What a great video. I've seen countless vids on the API EQ, read the manuel, forums, etc and have never heard anyone explain using it this way. Thank You for sharing your knowledge.
Richard passed away in 2014. He was one of my best friends and mentors. Not. a day goes by that I don't think of him. He was always funny, inspiring and down to earth. Amazing person.
Wow, great tips and info on some classic gear!! I'll have to settle with applying all that on the plugin version... Shame bout the video quality but that's ok, I was using my ears ;). Cheers Richo.
This is a stupid question but I'll ask anyway: What does the V stand for, written on the masking tape at the bottom your Lunchbox? I see: K=Kick Sn=Snare B=Bass Is it.... Violin? Viola? oVerheads? Violence? Vivacious Vermin? Valuable Violet Vitamins? Visionary Vaccine Vehicles? Virgin Vampire Victim Virus? Volatile Voting Volleyball Vultures? Virtuous Volunteers Viciously Vocalizing Vindictive Vocabulary? Vibrators Vandalizing Vulnerable Vaginas? Vigilant Victors Visualizing Victorian Vacations? Vivaciously Vibrant Vigor Vexing Valves? Victorious Vertical Ventilation? Ok, seriously _vhat_ is it? Vocals?
Nope, nope. You got that backwards. The original 550 had a pair of 2520's. With a fewer selection of frequencies. And the later 550A. Had extra frequencies. Because they used IC chip gyrator's. And it had a single 2520 output amplifier. Where did you get your information? I've been using this thing since 1973. As I recall the API 554. Was their attempt at a parametric equalizer. And while it has the same sound as the others. It does not exhibit the same characteristics. Now another important factor you did not mention at all. The API equalizers differ from everybody else's. In the way they were. Because they are of a, Proportional Q design. Now what that means is. In a sense. It is quasi-parametric. In that. When you only boost or cut 2-4 DB. It'll be a nice wide sonically pleasing Q in the bandwidth of those frequencies. But as you boost more or cut more. The Q becomes narrower. It becomes quite narrow. At extreme boost and extreme cut. And in that way. Instead of covering a wide swath of frequencies. It's a nice tight notch. For notching out the nasty resonant frequencies in from and other instruments. Yeah I kind of know those Angus graphic EQ's. I used to have 12 Sphere 900 series. Very much like yours. Nothing short of fabulous. As a whole they differ greatly from that of the API's. The API are RC type EQ's. Whereas the Angus and the Sphere are of an inductor/capacitor type. And are what we call Reciprocal EQ's. Meaning that the Q is fixed. At approximately 1/2 octaves. And while you can try to reduce some of those resonant frequencies. It's Q is widened. It's nowhere near a notch. It affects a broader swath of frequencies. So it all depends on what you want. What kind of sound you're going for. I'm not putting down anybody's technique or style. There is a virtually limitless way to go about recording and mixing your tracks. And in a silly test I did with someone else. And there recording student. We both did separate set ups of separate microphones. Separate recording gear. Separate mixers. To record the same Symphony Orchestra. Jeremy had one of his recording students with him. There was a miscommunication. Only one recording company was supposed to show up. Me. There was Jeremy also. And he apologized. For the obvious miscommunication. And he offered to tear down, strike the gear and get out of my way. I told Jeremy, no way. You got a student with you. So I'm just going to set up my equipment. Mine was very different. The microphones were very different. They were placed very differently. My mixer was very different. My recorder was very different. And so once the orchestra started. And we got a few minutes then. I take my headphones off and hand them to Jeremy. He takes his headphones often handsome to me. We look at each other with this totally dumbfounded look on our faces. And we have to be careful not to laugh out loud.. It was fascinating. So we handed the headphones to his student. Neither he nor I nor his student. Really could hear any difference in the recording. Yet they were done with very different microphones placed very differently through very different equipment. And it all came out sounding relatively identical. And man, were hours set ups, different. So we were trying not to giggle like teenage girls. When we handed the headphones over to his assistance/student. Who try both headphones. Took them off. Looked at us. And asked how they could all sound so much the same yet be so different? We told him the only true answer. We have talent. Oh my. I have to go. My sleeping meds are kicking in. My mouth has gone to one half speed. Wow man. Your information is really lacking. You never even covered that little silver 50-15 kHz bandpass filter. You made no mention of that whatsoever. That's a very effective filter. It's subtle. But it works great. The tranny audio bitch from hell. RemyRAD
![Recording Drums With Steve Albini [Third Circle Recordings]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kmP9z-xTRz0/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video, but "Today I'm Richard Kaplan, I'm always Richard Kaplan" it's really one of the best phrases I ever heard, amazing.
hahaah right :D
instant thumb up for this intro
haha love it
Getting into UA-cam isn't easy :D
RIP Richard Kaplan. Thank you for your teachings 🙏
What a great video. I've seen countless vids on the API EQ, read the manuel, forums, etc and have never heard anyone explain using it this way. Thank You for sharing your knowledge.
+andrewssama you weren't looking in the right places. tons of people explain how eq's work just like this.
Would love to see him recording drums/guitar. Great vid!
Richard passed away in 2014. He was one of my best friends and mentors. Not. a day goes by that I don't think of him. He was always funny, inspiring and down to earth. Amazing person.
I absolutely LOVE the magic of the original Vintage api 550 eq's,
I love the sound of the 550m’s - they sound nicer than the 5500 to me
This guy is a true legend. Really cool human.
