(1970s) Quad Mixing Studio Configurations

[steelydave]

It's impossible to say for sure, but I'm not so sure he did - do you think he'd leave Fagen's vocal improvs out of The Boston Rag or add those extra guitar bits to Reelin' in the Years (amongst other obvious mix differences) after spending months laboring over the stereo versions?

After the revelation recently that it was Alan Blazek and not Bill Szymczyk that did the quad mix of the Eagles One of These Nights, I don't think anything can be taken for granted.

 

[fredblue]

It's impossible to say for sure, but I'm not so sure he did - do you think he'd leave Fagen's vocal improvs out of The Boston Rag or add those extra guitar bits to Reelin' in the Years (amongst other obvious mix differences) after spending months laboring over the stereo versions?

After the revelation recently that it was Alan Blazek and not Bill Szymczyk that did the quad mix of the Eagles One of These Nights, I don't think anything can be taken for granted.

a possible candidate for the mixing of the Steely Dan Quads.. ABC.. QS... could it have been Ed Michel?

 

[steelydave]

It could have been him, Fraboni, or Kathryn King and Dominic Lumetta (who were assistants there).

It could also very well have been Baker Bigsby on his own - he was the actual mix engineer on 90% of Michel's quad productions, and mentioned in that Red Bull interview a while back that he also mixed some unreleased Stevie Wonder quads for Motown, so he definitely worked on non-Michel jobs.

 

[fizzywiggs41]

As per horns....

Tannoy Horns were big in some UK studios, being local and all.

 

[surround.sound.enthusiast]

Oops.
for those who don't have it , here's a picture.

View attachment 63280

I've looked at that back cover tons of times, but never considered what that monitor meant in relation to the mixing console. Quad, I'll be damned!
I was always either drawn to the soles of Baxter's boots, the hideous paisley wall coverings, or the mystery hand coming up onto the console.

 

[Marcsten]

Oops.
for those who don't have it , here's a picture.
This is what I call the 'extra hand on the board' shot.


View attachment 63280

 

[Soundfield]

I was always either drawn to the soles of Baxter's boots or the mystery hand coming up onto the console.

What's mysterious about it?

 

[Quadmon]

So...the unasked question...does anyone here on QQ have 4 full range speakers set up similarly to these mixing studios?

(I don't, but after purchase research about my Polk T15s revealed they are designed to be placed a little above or below ear level for the most accurate sound)


Kirk Bayne

I do. They're 15" 3-way Cerwin Vegas.

 

[Quadmon]

I do. They're 15" 3-way Cerwin Vegas

I do. They're 15" 3-way Cerwin Vegas.

Also have some T15s in my upstairs room. Really like them.

 

[kfbkfb]

And a corollary question:

Anyone noticed significant differences in the Quad mixes of the various songs on a Quad album (maybe the the songs weren't mixed in the same Quad mixing room)?


Kirk Bayne

 

[surround.sound.enthusiast]

What's mysterious about it?

Is it Roger Nichols, or Gary Katz, or an inside joke?

 

[Soundfield]

Is it Roger Nichols, or Gary Katz, or an inside joke?

Are you saying you can't see who's hand it is?

 

[Soundfield]

It's the right hand of the bloke with his boots on the console.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Is it Roger Nichols, or Gary Katz, or an inside joke?

odeur de mouffette

 

[surround.sound.enthusiast]

It's the right hand of the bloke with his boots on the console.

Whaa..?

The orientation of the hand sneaking over the front edge of the console and onto the sliders appears to me to be a left hand. There's no thumb visible; the anatomy and order of the visible fingers looks like pinky, ring, and middle obscuring most all of the index; and it seems the common practice is to wear wrist watches on the left hand. Baxter is a gifted guitarist, but I don't think he's got two left hands. And there's no way Becker can reach the console with his left hand and have an outstretched right foot on the console at the same time.

I happened across this alternate pose of the rear cover while double checking my claims. There was a "6th Dan" in the room...

If I was more committed to finding out who, I could probably find the answer on the internet.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Whaa..?

The orientation of the hand sneaking over the front edge of the console and onto the sliders appears to me to be a left hand. There's no thumb visible; the anatomy and order of the visible fingers looks like pinky, ring, and middle obscuring most all of the index; and it seems the common practice is to wear wrist watches on the left hand. Baxter is a gifted guitarist, but I don't think he's got two left hands. And there's no way Becker can reach the console with his left hand and have an outstretched right foot on the console at the same time.

I happened across this alternate pose of the rear cover while double checking my claims. There was a "6th Dan" in the room...
View attachment 63593
If I was more committed to finding out who, I could probably find the answer on the internet.

http://archive.boston.com/bostonglo...mbodied hand creeps,hiatus of nearly 20 years.

One evening Katz brought Becker and Fagen to ABC-Dunhill to record a demo, and Mr. Nichols was the only engineer available. But from the start they all clicked, and Mr. Nichols, whose sobriquet in Steely Dan’s liner notes was “the Immortal,’’ became a fixture with the studio-focused band. In a group portrait on the back cover of the 1973 Steely Dan album “Countdown to Ecstasy,’’ Mr. Nichols’ seemingly disembodied hand creeps out from under the recording console to adjust some sound levels.

 

[Soundfield]

Whaa..?

The orientation of the hand sneaking over the front edge of the console and onto the sliders appears to me to be a left hand. There's no thumb visible; the anatomy and order of the visible fingers looks like pinky, ring, and middle obscuring most all of the index; and it seems the common practice is to wear wrist watches on the left hand. Baxter is a gifted guitarist, but I don't think he's got two left hands. And there's no way Becker can reach the console with his left hand and have an outstretched right foot on the console at the same time.

I happened across this alternate pose of the rear cover while double checking my claims. There was a "6th Dan" in the room...
View attachment 63593
If I was more committed to finding out who, I could probably find the answer on the internet.

Ah, fair enough, that's rather clearer!

 

[DuncanS]

........... and there was me assuming it was Thing from the Addams Family!

 

[fredblue]

for any QQers on Facebook,
there's an amazing new set of test tone demonstrations gone up on Ken Pauli's Group for QS and SQ through all manner of decoders, including the Surround Master

https://www.facebook.com/groups/475618800025161/permalink/759822798271425/

 

[steelydave]

That'll be good ol' QuadBob himself, el supremo bandito of quad equipment and money for anyone looking to turn him in to the authorities for what he did...