Whisperingcreek
New member
I have a 488 Tascam Portastudio and I'd like to know if there would be something terribly wrong with turning the pitch control all the way to the slowest setting when we record, in turn getting longer tape time.
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Pitch Control
- Thread starter Whisperingcreek
- Start date
I dunno man, I used to turn the pitch all the way up on my multitracker, in hopes of getting better high frequency response!
The thing is, tape is pretty cheap, so why not just record at the normal setting? Plus, if you record a multitrack tape, and then bring it to a friend's house to record some overdubs on his recorder, it'll end up being a big mess trying to get the pitch just right, unless he has the exact same recorder as you (and assuming the pitch knob is calibrated exactly the same).
Then again, if it's just you, and if your mics and stuff aren't so great to begin with, then I guess there's no real reason why you shouldn't try to get more bang for your buck.... Whatever works for you, right?
Ryan
The thing is, tape is pretty cheap, so why not just record at the normal setting? Plus, if you record a multitrack tape, and then bring it to a friend's house to record some overdubs on his recorder, it'll end up being a big mess trying to get the pitch just right, unless he has the exact same recorder as you (and assuming the pitch knob is calibrated exactly the same).
Then again, if it's just you, and if your mics and stuff aren't so great to begin with, then I guess there's no real reason why you shouldn't try to get more bang for your buck.... Whatever works for you, right?
Ryan
Whisperingcreek
New member
Thanks guys, Well I have 12% pitch control and I have piles of 60 minute tapes. So one side would be thirty minutes and since the recorder records at double speed that means I have only 15 minutes to work with per tape. Which isn't too big of a problem but my band likes to jam a lot and some times we go over and then the whole song is ruined. I've heard that the smaller the tape you use the better the quality. Would 90 min. tapes reduce the sound quality greatly?
It's not the sound quality, it's the fact that shuttling the tape back and forth makes the thinner tapes more likely to stretch or break. If you're recording jams then you're far less likely to have a problem than if you were trying to do a song and re-record each part, making it perfect, etc. I'd say try a 90-minute tape and go for it. In fact, if you don't need all the tracks, you might look into stereo recording on VHS tape...then you can do serious jams, see https://homerecording.com/vhs.html
The Green Hornet
New member
Hey Creek of Whispers:
I used a 488 for a few years and the manual clearly states that you should only use 60 minute tapes to record.
Also, turn the pitch control up all the way. You will get better fidelity.
Sometimes I would put canned music into my 488 for a client and if the key was too high, I could slow down the pitch a bit and lower the key but this is very limited as sound quality will deteriorate if you tweak too much.
For almost all my sessions with my former 488, I kept the pitch control on full, all the way to the right.
Have fun recording,
Green Hornet
I used a 488 for a few years and the manual clearly states that you should only use 60 minute tapes to record.
Also, turn the pitch control up all the way. You will get better fidelity.
Sometimes I would put canned music into my 488 for a client and if the key was too high, I could slow down the pitch a bit and lower the key but this is very limited as sound quality will deteriorate if you tweak too much.
For almost all my sessions with my former 488, I kept the pitch control on full, all the way to the right.
Have fun recording,
Green Hornet