Audio Recording

 

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Today, this gear is way outdated.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.