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  1. #1
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    Ask Ralph : # 5 - Mixing A Hit

    'Ask Ralph' thread series :

    # 1 - How A Track Was Mixed
    # 2 - How A Tape Was Edited
    # 3 - What Is 'EQ' - ?
    # 4 - What Is 'Compression' - ?

    - and -

    # 5. Mixing A Hit


    For both Ralph & Russ.....

    In what form were the songs presented at the [[Friday morning?) Quality Control meetings - acetates, tapes - ?

    Were they always in mono, in anticipation of release as a single?

    Was just one mix of a song finished and presented at a QC meeting, or were alternative mixes also submitted at the same time?

  2. #2
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    West,
    Most always a song was submitted on an acetate. It was simply easier to deal with than a tape.

    I'm quite certain all mixes submitted as a potential single, were mono.

    More than likely an alternative mix was not presented. If a song garnered interest it was possible to consider various re mixes.

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    So, an acetate is/was a form of temporary disc, playable, but perhaps not to the same quality as the vinyl form, sold at retail?

    One song on each acetate, or several on one disc?

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    Playable for a while, West, but definitely not vinyl quality. Yes it was possible to do an album side on one acetate.

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    Thanks for that, Ralph!

    Motown is often described as having an 'assembly line' approach to creativity and marketing. I've always been intrigued by how the sounds I heard in the sixties actually found their way onto the vinyl disc I held in my hand, almost as much as the actual music itself.

    Have I got the process in the right order....

    * All studio recordings were made on tape.

    * The majority stayed on tape, were not released at the time, and were simply stored in the vaults.

    *Those which were considered to be particularly outstanding were then transferred to acetate, and the acetate submitted [[by the producer/s - ?) for QC approval. If the mix submitted was considered suitable for release on 45, it would be pressed up in due course, using a master tape [[or master disc?), and then marketed.

    * If the song was favoured, but a remix required, the producer would take it back and recut in the studio - or would someone like you and/or Russ take the acetate or the tape, and tweak it - ? It might then take several remixes until the right one was found for release?

    * If the song was felt to be suitable for release, but for an album only, it was used on another acetate to compile tracks for an album by that particular act - or the tape was used at the time of mastering the complete album.

    * All the acetates were stored - or were they discarded?

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    Much of the time a remix was out of the producer's hands, unless it was a notable producer such as Clay McMurray or Norman Whitfield, and the multi track went directly to Russ for a remix. This could go on for a while at times until the right mix was realized.
    Somewhere on one of our videos, Russ talks about the multiple remixes he and Harry Balk went through on "I just Want To Celebrate" until Russ suggested they go back and listen to the original mix to regain some perspective. Lo and behold, that was THE mix. So there are no set rules. whatever happens, does. And you roll with it.

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    West,
    after thinking about this a bit, I think I should clarify that there are times a producer can be too close to the song that a good mix might never happen. Some producers were chewing up a lot of mixing time and coming up short.

    One day Harry Balk came to me complaining about this and asked for any suggestions. What I came up with was, a producer would be assigned an allotted time to mix a song. I'm not sure I remember the time allowed, but it was probably more than adequate. At any rate, if they didn't get "the mix" in that time, it was out of their hands and into the loving hands of Russ for the real mix to save their uncertain asses. Like I said, sometime you just have to roll with it. At times a producer might not have been real happy with having the mix taken from him, but he usually smoothed out once the royalty checks started coming in.

  8. #8
    Another interesting set of questions WGB!

    And some good answers from Ralph too!

    Whilst many producers and artists weren't always too keen on the Quality Control [[QC) system, I always felt it was this that made Motown product so strong, and why the standards of production were so high. Of course, they got things wrong at times, but that's always going to happen!

    Ralph makes an interesting point that the producer could be too close to his or her song. I've always felt that a different set of ears in the form of both QC, and especially the engineer assigned to mix the track, could make all the difference to the end product. Maybe they hear things the producer didn't , or just have a totally different interpretation and idea in their head of how the sound and production should feel.

