What classic hip hop records were recorded to 2"?

sethdk · 20th May 2007, 07:45 AM

Just a guess but I would think just about everything was recorded to 2" up until about 1998 or so. Cash money & a few others used ADATs & Bad Boy was using 48trk Sony DASH b4 the ProTools "industry standard" era.

Flymax · 20th May 2007, 02:39 PM

I figured the 90's was mostly ADAT..

Illmatic?
Fear of a Black Planet?

**TonyBelmont** · 20th May 2007, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLYMAX

I figured the 90's was mostly ADAT..

Illmatic?
Fear of a Black Planet?

The 90's was mostly 2", or 2" transferred to Pro Tools.

t.dizzle · 20th May 2007, 07:46 PM

Pro Tools started to dominate right around '99/2000. Most of the big rooms bought their own rigs right around then. It had been out for awhile (I started on SDII in '95), but after Lenny Kravitz everyone started jumping on the bandwagon. 2" totally ruled the world before then. ADAT took hold on the local scenes during the mid-90's and actually it was pretty common to find them in use in the big studios. I used to hate locking them bitches to the Studers. Flying a hook on them was a pain in the ass, too but the BRC (good unit) made it easier. Quite a few artists took advantage of the home studio revolution and recorded at home with ADAT's and then went to the big studios to mix and/or overdub. Alanis Morrisette's breakout record was recorded by Glen Ballard on ADAT. No Limit was using blackface ADAT's when everyone else was on xt20's, lol. Xt20's could sound really good if you were careful with them, but still a bitch to lock. We had ADAT's at Snoops house until early 2001 and then we switched to MX2424 and then PTHD after that. A few dudes worked off RADAR, but it never really took off in a big way.

But yeah, I'd say 90% of everything was recorded and mixed on 2" up until 2000 or so. 499 and then GP9 were the standards.

**TonyBelmont** · 20th May 2007, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

But yeah, I'd say 90% of everything was recorded and mixed on 2" up until 2000 or so. 499 and then GP9 were the standards.

Don't forget SM900.

Bastitch · 20th May 2007, 09:42 PM

Are there any known mainstream acts today still recording to 2", or has it gone extinct?

20th May 2007, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

Pro Tools started to dominate right around '99/2000. Most of the big rooms bought their own rigs right around then. It had been out for awhile (I started on SDII in '95), but after Lenny Kravitz everyone started jumping on the bandwagon. 2" totally ruled the world before then. ADAT took hold on the local scenes during the mid-90's and actually it was pretty common to find them in use in the big studios. I used to hate locking them bitches to the Studers. Flying a hook on them was a pain in the ass, too but the BRC (good unit) made it easier. Quite a few artists took advantage of the home studio revolution and recorded at home with ADAT's and then went to the big studios to mix and/or overdub. Alanis Morrisette's breakout record was recorded by Glen Ballard on ADAT. No Limit was using blackface ADAT's when everyone else was on xt20's, lol. Xt20's could sound really good if you were careful with them, but still a bitch to lock. We had ADAT's at Snoops house until early 2001 and then we switched to MX2424 and then PTHD after that. A few dudes worked off RADAR, but it never really took off in a big way.

But yeah, I'd say 90% of everything was recorded and mixed on 2" up until 2000 or so. 499 and then GP9 were the standards.

Not totally true on the Nolimit using blackfaces when everyone else was on XT 20's I know all of the main producers well and most of their rigs either had XT 20's or Studer adats. (You'd be surprised how many Studer Adats P bought.)

He did have alot of blackfaces, but you are giving a somewhat false impression regarding them.

illynoise · 22nd May 2007, 01:05 PM

We used 2 inch in 92', I worked with PKO we used the same studio in Dallas (GoodNight) with Mannie Fresh, Gregory D, Ron C, on some of those "classic" but rather unknown to the mainstream, records.

