Home Studio Recording
Home Studio Recording was a UK monthly music magazine which reviewed equipment and interviewed musicians about how they recorded their music.
Editor Ian Gilby travelled to Yorkshire to interview Bill in his home studio which was called The Echo Observatory. The interview was probably the most in-depth any musician had given the magazine, running to some nine full pages, and provides a wonderful insight into what equipment Bill was using at the time.
In 1984 Bill's trusted Fostex B16 was at the leading edge of multi-track home recording technology and was used to record many albums over the years. When the time came to 'retire' the ageing analogue gear and acquire a Mackie digital system, Bill sold off many items from his studio and Ian was fortunate to purchase the B16 which he still owns today.
Also seen pictured in the studio at the time is a Sony PCM F1 stereo digital recorder. In the interview Bill mentions how he had given up mastering onto his 2-track Revox and was now using this new 'digital technology'.
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By the early 1990s the PCM was broken and many album's worth of material lay in the studio on digital tape inaccessible for years to come. Then around 2005 a second-hand machine was located and purchased with the help of fans.
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The tapes were transferred to CDr and as of 2012, Bill is now in the process of re-mastering these archive recordings for selective release under the series title 'These Tapes Rewind'.
The first album in the series is 'Return To Tomorrow'.
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The interview was published in two parts in the HSR Dec 1984 & Jan 1985 issues.
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Click to download the PDFs below (or right-click and save).
