The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY (2021)

08/11/2021

Technical documentation of #audiogear is something of a lost art
.
Our vintage #Neve and SSL consoles all came with massive, comprehensive binders of schematics and service documentation. Likewise for our vintage tape machines and other #analog audio gear
.
You can see some fairly-typical, ancient documents spread out over our A room’s #Neve8088 here
.
This equipment was designed for high-stakes professional use in facilities with in-house technical staff, and as such, the ability to address failures within hours (if not minutes) was a top priority
.
In more recent decades (beginning in about the 1990s), #audio manufacturers have become a lot less forthcoming with technical documentation. Perhaps they’re concerned about rival manufacturers copying their designs (or even want to be able to control/monetize the repairs themselves)
.
Sometimes this goes to absurd extremes. One very popular 90s-era compressor has integrated circuits with the part numbers sanded off; other manufacturers pot entire portions of their circuits in epoxy goop
.
If we may editorialize—we’re not fans of these practices. While they may or may not thwart determined competitors, they definitely thwart end users attempting to keep a #studio running
.
We’re aware that these objections aren’t exactly unique to the professional #recording space—the #righttorepair movement exists to battle similar trends in all areas of electronics
.
We’ll concede that high-stakes union orchestra sessions probably aren’t as common as they once were, but we’d still find it refreshing if more manufacturers equipped customers with information—not just on how to use the product new out of the box, but on how to keep it running daily for years
.
.
.
.
#neveconsole #consolemaintenance #recordingconsole #studiogear #studiomaintenance #electronicsrepair #schematic #schematics #neve8068 #neve8078 #neve8058 #vintageneve #vintageneveconsole #servicemanual #recordinggear #analoggear #analogrecording #analogstudio

08/10/2021

What does this #vintagesynth have to do with PC gaming?
.
Octave synthesizers was started right here in NYC in the mid-70s by Carmine J. Bonnano.
.
The Cat was one of its first products, and was so much like the #ARPOdyssey that the latter company sued the former
.
Still, the Octave shop became a service facility for synths (in addition to manufacturing its own products), and then through a series of mergers and name changes, ultimately became #Voyetra
.
The Voyetra Eight, introduced in the mid-80s, was a groundbreaking polysynth. Around the same time, a new company called Turtle Beach Softworks had made a graphical interface for the Ensoniq Mirage—a then-new sampling #keyboard
.
This dovetailed with Voyetra’s ambitions nicely, so Voyetra acquired the nascent company, renaming it Voyetra Turtle Beach
.
Fast forward two more decades, and the software side had expanded into hardware peripherals, which found a niche with high-level gamers. They now make things like game controllers, headsets, etc… but not too many music products anymore
.
Carmine Bonnano rode the entire wave through this transition, and stayed with Turtle Beach in an executive role until just a few years ago
.
So complete was the transition that a current customer of Turtle Beach products would probably never know they ever had anything to do with musical instruments
.
We’re not really gamers, but we do love this old #analogsynth, and it has been a part of the Bunker’s #synthesizer collection for well over a decade
.
.
.
#analogsynth #monosynth #analogsynthesizer #vintagesynthesizer #octavecat #octavethecat #thecatbyoctave #arp #NYCsynth #NYCsynthesizer #synthstudio #vintagekeyboard #vintagekeyboards #carminebonnano #turtlebeach #synthhistory #synthesizerhistory #synthesis #synthlead #synthbass

08/09/2021

We do like things besides old tube gear here in our #mixroom!
.
One of two #500series racks in this room exclusively features modules from the last decade
.
At the far left are two #Moog ladder filter modules. These are no longer made, but they’ve been in production as recently as four years ago
.
Next are a pair of our favorite hardware de-esser, the @empiricallabs #Derresser. De-essing is one function where few of us find anything appealing about vintage tech. These just work incredibly well!
.
Next up are a pair of @eventideaudio #DDL500 digital delays. These things are really cool and useful, and have earned their place in our #500seriesrack against some stiff competition
.
Just out of the shot are a pair of DBX subharmonic synth modules and a couple of Radial EXT-C channels that allow us to interface with instrument level #effects
.
A pair of @baeaudio #Neve1084 modules sits below (one had a k**b awaiting a new grub screw on this day!)
.
.
.
.
.
#500seriesmodules #500serieschassis #500seriesgear #mixgear #mixstudio #mixengineer #mixingengineer #mixingstudio #mixing #api500series #api500 #ladderfilter #ladderfilters #moogladderfilter #bae1084 #digitaldelay #eventide #empiricallabs #empiricallabsderresser #studiogear #studiolife

