Rainy November

What to do with old recordings? As You may have read earlier I did exchange Me loudspeaker systems. My monitor´s - what a magic word by the way. With the new monitors I realise that most of My old recordings sounds like crap. The balance between each channels and the sound heard, seam to be out of order.

the B&O / Celestion speakers and the DDR made RTF-speakers is now acting as my main monitor´s. A fault in one of the RFT´s was a broken soldering that was easily fixed. they do sound GREAT.

Got this weird intention to produce a comple album and with the possibillitie´s of the new monitor´s with some weird intention to produce something looking like an album, Suddenly  I can hear my old songs in a totaly different way. 

The PHONIC mixer is used as a main recording mixer.

Starting with a long listening session. Each song should be judged and fault´s written down. More then 50% of Me songs is written with a female voice in mind, caused by this I had to record yet a couple of new tracks. Now using the magic of My "electroharmonix VoiceBox"!!

the Amazing VoiceBox 
who can make you sing in the right key.

Well it´s still very hard to make this unit sound exactly like a female voice but I´m slowly learning to use it and it´s getting better at every attemt.  A process that include´s learning how to sing!! I alway´s love´d to sing where ever and when ever, but to be truthful I´m not such a good singer.

That may include me playing on different instrument´s! As most players I know (and hear) is far better. This last part of my ability to use different instrument, I try to fix with getting more and more instruments and gadgets. Maybe those things still can make My recordings sound better if not great.

As far as I can see it, I should have rehears´d much more in My youth. the ability to learn new thing´s seam to be a huge problem when You grow older.

The latest addition to My gadget/instrumet collection is yet another guitar. Natuarly a BURNS guitar as this brand is my all time favorite.

The BURNS Double 6.
made in Korea and as far as I know, 
as good as the originals from the 60´s!

The new guitar is the famous "BURNS Double 6". In the good ole day made famous by big stars like Elvis, Beatles, Shadows,Birds, Honeycombs You name it. Everyone seam to use this guitar in favour of brands like Gibson, Rickenbakker and others.

Elvis Presley, with His Greenburst Double 6.

Hank B Marin - the Shadows with Double 6


the late Jet Harris and Mr Burns of today
Barry Gibson.

Why?? the Double 6 was a 12-string much cheaper then many others, but it was darn good. A heavy beast for sure, but its playability was to be compared with the most exclusive brands. That is a fact even today at different trials made by Guitar players and magasins. Actually the "Double 6" is one of a few 12-string guitars that you actually can use for a comple session, without acing fingers and hands. Only problem might be it weight.

Sharing the body with the famous BURNS basses it´s a large guitar. Natuarly "TriSonic" pickups and a load of diffent sound possibilities included. In all the BURNS Double 6" may well be the best 12-string electric guitar on the market today, as well as it was in the 60´s! At a price that You can afford.

yet another Burns player,
Mr Rob Taylor of "numubu"

regarding the modern line of BURNS guitar´s only one thing can be said. They are really as good as those made in the 60´s. Jim Burns original ideas still live´s. The Burns line of guitars can with ease be compared with brands like Fender, costing much more.

Sound

Where and when did this sound madness start? Possibly already back in the days of Adam & Eve. Dont know for sure. Anyway as a teenager Me and my band used a huge conference room for our rehersals. Guitars was plugged into rather small amplifiers, that also was used for our often cheap chrystal microphones. In once corner of the room a Taperecorder and some no good microphones (often tthose who was included with the recorder).

The latest hit was recorded, and God know it did sound great in our ears. With stereo recordes the sound improved even more. Reel to reel recordes was getting better also for amatuers. The 4 track machines was amazing. Later the Philips casett was used in 4 channel taperecordes. The music was then mixed (dont think the word Mastering even existed among amatuer bands).

the recordings was copied to a cassett who could be used at home, and in cars. Also the cassett was used to send to different Record companies in hope that they would love it and sign you up in a great record deal.

JAMO 120 B -  perfect for pop-rock-disco

Wharfedale - great allround system

the Colebox. CARLSSON OA5 type 1. (later SONAB)

Today its entirely  different. Band use equipment in their rehersal STUDIO´s that is so much High Tech that their own amatur recording are as good as those done at a proffesional recording studio. In my collection I do have one of those recordings on a CD made by  The Cardigans. The actual recording as as good as, or even better then the one made by pro´s!!!

So today it seams that artists, bands make their own recordings with a sound quality that with ease can be compared to proffesional recordings of the 70-90´s. And this with the purpose to make a DEMO for recording companies. The tape cassett belong to the stoneage.

This in run means that You need good speakers in your home studio. Good speakers that can be used as monitor, so you´ll get a proper balance in your recording. In hope to find that perfect sound, the sound that make My recordings sound perfect on a cheap Ghettoblaster, a car stereo system, a simple home system or a Semipro home sound system, You seam to need a couple of speakers to use as reference spekers.

On my behalf there´s been many different speakers that I used. Cheap one´s and expensive systems. It´s a difficult task to find the right monito  speakers. And maybe the best would be to arrange a wall of different speakers like in HiFi shops in the 70-80´s. 

LUXOR-SCANTIC Dirigents version of the Colebox

Yesterday, my old No:1 speakers was swapped for a new set of speakers. In the so called controlroom I already have 4 different systems. This time a pair of really nice Sonab speakers was disconnected in favour of a 1970´s  B&O 40 watt speakers. (Celestion Ditton 35).

B&O (Celestion Ditton 35)

RFT . DDR made system that was on top of my list, 

unfortinutly one of the speakers is brooken.

Suddenly the sound of some of my recordings was improved!! Anyway I will for sure go on searching for the perfect monitors.

Maybe the last three pics show the best monitors, as they are cheap and do produce a sound that can be used in different systems