyrita SRCS 109 Arnold Dances (TAS Superdisc) that he engineered in 1977. Decca did all the engineering for the Lyrita stereo records. You can see he used a pair of B62's at 15ips, NAB EQ using Scotch 206. John used the standard "Wilkie" version of the Decca Tree plus a few spot mikes. The Decca engineers would almost always mix down to two channels in real time at the session, so the tape was just two channels. Jimmy Walker was the producer. The composer was conducting the London Philharmonic at Walthamstow Hall in suburban London. Larry

Lyrita SRCS109  Electrical Record of Session-800.jpg
 

andromedaaudio

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Jan 23, 2011
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Cool , if i ever would start recording myself ( simple recordings ) then i need to have it adjusted again on the tape used
We luckily have some specialists in holland who can adjust the machine
I m not familiar with it , would love to take a tapemachine course one day :)
 

Edward Pong

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Jun 24, 2013
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Locust Hill, Ontario
Here is the session sheet that my friend John Dunkerley gave to me for the famous Lyrita SRCS 109 Arnold Dances (TAS Superdisc) that he engineered in 1977. Decca did all the engineering for the Lyrita stereo records. You can see he used a pair of B62's at 15ips, NAB EQ using Scotch 206. John used the standard "Wilkie" version of the Decca Tree plus a few spot mikes. The Decca engineers would almost always mix down to two channels in real time at the session, so the tape was just two channels. Jimmy Walker was the producer. The composer was conducting the London Philharmonic at Walthamstow Hall in suburban London. Larry

View attachment 31122

I'm so happy to hear Decca recorded in NAB at +4db = 396 nW/m!! I think all will agree there are no better sounding classical LPs than the early SXL Deccas...
I have always felt NAB sounded more natural & all my masters are recorded in NAB at 396 nW/m.... if it's good enough for Decca... it's good enough for.....!

Edward Pong
 
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andromedaaudio

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Well ed, but as i ve stated to you in the past , I do hear some mechanical. noise and " oversteer/ saturation". on a number of the tapes ( not all )I bought from you , its still the case , and I have quit a few tapes these days to compare , not saying the others are all perfect either but still
 
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Edward Pong

Industry Expert
Jun 24, 2013
386
195
348
Locust Hill, Ontario
Cool , if i ever would start recording myself ( simple recordings ) then i need to have it adjusted again on the tape used
We luckily have some specialists in holland who can adjust the machine
I m not familiar with it , would love to take a tapemachine course one day :)

Please do not misunderstand me here... I only said I was happy to hear Decca recorded with the same EQ that I prefer & use, NAB....

As to my tapes, they are recorded at 396 nW/m, 4 db more than the standard 250 of the Tapeproject tapes... That's why I include 25 sec of 1 Kz tone at the beginning of each tape to adjust the output level of your deck... otherwise the needles will be reading in the red most of the time... consequently you will feel the tapes are over saturated..

I recall your tapes are from 3-4 years ago & there have been many upgrades to the recording & playback electronics these last few years.... I encourage you to try some of the more recent tapes with violinist Tatsuki Narita - I just finished a recording session & will have 3 new tapes coming soon.... I think you will be pleasantly surprised...

I'm willing to walk you thru calibrating your Studer if you'd like... just let me know...
 

andromedaaudio

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My machines are calibrated to record with either agfa OR SM 900 , but before i start recording i ll have IT checked
Regarding play back all that i know off that has to Be done and i consulted a recording engineer , is that the heads are properly aligned and The gain is set equal for each channel , you can then play all types of tape properly (given that the speed is correct), and equalisation card is correct.
You dont need to adjust anything else for playback
 
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tony ky ma

Industry Expert
Aug 21, 2010
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Whitby Ontario Canada
I have B62 and A80 both machine and know them quite well, for recording calibrate you need calibrate the play back with a test tape first and set level meet to the test tape, also need a VU meter for B62 for the job. and then use a signal generator for recording signal to set the level and bias for the tape you are going to use. but test tape is recorded in the level of 250w/ the repro level will set to 0db of it's tone and when you play our recording with a level of 396w/ then it must be over in play back. so it is not one set in repro can play all the pre recorded tape, if your B62 is set at 250w/ then you have to set -4db from 0db again to play our tape
tony ma
 

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