lo.fi.love
Functionally obsessed.
Thank you! I'm heavily influenced by early electronic artists. Pauline Oliveros, Morton Subotnick, Edgard Varese, Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, etc.
1/2" 16-track vs. 1/2" 8-track
- Thread starter lo.fi.love
- Start date
Thank you! I'm heavily influenced by early electronic artists. Pauline Oliveros, Morton Subotnick, Edgard Varese, Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, etc.
jpmorris
Tape Wolf
I was never really able to appreciate it, sadly - I guess I have to have a strong melody. But reading about the production techniques has been fascinating. Plus, I've not been able to make tape collages that really 'work' - mine always feel a bit contrived. So definitely kudos to anyone who is able to make it work, and doubly so if they're putting so much effort into doing it with limited resources.
Have you ever come across Michael Garrison, out of interest? His debut album "In the regions of Sunreturn" was recorded 8-track around 1978. Most of it is melodic but there are two or three tracks which are soundscapes, e.g. "Dreams" and "The Distance from here" (the latter of which seems not to be on the CD release)
lo.fi.love
Functionally obsessed.
I should note though - Those people made all of their stuff on mono or stereo tape, and it required thousands of splices and months of persistent effort. I'm very happy we have multitrack recording now 
lo.fi.love
Functionally obsessed.
I haven't heard of Michael Garrison but I'll look him up. Thanks for the tip!
I agree that it's difficult to make something along those lines that doesn't feel contrived. I still feel self conscious about my work and I think the key is you just have to let it go at some point. If you want to create the recordings that you hear in your head. On the same token, anything I do feels contrived to me but I'm creating things that I want other people to enjoy, to whom it may not seem contrived. It'll always seem contrived to me because I'm the one who created it!
Ive used msr16, 38, 48, 58, G16, Mx5050, and to me the Otari had a more polished sound. But I learned a long time ago there is more difference in noise reduction formats than in the machines themselves. And as stated earlier electronics are just as important as tape width. Unless you have the funds for a 2inch machine most of the other stuff is going to be pretty similar. Right now I have a G16 and there is nothing out there I would trade it for. I just cant afford 2 inch tape. That's my story and Im stickin to it.
I've owned and still use my Tascam 48 ob since 1985. When I've needed more
tracks I simply bounce my 8 tracks to my Panasonic 3500 Dat in stereo then back onto
2-tracks of my 8-track once and sometimes twice. Since the late 80's I to thought about buying
a Tascam MSR-16 or a Fostex G-16. Something always held me back.
Plus today it's hard to find brand new 1/2 inch 16 track heads.
I called Tascam parts a while back about a MSR-16 TRACK rec\play head
and they had only one left for $980.00.
But a trick I do with my 8-track is to record one instrument on to 2-3-or 4 tracks to get a wider
signal to noise. I know this trick was used a lot with 1\2 16 track users
in the 80's and 90's.
Have a good one
Jack
tracks I simply bounce my 8 tracks to my Panasonic 3500 Dat in stereo then back onto
2-tracks of my 8-track once and sometimes twice. Since the late 80's I to thought about buying
a Tascam MSR-16 or a Fostex G-16. Something always held me back.
Plus today it's hard to find brand new 1/2 inch 16 track heads.
I called Tascam parts a while back about a MSR-16 TRACK rec\play head
and they had only one left for $980.00.
But a trick I do with my 8-track is to record one instrument on to 2-3-or 4 tracks to get a wider
signal to noise. I know this trick was used a lot with 1\2 16 track users
in the 80's and 90's.
Have a good one
Jack
witzendoz
Senior Member
I have used both a TSR8 and a MSR16S, I moved from the TSR8 to the MSR16S to get more tracks I bought both machines new, I had not problems getting a good sound from both machines, maybe the TSR8 had a slightly fatter drum and bass sound but it was marginal. If you want to stay with 1/2" tape the MSR16 will give fine results as long as it is in good condition.
Alan.
Alan.