We moved to the Dash format after that at that studio. To me my cassette 8 Track sounded better! Adats sucked. They were worse than anything. I moved to Turtle Beach in 94! Hard Disk on a 386!

parkay909 · 22nd May 2007, 04:25 PM

In Atlanta they were using 2" up until about 2001 for mainstream hip-hop and R&B. After that waveframe and pro tools workstations started taking over. There are a lot of Otari machines down there with BTX synchronizers/edit controllers. You would see Studer A827s too. So any album from Atlanta you can think of that came out before 2001 (and there were a bunch) were all pretty much done on 2" including edits, flying hooks, etc. Sometimes with the help of the waveframe, sometimes not.

Now all the 2" machines are mainly used as a convenient place to put the liquor bottles and waffel trays from Gladys and Ron's.

They also make good space heaters if you only want to warm the room up just a hair.

parkay909 · 22nd May 2007, 04:27 PM

One other thing, in Atlanta now its all Pro Tools. Cheaper, quicker, and easier to shuffel sessions between studios.

22nd May 2007, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illynoise

We used 2 inch in 92', I worked with PKO we used the same studio in Dallas (GoodNight) with Mannie Fresh, Gregory D, Ron C, on some of those "classic" but rather unknown to the mainstream, records.

We moved to the Dash format after that at that studio. To me my cassette 8 Track sounded better! Adats sucked. They were worse than anything. I moved to Turtle Beach in 94! Hard Disk on a 386!

Man you said "Gregory D"

LOL I haven't talked to Greg in years.

t.dizzle · 22nd May 2007, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illynoise

We moved to the Dash format after that at that studio. To me my cassette 8 Track sounded better! Adats sucked. They were worse than anything.

Your 3348 musta been busted 'cuz they sound great. Lots of engineering Grammy's have been won with those. TLA used them for years. 20-bit ADAT can sound really good if you work 'em right.

t.dizzle · 22nd May 2007, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parkay909

Now all the 2" machines are mainly used as a convenient place to put the liquor bottles

Seeing Studers in the corner collecting dust is always a downer for me. It's surreal.

parkay909 · 22nd May 2007, 07:22 PM

One studio has an A827 in their main lobby thats gutted, with melted candlewax and pictures all over it!

Justice · 22nd May 2007, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parkay909

One studio has an A827 in their main lobby thats gutted, with melted candlewax and pictures all over it!

AS MUCH AS I LOVED TO SPEND $120 FOR 15-20 MIN OF RECORDING....

2" reel. I forgot about that.......

THE ALPHA IS HOT AND HAS MADE ME A BELEVER IN DIGITAL RECORDING..

I would still run it out through a board though!

illynoise · 23rd May 2007, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

Your 3348 musta been busted 'cuz they sound great. Lots of engineering Grammy's have been won with those. TLA used them for years. 20-bit ADAT can sound really good if you work 'em right.

I liked the 24 track 2 inch better than the Digital machine. BTW it wasn't mine it was the studios.

Seriously, I used to get really good sound out of a tascam 488, if I did it right. But the bigger studio did sound "better".

thethrillfactor · 23rd May 2007, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLYMAX

???

1-Sugar Hill Gang-"Sugar Hill Gang"

2-GrandMaster Flash & the Furious Five-"The Message"

3- Eric B & Rakim-"Paid in Full"

4-Run DMC's "Raising Hell"

Joemamma · 23rd May 2007, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parkay909

So any album from Atlanta you can think of that came out before 2001 (and there were a bunch) were all pretty much done on 2" including edits, flying hooks, etc. Sometimes with the help of the waveframe, sometimes not.

How do you "fly" things on tape? I never quite understood this...
By "fly" you mean "copy" in a way, right?

A little insight on this would be cool!

thethrillfactor · 23rd May 2007, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joemamma

How do you "fly" things on tape? I never quite understood this...
By "fly" you mean "copy" in a way, right?

A little insight on this would be cool!

Besides using a razor the most common way in the 80's and early 90's was to use an Akai S1000 sampler.

The Akai S1000 pretty much standardized the whole digital industry in terms of sampling.

Joemamma · 23rd May 2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Besides using a razor the most common way in the 80's and early 90's was to use an Akai S1000 sampler.

The Akai S1000 pretty much standardized the whole digital industry in terms of sampling.

