Bouncing tracks with a Porta-02 (plus greetings from a newbie)

[DamienC]

Hi.

I'm new here. I didn't realize so many people were recording songs like I was. I think the whole concept is pretty cool.

Anyways, I've already recorded a whole slew of stupid little pop-punk songs (like 30 or something) over the last 8 or 9 months or so. They've all turned out rather well. I have vocals on track 1, guitar on track 2, bass on track 3 and drums on track 4. I'd like to add backup vocals and more guitar tracks, so I'm saving up for a Tascam 488. In the meantime, I'm going to attempt to bounce tracks. Unfortunately, I don't quite understand the one process that's described in the manual. Can someone help me with this?

Oh yeah, some of the songs I've recorded are up at my site: http://damienc.disflux.net

[jrlemonz]

The Porta-02 can't bounce tracks. The only way you can do it is to mix the whole thing down to another tape, then use that tape in the 4-track. The tape will have your mix on tracks 1 and 3 (make sure you don't mix to a tape with shit on the other side, then you might get some nice backwards music in your recording). You can record more stuff on 2 and 4.

Jake

[cjx]

I've bounced the mix to another tape and used all four tracks on the second tape... are you sure you can only use tracks 2 and 4? It's never erased anything when I've used all four tracks...

[jrlemonz]

I['m absolutely positive. That is if I understand what you're saying. An audio tape has 4 tracks. 2 for each side. One is the right channel, one is the left. A conventional Cassette player runs tradcks 1 and 3 in one direction, and 2 and 4 in the other. So if you mix down and record one Side 1 of the tape, it will record on tracks 1 and 3, leaving 2 and 4 open. A 4 track puts all 4 of those tracks in one direction.

Jake