[Dave Derr]

Its late late here in NYC metro area and something that has been on my mind for years is about to come spewing forth. Its a very strange thread here...

Frank Sinatra must get played 100,000 times a day around the world... and I dont think its going to change for a long... long time. Besides the songs, and the enigma of the man, theres something goin on.

Does the sound of his records, his voice, the arrangements strike all of you like it does me every time I hear them? Even tho his songs have a universal element to them lyrically, his appeal rests on the sound of his voice, the emotional edge of it without emoting, the fullness and counter melodies of the orchestra, and of course the Swing.

Obviously the man had control over many artistic decisions, and that is what makes it all come together in some of his unbeatable, and truly magical productions. But Id like to keep on track with this forum and pose a few questions that I just dont know the answers to:

1) Obviously his recordings were done on analog medium. Does anyone know who produced or engineered his classics like MY WAY, SUMMER WINDS, NEW YORk, NEW YORK, THATS LIFE, etc etc?

2) How many tracks were the recordings? Im thinking lots of them were two or four track...

3) What Mics did he use? Theres never a noticable sibilance. Some songs his voice is more full than others but its always incredibly silky and euphonic. Im thinkin Telefunken 251 or Neumann U47's ??? I bet they didnt know what a De-esser was... yet somehow his voice has a tingly and silky, top end. How much was his voice, and how much was the "capture" of it? I dont think the console was as important as the mics...?

4) I hear compression. There had to be quite a bit cuz the man had a tremendous dynamic range. LA2A is what immediately comes to mind. Anyone know what was used usually, or perhaps specifically?

5) How were the orchestras mic'd? Again I bet it was just a few great mics, but OOoo man the brass sounds and even the standup bass... RICH, BABY, RICH!

Having his amazing arrangers and that natural voice would make it hard for his stuff to sound bad... but I honestly think that humans do respond to the sound of things on a basic, subliminal level. If everyone puts their two cents worth in... I bet a lot of these questions can be filled in... at least subjectively or "conjecturely". <laughing!>.

There will be a second part to this thread. A question relating to other recordings whose sound makes us respond on an instinctual level. Id love to hear some feedback both technical, and personal.