488 question

[Drummyjoey]

So, it seems to me that the stereo inputs can be used for either effects, or for sending in a signal, as long as it doesn't need any amplification, is that right?

But, even though they're labeled, 9, 10, 11, 12...there's only 8 available tracks? Is there any way to stretch that out a bit without bouncing tracks? Any little tricks you guys could help me out on?

If I used any of the wrong terminology, forgive me. I'm new at this, but think it would be cool if I could separate my drums a little bit more for mixing down later.


Thanks for any ideas,
Joe

[The Ghost of FM]

If you don't wish to do any internal track bouncing but yet still add more tracks, you could give up the 8th track as a time code sync track and then run sequenced virtual midi tracks from keyboards and/or drum machines. This would require a good deal of additional equipment to accomplish however and it would add a good deal of self education on your part to get all of that to tie in to your taped tracks.

If you don't want to go through all of that you might want to consider learning the art of effective microphone selection and placement on your drum kit and try using less tape tracks to capture your acoustic drums. I assume that's what you're using; acoustic real drums?

A four track recording of acoustic drums can be nicely captured by mic'ing the kick, snare and the rest of the kit with a pair of overhead microphones that need to be angled and positioned just right to get a good balance between the toms and your cymbals. Once you've gotten the hang of capturing them decently, you should be able to sub mix those 4 mics down to a stereo mix that will only use up two tracks on tape, leaving you still with 6 more to add your other parts.

How complex are your compositions in terms of numbers of different parts you typically use on your songs? If you could answer that, we might be able to make further suggestions to you as to how to best accomplish that.

Cheers!

[Drummyjoey]

Hey Ghost,

I appreciate the reply. Sorry it's taken me a while...

Yes, we are using real, acoustic drums. I was, at first, going to run it all through a separate mixer and then plug that into the tascam, but then I thought it might be nice to have a little more control in mixdown? I'm new at the engineering side, but I thought it would be nice to have...

1- Bass drum track
2- Snare track
3- Toms
4- Cymbals

But then, I realized that I would actually run out of tracks. We're thinking maybe 2 tracks for bass, at least two for guitars, a vocal + backup vocal part. So that's already about 6 other tracks.

I guess what questions I should really ask, are...


1. Will bouncing tracks add noise/is it undesirable in some way? I thought I heard it was.

2. Would it actually be okay to run my drums through a separate mixer and then just plug in? Or maybe everything else and the bass drum on a separate track to "lock in" with the bass?

I took and audio class, but never got to sit behind the board, so I sort of half know what I'm talking about

[The Ghost of FM]

If your trying record the entire band in one take, then yes, you'd want to have a little sub mixer for the drum kit and as I mentioned, do some trial and error experiments with Mic placement and mix level of that sub mix to get your drum part down to a stereo 2 track pair which would leave you with 6 tracks for your other parts.

As far as bounces go, they don't add any appreciable noise because the dbx noise reduction looks after that pretty decently but, you will lose some fidelity when you bounce so, mastering the art of getting your drum part down on just two tracks will benefit your finished product quite a bit.

Making use of a dedicated sub mixer will also allow you to keep the good settings of level, pan and eq once you find the right mix and not have to re-set that board each time you do a recording. Also make notes and take pictures of the Mic placements around the drum kit so you can reliably reproduce the good results once you discover them.

Get the picture?

Cheers!

[Drummyjoey]

Thanks so much man!


- Joe