1950s Rock N Roll Sun Studios sound tips?

[Maus]

I'm working on some 1950s rock and roll covers with the Sun Studios sound as my benchmark. Obviously I don't have all the original hardware so I'm using plugins to simulate what I can.

Do you have an suggestions for plugins, presets, EQ tips, and mastering for a novice please to get in this ballpark of this vintage sound?

I'm recording mono with just LCR panning, some vintage tube saturation and tape compression and reverb on each track (slapback on the vocals). Using the 1950s mastering preset in Waves but this is all I know really. Any help you can give is appreciated, particularly eqing drums, bass, guitar, and vocals and the master track. Thanks!

[skarabee]

De Lorean plugin, by Doc Emmet Brown:
Settings: >1950
(avoid 2020, Marty!!)

[gbuckels]

Press Tab

[Maus]

Thanks I guess?

[TrevsAudio]

The question is a bit 'general', but being from that generation, I'd advise the following:
Listen critically to music of that era and try and isolate the different instruments - piano, bass, guitar, vocals...
Then try and work out how they differ from what you already may have recorded. A lot will come down to things like EQ. low and high cuts and mid range boosts. Slap back echo on the vocals à la Bill Haley and Gene Vincent.
Let your ear be the judge.

Remember - this was the type of equipment they were working with - no fancy plugins

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[Mark Bliss]

I'd agree with Trevor there. And find it an interesting project.

Its been a long time since I listened to those old recordings, so the first thing I would do is reference some to refresh my memory.
It would be interesting to play some originals (not "re-mastered") through a spectrum analyser and compare to more modern stuff (like from 69-73 or so) just to observe general differences.
I would expect the 50's material to have reduced low freq content by comparison and likely a high end roll off with the exception of possibly analog tape hiss.
It was always a struggle to find a high freq balance on tape.

I suspect-first and foremost, the "50s Sun Studios Sound" was largely the performance more than any engineering. Differences in recording space and basic equipment limitations second. The earliest was surely all recorded at once, in a small room, with few mics. Often one.
There is some documentation of creative production however.
In 1951 while recording 'Rocket 88' it was discovered that the bands guitar amp had gone on the futz. I seem to recall hearing it was mr. Phillips who suggested stuffing the amp with newspaper and carrying on.
Roll tape!

The rest as they say- is history.

I seem to recall Sam Phillips describing in interviews or memoirs his "slap echo" as "jury rigged" and suspect he was bouncing a delayed signal back to tape using a room or space large enough to get purposeful delays. ADT wasnt invented yet, that was as far as I know a George Martin 60's thing.

Also of note, I recall reading that Mr. Phillips never had a stereo tape recorder until he moved into a different studio space in 1960. So stereo panning would not be period correct.
Stereo playback equipment wasnt widely available to consumers in the 50's
45's were the "new thing" and popular because you could buy individual songs at inexpensive prices and "stack" them on an inexpensive mono record player, thus perhaps creating the original personal playlist...

[gbuckels]

Sorry, I was caught up in the future.
If you have the Reason Rack plugin, it works in Mixcraft 9. It has 'Audiomatic Retro Transformer'. An effect that has different old fashioned output sounds that can be tweaked. Just an idea. Acoustica might have a similar effect?

[Maus]

Thanks guys, all good stuff to consider. I will have a tinker with some of those ideas.

[jules_alex]

Another feature of old school recording tends to be very badly recorded drums. you might want to consider using deliberately ropey drum samples... maybe whack a cardboard box a few times as a base.. sounds flippant but I'm actually serious- listen to a some old rockabilly tunes