pan left, pan right, what the heck???

[aubreyz]

Jul 19, 2008, 1:00pm, mazz wrote:Growing up, the headphones were a family survival mechanism for me. Many, many hours as a young teenager were spent lying on the floor in the dark with headphones on. I've always been fascinated with sound and the world created by stereo records was a revelation to me. I didn't understand necessarily what was going on or how to achieve it at the time (I'd never been in a studio), but I cataloged in my mind all of those things I heard and started to figure out how to do them when I was recording my own stuff on 4 tracks, cassettes, whatever I could get my hands on. I did exactly what I suggested, which was to train myself to zoom in and out of mixes to focus on different aspects and parts. It turns out it was time well spent.I love to share this stuff with everyone, it's all bottled up inside me, a lifetime of intense study. I'm glad we have this forum, I learn so much!!Cheers!MazzOh those days!! I grew up not being exposed to much else but gospel. At about 13, I found this rock station on the radio late at night listening in my big ol' Koss cans. The first song I heard was Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight" -- What a landscape of dynamics and sound. I'd never heard anything like that. Luckily I found a station that also played the Beatles, Zep, and Pink Floyd. It took a long time before I knew why what I was listening to was so cool but, as Mazz pointed out, I started listening to individual elements. Why does the vocal sound like that? What kind of instrument makes that noise? Why do I hear different things in different ears? I didn't have a clue that one day I would be recording, but those early years of learning to listen paved the way.Glad you brought that up Mazz. You have to show up at listening university with a good set of headphones!!--- but leave 'em off to mix Aub

[ernstinen]

Jul 19, 2008, 1:00pm, mazz wrote:Many, many hours as a young teenager were spent lying on the floor in the dark with headphones on. Yup, me too! Actually lying in bed in the dark. Did they have beds when you were growing up, Mazz? My first REALLY good radio was a Heathkit Electronic Workshop. You could make all kinds of cool stuff with it, but when I built my first AM radio, I was hooked. I ran a copper antenna wire all around the backyard trees, and even living in Michigan, I could easily get WBZ in Boston, WRVA in Richmond VA, and when the weather was right, some stations in Memphis. What a musical education! WBZ was really cutting-edge in playing the newest tunes, even before WLS in Chicago.Then my dad built a Heathkit FM tuner, and my life changed forever. Those were the days when FM was known as "underground" radio, i.e. radical. I'll never forget the first time I heard the "John Barleycorn" album by Traffic. I'm thinking "Wow, you can Rock and be Jazzy at the same time!"Later, when Steely Dan released "Aja" and "Gaucho," my sense of REALLY great engineering was enhanced. I still use those CDs as reference CDs when I mix.Another fantastic sounding recording is "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty, produced by Rick Ruben. MAN, that guy's got some ears! It doesn't say on the CD if it's a digital recording or an analog recording, but my guess is it's analog. What a huge, warm sound. Kinda like Petty's "White Album" in its versatility and arrangements.Ern

[mazz]

My uncle was stationed in Korea in the early 70s at the tail end of the Vietnam war. He brought home a stereo that he bought over there at the PX and he had a really nice turntable and a Sony reel to reel (which I later borrowed frequently to record on). He had a set of headphones and it was the first time I'd ever put a pair on. He had the Santana album that didn't have a title (Santana 3, with the light show on the cover). I'll never forget when those congas come in and then the cowbells in the other ear and it just builds from there in stereo. I just about jumped out of my skin. I'll never forget that moment. The whole family was in the living room talking and I was about 1000 miles away in my own little world. That was it for me, I never looked back. After that I convinced my dad to buy a new stereo and, of course, a pair of headphones which became "mine" from then on!!And yes, Aja with that incredible reverb on the vocals on Black Cow. I'm willing to bet that's the Capitol Records echo chamber. What an incredible sound. Still holds up to this day as incredible production. Roger Nichols is God. I bow down to him! Mazz

[ibanez468]

Jul 19, 2008, 1:43pm, ernstinen wrote:Later, when Steely Dan released "Aja" and "Gaucho," my sense of REALLY great engineering was enhanced. I still use those CDs as reference CDs when I mix. Ern Yeah Ernst, really good stuff ta' reference. I have their "Greatest Hits" CD, and throw that thing on from time ta' time when I wanna hear some solid engineering techniques. I-468

[ernstinen]

Hey Mazz & Ibanez,I just checked out "Black Cow" and "Aja" on headphones and WOW, even after 20 years or so these sound so freakin' great! Geez, "Aja" is just a masterpiece. Steve Gadd on drums is awesome, and the drum panning --- really, ALL the panning is just right on the money. Ditto with all the other instruments and vocals --- recorded JUST right!Makes me think of a story about when they were recording this stuff. Walter Becker was sitting on a couch in the back of the control room (on smack), and was nodding out. The engineers were arguing about how to EQ a track.From back in the darkness booms Becker's voice: "+3 db at 4.45 kHz!" These guys were SERIOUS about every detail! --- Even on heroin. Ern