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I Left My Heart in San Francisco

• I Left My Heart in San Francisco •

This track was recorded at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio, a large worship space converted into a recording studio, rich with live ambience and two chambers in the basement. It was mixed, however, at Columbia Studio A on 7th Avenue. So the ample dose of chamber reverb — mono in this mix — on Tony’s vocal comes from the stairwell chamber of Columbia Studios on 7th Ave.

  • Artist: Tony Bennett
  • Single: this was the B-Side to Once Upon a Time
  • Label: Columbia
  • Year: 1962
  • Producer: Ernie Altschuler
  • Engineer: Frank Laico (record), Mike Figlio (mix)
  • Studio: recorded at Columbia Studio C, 207 E. 30th St. New York, NY, USA; mixed at Columbia Studio A, 799 7th Ave, New York, NY, USA
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Eight Days a Week

• Eight Days a Week •

Early Beatles recordings are rich with chamber reverb, particularly on the vocals. In this track, the backing unison/harmony vocals (sung simultaneously by Paul and John) have a bit more chamber than the lead vocals (again, Paul and John into a single Neumann U48 microphone), offering some informative listening.

During the verses, the chamber is most apparent on the words, “Hold me.” and “Love Me.”

The middle eight, with the drums and guitars dropping out, shows the chamber reverb in full splendor, “I Lo-o-o-o-ove you.” Conveniently, Eight Days a Week has two middle eights, so you get to listen to twice as much, in half the time.

  • Artist: The Beatles
  • Album: Beatles for Sale
  • Label: Capitol
  • Year: 1964
  • Producer: George Martin
  • Engineer: Norman Smith, Ken Scott, Mike Stone
  • Studio: EMI Studios, Abbey Road, Studio 2, London, UK
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Runnin with the Devil

• Runnin’ with the Devil •

Another amazing album recorded entirely at Sunset Sound Studio 1. There are chamber examples throughout the record. In this mix, the most obvious track to get a heavy dose of chamber reverb is Eddie Van Halen’s guitar.

The dry track, panned hard left, feeds the chamber, which is a mono in, stereo out space. One loudspeaker. Two microphones. The chamber reverb returns in stereo, giving us EVH plus chamber on the left, and solo chamber reverb on the right. It’s as if they knew we wanted to study the sound of chamber reverb. Thanks.

  • Artist: Van Halen
  • Album: Van Halen
  • Label: Warner Bros.
  • Year: 1978
  • Producer: Ted Templeman
  • Engineer: Donn Landee
  • Studio: Sunset Sound, Studio 1, Hollywood, CA USA

Grab your air guitar. Don’t forget to send it to the chamber.

https://youtu.be/DWUsyZVr4yM
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Sweet Baby James

• Sweet Baby James •

As the entire album was recorded at Sunset Sound Studio 1, there are many excellent chamber reverb examples throughout. Taylor’s lead vocal gets a tasty dose in this track. As is so common with a reverb chamber, the effect is not there to simulate a space, but to make the track sound larger, more interesting, more ear-grabbing. It’s more about timbre than space.

  • Artist: James Taylor
  • Album: Sweet Baby James
  • Label: Warner Bros.
  • Year: 1970
  • Producer: Peter Asher
  • Engineer: Bill Lazerus
  • Studio: Sunset Sound, Studio 1, Hollywood, CA USA
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Fire and Rain

• Fire and Rain •

The Chamber at Sunset Sound, Studio 1, gives Russ Kunkel’s tom fills a delicate but somehow thunderous sound. — a perfect reverberant touch for his expressive performance using brushes.

The lead vocal is sent to the same chamber, adding a bit of width and resonance while preserving an intimate, close-miked sound. The upright bass masks the sound of the chamber on the vocal much of the time, but you can catch it between words and at the end of some phrases. The chamber is revealed nicely right after “know” and “gone” in the first line. The Point here isn’t to hear a lead vocal soaked in reverberation, rather the chamber perceptually blends with James Taylor’s voice, contributing to the timbral richness of his voice.

  • Artist: James Taylor
  • Album: Sweet Baby James
  • Label: Warner Bros.
  • Year: 1970
  • Producer: Peter Asher
  • Engineer: Bill Lazerus
  • Studio: Sunset Sound, Studio 1, Hollywood, CA USA
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Light My Fire

The Doors - Light My Fire

• Light My Fire •

The chamber at Sunset Sound, Studio 1, is heavily featured throughout The Doors’ first album. Light My Fire offers an isolated snare hit at the top of the tune that clearly reveals the sonic signature of the chamber they dialed in for the drums. And, of course, the lead vocal gets a heavy dose too.

  • Artist: The Doors
  • Album: The Doors
  • Label: Elektra
  • Year: 1967
  • Producer: Paul Rothchild
  • Engineer: Bruce Botnick
  • Studio: Sunset Sound, Studio 1, Hollywood, CA USA
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Save the Life of My Child

• Save the Life of My Child •

Chamber reverb is an essential part of the sound of the eerie vocals at the end of each chorus. The stairwell reverb gets added flanging via two tape machines. Roy Halee is the master, among many things, of FX based on the humble tape machine.

  • Artist: Simon and Garfunkel
  • Album: Bookends
  • Label: Columbia
  • Year: 1967
  • Producer: Simon and Garfunkel, Roy Halee
  • Engineer: Roy Halee
  • Studio: Columbia Studio A, 799 7th Ave, New York, NY, USA
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Heartbreak Hotel

• Heartbreak Hotel •

Sun Studios did not have a chamber. Thus, Elvis’ early music on Sun Records has no chamber reverb. But they did create a distinctive 120ms-140ms tape slap echo at Sun. When Elvis moved to RCA Records, they could only guess how the effect was created, approximating the sound by placing a loudspeaker and microphone in a nearby bathroom hallway. Propagation time from speaker to microphone gave an echo, though much shorter — closer to 80ms. The hallway also added some resonance, which was not in the Sun tape-based slap echo sound. In search of echo, they added a small chamber.

  • Artist: Elvis Presley
  • B-Side: I Was The One
  • Album: Heartbreak Hotel
  • Label: RCA Victor
  • Year: 1956
  • Producer: Steve Sholes
  • Engineer: Bob Farris
  • Studio: RCA Victor rented a studio from the Methodist TV, Radio and Film Commission, 1525 McGavock St., Nashville, TN (pre-dates RCA B).
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Only Living Boy In New York

• Only Living Boy In New York •

The backing ‘aaahhhhs’ are rich with chamber reverb from Columbia Studios on 52nd St., but no loudspeakers were used. Paul and Art sang from within the stairwell chamber itself.

  • Artist: Simon and Garfunkel
  • Album: Bridge Over Troubled Water
  • Label: Columbia
  • Year: 1970
  • Producer: Simon and Garfunkel, Roy Halee
  • Engineer: Roy Halee
  • Studio: Columbia Studios B and E, 49 E. 52nd St., New York, NY, USA
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