Golden Era Engineers/Producers - Gear & Techniques?

[demonfuzz]

I am always interested in knowing what some of the legendary Engineers/Producers/Labels/Studios from 80's - early 90's were using.

I realize some of this may have varied by label or project to project but for the most part what sort of gear was common place?
I am more interested in recording/mix gear as opposed to what drum machine/sampler (we already know 808's, SP's, MPC's, S950's etc...).

I'm talkin Consoles, Compressors, Effects, TapeMachines, etc...
Techniques too.

Here some producers/artists/engineers & labels to set it off.

- Marley Marl + Cold Chillin Records

- Studio 1212 - Paul C + CJ Moore

- Mantronik + Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records
hell, even the dance/electro/hi-energy was solid sounding.
(That shit is classic.)

- Joe The Butcher

- Ivan DOC Rodriguez

- 45 King + Tuff City

- (early) Wild Pitch

There are many more that slip my mind right now.
Pretty much any East Coast or Philly Hip Hop from say about 87-92.

Also, I am sure alot of this might boil down more to the Mastering...
So what sort of Mastering gear was in effect ...
What about the Mastering Engineers?
Carlton Batts, Toney Dawsey, Bernie Grundman, Howie Weinberg...
Who else?


I've been goin thru some old tapes & records and alot of the old joints had this characteristic sound, aggressive, punchy & loud, some almost harsh - but it was gritty & you could feel it. Classic.
Lots of compression / limiting in there too.



PS:
current issue of TapeOp has a cool interview with Hank Shocklee about BombSquad & behind the scenes on production.
I was buggin' out reading how they played/tracked lot of the classics live, NO SEQUENCING or AUTOMATION.
WOW...
We got it good these days!

[Philly Stress]

Originally Posted by demonfuzz

I am always interested in knowing what some of the legendary Engineers/Producers/Labels/Studios from 80's - early 90's were using.

I realize some of this may have varied by label or project to project but for the most part what sort of gear was common place?
I am more interested in recording/mix gear as opposed to what drum machine/sampler (we already know 808's, SP's, MPC's, S950's etc...).

I'm talkin Consoles, Compressors, Effects, TapeMachines, etc...
Techniques too.

Here some producers/artists/engineers & labels to set it off.

- Marley Marl + Cold Chillin Records

- Studio 1212 - Paul C + CJ Moore

- Mantronik + Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records
hell, even the dance/electro/hi-energy was solid sounding.
(That shit is classic.)

- Joe The Butcher

- Ivan DOC Rodriguez

- 45 King + Tuff City

- (early) Wild Pitch

There are many more that slip my mind right now.
Pretty much any East Coast or Philly Hip Hop from say about 87-92.

Also, I am sure alot of this might boil down more to the Mastering...
So what sort of Mastering gear was in effect ...
What about the Mastering Engineers?
Carlton Batts, Toney Dawsey, Bernie Grundman, Howie Weinberg...
Who else?


I've been goin thru some old tapes & records and alot of the old joints had this characteristic sound, aggressive, punchy & loud, some almost harsh - but it was gritty & you could feel it. Classic.
Lots of compression / limiting in there too.



PS:
current issue of TapeOp has a cool interview with Hank Shocklee about BombSquad & behind the scenes on production.
I was buggin' out reading how they played/tracked lot of the classics live, NO SEQUENCING or AUTOMATION.
WOW...
We got it good these days!

Paul C is my hero! What ever happen to Joe the Butcher?

[hitsville]

Been wondering what was the gear used at studio 1212.. did some research on the internet but couldnt find anything. I'd love to know, for example, who the hell Paul C got those "give the drummers some" drums souding soooo nice and punchy. Anybody willing to take a guess on the compressors used ??

[demonfuzz]

Not sure on the Joe The Butcher but I wanna say he is still doing recording work.
Pretty sure I saw his name not too long ago.

Paul C. = Legend in my book.
I heard he used to work on a Trident at 1212.
Any idea what model ?

Contuing on... some of the late 80's Profile 12" were cool too.
King Sun, Special Ed, etc...

[demonfuzz]

Originally Posted by hitsville

Been wondering what was the gear used at studio 1212.. did some research on the internet but couldnt find anything. I'd love to know, for example, who the hell Paul C got those "give the drummers some" drums souding soooo nice and punchy. Anybody willing to take a guess on the compressors used ??

I wanna say 1176's?
(but by no means do I know).
Certain DBX models were pretty common too, 160 I think.

I think with the Give The Drummer Some he did some panning/mono/phasing tricks.
some serious compression & whatever else.
Plus the console probably played a role.

(!2" also says Mastered by Carlton Batts @ Frankford Wayne.)

[hitsville]

Originally Posted by demonfuzz

I wanna say 1176's?
(but by no means do I know).
Certain DBX models were pretty common too, 160 I think.

I think with the Give The Drummer Some he did some panning/mono/phasing tricks.
some serious compression & whatever else.
Plus the console probably played a role.

(!2" also says Mastered by Carlton Batts @ Frankford Wayne.)

1176, yeah that's what I thought too, but I'm no expert.

The Pete Rock Soul Survivor 2 making off can be fun to watch, its been floating around on the internet. It's basically 95% studio shoots

[con?one]

i read the ivan 'doc' rodriguez article in the new EQ, and um... that shit sucked. i also really didn't agree with most of his little tips either.

[demonfuzz]

Man I haven't touched EQ in years.
Guess that means Doc is still around?

Oh hey, Let me throw Jazzy Jay up on the list.

By the way, I thnk the best Paul C info/article ever written was the one in Big Daddy/Grand Slam magazine.

It would be cool to get some of the underground/old school cats as guests on this board sometime.

I'd also like to hear from Diamond, Lord Finesse, D.I.T.C., etc...

[tr-one]

Doesn't somebody on here own the MCI console out of D&D Studios?

[SqEEze1st]

Does anyone know what gear was used to make the Infamous Mobb Deep album? The production on that album is obviously incredible but Ive never heard an album that had that sound.

[con?one]

yup. it's in philly for now until i get a bigger spot.