10/15/2025
Just did the finishing touches on this 1” 8 track MCI JH-110B and it’s now working perfectly. I got it for next to nothing in very sorry shape and took on the project just to see if I could bring it back to life. I’m happy to say I was successful, but a lot of time, careful work, and expletives went into it!
One Inch 8 track is my absolute favorite format to record on, for the sonic quality but even more than that, the workflow. You have to make decisions and commitments to track layout, but to me, the payoff is well worth it. Most of my favorite records were recorded this way or with even fewer tracks, after all!
Here is an old unreleased recording of mine done on the studio’s original Otari MX70 1” 8 track about five years ago, and a breakdown of the track layout and performances I put on each track. It’s always nice to revisit old recordings and hear what I was doing, and I may still release this one after laying a vocal on it. It features the talented on violin, which is actually three different performances subsequently summed or “bounced” to one track, something that is done often on 8 track recordings.
Yours Truly: Bass, Drums, Guitars, Piano, Organ
Kathleen Parks: Strings
As far as I can remember, here are the nerdy engineering details:
Drums: D12 on Kick, Two Stager Ribbons for the rest
Bass: P Bass into an Ampeg B15, D12 mic (why reinvent the wheel?)
Guitar: Telecaster into Ampeg Reverberocket, Shure 545 mic (I say again, why reinvent the wheel?)
Acoustic: AKG D19
B3: Sennheiser 409
Piano: Stager Ribbons
Strings: AKG D19