    On this note [[as Ralph points out) only certain producers were allowed to mix [[this was certainly the case in the early to mid 60s - I don't know if this rule was relaxed later on), it would seem Ivy Hunter wasn't impressed by the mix chosen for the single release of 'Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever' by the Four Tops. [[Off the top of my head, I'm sure it was mixed by Harold Taylor - DM check letter I).

    He referred to it as "Puny", with the drums too far up in the mix for his liking [[he said they were there to "Lay the foundation of the song"), and it's interesting to note that the strings on the 8 track session master were not included in this mix.

    QC obviously liked it however!

    Of course, another thing QC could do is order changes to the song before the final mix was done, as the late Deke Richards explained in his story of 'I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playing' that he posted in great detail on the old forum.

    In the case of this production, Deke had to go and edit the 8 track session master, because head of QC Billy Jean Brown thought it would be better if the chorus was at the beginning of the song. That done, he takes it back to her, but she changes her mind, and says that Deke was right to begin with, now go and put everything back as it was!

    Cutting a long story short, where he had edited the multitrack, there were some parts of Martha's lead vocal clipped, but despite re-recording her lead and whatever else needed to be, there were these and other anomalies that needed to be known about when it came to mixing the track.

    However, Deke was out of the loop on this occasion, and the track was mixed without his input or supervision!

    But hey, that's how it worked back then.

    Cheers

    Paul
    Last edited by bradburger; 08-30-2014 at 09:19 PM.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ralpht View Post
    West,
    Most always a song was submitted on an acetate. It was simply easier to deal with than a tape.
    Wasn't part of the reason because Gordy wanted to hear the mixes as the end-consumer would hear them? I understand that in starting in the mid-60s, he had a cutting lathe installed in his office for that reason.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ralpht View Post
    Much of the time a remix was out of the producer's hands, unless it was a notable producer such as Clay McMurray or Norman Whitfield, and the multi track went directly to Russ for a remix. This could go on for a while at times until the right mix was realized.
    Somewhere on one of our videos, Russ talks about the multiple remixes he and Harry Balk went through on "I just Want To Celebrate" until Russ suggested they go back and listen to the original mix to regain some perspective. Lo and behold, that was THE mix. So there are no set rules. whatever happens, does. And you roll with it.
    There is an interesting and humorous story on how Deke Richards did the final mix of "Love Child". Allow me to include this, as it pertains to the topic. Here is his story. Hope you enjoy it!

    PART 1

    When it was time for the Background vocals, whatever input and ideas we had, were noted. However, Frank took charge here with the Andantes. Frank always had a great feel for background parts. The 'buzz' was spreading through the company that this new group called 'The Clan' was getting ready to unveil their creation for all to hear. All we needed now was to mix it. The next QC meeting was only a day away. There was just no way we could have it ready by then. Berry was loaded down and behind with some company business. Of course this record was serious business as well, but there were other important matters for him to deal with. However, the Sales Dept. was climbing the walls and Billie Jean was telling him we have to come out with something, like now. She said she had one or two things she was going to play in the meeting. Berry really felt bad about this. I could tell he did NOT want to wait one more week till the next QC meeting. As we walked down the hall after leaving his office, I suddenly blurted out, "Berry, I can do this. Let me mix the record tonight and I'll have it ready for the QC meeting tomorrow." He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me. "Are you sure", Berry said. "I mean are you SURE you do it?” "Yes!” I said. "I know I can. I can pull this off. I know every part of this record like the back of my hand." Berry hesitated for a moment, then turned and said, "Let's go, I 'm going to call Billie Jean right now".


    We went back to his office. He called Billie Jean and told her, "We want mixing time tonight. We're going to have it ready for the meeting tomorrow". Done. BJ set up the time and there was no turning back now. As Berry and I left his office the second time, he was smiling. We bumped into Frank and Hank in the hall. "Deke's gonna mix 'Love Child' for us tonight. We're going to play it at the QC meeting tomorrow morning." Hank had a semi-blank look on his face. "Don't worry", said Berry. "Deke's got us covered". I was all set to go and showed up at the mixing room at 6pm. It was just the two of us, the engineer and myself. Hold on a minute! How could everything be so right, and then suddenly go so wrong? In less than 24hrs, I went from Berry Gordy's 'Golden Boy', to 'Mr. Bad Guy'. Little did I know, I would be responsible for the attempted assassination of 'Love Child' and 'The Clan'. I was about to experience the most embarrassing moment of my life.
    It was like a bad dream. It was like . . . the beginning of the end of Deke.


