assman
Member
sup guys, been lurking this site for some time now, but never really posted anything
in here i'll be sharing some of my "tricks and secrets" for anyone who is recording on a four track cassette recorder and also feel free to share some of your tips and stuff. (NOTE: I'm tired of seeing threads talking about how to bounce on a four track, so don't post em in here unless you think the technique employed affects the sound of your recording in a special way)
1- RECORDING WITH THE DBX NOISE REDUCER ON AND THEN TURNING IT OFF DURING PLAYBACK/MIXING. I've found that if you use your dbx the normal way (recording with it on and letting it on during playback), a big range of frequencies will be lost (mainly high end) in exchange for less "noise", which is tape hiss.
But if you record(dbx on, then off during playback), say, a drum, you will get a particular sound that feels more compressed. Like a hiss then compression every time you hit the drums. this applies to all other instruments.
What it'll do ultimately is: boost your higher frequencies, and up the tape hiss, which is not necesserally a bad aesthetic for some.
2- Second point connects with the first one.
RECORDING (DOUBLE TRACKED) VOCALS WITH A MIC THAT IS PLUGGED STRAIGHT INTO THE FOUR-TRACK. I used to record my vocals with an effects filled amp that would be mic'd. Now i've found some cool natural effect by pluggin the mic directly into my four track and singing in it.
Using the same technique said in the first point, I record my vocals with dbx on, then turned off. And i will record the same vocal part on two tracks. the effect is this: solid compression on the voice, a higher frequency voice that sounds apart from all the other tracks but in a well balanced way, also, a light natural flanger-y type voice.
3 - PANNING YOUR GUITARS IN EACH CORNER OF EARS, i.e LEFT AND RIGHT.
during my process of recording post-rock type music, i've found that mixing your guitars apart from each other gives a fuller sound when listened in stereo and is overall more interesting.
This is great for creating what they call "angular guitars" with guitar melodies that make harmonies with each other. it makes the harmonies more noticable.
4- DOUBLE TRACKING.
I've recently got back into double tracking my instruments. First time i did purposfully was with two acoustic guitars doing the same fingerpicking. So basically you record guitar 1 and then you re-record the same guitar part with guitar 2/track 2.
It gives, again, a fuller stereo sound and a flanger type of sound, that is if you don't change your guitar tone for both guitars (because the frequencies of each guitar are slightly different because of "phasing" or slight tape flutter i'm guessing, creating oscillations with each other) What is interesting with double tracking guitars is that you can be kind of sloppy (playing notes that are slightly delayed from the other guitar) but in a way that doesn't negatively affect the tempo or time of the song.
That's it for now, I will keep updating this thread and hopefully yall's are going to share some of your recording "secrets" with a four-track or a reel-to-reel or any analog equipement (like a compressor or anything like that).
in here i'll be sharing some of my "tricks and secrets" for anyone who is recording on a four track cassette recorder and also feel free to share some of your tips and stuff. (NOTE: I'm tired of seeing threads talking about how to bounce on a four track, so don't post em in here unless you think the technique employed affects the sound of your recording in a special way)
1- RECORDING WITH THE DBX NOISE REDUCER ON AND THEN TURNING IT OFF DURING PLAYBACK/MIXING. I've found that if you use your dbx the normal way (recording with it on and letting it on during playback), a big range of frequencies will be lost (mainly high end) in exchange for less "noise", which is tape hiss.
But if you record(dbx on, then off during playback), say, a drum, you will get a particular sound that feels more compressed. Like a hiss then compression every time you hit the drums. this applies to all other instruments.
What it'll do ultimately is: boost your higher frequencies, and up the tape hiss, which is not necesserally a bad aesthetic for some.
2- Second point connects with the first one.
RECORDING (DOUBLE TRACKED) VOCALS WITH A MIC THAT IS PLUGGED STRAIGHT INTO THE FOUR-TRACK. I used to record my vocals with an effects filled amp that would be mic'd. Now i've found some cool natural effect by pluggin the mic directly into my four track and singing in it.
Using the same technique said in the first point, I record my vocals with dbx on, then turned off. And i will record the same vocal part on two tracks. the effect is this: solid compression on the voice, a higher frequency voice that sounds apart from all the other tracks but in a well balanced way, also, a light natural flanger-y type voice.
3 - PANNING YOUR GUITARS IN EACH CORNER OF EARS, i.e LEFT AND RIGHT.
during my process of recording post-rock type music, i've found that mixing your guitars apart from each other gives a fuller sound when listened in stereo and is overall more interesting.
This is great for creating what they call "angular guitars" with guitar melodies that make harmonies with each other. it makes the harmonies more noticable.
4- DOUBLE TRACKING.
I've recently got back into double tracking my instruments. First time i did purposfully was with two acoustic guitars doing the same fingerpicking. So basically you record guitar 1 and then you re-record the same guitar part with guitar 2/track 2.
It gives, again, a fuller stereo sound and a flanger type of sound, that is if you don't change your guitar tone for both guitars (because the frequencies of each guitar are slightly different because of "phasing" or slight tape flutter i'm guessing, creating oscillations with each other) What is interesting with double tracking guitars is that you can be kind of sloppy (playing notes that are slightly delayed from the other guitar) but in a way that doesn't negatively affect the tempo or time of the song.
That's it for now, I will keep updating this thread and hopefully yall's are going to share some of your recording "secrets" with a four-track or a reel-to-reel or any analog equipement (like a compressor or anything like that).
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