Bad news?

Nicky Horne, the well-known London disc jockey (in London at least), said on his programme the other night: 'I wonder what happened to Bad Company?'

To every question there's an answer, and the answer to that one is: Bad Company have studio time booked even as the keys of this typewriter strike woodpulp, and by Christmas, or just after at the latest, the newest Bad Co platter should be available in the shops.

Simon Kirke, drummer for the above mentioned band, says that Headley Grange, in Hampshire, and the Rolling Stones mobile recording unit will be used to produce the new album, which will be titled Along These Lines (geddit?) or something like that.

'We never use real studios as such,' explains Simon. 'The only time we produced a record in a bona fide studio was a disaster. It was in France, the Honky Chateau. After we cut one side I decided that the sound was a bit funny. I went from one monitor to the other, listening, and both speakers sounded the same. The entire bloody thing had been recorded in mono. Can you believe it? Of course, after that all we got was the famous French: Nuzzin to do wiz me m'sieur. They waited all that time before telling us that the stereo amps had broken down.'

It's not just that one incident that's put the Bad Company off laying down tracks in formal surroundings. The lads prefer to work under more relaxed conditions. At Headley Grange they can keep all their equipment assembled all the time, so if one of them gets an idea for a song they can put it to the test while the creative buzz is still running high. Each of them gets a nice comfy room at Headley, too, so it's just like a home from home, which can give the sound a folksy feel.

'Apart from the Honky Chateau album,' says Simon, 'all the drum tracks I did were recorded in the kitchen. You get a terrific drum sound in the kitchen. It's embarrassing, though, when people come up to you and say: Hey, you must've used everything but the kitchen sink on that solo, 'cos it could be closer to the truth than they imagine.'

Since the last album, Bad Company haven't really worked a lot. Nicky Horne is probably justified in making his remarks. But they hope to change all that. Simon admits that they've been really lazy, but what else is there to do with all that fame and fortune? America's seen a lot more of the band than Britain, and Simon remarks that, unlike a lot of bands that originate from Britain, Bad Co have a cosmopolitan feel to their music that makes them more of a hit in the States than back home in England.

Have a nice stay, boys.

Multitrack with a smile

Turnkey is the name of a recently-formed studio supply company that specialises in the sale and service of multitrack equipment to smaller studios. They can supply gear separately or as a complete package deal where, for instance, a musician wants to build a multitrack studio but isn't quite sure what is needed. Particular emphasis is placed on demonstration facilities and after-sales service, including training where necessary. That way a customer can try out and be happy with all the hardware before signing on the dotted line, and be sure that if it breaks down, or needs to be updated later, they have ready access to friendly advice.

Formed by Andrew Stirling and Ivor Taylor, both ex-directors of Allen and Heath (and who should thus know a thing or two about multitrack equipment), Turnkey stock the full range of Teac tape machines and mixers; Allen and Heath desks (Surprise, surprise); Brenell Mini-8 8-track machines; Calrec, Shure, AKG and Keith Monks microphones and accessories: MicMix Master Room reverberation units; dbx noise reduction systems; H/H power amplifiers; JBL monitor loudspeakers; plus sundry accessories, ranging from Ampex 456 Grand Master tape to head demagnetisers.

But where Turnkey differ from most other equipment suppliers - apart from the rather unusual choice of bright green decor for their New Barnet offices, showroom and workshops — is that they are even marketing their own range of low price accessories. The range comprises a wooden console for Teac tape machines, special low-capacitance leads, a varispeed unit, four add-on signal processing units and a build-it-yourself six-input stereo mixer.

The free-standing console is manufactured from high-density chipboard and fitted with castors for easy movement around a control room. Any model Teac tape machine can be fitted within the frame and is mounted at a convenient height and angle for easier editing and general operation. What's more the lower section of the console can house, for example, one of the optional Tascam dbx noise reduction modules, or provide valuable space for tape storage etc. Price of the console, which comes as a flat-pack kit with full assembly instructions, is a very reasonable £60.

The connecting leads feature beautifully made moulded phono plugs and a very low capacitance (about 17pF/ft) shielded cable. This reduces to a minimum the loss of high frequencies caused by conventional 'high-quality' leads. Eighteen-inch lengths are available for patching, plus 6ft and 12ft runs for interconnecting equipment. The 18in cables cost £6.12 per pack of eight; the 6ft ones £4.68 for four; and the 12ft ones are £3.48 a pair.

The varispeed unit can be easily fitted to any tape machine that has a synchronous capstan motor. Designed primarily for use with Teac machines, connection is simply a matter of attaching the output wires from the unit to the motor's supply wires. The unit consists of a variable speed oscillator and power amplifier, and is capable of up to ±15% varispeed. It costs only £100.

The range of inexpensive Accessit signal processors includes a compressor-limiter with fixed 6:1 compression slope, adjustable attack time between 0.5 and 5ms and release between 0.1 and 1s; a two-band parametric equaliser offering up to 12dB cut or boost between 50 and 300Hz, and between 3 and 14KHz; a spring reverberation unit with fixed decay time of 3.5s plus a continuously variable 'mix' control; and a dual-frequency notch filter that can be set at between 30 and 120Hz and between 120 and 500Hz. This last unit should be particularly useful for removing, for example, mains hum or air-conditioning noise. Each processor has a high-impedance (10K ohm) input and 600-ohm output for interfacing with almost any type of desk or tape machine. No internal power supply is fitted, which means that a 24V dc supply needs to be provided from batteries or a local voltage source. Alternatively, an Accessit mains unit, which will power up to five units, is available. The price per individual unit is a remarkably reasonable £29, which must represent the bargain of this, or any other, lifetime.

The Prokit 62 6-channel stereo mixer is only available in kit form, and has been specially designed for ease of construction by almost anyone in about eight hours. Up to 16dB cut or boost at 80Hz and 16KHz, cue and echo sends, plus pan are provided on each channel, with echo or auxiliary returns on to the two main outputs. The kit comes complete with an easy-to-follow 32-page manual and even includes a pair of ready-built input and output amplifier printed circuit boards from which the others can be copied. What a good idea.

The mixer, which like the Accessit range is not self-powered, costs only £92; a suitable power supply unit is available for £15. (I am currently building one of these kits and will report on the result in next month's issue.) But even if you only need a Teac A3340 4-track, Turnkey have a goodie for you. Each machine comes complete with a free four-channel mixdown mixer, to be connected between the line outputs of the A3340 and the microphone inputs of the mastering machine. Each input to the mixer is provided with treble, bass and pan controls plus a fader. Of course, even if the A3340 eventually becomes part of a more sophisticated set up, the freebie can still be used as an auxiliary monitor or foldback mixer.

If you want to know more about Turnkey's activities, they can be contacted at (Contact Details). The Accessit range of ancillary units and the Prokit mixer are also being stocked by REW Audio Visual, (Contact Details).