King tubbys console

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KoCha
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Post by KoCha » Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:18 pm

Amazing ressources bredrens !!!

So much thanks to share it here !
KoCha, reggae-dub producer

Almighty Dub Records - Independent Reggae Dub Production
Open Dub Foundation - The WorldWide Dub Meeting

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Klaus5
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Post by Klaus5 » Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:52 pm

interruptor wrote: (KING TUBBY'S STUDIO - Scientist on da mix! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXPnO3vm ... re=related)
Is that a video of scientist mixing at tubbys studio? I cant view it, it says private video. Ive only seen jammy at tubbys from the deep roots music series. Do you know anywhere else i can view this video or how i could contact the person who has put it on youtube? Thank you


Also about the post fader delay thing, im having issues with the concept and dont understand how that would physically be set up.

would, for example, it be something like this:

drum track--->Ch1 in
Ch1 (post fade) out--->Ch2 in
Ch2 (post fade) out ---> delay unit in
delay unit out--->Ch 2 in also (so ch2 fader would be controlling volume and feedback... i think.)

This is assuming that the mixer has facility to have each channel seperately going out as well as going to the master volume channel and also that a channel can have 2 inputs... or have i totally got the wrong end of the stick?

not having ever used a mixer, im finding the whole concept difficult to grasp!

Would that be the same as having a 2nd aux send(pre fader) which was always on full, and returned to another channel where the fader is right down (so audio going through the 2nd send is only heard when the channel it returns to fader is moved up) But again, im not sure how it all fits together..

Could anyone recommend any mixer set up beginners guides type thing that i could have a read of?

:-?

The more i puzzle over this, the less i understand! I would be incredibly grateful for any guidance. Thank you

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Klaus5
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Post by Klaus5 » Tue Apr 27, 2010 2:35 am

People may be interesting to see a very brief but HQ and close up filming of tubbys desk at the museum where its on display

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1lh-2kRbnk
2:33 - 2:55

Well it certainly made me gasp when it popped up unexpectedly!


For anyone thats not seen the Scientist at Tubbys clip, Ive uploaded it to Talawa http://www.talawa.fr/media/scientist-at ... udio-5EBYD

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Klaus5
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Post by Klaus5 » Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:46 pm

Saw this on the Blood&Fire forum, I think it needs to be "archived" here.
Big up to Inyaki for posting this, I dont think he posts on here though.

Original post by Inyaki:
http://www.bloodandfire.co.uk/db/viewto ... =1&t=37422
Inyaki @ Blood&Fire wrote:King Tubby's mixing desk

Postby Inyaki » Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:36 pm
I've been reading so much nonsense about jamaican recording studios in the last 30 years, mostly from reggae "experts" who are actually knowleadgeable record collectors but don't know anything about a recording studio or playing music. Loads of innacurate information taken as the truth...still been copied and paste.
Hardly any decent interviews with the actual musicians or engineers who made the records.

Chris Lane wrote some excellent articles about Dub and studio techniques. Best I've read.
And he was actually there in the 70s!
Anyway, we were talking about Tubby's board, and he send me this.
I think is too good not to be shared.

Many people here are producers / engineers / musicians. Please add to it or correct.


Information courtesy of Chris Lane.



Image

KING TUBBY’S………..

I think this photo came from the museum in Seattle which bought the desk from Blackbeard.... I think I've got most of the controls correct.although there could be a coule of mistakes in that 'map'..... notice there are no panpots on the mixer...... and how many knobs have gone missing! :roll:

... and it's not a four track mixer.... as you can see it's 12 into 4.


The desk is definitely MCI – I’ve seen it called a ‘Lutz’ but this is wrong – Lutz was the repair/service engineer at Dynamics – I know because I met him……

…and I’ve never quite believed all that stuff about Tubbs ‘modifying’ the desk – it makes a good story to say that he took it pieces and built it back up to his own supernatural specifications but think about it – why would he do that?

That mixer was already tried and tested – it had recorded and mixed more hit records than any other in Jamaica (in terms of worldwide sales possibly more than all the others put together!) so why would anyone want to **** about with it? ….. and I’m pretty sure Tubbs was the kind of man who knew that when something ain’t broke, you don’t try to fix it….

