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Author Topic: Brian Wilson's home studio & Brother Studios  (Read 28689 times)
Quzi
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« on: November 12, 2012, 05:39:22 AM »

I've just created a Wikipedia page for Brian's home studio and Brother Studios so if you have any information to flesh this puppy out, please do so! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson%27s_home_studio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Studios

I'm about to add a table of material added in the studio now. I'm sure something like Desper's book or what have you would be able to supply some more technical information to the type of gear used at the studio.

^_^
« Last Edit: November 12, 2012, 09:50:24 AM by Quzi » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2012, 06:27:07 AM »

Good start, Quzi! And thanks for the photo! I never saw it till now. One small correction though: it's Charles Manson (among others), not some 18th century astronomer Charles Mason.

Embarrassing catch for me, but thank you! A lot of the info is bare-bones and probably incorrect to various degrees, but I figure the way to proper coverage of stuff like this is to at least start trying to cover stuff like this.
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« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2012, 06:36:14 AM »

Good stuff… it never occurred to me that Manson's sessions would have been recorded in BW's home. What a bizarre life those lads lead!
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« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2012, 06:42:51 AM »

Good start, Quzi! And thanks for the photo! I never saw it till now. One small correction though: it's Charles Manson (among others), not some 18th century astronomer Charles Mason.
I don't know, dude... Brian hung out with a lot of weird and undead people.
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« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2012, 07:13:43 AM »

Effected a few fixes (it was a Gates Dualux console...). Also, any reason you didn't mention Mike in the studio photo ?

Later: added a few more albums recorded there.
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« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2012, 07:14:50 AM »

The board was a Gates Dualux - if you're looking for more info, I'd suggest searching the archives of this board. Myself and a few others have put quite a bit of time into digging up info on the home studio, information has been posted here which I don't believe has appeared anywhere else, and this board has as complete and thorough of an archive about that studio as anywhere else thanks to those folks like Stephen Desper. Just make sure to give credit where credit is due.
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« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2012, 07:19:16 AM »

Overlapping posts!  Grin perhaps the most well-known radio broadcast mixing board in history thanks to Smiley.

Maybe it's just me but there could/should be a way to merge some of this information since the best source on a lot of these topics has been the people researching and posting on this board. Posting the same info on another site, only less of it when there are already pages full of this stuff here...again, it seems like there could be a more streamlined way to do this.

Has the James Watt entry been corrected?

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« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2012, 07:30:48 AM »

There's some basic info on the home studio in the 2010 edition of ESQ devoted to Sunflower's 40th anniversary. There were two distinct phases: the initial, very ad-hoc setup for Smiley Smile et al, where, I believe, the mixing desk was on the kitchen table, and the later more stable setup where the control room was in the chauffeur's quarters, overlooking the room from a height of about 15 feet. BTW, Friends was recorded with the Dualux.

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http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,8616.0.html
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« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2012, 07:38:25 AM »

Effected a few fixes (it was a Gates Dualux console...). Also, any reason you didn't mention Mike in the studio photo ?

Later: added a few more albums recorded there.

Because I have a motive to wipe him from the face of history  Evil Just kidding, of course, I just wasn't sure if it was Mike or not since the photos of poor quality. Thanks for your contributions Andrew, I appreciate it!

Am I right in grouping Brian's home studio under the moniker "Brother Studios" or is that technically incorrect? Originally I was going to do one article for Brother Studios and one for Brian's home studio, but I figured the wikinazis may delete one or both of them for not being notable, so if they are combined, they stand a greater shot of surviving the wrath of wikipedia. When we expand the article further, perhaps it'll be appropriate/safer to split them up.
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« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2012, 07:42:00 AM »

Is it accurate to combine or blend the two studios together as if they're the same entity? Just a few points, the studio at Brian's house was just that: My impression is that it was only for "private" use, meaning for projects related to the Beach Boys and Brother. There may even have been a zoning ordinance in Brian's neighborhood against operating a commercial studio, the kind where a business could be run for profit and clients could book the place and hire the staff, but that bit needs more research. I'm 99.9% sure the only artists who recorded at the "house" studio were connected to the band or Brother in some way, no one could book the room for hire.

When they opened the next studio in the mid 70's, wasn't that as much of a commercial venture where outside artists could hire and book the room as it was a place for the band to record themselves and their side projects?

I think it's a difference worth noting between a commercial studio and the home studio, unless my impression of the entry suggesting the studio was the same venture from the kitchen to a world-class place to record is incorrect. I'd consider them two separate entities with two purposes: One for personal use and one for hire (for profit) to outsiders.
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« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2012, 07:49:36 AM »

There's some basic info on the home studio in the 2010 edition of ESQ devoted to Sunflower's 40th anniversary. There were two distinct phases: the initial, very ad-hoc setup for Smiley Smile et al, where, I believe, the mixing desk was on the kitchen table, and the later more stable setup where the control room was in the chauffeur's quarters, overlooking the room from a height of about 15 feet. BTW, Friends was recorded with the Dualux.

"Search" fubction is your friend.  Grin

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,8616.0.html

And this:
 http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,9367.0.html

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« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2012, 07:50:39 AM »

The Bellagio studio was referred to as "Brother Studio" on several AFM sheets.
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« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2012, 07:54:37 AM »

Was the gear that was used in Brian's home studio reused in the Santa Monica studio? Also, do we know why Marilyn tore down Brian's studio in 1972?
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« Reply #13 on: November 12, 2012, 07:55:36 AM »

The Bellagio studio was referred to as "Brother Studio" on several AFM sheets.

