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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Music General Discussion »

Permalink ADD The Cruncher's New CD Recorded Analog

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This topic was automatically created to discuss the news story ADD The Cruncher's New CD Recorded Analog.

Today I received the cd in the mail.
Herbert´s sequel of songs was very well chosen, the cd sounds
very compact. The playing time is 53 minutes and 8 seconds.
I have mailed complimentary copies this moring and hope the American and Australien friends of the Cruncher will get them before too long.
Those who have bought a copy will get theirs next week.
Ruediger
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For Rüdiger’s new topic regarding my new CD I would like to thank him very much, but I want to make some small additions and corrections:

In my old Studio which I sold in 2003 I didn’t have a 8 channel mixer but a 32 channel
Tascam M 600 inline mixing desk and a 16 track Tascam MSR 16 tape recorder.

Even though my new CD was ready for manufacture beginning 2019 I stopped it because I wanted to set up my studio again with old analog equipment and to re-record at least partially those instrumentals selected for the CD.

In May 2019 I finally found a 40 channel Tascam M 700 Inline console and a 24 track 2“ Otari tape recorder with external Dolby SR noise reduction.

The tape recorder and the Dolby SR were in first class condition and didn’t need any repair and maintenance work, alongside the usual calibrating.

After the first start-up of the mixer I noticed various errors that I was able to fix myself initially but at some point my expertise was no longer sufficient.

In June 2019 I started receiving support by a experienced studioengineer and with his help we disassembled the complete mixer and started with very extensive and complex maintenance and repair work. Since we only had the weekends available for this the work dragged on until end of 2019. However, I was able to work with restrictions with the equipment since September last year. We are still not 100 percent finished but today I can have almost all the possibilities of the console. (And it has a lot!)

Should anyone think about it to buy old analog equipment I have the following tips for him:

  • My studio is in a penthouse apartment and that's why I checked the static calculation of the building beforehand because these old devices are incredibly heavy.

  • Do the power supply of your future studio tolerates the high inrush currents of the devices?

  • When it comes to operating costs, electricity costs should not be neglected! My Tascam M 700 also works as a 2m² hot plate! The tape machine is also a real power hog and together they heat my studio powerfully. (Mostly I have to work by open windows) Big Grin

  • For the mixer and also for the tape machine numerous of special cables and plugs are required and if these are not included in the purchase they significantly increase the acquisition costs. The connectors should also be checked whether these are still available as normal merchandise. In my case it was no problem but the Siemens male connectors at the Dolby SR system have surprised me.

  • Is there someone in the circle of acquaintances or friends who can help with any necessary repairs?

  • The cost of the tape material should not be underestimated. Since I usually record around 30 tracks for a CD with 20 tracks I need 3 tapes for this and one already costs around € 300.00.

I only mention all of this because I was very surprised by one or the other experience.

Last but not least you need very great staying power.

Here is the right track list of my CD „The Cruncher – AAD“:

01 Guitar King
02 No Place Like Home
03 Watch Your Steps
04 Long Walk Home
05 Movin’
06 Jungle Stomp
07 Aztec
08 The Last Walk
09 Paradise
10 Caroline
11 Big Hair
12 Loving Her Was Easier
13 Angry Generation
14 Sidewalk Surfin‘ Scene
15 Pagan Rock
16 Deep Surf
17 Tenderfoot
18 ´55 Ford
19 Das Boot
20 The Moon Of Manakoora

Hey folks,
I am a record collector and surf music lover but neither am I a
musician nor an engineer. So I am very sorry for having provided the wrong
informations to this forum. I am very glad that Herbert found the time to correct the facts. Nevertheless is the cd recommended by me as it has different styles and sounds which should be loved by the customers!!
Ruediger

