Getting that old sound

[mrnabo]

Hi all,

Been given a brief to recreate 'Good Night my Love' (YouTube - Goodnight My Love) by Shirley Temple.

I know the simple trick of EQing the life out of my recordings and adding iZotope Vinyl over it, but I'm wondering if there's other things I could be doing to make it even closer?

I'm using VSL Special Edition for the orchestral elements.

Thanks

C

[Mikkel Nielsen]

Give Speakerphone a try.
Welcome to Audio Ease

Best wishes

Mikkel

[Brent Hahn]

Don't ignore the wow & flutter. You can fake that by playing the material on a non-servo tape machine (like an Ampex 300 or 351), and dragging on the supply side reel and/or twiddling the tape with your finger. The effects are more radical at 7 1/2 ips than at 15, so try both.

[mrnabo]

Thanks for getting back to me with both those suggestions.

I work in Logic and don't have a n Ampex 300 available unfortunately, so have been limited to using the Logic plugin 'scanner vibrato' on its 'slow rotation' setting to try and mimic the wow and flutter effect.

It's sounding pants though...I think I need to heavily heavily eq this one... Will get hold Speakerphone and use the demo to hear what it's like.

Anyone else using Logic that's done something similar?

[soundguydave]

I dont think there is a demo for speakerphone available.

[mrnabo]

Damn, I think you're right - I downloaded the Cabinet demo thinking it was Speakerphone.

Not sure if I want to commit to 470 or so euros for this pitch I'm working on...if I knew it was money in the bank then I'd think less about it.

[tombak]

Originally Posted by mrnabo

Thanks for getting back to me with both those suggestions.

I work in Logic and don't have a n Ampex 300 available unfortunately

LOL yeah there aren't many working 300's around these day, however I have a feeling that recording could have been done on an Ampex 200.



I'm sure you could create subtle some wow and flutter effects using an analog delay emulation with a drawn modulation envelope. But of course use only the wet signal.

Don't forget about hiring a movie studio orchestra (union preferably) a RCA 77A, plus Radio City Music Hall might suffice for a decent rental room to record the ensemble.

Then for some final touches and anomalies get a 10" lacquer disc cut with your master going through a Fairchild 660.

[tombak]

Originally Posted by initialsmm

LOL yeah there aren't many working 300's around these day, however I have a feeling that recording could have been done on an Ampex 200.

Nevermind, that film was released in 1936 which was over 10 years before Ampex was even around.
Likely the master was recorded to straight to lacquer disc.

[hummer]

Maybe find some old recordings with some top/tail hiss and noise to loop. Layer it underneath to taste. Although this will probably provide results similar to the iZotope plug.

You could also do the same using some 1940s-era DVDs, rip the audio and use the quieter passages. Optical soundtrack pops are definitely different in character than vinyl imperfections, but it's probably all the same to your client.

[tombak]

Originally Posted by hummer

You could also do the same using some 1940s-era DVDs, rip the audio and use the quieter passages. Optical soundtrack pops are definitely different in character than vinyl imperfections, but it's probably all the same to your client.

a choice idea

[mrnabo]

Originally Posted by hummer

...You could also do the same using some 1940s-era DVDs, rip the audio and use the quieter passages. Optical soundtrack pops are definitely different in character than vinyl imperfections, but it's probably all the same to your client.

That sounds like a good idea, no copyright issues on those kinds of things I hope

My version is turning out to be to more of a 'version' of this song, rather than a replica as I'm finding it very hard to mimic the warmth/'lushness' of the recording.

I've got to record a singer later on on top of this, I'm a little concerned about getting the right warmth in the recording (will be using an AKG C414 on a Duet). Any tips on warming up the piece in general?

I suppose I should post what I've done, but I'm a bit embarrassed about the quality...

[Brent Hahn]

is the 414 your only choice? Making it sound like a pre-war ribbon will be tough. If you can't get the real thing (RCA 44 or 77, Altec 639), even an SM58 will come closer than the 414.

[tombak]

Don't forget to do everything in ((((MONO))))

[josh broome]

you could always try playing it out a speaker or amp and mic it up.

[Stizz]

optical noise