Amazing video sir! Thank you so much !
Those two orphaned claps at the end kill me.
Richard Kaplan what is that devise on the top , 1st device below the window @ 0:59
Looks very old school .... or is it medium old school ?
I swept the floor Tom, my chores are done
Wow, great tips and info on some classic gear!! I'll have to settle with applying all that on the plugin version... Shame bout the video quality but that's ok, I was using my ears ;). Cheers Richo.
Nothing wrong with the video quality.
Very informative, thanks very much. Never realised the shelving buttons changed the top & bottom frequencies from peak to shelf!
I'm always Richard Kaplan! LOL :)
miss you my friend
i sure wish someone remade the Aengus EQ,, is there anything tout there that is close to the aengus?
Epic intro ;D
Best intro ever
uno de los mejores explicaciones sobre estos eq que he visto genial video.
liked just for the intro lol XD
brilliant
RIP sir
This is a stupid question but I'll ask anyway: What does the V stand for, written on the masking tape at the bottom your Lunchbox?
I see:
K=Kick
Sn=Snare
B=Bass
Is it.... Violin? Viola? oVerheads?
Violence?
Vivacious Vermin?
Valuable Violet Vitamins?
Visionary Vaccine Vehicles?
Virgin Vampire Victim Virus?
Volatile Voting Volleyball Vultures?
Virtuous Volunteers Viciously Vocalizing Vindictive Vocabulary?
Vibrators Vandalizing Vulnerable Vaginas?
Vigilant Victors Visualizing Victorian Vacations?
Vivaciously Vibrant Vigor Vexing Valves?
Victorious Vertical Ventilation?
Ok, seriously _vhat_ is it? Vocals?
BTW, Liked & Subbed!!!
Brian Mahoney Vocals ... most likely! ;-)
great video! thx 4 the info ...
RIP Richard
The 554 is "shunned" for a good reason.
very useful!
7:50
guys im out, have to find these sweet spots ;)
im super high on nitrogen now, oh boy
💕
Dooope!!
Aengus!....(drool)
Nope, nope. You got that backwards. The original 550 had a pair of 2520's. With a fewer selection of frequencies. And the later 550A. Had extra frequencies. Because they used IC chip gyrator's. And it had a single 2520 output amplifier. Where did you get your information? I've been using this thing since 1973.
As I recall the API 554. Was their attempt at a parametric equalizer. And while it has the same sound as the others. It does not exhibit the same characteristics.
Now another important factor you did not mention at all. The API equalizers differ from everybody else's. In the way they were. Because they are of a, Proportional Q design.
Now what that means is. In a sense. It is quasi-parametric. In that. When you only boost or cut 2-4 DB. It'll be a nice wide sonically pleasing Q in the bandwidth of those frequencies. But as you boost more or cut more. The Q becomes narrower. It becomes quite narrow. At extreme boost and extreme cut. And in that way. Instead of covering a wide swath of frequencies. It's a nice tight notch. For notching out the nasty resonant frequencies in from and other instruments.
Yeah I kind of know those Angus graphic EQ's. I used to have 12 Sphere 900 series. Very much like yours. Nothing short of fabulous.
As a whole they differ greatly from that of the API's. The API are RC type EQ's.
Whereas the Angus and the Sphere are of an inductor/capacitor type. And are what we call Reciprocal EQ's. Meaning that the Q is fixed. At approximately 1/2 octaves. And while you can try to reduce some of those resonant frequencies. It's Q is widened. It's nowhere near a notch. It affects a broader swath of frequencies. So it all depends on what you want. What kind of sound you're going for.
I'm not putting down anybody's technique or style. There is a virtually limitless way to go about recording and mixing your tracks. And in a silly test I did with someone else. And there recording student. We both did separate set ups of separate microphones. Separate recording gear. Separate mixers. To record the same Symphony Orchestra. Jeremy had one of his recording students with him. There was a miscommunication. Only one recording company was supposed to show up. Me. There was Jeremy also. And he apologized. For the obvious miscommunication. And he offered to tear down, strike the gear and get out of my way.
I told Jeremy, no way. You got a student with you. So I'm just going to set up my equipment. Mine was very different. The microphones were very different. They were placed very differently. My mixer was very different. My recorder was very different.
And so once the orchestra started. And we got a few minutes then. I take my headphones off and hand them to Jeremy. He takes his headphones often handsome to me. We look at each other with this totally dumbfounded look on our faces. And we have to be careful not to laugh out loud.. It was fascinating. So we handed the headphones to his student.
Neither he nor I nor his student. Really could hear any difference in the recording. Yet they were done with very different microphones placed very differently through very different equipment. And it all came out sounding relatively identical. And man, were hours set ups, different.
So we were trying not to giggle like teenage girls. When we handed the headphones over to his assistance/student. Who try both headphones. Took them off. Looked at us. And asked how they could all sound so much the same yet be so different? We told him the only true answer. We have talent.
Oh my. I have to go. My sleeping meds are kicking in. My mouth has gone to one half speed.
Wow man. Your information is really lacking. You never even covered that little silver 50-15 kHz bandpass filter. You made no mention of that whatsoever. That's a very effective filter. It's subtle. But it works great.
The tranny audio bitch from hell.
RemyRAD
Dude! You know your shit. Respect 👊
learn how to get camera in focus dude !!!!
who cares