Tod_TVI
Member
Hi I'm Tod, better know at Tod_TVI here on SP.
Like Tim Nash, I've been around and recording for a while, only a little longer, some 60 years, I'm now going on 82 (Born 1943).
My main beginnings started in 1962 when I went on the road with a Las Vegas show group called the Millionaires. This group was very, very different from any of the other groups that I ended up playing with during my career. But I learned a lot, so much so, that it's what carried me on to a life as a musician, recording engineer, and producer.
I bought my first tape recorder in 1962, just before I went on the road with the Millionaires, it was a 2 track stereo Ampex recorder. I didn't get a chance to really start using it until the mid 60s, 1965, 66, 67, etc.. So in 65 I started doing a little recording on my Ampex using what was called, "Sound on Sound".
At this time I was also playing "Solo" in a few night clubs and social groups in the Kalispell area. All I had at this time was a Thomas organ along with my guitar. The Thomas also had a built in programmable Rhythm Section along with the usual bass pedals. That organ along with my guitar worked quite well together, not only for playing solo, but also for recording my songs.
This is a song I wrote that is one of the very first I recorded on the Ampex. I call it "What's Your Name & What's Your Game".
It was in 1967 I put my first trio together, I had this trio until the mid 1970s. It was 1968 there abouts, I ended up with my trio in the VFW club on the main street of Kalispell. We became quite popular and I ended up setting up my first recording studio in the back of the VFW club.
At first I mainly recorded some of the songs I played on stage. They turned out rather bad by today's standards, but sounded pretty good in them days. Good enough so that the local TV station, KCFW, asked if I could use the recordings to pantomime my songs during their noon day TV show. So I became a TV star for a couple of years. Haha, well not quite a star, but I did get a lot of experience with my old Ampex tape recorder.
It was 1970 I built my first actual recording studio, at that time all I had was a couple of TEAC 4-track recorders. Then in the early 1970s while attending my first AES (Audio Engineering Society) convention in LA, I got to know a fellow by the name of Tom Hidley who had a studio in LA. Tom, famous for his Westlake Control room designs, invited me to take a tour of his studio. Haha, little did I know, he had an ulterior motive and I ended up buying a Tascam 1/2 inch 8-track tape recorder from him.
So here we are today, on SP. I actually joined VI-Control in 2005 I think it was. It was much different than it is today, although I'm very glad Mike ended up taking the reins, he's done a great job. You know, being 82 I'm not sure how much time I have left, I'm just trying to make the most of it I can. I've always loved music and every thing that goes with it, so here I am my friends, I'm anxious to see and hear what you all been doin'.
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