Recently I came into the good fortune of finally aquiring an adat lx20 multitrack recorder.. For those of you unfamiliar with what that is just picture a vcr type of unit that takes super vhs cassettes and spilits the tape into 8 seperate channels for recording.
This was the hot, go-to studio technology through the late 90s. I used this unit right up until june 2003 when it decided to eat my tape and explode.. well,ok, it didnt explode but that was it. Unit dead. and with an adat tape stuck inside. I was on a recording roll around that time although I was touring heavy and also splitting living time between bc and california. I did not have time to get the unit repaired right then cus it was imperative to keep recording. I rushed out and bought a roland vs 2480 recording unit on a whim and thats what i still use today. Anyhow, long story short as the years went by I would occasionally seek a replacement for the adat lx20 but never had success tracking one down whenever I’d look.
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Moka in the studio with Adat LX20 Behind (to his right)
Last year i decided to take it to a pro who was known for repairing those units. No luck. They didnt service the adats anymore. I made one final desperate tweet this past new years eve and one of my homies responded saying he had one! I couldnt believe i hadnt thought to ask this person especially since he’s lived in my city since 2003.. Couldve dealt with it at an earlier date. Anyhow,back to the now times and what this all means. This means that I finally have access to about 30 adat tapes of unheard, unreleased material from 2002 — 2003.
Each tape contains roughly 44 mins of running time meaning there is prolly a bunch of albums worht of goodshit on them tapes! And it was possibly my favorite personal era of recording growth. I have nostalgia for that period. EVERYTHING was going great great great.. I mean it still is now too but that era holds a special place in my heart. So hear I am tryna figure out how to go about releasing all these golden eggs. What label to put out the whole series and such.. For instance.. I have an entirely different version of lowdown suite in these vaults.. I want to release it as lowdown suite 1.5 . There is enuff material for about 3 volumes of summer 2002 plus an album I had put together called california sessions.
Its been a blast going throo all of these old tapes and transfering them to my roland vs 2480 and mixing them properly.
Now I have to find a competent label that would be willing to release the works over a period of time. This is exciting for me. Of course i will keep coming with the new new at the same time as well. Included is a picture of an adat lx20 just so ya know. (above) So there ya have it. The great moka only adat afair. Forward we go into the future and the past simaltaneously
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—moka only
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