How I got into recording/ audio engineering

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[originally published September 2014]

I've always enjoyed the process of recording my music as much as I do writing it. 

It started with reel-to-reels and cassette tape recorders in the 70s. Then Tascam's revolutionary 4 track Porta-Studio One in 1984, up to a Yamaha's magnetic tape-based 8 track, and eventually 16 track digital in the late 90s (Roland's first VS-1680). Since about 2005 I've worked on however many tracks I need on my laptop - having hopped over to Logic from Pro Tools.  

As a kid in the 70s, the recording process seemed both simple and magical. I loved making comedy skits, radio plays, commercials, dramas on tape- in a word: 'content' according to today's usage. 

My brother Greg and I made a new audio James Bond movies. As the bad guy, Greg would act all tough -at age 12 or so- stealing memorable lines like: "What's your name?" [reply James Bond]..."Name's for tombstones, baby"  while a huge piece of hard candy loudly clattered in his mouth- very professional! 

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And I loved DJ-ing as a kid too. Once I set up a walkie talkie next to my kiddie record player that I picked out from the 'Towers' store. It was painted in a swirly psychedelic fluorescent green. 

From the second floor bedroom I'd 'broadcast' with my best cheesy AM radio DJ voice to my brother who prolifically produced amazing art in the basement. I had some of my own LPs (long-playing albums)- like Saturday Night Fever, Sgt. Peppers and the Blue album by the Beatles, and played mom's '45's' (singles were played at on a different speed on the record player) like "I can help" by Billy Swan ('74) which was a very radio-station-y song that Greg complained I overplayed. 

My mom also had Gordon Lightfoot's shipwreck classic. But my longstanding fave was the Lady Madonna single by the Beatles.

My first stab at multi-tracking was taking two Radio Shack tape recorders and bouncing tracks by recording on the first then playing it while I played a new 'track' - both being recorded to the second tape recorder. If you do too much of this the recording gets muddy. 

First I did a low piano line, then I lifted up the piano's lid and plucked the strings for an interesting intro. Then I played this back while recording on the second recorder- but also played my guitar and thereby bouncing the 2 tracks onto the second tape. Then i could repeat by playing the double recording while playing a bass borrowed from my brother's friend- effectively making the deck a 3 track machine. I was about 10 years old.

I was really piqued by Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'. I never lacked amazement that one guy could play all the instruments and layer an entire album that way. Nowadays this would not seem such a feat. But in the analog days of recording it was a complex and even risky proposition because you were working with magnetic tape that can stretch, wear out etc before you finished recording all your parts.  Nowadays he could have done the album out of his own bedroom on a Macbook Pro with Logic or similar software, a few microphones and input box.