Hell Freezes Over, Eagles. I saw them twice on that tour and they were pretty much flawless. I particularly enjoyed their acoustic performances of Walsh's Help Me Through the Night and Henley's Heart of the Matter, which unfortunately didn't make the CD but are on the DVD. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Deberg_1990:
Nirvana. MTV unplugged. Amazing
Agreed, but Live at Reading deserves to be mentioned too. It's universally considered one of the two or three best shows Nirvana ever played, if not the best. Plus it's more what I'd consider a true live album (as in, a document of what it was like to see the band in concert). [Reply]
Originally Posted by Randallflagg:
The "best" live recording ever....is sort of a little misleading. What I mean is recordings from the 60s 70s and early 80s can't be judged with the 90s-2000s fairly. It's a helluva lot different on a 16 track tape (or even 8 track 3/4 inch tape) than it is digitally recorded. Microphones are a thousand times better - recording equipment the same.
I don't know....just a thought.
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
This is true. Some "Live" albums weren't actually live, at all. In many cases, they kept the kick drum, then went into a studio and re-recorded every other instrument.
Others, like my favorite live album of all time, Frampton Comes Alive, wasn't live at all and in fact, recorded at A&M Studios on La Brea. Sometimes, bands will overdub any mistakes and in others, the vocals are either overdubbed, tuned (it was time consuming to pitch correct vocals with an Eventide H910 but it was done) or re-recorded altogther.
But the bottom line is that the performances connect with an audience.
Up until the past four or five years, when analog to digital converters made a huge leap, most people prefer the sound of analog tape versus digital, especially the Sony PCM 3348, which was a mainstay of the 80's. The Sony Machine coupled with an SSL console is basically "The Sound of the 80's". Very, very clean, very little bass (bottom end) and a high end sheen that didn't exist before that era due to the limitations of analog tape, "hiss" being the main factor.
Most artists prefer 2" 16 track or 2" 32 track (Michael Beinhorn created a 2" 8 track machine that he used for tracking drums - Ozzy's Ozzmosis album was the first album he used it on - Superunknown is probably the most famous example) but it's just too difficult and too time consuming to use these days when compared to the ease of digital. Plus, as mentioned earlier, high end converters sound absolutely amazing, as do even low end converters.
I'm not sure if you're stating that microphones from the 50's through 70's are better or if the microphones today are better. But the general consensus is that the German mics from the 50's, 60's and 70's were light years better than any of the mics developed and manufactured from the 80's until about 2010ish.
There isn't a person with "ears" on the planet that wouldn't take a Neumann U67, U87, U47 (my personal fav) or even a 47 FET over the microphones made from the 80's to around 2010. Throw in Gefell, AKG, RCA, Beyer and even Shure SM57's - before they were made in Mexico - or even a good ol' EV RE20 into that pile. Those mics are still in demand and highly sought after, which will bring back a bounty to the owner if he decides to part with it.
While there are a few companies that get close to the original AKG C12 and Neumann U47, they're still around $6K and $12k respectively. For that price, you'd probably be better off purchasing a vintage mic and having someone like Dave Royer, Dave Pearlman or JJ Blair restore it.
About the only new mic that gained any prestige during the 80's was the Sony C800-G, which Mick Guzauski chose for Mariah Carey's voice because she had such a beautiful yet warm top end to her voice. Other producers began using it on other R&B and Pop vocalists but no one made it sound like Mariah. Ribbon mics, especially the Royer R121 (coupled with an SM57), became all the rage for heavy guitar tones in the early 2000's but they still don't have the same mojo as an RCA 77 and the best clones (made by AEA) top $6K today.
The bottom line is that if it was cost and time effective, most (not all, as digital is unbeatable for classical and jazz) would choose analog tape over digital and the mic locker at Blackbird or Abbey Road over Chinese knockoffs. And while some of the knockoffs are very, very good most certainly usable, they just aren't the same as their vintage counterparts.
Originally Posted by Randallflagg:
I agree. I understand that analog has become more "en vogue" than in the past (Hell, I started out with a few friends in the 80s with a TEAC 4 track cassette machine. Very rudimentary back in the day, but it actually did a fair job. Made us feel like big time guys! :-)
The few times I have played out live - not since the early 90s - I used to lug my Ampeg SVT with an 8X10 cab (or occasionally a 6X10) and nearly always the sound tech would hook up a EV RE20 or even a Shure 57 and stick it in from of my cab. Later, I bought a SVT4Pro - simply for the quality of the Line Out. I still have a Mic case full of 58s...ran across them the other day and they brought a smile to the old face....Those were the days. :-)
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
The advances in computer chips have basically eliminated the need for analog use on a daily basis.
From 2007-2014, I had a Neve 8816 mixer and a Vintech 609CA on the 2 buss, which all sounded great but I had to render every track in Real Time, which is a major pain in the ass when you're providing as many as 20 Stems on 3 minute cues. And if you make a mistake and unmute the wrong the group, you have to do the render over again. I also had to check each Stem, which took another full hour or more.
