Beginner Question about Reel to Reel Multi-Track recording.

SwanSong

New member
Hi, this is my first post here so here it goes.

I have been looking into getting a reel to reel multi track recorder, and I have cruised ebay and all that, and I see some that say 8-track, and 4-track, and on all of them there is only one spot for a reel of tape. I don't know much of anything about reel to reel recorders, so excuse me if this question is incredibly stupid, but I always thought that if it was a Multitrack recorder, there would be more spots for tape reels, so you would have 8 reels of tape in total, thus being able to change audio levels and eq and whatever, of the different mic inputs, each source, after recording.

I have a behringer UB1204-Pro, and I use that to record from 4 mics, to one source. But I am more facinated with Vinyl, and the 60's/70's music and for a long time have been looking into that kind of recording, trying to get rid of digital all together, or as much as possible. I have been told to look into a Tascam 388.

Anyway, (sorry I rambled so much) my question is, if it is a multi track recorder, how come there is only one reel of tape on the recorder? And do they make consoles where each input has its own tape to record to. Thanks for any help at all.
Swan Song!
 
Multi-track means there are several (4, 8, 16, etc) paths (tracks) on a single tape. They are lined up on the tape like multiple lanes are on a highway and run the length of the tape. Imagine a 4-lane highway -- each row of cars represents a separate audio signal. So in essence there are not separate tapes, but rather separate parallel sections on one tape.

There are no tracks on a blank tape. Tracks are created when signals are recorded to the tape by the machine's multi-track record head. Thus, the same size of blank tape can be used on a 4, 8 or 16 track machine.

It's the same for cassette or reel-to-reel. In fact a standard consumer stereo cassette deck is technically a mult-track because it can record four tracks -- two on each side for right and left stereo channels. However, a machine is not really considered multi-track unless you can record on one or more tracks while playing back others.

Here are a couple helpful links:

http://www.tangible-technology.com/media/media_2.html

http://arts.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/equipment/analog_recorders/Analog_Recorders.html

http://www.vaporpark.com/invboard/index.php?act=ST&f=12&t=211&

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Thanks very much, those are great links! One thing I was still wondering is do they make recorders that have a tape reel for each input source? A situation I am thinking of here is that if I wanted to record my drums, I am wondering if I could have the over head mics, and the bass drum mic, each on there own reel of tape? So I could adjust audio levels or something in post production. My guess is that if I really wanted to do this, and had as many recorders available as I need, I could run each mic to a mixer, and from that mixer to a seperate recorder, so each thing ends up being on its own tape. But that just seems pointless and alot of work to go through, because then I would think it would be hard, or impossible? to sync all the tapes up for a mixdown. I know I can just as easily adjust all this on the mixer before recording, but I was just wondering if this option is available. Thanks for the quick reply also.
 
No, there isn't a single machine with more than one reel of tape in the music recording world, because they're not needed. You can sync two separate machines together, but that is usually done if you exceed the number of tracks on the first machine.

The tracks on a multi-track remain separate as though they are on separate tapes. Each track is independent of the other, so you retain full control over levels during mixdown. For example, an 8-track will have 8 separate outputs that are plugged into 8 separate inputs on a mixing console. You can adjust the levels and tone as you mixdown to your stereo mastering deck.

You ALWAYS need a stereo mastering machine of some kind to create your final product. It could be a cassette deck, 2-track reel-to-reel, or CD recorder.

A multi-track is for laying down the separate parts of your composition (bass, drums, guitar, vocals, etc.) A mixdown machine is to put everything from the multi-track onto a 2-track stereo master. Once it is on the stereo master there are no individual tracks to adjust -- they are all merged together.

Here's a good link from Tascam in pdf. This is a ridiculously large file so it's best to save it before you open it. If your using a dial-up I would skip this one. Take some time to look these over, and after a little while - Eureka! It will jump right out at you.

www.tascam.co.uk/pdfs/brochures/cya-enduser.pdf


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SwanSong said:
Thanks very much, those are great links! One thing I was still wondering is do they make recorders that have a tape reel for each input source? A situation I am thinking of here is that if I wanted to record my drums, I am wondering if I could have the over head mics, and the bass drum mic, each on there own reel of tape? So I could adjust audio levels or something in post production. My guess is that if I really wanted to do this, and had as many recorders available as I need, I could run each mic to a mixer, and from that mixer to a seperate recorder, so each thing ends up being on its own tape. But that just seems pointless and alot of work to go through, because then I would think it would be hard, or impossible? to sync all the tapes up for a mixdown. I know I can just as easily adjust all this on the mixer before recording, but I was just wondering if this option is available. Thanks for the quick reply also.
Imagine this that you describe in your head. Then imagine that you take all these tapes, and glue them together side, by side so you get one really wide fat-ass tape.

That's what a multitrack is.
 
Thank you all very much for the help. I am pretty sure that I understand whats going on now. I appriciate it very much.
 
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