@strayhorse @NigelTufnel @SamanthaJaneSmith
It’s a 1978 LP Standard, I’m guessing it’s probably still out there somewhere. I sold my Aria LP lawsuit guitar to buy it. Think I got $200 for the Aria and paid $1100 for the Gibson. I wish I still had both of them, I really regret letting the Aria go.

@NigelTufnel @strayhorse @SamanthaJaneSmith
lol

From bottom to top is a Roland RE-501 tape echo, a Radio Shack 20 band equalizer, a TEAC cassette unit and an Akai power amp. The speakers were Radio Shack as well. The mic just behind the front speaker is an Electo-Voice Model PL-80 that I’m still using today. Sadly the Les Paul was stolen in 1985, at which point I packed it all in for 13 years.

@strayhorse @SamanthaJaneSmith @NigelTufnel
I'd tried to multitrack in the mid 70's using a friends fathers two channel reel-to-reel tape deck, but of course syncing was a huge issue so it never quite worked. In 1979 I picked up a Tascam PortaStudio Model 144 at Long & McQuade and then never really looked back. Many valuable lessons were learned working with that technological marvel.

@SamanthaJaneSmith @strayhorse @NigelTufnel
Not off-track at all. There are definite differences in sound when it's recorded different ways, but I see it as part of the evolution of music. Even in analog that occurred. For example, think of how much different The Beatles sounded on their early recordings 1 & 2 track) in comparison to their later recordings like Sgt. Peppers (4 track) and Abbey Road (16 track). There's never anything wrong with pushing the envelope imo.

@jwcph @NigelTufnel @strayhorse
I agree that by far and away the best songs are recorded using live takes. And first takes are almost always the best. Back in the 80's working in an analog studio we had to work like that, it's just the nature of tape. Very occasionally we'd do a punch in & out but only after lots of rehearsing. Sadly my arthritic fingers no longer allow me to do that, and I'm really glad that this modern tech still allows me a way to be creative.

@NigelTufnel @strayhorse
When my project starts getting really messy I’ll export my final tracks then reimport them into a new project. I’ve had a couple that have exceeded 10Gb and that’s just getting too out of hand. Plus it actually works out well for mixing too, it’s like starting with a clean slate with all the parts completed and just needing that final polish.

@strayhorse @NigelTufnel
There’s something to be said for analog though. With a limit of 24 tracks we used to have to really think things through & be able to play our parts from start to finish flawlessly. There were ways to cheat, building up tracks on a 2 track machine then carefully syncing back into the main song, but it was tedious. I have to say I love working with Logic, it’s so easy to build songs out of bits & pieces. But even then I try and do full performances.

@NigelTufnel @strayhorse
I always keep all of my takes for posterity, which is probably why my audio backup drives are 8 terabytes (I backup on two drives for redundancy). I copy them to a final track where I merge & flatten them, then freeze & hide the working tracks. At times it can get really messy, and I have made mistakes occasionally. For the projects I'm working on at the moment I use my iCloud Drive and my local drive (a 4 terabyte SSD in my Mac Studio).

@strayhorse @NigelTufnel
Comping is now my saviour. I just can't play like I used to when I was a twenty something working in the studio in the 80's. The days of picking up the guitar & just playing the part are gone now, I'd struggle in pure analog environments now. This is my comping of the guitar part I'm currently working on.

@strayhorse @NigelTufnel
Did some interesting pitch shifting on a song that Nigel is currently adding a lead too. I recorded the part in D because it was easiest to do the picking part. I then pitch shifted it up 5 full tones to G so I could add the vocals comfortably. The pitch shifting adds an interesting dimension to the sound, it’s definitely different than if I’d used a capo at the fifth fret to get to the same key.