    To be continued in THE FINAL CHAPTER . . . "The Miracle Mix"


    Hi Soulkiddies. It's time for the FINAL CHAPTER. Here is the conclusion of . . .


    Part VII


    The Miracle Mix


    A normal mixing session would run 1-2 hours. If the record, or producer was important, then of course it could go longer When it came to 'Love Child', I didn't know how long we were scheduled for, but we obviously had carte blanche. So Ed started doing the normal set-up, as I went over my notes of all the parts of the production. There were a lot of miscellaneous things to keep track of while mixing, i.e. low levels on this track, a mistake on that track, a breath or bad punch-in on Diana's track, etc. He did a number of mixes but always missed something. Even with some limiting here, and some compression there, it soon became clear to both of us. This was a job for more than one pair of hands on the console.


    We split up the 'watch out for' list between us and started to mix again, together. I must admit there were a few early mixes that didn't sound bad. However, this mix was too important. I had to come up with a mix that was w-a-y beyond something that 'didn't sound bad'. I kept thinking to myself, "Everyone in that QC meeting has to fall over like bowling pins when they hear it. They have to love this record. 'Love Child' has to get a unanimous hands up reaction to be the new single for Diana. Keep in mind; this project had been under raps, so no one had heard anything yet. The anticipation was overwhelming. The fact is, in some circles, 'The Clan' with it's secret project, was looked upon as a bit of a joke. We all knew this kind of stuff drifted down the halls like cigarette smoke coming from underneath closed doors. After all, think about who was in the group. Hank had some credibility, but the rest of us have any real serious track record. Even with Berry in the group, didn't change it much. I think many had given up hope on him every writing another classic.


    Mix, after mix, after mix was completed and played back. Sometimes, it came so close. It was Midnight and I was still excited and feeling fine. Ed was really into it as well, so we kept going. We were going to get this baby if it killed us. Well, it almost did. At about 3:00 in the morning, it seemed like we had it between 2 different mixes. So, we decided to make a splice and put them together. We tried it in a couple of different places. There was too much tambourine on one mix, and it just called your attention to the splice. The other splice point had a similar problem. We had spent almost 45 minutes trying out the 2 different takes and the 2 different splice points. I could feel that Ed was starting to fade a bit. We started to mix again. It was now 4:00 am.


    We mixed for another hour. Keep in mind an hour disappears like a shot in the dark, when you're mixing. There are false starts, and places where a cue is missed, playbacks, etc. You might end up with 4 or 5 mixes. During these mixes little things got tweaked up, i.e. a little more echo on Diana, a little more edge on the snare, a little fattening up of the acoustic guitar. At any rate we finally came up with another mix close to 6:00 am. We both made all the cues perfect; it looked like we had a winner. We played it back. DAMN. One of us, while reaching for one of the cues, had bumped the master fader. You could hear it as plain as day. There was no way this was going to fly, I thought to myself. All we had to do was make one more mix, and we would have been home free. We started up again, but we just missed little things in each mix. After about ten or so of these, I just knew Ed was starting to lose it. Now the clock seemed to start ticking in double time.


    Every time I looked up another 30 minutes had disappeared. Whoops, I just lost the tambourine, and then there too much echo on the snare, and finally the Background vocal sounded dull. These all got fixed and we continued. It was now 7:00am. I knew it was time to start counting backwards. I thought, "The meeting starts at 10:00 am. I have to cut the acetate. That would take 30 minutes, with the paperwork, etc. It would take me 30 minutes to take a 'bird bath', change clothes, and freshen up. I had to add travelling time from the studio to my hotel and from the hotel to downtown. [[You have to remember, the offices had now moved, and were no longer at Hitsville.) That was another 30 minutes. There was 1-1/2 hrs. Right there. So, I had until 8:30 at the latest to finish the mix, not one minute later. I couldn't be late for the QC meeting, period. That gave me 1-1/2 hours before I had to walk out the door. On top of that, the final mix had to be leadered, logged etc.
    Last edited by soulster; 08-30-2014 at 09:41 PM.

