Solutions for tape dropout and distortion

R

rito25

New member
Hey, I did my first home studio session today. On an intro to a song the acoustic guitar clips and distorts at the first note. I tried a low cut filter and EQ but it's still there. The rest of the song sounds fine. Any digital fixes? Or any tips? If not we are just going to flange the opening note with some careful timing.

I got a fraction of a second dropout on the tape. I think I could just cut it but I'm not sure? Any way to fix that digitally or analog?
Thanks
 
What tape machine are you using, and what brand and model of tape? Are you micing the guitar or DI through a pickup... or both? You'll get a lot more helpful info if you tell us what you got and how you're recording with as much detail as possible.
 
I am using a tascam 38. I am using a brand new reel of RGMI SM911. The guitar is acoustic and recorded with a Blue Spark. I am using a Ramsa WRS4424. I think the tape overloaded or something at first for the distortion?
 
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The distortion you're kinda stuck with, nothing you could do would be more than a band-aid at best. Either your Ramsa preamp overloaded, or the tape electronics did. Watch the meter on your machine on playback, assuming the levels are calibrated correctly, if the meter pins then you clipped your machine's electronics on the way in; if the meter stays under +3 then it was your mixer gain. It's pretty easy to let the levels run away from you when recording guitar with a condenser mic especially if it was a pretty dynamic guitar part, that is to say a notable difference between loud and soft--condenser mics are fast and I suggest you set the gain more conservatively next time! Your best option to deal with the distortion honestly would be to just re-record the track.
 
briank nailed the distortion issue. It's not easy to get objectionable tape distortion on the tape itself with half-inch 8-track @ 15 ips, so I suspect an overloaded stage in the electronics... either the mixer or the tape deck. But that's assuming everything is in good working condition and you're not dealing with a bad channel.

As for the dropout, that would be odd for a new reel of tape. So the question is, did the tape dropout or did the channel dropout for that fraction of a second. Again that makes one wonder if you have some problem with that channel of the mixer or the deck.

The only way to tell if you have a tape dropout due to a fault in the tape oxide is to try recording something over that spot again. Another thing to keep in mind is that dropouts are more likely at the ends of a tape, so wind the tape about 30 seconds in before you start recording.

I would be more inclined to start over with this recording rather than try to fix it.

Also watch your mic placement. If you're picking up a lot of string attack you may need to back the mic off until the signal is more evened out or use a compressor in that channel with a conservative setting of about 2:1. Start with that setting and tweak until it sounds natural but isn't bouncing the VU meters around like crazy. Also keep an eye on the 38's overload LEDs. The VU meters won't give you an accurate picture of the signal spikes.
 
At this point, we are just going to keep the track as is. The artist does not want to record the track. The skip occurs near the end of the song. It's most definitely the tape. I can see the dark line where the dropout is. I feel like I could just run click repair on it to fix my my problem.

I've got my levels worked out well now. I don't really use a compressor as much as I should. I actually can't really hear what mine does even with all settings at max. It's a Behringer MXR 4400.
 
The effect of a compressor on acoustic guitar should be really subtle. It just evens things out a bit. I'm not familiar with the Behringer MXR 4400, but even the Alesis 3630 does a good job at conservative settings... if you get the second version.

One reason you hear such conflicting reviews for the 3630 is there were three versions over the years. The first one was not so good. The second and third versions are good. They changed quite a few components in version 2 and that's my fav of all the different ones. You can get them for so cheap on eBay it's worth picking one up. Problem is you can't tell from the outside which is which, so ask the seller to open it it up and look for the IC made by THAT corporation. There is one for each channel. Those are the good ones.

As for the RMGI SM911 tape, Once you get done with it and everything is transferred to digital (or another tape) I would send that tape back for a replacement. A new tape shouldn't have any audible dropouts like that. It's defective and they should give you a new one.

Good luck with your project and let us know how it all turns out.
 
In the future I'm going to get some DBX compressors and use those. For now, once I'm done recording I'm going to dump everything into pro tools or something similar and edit each track how I want. I think I can edit out the dropout.
 
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