This is true but doesn't it seem like Bellagio was more of a private studio not for hire and the actual "Brother" studio in the 70's was a full-blown commercial studio?

Meaning too I don't think the Bellagio studio was ever intended nor designed as a commercial studio for hire or for profit, whereas the 70's Brother was set up for that purpose, and to make money. Just like Al's current studio - he records there but also books it commercially. I'd say they're two different animals.
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« Reply #14 on: November 12, 2012, 07:59:39 AM »

Screen shots of the Bellagio studio in action circa 1968-69 are at the bottom of this thread page at the link:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,1203.1050.html

Note the Baldwin organ... Smiley
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« Reply #15 on: November 12, 2012, 08:04:02 AM »

Was the gear that was used in Brian's home studio reused in the Santa Monica studio? Also, do we know why Marilyn tore down Brian's studio in 1972?

I would assume "no" apart from perhaps a few items here and there, because Brian wasn't involved - that Santa Monica studio was Dennis and Carl's partnership.
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« Reply #16 on: November 12, 2012, 09:44:29 AM »

I just split the article in two, I'll place the link to the Brother Studios article at the top of here ^_^

Andrew, your site states Brother opened its doors in May 1974, yet this Elton John book says on page 124 that "Caribou" which was recorded in January 1974 was recorded at Brother. Did the book make an error or is it feasible that it was?

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=eJGcZSyBflwC&pg=PA220&dq=%22Brother+Studios%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FDOhUM-XFIbBiQeY7IAQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
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« Reply #17 on: November 12, 2012, 11:22:12 AM »

I know. I can only assume that via Bruce, Elton got to use it before the 'official' opening. That or the Caribou dates are incorrect
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« Reply #18 on: November 12, 2012, 01:35:48 PM »

Was the gear that was used in Brian's home studio reused in the Santa Monica studio? Also, do we know why Marilyn tore down Brian's studio in 1972?

She didn't, at least not in the way you're implying: the speakers went to Holland as monitors, and I believe some of the outboard gear did too. As Brian (I think) stated later, when they came back, Marilyn decided she wanted to do some living in the living room.
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« Reply #19 on: November 12, 2012, 03:06:34 PM »

This image needs a pretty robust justification for copyright-sidestepping, or else its going to get deleted:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brian_Wilson%27s_home_studio.jpg
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« Reply #20 on: November 12, 2012, 03:54:04 PM »

Screen shots of the Bellagio studio in action circa 1968-69 are at the bottom of this thread page at the link:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,1203.1050.html

Note the Baldwin organ... Smiley

And there's also video of the studio in the American Band video.  They're 'singing' - I think the soundtrack to "Time To Get Alone" is played over the video.  I think there's a pan to Al in the control booth if memory serves.
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« Reply #21 on: November 12, 2012, 04:43:52 PM »

Worth noting is this Gates board was likely just used for monitoring, which sort of makes it's presence somewhat inconsequential. Though no one has been able to confirm for sure.
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« Reply #22 on: November 12, 2012, 08:14:19 PM »

Worth noting is this Gates board was likely just used for monitoring, which sort of makes it's presence somewhat inconsequential. Though no one has been able to confirm for sure.

I guess it might have been used for some inputting purposes.  I wonder how the pres are on it.  But you're right, Desper noted that they were more or less going straight from mic to preamp to tape whenever possible.  Even when they had the Quad-8 set-up, Desper preferred to bypass the mixer whenever possible.
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« Reply #23 on: November 13, 2012, 01:20:02 AM »

Editing the Brother Sessions table, and I'm removing the LA reference, as none of the sessions for the album actually took place there (yes, I know they used old Brother tracks...)
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« Reply #24 on: November 13, 2012, 07:51:47 AM »

Worth noting is this Gates board was likely just used for monitoring, which sort of makes it's presence somewhat inconsequential. Though no one has been able to confirm for sure.

I guess it might have been used for some inputting purposes.  I wonder how the pres are on it.  But you're right, Desper noted that they were more or less going straight from mic to preamp to tape whenever possible.  Even when they had the Quad-8 set-up, Desper preferred to bypass the mixer whenever possible.

Not knowing the exact specs on the Dualux, I would imagine the EQ curves and whatever else and the overall "tuning" of the board would be geared more for the broadcast world than the recording world, so it would put a different character on certain things that the average listener wouldn't notice but the engineers would.

But help me understand something: Jim Lockert engineered Smiley Smile for the most part, and he eventually mixed everything at Wally Heider's. So it would ultimately be his call on how the signal flow was set up. And Jim having worked with the 610's at UA would ultimately be working the same way: mic-preamp-tape, because those modular boards with the 610's were basically a row of preamps going straight to tape...not as much of a "board" unless you wanted it to be as it was a series of individual 610 preamps or channel strips in series.

Am I understanding that correctly, at least in the direct recording process of it? There wasn't really a "board" coloring anything (at least not like the classic boards which had a distinct color or character) if they were going straight into the 610's when recording at UA. So the Dualux becomes less important overall, but it sounds like something an old-school engineer like Jim may have asked for for the purpose of playback and monitoring. So perhaps the whole "Frankenstein" studio wasn't that radical of a departure anyway, if the Dualux board didn't add anything to the tracking process?
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