08/08/2021

What does the #Coles4038 have to do with American telecommunications giant AT&T?
.
The latter’s parent company was early American tech giant Western Electric, and in the late 19th century, the American firm needed a distributor of telephone equipment in the UK
.
Since the US were ahead of the curve when it came to telecommunications, US-made telephones and switchboards were in high demand in this fast-growing market. They established a company there called International Western Electric
.
In the 1920s, antitrust legislation threatened WE, so they began divesting themselves of all foreign assets, selling their UK operation to ITT (who immediately renamed it #STC, or Standard Telephones and Cables)
.
But three years before they sold out, Western Electric set up the #BBC, or British Broadcasting Corporation, to exploit their massive business infrastructure in radio
.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and the BBC needed an upgrade on the old Western Electric mic technology they’d been using in their radio (and later television) broadcasts. They asked STC to design something new
.
With both companies now substantially independent from US influence, what they came up with—the #mic you see here—was distinct from any prior American design
.
But earlier American lineage is probably betrayed by the fact that it uses a ribbon for pickup (like an old Western Electric or RCA mic) instead of a condenser (like those that had already become preferred in continental Europe)
.
It's a testament to the success of the design that it has remained in current production, essentially unchanged, since the 1950s
.
It's an amazing-sounding #ribbonmic, quite distinct from the best American designs.
.
STC became independent (then went public) in the early 80s, and was sold entirely to Nortel in the early 90s. At some point along the way, the mic designs were split off and begun being made by #Coles Electroacoustics
.
We still love the mics--particularly for brass instruments like trumpet and trombone--and sometimes as drum overheads
.
.
.
#microphones #ribbonmicrophone #ribbonmics #colesribbonmic #miclocker #microphone #miclockermonday #recordingstudio #recordingengineer #recording #studio

08/07/2021

On this day, the #Studio B #Neve was being used in split configuration for some #vocaloverdubs
.
When we say “split,” we mean that some of the console’s channels were used as mic inputs (to send to the recorder), and others were used as line inputs (for playback)
.
The #Neve8058 is an in-line console, which means that there are provisions for a single channel strip to handle both record and playback duties simultaneously
.
There are some advantages to foregoing this capability, however—chiefly so the long linear faders can be used in both applications (i.e. to set level-to-tape and also to balance playback)
.
On the third channel, next to the fader you’ll notice a bit of console tape with some lines drawn on it
.
This was just for a bit of visual reference, as we were riding vocal level “to tape” during these lead vocal passes
.
This technique isn’t quite as common to see anymore, as there’s no “undo” if you make a mistake—but it’s occasionally preferred by some (as opposed to just writing automation later)
.
It allows everyone involved to immediately hear something that sounds more-or-less balanced over the course of the whole performance (rather than being distracted by loud bits that jump out)
.
Although uneven dynamics can usually be tweaked later, there’s something to be said for making it “sound like a record” early in the process
.
The other advantage of committing to these rides in real time is that when the session is opened later, it still sounds as everyone remembers
.
.
.
.
.
#neveconsole #vocaltracking #producer #producing #producingmusic #producingvocals #vocalproduction #recordingstudio #vintageneve #vintageneveconsole #vintageneve8058 #80seriesneve #neve80series #vocalstudio #vocaloverdub #vocaloverdubs #recordingengineer #musicrecording #neveconsole #neveconsoles #inlineconsole #splitconsole

Address

Brooklyn, NY
11211

JMZ to Hewes, L to Lorimer, G to Broadway

Telephone

+19292348534

Website

www.thebunkerstudio.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Bunker Studio posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.