Whudever happened to Studio E?

[Jay Kahrs]

Dave, do you still engineer at all? I know a couple of people and bands that worked with you maybe 5-6 years ago just when I was getting into the AE thing. Those CD's sounded pretty good IMHO. Whatever happened to your studio? Are you just doing your own stuff now or do you still take in outside clients?

[Dave Derr]

Thanks Jay for the comments and questions! Someone on here compared me to Jack Joseph Puig and I have to assume they had done some really good drugs prior to listening to whatever ungodly mix I had done. lol (I appreciate the complement but seriously, I was never a great Recording Engineer... Nothing remotely close to Puig!). I learned most of my engineering chops from John Patterson, a good friend who worked with Phil Ramone for years. Both Phil and John were huge influences on the Distressor Design, also. John actually came up with the name NUKE, when 200:1 just didnt have a "ring" to it.

Over the last year, I have only helped set up some recording and not done any recording engineering at all. Empirical Labs has kind of taken over much of my time and we moved to a real building at the end of last summer. Trust me when I say it keeps me busy. I do miss doing serious recording, just as I miss being a musician. The neat thing is I am currently planning a good Protools setup and have been buying classic gear for 3 years now. Mainly I will use it for personal projects and for testing more wacky gear.

Thanks for your question and complimentary comments.

[dave-G]

Originally posted by Dave Derr
The neat thing is I am currently planning a good Protools setup and have been buying classic gear for 3 years now. Mainly I will use it for personal projects and for testing more wacky gear.

Dave,

I met you at the San Francisco AES show (was that '97?). Maybe I shouldn't be advertising this , but it was your quest for gear that helped me get my beloved Distressors in the first place; I traded you that nice old U87 and a little $$ for a pair of them. Remember me?

Anyway, these Distressors have been indispensable to me; they're among the most enjoyable tools in my rack. I only wish I had 2 more channels.

I hope the 87 has served you as well in your personal projects and "wacky gear" testing

-dave

[Dave Derr]

Dave-G

Yes I still have the U87 and use it. Unfortunately I was a nice guy and loaned it to a friend (not mentioning names ...), and when I got it back it had obviously been dropped a couple of times! Two new dings and a bent screen. DOH! <Laughing>

Now I want a U47 Tube and a "Telly" 251. Wanna trade for a couple dozen Distressors?? I have em here right inside my jacket....


Really interesting stuff on that Frank Sinatra Thread. THANKS!

[Jay Kahrs]

What kind of stuff was in the studio? I heard you had a Ramsa board and some kind of Otari 2" deck. You also turned my friend Alan Bowers (Steel Grass, remember them?) onto 421's in a big way. For some reason I imagine racks of Distressors and Eventide stuff...

[Dave Derr]

What kind of stuff was in the studio? I heard you had a Ramsa board and some kind of Otari 2" deck. You also turned my friend Alan Bowers (Steel Grass, remember them?) onto 421's in a big way. For some reason I imagine racks of Distressors and Eventide stuff...

Well, I wouldnt say racks....

Yup, Ramsa boards and Otari MX80, plus ADATS later on. Early on I had a 2 inch, 16 track M56 from 3M. The beast was big and so was the sound. The Ramsa mic preamps were as linear and quiet as any Ive ever heard. Since they were in a controlled enviroment, it was a little easier on them. Im one of those people who dont think that things have to be expensive, nor discrete to be really clean and accurate these days. Linear Mic Preamps and Power Amps for studio use are straight forward in my mind. AND I DONT BELIEVE IN EXPENSIVE CABLING UNLESS THERE ARE LONG RUNS, OR FOR LIVE USE WHERE THEY GET BEAT UP. When you want color or attitude - that is a whole other issue. But I was lucky to have access to good Oscilloscopes, and distortion/noise analyzers, so I did take a lot of the guess work out, as far as linear and clean. The mic preamps very front end was discrete on them. I strapped two of the RAMSA Consoles together and they were a little modified. I still have them. The EQ's were margininal but useful when used in conjuntion with other EQ's lol. (Talk about a hedge!). Occasionally I would have Massenburg Parametrics around from a friend, but usually I used these Ashley EQ's with 4 bands. I had those things for like 15 or more years. Good parametrics make a HUGE difference in drum sounds.

[Jay Kahrs]

I'm dying to hear that thing now since Slippy was RAVING about it last night for about an hour.

Anyone got a copy?