Reel to Reel and more...

[chad etchison]

First post here after lurking awhile and absorbing a lot of information.

I want to record some music at home separate from the band I'm in. I want to do this by myself with no other people involved. I will of course play all the instruments and I want to use a vintage style sound for a drum machine, something like the Linn drum to achieve the early Human League sound.

I have few questions for the recordists here: I would like to record on analog tape. Should I go 1/2 or 1/4? Would four tracks be okay or should I go for at least eight? Which tape machine? Does anyone have one to sell or know of a reputable seller? I have a Tascam four track but I'm guessing cassette tape is a no go due to hiss. I would like it to sound good enough to release ultimately.

Any other recommendations for a drum machine besides the Linn? Anything modern that can do vintage synth sounds?

Thank you in advance for any assistance or advice.

 

[leddy]

Regarding track count - no one but you can really decide that. Some folks prefer to record drums with 1-3 mics. Others use three mics just for the snare.

Spend time in the analog only forum. Most folks outside of it are probably going to tell you to go digital.

 

[CoolCat]

what always messed me up was stopping to bounce 3 tracks to one....if your on a "roll" and the groove is flowing, its nice to have 8 tracks or more and not have to stop and bounce, mix, erase the previous trakcs and add some spoon tracks, or maybe a cowbell.
there's never enough cowbell.

 

[acidrock]

Spend time in the analog only forum. Most folks outside of it are probably going to tell you to go digital.

You've really,really got to be dedicated to go the tape route.From a time and money standpoint digital is the way to go.

 

[chad etchison]

Thanks guys, for the suggestions... any advice on which 8 track reel recorder to try and get? Of course I'll look for one in great shape with plenty of head life. I had a Nagra with blown heads and it was too expensive to replace the heads for the value of the machine.

I build all my own gear: guitar amps, hi-fi amps and speakers, so I'm ready to deal with the added complications of analog. I just prefer dealing in an analog setting.

 

[leddy]

Thanks guys, for the suggestions... any advice on which 8 track reel recorder to try and get? Of course I'll look for one in great shape with plenty of head life. I had a Nagra with blown heads and it was too expensive to replace the heads for the value of the machine.

I build all my own gear: guitar amps, hi-fi amps and speakers, so I'm ready to deal with the added complications of analog. I just prefer dealing in an analog setting.

Seriously, you need to ask this in the analog forum further down the page. There are some great folks there who will steer you right.

Personally, I'd be happy with a 1/2" 8-track. Otari, Tascam, etc. I don't think I'd do the Tascam 388 due to the 7.5 IPS tape speed limit and the 8 tracks on 1/4" format unless I could get one locally and cheap. Then I'd dink around with it...

Find someone in your area that services them. That's what I did. I have a couple of 1/4" 2-tracks for mixing down to. Knowing someone local is a big asset.

 

[chad etchison]

Seriously, you need to ask this in the analog forum further down the page. There are some great folks there who will steer you right.

Personally, I'd be happy with a 1/2" 8-track. Otari, Tascam, etc. I don't think I'd do the Tascam 388 due to the 7.5 IPS tape speed limit and the 8 tracks on 1/4" format unless I could get one locally and cheap. Then I'd dink around with it...

Find someone in your area that services them. That's what I did. I have a couple of 1/4" 2-tracks for mixing down to. Knowing someone local is a big asset.

Thanks, when I posted I didn't see the other forum.

Someone local would be nice, the hunt begins!

 

[ofajen]

I have few questions for the recordists here: I would like to record on analog tape. Should I go 1/2 or 1/4? Would four tracks be okay or should I go for at least eight? Which tape machine? Does anyone have one to sell or know of a reputable seller? I have a Tascam four track but I'm guessing cassette tape is a no go due to hiss. I would like it to sound good enough to release ultimately.

Any other recommendations for a drum machine besides the Linn? Anything modern that can do vintage synth sounds?

1) I've always been fond of the Roland analog drum machines: TR-909, TR-808, TR-606, CR-78.

2) Since you are in Atlanta, I'll mention that there is a lot of MCI analog gear at Randy Blevins in Nashville, and some analog studio gear in Athens, where someone may be wanting to sell machines they aren't using and some old tape gear that was in the hands of Otho Wilburn (when he was in Athens) is (or at least recently was) in the hands of Robert Hawthorne of Muse Productions in Birmingham AL and he was wanting to sell it. These would be wide track machines (4-tracks on 1/2", 8 tracks on 1" that might be of interest to you or 2" machines that probably would not be of interest to you).

Cheers,

Otto