These days, everything's done in the "box". I still use Vintech x73's and other high end outboard gear but mixing in the box generally takes less than 1 minute per track and it's impossible to tell the difference between the render and the playback because it's all numbers.
Oddly enough, I've had a dozen albums mastered over at Capitol due to the policies of certain Production Music Libraries and in each case, preferred my Masters over theirs every time.
And yeah, the SVT4 Pro is a cool head. I used to have an Ampeg SVTII Pro tube bass preamp, which I should have never, ever sold, because it was a beautiful piece of gear. I've been using the Sansamp Geddy Lee bass Preamp into a an 1176 revision D since 2017 and I'm getting the best bass tones I've ever recorded, even better than my Ampeg V4BH head and Ampeg cab, although that setup sounded freaking awesome (the V4BH is a 100 watt version of a vintage SVT, so it's perfect for recording).
I used to miss analog but now, I don't. And I certainly don't miss constantly cleaning the heads, biasing and demagnetizing. Even thinking about it makes me say "Ugh".
Thanks a lot! Sorry to get carried away, but I love talking to other musicians (always have). Basses are something like a "religion" to bass players. Brands like Fender, Warwick, Zon, Warrior, Alembic etc are like a bit of lifeblood to us.
Sorry about hijacking the thread. I would like you to enjoy this young lady....she has been something of a phenom for several years now....
Thanks a lot! Sorry to get carried away, but I love talking to other musicians (always have). Basses are something like a "religion" to bass players. Brands like Fender, Warwick, Zon, Warrior, Alembic etc are like a bit of lifeblood to us.
Sorry about hijacking the thread. I would like you to enjoy this young lady....she has been something of a phenom for several years now....
Sorry, can't get the damned thing to embed........ :-)
I have the 1962 Fender AVRI P-bass, 2012 reissue, a Squier 50's CV P-bass with a Lollar pickup and Gotoh tuners, and 2 Bass VIs. I also have a Squier TB P-bass with Gotoh Vintage reverse tuners that I'm in the process of splitting the coils on the 'mudbucker' pickup it came with. Oh, and I have a 70's Kay copy of a Gibson EB-0 that i upgraded the tuners on...
My amps are the real deal - SVT-VR, Mid 70s V4-B (Magnovox era with white rocker switches), and a 50w '68 Bassman with the blackface mod.
Cabs: mid 90s Ampeg 810e, mid 70s V4 412 (upgraded with Eminence Deltalite IIs), and a late 60s Showman 212.
I also have a 50w Bassman 10 from the mid 70s that I need to put new speakers in.
Need to retube and bias the 68 Bassman, too.
Been busy restringing and getting stuff ready to (hopefully) play shows soon. Flatwound bass strings have gotten EXPENSIVE over the past 2 years. Last time I bought strings before the quarantine, D'Addario Chrome Flats were like $25. They're $40 now, so I switched to Fenders.
Been restringing my guitars with the new "Burley Slinkys" by Ernie Ball. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Jamie:
Agreed, but Live at Reading deserves to be mentioned too. It's universally considered one of the two or three best shows Nirvana ever played, if not the best. Plus it's more what I'd consider a true live album (as in, a document of what it was like to see the band in concert).
I have Live At Reading, but I think I prefer the Live & Loud show from 1993 that just came out. [Reply]
Iron Maiden Live after Death. It was recorded largely at Los Angeles, but parts were in Hammersmith Odeon in England. It was Iron Maiden at their peak time in the mid-80's. God, I wore that thing out. Still listen to it.
Ozzy Osbourne Tribute - Tribute to Randy Rhodes. Just awesome live shit from Randy. Included the bonus track of Dee out takes.
Metallica - Live Shit Binge and Purge - Recorded in Mexico City. One thing about Metallica live, they speed like crazy. Seems like they are not disciplined with their tempo...and the also don't give a shit. That album was basically the Black Album tour in Mexico City, and is their first and IMO is their best live stuff period. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dartgod:
Deep Purple: Made in Japan
The 20 minute version of Space Truckin' is epic.
I saw Deep Purple on the '72 tour in Savannah, Georgia. Space Truckin was nice, but Child in Time with Gillan vocals are incredible.
The live album I've actually played the most would be Uriah Heep Live January '73. I was lucky enough to see them in '75 with the vocalist the late David Byron in St. Petersburg, Florida.
My most played live album of the 80's was Peter Gabriel Plays live.
Originally Posted by DeepPurple:
I saw Deep Purple on the '72 tour in Savannah, Georgia. Space Truckin was nice, but Child in Time with Gillan vocals are incredible.
Oh man, thanks. I haven't listened to that album in ages. I only have a couple of songs from it in .mp3 form. You are right, that was downright chilling. [Reply]
