1st tascam 688 recording

[pehjott]

wanted to show you my first take on the 688.
i know that the main-guitar has to be retracked and that the drums are not great, but i'm proud that all the tracks are by me and handmade ^^
it's a rough mix,i will remix after retracking,i also want to experiment with echo and reverb on my songs,but i didn't have enough cables :-(
post whatever you want about the track.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6AXXI1AI

[A Reel Person]

Sweet!

Sounds to me like some 70's era Clapton demo!

Sonically,... it's right in the pocket!

No crits here!

There's no downside or obvious hint that it was produced on cassette!

Awesome for a first knockoff on the 688!

This immediately quashes any rumors that cassette 8-track is lofi or "awash in hiss" (as has been said time & again by many uninformed guests).

Next time produce something that's slow and somber sounding, you speed freak!!!!

Rock on!

[Bigsnake00]

Really enjoyed this. Might have swayed me toward a 688 from a 388. Can you provide more details about the recording? Signal chain for each instrument, etc?

[cjacek]

I agree that there's nothing to indicate that this was done on cassette. Currently listening via Sony MDR-7506 headphones and it really sounds good. I like slower paced songs where you can actually get a feel for all the individual instruments. I really like this song and the sound / mix is right on. Tell us about your signal chain etc.. Yeah, no critics here.

[nate_dennis]

I definately didn't get all "hi-fi" on this listen, but I really like it. GOod work!

[Instroverb]

I agree with all above. Really enjoyed it!!

[heatmiser]

Really great to hear more cassette recordings !

I too have a 688 and for your first effort you are light years ahead of where I'd expect.

At first, I'm listening on pc speakers w/ sub and thinking, "man, everything is panned to the left...". Then I look down and see my 3 month old bengal kitten is literally chewing through the right speaker wire in front of my eyes !

So, now I'm on cheap sony phones (lo and behold...it's stereo now) and really liking this recording. The performance has a nice relaxed feel to it. The recording is very natural sounding. It kind of skirts the dividing line between muddy and full sounding. Overall good balance.

When the organ isn't really goin' on the left the guitar sounds kind of stranded by itself off to the right (on phones anyway). The lead is a bit too adventurous for its own good after a while maybe, but for the most part, cool.

Anyway, whatever...it sounds really cool man !~

[Mr Fruit]

As you say, the drums are a bit primitive, otherwise I think its a good effort.

Reminds me a bit of the Moody Blues/war of the worlds era stuff.

Recording wise, Ive not heard a tape mix before, as I'm fairly new to home recording, but that was far better than I expected it to be.

Get on with the finishing touches, and lets hear it again!

[pehjott]

thx guys,wouldn't have expected such positive comments.
signal chain...
studio projects b1 in front of fender vibro champ with some fender strat
studio projects b1 in front of some cheap bass amp with some cheap bass
some keyboard straight into the 688 line in
studio projects 1 as a bass mic and a cheap dynamic no name mic for OH--> Drums
vocals also with studio projects b1
guitar solo with studio projects b1 or some shure 57 clone in front of a marshall microamp ^^
eveything mixed on the 688 with a guitar-reverb-effect-pedal which i used on every track,sometimes more,sometimes less prominent.
mixed down to zoom h2 and via usb to computer where i used a master preset in magix music studio and used a bit eqing but not much.
i guess that's all.
on the final mix i will also use a delay guitar pedal while mixing down.
although i'm not a drummer i'm able to play more complex but i wanted the drums to be very basic so that they don't get too much attention,i mean:everything bout this track is somehow primitive,isn't it?

[cjacek]

I like "primitive" tracks. Heck, that's how I'd describe my sound too!

pehjott, if I understand correct, for the drums, you used one studio project condenser on the bass drum and one dynamic for the overhead?

Regardless of how a final product may sound, there's indeed nothing like the feeling of producing all the tracks oneself.

[pehjott]

Originally Posted by cjacek

pehjott, if I understand correct, for the drums, you used one studio project condenser on the bass drum and one dynamic for the overhead?

yeah that's right,i thought that for this song, i don't need stereo drums,also my small condenser stopped working right before i wanted to track the drums so i had to use a cheap dynamic which was lying in the rehearsal space.i think the drum sound came out ok, but for the other tracks i'm gonna use three tracks (2 OH and a bass mic) to get a stereo drum sound.i like it when tom fills move a bit around in your head while listening via headphones.

[Robertobly]

sorry to hijack the thread- pehjott - check your pm's please,
Rob

[A Reel Person]

Originally Posted by Bigsnake00

Really enjoyed this. Might have swayed me toward a 688 from a 388.

Get both!.........

[Bigsnake00]

Ha! I would if I could find either one!!!

[andrej]]

thought someone might need it:

midistudio 688 manual
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/120201/Tascam688.pdf

a working link. please, pass the file around and mirror it!

[A Reel Person]

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