Post by clusterchuck on May 11, 2013 14:59:25 GMT -5
I had the pleasure of setting up the practice stage for Jack Bruce and Billy Cobham at a local studio when they were passing though town.
At the time, I was apprenticing (means I was working for free) just so I could be around the equipment and artists. This was well before the digital era so the entire place was analog, even the reverb chamber. They had a 48 channel MCI console, Studer 24 track tape machine and 2 channel master deck, various outboard effects gear, a beautiful studio floor trimmed in cedar, a couple of isolation rooms and a wonderful array of microphones. The far field speakers were Urie Time Aligns, the near field mix down speakers were Aural something or others. Both were amazing and opened my future interest in home audio. Modern artists can do almost everything an old school fully outfitted multi million dollar studio could do on a lap top, a small mixer and a pair of headphones. Even so, there is no replacement for a properly configured studio which explains why this segment of the industry lives on, even in this digital everything age.
Jack was a very personable guy, he took time out of his session to talk to a young punk flunky like me. Talk about stories. I'm not positive but he may have even mentioned his time with Eric and Ginger. Wish I had recorded the conversation. He was old school. He wanted his bass guitar fed into a Marshall Tube amp hooked to a giant, old JBL cabinet which was mic'd to feed the console and P.A. system. He had at least 6 bass guitars and a couple of six strings standing by to suite his mood. The man was smooth and easy through the whole day. Showed up on time, chatted up the crew and enjoyed libations with us after the session. A real class act in my book.
Billy's drum kit was mic'd with Electro Voice RE20's on the kicks and many, many tom toms, Neumann condenser's on the snare and overheads. There were miles of cables just to record his kit, something like 16 channels just for him. There was almost no need to mic the tom toms because he hit them so freaking hard the overheads picked them up just fine. He was almost invisible behind his huge drum kit. The only other time I've seen a kit so elaborate is Neil Peart and Stewart Copeland. Both of which are wizards of percussion. I was standing off to the side watching this magician of a drummer play. His feet were so fast on the double kick drums his ass came up off the stool. Like he was running in place, all the while rolling across the toms and cymbals. Infreakingcredible.
Jack opened the practice set with the bass riff from "Badge". I thought I was going to pass out.
It was the highlight of my days in studio and live sound. Did lots of shows and private sessions but never with guys as notable as Jack and Billy. Both of them were decent humans that made everyone around them feel part of the crew and family. Not a hint of diva between them. I'm guessing that's kinda rare these days.
At the time, I was apprenticing (means I was working for free) just so I could be around the equipment and artists. This was well before the digital era so the entire place was analog, even the reverb chamber. They had a 48 channel MCI console, Studer 24 track tape machine and 2 channel master deck, various outboard effects gear, a beautiful studio floor trimmed in cedar, a couple of isolation rooms and a wonderful array of microphones. The far field speakers were Urie Time Aligns, the near field mix down speakers were Aural something or others. Both were amazing and opened my future interest in home audio. Modern artists can do almost everything an old school fully outfitted multi million dollar studio could do on a lap top, a small mixer and a pair of headphones. Even so, there is no replacement for a properly configured studio which explains why this segment of the industry lives on, even in this digital everything age.
Jack was a very personable guy, he took time out of his session to talk to a young punk flunky like me. Talk about stories. I'm not positive but he may have even mentioned his time with Eric and Ginger. Wish I had recorded the conversation. He was old school. He wanted his bass guitar fed into a Marshall Tube amp hooked to a giant, old JBL cabinet which was mic'd to feed the console and P.A. system. He had at least 6 bass guitars and a couple of six strings standing by to suite his mood. The man was smooth and easy through the whole day. Showed up on time, chatted up the crew and enjoyed libations with us after the session. A real class act in my book.
Billy's drum kit was mic'd with Electro Voice RE20's on the kicks and many, many tom toms, Neumann condenser's on the snare and overheads. There were miles of cables just to record his kit, something like 16 channels just for him. There was almost no need to mic the tom toms because he hit them so freaking hard the overheads picked them up just fine. He was almost invisible behind his huge drum kit. The only other time I've seen a kit so elaborate is Neil Peart and Stewart Copeland. Both of which are wizards of percussion. I was standing off to the side watching this magician of a drummer play. His feet were so fast on the double kick drums his ass came up off the stool. Like he was running in place, all the while rolling across the toms and cymbals. Infreakingcredible.
Jack opened the practice set with the bass riff from "Badge". I thought I was going to pass out.
It was the highlight of my days in studio and live sound. Did lots of shows and private sessions but never with guys as notable as Jack and Billy. Both of them were decent humans that made everyone around them feel part of the crew and family. Not a hint of diva between them. I'm guessing that's kinda rare these days.