Wanted...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
We’re looking for a Mutron Bi-Phase in good working condition, for not a metric fuckton (1.3 imperial fucktons) of money. Or one we could get on extended loan. Drop me a line if you have a line on something of this ilk.
6 comments
You could always build a clone...though it doesn't look like an easy project.
http://m.bareille.free.fr/biphase/biphase.htm
Yay! First Dubstation, now a Bi-Phase.
So, Audio Damage's nefarious plan is to... rebuild Lee Perry's Black Ark studios in VST form.
Here's the shopping list:
According to "People Funny Boy" Scratch used
these in the early days of Black Ark (1973-75):
- Alice mixer (Scratch: "They weren't professional machines they were only toys")
- Grantham spring reverb
- Roland Space Echo RE201
- Marantz amplifier for instruments
- AKG drum mic for vocals
- Teac 3340 1/4 inch 4-track recorder
- Teac 2-track recorder for mix down
In 1975 he added some new equipment:
- Soundcraft mixer (replaced the Alice)
- Mutron phaser (an early demo model)
- better mics
- Around 1979 he was given a Teac 1/2 inch 8-track recorder but he didn't like it and almost never used it.
One the biphase is finished, your next mission is to build a proper sounding Spring Reverb, with buttons for 'kick' and 'drop on floor' and 'open the box and start strumming the springs like a guitar'
I did consider building the clone, but Chris convinced me that it would be more expedient to just find one of the originals. I solder faster than he does, but he's right, that Bi-Phase clone is a big project. I'm also not sure how close to the original it really is. That's not meant to say anything disparaging about the guy's work--it's clear that he knows what he's doing--but a software clone of a hardware clone of the original is getting a little bit too removed from reality for me.
I see that Space Echo on the shopping list. No promises there, but tape echoes are something we've been talking about nearly since Day 1 of AD...
Spring reverbs are really, really hard to do properly in software. I don't think anyone has done a software emulation that stands up to anything other than a casual listen. You can get partway there with a convolution approach like AltiVerb, but obviously that won't get you the kick/drop/strum effects. Don't hold your breath for that one, sad to say.
--Adam
It's in Ottawa Canada, so metric? Yes. But these guys consistenly overcharge - big hint is "Retro" right in the store name, so fuckton? Sadly, also yes:
http://www.retrotownmusic.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=542
I did consider building the clone, but Chris convinced me that it would be more expedient to just find one of the originals. I solder faster than he does, but he's right, that Bi-Phase clone is a big project. I'm also not sure how close to the original it really is. That's not meant to say anything disparaging about the guy's work--it's clear that he knows what he's doing--but a software clone of a hardware clone of the original is getting a little bit too removed from reality for me.
I see that Space Echo on the shopping list. No promises there, but tape echoes are something we've been talking about nearly since Day 1 of AD...
Spring reverbs are really, really hard to do properly in software. I don't think anyone has done a software emulation that stands up to anything other than a casual listen. You can get partway there with a convolution approach like AltiVerb, but obviously that won't get you the kick/drop/strum effects. Don't hold your breath for that one, sad to say.
--Adam
Regarding Retrotown, yeah, you right. They want US$850 for that. That's just crazy talk, right there. I found a couple for $795 here in America, which I thought was high. I'm of the firm opinion that $650 is about the most I'm willing to pay, maybe a bit more if it has the opti-pedal and the box, and comes with a backrub or something.
-CR
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