[BC] 50's/60's Audio Processing

[Douglas Pritchett]

First of all, are you sure you want to do this?
OK, last things first: Yes the echo/reverb is intentional. WABC in NY 
was best known for this effect. They used an EMT plate type reverb at 
the transmitter. Everything went through it. Win Lloyd, WABC's legendary 
chief engineer tells the story of hearing crashing and banging on the 
air one day. Turned out some rookie engineer at the xmtr was using the 
large cabinet that housed the plate reverb as a workbench for a 
carpentry project. Rick Sklar relates the story in his book "Rocking 
America". 
As for the humping/pumping, is this for you or your listener's benefit? 
Any good tube type compressor/limiter should work. Just overdrive it a 
bit. I could suggest a Gates SA-39, Gates Sta-Level, or better yet put 
the Sta-Level in front of the 39. The early Collins sets were good, too. 
If you want to mortgage your car, you might be able to find an RCA BA6. 
Those were sweet. You want a minimum of 25 db of gain reduction. Also 
set the release time as fast as you can. And to keep with the tradition 
of the 50/60's you'll want to add scratch and surface noise to all the 
songs you play. Might I suggest a random static/scratch generator?
Best of luck.

-- 
I'm Douglas B. Pritchett
and I approved this message.
Fort Wayne, IN
WBZQ1300 at verizon.net


Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis wrote:

> What did they use for processing in the 50/60 era? I'm interested in
> creating that classic oldies AM sound. also the echochamber sound on the
> anouncers voice. was that done intentional using a echobox, was it a
> byproduct of the Room acoustics and mic, or was it part of the 
> processing.
>
> I was listening to the Cruisin' the 50/60's series and want to 
> recreate that
> classic sound for my Rangemaster.
>