Congratulations for the golden wedding day on August 28 , 2020!!!
Herbert Hooke and his wife Gitta have spent 50 years together as a couple – what an achievement!! W O W !!!
More than twenty years ago I participated along with some friends from
Germany, England and Canada in a cd for Herbert´s 50th birthday.
The cover of it is here for all of the members of SG 101
to have a look into the face of the man behind the recording, arranging and
production of the music released as The Cruncher!
SURF Music is a joyful thing and makes people feel happy !!!
All the best in the future for Herbert and Gitta – stay safe and be well !!!!
Ruediger
Here is a fantastic research work from Pipeline´s co-editor Dave Burke
which I had received a couple of weeks ago from a friend and which you should read. (BTW, all articles in Pipeline are very good!!)
THE CRUNCHER THE CRUNCHER - AAD CD
NPR Records NPR 16269; Germany 2020; 53 min
Guitar King / No Place Like Home/ Watch Your Steps / Long Walk Home / Movin' / Jungle Stomp / Aztec/ The Last Walk / Paradise / Caroline / Big Hair / Loving Her Was Easier / Angry Generation /
Sidewalk Surfin ' Scene / Pagan Rock / Deep Surf/' Tenderfoot / '55 Ford /Das Boot / The Moon Of Manakoora
A new release from German guitarist Herbert Hooke, alias The Cruncher, is always welcome. He has consistently turned out good work over the past couple of decades and AAD (analog analog digital) is no exception to this rule. It may not be immediately apparent but this is a covers album, and mostly fairly obscure ones at that.
We start with Guitar King — a cover of a 1975 track from Hank The Knife & The Jets who were a sort of Dutch Showaddywaddy and, shorn of its vocal, it makes for an excellent instro with lots of twangy guitar à la Jet Hamis. Next up we have a track from a 1991 album by '70s UK stalwart Mickey Jupp titled No Place Like Home, and it's a low-key rootsy number with a distinct Bo Diddley flavour. Ummm, nice - as Bob Harris might have said if he'd played it on The Old Grey Gristle Test.
Long Walk Home is a Chip Taylor tune and was originally a 1965 track by trumpeter Al Hirt with marching drums, background piano and Mexican trumpets which together created a powerful big ballad atmosphere - it all sounds very much better here of course with Herbert's strong guitar lead. Jungle Stomp is an obscure instro recorded by US band The Four Plaboys in 1963 which lacks off with a pinch from The Wailers' Mau Mau before digressing into a sultry surf-flavoured number which, as a surf expert, is ideal meat for Herbert.
Talking of surf there are very fine versions of Richie Podolor's The Last Walk, The Astronauts' Movin', Davie Allan's Sidewalk Surfin' Scene and Jerry Cole's Deep Surf — not to mention Bo
Diddleys Aztec which I've always felt had a subtle surf flavour and of course Herbert handles them all with a plomb.
There are more unusual choices with versions of Nick Lowe's Big Hair and Paradise from George Ezra: evidently he's a UK singer songwriter who won a Brit Award in 2019 — well, it's news to me. Link Wray's Caroline is real strange as it was originally Link trying to sound like Duane Eddy, but here Herbert turns the tables and plays it just like Duane — it's excellent but quite confusing! Talking of which there is also Dick Dale's Angry Generation from his rare Live At Ciro's LP. It's a Lee Hazlewood tune which I don't believe Duane ever recorded, but here Herbert plays it exactly like Duane with a Peter Gunn-ish riff and even a saxman that sounds just like Steve Douglas — amazing!
There's more heavy twanging towards the end of the CD with another Hank The Knife & The Jets number called Tenderfoot, a real '50s style rocker called '55 Ford from The Refreshments (the Swedish equivalent of Dave Edmunds) and, strangest of all, the theme tune to Das Boot the top class film about the crew of a German U-boat during WW2 — complete with the sound of sonar and the sea!
This may be a covers album — but not as we know it Jim. Herbert Hooke does a knockout job of picking gems from across the widest spectrum of music to create a fascinating collection of instrumentals. Bravo! Dave Burke
(available from Leo's Den and Bear Family)

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Last edited: Aug 28, 2020 01:30:36

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