The Shadows FBI album - very helpful

[petercreasey]

I'm talking ambient reverb here, the ARIAB was a bass cut.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up,

[dave robinson]

Just by adding a bit of EQd reverb transforms the whole feel of the track.

[StuartD]

Mine arrived this morning and is playing as I write. We're at Wonderful Land now at the Palladium and what I have learned from this has been well worth the money spent on the CD.

'THAT SOUND' as we call it - for me it's those original recordings of Apache, Man Of Mystery, FBI and so on. It has just been proved beyond doubt.

It is unique and I have yet to hear any of us nail it perfectly and I'm now beginning to understand why.
THAT SOUND was created in the Abbey Road Studio and I think I can explain why this is the case. The recordings at the BBC and Paris Olympia were made using the same guitars, amps and echo boxes, but don't come any closer than most of us here who have tried. The core sound is apparent but anybody with the same kit will get similar sound, Hank or not.
I would cite Move It and The Beatles first album as examples of what I'm trying to get across here.

So what is it ? I believe that something added in the studio is the magic ingredient though I'm not yet certain about what it is. I've long suspected that there's a subtle EQ in the reverb somewhere or an EQ curve in the final mix or cutting process, maybe harmonics, but I honestly don't know. I intend to find out and I'll be looking at something that I never bothered with on my Logic Pro X with until now - Maybe the Exciter ! It's a tool in the final mix that I never explored but I tried it yesterday on something I was playing around with and it turned my head, as it was in the area we're talking here.
They would have had a box that does this at Abbey Road, though probably called something else.

Back to the album and I'm enjoying it immensely, though the quality deteriorates on the last few tracks, but the general sound of the old Shadows is great and for me, the live recordings are a very close sound to the Kingston album, which it should be as it's the Strat, Vox, Meazzi combination.

What I am saying is, whatever it was that turned my head and blew me away as a teenager came out of Abbey Road Studios, not necessarily from a music shop.

I agree entirely Dave but I think there is another reason too. The skills of Norrie Paramor and Malcolm Addy should not be underestimated. Good as they are, The Mexican, The Breeze and I and I'm a Moody Guy don't have 'That Sound'. Same Studio, same period same equipment probably, but not 'That Sound'. That was achieved by four very young men and two much older technicians who knew what they wanted and could make it happen.

Regards

Stuart

[dave robinson]

Yes indeed Stuart, Norrie and Malcolm were a big influence on that sound, you only have to listen to Move It.

[Ian Miller]

Hi Dave,

I seem to remember years ago a device called an Aural Exciter, I think it was made by Aphex. I wonder if this the same as the Exciter effect you found in Logic Pro. Also there used to be a pedal made by Behringer I think called a Sonic Enhancer which may be similar. One of our members Martyn Welch used one on many of his recordings, they always sounded very good to my ears.

Ian

[dave robinson]

Yes I think it may be the same type of processor, There was one called The Scintillator back in the eighties and it added harmonics and gave the track 'air'.