  11. #11
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    PART 2


    Billie Jean got into her office at 9:00am, sometimes earlier on a QC meeting day. I thought I better make the call. "What?” you're still there? You've been there all night? Damn, Deke!” BJ said. "Look, BJ we've had a tuff time with this, and I know right now I'll be running late. That's why I called. I'll need to have the Disc Mastering Room waiting for me when I get there.” I said. [[The Disc Mastering Room is where we cut the acetates.) Now I know, if Berry wasn't involved in this project, just what Billie Jean would have said to me. I'm sure she had to really bite her tongue. I knew I was going to hear about this at some point down the line. "All right, but get your butt in gear!", she said, then hung up. With that out of the way it was time to get back to the mix. 1 hour and 20 minutes to go, that's it. We made another one, but something sounded strange. During the mix, Ed took muted something and forgot to put it back on. Unfortunately, that was straw that broke the Camel's back. Ed was tired and pissed. He was so cool until then, so I never knew it was building up inside of him. He wanted to call it off. I said, "Come on Ed, we're almost there". Begging and pleading would have done no good at this point. I could see, he was wasted. I said, "OK, take a break, I can handle it. I'll keep going." By now, I knew all of the changes by heart. I had to keep my concentration, but I kept on going. Ed stepped in from outside and made a comment while I was playing back a mix. I made the adjustment or change and kept going. 49 minutes . . . 27 minutes . . . 16 minutes and then with only 12 minutes to go, I got it. I cut and spliced in the head and tail leaders and almost put half of my finger inside that mix as well. Razor blades can bite you, when you're trying to work at 90 mph. I grabbed my stuff and with only 4 minutes to spare, I was out the door at 8:26. I did it!


    I raced to the hotel, cleaned up and continued on to the office downtown. I ran in, jumped on the elevator and got inside the Mastering Room at 9:20. The engineer was waiting for me. He cut the disc, and I took the stairs just in case the elevator was crowded. When I got in the hall, I saw Hank and Frank. "BG was looking for you. Have you got it?” they asked. "Right here", I said. We walked down the hall and into the meeting. I saw Billie Jean and Berry seated at the tables at the end of the room, the two turntables sitting on the table in front of them. The meeting hadn't begun. Various producers and others from A&R and sales were sitting in the fold up chairs that filled the room to capacity. Besides Hank and Frank, Pam and R. Dean were also there. There was Johnny Bristol & Harvey Fuqua, Ivy Joe Hunter, Norman Whitfield, Clay McMurray and more. Even VP-by-day Smokey Robinson, who didn't always come, showed up. [[I'm sure Berry asked him to make it on this so-called special occasion.)


    I walked up to the end of the room and calmly handed the acetate to Berry, almost interrupting his conversation with Billie Jean.
    She barely looked up; just long enough to give me a stern look. There was no 'hello' or 'good morning'. I turned and went to a chair that Hank had saved for me on the end. Normally, I always sat in the back of the room. It was fun back there. Besides, if your record was a 'bomb', you didn't feel everyone's eyes looking at you from behind.
    However, Hank and Frank got us all seats in the middle of the room. Oh well, I thought, today . . . so what? Berry called the meeting to order. The first acetate was placed on Turntable A. It was played, voted on, comments made, graded and then on to the next. If a record got a majority of hands up, it could almost be considered the next release. About 4-6 sides were played, then Berry in a low-key style, introduced the next record he was going to play. He wanted it to be the last record played in the meeting. There were a few words about the new producing team, but our names were not mentioned. Everyone knew what they were getting ready to hear. It was ours. It was 'The Clan'. It was 'Love Child'. Everyone looked over at me and smiled, and I returned the gesture. Berry slowly lowered the needle on the beginning grooves. From the moment it started, you could hear a pin drop. The first thing that happened was Berry looked up directly at me. I felt the eyes of Hank and Frank as well looking at me as well. The record almost sounded like some kind of a joke. It was thin and you could barely hear Jamerson on the bass. Diana's voice had too much edge and way too much echo. At first I thought the cartridge on the turntable just blew out. For me, listening to this record continue for almost 3 minutes, was nothing short of pure torture. My God, I thought what happened?


