Auger
From IBS-Compendium
Auger, Bob: (b. 1928) One of the major freelance recording engineers in the gramophone world from around 1950 - 1990. He had been a great collector of gramophone records and had started making amateur recordings with a 6 guinea Reslo ribbon microphone and a Ferrograph deck. The early part of his working life had been spent as a clerk in the railways based eventually at Euston and he had answered a newspaper advert for a part-time “trainee engineer/gopher” for a studio run by Mr Tarsi, in Bryanston Street. This led his leaving British Rail and becoming the resident engineer at another studio, “Recorded Sound” at 27 Bryanston Street, owned and run by Lynton Fletcher.
This was equipped by some ex-BBC equipment (ST&C 4021 (ball & biscuit), RCA 44BX ribbons, Ferrographs, OBA/8s, MX/18s, TD/7s etc) and made programmes including some for both the BBC and the American-funded Radio Free Europe. For these RFE programmes there was an Ampex tape machine with which Bob became familiar and this led to his becoming involved with the newly formed NIXA Company which became Pye Records who had signed a deal with Mercury Records. Bob was “loaned” to them and initially went to Manchester for a week to record the Hallé Orchestra and John Barbirolli with the Chief Engineer of Mercury, Bob Fine. About five mono LPs were recorded including the Sixth Symphony by Vaughan Williams in the Free Trade Hall.
Mercury used a single mic – a Telefunken 201(?) condenser – hung over the conductor’s head just out of reach of the baton. Bob Auger recalls that Bob Fine had two of these Neumanns, though both sounded very different. They were flat to around 10k and down to 100, when they tailed off very quickly, but produced a clean sound in the bass. Fine worked in a Dodge truck outside, powered by a 110 volt 60 cps generator, while a monitor room was set up inside with an Altec Lansing theatre loudspeaker having an 18 inch and big horn on top “Absolutely ear splitting”. Wilma Cozart, Fine’s wife, “produced” with an intercom to the truck. “Bob, there’s a ‘fitzer’! Bob, there’s another fitzer – we’re getting fitzers all the time”. At which point, remembers Bob A, that Bob F would dash in to say “There are 1600 tubes in that truck, God forbid that one of them should speak for itself!”
Fine was also playing about with stereo using two M49s or 50s (omnis) spaced at about 10 feet. He had two speakers mounted on the windscreen of the Dodge. Bob was invited after this to join Pye full time. Alan G Melville also worked for Pye as producer for two years. The Mercury technique then went to three mics – working mono and stereo at the same time via either Fairchild (mono) or Ampex (stereo) amps – no mixers then - to ¼ and ½ inch Ampex machines. Bob’s first session on his own without Bob Fine was Elgar’s First Symphony with Barbirolli in 1957. The same year on St Patrick’s Day, he recorded Tippett’s “Child of our Time” for the British Council with John Pritchard in the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, This was done using one mono mic and two for the stereo – three C12s almost touching each other on one bracket - two cardioids looking outward, one omni “looking” forward. This was recorded in the Green Room on a newly arrived Ampex portable stereo machine with an Ampex 315 for the mono.
Bob also made many records with Charles Mackerras including the 1959 recording of Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks. 26 oboes, 14 bassoons, 9 trumpets, 9 horns, 3 sets of timpani and 2 serpents (who arrived late because they had a double booking!). The venue was St. Gabriel's, Cricklewood, at midnight, as this was the only time that the 26 oboes could be got together. Bob recalls that it took 10 minutes for all the oboe players – led by Terrence MacDonagh and Sidney Sutcliffe – to shake hands and sit down! Midnight until 3 am for the whole side, using 4 or 5 C12s, backed by a Concerto for Two Orchestras, which was already recorded. Fireworks were recorded at Brock’s factory at Hemel Hempstead and overdubbed onto the final track and the record issued a few days later. Another Mackerras recording was the Janacek Sinfonietta done 3 track in Walthamstow Town Hall with the Pro Arte Orchestra. Later Fine used three track 35mm film. These included sessions in Watford Town Hall with Dorati and the LSO. This 35mm technique was adopted also by Everest.
In 1960, Bob was offered the post of Head of Sound for Granada Television in Manchester from the start of Coronation Street. Sidney Bernstein (now Lord Bernstein) would not buy any German equipment. Neither, incidentally, would he allow any “free advertising” and had the makers’ names removed from all the Granada vehicles! This limited Bob’s choice of (particularly) mics and Philips ones were bought. No echo plates could be bought (EMT were the only maker at the time) and only “rooms” could be used. Bob stayed with Granada for 2 years and then returned to Pye (owned by this time by ATV) to assist in opening a new studio complex in the basement of the ATV building near Marble Arch in Bryanston Street. Eventually 3 studios made, No 1 was c 50 x 30 with wooden strip faced acoustic treatment by Dr ALEXANDER. Very good for “Pop” and Light Music; another small studio - a cube – for Rock ‘n Roll Groups; and a DJ type studio used for Radio Luxemburg programmes. These were used almost 24 hours a day throughout the 60s. Bob virtually did all the mixing –pop, rock etc.
Pye had abandoned classical music recording and in the mid 60s, Bob talked them into setting up a mobile unit for serious music recordings. These were at first, sponsored, but resulted in other record companies in hiring it – CBS, RCA etc – and Bob worked for Chuck Gerhart and Paul Myers. This included Salome for RCA with Erik Leinsdorf conducting. Pye cut with a Westrex 45/45 on a Scully vari-pitch lathe (obtained through Bob Fine) that used a pre-hear head on a Dexion bracket which could be advanced or retarded as required. Also issued Command records (Tremendous level on these!) Pressing was done at Transcription in Mitcham, south London. The Pye mobile unit had everything in cases including a big Telefunken mixer, a studio console on a wooden plinth over which would be put a wooden case which bolted to the base for transporting. A removal company was used to put all gear into venues. Monitoring was done on Tannoy Lockwoods, sometimes with built-in Leak 25 amplifiers.
By this time, Bob felt he would like to go completely freelance and talked to Denis Foreman of Granada, who offered £100,000 to set him up, on condition the new company was to be called Granada Recordings, not a record company, (though this had been a possibility after it had bought Novellos, the music publishing house), but facilities for whoever wanted them. Bob could, as boss, set his own salary! A Neve desk, Ampex recorders, Lockwoods, and mics were purchased. Granada had rehearsal rooms in 1-3 Brixton Road, the old DECCA place. Granada Recordings set up there - a store room, offices and a post-production studio. His secretary was Monica Smith, later Mrs John McCabe. By about 1964, Bob and the company were doing 300 LPs a year (brass band on Sunday, pop music albums (2 on Monday), 1 on Tuesday, start Rock n Roll job on Monday night for 3 nights etc). No post production of course, which takes the time! Bob used almost exclusively the M49 and M50 and U87 valve mics. After 3 or 4 years, Bob bought out Granada Recordings in 1974 to become Bob Auger Associates, for the bargain price of £15,000 payable over two years! After 6 months renting the old Granada premises, he set up the post production part at his house in Henley. He had three people working for him – his Chief Engineer, who had come with him from Granada, was David Martin (later went to Pink Floyd as sound engineer) and founded Martin Acoustics in High Wycombe and later went missing. A young lad of 17 - Chris Hollebone - (who later went to Sony) and John Fraser. Now (partially!) retired and living near Swansea.
