About the Studio -
The sound characteristics of the record groove are very authentic to the master tape sound but the record groove and the vinyl medium, as a whole, also bring with it a well-rounded, rich and warm quality to the legacy recording's original analog sound sonically like no other. In fact, so much so, we have built a home studio around the exploration, discovery and refinement of
those special legacy vinyl master cuts that we believe exists (and there are a lot of them) and that seem to want to be heard in their own way. And so when you start thinking about it, to leave that part of a legacy recording's original sound-DNA behind, leaves a gap in today's digital representations of so many of these treasured legacy recordings and we want to try and do something about it and with the help of today's vast advances in various audio technologies, we can. The ultimate goal, therefore, surrounding all of this, is to first be able to capture the audio in a replicated fashion that is authentic to the original sound as closely as possible and as originally intended and mastered by the disc-cutting engineer for vinyl. This means using industry standardized equipment to be able to precisely and delicately capture the raw sound from the groove with an extremely high-yield and that remains as neutral and uncolored as possible. The 'Reference Transfer Station 2.0'(https://www.legacyvmp.com/) is designed to do just that and to provide that 'baseline in sound' from which to build upon. From there, the audio can be prepared with light post-processing under the supervision of our incredible analog mastering studios for them to prepare it for use as they see fit. And we are not stopping there. We also think it is absolutely imperative that the industry adopt certain standards to help further bolster and support the work that we and others are doing. Because the digital DNA of certain legacy recordings, in order to be complete, must carry with it their legacy vinyl master disc-cut's sound as part of that for the sake of the recording itself, for all those who were behind producing it originally(to honor them and their work) but also for the vast listening heritage of the way the music was consumed originally and to then be able to have it 'live and breathe' again in today's digital age in order to help close gaps. All of the processes are built on an audio-purist philosophy, led primarily by my legacy ear, and reinforced by a solid foundation in Electronics Engineering Technology and Music Technology, as well as, years of ear and highly specialized skillset training that follows after being steeped in a very unique craft of legacy sound craftsmanship for the past 17 years and counting. To summarize, we want to 'shout it from the rooftop' that there exists those legacy recordings whose original vinyl master cuts deserve to be heard today in a fresh, revitalized and refined digital way and further, they demand and therefore, need to be singled out, propped-up and set aside to further designate them as official vinyl masters and to be recognized as premier articles of reference audio material in sound master reproduction, alongside their original master tapes. About Me -
To understand more about my influences.........
I like to think that 'My Passion' for 'good sound' and 'My Ear' for that and for music in general are all rooted mainly from my father mostly, although 'me Mum' and her family have more of an 'official' music history attached to them than my father (and his family). (and if you knew just how much research Dad always put into 'that 'Big family purchase' that would roll around on occasion for us back in the 60's and 70's....that's right.....the family stereo console, you would know what I am talking about.) But Dad loved, l-o-v-e-d 'all things sound' and he had an ear for what made up good sound and for music that allowed him to learn how to play piano, his style, by ear. He never had any official audio engineering training nor musical training such as piano lessons but he had just a tremendous love for music and for good, no, great sound. As a child growing up, I was surrounded by this and absorbed all of it. All of that passion and love for sound and music within my family culminated by the mid-70's into all of us(Dad, Mom, my older brother, myself, and my younger sister) singing as a family at our church, or revivals at our church and others, on occasion on Sundays for the special music part of the service. Also, my mother and father would sing duets on occasion as well with Mom singing lead and Dad harmonizing with her (again, by ear). But Dad was serious enough about all of this back then that he even bought a family stereo console in the mid-70's that allowed us to record at home. Of course, none of this equipment was professional grade either and in fact, it was very basic and modest but it introduced me to microphones, recording to tape (albeit 8-track) and the concept of recording 'live to tape' and what that felt like. I cherish those 8-track recordings of the family singing and of my father and mother's duets that we still have and that I have since digitized. Even today as I listen to these recordings on occasion, I still marvel at how good they sounded singing duets and to think that all of that came from my father's ear for music and sound, with no formal training whatsoever. Also, it came from my mother too who could (and can) play piano (read music) as she did have piano lessons growing up and so she would play the piano as they would rehearse their duets and Dad recorded many of those, plus himself playing piano, along with my mother, her mother and my mother's aunt (mother's sister). And all of that just permeated our household so much growing up through the 70's especially. My passion for good sound and music are all rooted in that and for me, as I got a little older, it later developed into countless hours of sitting in a rocker in front of this same stereo console and listening to my vinyl LPs. Dad also made sure that he found his favorite FM radio station on the family stereo console once FM radio stations started appearing in the early 70's and so he recognized what good stereo sounded like too. I took note and absorbed that as a kid and of course quickly found my FM radio station as well - WLVS FM 94.0 out of Memphis that was started about a couple of years after Elvis passed away. So I would listen with my stereo headphones to countless 'Elvis Hour' programming as it aired 'live' in 1979 with George Klein hosting! But all of that became infused into my being as a youngster and has never left me. I can go back even further as I dwell on this some more now. Much of it is DNA engrained ( I always have music and/or musical tempos and beats running through my head constantly, for example, and just anything that makes up good sound) and much of it was infused even as far back as a toddler beginning in the mid-60's and all the popular musical creativity explosion that was going on back then. Our household was filled with the sounds of radio and TV musical programming surrounding this incredible time throughout the mid and latter 60's. For example, I can say without a doubt that from '66-'68, as my mother loved to listen to the day's current 'soft popular' music on the radio around the house or in the evenings, as prime