    As the record was beginning to fade, Berry lifted the needle. He was smiling and almost everyone in the room was laughing or giggling. It had to be the most embarrassing moment of my entire life. Berry was laughing himself, jokingly said, "I'm going to have to have a long talk with 'our mixer', Deke Richards. We are going to have to go and do another mix on this, and resubmit it in the next meeting." Then he continued with a humorous line or two, that was probably very funny to everyone but me. Then he said he wanted to meet with "The Clan" after the meeting was over. I could barely stand it. I just couldn't believe what had happened. My whole world had just turned upside down. The meeting ended and some of the producers made cracks to me on their way out the door. People were filing out the door. Hank looked at me and said, "What did you do, man?” I overheard someone else say, "Well, THAT was a big mistake". I could see Billie Jean was still giggling and laughing. While Berry was talking to her, he motioned to us to follow him as we all walked out the door. I thought to myself, I had it all in the palm of my hand, and I blew it. It was all over now.


    We all stopped in the hall and Berry said he had Billie Jean schedule some mixing time and was going to go upstairs to mix at 6pm. I remember one the guys telling me, "Why don't you go back to the hotel now and get some rest? You look like you could use it." I just stood there still stunned for a second, as they continued to walk down the hall. "No! Wait a minute", I shouted as I shuffled up to the group. "I want to mix this again". There were a number of comments firing all at once. All I can tell you is, none of those talking approved of my request. "Look", I said. "I blew it, I know that, but making me stay away is not going to change anything or make it better. Berry, I've GOT to know HOW I screwed up so badly. I've got to make it right. Please, man." Then it was quiet for a second. Berry said, "It's OK Deke, go home, go back to the hotel". "Berry", I said again, "I NEED to do this. I want to learn. I really want to be a good mixer. Let me work with you." There was another moment of silence. I glanced at each of the group, but their eyes were fixed on Berry. I felt so bad for everyone, but I knew they all thought I single-handedly tried to assassinate "The Clan" and "Love Child" at the same time. Now we were all looking at Berry, waiting for his answer. "All right, you can come. Just meet me at the Mastering Room upstairs tonight at 6. Right now, I want you to go back to the hotel and get some rest. You look like hell". "I'll be there", I said, and walked away, leaving them all standing in the hall. I'm sure a few more things were said after I walked away, none of it very good. However, I couldn't blame them; and at the same time I couldn't let it get to me. I knew 2 important things. I just got a second chance, and I was NOT going to blow it. I was going be a winner. Nothing was going to stop me from doing that.


    Russ Terrana was the engineer assigned to meet us in the Mastering Room that night. I liked Russ. He was a sharp, quick thinking, knowledgeable engineer, with a sense of humour. Russ had everything set up and ready to go, including the ID tapes for the tracks at the base of each fader. Berry immediately sat down at the console, and Russ stood to his left. I stood to the right of Berry, but in more front of him. I didn't want to be looking over his shoulder. I hate that, myself. I wanted him to be able to see me at all times. He started to run down the tape and get a feel for the balance and the levels on each track. I watched every single move Berry made that night, but I never got on the console. He never asked to play the mix I brought to the meeting, even for comparison. That let me know, just how bad it really was. We stayed only until about 9:00pm. Berry had made a few mixes and I asked for a 7 1/2" i.p.s copy for myself. "Why?” he said. "I want to study it.” I said. Berry told Russ he wanted to come back tomorrow night.

  12. #12
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    PART 3


    Day 2 started about the same. Berry sat down at the console, Russ and I stood. He would ask for this echo or reverb and use terminologies I was not familiar with. When I saw a moment I wouldn't break his concentration, I started to ask questions. What is this? What does that do? Why use this instead of that? Etc. Then I'd leave him alone and just listen and study what was happening to the sound. I waited for him to miss one thing that I believed was important, or would sound better another way. [[Note: I may have totally screwed up the mix that everyone heard, but I LIVED with that 8-Track Master tape for 14 hours. I knew where all the little problem areas were.) However, I wanted him do his mix and not be interrupted. At the same time, it wasn't my place, not yet anyway. I waited patiently to hear 4 little words. Russ was helping him with compression and limiting, etc. Then after the 5th mix, he was smiling confidently and then turned to me at last and said:


