Back when I was around 16 years old, my dad signed me up for audio recording lessons at "Hedden West Recording Studios" in Schaumburg, IL. Gary Hedden, the owner was offering a class on the basics of 16 track, multi-track recording and I was the youngest student he had.
I had an interest in audio recording and was lucky enough to have a dad who allowed me to learn how to do it properly.
I learned on equipment similar to these shown on this post, but these images were borrowed from the internet. Back then, the Ampex MM1100, a 2" analog tape recorder was one of the industry standards. This was matched to Hedden West's Sphere Eclipse console. To have access to gear like this to learn on was a real treat.
Today, this gear is way outdated. We've moved from analog to digital now and the equipment has downsized dramatically. Over the years, I owned a lot of open reel recorders and mixers. I had 8 track gear as it was the most I could afford. Still, these recorders were in the thousands of dollars as was the recording console. Easily, I've spent a lot of money on audio gear.
Today, I'm recording in digital as most other musicians are. Check out this Tascam DP-24 recording workstation. It is 24 tracks with many virtual tracks for each of the 24 tracks too. A recorder with this kind of capability in such a small package was unthinkable back then. We've come a long way.
This Tascam 24 track recorder and mixer combo was on sale for only $399. Just before the turn of the millennium, I purchased a Roland VS-880EX eight track workstation for $2000. The CD burner was around $500. I thought that was a great price for a digital 8 track! Look what can be purchased today for a fraction of that price!
Do a "search" on this blog (upper left corner) with the word, Recording, and you'll see and read about some of my other audio gear over the years.
