In this free extract from Vance Powell’s new Start To Finish Series in which he records Sweet Beast’s Illiterate Light from pureMix, Vance demonstrates the difference in sound between a mix from the desk outputs and the same mix printed to tape on his Ampex ATR 102. The results are pretty remarkable!
Vance starts by explaining the signal flow. The mix of Illiterate Light’s song “Sweat Beast,” comes out of one of the buffered output pairs on his console and is sent to an Ampex ATR-102 2-track recorder. In case you’re wondering, the signal from a buffered output first goes through a buffer amp, which matches the impedance and reduces any noise from the console circuitry.
The ATR-102 will be rolling when he prints the mix, and it will be recording the signal to tape, but that’s not the final destination. The signal he’s sending to Pro Tools comes out of the repro (aka “playback”) head of the ATR-102, which is after the recording head in the tape path and is reproducing the sound coming off the tape. Rather than using the Ampex ATR-102 as a destination, Vance uses it as a tape effect.
From the output of the tape machine, Vance patches the signal into a Universal Audio 2192, an A/D and D/A converter unit, which digitizes it again on the way to its final destination, a stereo track in the Pro Tools session.
To find out more about Vance’s methods go to the Puremix Blog and read about it or better still watch the full video series.
Start to Finish: Vance Powell
In this Start To Finish series featuring world-renowned producer and engineer, Vance Powell, and the high energy rock duo, Illiterate Light, head into the amazing Sputnik Sound in Nashville, Tennessee to record the song "Sweet Beast".
Starting with the raw demo recorded by the band, Vance and vocalist/guitarist Jeff Gorman and drummer/back-up vocalist Jake Cochran dissect the song to create a powerful arrangement full of twists and turns to that set the stage for a wild ride.
Once the song is record ready, Vance gets the band set up with his unique set of tools that create the high energy sound he has become known for. You'll see the raw tracking process, overdubs, mixing, and finally, travel across town with Vance to Infrasonic Mastering to put the final touch on the track with mastering engineer, Pete Lyman.
This is your chance to head into the studio and watch as Vance Powell works with an artist all the way from the song's structure, to the final master.
How Do I Watch Start To Finish: Vance Powell
This video tutorial is available to Pro PureMix members and can be accessed by signing up to a PureMix subscription for as little as $25 a month.
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