    BG-"What do you think? [[BINGO! Those 4 little words were music to my ears.)
    DR-"There was a snare beat you keep missing just before the second verse."
    BG-"Where?” he said in a tone that was a little like "What are you talking about".
    DR-"Play it back from the first chorus and I'll show you." When it came to the part, I said "THERE". [[I still refrained from touching the faders since he was at the controls. I just had to be patient.)
    BG-"Yea? So . . .? What?"
    DR-"I thought you heard it"
    BG-"Heard what?" [[This seemed like a little bit of a 'cat and mouse' game, but I didn't want to push him. Finally, he said:
    BG-"What are you talking about? Show me!"
    That did it.
    DR-"Do you mind?"
    BG-"Here, sit down". He got up and I sat down.


    This would be better anyway, I thought. With him standing, he could just listen and hear the difference. I had Russ play the tape from the first chorus again. I let it play the way once through just the way he had it mixed it. "Now," I said, "check this out!" I asked Russ to rewind the tape and play it again. This time when it came to the part just before the second verse [[Diana is singing, 'different from the rest') I slammed up the fader on the snare for a split second. WAP! Berry said, "That's great, play it again". Now he was watching my hands on the faders. I did it again. "Excellent!" he said, then I started to get up and Berry said, "No, stay here. Russ, get us another chair." From that point on, we were inseparable at the console.
    Side by side we mixed for hours at a time. I soaked up every little bit of knowledge I could from Berry like a sponge. I even stayed after Berry left and continued to mix a few. I even spent time talking to Russ.


    He would show me the correct use and application for various types of echo and reverb, limiters and compressors, etc. I remember when BG and I were mixing, the rest of 'The Clan' stopped by at different times to check on Berry and 'The Bad Guy'. However, the ice had begun to melt. Everyone could see I was going to make sure it was right this time. You could just tell, this record was going to be great. Then, something strange happened. I had started early on one session, and had made a few changes and found another 'goodie' [[Note: 'Goodies' were the great little parts in the track or production, that were just lying there, waiting to be found and then featured in the final mix so they would stand out). Berry walked in and just listened to what I was doing, instead of sitting down at the console.


    He said:


    BG-"Did you put that on tape?”
    DR-"Yes"
    BG-"Well let me hear it back". [[When the playback was done, he smiled.)
    BG-Almost, but you forgot one thing". [[He seemed so proud as if to say 'Got Cha!" He made another mix as I watched. Then, we played it back.)
    BG-See? You forgot to bring up the strings there?
    DR-You're right. Not bad, but . . . you blew it!”
    BG-"Bull Sh--! Where?"
    DR-Move over a minute. [[I made a mix an showed him another 'goodie'.)
    BG-Damn. That's good.


    Well, it was like this. The two of us in friendly combat, shooting each other down, picking each other up, right down to the end of the line. There were times we felt we had the final mixes. Berry ordered acetates cut. Then, we went down to QC room and played them back on the turntables. Acetates had white labels with all the info regarding the mix. The title was followed by the mixing engineers initials in parenthesis, then the date, master number, etc. One acetate was placed on each turntable. This process was called 'A-B-ing". We would cue up both turntables, let them go and switch between the output of Turntable "A" and Turntable "B". Then these acetates were given grades just like in a QC meeting. 1 to10, 10 being the best. Most of the final mixes [[acetates) brought to the QC room to check out, consisted of one done by each of us. There were some that were even done by both of us together. Those acetates had both of our initials typed on them as mixing engineers. i.e. [[BG/DR). We intensely competed 'to the death'; or should I say, ' for the life' of the next Diana Ross and The Supremes release.