Okay cool, but if you cut in the tape using a razor, you'll be "moving" something rather than "copying", right?

parkay909 · 23rd May 2007, 03:46 PM

An instrumental section on a popular album (from 1998) was flown from the beginning back to the bridge of the song using a BTX sofTouch synchronizer and a waveframe DAW (2" >> waveframe >> 2").

The other common way in the late 90s was to use 2 2" machines with SMPTE. Also using a timecode R-DAT (or any timecode capable recorder) was a possibility with the sofTouch. Since the waveframe was a DAW it locked up instantly without having to wait for the machines to chase each other. The SSL 4000g computers seemed to get along nicely with the BTX stuff too.

Back then people were comping vocals on sub-reels then dubbing them back to the master, etc. - all in analog.

The studio I am thinking of has ways to route machine control, remote control, SMPTE, etc from room to room without having to wheel the tape decks around. The studios day gig is video (audio post) so they have an abundance of state of the art timecode and automation gear (they even still have mag film dubbers).

joshelevator · 23rd May 2007, 03:51 PM

pretty much all of them

23rd May 2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

Besides using a razor the most common way in the 80's and early 90's was to use an Akai S1000 sampler.

The Akai S1000 pretty much standardized the whole digital industry in terms of sampling.

This is how I did it. I still have my S1000 too.

DAWs do improve on some things. Remember flying hooks on S1000 anyone?

t.dizzle · 23rd May 2007, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

1-Sugar Hill Gang-"Sugar Hill Gang"

2-GrandMaster Flash & the Furious Five-"The Message"

3- Eric B & Rakim-"Paid in Full"

4-Run DMC's "Raising Hell"

Chronic 2001... Just to bring the dates to full circle.

t.dizzle · 23rd May 2007, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by no ssl yet

Remember flying hooks on S1000 anyone?

How 'bout a H3000? A lot of peeps don't even know that you can sample with them. I think there was some kinda mod or something that you could get to increase the sampling time. I've seen more MPC's used for flying hooks than S1000's, but I was doing rock during the S1000's heyday.

t.dizzle · 23rd May 2007, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parkay909

The other common way in the late 90s was to use 2 2" machines with SMPTE.

That was the common way before the late 90's, too. Gotta love the Lynx!

cherrymusic · 24th May 2007, 12:51 AM

I love going to big studios to ask them the last time they turned on the old 2" one guy said he had not used it in a session in 7 Years, but once of month checks to see if it still turns on!

chester · 30th May 2007, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

Chronic 2001... Just to bring the dates to full circle.

most of our clients didn`t even now about studer :(

i have a A81 Mastermachine, sounds incredible!!!

parkay909 · 30th May 2007, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t.dizzle

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20th May 2007, 06:19 AM	#1
Flymax Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 794	What classic hip hop records were recorded to 2"? ??? __________________ http://www.myspace.com/dreamlandrecording http://www.myspace.com/petecizrock

20th May 2007, 02:39 PM	#3
Flymax Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 794	I figured the 90's was mostly ADAT.. Illmatic? Fear of a Black Planet? __________________ http://www.myspace.com/dreamlandrecording http://www.myspace.com/petecizrock

20th May 2007, 07:46 PM	#5
t.dizzle Lives for gear Join Date: May 2006 Location: Purgatory Posts: 916	Pro Tools started to dominate right around '99/2000. Most of the big rooms bought their own rigs right around then. It had been out for awhile (I started on SDII in '95), but after Lenny Kravitz everyone started jumping on the bandwagon. 2" totally ruled the world before then. ADAT took hold on the local scenes during the mid-90's and actually it was pretty common to find them in use in the big studios. I used to hate locking them bitches to the Studers. Flying a hook on them was a pain in the ass, too but the BRC (good unit) made it easier. Quite a few artists took advantage of the home studio revolution and recorded at home with ADAT's and then went to the big studios to mix and/or overdub. Alanis Morrisette's breakout record was recorded by Glen Ballard on ADAT. No Limit was using blackface ADAT's when everyone else was on xt20's, lol. Xt20's could sound really good if you were careful with them, but still a bitch to lock. We had ADAT's at Snoops house until early 2001 and then we switched to MX2424 and then PTHD after that. A few dudes worked off RADAR, but it never really took off in a big way. But yeah, I'd say 90% of everything was recorded and mixed on 2" up until 2000 or so. 499 and then GP9 were the standards. __________________ Clearly def

