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Phantom of the Paradise in the Studio:
Whats what in the studio:
I've been researching and collecting 1970's & 1980's studio gear for a long time.
Here is some information on what some of this stuff might have been.
16 Multitrack recorder. I've seen both Memorex and Scotch tape stickers on the
tape itself. This may be a Tascam unit.
This looks like a set, safe, record, interface for the 16 track recorder.
At the top you can see (I think) a Scully brand name.
The top four rackmount units are patchbays, they are used as ins, outs, inserts, or effect loops Looking at what is patched it very well could be an individual effect loop (per channel) If you look at the multitrack in use in the movie. While the Phantom is playing the single keyboard there is movement on all 16 tracks. Showing that if really being recorded maybe with 4 Outs, and considering that there is a considerable amount of flange in the music, a send and return for that. plus a separate channel for delay. Maybe he could get it to 16 tracks but it would be quite wasteful. Note: Midi in 1974 wasn't at the stage where it could be used in what we heard.
A vistavue monitor, showing. Well... a bunch of lines. I don't see any indication of what channel or frequency you are looking at, even when I zoom in. This could be to represent the 16 channels into the multitrack recorder.
And maybe a 4 channel sub out to monitors, maybe.
A good side shot. This looks like a 16 or 24 channel board, it's hard to tell because we don't know what it subs out to. It could be 24 channels, sub out to 4, a mono out, and a master. That would be approximately the correct number of sliders you see. This is a real mixering console, this doesn't appear to be a fabrication.
In the back we see the free standing 16 track recorder on the right center.
In the middle it looks like a 4 channel mastery recorder. And the 4 devices above it look like power amps. There are 7 identical units shown in this picture.
This looks like a board extention. It would be used when you wanted 12 musicians to use headphones at once. They have 2 distinct numbers at the bottom maybe they are 2 (6 split) Aux's out from the board. I don't think it's an In (as it is being used) because of the volume pot. On the left side, those look fake. I've never seen an objec that would have a division of knobs with an insert like that. Considering the mixing console is in the other room. There are alot of knobs in this room.
Here is a shot of the phantom at the keyboard. The synthesizer was furnished by Centaur Music Productions at The Record Plant. But I don't think this is the one that the credits speak of. This looks like an Openheim Synth with a plywood box built around it. If you look close, in other shot you can see the screws.
Another shot of the racks.
Look at the wooden top of the synth. It seems like it just a synth
set into a wooden frame.
Side Shot
See the odd screws? They are raised. That seems weird for a piece of studio gear.
You can see a studio monitor on the wall (looks like a 12" mid, there is probably a horn at the top we can't see. The white thing is a Swan camera.
Another shot (The camera light blinks)
This is outside the studio but it is an odd piece of gear. We see it used as a video deck. The big cylinder in the middle could be the head. But that is extremely thick video tape. From another side view of the movie it looks like 1 1/2" tape. I've never seen video tape that thick, but I have never seen high end video gear of the 70's.
Swan in front of the wall again, the multicolored sliders look like a 10 channel mixer. The 1/4" jack could be an insert or an input. I've never seen a 10 channel mixer. (2,4,8,12,16,24 standard) I've also never seen multicolored slider caps. But hey, it was the 70's.
Far shot of the studio. Here we see 2 synths and notice the osciliscope in the back when ever he talks it moves. Kind of cool huh?