He probably did replace the faders, (after years of use, people smoking and dropping fag ash, etc in to them, they tend to get worn and dirty, and therefore noisy) but that’s a regular job – even I’ve done that, and I’m not exactly handy with a soldering iron!


I’ve seen a mixer that was similar-ish – but bigger – in the UK in the early 80’s…. it didn’t have the HPF, but it did have those same lovely illuminated quadrant faders on the output channels!


I’ve spoken to both Sid Bucknor and Andy Capp about it - they both said they were there to install it into Dynamics, in fact I think it was Andy who went to the US (Miami, I think) to collect it from the sellers – I got the impression that it was bought from a broker/dealer rather than a studio. They also said it had possibly been in a C&W studio, but they may have been guessing….

I also spoke to Byron Lee about the mixer – he even smiled when we talked about Tubby’s getting something different out of it after it left Dynamics – I think he was genuinely pleased that it was put to good use! He also told me exactly what the ‘big knob’ was – and who made it – it was an add-on to the desk, and it was on there when he bought it….. When I had my studio I must have asked at least seven electronic engineers to build me a HPF like Tubby’s – they all told me it would be quite easy, but none of them managed to do it (including Pepe Rush, who’s mentioned in the Graeme Goodall article).

(I wrote in my article that Siddy had used the HPF to get rid of unwanted LF on percussion mics - and of course, that's exactly what you would use it for if you didn't have the imagination to use it as an effect.... )

Tubbs has two big Tannoy monitors in the corners, a Presto (I think) cutter, and two half-inch four tracks – one a Scully, the other Ampex. The one on the right was used for delay when mixing……

I saw a Fisher reverb unit up on eBay a few years ago, have to say it looked very impressive – and again why would he ‘customize’ it?…. And I’ve never heard of him using the GB spring – I would have thought he could have found (or built) something a lot better than that if he’d needed to…..

The Big Knob is built into the board (see attached picture)… Jammy told me they would send the signal through a group output to the filter, and then back into the mix – to be honest, it didn’t sound very straightforward when he told me, so perhaps I missed something! I suppose really the treated signal should come back on the same fader as the original signal, so it should be as though you’d patched an effect into the path (even when the effect is in bypass)…. Or perhaps they did that with all the music channels and returned it on one fader, but that still sounds a bit odd…. Jammy also told me that Scientist’s ‘bong’ sound with the reverb was done with a speaker and mic in the voicing booth…. I always found it much easier just to feed back the reverb on itself through the mixer……

...and I remember Tubby's cutter being to the right of the mixer - under the speaker - so opposite to that rack with the compressor/limiter in it.... but in front of you, if you know what I mean....

HP filter effect:
some of the B-sides with that sort of effect are actually done at Randy's cutting studio.... Dennis and Errol Thompson used to put the rhythm track of a two track master tape through a parametric equaliser (and sweep the cut-off point) while cutting live to the acetate to create a similar effect..... it's almost the same, but hasn't quite got the 'edge' that Tubby's has got.....

'Fire From the Observer', the B-side to 'Saturday Night Special', the B-side to 'Arabs' Oil Weapon' are all from Randy's (I think!)... there's a quite few of these tunes, most have RRS matrix #s and DT or ET initials as well......

... and if you think about it, Tubby's (and the other engineers there) used it rather subtley and sparingly.... perhaps too much so!


And I forgot to say before that it isn't really the mixer that's "magic".....

.......the magic came from Tubbs, Jammy, Phillip Smart, Pat Kelly, Scientist.....

......and all the other engineers in the other studios as well! :cool:

......it really annoys me that I was never really into taking pictures (and I hated having my photo taken!) so I haven't any proper studio shots (or even snaps of me 'at the controls'!).........

I hope this is helpful...... :)
Attachments
tubbysmixerbigknobmap[1].jpg
Tubby's Desk annotated courtesy of Chris Lane via Inyaki on Blood&Fire
tubbysmixerbigknobmap[1].jpg (127.63 KiB) Viewed 23863 times

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