Free House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios (Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music) by Roger Wood Andy Bradley Page B
Authors: Roger Wood Andy Bradley
better.”
not only would the size and features of the Gold Star building be signifi cantly upgraded during the 1950s, but so would the fundamental technology that Quinn utilized there. By this time, tape recorders had become the main medium for documenting and reproducing sound. Originally they did so only in mono, but by the late 1950s the stereophonic revolution was underway. Taping introduced a new step in the recording process, one that came between the actual musical performance and the wax or acetate mastering. This development surely reduced the in-studio stress on the performers and engineers. Unlike before, an imperfect “take” no longer meant a wasted piece of valuable wax. Instead, if a fl aw occurred, they simply kept the tape rolling and did another take, or they rewound the tape and recorded over the previous take as it was being erased.
Likewise, long-playing record albums became practical to conceive and produce, triggering new ways that recordings could be packaged and experienced. With a session preserved on tape, the producer could select preferred tracks and resequence them to establish material for each side of an LP disc.
Then the set of songs comprising one whole side could be transferred as a group to a wax or acetate master.
The recording medium was a ferric oxide–based tape that came on metal or plastic reels. In layman’s terms, audio recording tape was a thin strip of plastic or Mylar with a chemical solution affi
xed to the backing via a special
l a b e l ’ s d e m i s e , n e w s t u d i o ’ s r i s e 3 5
Bradley_4319_BK.indd 35
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type of glue. This mix of ferric oxide and glue contained enough silicone lu-bricant to allow tape to slide easily past metal guideposts and recording heads with minimal degradation of material or depositing of debris. However, thorough cleaning of the tape path has always been necessary between recording sessions, sometimes between reels. The mono and stereo tape decks both used one-quarter-inch magnetic recording tape on ten-and-a-half-inch reels that each held approximately 2,500 feet of tape. The National Association of Broadcasters established a recording speed standard of fi fteen inches of tape per second, which allowed for a little over thirty minutes of recording time per reel.
The
fi rst multitrack tape recorders, in the form of three-track machines that recorded on half-inch tape, were in use by the end of the 1950s. Stereo (or two-track) machines had achieved limited availability by 1952, and certain innovative engineers, most notably Tom Dowd of Atlantic Records, were recording in mono and stereo simultaneously. However, the major record companies did not start pressing stereo records for sale to the general public until near the end of the decade.
By 1957 Ampex had manufactured a pair of experimental eight-track machines, designed by the famous electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, and these utilized one-inch tape. Dowd ordered a third machine custom-built, and by 1958 he was recording on it. However, the recording industry at large did not adopt eight-track technology until approximately ten years later.
Prior to purchasing his own Ampex machines in the late 1950s, Quinn was using a monophonic Berlantz Concertone Recorder, with ten-and-a-half-inch reels running quarter-inch tape. This machine was an older, heavily worn contraption, but it yielded a fantastic sound by prestereo standards.
Quinn later switched over to a Magnacord mono tape deck before upgrading to stereo.
Back in those days, neither tone controls nor equalizers existed. Thus, when a client requested that the sound be “brightened” (by increasing treble) or “darkened” (by decreasing treble or increasing bass), Quinn would remove a capacitor and resistor or two from the rear of the machine and replace them with alternates that sometimes achieved the desired eff ect.
Musicians Clyde Brewer and Herb Remington say they made a habit of requesting
not only would the size and features of the Gold Star building be signifi cantly upgraded during the 1950s, but so would the fundamental technology that Quinn utilized there. By this time, tape recorders had become the main medium for documenting and reproducing sound. Originally they did so only in mono, but by the late 1950s the stereophonic revolution was underway. Taping introduced a new step in the recording process, one that came between the actual musical performance and the wax or acetate mastering. This development surely reduced the in-studio stress on the performers and engineers. Unlike before, an imperfect “take” no longer meant a wasted piece of valuable wax. Instead, if a fl aw occurred, they simply kept the tape rolling and did another take, or they rewound the tape and recorded over the previous take as it was being erased.
Likewise, long-playing record albums became practical to conceive and produce, triggering new ways that recordings could be packaged and experienced. With a session preserved on tape, the producer could select preferred tracks and resequence them to establish material for each side of an LP disc.
Then the set of songs comprising one whole side could be transferred as a group to a wax or acetate master.
The recording medium was a ferric oxide–based tape that came on metal or plastic reels. In layman’s terms, audio recording tape was a thin strip of plastic or Mylar with a chemical solution affi
xed to the backing via a special
l a b e l ’ s d e m i s e , n e w s t u d i o ’ s r i s e 3 5
Bradley_4319_BK.indd 35
1/26/10 1:12:11 PM
type of glue. This mix of ferric oxide and glue contained enough silicone lu-bricant to allow tape to slide easily past metal guideposts and recording heads with minimal degradation of material or depositing of debris. However, thorough cleaning of the tape path has always been necessary between recording sessions, sometimes between reels. The mono and stereo tape decks both used one-quarter-inch magnetic recording tape on ten-and-a-half-inch reels that each held approximately 2,500 feet of tape. The National Association of Broadcasters established a recording speed standard of fi fteen inches of tape per second, which allowed for a little over thirty minutes of recording time per reel.
The
fi rst multitrack tape recorders, in the form of three-track machines that recorded on half-inch tape, were in use by the end of the 1950s. Stereo (or two-track) machines had achieved limited availability by 1952, and certain innovative engineers, most notably Tom Dowd of Atlantic Records, were recording in mono and stereo simultaneously. However, the major record companies did not start pressing stereo records for sale to the general public until near the end of the decade.
By 1957 Ampex had manufactured a pair of experimental eight-track machines, designed by the famous electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, and these utilized one-inch tape. Dowd ordered a third machine custom-built, and by 1958 he was recording on it. However, the recording industry at large did not adopt eight-track technology until approximately ten years later.
Prior to purchasing his own Ampex machines in the late 1950s, Quinn was using a monophonic Berlantz Concertone Recorder, with ten-and-a-half-inch reels running quarter-inch tape. This machine was an older, heavily worn contraption, but it yielded a fantastic sound by prestereo standards.
Quinn later switched over to a Magnacord mono tape deck before upgrading to stereo.
Back in those days, neither tone controls nor equalizers existed. Thus, when a client requested that the sound be “brightened” (by increasing treble) or “darkened” (by decreasing treble or increasing bass), Quinn would remove a capacitor and resistor or two from the rear of the machine and replace them with alternates that sometimes achieved the desired eff ect.
Musicians Clyde Brewer and Herb Remington say they made a habit of requesting
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