time variety television shows such as The Dean Martin Show or The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour Show, for example, would fill the house with those sounds, all of that became mesmerizing to me as a youngster and so I absorbed these heavily as a child. Soft popular music like Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence' album from '66 or any of the Burt Bacharach popular music from that time like, "I Say a Little Prayer" by Dionne Warwick in '67 or "What the World Needs Now" by Jackie DeShannon from '65, or Jimmy Webb songs from Glen Campbell ('67, '68), or The 5th Dimension's "Up, Up and Away" from '67 and the very fiber of those songs both musically and in sound were so engrained into my being that they still reverberate through me today. And finally, I can remember listening to countless hours of 8-track tapes being played in the family car during long vacation driving trips as a child between '67 and '71 and just heavily absorbing all of that between those impressionable years from '67 - '71. So all of these are still as vivid and fresh 'in my mind's ear' as if it were just yesterday. The beginnings of my interest in this idea of translating analog-to-digital by digitizing can be traced back to my early college days in the mid-80’s when I was first introduced to digitizing something analog and actually writing the programs in BASIC to control the digitizing using an Apple Macintosh computer. I got my first personal computer for home in 1994, graduated with a BS in Electronics Engineering Technology in 1995 and started my first career in Computer Engineering. By the late 90’s (1999) I had added a Sony 2X CD Burner drive and successfully produced on CD a family home recording transferred and restored from an 8-track tape. And it was also during this time that my passion began to grow into how to make something analog converted to digital sound the best it can be while staying true to its original intent fueled by my educational background and things I picked up on at a professional level at work. As prices for hardware began to drop and development of the hard drive for PC’s at home reached the capacity level needed to capture the raw audio at the greatest resolution necessary coupled with the industry return of vinyl beginning in the mid-2000’s, the beginnings of where I am today began to emerge and by 2007, I had the makings of a professional ‘rig’ to capture the audio as it needed to be captured. A career change and a new education in Visual Communications and then one of its concentrations, Music Technology, soon followed. Another degree earned and the solidification then of my audio engineering technique (Legacy Sound Engineering) needed to cap off my creations of legacy music for the 21st century came to being by mid-2020 with the ‘leap of faith’ for a studio of my own by early 2021 and here we are. Company Slogans/Quotes:
"....the playing field has been leveled...."
“Can mastering studios working on legacy audio projects today benefit from vinyl-sourced audio?”
“Translating vinyl-to-digital today is not what it used to be. It has moved to a whole new level and is now good enough to be included in today’s legacy recording conversion conversations.”
"Properly designated legacy vinyl pressings earmarked for industry use are now able to serve as a viable alternatively sourced solution and so they deserve a 'place at the table' thanks to technology."
“This little studio can produce it and now the big studios are able to use it.”
“Every vinyl record carries with it a unique sonic signature that can reveal an amazing sound.”
"From new ideas come new solutions....." "Let's all get 'lost in legacy'." "Because you don't want to miss what's in store for the legacy LP mastered sound." "....the veil has been lifted....no more muffled sounds....just the sound we once knew..." "You know the album. You know 'the sound' - the Legacy LP Mastered Sound." Company Hashtags:
About the Studio Video Links:
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/videos/1322014078282984/
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/152813217163040
Other Important Links:
About the Studio Welcome Posts:
Part One: https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/114370881007274
Part Two: https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/126382979806064
Studio Initiatives/Developments a.k.a. "Things We are Working On":
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/127877719656590
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/125001299944232
Paying Homage to Pioneer Audio Engineers Montage Video Post:
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/113724284405267
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/109256224852073
https://youtu.be/0FDFbbT9MKs
Promo Material:
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/videos/313717474135223/
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/143988401378855
Side-by-Side Video Sample:
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/130561349388227
Critical 'Studio Markers in Sound' Video Links:
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/114341707676858
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/116568077454221
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/118709317240097
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/117214770722885
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/118772223900473
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/119995597111469
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/119852227125806
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/119983570446005
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/119984127112616
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/119982653779430
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/142840348160327
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/120503110394051
https://www-ccv.adobe.io/v1/player/ccv/DtE9sZWfpQd/embed?bgcolor=%23191919&lazyLoading=true&api_key=BehancePro2View&fbclid=IwAR1XxasiNrVTTyybXsq9Pkt6TPEV26NEZ92Pg58m7pgM1i_MazMQq2CXddc
https://www-ccv.adobe.io/v1/player/ccv/4BekRX43Tja/embed?bgcolor=%23191919&lazyLoading=true&api_key=BehancePro2View
https://thevrp.tumblr.com/post/666864426218127360/beatles
Good Audio Restoration Reference Posts/Links:
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/114320027679026
https://youtu.be/hcMr3fKWbMs
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/133980722379623
Good 'How We Got Started" Reference Posts/Links:
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/114042437706785
https://www.facebook.com/legacyvmpstudio/posts/135276638916698
Additional Relevant Websites:
LegacyVMP Studio Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/legacyvmpstudio/
The Vinyl Restoration Project Website
https://www.thevrparchives.com/
The Vinyl Restoration Project page(Where It All Got Started):
https://www.facebook.com/thevrp
The Vinyl Restoration Project YouTube Channel (Where It All Got Started):
https://www.youtube.com/c/jbintenn
The VRP Audio Portfolio Webpage - Great Reference Marker to Where We Were In Our Journey Circa 2018/2019(and where we are now) with some fantastic audio posts. https://thevrparchives.myportfolio.com/
TheVRP Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thevrp/
