Last summer I picked up an MCI 2” tape machine from my good pal (and cephalopod bandmate) Charlie!! I was telling him how with the lack of gigs I’ve started converting my practice space into a project studio. I was and still am jazzed on making these old school sounding tracks. Using a lot of dynamic microphones a single tube pre-amp a 16 channel mixing board, cheap out board effects and guitar pedals then using the DAW very minimally. Almost like it was a tape machine. I played him some tracks and then he told me he was trying to find a home for an MCI 2” tape machine and wondered if I was interested? My Jaw dropped. I didn’t have to think, I knew I wanted that in the studio. We settled on a very fair price and before long we were heaving the beast into its new home.
I know its just a piece of gear (like 400lbs of steel motors and transistors!) but, these machines are legendary. They were American made, so many studios across the US had them installed and parts are still easily available. They were workhorses, recording millions of hours of music and audio, some of the most famous records in the 70’s and 80s’ used MCI’s. They were also the first machines to be able to sync together for a a full 48 tracks. This one in particular came out of Local TV station KCTS 9. I’m pretty sure they had the large format MCI 600 console connected to it too. That would have been awesome! I was told it had a storied history producing sound tracks for several award winning documentaries. I love that but I’m especially excited because it appears to have been kept in excellent condition. What a sweet deal!
Its a pretty funny thing. I learned how to record on a 4 track tape machine, then went digital and now I’m going analog 1970’s style! (well ok this particular model is from the early 80’s but they didn’t change much) The analog vs. digital debate is at a point where sonically, I don’t think there is much of an argument. Digital just sounds amazing. Plugin’s are fantastic and you can even emulate the desirable character of a tape machine now, ha! So why would I buy this massive thing? Simple. Aside from the awesome coloring of the sound it does, the work flow that goes along with recording to tape is fantastic. Like the spirit of Rock and Roll, Its risky, pure and forces attention to be placed on the song not the screen. I have found out i work best under a little creative constraint anyway. So far, I only have 8 of 24 channels up and running (due to budgetary constrains) but that has not stopped me from rolling tape and making magic! Big thanks to Charlie for making this dream a reality. I will post more on this soon!
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