A fellow who lives in Monterrey, named Michael Albov, recorded a gal who wondered into the dorm at
UCSC Santa Cruz with his Sony 350 Reel to Reel and handheld mics. It laid dormant
for about 40 years until he decided to archive to DAT a few years ago. He uploaded it
to Youtube and posted about the experience on the Hoffman forum.
When first clicking on the thread I thought it would be a pleasant waste of a few minutes, but after
LISTENING to the performance, I was was stunned. This was not some hack. She played songs by
Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, and traditional blues and OWNED them.
(Let's be clear, this is not a perfect recording. It was "of the moment" and it is what it is.)
He never got her name or saw her again. He attempted a social media campaign in attempt to find this unknown singer
but even after getting hundreds and hundreds of leads, nothing came of it.
I contacted him and asked him if he had the original tape. He found it and I IMPLORED him to do a high rez capture. He bought a Korg MR-2 and found an original Sony 350 in mint condition.
I sent him good cables and under my guidance he dubbed the tape, which had a finite amount of plays left to 24 bit, 96 kHz, 192 kHz, and DSD64.
We spent weeks analyzing the results. I edited and mastered them in Audacity and Korg Audiogate.
This would all be cute and nice if not for the fact that the recording, which is about 30 minutes, simply leaves an impression on you that cannot be described, and I am as jaded as they come.
Unknown female:
Guitar and vocals
1. The French Girl (Sylvia Fricker, Ian Tyson)
2. I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash, Roy Cash)
3. Red Velvet (Ian Tyson)
4. Gospel Ship (When We're Traveling Through The Air) (Herbert Buffum)
5. Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)
6. Let The Good Times Roll (Sam Cooke)
7. Like A Baby (Jesse Stone)
8. Hangin' 'Round (Patrick Sky)
9. Lonely Girls (Sylvia Fricker, Ian Tyson)
10. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Bob Dylan)
11. (*a variation of) Buddy Bolden's Blues (Jelly Roll Morton)
From the original taper:: Michael Albov.
This is what I call The Dorm Tape 1967. The facts are simple and frankly taught me a lot about simplicity in recording (and later, photography). I heard a girl singing and playing guitar down the hall in my dorm at UC Santa Cruz. She was hitch hiking through and needed a place to crash. I liked the sound I heard coming down the hall and I decided to try recording her. So I grabbed my reel to reel Sony 350 recorder, a modest piece, and two really crummy dynamic mikes that were part of the kit. I hand held them a foot or so from the guitar and her mouth ( left right more or less) and just let her sing.
She was sitting on a dorm cot and I was standing in front of her monitoring the levels on the Sony while holding the mics. Kind of awkward. My life moved on and now 44 years later(!), I pulled it out, digitized it and decided to add it to the YouTube archive of material from my alma mater. What I learned is that simple ain't so bad: musicality counts for a lot and a lot can be done with simple equipment...and common sense. Hope you enjoy.
___________________________________________________
The sad post script to this is that Michael passed away of terminal cancer back in April. We became very good friends while working on this project.
I am posting the links to the FLAC files in his memory. If you choose to download the files and enjoy them, please make a donation of any amount, even $1, to the non political charity
of your choice.
Here are the the 192 links:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tzjh7s3g86haa4l/AADmmHdW_bEAkBXGyMmkdy-ha?dl=0
Here are the 96 links:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/797kvjsmisdyztr/AAARZ2YUFXVm4qlG64bNomGaa?dl=0
Here are the 44.1 links
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x4118l95j0v621j/AACUBCHZEua3I-YI8-2r3br_a?dl=0
UCSC Santa Cruz with his Sony 350 Reel to Reel and handheld mics. It laid dormant
for about 40 years until he decided to archive to DAT a few years ago. He uploaded it
to Youtube and posted about the experience on the Hoffman forum.
When first clicking on the thread I thought it would be a pleasant waste of a few minutes, but after
LISTENING to the performance, I was was stunned. This was not some hack. She played songs by
Ian & Sylvia, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, and traditional blues and OWNED them.
(Let's be clear, this is not a perfect recording. It was "of the moment" and it is what it is.)
He never got her name or saw her again. He attempted a social media campaign in attempt to find this unknown singer
but even after getting hundreds and hundreds of leads, nothing came of it.
I contacted him and asked him if he had the original tape. He found it and I IMPLORED him to do a high rez capture. He bought a Korg MR-2 and found an original Sony 350 in mint condition.
I sent him good cables and under my guidance he dubbed the tape, which had a finite amount of plays left to 24 bit, 96 kHz, 192 kHz, and DSD64.
We spent weeks analyzing the results. I edited and mastered them in Audacity and Korg Audiogate.
This would all be cute and nice if not for the fact that the recording, which is about 30 minutes, simply leaves an impression on you that cannot be described, and I am as jaded as they come.
Unknown female:
Guitar and vocals
1. The French Girl (Sylvia Fricker, Ian Tyson)
2. I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash, Roy Cash)
3. Red Velvet (Ian Tyson)
4. Gospel Ship (When We're Traveling Through The Air) (Herbert Buffum)
5. Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)
6. Let The Good Times Roll (Sam Cooke)
7. Like A Baby (Jesse Stone)
8. Hangin' 'Round (Patrick Sky)
9. Lonely Girls (Sylvia Fricker, Ian Tyson)
10. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Bob Dylan)
11. (*a variation of) Buddy Bolden's Blues (Jelly Roll Morton)
From the original taper:: Michael Albov.
This is what I call The Dorm Tape 1967. The facts are simple and frankly taught me a lot about simplicity in recording (and later, photography). I heard a girl singing and playing guitar down the hall in my dorm at UC Santa Cruz. She was hitch hiking through and needed a place to crash. I liked the sound I heard coming down the hall and I decided to try recording her. So I grabbed my reel to reel Sony 350 recorder, a modest piece, and two really crummy dynamic mikes that were part of the kit. I hand held them a foot or so from the guitar and her mouth ( left right more or less) and just let her sing.
She was sitting on a dorm cot and I was standing in front of her monitoring the levels on the Sony while holding the mics. Kind of awkward. My life moved on and now 44 years later(!), I pulled it out, digitized it and decided to add it to the YouTube archive of material from my alma mater. What I learned is that simple ain't so bad: musicality counts for a lot and a lot can be done with simple equipment...and common sense. Hope you enjoy.
___________________________________________________
The sad post script to this is that Michael passed away of terminal cancer back in April. We became very good friends while working on this project.
I am posting the links to the FLAC files in his memory. If you choose to download the files and enjoy them, please make a donation of any amount, even $1, to the non political charity
of your choice.
Here are the the 192 links:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tzjh7s3g86haa4l/AADmmHdW_bEAkBXGyMmkdy-ha?dl=0
Here are the 96 links:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/797kvjsmisdyztr/AAARZ2YUFXVm4qlG64bNomGaa?dl=0
Here are the 44.1 links
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x4118l95j0v621j/AACUBCHZEua3I-YI8-2r3br_a?dl=0