Stem-splitting in Logic Pro is something that I’ve just stumbled upon. Both Cubase, Nuendo, Digital Performer and Ableton Live (and perhaps several of our DAW programs) offer this feature within the app itself, but Logic can handle more different stems/tracks and (in my opinion) it also gives without a doubt better results free from annoying side effects. At the same time, I have to admit that it’s not always that the song is getting any better by taking it apart into different tracks and fixing and tweaking. We have a clear example in this song called Strålande Tider (Irradiant Times). Here I have kept the original version and only mastered it a little sparingly.
Strålande Tider is a song that was recorded on a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder and the instrumentation is as simple as possible, a Roland TR-707 drum machine, an electric bass and a few electric guitars plus “yours truly” on vocals. The recording required a lot of planning to get everything on track with opportunities for panning and reverb (thanks to an Accessit spring reverb) in the final mix. Everything was then mixed down to a stereo track on the small DAT tape recorder Sony PCM-1.
I never thought this old song would become relevant again, but recent developments here in Sweden show that it has (unfortunately) become at least as relevant as it ever was. Recorded on a 4-track Portastudio sometime in the dawn of time. It is with great pain that we give you … Irradiant Times!
I’ve also checked out a whole bunch of instrumental songs from the Portastudio era, where instead of a DAT tape recorder (I didn’t have one yet) I mixed everything onto a Hitachi HiFi Stereo-VHS video recorder. It didn’t just record the sound as regular analog audio tracks. That analog sound was supplemented with an FM-modulated sound that was recorded via the rotating drum that was also used to record the VHS video image. Clever as hell, and the sound quality was actually close to brilliant. Many of these instrumental songs were used in various company and product presentations, but some of the compositions were actually used as a film soundtrack for a documentary that a team from Gothenburg made about the terrifying minefields in Kurdistan. There, mines left behind that risked the lives and limbs of children (and adults) were disarmed and removed by hand using only extremely primitive tools, while the manufacturers of these landmines (including the Swedish Bofors) took no responsibility whatsoever for their weapons of mass destruction. Scary as Hell! This too feels frighteningly relevant today, more than 30 years later.
One of many instrumental tracks from the Portastudio era. Several Roland synthesizers – MKS-30, MKS-7, MKS-70 and more – plus a Yamaha TX-802, were mixed live together with the analog tracks (mostly from a Fender electric guitar) from the Porta down to a HiFi VHS video recorder.
One of many other instrumental songs from the Portastudio era. Several Roland synthesizers were mixed live together with the analog tracks down to a HiFi VHS video recorder.
Yet another instrumental song from the Portastudio era. Like the other songs from this era , several Roland synthesizers were used and mixed live along the analog tracks to a HiFi VHS video recorder.
In this last (for now) instrumental song, the old Strat instead plays the lead role with the MKS-70, MKS-7 and -30 acting as accompaniment. Both the Yamaha TX-802 and an Oberheim Matrix 6R were contributing in the background.
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