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Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Re: Tape echo and spring reverb

From: william Beith <wbeith@sbcglobal.net>
Date: 2010-10-11

For the Brick Audio plate we chose stainless steel to avoid the rust problem associated with the cold rolled steel of the EMT plates.
 
I worked for Gibson guitar in their string division and through that experience became aware of the effect metal composition has on strings. So when I found I had a choose in types of stainless, I went with a high nickel content which gave a better high end. Thus to flatten the sound we had to roll off the high end which increased the signal to noise ratio.
 
Today with the proliferation of outboard mic pre-amps, I am making the plates passive, which allows the user to use their mic pres for send and return. I had had great luck using the send section of various boards (Tascam, Mackie, Soundcraft) to drive the plate, with a mic pre on the return to warm it up.
 
Another trick with the plate, a spring or a tape machine functioning as a reverb is to insert a delay before the reverb and send only the delayed signal. Gives the same response as the live chamber that Abbey Road has. That great Beatles vocal delayed cross channel vocal wash.
 
If anyone is interested please contact me off group to discuss acquisition of a plate.
 
Bill

From: Thomas C. Doncourt <tomdcour@amnh.org>
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Cc: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, October 10, 2010 9:54:34 PM
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Re: Tape echo and spring reverb

 

I've heard of the Brick plates before. Never played the tron through one
but would like to.
I've recorded with an EMT gold plate- the old Delta studio had one. It was
warm, the best reverb I have heard for mellotron to date. I've always used
a spring reverb- had a Premier in the 70's and one made byamp builder Tim
Van right now. The current one is tube and has a warm tone but a
relatively short time. In the 70's if someone had showed me the Alessis
midiverb I would have thrown my spring unit in the trash. That would have
been a mistake. Now I'm thinking of finding an EMT somewhere or trying out
the Brick!

> Univox echos can be had cheap., kind've basic. If you are lucky enough
> to
> get a tape echo, don't forget to use back lubricated tape. It can still
> be
> had and a $50 reel will last a decade or more, it's the same stuff they
> fill
> broadcast carts with, you don't need
Roland loops. Lately I like to use
> shorter loops, I change them according to a schedule, so i have been
> bulking
> and cutting down 8 Track tapes, this is the cheapest and easiest method of
> getting back coated tape. It is good 1/4" hifi tape. A tape echo with a
> fresh tape sounds amazing. The RE201D is a good device and so is the old
> Chandler solid state echo emulator.
>
> Another great and cheap source of tape echo is reel to reel tape decks.
> Set
> the playback source to tape and input to mic or line and then adjust the
> echo with input volume and to a lesser degree with speed. if you take the
> physical output and crosspatch it into the input you can get a mild cross
> channel bounce. All you need is a fresh roll of tape. The stocks of reel
> tape is the best made in the past 35 years save Emitape whis has always
> been
> good.
>
>
Anybody who needs a reel of 1/4" let me know, I can hook you up.
>
>
> gino
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 6:38 PM, william Beith <wbeith@sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> I build plate reverberation units and hold a patent on one under the
>> name
>> Brick Audio.
>>
>> If anyone has an interest I can send a pdf of the manual.
>>
>> Alas....I do not yet have a Mellotron to demo through it. I suspect that
>> any studio smaller than Abbey Road (which had its own chambers) used
>> EMT
>> 240 plate reverbs in their studio. So most 60's European Mellotron
>> recordings with reverb could be assumed to be plate reverb.
>>
>> If American and recorded in the Capitol
or Sunset studio's they also had
>> their own chambers. Everyone else uded plates, generally EMT 240's.
>>
>> A 240 was a 3X6 foot steel plate. The Brick Audio plates are 3X3, 3X5
>> and
>> 3X7 stainless steel eliminating the rust issues. The driver is bonded to
>> the
>> plate itself eliminating the need to calibrate/setup.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> ∗From:∗ Sean <fourtytwominds@yahoo.com>
>> ∗To:∗ newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
>> ∗Sent:∗ Sun, October 10, 2010 3:18:10 PM
>> ∗Subject:∗ [newmellotrongroup] Re: Tape echo and spring
reverb
>>
>>
>>
>> I've never run across a real spring or plate unit. If anyone has one,
>> would
>> you do a side by side comparison of spring and plate reverb for the
>> Melly?
>> Thanks.
>>
>> -Sean
>>
>> --- In
>> newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com<newmellotrongroup%40yahoogroups.com>,
>> tspit74@... wrote:
>> >
>> > I grabbed a Multivox MX-312 Multi Echo off Craigslist recently and
>> finally hooked it up to #857. Holy shit! Nothing compares to tape echo
>> and
>> spring reverb. The 312 is an off brand knockoff of the Roland RE-201
>> Space
>> Echo with some additional features. Particularly "swell reverb"
which
>> adds a
>> swelling echo to the reverb signal. Lush doesn't begin to describe it.
>> My
>> advice: If you haven't tried your tron thru an old tape echo/spring
>> reverb,
>> you haven't lived. Tape to tape is a beautiful sound.
>> >
>> >
>> > Now back to playing some Starless...
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>