22nd May 2007, 01:05 PM	#9
illynoise Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,622	We used 2 inch in 92', I worked with PKO we used the same studio in Dallas (GoodNight) with Mannie Fresh, Gregory D, Ron C, on some of those "classic" but rather unknown to the mainstream, records. We moved to the Dash format after that at that studio. To me my cassette 8 Track sounded better! Adats sucked. They were worse than anything. I moved to Turtle Beach in 94! Hard Disk on a 386! __________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Base Jase Illynoise Music www.basejase.com

20th May 2007, 07:45 AM	#2
sethdk Gear maniac Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 173	Just a guess but I would think just about everything was recorded to 2" up until about 1998 or so. Cash money & a few others used ADATs & Bad Boy was using 48trk Sony DASH b4 the ProTools "industry standard" era.

20th May 2007, 09:42 PM	#7
Bastitch Gear Head Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 33	Are there any known mainstream acts today still recording to 2", or has it gone extinct?

22nd May 2007, 04:25 PM	#10
parkay909 Gear nut Join Date: May 2007 Location: Souf of Philly Posts: 125	In Atlanta they were using 2" up until about 2001 for mainstream hip-hop and R&B. After that waveframe and pro tools workstations started taking over. There are a lot of Otari machines down there with BTX synchronizers/edit controllers. You would see Studer A827s too. So any album from Atlanta you can think of that came out before 2001 (and there were a bunch) were all pretty much done on 2" including edits, flying hooks, etc. Sometimes with the help of the waveframe, sometimes not. Now all the 2" machines are mainly used as a convenient place to put the liquor bottles and waffel trays from Gladys and Ron's. They also make good space heaters if you only want to warm the room up just a hair.

22nd May 2007, 04:27 PM	#11
parkay909 Gear nut Join Date: May 2007 Location: Souf of Philly Posts: 125	One other thing, in Atlanta now its all Pro Tools. Cheaper, quicker, and easier to shuffel sessions between studios.

22nd May 2007, 07:22 PM	#15
parkay909 Gear nut Join Date: May 2007 Location: Souf of Philly Posts: 125	One studio has an A827 in their main lobby thats gutted, with melted candlewax and pictures all over it! __________________ That's right. "You can polish a turd all you want but at the end of the day you still have a piece of shit in your hands." Ok I'll brag http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p...xfwxqrsldje~T4

23rd May 2007, 03:46 PM	#22
parkay909 Gear nut Join Date: May 2007 Location: Souf of Philly Posts: 125	An instrumental section on a popular album (from 1998) was flown from the beginning back to the bridge of the song using a BTX sofTouch synchronizer and a waveframe DAW (2" >> waveframe >> 2"). The other common way in the late 90s was to use 2 2" machines with SMPTE. Also using a timecode R-DAT (or any timecode capable recorder) was a possibility with the sofTouch. Since the waveframe was a DAW it locked up instantly without having to wait for the machines to chase each other. The SSL 4000g computers seemed to get along nicely with the BTX stuff too. Back then people were comping vocals on sub-reels then dubbing them back to the master, etc. - all in analog. The studio I am thinking of has ways to route machine control, remote control, SMPTE, etc from room to room without having to wheel the tape decks around. The studios day gig is video (audio post) so they have an abundance of state of the art timecode and automation gear (they even still have mag film dubbers). __________________ That's right. "You can polish a turd all you want but at the end of the day you still have a piece of shit in your hands." Ok I'll brag http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p...xfwxqrsldje~T4 Last edited by parkay909; 23rd May 2007 at 03:53 PM.. Reason: fergot something

23rd May 2007, 03:51 PM	#23
joshelevator Gear addict Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Berlin Posts: 455	pretty much all of them

24th May 2007, 12:51 AM	#28
cherrymusic Gear Head Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 34	I love going to big studios to ask them the last time they turned on the old 2" one guy said he had not used it in a session in 7 Years, but once of month checks to see if it still turns on!