    He knew deep inside, how I felt. I would have given anything to undue the wrong I had done that one black day when I walked into the QC meeting with that first mix of "Love Child". We had such great fun working together. I was working beside one of my idols. I had learned so much; it was time for me to give back. I even taught my 'teacher' a few tricks. We used to laugh and joke when the he was grading our acetates on the turntable. "Well, this one sounds good [[referring to my mix), but this one has this little ‘goodie’. Etc. [[Referring to his mix.) Then he would write the grade in pencil on the label. "I'm going to give this one [[mine) a "8". However, this one [[his) I have to give an "8-1/4". I would shoot back, laughing so hard, "What? Hey, come on man, where did you get that "1/4" crap! Let's go back down, I can beat that one". Back down to the room we'd go, both squeezing a little more 'juice' out of the tape and into the mix.


    When it was finally over, we sat in the QC room, our acetates on the turntables. Berry always put his on the left and mine on the right. We both swore this would be the last. Back and forth, back and forth he switched the monitor from Turntable 'A' to Turntable 'B'.


    'Mine has got the guitar lick here, but yours has got that string gliss", he said as we both laughed. "I don't care BG, you call it.” I said. I felt confident that both mixes were just as great. "Well, I'm going to give this one a "9" [[referring to my mix the right) and THIS one [[referring to his mix on the left) a "9 3/4". That was it. It was over. "Mark down the mix, and give Billie Jean the number. Then, have a couple more acetates cut for me." Berry started to leave, and then he turned to me, shook my hand and said, "Deke, you were a 'dead man'. Everyone in the group was out for your blood, but you came back! You did one hell of a job". We congratulated each other, said good-bye and then Berry walked out the door. I just stood there for a minute, alone in the room. The memories of that fateful day I came to the QC meeting with that 1st mix of "Love Child" flashing in front of my eyes. I walked over to the desk and picked up both the discs off the turntables, and walked over to the door. I turned and took one more look at the empty room and I began to see ghosts of all the producers talking and laughing in their seats. It was almost like a kid's classroom before the teacher walks in. I had a feeling this room would haunt me the rest of my life. It was starting to already. My chest swelled and let go one last sigh of relief. Then I turned off the lights, and walked out the door.


    The End? …. Not quite.


    I kept those 2 final acetates for myself to remind me of this special moment in my life. When I finally got ready to leave Detroit to go back to LA, I looked at the discs one more time before I put them in my bag. I laughed to myself as I looked at the grades Berry had written on our final mixes: "9" on my mix and a "9 3/4" on his mix. Then, I saw something that suddenly put me in a sort of trance. I had to look twice. Examining the discs carefully, I discovered that the mixing engineers initials on both discs were the same [[DR). In other words, the 2 final mixes that Berry graded that day, were both in fact, my mixes. Was this some mild form of 'Sweet Revenge'? No, not at all. Let's just call it a miracle. Until now, it is the one secret I have kept to myself all these years. I never even told Berry.

  13. #13
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    bradburger....you mention Harold Taylor, a name with whom I'm not too familiar.

    Any information on both him and the others who mixed at Motown?

    Where do we find Deke Richards' story of "I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playing" - ?

  14. #14
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    soulster.....Well, I certainly did enjoy reading that account of 'Love Child' by Deke Richards.

    While I believe I'd already read it [[must have been here, I guess....) it's good to keep circulating the information, otherwise it becomes buried. Besides, it doesn't always completely register in just one reading.

    Do you have any more 'pertaining to the topic' - ?!

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    ralph.....you mention the videos of Russ and yourself.

    Where would I find them, please?

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    Quote Originally Posted by westgrandboulevard View Post
    Do you have any more 'pertaining to the topic' - ?!
    Nothing except that there are no rules. Like Ralph says: whatever it takes. A mix can make or break a record. Some people think that the song is most important, but they can't get to the song if their brain doesn't like that mix.

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    West,
    All the videos are on Terashirma Youtube or ralphterrana Youtube It got confusing having two sites, but I got hacked one year and couldn't get back into my first Youtube account and had to start another. Anyway there are about 36 videos in all, I think.

  18. #18
    thomas96 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by soulster View Post
    Wasn't part of the reason because Gordy wanted to hear the mixes as the end-consumer would hear them? I understand that in starting in the mid-60s, he had a cutting lathe installed in his office for that reason.
    There are in-house acetates from as early as '61. I would bet the reason was more for convenience than sound-quality.

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    Yes Thomas, convenience. Why waste time threading tapes into a recorder. The acetate sound quality was as good as a tape.

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