The White Stripes "Icky Thump" new LP, adventures in mastering: 1" tape breakthrough!

[Steve Hoffman]

So now that we are finished with the new White Stripes LP mastering (four sides) I can tell you of something neat that happened.

As some of you know, when cutting a record, a special tape machine with a "preview head" is needed. This preview head tells the computer a few seconds before the audio hits the cutter head if the groove needs to get bigger or smaller. This of course saves space on a side of an album. In the 1960's this was done by hand, if the cutting engineer saw an increase in volume on the preview head VU meters he manually increased the width and depth of the groove until the loud part was over. With our computer this can be done very accurately now. It's a great invention.

So, the new White Stripes album is delivered on four master reels of analog tape. (Jack is an audiophile and loves recording and mixing in analog.) In Nashville (where this new album was recorded) the engineer used a special tape recorder with a gigantic one inch width tape to capture the mix. The folks at WB were very excited that we were going to cut an album from these special reels, they found us a 1" two track machine here in LA, delivered it to us and we were on our way. The tapes by the way sound wonderful; very dynamic, big gigundo bass drum, great punchy sounds.

The problem? Well, we didn't want to tell WB but we had NO idea how we were going to pull this off. Can you guess? That's right; the special one inch machine (a specially modified Ampex ATR-102) HAS NO PREVIEW HEAD. So, no way to get a preview signal to the computer to tell it what to do.

Kevin Gray came up with the solution. He said it came to him in a dream. In simple terms, he did this: First, rehersal. A pass was made into Sonic Solutions with the tapes mimicking our mastering moves, level changes, etc. Then during real cutting he managed to split the feed and sync the playback of the digital up with the actual master reels and back the digital off exactly the right amount of seconds to mimic the preview head on an analog tape machine. The computer had a preview feed from the digital at the all important correct level and we opened the pots and cut each side from the 1" analog masters.

This is the first time in recording history that a vinyl master was cut in analog straight from a one inch master mix.

The WHITE STRIPES rule! Oh, and so does Mr. Genius Mastering Maven Kevin Gray!

[Eddie Williamson]

i heard the new single over the weekend. sounds like Jack White's been sleeping in Jimmy Page's pajamas. can't wait!

Originally Posted by Steve Hoffman

This is the first time in recording history that a vinyl master was cut in analog straight from a one inch master mix.

double can't wait!!

[Joe Nino-Hernes]

Those 1" modified ATR-102's are pretty sweet! Was it an ATR Services machine or an MDI Precision Motor Works machine?

[sonick]

Would anybody happen to know if the CD will come from the same master as the vinyl, or will it be further molested into the modern 'norm' of CD mastering?

I'm hoping the LP for Icky Thump will be cheaper than Stadium Arcadium.

[Dave D]

He's "son of Ken Townshend".

[Simon A]

What a great story! I betcha this one won't be in the liner notes for the remastered CD in twenty years (while the price for copies of this LP go through the roof!).

Thanks for sharing Steve!

A big Bravo to Mr. Gray for his idea!

I'm really looking forward to hearing this one!

[blind_melon1]

"(Jack is an audiophile and loves recording and mixing in analog.) In Nashville (where this new album was recorded)"


Cant wait for this album, (was looking forward to it anyways, now that Steve is mastering, thats a massive bonus).

[wolverine]

Originally Posted by Steve Hoffman

In simple terms, he did this: A pass was made into Sonic Solutions with the tapes mimicking our mastering moves, level changes, etc. Then during cutting he managed to split the feed and sync the playback of the digital up with the actual master reels and back the digital off exactly the right amount of seconds to mimic the preview head on an analog tape machine. The computer had a preview feed from the digital and we opened the pots and cut each side from the 1" analog masters.

And you call this "simple terms"? Not for an idiot like me...

Still, it sounds like you've pulled off something big, and, as you imply, unprecedented.

[Joe Nino-Hernes]

Originally Posted by wolverine

And you call this "simple terms"? Not for an idiot like me...

Still, it sounds like you've pulled off something big, and, as you imply, unprecedented.

When you cut a record with a modern cutting system (IE the Neumann system or Ortofon system), there is a "computer" that looks at the level of the signal. If it sees a loud sound, it tells the motor moving the cutterhead across the record to move faster, making the groove wider. If it sees a quiet signal, it does the opposite. In order for this system to work, the signal needs to arrive at the computer before the cutterhead. When cutting from analog tape, this is easy. A second playback head is mounted behind the actual playback head. This "preview" head feeds the cutting computer, and the actual playback head feeds the cutterhead. Since the 1" tape machine has no preview head, Kevin worked his magic, recorded it into a digital workstation. He then synced the analog tape up to the digital playback. The digital playback fed the cutting computer and the analog signal fed the actual cutterhead.

[PaulB]

1" tape, the 70 mm of analog? Why did they use such a wide tape?

[Joe Nino-Hernes]

Originally Posted by PaulB

1" tape, the 70 mm of analog? Why did they use such a wide tape?

Its 6 dB quieter than 1/4" tape. It also has far more dynamic range. It would seem that it was an aesthetic choice. 1" 2 track sounds really full and punchy.

(Woops...sorry Steve, I keep answering for you. I will shut up now... )

[wolverine]

I was being "facetious". No, I'm not an idiot, but to someone not versed in the mastering process and/or audio jargon, I would hardly call it simple terms upon first reading. It'd probably be the same way if I wrote in legal jargon to those not in the legal field.

Anyway, back on topic...

[johnny 99]

It is very cool that our host is involved in mastering contemporary/current recordings by terrific/important/talented and relevant artists of our time (Red Hot Chili Peppers/White Stripes) New adventures in Hi-Fi indeed! Thank you!

[Pug]

Very cool Steve.

I heard the song "Icky Thump" last week and it has me stoked to hear the rest of the album. This may be the WB title I am looking forward to the most.

[mcow1]

Great story Steve, and way to go Kevin . O really can't wait for this one to be released.

[John]

Wow, I never realised that no one has cut directly from a 1" tape before. I had always assumed that Tim DeParavicini's 1" 2-track monsters had a preview head. The sound on this must be killer!

[PaulB]

I just read that thickness of tape is what improves sound quality, and width allows more tracks to be added....does width improve sound quality too? Or should I enroll into audio tape 101 for asking obvious questions !?

[Solaris]

Looking forward to it. If this keeps up my credit card is going to explode.

Jason

[motorcitydave]

I don't doubt the sound will be fantastic, however the music...I saw the WS back in Detroit for 5 bucks 10 years ago, and I wasn't too impressed. I do have Elephant on cd, however. That one isn't bad. I hope this one is at least as good.

[dogpile]

A wonderful story with a great ending. Thank you Steve & Kevin - marked on my calendar and I'm counting down the days