Portastatic – The Summer of the Shark album cover

Portastatic – The Summer of the Shark

Album 2003

The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 2003 album The Summer of the Shark.

Music from The Summer of the Shark

Gear Used On The Summer of the Shark

Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Portastatic – The Summer of the Shark (2003). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.

Studio Equipment used by Mac McCaughan on The Summer of the Shark

Digital

Roland VS-1680 Digital Studio Workstation

Avg price: $201.00

In Tape Op interview with Larry Crane, he mentions using Roland VS-1680 while recording Portastatic's "Summer of the Shark" album:

John Plymale is great with that. I mixed Be Still Please, the last Portastatic record, with John as well as Summer of the Shark. John's a master of the EQ in terms of what you're saying. Instead of just panning something to a different place or turning it up or turning it down — just EQ'ing something so that it sits in the right place and you hear it. When I brought in Summer of the Shark and we had to dub all that stuff out of my Roland VS-1680 two tracks at a time, it just took for fucking ever. Those tracks had been recorded onto reel-to-reel 8-track, then dumped into the 16- track. There was a guitar solo that was on a track with some other guitar but the guitar solo was slightly out of tune and there was no way to separate it out — but he EQ'd it so that it didn't sound as out of tune.

Effects Processors

Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor

Avg price: $1,532.44

In Tape Op interview with Larry Crane, he mentions buying an Empirical Labs Distressor during recording Portastatic's "Summer of the Shark" album at home:

If I'm working on a Portastatic record and I'm at an impasse or I just finished a song and I don't really know where to go next, I just sit down at the piano or start using something that I'm not necessarily as comfortable with and it leads to something. I recorded Summer of the Shark at home and I needed some gear. I borrowed some stuff and I bought an [Empirical Labs] Distressor. That changed my life. That alone gives you ideas.